sudden stuttering

jdivic · 2005-12-06, 13:28

Area: Media Portal Progrogram
MP Version: 0.2RC1
Skin: MCE
Windows Version: XP_SP2
CPU Type: Pentium III 1GHz
Memory: 384MB
Motherboard Chipset: Intel Acorp 8515E
Video Card: ATI 9000 PRO
Video Card Driver: Latest Catalyst
Video Card Resolution: 848x480
Video Render Type: VMR9
Video Codec Type & Version: any (mpeg2dec, elecard)
Audio Codec Type & Version: any
Audio Card Audiotek Maya 5.1MKII
TV Card: Hauppauge PVR150MCE
TV Card Type: hardware
TV Card Driver: latest

Hello,
I have a problem that drives me crazy... few days ago every recorded show I have started to play plays for a few seconds, and than it stutter for a moment (few frames) and then plays for a few seconds normaly and then again... few seconds (20-30) normaly few frames slow... the worst thing is that i can't remember that i changed anything in windows or install something new, also i reverted system to previous restauration point (very old one I'm sure that everything worked ok then) and nothing changes... i tried different video and audio codecs and it seams that it isn't a problem because behaviour is same with every one... also, system is underpowerd i know, but it has been working ok for a while... and I monitored processes in task manager while it was playing and mediaportal is between 75-90% of usage, and overal prcessor usage is under 100%... i'm despirit... i used graphedit to determine codecs and filters used while mp is playing and everything seams ok... heeelp!!!

Marcusb · 2005-12-06, 14:02

I would say the main thing is that you are using VMR9 and your card doesn't support it. Your system is relatively low power so a VMR9 card would really be helpfull.

For a cheap solution, switch to Overlay. For the best solution (and still quite cheap) you should buy a GF5200 Gfx card (around $50 depending on your location).

jdivic · 2005-12-06, 14:10

well... thanks for the suggestion, but that configuration has worked... I know that I should upgrade and I will but I'm 100% sure that is not an issue here because I have seen that work until past few days... overlay has memory leak problem... so it is not an option...but I'll try to see if it has same problem with stuttering..

jdivic · 2005-12-08, 23:08

A little addition to my original post... today i applied reg keys for activating DVA for ATI card. I tried with elecard mpeg2 decoder (for video and for audio) and here are my observations: first, while watching recorded shows total processor load (in taskmanager) is allways below 90%, and average load (my estimation) is about 75%. But, it still stutters every while, and once it even completly stoped playing for about second or two and at that moment processor load droped to 1%!!!! after that play has been restored automaticaly. While watching live TV (with timeshifting turned off) procesor load is 100% all the time (i know it is known bug) but without stuttering.
Any ideas? Is it possible that something in bios setup causing this?
P.S.
I prepared one 20GB partition for clean XP+SP2 instalation with necesary drivers, and I'll try to make clean MediaPortal instalation and see how it will work and I'll report the results.

jdivic · 2005-12-13, 09:36

well, here I'am again... I made fresh win xp and media portal installation and as I can figure out is that problem is with reading from disk... I had TV recordings on separate partition and when I put recording directory to be on the same partition with xp and mp instalation everything is ok. Any ideas why?

thechad · 2005-12-13, 10:57

Was the partition fat32 or NTFS (shouldn't really matter but anyway)

When you say partition is this a second partition on the same disk or on a second physical disk.

If it is a second disk is DMA enabled and is the drive on the secodary IDE bus (possbibly on a bad cable)

jdivic · 2005-12-13, 12:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by thechad

Was the partition fat32 or NTFS (shouldn't really matter but anyway)

It was NTFS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thechad

When you say partition is this a second partition on the same disk or on a second physical disk.

If it is a second disk is DMA enabled and is the drive on the secodary IDE bus (possbibly on a bad cable)

It is logical partition on same disk... It is very unusual behaviour, i would have to find some disk analyzing tool to see is there any phisycal problem with disk, or is it possible that MP cluttered the partition with its way of writing on disk...

elconejito · 2005-12-13, 17:44

what type of hard drive/interface?

jdivic · 2005-12-13, 21:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by elconejito

what type of hard drive/interface?

IDE 120Gb, i can't recall manufacturer... i think WD...

scoop · 2005-12-13, 21:23

Hi,

Assuming you've got a PATA disk, did you doublecheck if the IDE channel the disk is attached to uses DMA mode (preferrably Ultra DMA mode 5)? For different reasons, Windows can sometimes fallback to PIO mode, which uses (much more) CPU cycles to actually fetch the data from disk, which again could cause video playback to stutter when something's read from disk.

Look under device management, and check the properties for the IDE channels for the current status.

Kind regards,
Michel

2005-12-06, 13:28	#1 (permalink)
jdivic Portal Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Croatia Age: 37 Posts: 64 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	sudden stuttering Area: Media Portal Progrogram MP Version: 0.2RC1 Skin: MCE Windows Version: XP_SP2 CPU Type: Pentium III 1GHz Memory: 384MB Motherboard Chipset: Intel Acorp 8515E Video Card: ATI 9000 PRO Video Card Driver: Latest Catalyst Video Card Resolution: 848x480 Video Render Type: VMR9 Video Codec Type & Version: any (mpeg2dec, elecard) Audio Codec Type & Version: any Audio Card Audiotek Maya 5.1MKII TV Card: Hauppauge PVR150MCE TV Card Type: hardware TV Card Driver: latest Hello, I have a problem that drives me crazy... few days ago every recorded show I have started to play plays for a few seconds, and than it stutter for a moment (few frames) and then plays for a few seconds normaly and then again... few seconds (20-30) normaly few frames slow... the worst thing is that i can't remember that i changed anything in windows or install something new, also i reverted system to previous restauration point (very old one I'm sure that everything worked ok then) and nothing changes... i tried different video and audio codecs and it seams that it isn't a problem because behaviour is same with every one... also, system is underpowerd i know, but it has been working ok for a while... and I monitored processes in task manager while it was playing and mediaportal is between 75-90% of usage, and overal prcessor usage is under 100%... i'm despirit... i used graphedit to determine codecs and filters used while mp is playing and everything seams ok... heeelp!!!

2005-12-13, 10:57	#6 (permalink)
thechad Portal Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Geelong, Australia Age: 27 Posts: 187 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country: My System	Was the partition fat32 or NTFS (shouldn't really matter but anyway) When you say partition is this a second partition on the same disk or on a second physical disk. If it is a second disk is DMA enabled and is the drive on the secodary IDE bus (possbibly on a bad cable) __________________

2005-12-13, 17:44	#8 (permalink)
elconejito Portal Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Springfield, VA Age: 33 Posts: 135 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country: My System	what type of hard drive/interface? __________________ MP TV Server/Client: Windows XP SP3 :: MP 1.0 RC2 SVN19876 :: 2x Avermedia Combo PCIe (M780) ATSC/NTSC :: Intel Core2Duo E6300 :: 2GB RAM :: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L :: 1x WD2500AAKS, 2x WD3200AAKS :: GIGABYTE 7600GT (heatsink, no fan) :: Onboard Audio :: Output to a 32" CRT.

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2005-12-06, 14:02	#2 (permalink)
Marcusb Super Moderator Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,957 Thanks: 71 Thanked 28 Times in 28 Posts Country: My System	I would say the main thing is that you are using VMR9 and your card doesn't support it. Your system is relatively low power so a VMR9 card would really be helpfull. For a cheap solution, switch to Overlay. For the best solution (and still quite cheap) you should buy a GF5200 Gfx card (around $50 depending on your location).

2005-12-06, 14:10	#3 (permalink)
jdivic Portal Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Croatia Age: 37 Posts: 64 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	well... thanks for the suggestion, but that configuration has worked... I know that I should upgrade and I will but I'm 100% sure that is not an issue here because I have seen that work until past few days... overlay has memory leak problem... so it is not an option...but I'll try to see if it has same problem with stuttering..

2005-12-08, 23:08	#4 (permalink)
jdivic Portal Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Croatia Age: 37 Posts: 64 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	A little addition to my original post... today i applied reg keys for activating DVA for ATI card. I tried with elecard mpeg2 decoder (for video and for audio) and here are my observations: first, while watching recorded shows total processor load (in taskmanager) is allways below 90%, and average load (my estimation) is about 75%. But, it still stutters every while, and once it even completly stoped playing for about second or two and at that moment processor load droped to 1%!!!! after that play has been restored automaticaly. While watching live TV (with timeshifting turned off) procesor load is 100% all the time (i know it is known bug) but without stuttering. Any ideas? Is it possible that something in bios setup causing this? P.S. I prepared one 20GB partition for clean XP+SP2 instalation with necesary drivers, and I'll try to make clean MediaPortal instalation and see how it will work and I'll report the results.

2005-12-13, 09:36	#5 (permalink)
jdivic Portal Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Croatia Age: 37 Posts: 64 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	well, here I'am again... I made fresh win xp and media portal installation and as I can figure out is that problem is with reading from disk... I had TV recordings on separate partition and when I put recording directory to be on the same partition with xp and mp instalation everything is ok. Any ideas why?

2005-12-13, 21:23	#10 (permalink)
scoop Portal Developer Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 610 Thanks: 2 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts My System	Hi, Assuming you've got a PATA disk, did you doublecheck if the IDE channel the disk is attached to uses DMA mode (preferrably Ultra DMA mode 5)? For different reasons, Windows can sometimes fallback to PIO mode, which uses (much more) CPU cycles to actually fetch the data from disk, which again could cause video playback to stutter when something's read from disk. Look under device management, and check the properties for the IDE channels for the current status. Kind regards, Michel