Zalman HD135 VFD (VlSys Mplay)

[cybrmage]

Originally Posted by pcwizzul

I still have cpu load ad 100% all the time and on idle too.

I haven't noticed any problems with 100% CPU usage.... But I'm using an Athlon X2 6000+....
But... the driver does constantly run a background thread to drive the Equalizer/VU display... This thread runs at a low priority, so it will be pre-empted if the processor is needed for other tasks... Also, The plugin framework also runs a seperate process to collect the information that is displayed (also at a low priority)...

To be sure, turn off the Equalizer display and see what the CPU usage is.... and see what the CPU usage is with the CybrDisplay plugin disabled... Let me know your results...

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

a flickering effect

The flickering on the display does appear to be related to the refresh rate of the display... The driver already has provisions for limiting the display refresh rate (because the code was originally wriiten for the iMON displays, and they crash if refreshed to quickly)... Try enabling the "Limit Equalizer display update rate" option and different update rates and see if you notice any improvement.

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

The BASS doesn't provide volume / amplitude values

Actually, the Bass engine does.... I just haven't had the time to experiment with them yet. (and the documentation is sparse)

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

what about a little R and a little L in front of the the peak?

Holy... all the new features and you guys are still demanding MORE!!! You guys aren't testers from hell... you're just hellspawn!!! 8-} (just kidding!)

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

And what about something like a maximum peak memory display

There aren't enough custom characters to do that for for the Equalizer display... but there should be enough to do it for the VU meter display.... It may be something to consider for a (much) later version.

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

OK - I am demanding - shame on me...

At least you're aware of it... 8-}

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

after I installed a different display with a higher resolution I even got the config dialogue on the screen at once... what a number of parameters... amazing

I program at a resolution of 1280x768... so I always get to see the entire form 8-}... But if any more options are added, well have to enforce a 1920x1080 resolution to be able to configure the plugin 8-}

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

the frequency range covered by the FFT data delivered by the BASS system?

The frequency range is 0 to 44100hz divided into 512, 1024 or 2048 steps. (I use 1024 steps for the EQ display).. IE, the 256th FFT element returned is the data for (assuming 1024 steps) 44100/1024 * 256 = 11025hz.

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

I got a nice hung up.

The log does not provide enough information to determine what caused the hang... but the logs do show a number of exceptions being thrown (one by another plugin and one by the MediaPortal core), so your guess as to the cause is probably just as good as mine... or it could be one of those one-in-a-million occurances that can't be duplicated.... Let me know if it hangs constantly and i'll see if I can find anything... I have never experienced a hang with MediaPortal... Crashing, yes... hanging, no...

Regards,
CybrMage

New version now available.

[Herr R aus B]

Originally Posted by cybrmage

I haven't noticed any problems with 100% CPU usage.... But I'm using an Athlon X2 6000+....
But... the driver does constantly run a background thread to drive the Equalizer/VU display... This thread runs at a low priority, so it will be pre-empted if the processor is needed for other tasks... Also, The plugin framework also runs a seperate process to collect the information that is displayed (also at a low priority)...

Well, I can report something similar. Switching the plugin off in the configuration results in a CPU load of approx 1-2% when running MP in idle. Switching the plugin on results in a CPU load of some 53% where one CPU core is almost at 100% and the other up to 10% here (athlon dual core, 2,4GHz win XP pro X64) what about adding some milliseconds sleep to the thread loop? usually that should decrease CPU load - if these .NET threads behave the same as java threads (they should, as the basically are windows threads). btw - turning of the EQ doesn't have any effect - at least not on my machine here. I definately have to turn off the plugin

Originally Posted by cybrmage

The flickering on the display does appear to be related to the refresh rate of the display... The driver already has provisions for limiting the display refresh rate (because the code was originally wriiten for the iMON displays, and they crash if refreshed to quickly)... Try enabling the "Limit Equalizer display update rate" option and different update rates and see if you notice any improvement.

Getting even worse but the L/R indicators are helpful in a way. At least one can see, that obviously (obviously seems to be one of my favourite words... as "basically" was for my georgia peach ex gf from atlanta who has the name allison, which implied calling her "basic ally" as literally every 5th word she said basically was "basically"... I am drifting away from test reporting I guess...)

where did I get here? Oh yes...

obviously just the custom characters are affected by this effect. I did some new video clips showing the mono EQ and the VU meter both set to 1 rsp. 5 maximum updates per second. Especially with the VU meter one can see, that the regular characters (R and L) are absolute stable as the rest is wobbling or whatever that behaviour would be called...

Are you transferring the custom character bitmaps periodically (this language reminds me of my ex too much - I suggest continuing in danish, if that's OK...) or just once on VU/EQ initialization?

Anyway - I would like everybody to look at these video clips and do the same testing with their displays, as it might also be a general problem with my display - not very likely, but one never knows. Could you please then report the behaviour of your displays? Thanks...

Originally Posted by cybrmage

Holy... all the new features and you guys are still demanding MORE!!! You guys aren't testers from hell... you're just hellspawn!!! 8-} (just kidding!)

In desperate need of new enemies?

Originally Posted by cybrmage

There aren't enough custom characters to do that for for the Equalizer display... but there should be enough to do it for the VU meter display.... It may be something to consider for a (much) later version.

A little bit more optimism regarding your coding capabilities please Looking at your output and the assiociated progress I don't expect THAT much versions until then

Originally Posted by cybrmage

At least you're aware of it... 8-}

Being an old man I have a very reflected personality

Originally Posted by cybrmage

I program at a resolution of 1280x768... so I always get to see the entire form 8-}... But if any more options are added, well have to enforce a 1920x1080 resolution to be able to configure the plugin 8-}

This would make the community being able to configre the device somewhat special AND I WAS KIDDING!

As for the fan control. I did some testing with the manual settings using fan 1 from 10% through 100% - find the logs attached. Then I did two runs to test the AFC functionality. Doing these tests the heat sensors should report 32/33°C for sensor 1 and 37/38°C for sensor 2. In the first run I set the minimum temperature to switch of the fans to 26°C and the maximum temperature to set the fans to 100% to 65°C. In the second run i left the minimum temperature at 26°C and set the maximum temperature to 31°C. At least in the second run the fans were supposed to be VERY loud - but obviously (again!) they didn't run at all. I didn't bother to open the case as the case is buildt into a shelf and removing it from there would be some major effort... Let's put it like this: AFC doesn't seem to work at all... Find the extensive logs attached.

And here some minor issues:

• Testing the VU/EQ with extensive logging crashed MP on shutdown - see attached log, maybe it's helpful
• There is a little bug in the config dialogue - resetting all values (using the RESET button) resets the remote repeat frequency to 0 but the label still shows the previous value
• The two shutdown lines that can be configured in the main config dialogue don't seem to have any effect as in not being displayed on MP shutdown
• The contrast slider in the main config dialogue doesn't have any effect on the display - I guess, the display doesn't support that...

And then I had to realize, that I accused you of typos where there were no typos - the damn display indeed is called MP300 and not MR300 - I am embarassed I hope you'll tolerate, that I am not willing to through myself in the dust as I am too old for that shit And as I stopped smoking almost one year ago there also are no overflowing ashtrays available to pour some ashes on my head...

And as I wrote this test report you already put a new version online... but as I can see, it just affects other displays... Maybe there will be much more versions if it goes on like that

Greets

Axel

[cybrmage]

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

turning of the EQ doesn't have any effect - at least not on my machine here. I definately have to turn off the plugin

Well... That narrows down the where of the problem....

I have made some changes to the plugin core... see it that helps any...

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

obviously just the custom characters are affected by this effect.

It look like the "problem" has to do with the hardware refresh of the display... Hopefully, someone else will report if they have the same issue as you are experiencing and we will know for sure.

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

Are you transferring the custom character bitmaps periodically

I was transferring the character definitions with each update of the display... I think that may have been causing the issue with the garbled characters... I have changed it so the character definitions are only sent when needed... hopefully that will resolve it.

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

I suggest continuing in danish, if that's OK

Sure... That's fine.... as long as you don't expect me to answer any of your posts... 8-} (my primary language is English... and I can manage a little bit of French... but the last time I had French lessons, or used the language regularly, was almost 30 years ago...)

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

I would like everybody to look at these video clips

Thank you for providing the clips!!!! It's nice to actually be able to see what the display does!

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

In desperate need of new enemies?

Umm... Please clarify... was that a statement??? or a question??? 8-}

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

A little bit more optimism regarding your coding capabilities please

It actually has very little to do with capabilities, and more to do with other "projects" that need attention...

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

As for the fan control.

I'm looking through the logs....

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

Testing the VU/EQ with extensive logging crashed MP on shutdown

Strange... The extensive logging option is just used as a flag to control logging... It doesn't do anything that would cause a crash... I'll check the log...

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

There is a little bug in the config dialogue

There are probably *MANY* bugs in the config UI... I test for and ensure basic functionality, then post the new version for testing of the new/changed feature/bugfix... I usually get to fixing the cosmetic glitches after the feature is stable...

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

The two shutdown lines that can be configured in the main config dialogue don't seem to have any effect as in not being displayed on MP shutdown

Umm... I'll look at the logs and see if I find anything... but there are some situations where the shutdown message will not/should not be displayed...

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

The contrast slider in the main config dialogue doesn't have any effect on the display

The contrast slider should control the brightness of the display... We did have it working at one point... It may have become broken with the addition of specific support for different Mplay models... I'll check into it...

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

And then I had to realize, that I accused you of typos where there were no typos

I'll just consider your accusation of typos as a typo... 8-}

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

And as I wrote this test report you already put a new version online... but as I can see, it just affects other displays...

You'll see this happening a lot in the next little while... I'm trying to acheive "feature parity" for all of the drivers that are supported by the plugin...


And thanks again for the "extensive logging"... At this rate, I should be finished reviewing them by the time I'm ready to move into a retirement home 8-}

Regards,
CybrMage

PS: New version is available (did I mention that in the reply??)

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

The two shutdown lines that can be configured in the main config dialogue don't seem to have any effect as in not being displayed on MP shutdown

Here is a quick description of the updated shutdown logic...

1) If "Shut off display on exit" is selected, clear the display and set the brightness to 0
2) If "Shut off display on exit" is not selected AND the "Shutdown Message" is not set, sent the default ("MediaPortal Not Active") message to the display
3) If "Shut off display on exit" is not selected AND the "Shutdown Message" is set, sent the custom shutdown message to the display
4) If "Shut off display on exit" is not selected AND the device is an MR300, send the clock control commands to the display.

So... I guess, for completeness, I need to add "Enable clock display on shutdown" functionality to the options to allow a choice of shutdown message or clock display for devices that support the clock...

Regards,
CybrMage

New version is available...

[Herr R aus B]

Originally Posted by cybrmage

4) If "Shut off display on exit" is not selected AND the device is an MR300, send the clock control commands to the display.

A typo, a typo!!! A typo???

[cybrmage]

Ummm.... I just checked the VL Systems website... and the correct model name IS MR300. 8-} (I think I'll still call it an MP300 from time to time... MP300 = "Many Problems 300" 8-})

Did any of the latest changes make ANY difference???

Regards,
CybrMage

[pcwizzul]

I Just tested the last version
CybrDisplayPlugin_02_02_2008c.zip
And now cpu load is fine. No more high load during idle or during EQ use.
I tested the display as suggested by Herr R aus B and I have no probles at all. The image is always fine and I never have the problems I saw on his videos. At any refresh speed. Sorry mate!
BTW I've seen that if limit display update to 5 or 1 sec the cpu load issue is there again. If I leave the box unchecked or if I choose max as refresh speed everthing is fine.
And I was going to ask if you could put "L" and "R" in Vu meter but you already did it. Great!

[Herr R aus B]

Originally Posted by cybrmage

Ummm.... I just checked the VL Systems website... and the correct model name IS MR300. 8-} (I think I'll still call it an MP300 from time to time... MP300 = "Many Problems 300" 8-})

Did any of the latest changes make ANY difference???

Regards,
CybrMage

the damn MHC software calls it MP300 tho that's why i almost ended up in the dust i am way too polite

as for the cahnges - i can't do any testing before tomorrow - HTPC is in use at this time

Originally Posted by pcwizzul

And I was going to ask if you could put "L" and "R" in Vu meter but you already did it. Great!

are you really reading this thread?

[OptimusPrime]

Hi Cybrmage,

congratulations to the new plugin. i´ve tested it yesterday and i was very suprised about the new functions.
the new plugin runs without any problems on my system. kudos to you.

[Herr R aus B]

Hi ho!

Sorry for longer silence - my job is killing me I just found the latest version and did a quick test:

• As far as I can see, that flickering effect belongs to the past - must have been the extensive transfer of custom characters
• The CPU usage now is down to 4% on one CPU core having one recording running, playing music and having the EQ running - great!
• The contrast slider remains being a mystery to me
• The standby behaviour I described at the weekend is still the same - well, that seems to be a complicated issue anyway... did you ever get in touch with that dero guy?
• The option "use clock at shutdown" shows the display's standby screen (dimmed clock with standby message) as described at the weekend. There must be a way to set it differently - I think, the MHC software offers something, but I have to have a look at the MHC config tool - not today, I am literally dead afte a 10 hours meeting
• The VU Meter 2 doesn't give me any senseful display - but it's declared to be experimental tho - I'll add one of these little video clips as soon as this current recording is done
• A little issue: The version shown in the display selection combo box is not the current version

I am still amazed by your work and the time it took - I mean, I started setting up the HTPC after x-mas and at that time Manfred came up with questions regarding a driver for the M.Play sh... ahm... stuff And now it is that far... this is most remarkable!

Regards

Axel

[cybrmage]

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

Sorry for longer silence

no problem

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

flickering effect belongs to the past

Good!

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

The CPU usage now is down

Excellent!

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

The contrast slider remains being a mystery to me

Please explain... The contrast does not change?? can you post the MediaPortal log...

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

The option "use clock at shutdown" shows the display's standby screen

It sounds like during shutdown the driver is restarting MHC... and then MHC is sending is doing it's thing for the standby/hibernate... I'll have to think about how to do a workaround...

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

The VU Meter 2 doesn't give me any senseful display

Yes... A video clip would be good... you don't describe what is being displayed... it SHOULD display the left channel on the top row with the bar originating on the left and the right channel on the bottom row originating on the right...

Originally Posted by Herr R aus B

A little issue: The version shown in the display selection combo box is not the current version

That is correct... The version of a specific driver will have the date of the last revision of that specific driver... I have deen doing some work on the MatrixMX and iMONLCDg drivers since there hasn't been any activity in here is the past few days, so it's version has fallen a little behind...

Regards,
CybrMage