Mediaportal stutters in MyTV and OSD

[level20peon]

MediaPortal Version: 0.2.2 (MediaPortal-svn--01-04-2007--12-30-Rev12513)
MediaPortal Skin: Standard Skin
Windows Version: Windows Server 2003 Standard SP1 (incl. all Patches / Hotfixes) AD / DNS / FileServer
CPU Type: Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 1830MHz
HDD: Samsung HD401LJ 400GB 16MB 7200rpm
Memory: 2x 512MB Dual Channel DDR2 667 MHz
Motherboard: AOpen i945GTm-VHL
Motherboard Chipset: Intel 945GT / Intel ICH7MDH
Motherboard Bios: R1.05
Video Card: Intel i945GT (onBoard)
Video Card Driver: PV14.25
Sound Card: Realtek ALC882D HD Audio (onBoard)
Sound Card AC3: yes
Sound Card Driver: R1.54
1. TV Card: FireDTV BDA DVB-C (Floppy DTV)
1. TV Card Type: DVB-C Card
1. TV Card Driver: 02/02/2006, 4.2.0 BDA Driver
2. TV Card: N/A
2. TV Card Type: N/A
2. TV Card Driver: N/A
3. TV Card: N/A
3. TV Card Type: N/A
3. TV Card Driver: N/A
4. TV Card: N/A
4. TV Card Type: N/A
4. TV Card Driver: N/A
MPEG2 Video Codec: MPV / Descaler (alternating for tests)
MPEG2 Audio Codec: MPV / Descaler (alternating for tests)
Satelite/CableTV Provider: ISH (tiviDi)
HTPC Case: Silverstone LC11M
Cooling: N/A
Power Supply: N/A
Remote: N/A
TV: Panasonic TX-26LX50F
TV - HTPC Connection: S-Video


Installed SystemTools: Microsoft_Application_Compatibility_Toolkit41, .Net Framework 2.0 inkl beider Hotfixes, HD Audio Hotfix
Changes on Windows /Bios?: DirectX9.0c (December2006 update), Windows Media Runtime 9, StreamBuffer engine installed (sbe.dll, sbeio.dll, wmvcore2.dll), Windows Audio service activated, Audio- / VideoAcceleration activated


Documentation of my Problem:

Greetings, I'm the new one



First of all I would like to thank all developers of MediaPortal, I'm quite happy with the concept of this Application. Unfortunately I cannot really use all of MediaPortals benefits since I could use everything that works perfect at this time (Video, Audio, DVD) with MediaPlayer for instance.


I'm having trouble with the TV site of MediaPortal for a few weeks now. After being glad to regain access to digital-TV on my PC again after three years I decided to build a HTPC. I've also been using a Windows 2xxx Server in my LAN for quite a long time. Since I'm not interested in putting up a third PC I decided to merge the Server and MediaCenter operations in ONE PC.


So please don't answer my post like "go install XP" or "put up a third PC" or "you're a retard" ( ) just take this setup as it is and try to help me though


After building in the third TV-Card in three weeks I am currently using the "FireDTV DVB-C" with a CAM / Smartcard. The encryption isn't the problem since it also occurs on non-encrypted channels.



The screen initializes after a few seconds when I enter "MyTV" in MediaPortal an starts stuttering (framerate drops significantly, system responds slowly) in the small preview window, even sound is stuttering slidely. As soon as the screen is maximized the stuttering vanishes. When I open the OSD menu the stuttering starts again. It also stutters when I open the EPG. I think it occurs on all situations where a DirectDraw Overlay window is used. CPU usage is around 40% (maximal) when running MediaPortal so there are some ressources left. Mediaportal uses around 100MB RAM so there also is enough free space left. When I go back to the initial MediaPortal menu where the tiny little video window is left the playback (I think that this menu doesn't use overlay elements so there aren't any interferences).
This problem occurs in version 0.2 as well as in 0.2.1 an in 0.2.2 (also including latest SVN), doesn't matter if I use MPV or Descaler decoder. Even a lower screen-resolution doesn't produce better results (800x600).


I tested the concerning machine under WinXP with only essential drivers, .NET Framework and DirectX installed. Mediaportal doesn't produce this error on XP. I tweaked Windows 2003 as described initially so it has full Multimedia functionallity like XP. I don't know what else I could try so please help me



I recorded the following steps in the attached logs:
beginn of log-recording at FullScreen TV, logged actions:
-> OSD -> Previous Window -> Channel -> RTL -> FullScreen TV -> OSD -> Previous Window -> MediaPortal closed manually





Greetings, level20peon

[diehard2]

It will be tough to run MP without a dedicated directx 9 compatible videocard

[SciDoctor]

If you run a FPSwatcher like FRAPS or ATITrayTools you will be able to monitor what the GUI is performing at.

With either a sub standard dx9 GPU or a DX8/8.1 GPU (and drivers play apart) the GUI could fall bellow the required FPS for smooth operation.

For example if the video/tv stream is at 50FPS and the GUI drops bellow this then you will get stutter.

You may notice less or no stutter on some of your AVI file as they are running at a much lower FPS ie 25FPS which the GUI has no problems matching (depending on GPU obviously)

[level20peon]

solved...