95 - 100% CPU usage TVService - Sometimes (1 Viewer)

[morten99]

TV-Server Version:
MediaPortal Version: 1.0.2
MediaPortal Skin: Blue 3 Wide
Windows Version: XP 32-bit SP3
CPU Type: Athlon 64 2.0 GHz
HDD: WD 1TB Greenpower
Memory: 512MB DDR
Motherboard: DFI Lanparty NF4 Ultra
Video Card: GF 8600 GT
Video Card Driver: 185.85
Sound Card: Realtek ALC850 (AC97)
Sound Card AC3: SPDIF to external amp
Sound Card Driver: Realtek v4.06
1. TV Card: Hauppague Nova-T 90003 <---- Used for all my channels these days
1. TV Card Type: DVB-T
1. TV Card Driver: v2.123.27056
2. TV Card: Hauppague PVR250 <---- Unused, only left in the system to VCR tape transfers
2. TV Card Type: Analog
2. TV Card Driver: v1.18.21.23257
3. TV Card:
3. TV Card Type:
3. TV Card Driver:
4. TV Card:
4. TV Card Type:
4. TV Card Driver:
MPEG2 Video Codec: nVidia Purevideo v1.02.223
MPEG2 Audio Codec: nVidia Purevideo v1.02.223
h.264 Video Codec: CoreAVC v1.9.5
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case: Custom
Cooling: Custom
Power Supply: Corsair 550W
Remote: Lintronic TT455-RT-255
TV: Panasonic TH42-PWD7
TV - HTPC Connection: VGA + Component

Normally TVService consumes 0 - 10% as a baseline with spikes up to ~80% every 18 seconds. I guess this is normal ?

Problem is a couple times a week TVService cpu usage gets stuck at 95 - 100% all the time . This drains the entire system of energy because I have needed to set it's priority to high - otherwise I get stuttering in my recordings (stutter that is there in the actual file at the same time every time you play it).

Even after stopping any ongoing recording, the CPU usage is still stuck at 95 - 100%.

This is what it looks like (No Active Streams - yet high cpu usage). Logs are attached.

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

2009-06-04 19:30:09.312500 [Scheduler timer]: RecordingFileHandler: Error while deleting a recording from disk: The process cannot access the file 'D:\TV\TV AVISEN med Sport - - DR1 - 2009-06-03 - 18_30 - 19_00.ts' because it is being used by another process.
2009-06-04 19:30:09.328125 [Scheduler timer]: RecordingFileHandler: Error while deleting a recording from disk: The process cannot access the file 'D:\TV\TV AVISEN med Sport - - DR1 - 2009-06-03 - 18_30 - 19_00.ts' because it is being used by another process.

TVServer error log is showings file accessed by another program, any idea what programs you have installed that maybe trying to access this file!!

 

[morpheus_xx]

do you have antivirus tools installed ?

if so, ensure it excludes the timeshifting folder.

 

[morten99]

I have Avast Antivirus installed and I already have the recordings and timeshift dirs excluded.

I might have been watching today's news with mediaportal at that time. I have MP set to record the news every day and keep only one episode. Could this error be caused by MP using the file when TVservice attempts to delete the file ?

Other than that I have no idea which program would be trying to access that file. Is there some sysinternals tool available that can report that ?

I have eMule and uTorrent but those are definitly not set to share the recordings directory(!)
No Arconis Trueimage backups were running (and none are scheduled for recordings dir).
Also my network client was turned off at the time and none of my other PC's were accessing the file.

 

[morpheus_xx]

there is a neat tool "Unlocker 1.8" that integrates in shell. the you can right click on any folder / file and use "unlock". It shows you all processes that keep references and you can release / kill them

 

[Dodgy Bob]

Take a look here.

 

[morten99]

Take a look here.

Interresting. If I understood correct you have had about the same symptoms as I, and yours went away when you improved your DVB-T Antenna connection ?

I myself have been working with my antenna connection recently because I have had stuttering on recordings - which went finally went away when I changed TVService to High priority.
I now have a pretty strong signal - in fact when I power my active antenna, the signal overloads my DVB-T card, and I need to use a 10dB attenuator - or disable the amplifier in my rooftop antenna.

Perhaps I'm still getting overload some of the time, and perhaps that results in the same as a poor signal in upsetting TVService ? I will try that theory out by running without the amplifier for a while.

 

[morten99]

OK, I now have 100% perfect DVB-T Signal. No stuttering and just nice and smooth recordings (as long as I have TVservice on High Priority).

But now that TVService has been running for a few weeks, I get higher and higher CPU and Mem usage. The cpu usage is now spiking up to more than 60%, and the memory is up to 465MB (Plus 500MB Virtual Memory).

I have used Sysinternal Process Explorer to see which thread is responsible - does this mean anything to you guys ?

Spike

And Baseline

The cpu usage chenges between these two states every 19 seconds or so. TVService was recording one show when these were taken.

My theory is that this spiking cpu usage is what later develops to the 95-100% cpu usage I originally wrote about. I will try and leave it running another week if I can stand it, to try and confirm this. But what do you say, that are those threads that consume the cpu cycles ???