Call for tester for 1.4.0 features and fixes (4 Viewers)

[Scythe42]

I do have this delay everytime when my system comes from suspend. Is this a special behavior of my setup or "normal" behavior?
Do you think @Scythe42 that it is worth to optimize this?

Does this happen with stock MP, meaning no additional plugins activated as well?
Can you check if MP is controllable via keyboard beside the remote?
When removing the network folders, does the problem go away?
Happens when you are in a specific plugin or also on basic home?
Difference between using a network cable and Wifi?

Trying to limit things down here finding what's taking so long on your system / what's blocking MP.

I cannot reproduce this on my system. No unusual long delays after resuming from standby or hibernation specific to MP.

Logs don't really help here. Something is blocking MP that does not write to the logs for what it is waiting. Network related is a very good guess, though.

 

[Scythe42]

Would also be interessting what the times are on other systems that are in use and not just a clean install.

The time for each step would be how long the slowest plugin takes in this simple threaded attempt.

Test with the next build please. Working on some known glitches at the moment I want to be solved as well. Next build isn't far away since I now have my work notebook setup with all the compiler stuff.

Edit: what the heck, I upload a new build in a few minutes, so you guys can check if the treading approach works.

 

[Scythe42]

Added Build #9 to the 1st thread:

Changes:

• upgraded build to be used with 1.3.0 RC
• added threaded loading of plugins (experimental)
• updated mouse cursor handling to fix imbalances not caused by MP core
• some minor glitches corrected

Focus testing on:

• always check the half/full screen issue
• refresh rate changer - MP should not be minimized by it
• startup time / stability of threaded plugin loading
• any other glitches or issues
• black screen after splashscreen (for @infiteLoop)
• anything that doesn't work compared top stock 1.3.0 RC

Pls attach debug logs and other stuff as needed.

 

[Scythe42]

It took 29.51 seconds. So reducing that by 60% would be really great. Hope we can test it soon =). Would also be interessting what the times are on other systems that are in use and not just a clean install.

Can you provide some logs. Really interested what plugin takes so long. Only know such stuff on ION based system with poor IO performance in general.

 

[Lightning303]

It took 29.51 seconds. So reducing that by 60% would be really great. Hope we can test it soon =). Would also be interessting what the times are on other systems that are in use and not just a clean install.

Can you provide some logs. Really interested what plugin takes so long. Only know such stuff on ION based system with poor IO performance in general.

sure, here you go.
i tried you version 9. however i get an error msg about tvplugin not compatible with this version. attached screenshot, log is quite small.

2013-03-04 01:58:12.761623 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Main: MediaPortal v1.3.0.0 is starting up on Windows 7 ( Service Pack 1 ) [6.1.7601.65536]
2013-03-04 01:58:12.765623 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Build: 1.3.0.0
2013-03-04 01:58:12.769624 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Main: Last install from WindowsUpdate is dated 2012-10-24 14:23:11
2013-03-04 01:58:12.771624 [Debug][MPMain(1)]: Disabling process window ghosting
2013-03-04 01:58:12.773624 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Main: Using Directories:
2013-03-04 01:58:12.776624 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Base - C:\Program Files (x86)\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal
2013-03-04 01:58:12.779624 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Log - C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\Log
2013-03-04 01:58:12.781624 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Skin - C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\Skin
2013-03-04 01:58:12.784625 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Language - C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\Language
2013-03-04 01:58:12.786625 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Database -
2013-03-04 01:58:12.789625 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Plugins - C:\Program Files (x86)\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\Plugins
2013-03-04 01:58:12.791625 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Thumbs - C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\Thumbs
2013-03-04 01:58:12.794625 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Cache - C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\Cache
2013-03-04 01:58:12.796625 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Weather - C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\skin\Default\Media\Weather
2013-03-04 01:58:12.799625 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Config - C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal
2013-03-04 01:58:12.802626 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Main: Assembly creation time: 04.03.2013 00:51:58 (UTC)
2013-03-04 01:58:12.806626 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Main: Set current directory to: C:\Program Files (x86)\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal
2013-03-04 01:58:12.809626 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Loading selected language: English
2013-03-04 01:58:12.844628 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Loading localized Strings - Path: C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\Language Culture: en  Language: English Prefix: False
2013-03-04 01:58:12.854629 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Loading strings file: strings_en.xml
2013-03-04 01:58:12.986636 [Debug][MPMain(1)]: ExtendedChars = False:False, StringChars = 0
2013-03-04 01:58:13.033639 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Main: Skin is Titan using theme Skin default
2013-03-04 01:58:13.039639 [Debug][MPMain(1)]: Main: Wait for TV service requested. Checking if installed...
2013-03-04 01:58:13.042639 [Debug][MPMain(1)]: Main: TV service found. Checking status...
2013-03-04 01:58:13.046640 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: Main: TV service is in status Running - proceeding...
2013-03-04 01:58:13.049640 [Debug][MPMain(1)]: Main: Checking prerequisites
2013-03-04 01:58:13.052640 [Debug][MPMain(1)]: Main: Verifying DirectX 9
2013-03-04 01:58:13.082642 [Debug][SplashScreen(3)]: FullScreenSplash: Splashscreen.xml found: C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\Skin\Titan\splashscreen.xml
2013-03-04 01:58:13.086642 [Debug][SplashScreen(3)]: FullScreenSplash: Try to load background image value found: C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\Skin\Titan\media\splashscreen.png
2013-03-04 01:58:13.161646 [Debug][SplashScreen(3)]: FullScreenSplash: background image successfully loaded: C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\Skin\Titan\media\splashscreen.png
2013-03-04 01:58:13.165646 [Debug][SplashScreen(3)]: FullScreenSplash: Textsize value found: 26
2013-03-04 01:58:13.168647 [Debug][SplashScreen(3)]: FullScreenSplash: Textsize successfully set: 26
2013-03-04 01:58:13.171647 [Debug][SplashScreen(3)]: FullScreenSplash: TextColor value found: Color [A=255, R=255, G=255, B=255]
2013-03-04 01:58:13.175647 [Debug][SplashScreen(3)]: FullScreenSplash: TextColor successfully set: Color [A=255, R=255, G=255, B=255]
2013-03-04 01:58:13.179647 [Info.][SplashScreen(3)]: Version: Application 1.3.0.0 RC
2013-03-04 02:01:43.360135 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: TvPlugin and MediaPortal don't have the same version.
Please update the older component to the same version as the newer one.
MediaPortal Version: 1.3.0.0
TvPlugin	Version: 1.2.300.0

 

[Scythe42]

Strange that is shows version 1.2.3. Don't know when we updated the version numbers though.

For testing you can also remove it from the plugins folder temporarily.

Compiled one and attached it. Will include it starting with the next build.

Edit: remove attachment, and uploaded new build to first post.

 

[Lightning303]

Tried it with the new TVPlugin and with deleting it completly. However i get stuck on the splashscreen with the "Starting plugins..." msg.

 

[Scythe42]

Looks like the starting of "MediaPortal.Plugins.Process.PowerSchedulerClientPlugin" doesn't come back. At least there is no line in the log indicating that the starting it was completed. Cannot tell you why at the moment as I cannot reproduce it.

Could you please disable the plugin for testing purposes? Just to see if it is the one for which MP is waiting.

 

[Lightning303]

Looks like the starting of "MediaPortal.Plugins.Process.PowerSchedulerClientPlugin" doesn't come back. At least there is no line in the log indicating that the starting it was completed. Cannot tell you why at the moment as I cannot reproduce it.

Could you please disable the plugin for testing purposes? Just to see if it is the one for which MP is waiting.

That did the trick Startup is down to 19.24sec.
Im off to bed now. Can do some more tests tomorrow if you need them .

 

[Scythe42]

Will check tomorrow what's with the plugin and if it requires special handling. Need to find out how to reproduce it.

Also I noticed that not a lot of worker threads are available on your system. MP can use four worker threads for all the plugins on your system. Let me guess: two core CPU, right?

I am not requesting more worker threads intentionally at the moment and let Windows handle it. The default minimum worker threads equals available hardware threads. This is usually number or cores * 2 (read hyper-threading). That's a good default, unless you have a ton of background tasks!

But I doubt the plugins are maxing out your system in regards to IO or CPU. Can you check your CPU/IO usage during startup please?

Windows itself will only add one additional worker thread every two seconds once it entered a managed thread pool state and removes them as well. So we need to increase the initial number of threads for a better performance. We do not reach a threshold where Windows thread pool management kicks in. Windows caps work thread at 250 worker threads per hardware-thread as a default.

When I use 32 threads instead of the default 8 on my system, plugin loading takes 1.3 instead of 1.4 seconds. Yeah just 0.1 seconds, but that is the just the delay MP is waiting for new worker threads on my system.

And please note: I have in an "clean install" - no long running threads (read > 500ms). You, in a production system have huge waiting times (several seconds on occasions). I might be too optimistic here, but by just reducing the wait time it should be possible to get you < 10 seconds.