channel change very slow (1 Viewer)

kevin939

Portal Pro
June 16, 2007
141
3
Home Country
United Kingdom United Kingdom
MediaPortal Version: 1.1.3
MediaPortal Skin: blue3 wide
Windows Version: vista SP2
CPU Type: Intel E4500
HDD: samsung 2TB
Memory: 2G ddr2 PC-6400
Motherboard: Dell inspiron 530
Video Card: ati 4450
Video Card Driver: 11.4
Sound Card: ati 5450
Sound Card AC3: ATI 5450
Sound Card Driver: 11.4
1. TV Card: TBS 6891
1. TV Card Type: DVB-S2
1. TV Card Driver: 2.0.0.19
2. TV Card: Peak
2. TV Card Type: DVB-T
2. TV Card Driver: latest
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: ffdshow
MPEG2 Audio Codec: ffdshow
h.264 Video Codec: ffdshow
Satelite/CableTV Provider: Astra
HTPC Case: Fujitsu Scaleo (suitably dremelled)
Cooling: silent fans
Power Supply: 250W
Remote: generic MCE compatible
TV: panasonic 1080p plasma
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI


Having upgraded my htpc I noticed that the time to change channels is VERY slow - slower than the previous htpc. I put this down to the new cards but each with their own tv application change quickly.

The logs are attached and the sequence starts with:

2011-08-07 16:36:27.972009 [(21)]: Controller: find free card for channel Dave

and then shows

2011-08-07 16:36:29.412009 [(21)]: AdvancedCardAllocation.GetAvailableCardsForChannel took 1441 msec

but more or less immediatlythe log shows

2011-08-07 16:36:31.192009 [(21)]: AdvancedCardAllocation.GetAvailableCardsForChannel took 1458 msec

and then

2011-08-07 16:36:33.410009 [(21)]: AdvancedCardAllocation.GetAvailableCardsForChannel took 1552 msec

finally the card is locked on as

2011-08-07 16:36:44.495009 [(21)]: card: Tuner locked: True

around 8 seconds.........

looking back through the logs and saw similar things for dave earlier. For BBC HD (on the other card) its even worse....

2011-08-07 15:20:15.301609 [(25)]: Controller: find free card for channel BBC One HD

and locked on

2011-08-07 15:20:42.232609 [(25)]: card: Tuner locked: True

around 27 seconds. I suspect the card isn't helping as it took 10 seconds but till

Tuning ITV HD is better

2011-08-07 15:14:59.089609 [(24)]: Controller: find free card for channel ITV1 HD
2011-08-07 15:15:22.706609 [(24)]: card: Tuner locked: True

around 22s


Any help much appreciated

cheers
 

mm1352000

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  • September 1, 2008
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    Hi kevin939

    Please attach the *full* set of logs so we can take a look. The log fragments that you've given aren't much use for diagnosing the problem, which is why it is mandatory to post logs for support threads and bug reports (rules -->here<--, a sticky on every support and bug report section) - please remember that for the future. :)

    Posting logs is *really* easy if you use the watchdog. There is full information in our wiki -->here<--. Just start MP using the debug mode shortcut in your start menu (use option 1 - report a bug to Team MediaPortal), do a few channel changes to show typical change times (no more than 5 changes please), then close MP. A zip file of all your logs which you can attach here will be automatically created. Note: the watchdog only grabs TV Server logs on a single-seat install, so if you have a dedicated TV Server then either reproduce the problem on the TV Server or zip up the entire TV Server log folder and post that here.

    Cheers,
    mm
     

    Twinturbo

    Portal Pro
    March 29, 2009
    85
    2
    Home Country
    Sweden Sweden
    I have the same problem with my Twinhan DVB-S2 card.
    Have posted logs a couple of times before, but the crew told me it was not a bug, so now I do not have the time or energy to argue :(

    Older version of mediaportal was a lot quicker in channel changing. Something has happened with the new TS code, I think.
    As you say, other TV applications change channel within a second, but MP takes up to 25 seconds sometimes...
     

    kevin939

    Portal Pro
    June 16, 2007
    141
    3
    Home Country
    United Kingdom United Kingdom
    sorry I thought I had - my snippets were my understanding from those logs. Not sure why they didnt make it on the initial post
     

    mm1352000

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    Hi again kevin939

    Something is *seriously* wrong somewhere in your system, and I'm 90% sure it isn't the TV cards. I don't recall ever seeing anything like this before. The first things I'd ask are:
    1. How much CPU and memory is tvservice.exe using according to the task manager?
    2. How hard is your CPU working when MP and TV Server are running?
    3. How hard is your HDD working when running MP/TV Server?
    4. What system priority have you assigned to TV Server (see the "TVService Priority" field in the "general" section of TV Server configuration - here)?

    Note the you will probably need to run MediaPortal in windowed mode (use alt+enter to switch between window and full screen) so that you can check the stats in task manager.

    Just on a hunch, could you please disable both the idle and timeshifting EPG grabbers and see if that makes any difference.

    mm
     

    mm1352000

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    @Twinturbo
    I have the same problem with my Twinhan DVB-S2 card.
    I have looked back at some of your older logs, and at this stage I would say you very clearly do *not* have the same problem. Your problem is related to Twinhan drivers, CI handling, or possibly even your CAM... which is what you were told by other people in the past. The problem raised by kevin939 has nothing to do with Twinhan cards or CAMs...

    Have posted logs a couple of times before, but the crew told me it was not a bug, so now I do not have the time or energy to argue :(
    If you don't have the time or energy to argue then I'm confused why you're posting. I'm happy to *try* and help, but I obviously can't help you if you don't want to try.

    mm
     

    Twinturbo

    Portal Pro
    March 29, 2009
    85
    2
    Home Country
    Sweden Sweden
    @Twinturbo
    I have the same problem with my Twinhan DVB-S2 card.
    I have looked back at some of your older logs, and at this stage I would say you very clearly do *not* have the same problem. Your problem is related to Twinhan drivers, CI handling, or possibly even your CAM... which is what you were told by other people in the past. The problem raised by kevin939 has nothing to do with Twinhan cards or CAMs...

    Have posted logs a couple of times before, but the crew told me it was not a bug, so now I do not have the time or energy to argue :(
    If you don't have the time or energy to argue then I'm confused why you're posting. I'm happy to *try* and help, but I obviously can't help you if you don't want to try.

    mm

    So what should I do to fix the problem?

    I have tried every driver since 1.4 and there is no big change between them.
    The card works just fine in ProgDVB and change channels within a second there.
     

    kevin939

    Portal Pro
    June 16, 2007
    141
    3
    Home Country
    United Kingdom United Kingdom
    thanks for the fast response

    while watching BBC (NOT HD)
    1. How much CPU and memory is tvservice.exe using according to the task manager?
    from task manager
    private working set 65M
    Commit size 110M


    2. How hard is your CPU working when MP and TV Server are running?
    using perfmon -
    MP ~27% split user/priv 80:20
    tv service ~7% split user/priv ~50:50
    but CPU running at 54% frequency


    3. How hard is your HDD working when running MP/TV Server?
    using perfmon
    disc C is where the time shift is
    writes ~ 500K/s
    reads ~ 0K/

    4. What system priority have you assigned to TV Server (see the "TVService Priority" field in the "general" section of TV Server configuration)
    normal - the default


    small update - ITS THE COMODO VIRUS SCANNER

    I don't know what's being scanned but turning it off means switching channels is back to my old htpc speed (that had AVG)

    Have added various exclusions (.ts, timeshift buffer directory, allusers/teammediaportal) but to no avail

    Would try HD channels but DVB-S card has gone walk about - AGAIN (not impressed by my TBS 6891 card)

    will reboot and check HD

    well the problem is definitely to do with COMODO.
    Regardless of mode (on access, stateful) and what files are excluded, if COMODO is on then channel switching is SLOW for SD & HD channels

    looks like its an un-install of COMODO and a reinstall of AVG - at least the antivirus

    thanks for the help

    cheers

    just to confirm - COMODO out, AVG in - behaves nicely
     

    mm1352000

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    Cheers kevin939 for reporting the solution. I have Samsung 2TB drives myself, and they do seem to get a little bogged down if other software is using them. Let me know if I can be of more assistance with the satellite tuners...

    mm
    :)
     

    mm1352000

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    Twinturbo:
    So what should I do to fix the problem?
    Post clean logs for the client and server showing a maximum of 5 channel changes. If you're running a single-seat install then use the watchdog to gather the logs.
     

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