everything stutters in MP, but plays fine without MP (1 Viewer)

[snatz]

Hi all,

TV/Movies/TV-Series don't play constantly well in MediaPortal 1.1.3 here. It stutters now and then, sometimes very very much. I have Streamed MP as skin.

After this I tried codecs (K-Lite/SAF4/SAF502/SAF6) but that didn't help.

About TV, it happens with MP TV-Server and 4TR Argus as well. Didn't make any difference.

Also did a fresh install, new Win7, formatted disk etc. Problem still not solved.

When I close MP and play things (Movies, TV-Series etc.) just in Windows Media Player for instance, there is no stutter/flickering at all. Plays all nice, no probs then.

Therefore my conclusion is that MediaPortal is doing "something" while it's playing movies or timeshifting TV. Is there a way to figure out what that causes unsteady playing? Is MP doing something heavy on my harddrive? Is it eating too much CPU or memory? Is there internet behaviour? Where can I get this kind of info?

My specs: Dualcore machine with 8GB memory, Windows 7 x64 with all updates/service packs. MP 1.1.3. FTR 1.6.0.0. Sapphire HD 4550 512MB, latest drivers, WD Caviar Green 2TB hdd.

 

[wonkyd]

Try this:

Remove all installed codecs/codec packs.

Restart

Download these filters LAV Filters - DirectShow Media Splitter and Decoders - Doom9's Forum with the download link http://files.1f0.de/lavf/LAVFilters-0.33.exe. Make sure that you configure MediaPortal to use the LAV codecs, see the Wiki configuring codecs if your not sure on how to do this.

 

[snatz]

the LAV filters didn't help

 

[mm1352000]

Hi snatz

There are many things that could cause stutter:
- the HDD
- codecs
- CPU overloaded
- video card overloaded (postprocessing, HD, deinterlacing etc.)
- heat
- splitter/TsReader problem

Can you please first post logs using the watchdog so that we can see exactly what is going on with MP:

1. Find the "debug mode" link in the "Team MediaPortal" folder in your start menu and start it.
2. Select the first option "report a bug...".
3. Click proceed.
4. Reproduce the problem.
5. Close MP. This will trigger the watchdog to create a zip file containing all your logs.
6. Post the zip file here (instructions are in the watchdog link above if you need them).

Also, please check the CPU and HDD usage when the stuttering is occurring and report it back to us. For HDD use the activity light on your PC case as an indicator. For CPU, use the task manager (ctrl+alt+del) - you may need to switch to windowed mode (alt+enter) in order to view task manager while using MP.

mm

 

[snatz]

I did step 1-3.
But when MP then starts and I click on TV nothing happens (comes back in menu again). Same for Videos.
Is there a way to watch TV and watch a movie in debug mode?

Temperatures (in BIOS) say: CPU 41°C, MB=33°C

While watching TV (MP+FTR) this is the most annoying to watch
CPU use (processes): 15% with somestimes ups to over 30%
CPU use (services): 1% with sometimes peeks to 12%
Mem use: 1,45GB (17%)
HDD use: 0-2 MB/Sec

While watching a movie (Moving Pictures) it plays well but sometimes stutters
CPU use (processes): 26%, with very sometimes peaks rising up to 80%
CPU use (services): 1%-12% with peaks now and then to above 50%
Mem use: 1,40GB (17%)
HDD use: 1 MB/Sec

The CPU uses are not straight steady but going up and down all the time, is that normal?

In BIOS I have Cool & Quiet disabled and C1E disabled. I have no power saving settings in Win7 so my HTPC can function optimal.

I have no realtime virusscanner or something which is causing trouble. HDD disk is NFTS formatted. No scheduled defragmentation on, no windows indexing.

In Control Panel advanced system settings do I have to set processor performance best for programs or best for background services? Both MP doesn't play 100% well.

 

[mm1352000]

I did step 1-3.
But when MP then starts and I click on TV nothing happens (comes back in menu again). Same for Videos.
Is there a way to watch TV and watch a movie in debug mode?

That is strange - TV and videos should work fine in debug mode. Can we have the logs even though the TV doesn't work.

Temperatures (in BIOS) say: CPU 41°C, MB=33°C

While watching TV (MP+FTR) this is the most annoying to watch
CPU use (processes): 15% with somestimes ups to over 30%
CPU use (services): 1% with sometimes peeks to 12%
Mem use: 1,45GB (17%)
HDD use: 0-2 MB/Sec

While watching a movie (Moving Pictures) it plays well but sometimes stutters
CPU use (processes): 26%, with very sometimes peaks rising up to 80%
CPU use (services): 1%-12% with peaks now and then to above 50%
Mem use: 1,40GB (17%)
HDD use: 1 MB/Sec

So to clarify: the stutters only occur when viewing in MovingPictures?

The CPU uses are not straight steady but going up and down all the time, is that normal?

For me it is within a 5 - 10% range all the time. Changes of 50% like you're seeing... I would say that is a symptom of the problem.

In BIOS I have Cool & Quiet disabled and C1E disabled. I have no power saving settings in Win7 so my HTPC can function optimal.

I have no realtime virusscanner or something which is causing trouble. HDD disk is NFTS formatted. No scheduled defragmentation on, no windows indexing.

In Control Panel advanced system settings do I have to set processor performance best for programs or best for background services? Both MP doesn't play 100% well.

All is fine there.

What we really need now is the logs to find out why video and TV don't work in debug mode.

mm

 

[snatz]

I think I know why.

For TV I use the 4 The Record plugins and for videos I use the Moving Pictures plugin.
When MP enters debug mode looks like it doesn't start all plugins. It also doesn't start the StreamedMP skin I use.
It's sort of a undressed version of MP.

Which logs do you need and is there a way to find/get them without using debug mode?

--

Meanwhile I will enable videos instead of Moving Pictures en will analyze moviequality.
I will also setup watching TV with MP TV-Server instead of 4TR and look if that stutters too.

 

[mbuzina]

You should use debug mode (use option 2 to keep your plugins online).

 

[snatz]

I started MP in debug mode watching TV and there was many blocky stuttering as always (no matter if I use codecs or not), however the screen didn't freeze this time.
The logfile is attached to this reply. Hope you can find something suspicious.

I did some CPU monitoring today as well, hope you guys can analyze and judge this is normal or not:

The above pic is playing a movie by Moving Pictures.
As you see there are some sudden small CPU peaks sometimes.

The above pic is playing a movie in Videos. Overall result was exactly the same as playing via Moving Pictures.

The above pic is playing a movie using MP with 4TR Plugin (Argus tuner).
CPU use isn't 100% constantly as well.
While watching I noticed the peaks are not in staight relation with the stutters!
On low CPU moments there was blocky stuttering as well.

 

[snatz]

Did a new install and scanned new channels. Still the same.

TV-screen freezes after a shot while. Logs included.