Multiple crashes and lots of dropped frames with HD pay-tv (1 Viewer)

[Motionaddict]

MediaPortal Version: 1.2.0 beta
MediaPortal Skin: default
Windows Version: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1
CPU Type: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200
HDD: Western Digital Caviar RE2-GP 500GB SATA
Memory: 4 x Kingston HyperX 1024MB (1GB) 800MHZ DDR2
Motherboard: MSI P45 NEO-F
Video Card: Asus EAH3650 SILENT MAGIC/HTDP/512M ATI
Video Card Driver: Catalyst 11.2
Sound Card:
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card: AnySee E30 Combo
1. TV Card Type: DVB-C
1. TV Card Driver:
2. TV Card: TerraTec Cinergy C PCI HD
2. TV Card Type: DVB-C
2. TV Card Driver: 1.01.02.501
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: SAF5.01
MPEG2 Audio Codec: ffdshow
h.264 Video Codec: PowerDVD 10
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case: Thermaltake DH101
Cooling:
Power Supply:
Remote:
TV: SONY BRAVIA KDL46W4000
TV - HTPC Connection: DVI - HDMI


Hi!
After taking the CAM into use on my Terratec Cinergy C receiver to view some HD pay channels I just ordered from my tv-operator I have had lots of problems to get the system stable again. I've had plenty of blue-screens, Media Poirtal crashes and a lot of stuttering and dropped frames on the new channels. Tuning to the new pay-tv HD channels is very slow and mostly the image stutters for a long time before it settles. In the TV Server error logs I have System Exceptions and stuff like " at TvService.TimeShifter.IsTimeShifting(IUser& user)MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlException: Unable to connect to any of the specified MySQL hosts. ---> System.Exception: Exception of type 'System.Exception' was thrown."

Has anyone experienced similar problems and could give me some advice how to improve my system and get it stable again? I would be extremely thankful if someone could have a look at the attached logs to see if something obvious could be noticeable. They are from two consecutive MediaPortal crashes.

Thanks! BTW Awesome work, guys!

 

[Motionaddict]

Update: some progress, the strange MySQL errors have not occured since monday. Yet there are still loads of problems with the HD channels and the CAM module. Sometimes tuning to one of the pay-tv channels I get a "channel is encrypted" notification, then tuning to another channel and back may solve the issue. The image on many of the HD channels has loads of dropped frames and microstuttering, also some corruption and pixelation without framedrops. This happens way too often at the moment (about every 20-30seconds or so) so there definitely is still some work to be done in my settings/hardware before the image is at a satisfacotry level. I will try the modified dsshowhelper from another thread and play around with different codecs. My SD channels work just fine, the stuttering only occurs on the HD channels. It may also be that I'll need to update my graphics card (ASUS 3650 HD Silent), but on the other hand even full HD .mkv material work flawlessly. Also I'm missing the EPG data on a few channels, maybe webEPG or something might help me there...
Anyway, any suggestions on optimal codecs/settings for HD-tv or other tips how to find out where the bottlenecks in my system are would be highly appreciated!

 

[tourettes]

Aren't all DVB-C providers using CI+?

 

[Motionaddict]

Aren't all DVB-C providers using CI+?

My provider offers both CI+ and CIv1 modules. I have a CIv1 module with the pay-tv card linked to the module. The Terratec Cinergy HD+CI has a CAM reader for such a combo. CI+ would not work with my current setup.

 

[jameson_uk]

could you just check your database
Open up a command prompt (as admin if Vista / Win7)
navigate to MySQL Bin folder (is C:\\Program Files\\MySQL\\MySQL Server 5.1\\bin for me) and enter

mysqlcheck --user=root --pass=MediaPortal --auto-repair MPTVDB

 

[Motionaddict]

Hi again! After a lot of experimenting and complete reinstall of the system I finally have all the wanted HD channels visible and tunable, but I have a massive problem with the system being very unstable.
I seem to get repeated crashes (BSOD) with BAD_POOL_CALLER, STOP 0x000000C2 when watching or recording certain channels, it usually happens around 10-20mins after starting the recording/live tv. This happens ONLY on HD pay channels linked through the CI module on the Terratec Cinergy C. It is a tvserver problem since it happens also during recordings with MP off. In the latest logs it happened on 16.5.2011 at 20:04 (MP closed, recording ongoing) and at 23:57 (during live-tv watching). In these zipped logs I wasn't able to find anything clear, but in an older tvserver_error.log I found a bunch of error messages that might be related, please see the attachment. Since this file is already a couple of days old I unfortunately cannot confirm the actual times of the crashes in that specific log. I will try to get some better logs if these logs don't show anything that could lead to the core of this problem.
I am deeply grateful for any help on this issue.

 

[Motionaddict]

Another update: I did a lot of testing but the problems with the pay-HD channels remain. When I tune to the encypted HD channels it tunes ok and works for some time, but then about 20-40minutes later the image just goes black, subtitles may still run for a while but the image and sound disappear. Stopping the graph and retuning to the same channel works again until the next freeze.

When recording from these channels the recording runs ok for a while but then again after some time gets interrupted by either a blue screen failure (BAD_POOL_CALLER) or the recording just ends without the tvserver noticing it. In the later case the recordings show the wanted lenght in the recording folder, but when watching them they are cut short after 10-40 minutes. In case of a blue screen crash the lenght in the recording folder shows 0:00, but again a recording of around 10-40 minutes exists.

Obviously this problem is related to the CAM and CI-module with the linked program card from my cable provider. Could it be that in the transmitted encrypted stream something changes every now and then which makes MP flip? I'm guessing this since watching these channels live gives these random freezes, but stopping the graph and retuning to the same channel works...
Is there any way to overcome this problem? All FTA channels including some HD channels work just fine, so it's just these 8 pay-HD channels that are causing this problem.

I attach logs with a multitude of these events happening:

18.05.2011
7:18 recording started, was supposed to last 41:00, actual recording is only 14:19, although in the recording folder it shows the wanted duration - loads of weird activity in the TsWriter log around 07:32 when the recording failed.

8:23 recording started, was supposed to last 1:46:00, actual recording is only 30:25, although in the recording folder it shows the wanted duration - nothing in the log, it didn't even notice the recording failed

10:38 recording started, was supposed to last 1:06:00, actual recording is only 20:52, although in the recording folder it shows the wanted duration, here in the log there are error lines at the point where the recording failed like:
18-05-2011 10:59:15.243 Recorder: Pid 9db , No PayLoad, Continuity Counter should be the same ! c ( prev 6 )

19:23 recording started, ended with bluescreen crash 13:54 minutes later, recording lenght show 0 in recording folder but is actually 13:54 long. - nothing in the TsWriter log
23:04 live tv-freezes but recovers after stopping graph and retuning to same channel - the freeze ends at with this line in the TsWriter log:
18-05-2011 23:04:45.149 CDiskRecorder::Flush() - Throttle to 32336 bytes (max)
23:23 the same again (another recording on a FTA channel starts on the other receiver)
18-05-2011 23:23:09.418 Recorder: RECORD Info : Next broadcaster program clock reference rollover : 0 days 18:00:55 0

19.05.2011
1:23 recording ends very quickly resulting in a BSOD
5:13 recording starts and suprisingly a 1:06:00 long show is only 2 minutes shorter than it's supposed to be. Here the tswriter.log has a error line: Recorder Pid 9dd , No PayLoad, Continuity Counter should be the same ! 7 ( prev 9 )

I would be extremely thankful for any input/suggestions how to solve this problem!

 

[tourettes]

When you are getting BSOD it is 99% sure that the reason is the HW or drivers of the DVB card. I would first check a driver update and if not available or helping then checking with other DVB software that does the same channel + CI combo trigger the same issue.

 

[Motionaddict]

When you are getting BSOD it is 99% sure that the reason is the HW or drivers of the DVB card. I would first check a driver update and if not available or helping then checking with other DVB software that does the same channel + CI combo trigger the same issue.

The drivers should be the latest ones. I also re-installed the drivers suspecting the same problem, but to no avail. I will check with Terratec own software if the problem persists there.

Thank you!

 

[mm1352000]

Hi Motionaddict

I agree with Tourettes...

18.05.2011
7:18 recording started, was supposed to last 41:00, actual recording is only 14:19, although in the recording folder it shows the wanted duration - loads of weird activity in the TsWriter log around 07:32 when the recording failed.

That is not "weird" - it is simply you starting to watch "Sanoma Television Oy Nelonen HD".

8:23 recording started, was supposed to last 1:46:00, actual recording is only 30:25, although in the recording folder it shows the wanted duration - nothing in the log, it didn't even notice the recording failed

This makes me suspicious that the CAM just stops decrypting -> recording fails.

10:38 recording started, was supposed to last 1:06:00, actual recording is only 20:52, although in the recording folder it shows the wanted duration, here in the log there are error lines at the point where the recording failed like:
18-05-2011 10:59:15.243 Recorder: Pid 9db , No PayLoad, Continuity Counter should be the same ! c ( prev 6 )

Those messages indicate that the stream is no longer being received by TV Server (TsWriter).

19:23 recording started, ended with bluescreen crash 13:54 minutes later, recording lenght show 0 in recording folder but is actually 13:54 long. - nothing in the TsWriter log

BSODs clearly indicate driver issues.

23:04 live tv-freezes but recovers after stopping graph and retuning to same channel - the freeze ends at with this line in the TsWriter log:
18-05-2011 23:04:45.149 CDiskRecorder::Flush() - Throttle to 32336 bytes (max)

The freeze isn't ending with that line - that line is just a normal part of what happens when you tune a channel. In this case it is a part of you retuning the same channel.

18-05-2011 23:23:09.418 Recorder: RECORD Info : Next broadcaster program clock reference rollover : 0 days 18:00:55 0

That is normal.

19.05.2011
1:23 recording ends very quickly resulting in a BSOD

Driver issue again.

5:13 recording starts and suprisingly a 1:06:00 long show is only 2 minutes shorter than it's supposed to be. Here the tswriter.log has a error line: Recorder Pid 9dd , No PayLoad, Continuity Counter should be the same ! 7 ( prev 9 )

Again, TV Server can't record anything if the stream is not being passed by the tuner driver and CI/CAM...