Packared Bell Reciver With MP Problem (1 Viewer)

[holtzi]

MediaPortal Version: 0.2.0.4
Windows Version: XP SP2 MCE 2005
CPU Type:1600MHZ
HDD: 80GB
Memory: 512MB
Motherboard: ASUS
Motherboard Chipset:
Motherboard Bios:
Video Card: NVIDIA 128MB
Video Card Driver:
Sound Card:
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card:
1. TV Card Type:
1. TV Card Driver:
2. TV Card:
2. TV Card Type:
2. TV Card Driver:
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:
MPEG2 Audio Codec:
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case:
Cooling:
Power Supply:
Remote: Packard Bell FastMedia Remote Control
TV:
TV - HTPC Connection:
Hi, I have beet using MP for seversal months. I have a porblem with my remote. its a simple IR reciver that is connected to the COM1 Serial Port.
I am using Grider 3.3 to control the remote. the remote responds very well, but the problem was every time I tried to navigate, or push a botton when a song or movie was played there was a delay in the song or movie (Like a scrached CD). when I stop pressing the botton, its ok again. I thought the problem might be the grider program, so I Installed WinLIRC, Disaabled Grider and installed the PlugIn. the WinLIRC recognises my remote signals when MP is not loaded, but when MP is loaded it rarely recognizes a signal. my last try was to use WinLIRC through Grider, the same problem occured again. it rarly recognizes a signal.
for conclusion:
Remote->Grider->MP - delays MP
Remote->Grider - works fine
Remote->WinLIRC->MP - rarly recognises a signal
Remote->WinLIRC - works fine
Remote->WinLIRC->Grider->MP - rarly recognises a signal
Remote->WinLIRC->Grider - works fine.

I thoght the problem was priority of WinLIRC, but in the task Manager it was on "RealTime".

:sorry: for the spell errors..

Thanks

 

[z3gator]

Re: Packard Bell Receiver with MP Problem

Hi, I've been using a similar setup with MP for ages now, and I've not had any problems with it. I am using the PB IR receiver with a universal remote and running WinLIRC 0.6.5 with the AutoHotkey WinLIRC.ahk script (mostly, just to allow me to start/stop MP with the remote, as I also need to change some display settings since MP always uses the primary display, but I typically run with my LCD as primary and TV as secondary) and the MP WinLIRC plugin.

First, if you haven't already done so, you can enable debugging in the MP WinLIRC plugin (Enable plugin logging checkbox is on the main setup tab for the plugin configuration) -- the logfile is named winlirc.log and should be located in the same directory as the WinLIRC3.dll (i.e. under plugins/process). Also, can you notice whether the WinLIRC tray icon flashes green when you send an IRC signal, which would at least tell you whether the signal was received by WinLIRC. Then, you can check the plugin logfile to see if it received the notification and whether it sent it along to MP.

Hopefully, this will at least give you some clues as to where things are breaking down...

 

[holtzi]

Also, can you notice whether the WinLIRC tray icon flashes green when you send an IRC signal, which would at least tell you whether the signal was received by WinLIRC. ...

First of all, thanks for the reply
I have looked on the green icon... it rarly flashes when MP is on. but works fine when MP is off. I dont think there is a 2 sided comunication between WinLIRC Plugin and WinLIRC. I think the Plugin just transmits the signal it regocnises by the WinLIRC to signals the MP understands... But maybe I am wrong.

I think the problem is the operationg system fails to devide the resourses correctly between the running aplications... with WinLIRC it gives it too little and with Grider it gives too much... and again, I could be wrong.

Have you tried to work through grider too?
can you send your configuration file from WinLIRC?
what kind of HW do you have in your computer?

Thanks

 

[z3gator]

Sorry for the slow response -- I expected to be notified when this thread was updated (I wasn't thinking about the recent forum changes; I need to go look at the options to see if there is an auto-watch option for threads where I respond).

Anyway, from what you describe, I think you're probably experiencing a performance problem, and I don't have a lot of performance tuning knowledge. I do think it's worth looking at the most obvious things: disk fragmentation (especially of the page file -- SysInternals provides a handy utility called pagedfrg) and take a look at the CPU, paging, and memory utilization (you can use the windows task manager, or another SysInternals utility, Process Explorer) to see if there appear to be any glaring problems.

My hardware is significantly different from yours: I have a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 with 2GB memory (a recent change, and my 1GB setup was fine), running Win XP SP2.

I have also used girder successfully with this system, but I moved away from that because the older free version I had was fairly buggy (sorry, I don't recall the version number) and was overkill for what I wanted to accomplish anyway -- I really only use my remote for MP, so I was happier with the AutoHotkey/WinLIRC/MP setup.