possible info on freeze problem (1 Viewer)

[cewillis]

MediaPortal Version: 1.1.0.0
MediaPortal Skin: Blue3
Windows Version: Xp Sp3
CPU Type: Intel Core I3
HDD: WD 1 TB
Memory: 4 GB
Motherboard: Intel DH57DD
Video Card: none -- on chip
Video Card Driver:
Sound Card: on MB
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card: Hauppauge HVR 2250
1. TV Card Type: Dual Hybrid
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:
h.264 Video Codec:
Satelite/CableTV Provider: Western Broadband
HTPC Case: nMedia 1080P
Cooling:
Power Supply: Antec 450 (old spare)
Remote: HAMA clone
TV: Sony 46 LCD
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI

I previously posted about a similar problem discussed here https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/bugreports-74/mediaportal-freezes-up-after-long-period-inactivity-85669/
Including this

I have no TV guide grab done by MP at all - none. It's all off line. I get MS 'legacy' guide data off line, and import it using the XmlTV plugin.
I have never had a problem recoding numerous TV shows, often 2 at a time using my dual hybrid tuner. Sometimes two different set of shows.
I have also tried numerous cycles on manual standby and resume, with no problem.
I also discovered that if I change MP from full screen to window, or vica versa, it frees MP to again respond to remote control input -- until I try to watch live TV again, then it freezes again.
What I have been doing is setting the htpc to record sometime later, then Power Scheduler puts it in standby after 3 minutes,
resumes to start recording 2 minutes before the next scheduled show, then puts it back in standby.
I do not get the problem every time. It can be 3 (or more?) days sometimes, with no problem.
​

I have been getting the problem after resume when the computer has been on standby overnight., even before I started using xmlTV. Then I click the 'TV on' button for live TV.
, and MP freezes. Since I don't care about watching live TV on this system, but do care about watching recorded TV shows, this time I immediately tried to watch one of the recorded shows -- and MP freezes. Unresponsive to any input.

As mentioned before I have MP set to 'restart on resume', and TVserver set to reinitialize on wakeup. I also have the 'work around to prevent freezes' set.

On the slim chance that xmlTV is involved, I have disabled it for now, and will provide more logs if the problem continues.

Other than this major problem, MP is working beautifully. If no solution is forthcoming, can someone recommend a work around procedure? I would like to change from 'install and test' to full time usage.

Thanks,
Cal

On edit: I could not set 'bug' for title prefix.

 

[cewillis]

repeatable freeze on attempted playback -- RESPONSE PLEASE

Repeated the above procedure, but with no xmlTV.
After recording two sets of tv shows overnight, resuming from standby each time to do so, MP freezes the next morning when trying to replay a recording.
What is the problem???
Logs attached.

 

[elliottmc]

Re: repeatable freeze on attempted playback -- RESPONSE PLEASE

Repeated the above procedure, but with no xmlTV.
After recording two sets of tv shows overnight, resuming from standby each time to do so, MP freezes the next morning when trying to replay a recording.
What is the problem???
Logs attached.

So if you do not allow powerscheduler to put the machine into standby, you have no problem, and if you manually put the machine into standby, you also have no problem?

What happens if you add your recording directory as a share in 'my videos' and try to play back the recording from there after standby - does it also have problems, or are there only problems when playing the recording from recorded TV?

I can understand that this is frustrating, but you need to give the team a little time to look into this issue. Not everyone has the expertise to debug all areas of the code, so it might be down to one person. It is also likely that this one person cannot reproduce the problem you are seeing.

Best wishes,

Mark

 

[cewillis]

Re: repeatable freeze on attempted playback -- RESPONSE PLEASE

So if you do not allow powerscheduler to put the machine into standby, you have no problem, and if you manually put the machine into standby, you also have no problem?

What happens if you add your recording directory as a share in 'my videos' and try to play back the recording from there after standby - does it also have problems, or are there only problems when playing the recording from recorded TV?


Best wishes,

Mark

Thanks for the reply.

I haven't tried no standby - but the problem is after standby overnight. My recording schedule is 2 shows at noon, 2 at 5 pm, and 2 at 9 pm, with powerscheduler standby after each 3 minutes of no activity. No problem with playback after noon or 5 -- only after overnight.
This is why I referenced the other freeze thread above -- it might be the same problem. I get freezes also if I try to watch live TV the next morning, but I also get them trying to playback the next morning.
I also mentioned that I can get MP to respond again by changing from full screen to window -- until I again try playback.

Speculation:
As a new user (with experience with other types of software), it looks like the communication link to TVserver is lost.
Is any time interval, or continuing activity requirement, associated with that link (whatever it is)?

I'll try your share suggestion -- if I can discover how to do it.

Cal

In TV Server Configuration > Recording > Folders > Recording Folder: I set the destination to be
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Videos\Shared TV Recordings .

Is that what you had in mind?

btw, how long does it take for a donation to show up?

 

[elliottmc]

Re: repeatable freeze on attempted playback -- RESPONSE PLEASE

I'll try your share suggestion -- if I can discover how to do it.

Cal

In TV Server Configuration > Recording > Folders > Recording Folder: I set the destination to be
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Videos\Shared TV Recordings .

Is that what you had in mind?

No, I was thinking that if you go into Configuration->My Videos and add your recordings directory as a share in there (if it is on a different computer you will of course have to share it in windows) then you can play the recording in 'My Videos' rather than in 'My TV'. The key difference is it does not use the TV server.

Mark

 

[cewillis]

Re: repeatable freeze on attempted playback -- RESPONSE PLEASE

I'll try your share suggestion -- if I can discover how to do it.

Cal

In TV Server Configuration > Recording > Folders > Recording Folder: I set the destination to be
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Videos\Shared TV Recordings .

Is that what you had in mind?

No, I was thinking that if you go into Configuration->My Videos and add your recordings directory as a share in there (if it is on a different computer you will of course have to share it in windows) then you can play the recording in 'My Videos' rather than in 'My TV'. The key difference is it does not use the TV server.

Mark

I created the TV record folder under My Videos outside of MP, but I think I also have to tell TVserver about it in 'Recording Folder' as above, don't I? Anyway, I just tried a short recording, and I can now play it in 'Videos' in MP, in addition to 'Recorded TV'.

I'll post how it works tomorrow, after all todays recordings.

 

[cewillis]

All OK this morning. I can replay all 6 recordings from 'Recorded TV' in the Television window, and also from 'Videos' in the Blue3 home menu (although in 'Videos', the actual recordings are shown in .ts(?) folders - which is undesirable).
As mentioned, the problem doesn't occur every time.

 

[elliottmc]

I really think we need to determine whether this is due to the fact that your computer has gone to standby and resumed or not.

You may be right that it is due to a lost connection to the TV server. You could try manually stopping, then restarting the TV service, and see if you have the same problem.

Please don't be offended, but right now you are trying to give us a lot of information but without much focus. We really need to narrow this down.

First of all, do you have a single-seat or multi-seat setup (multi-seat is where you are playing back the recording on a different computer to the one with your TV cards). If multi-seat, do you also see the same problem in single-seat? Single-seat and multi-seat use different protocols to play the streams, so this is really important.

Secondly, you talk about the computer resuming after being suspended overnight. I don't see how the length of time suspended will make a difference. If you can come up with a quick, simple test scenario that will allow someone to reproduce the problem, this will help.

Assuming you have a single-seat setup, have you configured MP to wait for the TV server when starting up?


Right now, I am noticing a number of reports of stability issues. The only common factor I can see is Windows XP. There are a number of complications with XP, particularly with DVB cards. It could be that the Hauppauge drivers do not work well with XP, and that when you resume the machine, the card is not properly initialised (you can set a delay in TV server config for this). Sure, it shouldn't just hang when this happens, but the actual fault might not lie with MP (although the handling of the error might be less than ideal).

If the problem only occurs when you suspend/resume, and never when you stop/start the TV service, then this would point to a problem with reinitialising the card rather than with the connection with the TV service.

Really we need someone with better technical knowledge than me looking into this.

Best wishes,

Mark

 

[cewillis]

I really think we need to determine whether this is due to the fact that your computer has gone to standby and resumed or not.
The only think that happens after the last recording is standby, and the passage of time overnight. See https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/bugreports-74/mediaportal-freezes-up-after-long-period-inactivity-85669/
which I initially referenced.

You may be right that it is due to a lost connection to the TV server. You could try manually stopping, then restarting the TV service, and see if you have the same problem.
Will do.

Please don't be offended, but right now you are trying to give us a lot of information but without much focus. We really need to narrow this down.
No offense taken, but I disagree about focus. I tried what you suggested about 'Videos', and disabled xmlTV to simplfy. Otherwise every post is about exactly the same thing.

First of all, do you have a single-seat or multi-seat setup
Single

Secondly, you talk about the computer resuming after being suspended overnight. I don't see how the length of time suspended will make a difference.
See other thread mentioned
If you can come up with a quick, simple test scenario that will allow someone to reproduce the problem, this will help.
I know, but the problem doesn't seem to be either quick of simple. I am open to suggestions.

Assuming you have a single-seat setup, have you configured MP to wait for the TV server when starting up?
Yes

Right now, I am noticing a number of reports of stability issues. The only common factor I can see is Windows XP. There are a number of complications with XP, particularly with DVB cards. It could be that the Hauppauge drivers do not work well with XP, and that when you resume the machine, the card is not properly initialised (you can set a delay in TV server config for this). Sure, it shouldn't just hang when this happens, but the actual fault might not lie with MP (although the handling of the error might be less than ideal).
Neither the analog nor the digital parts of the Hauppauge card have had any problem with recording after standby/resume, and they are not needed for playback. I have TVserver set to re-initialize (including tuners) on resume, as I said. Also, MP restarts on resume. Do you suggest that I not do any of this?

If the problem only occurs when you suspend/resume, and never when you stop/start the TV service, then this would point to a problem with reinitialising the card rather than with the connection with the TV service.
Card initializes on resume.

Has anyone looked at the logs I provided?

OK, I tried stopping TVservice while MP is running, and restarting it (using TVservice Configuration).
3 times, MP started running v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-ly, and eventually displayed 'Connection to TV server lost'. Upon restarting TVserver, MP started working right again.
1 time, MP froze completely, with no response to any keyboard, mouse, or remote input -- until terminated from Task Manager.

I would say this more or less indicates the MP can detect TVserver not running, but doesn't show anything about my problem -- since that is not the MP behavior when the problem occurs.

 

[elliottmc]

Right now, I am noticing a number of reports of stability issues. The only common factor I can see is Windows XP. There are a number of complications with XP, particularly with DVB cards. It could be that the Hauppauge drivers do not work well with XP, and that when you resume the machine, the card is not properly initialised (you can set a delay in TV server config for this). Sure, it shouldn't just hang when this happens, but the actual fault might not lie with MP (although the handling of the error might be less than ideal).
Neither the analog nor the digital parts of the Hauppauge card have had any problem with recording after standby/resume, and they are not needed for playback. I have TVserver set to re-initialize (including tuners) on resume, as I said. Also, MP restarts on resume. Do you suggest that I not do any of this?

The cards are not needed for playback, but the TV service is. If there is a problem with the card, and this is crashing the TV service, this might be the cause of your problems.

If the problem only occurs when you suspend/resume, and never when you stop/start the TV service, then this would point to a problem with reinitialising the card rather than with the connection with the TV service.
Card initializes on resume.

I don't like to make assumptions. You might have set the card to initialise on resume, but that doesn't mean it is all done correctly. That is why I suggested trying to stop and restart the TV service to reproduce the problem.

Has anyone looked at the logs I provided?

I have not, since I would not understand or be able to identify a problem. I will try to get one of the team to do this over the weekend.

OK, I tried stopping TVservice while MP is running, and restarting it (using TVservice Configuration).
3 times, MP started running v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-ly, and eventually displayed 'Connection to TV server lost'. Upon restarting TVserver, MP started working right again.
1 time, MP froze completely, with no response to any keyboard, mouse, or remote input -- until terminated from Task Manager.

I would say this more or less indicates the MP can detect TVserver not running, but doesn't show anything about my problem -- since that is not the MP behavior when the problem occurs.

Maybe not, but clearly MP is not handling loss of TV server very gracefully. I thought this was fixed, and have not seen any problems with this myself in multiseat with a combination of windows 7 and vista. I will try to reproduce this problem and see what happens.

We don't have many users with your TV card, so it might be a general problem with this card.

Sorry I can't offer any solution at this point, but solving such problems takes time and the right developer!

Best wishes,

Mark