[Solved] Unsteady video and audio in TV (1 Viewer)

[KuniGunther]

Hi,

I'm new with MediaPortal and after successful installation I have only one problem left.

As indicated in the title the video and audio of live tv is unsteady/choppy - not immediately after start, but within the first minute. It doesn't matter whether I select ffdshow or the Hauppauge MPEG2 decoder. Strange enough, the problems are gone if I switch on timeshift, (although I thought that causes a heavier system load). The processor load while having the problems is below 20%. Any ideas? All components have the newest drivers.

Thanks,
Volker

MediaPortal Version: 0.2.3 RC3
Windows Version: XP SP2
CPU Type: Athlon X2 EE 4600+
HDD: Samsung 400 GB
Memory: 2GB DDR2 667
Motherboard: Shuttle FN68S
Motherboard Chipset: GeForce 7025
Video Card: on board
Sound Card: on board
1. TV Card: Hauppauge Nove S+
1. TV Card Type: DVB-S
1. TV Card Driver: 4.0a
HTPC Case: Shuttle SN68SG2
Remote: X10
TV - HTPC Connection: DVI

 

[joboehl]

KuniGunther,

Have you tested with MPV as video decoder? Or a comercial one like nVidia or Cyberlink?

Posting your logs might also help.

 

[KuniGunther]

I was a bit unclear: this does not depend on the codecs at all, I can choose any.

Concerning log files, I attached two MedaiPortal.log and one of dvb.log and vmr9.log. MediaPortal_1.log contains three tv blocks, the first without timeshift, the second with timeshift (both with MPV,MPA selected) and the third without timeshift with the Hauppauge driver. With timeshift everything is fine, without problems - this time audio stopped after some seconds and video got choppy. These "TryConnect" are within the block, where everything worked fine. In MediaPortal_2.log I tried different codecs without timeshift and wirhout success.

 

[KuniGunther]

Finally I solved it. That seems to be the effect if the two cores get out of sync during video and audio display. Installing the latest driver from AMD and booting Windows with the option /usepmtimer solved the problem. Using timeshifting helped, because then the audio/video decoding of the displayed stream was handled by one core only.

Now everything works. Thanks all the developers for that great program!

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Finally I solved it. That seems to be the effect if the two cores get out of sync during video and audio display. Installing the latest driver from AMD and booting Windows with the option /usepmtimer solved the problem. Using timeshifting helped, because then the audio/video decoding of the displayed stream was handled by one core only

AMD optimizer, also does this (available from AMD driver page for dual core processors only), should be part of compulsory install of windows.

Regards

 

[KuniGunther]

Well, the AMD driver is from the same page, of new newer date and includes that issue, too. Is there anything the optimizer does in addition?

So you know it's compulsory - I didn't and at no stage during installing Windows or any of the multimedia software, it was mentioned. I just found that the optimizer is even available in the download section of the MediaPortal web site, but at no other places (FAQ, hardware selection help, tips and tricks, ...) it's mentioned. There is even a somewhat missleading remark in the installation guide for WindowsXP for MediaPortal not to install any optimizers ...

I think, that would be a reasonable point to add to the FAQ.