npvr 2.0.3 issues and observations

[time_lord]

I'm not aware of anything different enough about this channel that would require different decoders. When I'm back in NZ next week I'll check it.

Ok, probably the only difference is HD vs SD(??). Had another recent recording with that issue...

Was the application the foreground application (with focus) at the time?

I think it probably was in the FG and full-screen (via alt-enter ;-) ) because I was watching on the main TV at the time. Work-around at the moment is a long screen saver timeout...
Will try to test again tonight, if I ever get to leave the office...

If you remind me next week when I'm back in NZ, I can give this a try.

*bump* ;-)

I'm sure this will be down to the decoders or video renderer you're using, and these are likely to be the only settings that would have an effect on this type of problem.

This problem seems to be worse for me at the moment... used to happen often with Prime. I think Prime has a weak signal on my system (is there an option to show signal strength like in gbpvr?) and I may have been getting a little terrestrial rain fade in the last few days... could that affect npvr? I.e could a weak signal make it hard for npvr to lock in and show video?

[sub]

I tried "TV3 Plus1" here today, and didnt find anything different about it. It worked just the same as all the other channels.

I tried your test of watching live tv, pausing, then clicking the maximize button in the top right, and it switched to fullscreen fine. Do you have this problem everytime you try repeating these steps, or was it some one-off problem?

For the screensaver problem, reproduce the problem, then post the npvr.log and I'll take a look. It should show me what was happening.

I think Prime has a weak signal on my system (is there an option to show signal strength like in gbpvr?) and I may have been getting a little terrestrial rain fade in the last few days... could that affect npvr? I.e could a weak signal make it hard for npvr to lock in and show video?

If you've got bad signal, then it could cause video to not show. I'd expect other channels on the same frequency to have the same problem (ie Maori TV etc). You could try using the Hauppauge Signal Monitor utility.

[time_lord]

I tried "TV3 Plus1" here today, and didn't find anything different about it. It worked just the same as all the other channels.

Hmm, currently working for me too (at least live TV).
I just noticed something related to not seeing video when starting a recording - had this issue again with mythbusters off prime a few days ago. Start playing (can hear the last bit of audio from the preceding program) but no video... not even the timeline is showing. Something is causing the entire thing not to be rendered. But then it occurred to me to ctrl-rightclick a few minutes forward and hey presto, video.
So is the problem I have sometimes just simply the system taking a large amount of time to sync in with the video?

I tried your test of watching live tv, pausing, then clicking the maximize button in the top right, and it switched to fullscreen fine. Do you have this problem everytime you try repeating these steps, or was it some one-off problem?

Yes I tried it a couple of days ago and could still reproduce the problem. Just tried it again now, and after pausing and I press the maximise button, npvr goes full-screen the same as if I'd pressed alt-enter! (I.e no title bar.)
WTF?? I haven't reinstalled npvr so it must be XP doing crazy things??

For the screensaver problem, reproduce the problem, then post the npvr.log and I'll take a look. It should show me what was happening.

Will try to get to that soon, but trying to keep system unused until I get some more cooling. I have just stumbled across the fact that my nvidia fanless vid card - which usually hovers around 80degrees (normal-ish) within 5 minutes of the npvr screensaver running, the temp is up to 110degrees. That screensaver isn't exactly graphically complex, so I'd put it down to a crappy .net api doing nasty things to the chipset. (Unless there are better suggestions?) Bad .net, bad.

If you've got bad signal, then it could cause video to not show. I'd expect other channels on the same frequency to have the same problem (ie Maori TV etc). You could try using the Hauppauge Signal Monitor utility.

Not sure if Maori tv normally works (never watch it). How can I list what channels are on what frequency (could not spot that in the setup)? I did try that Signal Monitor utility in the past but IIRC it wasn't very granular, either showing 0% or 100%. (Like once it got a signal lock it was 100%.) Unless you know of a better version floating around...?

[sub]

I just noticed something related to not seeing video when starting a recording - had this issue again with mythbusters off prime a few days ago. Start playing (can hear the last bit of audio from the preceding program) but no video... not even the timeline is showing. Something is causing the entire thing not to be rendered. But then it occurred to me to ctrl-rightclick a few minutes forward and hey presto, video.

So is the problem I have sometimes just simply the system taking a large amount of time to sync in with the video?

I'm not aware of any issue with this. What HE-AAC decoder do you have selected, and what audio urenderer? Having a audio renderer other than 'system default' can lead to video sync issues, and missing audio sometimes.

Will try to get to that soon, but trying to keep system unused until I get some more cooling. I have just stumbled across the fact that my nvidia fanless vid card - which usually hovers around 80degrees (normal-ish) within 5 minutes of the npvr screensaver running, the temp is up to 110degrees. That screensaver isn't exactly graphically complex, so I'd put it down to a crappy .net api doing nasty things to the chipset. (Unless there are better suggestions?) Bad .net, bad.

Which of the NPVR screensavers are you using? Was the CPU continually high during this time, or maybe for short levels every 10 seconds or so, or low CPU (but GPU working hard).

Not sure if Maori tv normally works (never watch it). How can I list what channels are on what frequency (could not spot that in the setup)?

If you double click on your device in the Settings -> Devices screen, you'll see the list of channels setup on that device, along with their frequencies etc. On the DVB-T system in NZ, its basically one frequency for TVNZ channels, one frequency for Mediaworks channels (TV3 TV4 etc), and one more frequency for the others (prime, maori tv etc).

I did try that Signal Monitor utility in the past but IIRC it wasn't very granular, either showing 0% or 100%. (Like once it got a signal lock it was 100%.) Unless you know of a better version floating around...?

Sorry, cant help you with that one. I dont really use any of these signal monitor utilities. I've got good DVB-S/T/C signals here, so never find myself needing to check this stuff.

[time_lord]

I'm not aware of any issue with this. What HE-AAC decoder do you have selected, and what audio urenderer? Having a audio renderer other than 'system default' can lead to video sync issues, and missing audio sometimes.

Video renderer: VMR9 Custom
Audio renderer: default
MPeg2 Video: Cyberlink Video/SP Decoder (PDVD9)
H.264 Video: Cyberlink H.264/AVC Decoder (PDVD9)
MPEG1 Audio: Disabled
AC3 Audio: ffdshow Audio Decoder
E-AC3 Audio: Disabled
AAC Audio: Monogram AAC Decoder
HE-AAC Audio: Monogram AAC Decoder
(ticked) Only used mapped audio decoders during .ts playback

Which of the NPVR screensavers are you using? Was the CPU continually high during this time, or maybe for short levels every 10 seconds or so, or low CPU (but GPU working hard).

Screen Saver: 'Fixed Image' (NextPVR logo), activates after 1 minute.
Well, this is interesting - tested last night and there sure is a lot of GPU activity. Restarted everything this morning to do some 'clean' tests and take some screenshots.
Image 1: System nice and cool initially, 73 degrees. Under GPU Load, the solid rise is while watching TV1. I then escaped back to the tv guide; after a minute when the saver kicks in, you get these little spikes in GPU load (about 35%) while the logo fades out/in again. Sorry I took the screenshot between spikes, so you don't see the 'NextPVR' logo.)
Image 2: The big problem seems to be after waking the system then letting the saver kick in again, it goes nuts. The GPU load basically max's out with each spike, then after a few of these it stay max'd. As you can see my GPU temp has gone to 109 degrees
Seems that rather than uploading an image and routine to the GPU, the saver is getting as much CPU and GPU as it can (spinning)?

If you double click on your device in the Settings -> Devices screen, you'll see the list of channels setup on that device, along with their frequencies etc. On the DVB-T system in NZ, its basically one frequency for TVNZ channels, one frequency for Mediaworks channels (TV3 TV4 etc), and one more frequency for the others (prime, maori tv etc).

Yes of course (*blush*) I seem to have 3 frequencies:
690000: TV1, TV2, U, TVNZ7
706000: TV3, Four, C4
778000: TV3Plus1, Prime, Stratos, Maori, Trackside, Parliament, Chinese, DVB-T radio (x3)

I've been suspecting for a while that my signal for Prime (i.e that frequency) isn't as good channels 1-7 (even though I have line of sight of kaukau)... and this correlates with the earlier probs I had with TV3Plus1. Another example is often after watching 2-3 minutes of Letterman, the video gets jerky and after a few seconds freezes indefinitely (while audio continues); escaping back to the menu and going into the channel again sorts it out for a few minutes. But then it is only Letterman... ;-)

[trummel]

Originally Posted by sub
Which of the NPVR screensavers are you using? Was the CPU continually high during this time, or maybe for short levels every 10 seconds or so, or low CPU (but GPU working hard).

I've noticed that even with the screen save set to 'blank' my GPU is still sitting at 36% when the screen is blanked from the main menu. Pressing any key on the remote causes the menus screen to reappear and the GPU to drop to <1% - Consequently I always disable the screen saver ('None').

[time_lord]

I've noticed that even with the screen save set to 'blank' my GPU is still sitting at 36% when the screen is blanked from the main menu. Pressing any key on the remote causes the menus screen to reappear and the GPU to drop to <1% - Consequently I always disable the screen saver ('None').

Another greeblie here (noticed it a few days before I got around to capturing the above details) - I noticed if the screen saver has kicked in and npvr is minimised, it still makes the GPU go nuts. I'd been wondering why my temp alarm was going off when there were no windows displayed...

[Reddwarf]

Another greeblie here (noticed it a few days before I got around to capturing the above details) - I noticed if the screen saver has kicked in and npvr is minimised, it still makes the GPU go nuts. I'd been wondering why my temp alarm was going off when there were no windows displayed...

Make sure your cpu and gpu have proper cooling, or turn off the screensaver.

[time_lord]

Make sure your cpu and gpu have proper cooling, or turn off the screensaver.

Yes naturally. But if the code can be fixed... better for all users... ;-)

[Reddwarf]

Sure, but there are more important things missing than screensaver which you can turn off and avoid the problem. I'm sure Sub appreciate reports of major bugs, no offence but this is starting to remind me of nagging.