Resume & stuttering issues

[dfdario]

It is related to throughput somehow the network is either not keeping up with the demuxer, or something in your files is causing the demuxer to slow down. That is why I really need 5 min sample.

Martin

Adding the following Windows registry subkey to the registry solve the stuttering problem but only on some recordings.

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters
Create a SizReqBuf value using the following information:

ValueName: SizReqBuf
DataType: REG_DWORD
Value(Decimal): 33000

As suggested at http://www.mvpmc.org/windows/mvpmc_windo...o.html#s11

[mvallevand]

Adding the following Windows registry subkey to the registry solve the stuttering problem but only on some recordings.

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters
Create a SizReqBuf value using the following information:

ValueName: SizReqBuf
DataType: REG_DWORD
Value(Decimal): 33000

As suggested at http://www.mvpmc.org/windows/mvpmc_windo...o.html#s11

This is an odd problem. Those recommendations are for accessing files through a Windows share, and emulation mode uses Hauppauge protocol with gbpvr as a media server. I guess it could help if the files you were streaming with gbpvr were actually coming from a share or a NAS.

Martin

[dfdario]

I didn't share anything yet (I've some problem in doing that).
Anyway I show you what ifconfig is reporting.

media_mvp2 login: root


BusyBox v1.1.3 (2007.03.10-14:02+0000) Built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

# ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0D:FE:00:6B:1C
inet addr:192.168.1.242 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:70785 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:37897 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:104471754 (99.6 MiB) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:27 Base address:0xd300 DMA chan:1

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

#
The lowest value I've seen is 27.x

[mvallevand]

I didn't share anything yet (I've some problem in doing that).

The lowest value I've seen is 27.x

The MiB is another standard for MB ensuring that it binary and not base 10..... you know linux stuff ....
It should grow fast with your high bit rate files. I'm looking to see if you get lots of overrun errors the others will likely stay 0.

Martin

[dfdario]

Very strange, the only thing I can do without the actual file is ask you to test the file in mvpmc native mode. This should not be hard if you can read a config file. Here are the steps

1. Place an mpeg in your mvpmc share folder
2. From the mvpmc main menu select Filesystem rather than Emulation.
3. Navigate to the /etc/mvpmc folder
4. Select your file with the ok.
5. While the file is playing hit the ok. This should show you the actual bit rate the file is playing at. If it is much slower then your file's real rate it like will stutter.

3.57 Mbps as lowest value

There's more testing you can do too if you want

1. While the file is playing hit the menu key. Check what audio video and subtitle streams are present.

Audio
Stream ID 0xc0 - MPEG
Video
Stream ID 0xe0 - MPEG
Subtitles
--

2. Before selecting a file. Instead of hitting OK hit menu. From this select throughput test and let it run for about 30 seconds and hit ok. You should get a reading of the max. bit rate your mvp on your network gets.

Seconds: 36.28
mb/s: 3.84

3. While the file is playing in emulation mode telnet to your mvpmc and logon as root. The are two commands you can try.

a. ifconfig. Type this in a few times to see if you are getting lots of network errors.

b. top This command will show your cpu use. If it is more than 50% there is a good chance of stuttering. Use Ctrl-C to exit top

I've already posted that
Sorry the value at b. is
Mem: 13380K used, 304K free, 0K shrd, 3916K buff, 4193208K cached
Load average: 0.27, 0.15, 0.06 (State: S=sleeping R=running, W=waiting)

PID USER STATUS RSS PPID %CPU %MEM COMMAND
96 root S 8648 94 7.3 63.1 mvpmc
97 root S 8648 94 5.3 63.1 mvpmc
107 root R 8648 94 5.1 63.1 mvpmc
95 root S 8648 94 0.5 63.1 mvpmc
113 root R 376 111 0.5 2.7 top
93 root R 8648 85 0.1 63.1 mvpmc
50 root S 280 1 0.1 2.0 telnetd
109 root S 8648 94 0.0 63.1 mvpmc
100 root S 8648 94 0.0 63.1 mvpmc
101 root S 8648 94 0.0 63.1 mvpmc
98 root S 8648 94 0.0 63.1 mvpmc
99 root S 8648 94 0.0 63.1 mvpmc
108 root S 8648 94 0.0 63.1 mvpmc
110 root S 8648 94 0.0 63.1 mvpmc
94 root S 8648 93 0.0 63.1 mvpmc
102 root S 8648 94 0.0 63.1 mvpmc
85 root S 776 1 0.0 5.6 mvpmc
111 root S 404 50 0.0 2.9 sh
1 root S 344 0 0.0 2.5 init
77 root S 316 1 0.0 2.3 udhcpc
8 root SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 mtdblockd

[mvallevand]

Seconds: 36.28
mb/s: 3.84

Did it stutter in native mode too? Although test two is an indicator of your share speed, that maximum cifs throughput seems low. Some have hit 13 on this. I am going to do some digging and get back to you.

Thanks a lot.

Martin

[mvallevand]

As an update on this problem, I've "had" to upgrade my gbpvr server to a modern machine (dual core, sataII etc) and Vista, all completely unfragmented, and I too get stuttering on some files that worked just fine before. Hopefully as I diagnose this I'll be able to pass on some tips and modify emulation mode to resolve this.

Martin

[mvallevand]

Seconds: 36.28
mb/s: 3.84

I did some network testing and I hit 11.5 mb/s so your throughput is a bit low in comparision, but here is my latest stuttering update

If you've been following this thread I'm having trouble with one file that just won't play without stuttering on Vista but worked fine on XP. It is VBR 3-8.5 and when it gets to the higher bit rate areas noticeable stuttering. I've tried every network tweak to mvpmc I can imagine. The file plays fine from a Vista share on mvpmc natively and with 11.5 mbs I'd expect that.

The odd thing about this file is that sometimes it has worked in emulation. What I did tonight is set this value in GBPVR's config.xml (default is true)

<MvpHighPriority>false</MvpHighPriority>

Since then I haven't had a problem in some limited testing. It might be interesting if you tried this test.

Martin

[mvallevand]

As discussed yesterday changing the config.xml setting to a lower priority
<MvpHighPriority>false</MvpHighPriority> for me has effectively eliminated my one stuttering problem.
As this might not be your problem, it might be specific to me and or to Vista and want to try something else.

I have therefore uploaded a new dongle 0410 which gives a bit more control over networking, the rt_window network variable in emulation mode tunable, it seem to have the most impact on the mvp's network performance (and potential for stuttering). The command line option is --em-rtwin and you can use any up to 64k. The default is 4096 but I suggest trying variables between 2048 and 8192.

FWIW, the Hauppauge dongle default has been 0 which means default to the kernel value, except in the most recent dongle where they have chosen 8192. I personally find too many errors rx overruns reported in ifconfig with either of these.

Feel free to try various settings and report your findings especially if you find you can reduce stuttering.

This really should be tested my telnet. You only need killall mvpmc once, if you load mvpmc from the command line you can kill it with ctrl-c. Also there is a command line history in mvpmc. Use the cursor keys to restore and earlier commands.

Martin

[dfdario]

You are right. Changing the config.xml setting to set MVP to a lower priority doesn't solve the stuttering. Tonight I'll try the settings you suggested.