StartGBPVR - support thread

[liteswap]

Thanks - it's a simple app but focused....

[garymeds]

hi - i used to use start_pvrx2 on a vista machine and although had numerous issues with sleep (not fully sleeping), did not imagine this exe was causing it and blamed vista (understandably).

since rebuilding my media pc with Windows 7, it was only when i used start_pvrx2.exe to start gbpvr that i saw this problem again after weeks of not using it and not seeing the sleep issue. i have since stopped using start_pvrx2 and the issue has gone.

i'm 99% certain this exe was the cause.

my media pc would sleep fully around 75% of the time - the 25% (sometimes infuriatingly many times within a day or so, then nothing for a couple of weeks), the fans would keep running, the screen was blank, the power LED lit and nothing could be done apart from button it.

as i say, i never thought this .exe was to blame, but it seems, for me, it interfered with both Vista and Windows 7's ability to sleep my PC fully (and i'll have to deal with annoying pop-ups from digiguide telling me new channels are available sending gbpvr to the background!)

[liteswap]

Thanks for the feedback - I'll take a look at it.

One thing though: there is a known blank screen issue that isn't to do with StartPVRX2 and which can be permanently fixed (after a search on the general support forum), or, as a one-off fix, you can hit Alt-F4 which shuts down PVRX2. With StartPVRX2, the screen comes back and you're ready to go.

I'd be interested to hear if other Win7 users (which doesn't include me - not on the PVR anyway) are having similar problems.

[garymeds]

i don't think the symptoms i had were to do with the pvrx2 application.

the pc did not ping and nothing was happening only that it was in some state inbetween on and sleep (usb devices had also been powered down so i couldn't use keyboard).

i think i used start_gbpvr on xp before vista and didn't see this issue (but I can't remember how long i used it for and that was awhile back...)

[pBS]

sounds like it was in 'away mode' or i think there's another sleep mode in vista too..
vista has very different mechanics for sleep modes from xp....
lots of extra stuff to do to accomplish same actions, and some stuff is no longer doable..
[can't deny sleep/shutdown modes, only ask user if it's ok..]

i believe your problem can be solved with settings in power management..
[disable 'away' modes]

[bavan]

Hi,

i've found out a problem with network traffic when copying a large volume of files between PC's or from a NAS to my HTTPC when StartPVRX2 has been launched. The problem is that when starting file copy after some time (30 sec to sometimes a couple of minutes) network traffic is halted for a number of seconds before file copy will resume and continue. This problem repeats itself several times during the same file copy (i.e. when you copy a number of DVD's which takes more than 15 minutes). So instead of a continious file copy you get an interrupted file copy although the copy itself is not stopped but slowed down by a number of pauses (gaps) during network traffic. To analyse you can monitor the behaviour of network traffic when running the program NETMETER.

Once StartPVRX2 has been launched, usually launched during booting up the PC from the Windows STARTUP folder, the bug stays even after quiting StartPVRX2 Only when not launching StartPVRX2 when booting up the PC from zero the bug stays away. This problem causes GBPVR AVI video playback from a NAS over the network to be halted for a number of seconds every now and then when watching a movie before resuming playback. Maybe if StartPVRX2 could be run as a service it might not interrupt windows from doing other tasks?
Any suggestions?

Tx.

[liteswap]

It sounds like the problem relates to the basic function of StartPVRX2, which is to ensure that PVRX2 retains focus and on top.

When you say you're replaying AVI from the NAS, is that via PVRX2? If not, I'm not surprised there's a break, as the two apps - PVRX2 and your AVI playback app - are probably conflicting for which should remain on top.

Otherwise, StartPVRX2 is CPU-light - it only wakes up every x seconds (x is configurable by you) to check that PVRX2 is on top. It also checks that GBPVR Recording Service is running, so it might be related to that if the service isn't running for some reason. More info would be helpful...

[bavan]

Hi Liteswap,

I'm having breaks when playing AVI with PVRX2. When I install the latest FFDSHOW package the problem is less.

How do I enable CPU light or do I misunderstand you?
How comes I can't disable "Monitor GBPV recording service" permanently in StartPVRX2? This is already monitored by the SlimmGBPVR plugin. Just to minimise conflicts.

PS: Have you tried copying large files over a network to the PC when running StartPVRX2 to monitor traffic drop outs with Netmeter?

BR

[liteswap]

By CPU-light I meant that StartPVRX2 takes minimal CPU. I only notice a tiny spike every time it checks to see if PVRX2 is on top, and if the recording service is running.

Er - actually you CAN disable the recording service monitoring: it's just there's a bug in the UI that means it looks like it's always on! I need to fix that... An easy workaround is:
1. Quit StartPVRX2
2. Locate the settings file called startpvrx2.ini. It's in the same folder as StartPVRX2
3. Open it up in Notepad or your favourite text editor
4. Edit the line that reads Monitoring=True to read Monitoring=False
5. Save the file
6. Restart StartPVRX2

I do copy large files across the network while the program is running: my PVR makes nightly backups of all videos and I can't say I've noticed a problem - although my backups run at 0500 when there's nothing else going on.

Not sure I know enough to be able to help with the AVI/FFDshow problem - or what it's got to do with StartPVRX2. Have you noticed a difference when it's not running? It doesn't access the disk while running normally, and shouldn't affect playback unless PVRX2 is shut down, in which case it restarts PVRX2. This behaviour is by design. Let me know more if you find it's causing an issue.

[bavan]

Liteswap,

thanks for the advise.

About large file copy & network traffic, let me try to explain this again.
I can do large a file copy over the network, it does not fail so that's not the point. However when using the program Netmeter, with this utility you can inspect how continiuosly network traffic goes and a what speed, you can monitor drop outs in network traffic.

What do I see when monitoring file copy and AVI playback with Netmeter? The file copy is halted during copy a number of times but it resumes after a couple of seconds drop out without having to intervene. As such file copy works but it means there are network drop outs probably because the computer sometimes is interrupted with the current process by another process. The same happens when playing AVI files with GBPVR from a NAS. Playback is halted a number of times and then resumes. It's the same type of drop out as with file copy (traffic is halted for a couple of seconds).

My system is very stable and Windows is OK because I have the same issue with a full fresh installation (Nvidia 630-7150 - Intel dual core 2.0 GHz CPU with 4G memory).

So I started to eliminate process by process, keeping a minimal running with only GBPVR, to find out what process or application is causing the network traffic drop outs. If I do not launch StartPVRX2 at boot I don't have the problem so that makes me expect it's StartPVRX2.

I could be wrong so thats why I've asked you if you have the same problem when monitoring things with Netmeter. Just monitor network traffic and drop outs with and without launching StartPVRX2 at boot (quiting once launched doesn't solve the problem). I have GBPVR 1.3.11 installed, 1.4.7 is not an option as it has a serious bug for MVP's live TV resuming.

Would it be possible for you to simulate and have a look at it?

PS: When installing FFDSHOW the problem is less because FFDSHOW does not require a continious network data stream. FFDSHOW works more in burst mode buffering reading peaks of data at a higher bandwith instead of low bandwith continious data traffic as standard implemented by GBPVR when playing AVI.

Let me know if it's still not clear.