High CPU usage at idle

[MarkD]

I just upgraded from a PVR-350 to an HVR-1600, and went from GBPVR to NPVR at the same time. The changeover went well, except that now my CPU idles at about 30% when the NPVR menu is active. I can see that it's a directx/dotnet issue, but have no idea how to troubleshoot beyond that. I've attached a log, any help would be appreciated.

[sub]

Its happening because it cant find or load the directx runtime, and it falls back to software rendering:

2011-07-16 16:08:56.406 [ERROR][1] Error initialising Direct3D: SlimDX.Direct3D9.Direct3D9Exception: D3DERR_INVALIDCALL: Invalid call (-2005530516)
at SlimDX.Result.Throw[T](Object dataKey, Object dataValue)
at SlimDX.Result.Record[T](Int32 hr, Boolean failed, Object dataKey, Object dataValue)
at SlimDX.Direct3D9.Device..ctor(Direct3D direct3D, Int32 adapter, DeviceType deviceType, IntPtr controlHandle, CreateFlags createFlags, PresentParameters[] presentParameters)
at NextPVR.Utility.Direct3DHelper..ctor(IntPtr windowHandle, Int32 width, Int32 height)
at NextPVR.ControllerForm.Form1_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e)
2011-07-16 16:08:56.406 [INFO][1] Continuing with Direct3D disabled
2011-07-16 16:08:56.562 [DEBUG][1] DoCompositeRendering() took 78.125ms
2011-07-16 16:08:56.781 [DEBUG][1] DoCompositeRendering() took 46.875ms
2011-07-16 16:08:56.890 [DEBUG][1] DoCompositeRendering() took 31.25ms
2011-07-16 16:08:56.984 [DEBUG][1] DoCompositeRendering() took 31.25ms
2011-07-16 16:08:57.078 [DEBUG][1] DoCompositeRendering() took 31.25ms
2011-07-16 16:08:57.171 [DEBUG][1] DoCompositeRendering() took 46.875ms

[johnsonx42]

have you installed the latest DirectX 9.0c runtime update? http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/detai...laylang=en

[MarkD]

DirectX9.0c is installed, but perhaps my video card is too old to use all of the features. DXdiag says everything is OK, but shows that directdraw acceleration and direct3d acceleration are "unavailable".

[johnsonx42]

Sorry if this sounds gruff, but I didn't ask whether DirectX 9.0c was installed. I specifically asked whether you installed the LATEST DirectX 9.0c RUNTIME UPDATE, link provided.

That said, it may indeed be that a Radeon 7000 is no good here (that's DirectX 7 hardware), but please ensure that you do have the runtime update.

edit: even with a DX7 card, you should still have Directdraw and Direct3d acceleration enabled. have you installed also the last Radeon 7000 driver from AMD?

[MarkD]

I do have the latest driver, but haven't installed the linked runtime. I did try, but got a message that a newer or equivalent version was already installed (the Feb 2010 version). Is there a way to force installation of the updated runtime?

[johnsonx42]

I'm not sure. Other people have reported that same message about the newer or equivalent version already being installed, yet they continued to get the directx errors.

You might try updating your chipset drivers; get the latest from intel for the 865G. Is this an AGP or PCI card? Something is preventing DirectX from seeing that you have directdraw and direct3d acceleration available.

[MarkD]

It's fixed.

I uninstalled my AGP video card through device manager and rebooted. Reinstalled my video driver and rebooted again. Now the CPU usage is very low (task manager says zero for NPVR) and dxdiag says I have both accelerations enabled.

[johnsonx42]

Good. I knew it had to be something with your video card/driver installation.

Enjoy.

[Reddwarf]

Does this boil down to that the videocard driver should be installed AFTER the DirectX-runtime is installed?