Hic-ups every 30 secs

[Big Stan]

I recently started using time shift for live TV. I had not used it much in the past so I am not sure if this is a new occurance or not.

In time shift, the picture has a quick hic-up every 30 seconds. No problem when in preview mode or on recordings. I watched the process tab of task manager for CPU ustilization and found the recording service is spiking at the time of the hic-up.

My system is a sempron64 2600+. Drive is a 120GB seagate 7200RPM IDE.

Any idea what the recording service is doing every 30 secs that would make this happen?

Everything else seems to work great.

[zaldwaik]

I have the same problem. I am still looking for an answer since I did not find much in the forum.

[ydekmekji]

I once had that. i reset the computer and took care of it. Have you tried that first?

Also, you can have live tv and ctrl-alt-del working side by side as a way for you to see which processor is acting up.

You may also have an anti-virus software acting up or just spyware in general

[scottmso]

Are you using a regular TV tuner or an HDTV tuner? I have been having very similar issues with my HDTV tuner (Avermedia A180) that have been as of yet unresolved, but my regular tuner (PVR150) works fine.

[Big Stan]

No this is regular SDTV using the following.

- AMD Sempron64 2600+
- 512Mb Ram
- PVR 150
- 120GB 7200RPM Ultra66 disk (recently de fragged)
- MX4000 Nvidia video card with TV out
- Analog Comcast cable
- Purevideo decoder
- GB-PVR 95.16
- Comskip runs at night
- No antivirus running.

Using the task manager I see the recording service spike every 30 seconds (like clockwork) and the picture hic-ups but then keeps right on going.

System has been reset, I have shut down a bunch of other services, etc.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[capone]

It would be more like a system service that is interested in the data being written, or some hardware proceess.

Start by disabling everything running except what you need for GB. If I had to guess, it would be some antivirus or system protect/real-time maintainence. Also make sure you're not online at the time. If you want to be careful, disable the modem entirely, to make sure something isn't using it undetected.

[Big Stan]

I will give the modem trick a try tonight. I did shut down several services (themes, messinger, fast logon, etc.) Did not really get into the system type services though. I can head down that path next.
The task manager definelty shows the recording service jumping to the top every 30 seconds. I am thinking that there must be something that it is doing like updating the database or something like that. Maybe Sub could shed some light on if there is anything like that going on.

[stu8080]

Could it be the News ticker or VAPanel that updates every 30 secs that causes this?

[capone]

I would ctrl+alt+del and kill all the unnecessary processes (if you're comfortable doing so). It may be trial/error on a couple to learn if you need them or not.

You may or may not be able to see anything, but you can read the event logs and see if it is reporting anything being active at those times. If it is something GB related (VA), and you're set for debug, you should see somethign written to the logs at those times.

Check those during a time you were viewing for something running at those moments, and disable anythign that does.

You can also watch the process, sorted by CPU, and see what spikes while watching. It may come up as Idle process, which means you're got a hunt.

[Big Stan]

The only plug in I have running is weather. This is a clean install from last weekend. Formatted hard drive. Loaded XP and GBPVR.

I'll give the service kill idea a try tonight.

I did the process sorted by CPU study as you suggested. The item spiking is the recording service. I may try lowering the bit rate for live TV and see if it affects the hic-up at all.