Intermittent Choppy/skipping recordings

[jd681]

Hey,

I having some issues with recording/playback. I have had good success with recordings and play back when I do a quick record when on the computer, but if I schedule a recording sometimes they playback choppy or unusable about 50% of the time. .ts files seem to be missing half the data.

Signal strength and quality of the signal is fine.


The sleep settings on the computer are not set, it is always on. I also tried dropping in another hard drive.

I am running XP Pro SP3, AMD 3400, 1 gig of server ram. Tuner is HD HomeRun.

I have tried different firmware versions as well with the turner.

Any help would be appreciated!

[whurlston]

Are they choppy if you play them in Windows Media Player and/or VLC? If so, it is probably due to network/firewall issues.

[jd681]

I have tried windows media player, and a few others, still same results. I have the hdhomerun tuner plug directly into the ethernet port on the HTPC. All firewalls are turned off on the computer. I am pretty stumped, ha.

[whurlston]

Try checking for network packet loss to eliminate that as an issue: http://www.silicondust.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5877

If you have an nForce chipset motherboard, you might also want to disable checksum offloading: http://www.silicondust.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4262

[jd681]

Great pointer, I am going to run the packet loss test and see what I find.

[jcjefferies]

What is the CPU usage during the problems? Recording uses very little processor power and SD playback about 15% but is anything else running. I am using an old AMD3000 without the equivalent of Hyper Threading for my dedicated NPVR server but have to remember not to use Windows while a recording is being made. If I start IE for instance the processor runs at 100% for a second or so which briefly disrupting the recording.

[jd681]

I tried checking for network packet loss, switching between different NIC settings. I wound up setting the IP to a static one, with no such luck, still choppy and skipping playback. I can watch live tv with no problem and record live tv, but if I schedule a recording it is messed up.

Funny thing was, the first month or so of using recordings most turned out good, but it has progressively gotten worse. That is why I added a second hard drive on the system that was a clean format.

I also updated the firmware and software on the tuner, same results.

Here is the Nrecord.log if you are willing to help. The Judge Judy was the one that was messed up.

[Reddwarf]

I'm not familiar with these tuners, but there is a couple of things you can try, make sure that <AllowInProcessRecording>false</AllowInProcessRecording>
is set, and you can also try <UseHigherPriority>true</UseHigherPriority> in Config.xml.

[jd681]

Thanks,

I edited the lines and am trying a quick record and then a scheduled record to see if that works.

[jd681]

Same issues after the changes...hmmm