[mythtv-commits] Ticket #12356: 0.27 mythfrontend.re process takes 100% cpu

[MythTV]

#12356: 0.27 mythfrontend.re process takes 100% cpu
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     Reporter:  eric.koester@…        |      Owner:
         Type:  Bug Report - General  |     Status:  new
     Priority:  minor                 |  Milestone:  0.27.5
    Component:  MythTV - General      |    Version:  0.27-fixes
     Severity:  medium                |   Keywords:  mythfrontend 100% CPU
Ticket locked:  0                     |
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 '''Mythtv Version:'''  Mythbuntu 12.04LTS 64-bit with the myth 0.27.4
 (v0.27.4-30-g3b43903) (myth 0.27 fix repo branch).

 '''Hardware:'''  BIOSTAR NF4Ultra NF4 Ultra-A9A motherboard, AMD 4000+,
 64x, Dual Core, 2GB RAM, 2TB WD SATA hard drive, Nvidia GT220 card (with
 1GB DDR2 RAM), PCI Gigabit Ethernet card with Realtek Semiconductor Co.,
 Ltd. RTL8169 PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 10)

 I'm using the default theme in Mythbuntu 12.04: MythCenter Wide.
 I usually take updates from the repo once per month, so changes in the
 system behaviour usually occur after one of these updates.

 '''November 5, 2014:'''  the mythtvfrontend.re process started hogging
 100% of one of the CPU cores.
 When this first started happening in November, the Mythtv frontend becomes
 unresponsive to the IR Remote AND the pc keyboard.
 To regain control, I used the pc keyboard and do an ALT-F1 to get to a
 terminal screen, and check the "top" command.
 Then, I see the mythfrontend.re process taking up over 100% of the CPU.
 I found that if I did a "sudo pkill mythrontend" then "sudo pkill
 mythfrontend.re", I am able to regain control of the GUI interface.
 At that point, I restart the Mythtv Frontend application from the GUI
 interface and it works normally, for approximately 15-60 minutes.

 '''December 2014:'''  The behaviour changed a little.  mythfrontend.re
 still hogged 100% of one of the CPU cores, but the keyboard and IR remote
 still worked to control it.
 The main effect of having 100% of one CPU core occupied is slow UI
 response times and missed/shipped characters/numbers during the run of the
 IR blaster channel change script, which sends IR channel change codes to
 the satellite receiver.
 I found that I can run the channel change script when the mythfrontend is
 not running, and all IR characters are recognized by the satellite
 receiver.
 When the mythfrontend is running and taking 100% of a CPU core, not all
 the IR characters are sent to the satellite receiver.  Often channel 355
 gets sent as channel 5 (clearly the 3 was missent or never sent).

 '''January 2015:'''  Current behavior is the same as in December 2014.

 '''Current Workaround:'''  Exit mythfrontend at the end of every program
 viewing session, and only run the mythfrontend when I want to view
 recorded programs.  By doing this, the IR blaster channel change script
 executes normally, without missed digits.

 I plan to submit whatever information is helpful.
 I suspect that mythfrontend.log and mythbackend.log files showing events
 around the time of a CPU core takeover are most desirable?

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Ticket URL: <https://code.mythtv.org/trac/ticket/12356>
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