[mythtv-users] HD Woes (was: Upgrade Options for $150)

[Steven Adeff]

On 1/29/07, Nate Crosno <nate at crosno.net> wrote:
> Nate Crosno wrote:
> >
> > Well, I've placed my order.  After searching around for several hours on
> > various sites, I'm still going with the Jetway board because it was the
> > only 939 board I could find with DVI out, plus it has component out,
> > which I'd like to try. It also had the nvidia chipsets.  After reviewing
> > some processor performance charts (with a grain of salt), I opted for an
> > Athlon 64 3400 at 2.2Ghz and a cheap heatsink/fan combo.  According to a
> > cpu chart that tested transcoding a DVD, it looks like that will be
> > about a 10% bump in performance over the 3200 I listed before. The
> > damage came to $137 out the door.
> >
> > AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Venice 2.2GHz Socket 939
> >    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103023
> > JetWay J939GT3-PTD Socket 939 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX
> >    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813153047
> >
>
> So here's the status -- the Jetway board is fine so far, and everything
> is working great except 1080i.  XvMC never worked well for me, but with
> it turned on, I can just barely get 1080i to play in Myth, but it takes
> ALL the cpu. With XvMC off, 1080i pauses every 2-4 seconds.
>
> I'm using "1280x720_60" for my xorg.conf mode. 720p will play in Myth at
> about 50% cpu with XvMC on and up to 60% with libmpeg2.  As a
> comparison, Xine only uses about 8% with xvmc for 720p and 45% for 1080i
> (with xvmc) and 60% using "-V xv".
>
> I've also tried overclocking as high as the MB will go (2.9ghz), just to
> see if it made a difference, but it does not.
>
> I've tried every permutation of OpenGL Vsync in myth and nvidia
> settings, plus the various buffering, interlacing, etc options I can
> think of, but nothing seems to make much of a difference on way or
> another. I'm stuck!  The system is still usable, but no more so than
> before the upgrade.  I just have to use the same xine work-arounds for
> 1080i as I did before, but the whole point of the upgrade was to make
> those go away!
>
> Can anyone with a similar setup send me detailed info about their
> configuration?  At this point, I am doubtful that throwing more money at
> it in the form of a faster processor would even help much. I think I
> have something configured wrong, but cannot put my finger on it.
>
> Thanks!
> -Nate
>
> P.S. More info:
>
> # uname -a
> Linux localhost 2.6.16-gentoo-r6 #1 SMP Mon May 8 13:07:34 PDT 2006 i686
> AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3400+ AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
>
> xorg.conf:
>
> Section "Monitor"
>          Identifier   "Monitor0"
>          HorizSync     15.0 - 46.0
>          VertRefresh   59.0 - 61.0
>          Modeline "1920x1080_60i" 74.25 1920 2008 2052 2200 540 542 547
> 562 +hsync +vsync interlace
>
> EndSection
>
> Section "Device"
>          Identifier  "Card0"
>          Driver      "nvidia"
>          Option      "NoLogo" "true"
>          Option      "coolbits" "1"
>          Option      "RenderAccel" "true"
>          VendorName  "All"
>          BoardName   "All"
>          Option "XvmcUsesTextures" "false"
>          Option "NvAgp" "0"
>          Option "UseEvents" "True"
>          Option      "ConnectedMonitor" "DFP"
>          Option      "UseDisplayDevice" "DFP"
>          Option      "FlatPanelProperties"   "Scaling = native"
>          Option      "IgnoreDisplayDevices"  "TV, CRT"
>          Option      "ExactModeTimingsDVI"   "1"
>          Option      "UseEDIDDpi"     "0"
>          Option      "UseEDIDFreqs"     "0"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Screen"
>          Identifier      "Screen0"
>          Device  "Card0"
>          Monitor "Monitor0"
>          DefaultColorDepth 24
>          SubSection "Display"
>                  Depth   24
>                  Modes  "1280x720_60"
>          EndSubSection
> EndSection

Assuming your using the 9xxx series drivers,
try removing your 1080i modeline and use
Modes "1280x720_60" "1920x1080_60i"

this should use ModePool versions which will have the proper refresh rate.
Then turn on Xv Vsync in nvidia-settings and use the Standard decoder.

-- 
Steve
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