[mythtv-users] Is my rig "on the limit" without XVMC?

[Steve Heistand]

Ray Whiteman <ray.whiteman at consultant.com>, said on Sat Aug 09, 2008 [09:41:48 PM]:
} Hello,
} 
} I have been trailing, tweaking and enjoying my combined BE/FE for about 
} 6 months now, and the results have been fantastic.
} 
} Here is my box
} 
} 3 x Leadtek DTV 1000 T's
} 1 x Hauppague PVR-150
} ASUS P-800 E
} Intel Prescott P4 2.8Ghz (533Mhz FSB)
} AGP Generic Nvidia 6600 (NOT a GT)
} 1 x Seagate 250GB SATA I (music, system, ancillary stuff)
} 1 x Seagate 1TB SATA II
} 
} I'm using Ubuntu Gutsy (7.10) , with backports enabled to take me to  
} 0.21, Nvidia Drivers 169.12. For TV Playback I use DVI out  @ 1280x720. 
} I have found the best results without XVMC with 2x Bob as the 
} deinterlacer. Currently that is the setup I am using as my default. I am 
} using RTC for timing. I transcode some stuff after hours, and offload 
} comm flagging to another slave backend.
} 
} Everything is perfect until I get to MPEG2 HDTV and H.264 playback from 
} high bitrate BlRray rips. The BluRay I can park as a problem for a while 
} but the HDTV is annoying. I get periods while watching recordings  where 
} all I see is the occasional "jump" then everything is ok for a while, if 
} I jump back and rewatch it, then I see no issues normally, or a jump in 
} a different spot. I also occasionally see prebuffer pauses in my FE 
} logs, I have not isolated the reason for this but my suspicion is that 
} the issue is related.
} 
} I know that from my point of view the hardware is delivering above an 
} beyond the call of duty, (my mates at work think I am insane for pushing 
} the old girl like this). I guess my question is, am I pushing the 
} hardware, particularly the CPU and Vid card past it's capability without 
} XVMC?  How can I measure this? CPU utilisation tops out during HDTV 
} playback currently depending on the content.... But under the 
} circumstances..... It is expected :)
} 
} I have tried to get XVMC working a few times, (added the Option "NVAGP" 
} "1" to my xorg.conf etc), but that totally upsets the system, HD is 
} unwatchable, XVMC use crashes the FE, and other problems......
} 
} I would just simply toss more money at it and re platform to something 
} faster, but I have invested in 4 PCI cards, and PCI motherboards are 
} hard to get these days.
} 
} Any guidance? Particularly on getting XVMC running.
} 
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you could try playing the problem files with mplayer -vo xmvc
to see if xvmc is going to help.


-- 
"Why is it so hot inside this handbasket?"
--
Steve Heistand
steve at heistand.org