[mythtv] High CPU usage during playback.

Neil Whelchel koyama at firstlight.net
Wed Mar 10 17:55:56 EST 2004


Hello again,
I tried it with the preview on and off and in both cases it didn't make
any difference at all. In both cases there was 100% CPU usage and many
interruptions in playback. I already had a look at the other messages
about CPU usage and none of them really applied to what I am dealing with here.
In my case I am NOT having a problem while watching live TV, it is only a
problem while watching something that is pre-recorded. As far as I can
tell, the problem is that the mythfrontend main thread is using a huge
amount of CPU with calls to processEvents().

Clarification:
The mythfrontend player thread in both cases uses the same amount of CPU
and I think it is within reason as to about what it should be.
This has nothing whatsoever to do with mythbackend as it is on a different
machine.

In myhtfrontend/main.cpp startTV() the code fragment looks something
like...
        {
            qApp->unlock();
            qApp->processEvents();
            usleep(100000);
            qApp->lock();
        }

And in mythfrontend/playbackbox.cpp PlaybackBox::play() it looks like...
        {
            qApp->unlock();
            qApp->processEvents();
            usleep(50);
            qApp->lock();
        }

Changing the latter from 50 to 100000 fixes the problem for me.
(The CPU usage is about what it should be both during playback of
recordings and live TV.)
It doesn't appear to have any side effects that I am able to find, that is
why I posted my original question here:
Is there a reason that in one case (live TV) the usleep is for 100000 and
in the other (playback of a recording) it is for 50?


-Neil Whelchel-
First Light Internet Services
760 366-0145
- We don't do Window$, that's what the janitor is for -

On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 steve at nexusuk.org wrote:

> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> On Wed, 10 Mar 2004, Neil Whelchel wrote:
>
> > I have been having some issues with my 1Ghz VIA CPU keeping up while
> > playing back pre-recorded videos (100% CPU usage with video pausing a few
> > tenths of a second every second or two), however it does fine (40%)
> > playing live TV.
>
> See the previous thread discussed over the past week about high CPU usage
> in the CVS version - it seems that (for some people?) the CVS version is
> leaving the preview video playing in the background while watching a
> recording.  Try turning off the preview video in the config and see if it
> fixes your problem.
>
> - --
>
>  - Steve                                             http://www.nexusuk.org/
>
>      Servatis a periculum, servatis a maleficum - Whisper, Evanescence
>
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