[mythtv-users] mythlogserver fixes/0.26 OS-X?

[dgktkr]

At 8:21 PM -0500 2/2/13, Craig wrote:
> 
> 
> At 3:50 PM -0800 2/2/13, Glenn wrote:
>> FWIW, I've found a solution that works for me: 
>> http://code.mythtv.org/trac/ticket/10890
> 
> That's not a 'solution'; it is a blunt-force hack to work around the 
> problem.  Check Console.app and I expect you'll find that, when no 
> myth program is running, mythlogserver quits every 5 minutes and 
> launchd fires up a new copy.  Possibly waking the machine from sleep?
> 
> If you leave the backend running all the time, I guess it is no harm. 
> For a machine that's intermittently used as a frontend, it will waste 
> a lot of memory.
> 
> Craig
> 


I agree, it would be better if the main Myth programs would invoke mythlogserver in a way that worked well 
for Macs. Maybe I'll figure out how to do that some day. However, don't hold your breath, I'm not a proficient 
C++ programmer and I'm not able to test for problems that might be created for Linux or Windows setups.

That mythlogserver tries to quit after 5 minutes (when a main Myth program is not running) is by design: 
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Mythlogserver. When it does, it doesn't go gracefully, it crashes with a 
"Segmentation Fault: 11". After that, launchd does start a new copy if the KeepAlive option is set in the plist. 
If my Mac Mini is put to sleep, it does not wake up 5 minutes after mythlogserver was last started up with no 
other Myth programs running. It appears that the mythlogserver shutdown timer pauses when the computer 
is put to sleep and resumes when the computer wakes up.

My main mode of operation is to leave MythBackend running all the time. I haven't noticed that that causes 
a problem. Memory usage doesn't seem large: Real Memory Size -- 21.4MB, Virtual Memory Size -- 2.47GB, 
Shared Memory Size -- 0 bytes, Private Memory Size -- 11.7MB, Virtual Private Memory -- 52.8MB. That's with 
8GB of physical memory that I paid $70 for. CPU usage is indicated at about 5% when I'm not watching or 
listening to anything.

Memory usage for mythlogserver is smaller or equal, depending on which category is being compared.

As for using the MythFrontend, I've had nothing but trouble getting it to work on a Mac. Years ago, I spent some 
time trying to give it a go on my PPC PowerMac, but I couldn't even get it to start up properly -- it always crashed 
instantly. It's a little better now that I have an Intel Mac, but I don't see the point in putting in the effort to get it
to work to my satisfaction, especially when I can use XBMC as the frontend. There, the UI is gorgeous and 
support for Macs is vigorous and enthusiastic. Besides, it has worked out of the box for me, doing what 
I want my HTPC to do -- except for one thing: waking from sleep to record a scheduled TV program and 
then go back to sleep. I'm working on understanding that well enough to get it to work. In the mean time, 
I record TV programs and watch them with EyeTV.

Glenn