[mythtv-users] A test for anyone using vdpau on 32-bit x86, especially with 30.0

Tom Dexter digitalaudiorock at gmail.com
Mon May 27 13:49:33 UTC 2019


On 5/26/19, faginbagin <mythtv at hbuus.com> wrote:
> On 5/25/2019 9:44 AM, Tom Dexter wrote:
>> On 5/25/19, faginbagin <mythtv at hbuus.com> wrote:
>>> On 5/23/2019 2:29 PM, Tom Dexter wrote:
>>>> On 5/23/19, Peter Bennett <pb.mythtv at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Is x86 still a viable platform? I see from that web page that ION is a
>>>>> 64-bit box. Ubuntu only supports 64-bit now, although Xubuntu is still
>>>>> available in 32-bit version. I recommend installing a 64-bit version
>>>>> on
>>>>> that ION.
>>>>>
>>>>> I can look into this problem if there is a consensus that i386 still
>>>>> needs to be supported.
>>>>>
>>>>> Peter
>>>>
>>>> Thanks Peter. I'm certainly still using a 32bit (i686) frontend...an
>>>> old small form factor system. Since I'm using Gentoo it's very much
>>>> still supported. I'm running a 4.19.27 kernel actually. The only real
>>>> catch right now is that the nVidia drivers past the 390 version are
>>>> now 64bit only...but they still support the 390.xx as legacy drivers.
>>>>
>>>> I know x86 is getting old in the tooth and all, and sure I could build
>>>> a new 64bit frontend...but here's the main reason I've yet to do that:
>>>> I've been able to get redundant hardware on the cheap used, so my
>>>> frontend can die and I can be back in business within about an hour by
>>>> swapping out a hard drive. That's really hard to give up, and I'd
>>>> basically have to spring for two new systems to have that.
>>>>
>>>> It's certainly a perplexing issue especially given the various ffmpeg
>>>> tests I've noted in that bug. Certainly no rush for me on any of that,
>>>> but if you get a chance to look into it it'd be greatly appreciated.
>>>>
>>>> Tom
>>>
>>> I've got a couple of 32 bit laptops (an ibm thinkpad and a dell
>>> inspiron) dating back to 2004 running mythfrontend with the Slim
>>> profile. They have lubuntu 18.04 and mythtv 29.1 installed.
>>>
>>> Although Canonical isn't providing current Ubuntu desktop or server
>>> versions for i386, they are providing a netboot installer for 18.04 and
>>> they're supporting 18.04 flavors of Lubuntu and Xubuntu. They're also
>>> providing mainline kernels for i386. My inspiron is running 4.19.31
>>> because it fixes a problem I had on that laptop. Yes, a linux developer
>>> (an Intel employee) took interest and worked with me to fix the problem:
>>> https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=107600
>>>
>>> I do think the time is approaching when I'll either have to retire my 32
>>> bit computers or accept the fact they're too old to upgrade. I've
>>> already hit some problems running mythfrontend on both laptops. They're
>>> unstable on 18.04 (kernel panics and soft cpu lockups). It might be a
>>> hardware problem, but they both pass memory, cpu and gpu stress tests.
>>> So I've gone back to 14.04 with a 29.1 mythfrontend. So far, that seems
>>> to be a stable configuration.
>>
>> Interesting. Obviously the issue I've described here is much more
>> narrow, as the h264 playback is fine using everything else, including
>> MythTV 29.1.
>>
>> My 32bit systems (both the frontend and backend actally), as old as
>> they are, are stable as a rock actually...always have been. Maybe
>> using Gentoo and the fact that I'm compiling everything myself helps
>> that. I've also managed to get rid of the few things where compile
>> times where insane, including llvm, and QtWebkit, so ongoing updates
>> are pretty painless.
>>
>> Tom
>
> I've had a similar experience with a 2002 desktop that serves as a mail,
> web & file server. It's running Debian stretch. But my experience with
> the laptops has got me wondering if I'll be able to upgrade to buster
> when it's released.
>
> What CPUs do your 32 bit systems have? I have:
> Intel Celeron M 1.5 GHz
> Intel Pentium M 725 1.6 GHz (it's one of those that supports PAE but
> says it doesn't)
> Intel Pentium 4 CPU 1.6 GHz
>
> If the 14.04/29.1 configuration continues to be stable, I have been
> thinking about compiling my own kernel. It's not too painful, since I've
> got an schroot environment on a quad core machine set up for just that.
> May I contact you off-list and get a copy of your kernel's .config file?
>
> Thanks,
> Helen

This is the /proc/cpuinfo from my frontend:

cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor	: 0
vendor_id	: GenuineIntel
cpu family	: 15
model		: 4
model name	: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
stepping	: 3
microcode	: 0x5
cpu MHz		: 2992.459
cache size	: 2048 KB
physical id	: 0
siblings	: 1
core id		: 0
cpu cores	: 1
apicid		: 0
initial apicid	: 0
fdiv_bug	: no
f00f_bug	: no
coma_bug	: no
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 5
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov
pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm
constant_tsc pebs bts cpuid pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est cid cx16
xtpr
bugs		: cpu_meltdown spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass l1tf
bogomips	: 5984.91
clflush size	: 64
cache_alignment	: 128
address sizes	: 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

Compiling on that with Gentoo supports these flags:

CPU_FLAGS_X86="mmx mmxext sse sse2 sse3"

The backend is actually a little older:

cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor	: 0
vendor_id	: GenuineIntel
cpu family	: 15
model		: 4
model name	: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
stepping	: 3
microcode	: 0x5
cpu MHz		: 2992.459
cache size	: 2048 KB
physical id	: 0
siblings	: 1
core id		: 0
cpu cores	: 1
apicid		: 0
initial apicid	: 0
fdiv_bug	: no
f00f_bug	: no
coma_bug	: no
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 5
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov
pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm
constant_tsc pebs bts cpuid pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est cid cx16
xtpr
bugs		: cpu_meltdown spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass l1tf
bogomips	: 5984.91
clflush size	: 64
cache_alignment	: 128
address sizes	: 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

That can use this (without sse3):

CPU_FLAGS_X86="mmx mmxext sse sse2"

If you want the kernel .config from either one, just contact me off list.

Tom


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