Stuttering playback, VC-1 on Zacate

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Activate: AMD

[H]ard|Gawd
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Nov 6, 2004
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I'm currently having problems on some BD-rips (re-muxed the m2ts to .mkv w/ lossless codecs) with my E-350 based htpc.

symptoms:

1) Stuttering sound and video, occasionally it will smooth out for a second.
2) ~50%-70% CPU usage
3) Doesn't occur universally on all video files. I believe I may have it narrowed down to VC-1 encoded films. Will check again this evening to confirm

Setup details:
1) MSI E-350, 4gb ram, 60GB SSD w/ win7 pro 32-bit
2) Downloaded and installed the most up-to-date drivers for the rig on AMD's website
3) Shark's codec pack installed. issue occurs with both WMC built-in player and in MPC-HC using ffdshow
4) All video files are being streamed over GbE by my fileserver. No issues playing back movies from this rig on any other PC, if the streaming is an issue its on the client side, not the host


It seems like something isn't being accelerated properly, but if that was the case I would have expected to see CPU usage pegged and it isn't. MPC-HC says its using DXVA. anything I should check?
 
The onboard lan on these zacate boards is honestly the worst I've ever come across. The Realtek 8111/8168b's are a nightmare.

I've had so many problems with it in linux that I've replaced it outright, something I rarely do. Even replacing it's an issue though. This platform has really been a headache but that's another story.

There's a thread about the asus e35m1-m pro on avsforum that details how to fix a lot of problems with the onboard ethernet. I believe that the asus and msi share the same ethernet chip. A lot of it involves turning off power saving features in the drivers in windows.

Also, don't switch to linux with this. Current kernal versions make this board a nightmare. I was trying to run debian stable on it... huge mistake. Part of it's the really immature bios versions. If you move to using an add-on PCI-based NIC you may end up with a ton of IRQ conflicts. Your best bet is to try those tweaks to remove power saving and tweak some of the interrupt negotiation or whatever other options were in there.
 
InternationalHat said:
The onboard lan on these zacate boards is honestly the worst I've ever come across. The Realtek 8111/8168b's are a nightmare.

I've had so many problems with it in linux that I've replaced it outright, something I rarely do. Even replacing it's an issue though. This platform has really been a headache but that's another story.

There's a thread about the asus e35m1-m pro on avsforum that details how to fix a lot of problems with the onboard ethernet. I believe that the asus and msi share the same ethernet chip. A lot of it involves turning off power saving features in the drivers in windows.

Also, don't switch to linux with this. Current kernal versions make this board a nightmare. I was trying to run debian stable on it... huge mistake. Part of it's the really immature bios versions. If you move to using an add-on PCI-based NIC you may end up with a ton of IRQ conflicts. Your best bet is to try those tweaks to remove power saving and tweak some of the interrupt negotiation or whatever other options were in there.
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so you think its a network issue?

I'll try to get an HD sample on the local storage to test that theory out
 
I would gravitate to it being a network issue as well. If your CPU isn't pegged then it's unlikely to be a result of the CPU/GPU combo.

From work in general you would be surprised just how crappy on-board nics are especially when they try and run GbE.
 
kac77 said:
I would gravitate to it being a network issue as well. If your CPU isn't pegged then it's unlikely to be a result of the CPU/GPU combo.

From work in general you would be surprised just how crappy on-board nics are especially when they try and run GbE.
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wow.. you guys weren't kidding. it was in-fact a network issue. I moved the movie over to local storage and it plays just fine. thats very disappointing :mad:
 
get an Intel NIC for this board? It's kinda dissappointing, however, it's the only worthwhile solution I can think of....
 
jeremyshaw said:
get an Intel NIC for this board? It's kinda dissappointing, however, it's the only worthwhile solution I can think of....
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that wouldn't really be an option in my current enclosure with no expansion slots, but its actually probably irrelevant (see below)

well good news/bad news.

Good news: I'm getting the same issue on my main rig now too when streaming, meaning its probably not the zacate!
Bad news: I'm getting the same issue on my main rig now too when streaming, meaning I have to fix my media server somehow

:rolleyes:
 
This is a known problem with EVR CUSTOM PRESS renderer in MPC-HC in combination with Gabest Mpeg splitter

Set HAALI as preferred source for M2TS. You can do that with the tweak tool in k-lite Codec pack
Or
Temporarily enable option called Frame Time Correction in Media Player Classic. Do it like this VIEW->RENDER SETTINGS->PRESENTATION->FRAME TIME CORRECTION.
NOTE: You can toggle this option on/off by pressing 'C'
 
Your problem is not the network card. It is because the standard samba protocol is terrible for streaming high bitrate videos. Use a better protocal and you will have zero issues. I stream all my videos from mezzmo to my WDTV Live. It uses UPnP and I stream BluRay remux's with zero issues. Including saving private ryan. 100 network has almost double the bandwidth required for a bluray. So a gig should be without question overkill. My streaming PC has a Realtek too btw.. Zero issues.

If your having problems locally now too.. Download ReClock from SlySoft Forums. Windows has one built in but it only works with certain renders. This works with all.
 
definitely NOT a local playback issue. Its quite odd though, sometimes I can't play anything worth a damn, and other times its half-way watchable (until it'll randomly start stuttering). I'm thinkng my network infrastructure is a big potential contributing factor, since its kind of a hodge-podge of stuff. In fact, I think I may have narrowed it down to a network issue since streaming between rigs with various combinations of client/host have all shown the same problem. I've ordered a pair of intel NICs since they're not too expensive and it really can't hurt to have one in my mediaserver, and the other can float around as needed.

Dion said:
Your problem is not the network card. It is because the standard samba protocol is terrible for streaming high bitrate videos. Use a better protocal and you will have zero issues.
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if this is the issue how do i switch protocol? I have reason to suspect UPnP issues with my router for other reasons.
 
Activate: AMD said:
if this is the issue how do i switch protocol? I have reason to suspect UPnP issues with my router for other reasons.
Click to expand...

Windows Media Player has one built in. There are many UPnP Media Servers on the web. Gotta find the one that works best for you. I use Mezzmo because I like the ability to customize my navigation tree.
 
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