Video Haltiness Multiple Times/Second

[Quantumstate]

Ya, for some reason VDPAU was getting kicked off Myth for me, which was the source of these problems. I've just recompiled with mythtv-fixes.20445 and glvdpau.20405:

 # ./configure --enable-proc-opt --enable-vdpau --enable-xvmc-opengl --enable-opengl-video --enable-opengl-vsync --disable-xvmcw --disable-directfb --disable-joystick-menu --disable-ivtv --disable-firewire --disable-dbox2 --disable-hdhomerun --disable-audio-oss
Disabling XvMC-opengl. It is only available when linking against libXvMCNVIDIA
# Basic Settings
Compile type              release
Compiler cache            yes
DistCC                    no
install prefix            /usr/local
runtime prefix            /usr/local
CPU                       x86_64 (model name    : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     T7300  @ 2.00GHz)
big-endian                no
MMX enabled               yes
CMOV enabled              yes
CMOV is fast              yes

# Input Support
Joystick menu             no
lirc support              yes
Video4Linux sup.          yes
ivtv support              no
FireWire support          no
DVB support               yes [/usr/include]
DBox2 support             no
HDHomeRun support         no
IPTV support              yes
R5000 support             yes

# Sound Output Support
PulseAudio support        no
OSS support               no
ALSA support              yes
aRts support              yes
JACK support              yes
libfftw3 support          no

# Video Output Support
x11 support               yes
xrandr support            yes
xv support                yes
XvMC support              yes
XvMC VLD support          yes
XvMC pro support          no
XvMC OpenGL sup.          no
XvMC libs                 -lviaXvMC
VDPAU support             yes
OpenGL video              yes
OpenGL vsync              yes
DirectFB                  no
Fribidi formatting        no

# Misc Features
multi threaded libavcodec yes
Frontend                  yes
Backend                   yes

# Bindings
bindings_perl             yes
bindings_python           yes

Creating libs/libmyth/mythconfig.h and libs/libmyth/mythconfig.mak

WARNING: When using --enable-proc-opt you must include the
         output of ./configure along with any bug report.

 $ mythfrontend
2009-04-24 08:18:35.776 Using runtime prefix = /usr/local
2009-04-24 08:18:36.612 DPMS is active.
2009-04-24 08:18:36.648 Empty LocalHostName.
2009-04-24 08:18:36.649 Using localhost value of Hex
2009-04-24 08:18:36.719 New DB connection, total: 1
2009-04-24 08:18:36.746 Connected to database 'mythconverg' at host: 127.0.0.1
2009-04-24 08:18:36.767 Closing DB connection named 'DBManager0'
2009-04-24 08:18:36.769 Primary screen 0.
2009-04-24 08:18:36.783 Connected to database 'mythconverg' at host: 127.0.0.1
2009-04-24 08:18:36.802 Using screen 0, 1680x1050 at 0,0
2009-04-24 08:18:36.857 New DB connection, total: 2
2009-04-24 08:18:36.861 Connected to database 'mythconverg' at host: 127.0.0.1
2009-04-24 08:18:36.867 mythfrontend version: 0.21.20080304-1 www.mythtv.org
2009-04-24 08:18:36.867 Enabled verbose msgs:  important general
2009-04-24 08:18:36.902 Connecting to lcd server: localhost:6545 (try 1 of 10)
2009-04-24 08:18:40.040 No theme dir: /home/bill/.mythtv/themes/neon-wide
2009-04-24 08:18:40.045 Primary screen 0.
2009-04-24 08:18:40.046 Using screen 0, 1680x1050 at 0,0
2009-04-24 08:18:40.047 No theme dir: /home/bill/.mythtv/themes/neon-wide
2009-04-24 08:18:40.048 Switching to wide mode (neon-wide)
2009-04-24 08:18:40.344 Using the Qt painter
mythtv: could not connect to socket
mythtv: No such file or directory
2009-04-24 08:18:40.345 lirc_init failed for mythtv, see preceding messages
2009-04-24 08:19:10.669 Loading from: /usr/local/share/mythtv/themes/neon-wide/base.xml
2009-04-24 08:19:10.756 Loading from: /usr/local/share/mythtv/themes/default/base.xml
2009-04-24 08:19:10.954 Registering Internal as a media playback plugin.
2009-04-24 08:19:11.412 MonitorRegisterExtensions(0x100, gif,jpg,png)
2009-04-24 08:19:11.915 No theme dir: /home/bill/.mythtv/themes/neon-wide
2009-04-24 08:19:19.676 XMLParse::LoadTheme using /usr/local/share/mythtv/themes/neon-wide/ui.xml
2009-04-24 08:19:20.013 Connecting to backend server: 127.0.0.1:6543 (try 1 of 5)
2009-04-24 08:19:20.378 Using protocol version 40
2009-04-24 08:19:28.214 TV: Attempting to change from None to WatchingPreRecorded
2009-04-24 08:19:28.722 DPMS Deactivated 
2009-04-24 08:19:31.037 AFD: Opened codec 0xf0b920, id(MPEGVIDEO_VDPAU) type(Video)
2009-04-24 08:19:31.037 AFD: codec AC3 has 6 channels
2009-04-24 08:19:31.064 AFD: Opened codec 0x161f9b0, id(AC3) type(Audio)
2009-04-24 08:19:31.094 Opening audio device 'default'. ch 2(2) sr 48000
2009-04-24 08:19:31.094 Opening ALSA audio device 'default'.
2009-04-24 08:19:33.301 OSD Theme Dimensions W: 640 H: 480
2009-04-24 08:19:34.972 TV: Changing from None to WatchingPreRecorded
2009-04-24 08:19:34.974 New DB connection, total: 3
2009-04-24 08:19:34.974 Using realtime priority.
2009-04-24 08:19:35.225 Connected to database 'mythconverg' at host: 127.0.0.1
2009-04-24 08:19:35.323 OpenGLVideoSync()
2009-04-24 08:19:35.432 Video timing method: SGI OpenGL
2009-04-24 08:19:36.994 NVP: prebuffering pause
2009-04-24 08:19:40.090 Marking recording as unwatched
2009-04-24 08:19:40.090 TV: Attempting to change from WatchingPreRecorded to None
2009-04-24 08:19:40.100 ~OpenGLVideoSync() -- begin
2009-04-24 08:19:40.100 ~OpenGLVideoSync() -- middle
2009-04-24 08:19:40.230 ~OpenGLVideoSync() -- end
2009-04-24 08:19:40.320 TV: Changing from WatchingPreRecorded to None
2009-04-24 08:19:40.440 DPMS Reactivated.

So it is in fact now engaging VDPAU for H.264/AVC high-def on this Quadro 1600, and mythfrontend is only using 8% CPU! I can't believe it. I didn't know this video card has hardware H.264 decode. Video is running beautifully now. There must have been something wrong with the earlier patch to mythtv-fixes or something.

Oddly, ATSC mpeg2 SD take more CPU (12%) than DishNetwork H.264/AVC HD. I don't understand this. But I now have a combination that works, thankfully.

[Quantumstate]

OK, I spoke too soon. Now I am back to VDPAU's extreme sensitivity to stream discontinuities. I have a race car clip recorded from DishNetwork (H.264/AVC HD) and it has a stream break at a certain point. Playback in Myth stops with, "Error was encountered while displaying video." The console terminal where I ran mythfrontend gives me this:

2009-04-24 09:54:52.462 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.462 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.462 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.462 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.462 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.462 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.462 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.462 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.462 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.462 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]number of reference frames exceeds max (probably corrupt input), discarding one
2009-04-24 09:54:52.463 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]reference picture missing during reorder
2009-04-24 09:54:52.464 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]Missing reference picture
2009-04-24 09:54:52.486 [ac3 @ 0x7fae89d32070]frame CRC mismatch
2009-04-24 09:54:53.549 VDPAU Error: DISPLAY PRE-EMPTED. Aborting playback.
2009-04-24 09:54:53.552 NVP: Error condition detected in videoOutput after Show(), aborting playback.
2009-04-24 09:54:53.552 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]reference picture missing during reorder
2009-04-24 09:54:53.552 VideoOutputXv Error: IsErrored() in ProcessFrame()
2009-04-24 09:54:53.553 [h264_vdpau @ 0x7fae89d32070]Missing reference picture
2009-04-24 09:54:53.553 NVP, Error: AVSync: Unknown error in videoOutput, aborting playback.
2009-04-24 09:54:53.553 VideoOutputXv Error: IsErrored() in ProcessFrame()
2009-04-24 09:54:53.553 NVP, Error: AVSync: Unknown error in videoOutput, aborting playback.
2009-04-24 09:54:53.553 ~OpenGLVideoSync() -- begin
2009-04-24 09:54:53.553 ~OpenGLVideoSync() -- middle
2009-04-24 09:54:53.553 TV: Attempting to change from WatchingPreRecorded to None
2009-04-24 09:54:53.553 ~OpenGLVideoSync() -- end

Right after I had the above success I was running nVidia driver 180.44, but got the failure. Then I installed 180.51, same problem. So now I'm going to try 185.18.04, which I'm told here is much better at transport-stream discontinuities.

I'd previously tried a 185 driver, but it ran one of my CPU cores at 100% all the time (Xorg) so I had to ditch it.

[Stephen Warren]

If 185.18.xx doesn't solve this for you, please post a short sample that demonstrates the problem somewhere we can download it, and we'll look into the issue. Thanks.

[Quantumstate]

The 185 driver is a little better and gets me past the bad spot, but this particular clip seems to be pretty bad. It had several subsequent halty spots, with mythfrontend running one core at 11%, but then came to a point where it just halted in-frame. Right now my two cores are running at 60% and the picture is frozen.

I don't have a way to trim down this transport stream, as avidemux can't handle a Dish transport stream. It is 482MB, which would take me 6 hours to upload. Is there another option?

[Lost Dog]

Originally Posted by Quantumstate

The 185 driver is a little better and gets me past the bad spot, but this particular clip seems to be pretty bad. It had several subsequent halty spots, with mythfrontend running one core at 11%, but then came to a point where it just halted in-frame. Right now my two cores are running at 60% and the picture is frozen.

I don't have a way to trim down this transport stream, as avidemux can't handle a Dish transport stream. It is 482MB, which would take me 6 hours to upload. Is there another option?

Does the mythtv editor trim it out? I've never used it but you can do loss-less commercial removal. Just manually mark everything but the clip as a commercial and edit it out.

Not sure if the mythtv editor works the same way as avidemux though...

[Quantumstate]

Oh, good idea Dog. I've just cut the last 2/3rds of it, transferred the edit to the cutlist, and am now copying the stream to eliminate the cut. Then I'll upload if it works.

This will make a real nasty example for them to validate against.

[Quantumstate]

OK, the Myth Job Queue keeps choking on this turd and erroring out. So I'll just have to upload the whole thing.

Too bad; it's an interesting show. Must've had a weak satellite signal that day.

[Stephen Warren]

You may be able to simply cut the file up using dd, e.g.

dd if=bigfile.ts of=cut.ts skip=NNN count=MMM bs=1024

Where NNN is the offset to start int he file and MMM is how much to capture. Adjust bs to your desire (multiplies by NNN/MMM) Sure, this won't cut on a picture boundary, let alone a reference picture boundary, but if the file still plays after that, it may demonstrate the problem.

[Quantumstate]

Ah yes, uploading now. I've cut it down to 1/5th the size, so maybe about an hour.

[Quantumstate]

All right, here's the nasty little bugger:
http://www.archive.org/details/Formula1_94

Hm, I can't help but notice that archive's flowplayer handles it quite well...
... I wonder if they've converted it to Flash or something.

[Quantumstate]

In case archive.com has modified the video, here it is from my site:
http://quantum-equities.com/Formula1.mpg

[Stephen Warren]

I've tried this clip with MPlayer, using ffmpeg SW decoding, and VPDAU with both types of video HW we support. Here's what I see:

1) There are a couple points in the clip where the video will freeze for a second or so and/or be corrupted for that time or a short duration after. This is essentially identical across SW decoding and both HW types, and in a repeatable/consistent place in the stream.

2) On G86 VDPAU specifically, I additionally see lots of small pauses and/or inconsistent delivery.

I specifically have no observed any permanent hang, or VDPAU causing any X or system hang.

Does this match what you're seeing?

I assume the issue you're reporting is specifically item (2). I believe item (1) is just corruption in the stream, so there's not much that could be done in VDPAU to fix it; SW decoding works just the same.