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Change channel really slow
#1
Hi,

I've just started playing around with MediaPortal server XBMC client and so far, I have to say I'm blown away by how slick and responsive XBMC is. I've spent 2 years with Windows MC and an Xbox 360 as an extender and while it was fine, I want to try something different. I have a ResberryPi and I'd like to eventually use it as a client. I've seen and heard alot about XBMC so I decided to give it a try - I can see now why it's so popular!

I have a Win7 PC in my office with dual DVB-S and DVB-T tuners with MediaPortal 1.2.3 with MediaPortal_v123_TVServerXBMC_plugin_bin_rev118.
I'm using a Win8 laptop for client testing with XBMC installed.
XBMC version: 12.0-RC3 Git:20130102-7a6cb7f), Platform: Windows 8 64-bit, build 9200. Built on Jan 3 2013 (compiler 1600)

So, I'm almost there in terms of setup - everything is functional but I'm left with one major problem - it's taking 7 seconds to change a channel (all channels are DVB-S and DVB-T ... no DVB-S2). The delay happens when changing any channel sequence (DVB-S -> DVB-S, DVB-T -> DVB-T, DVB-S -> DVB-T, DVB-T -> DVB-S). If I use MediaPortal as the client on the same laptop connected to the same MediaPortal server on the PC in the office, then the channel changes is 2 seconds or less.

I've enabled logging in XBMC client and I can see a clear 5 second delay in the logs:
14:09:06 T:4904 ERROR: ffmpeg[1328]: [mpeg2video] mpeg_decode_postinit() failure
14:09:11 T:4904 ERROR: Previous line repeats 9 times.
14:09:11 T:4904 DEBUG: ffmpeg[1328]: [mpegts] max_analyze_duration 5000000 reached at 5016000
14:09:11 T:4904 DEBUG: ffmpeg[1328]: [mpegts] decoding for stream 3 failed
This delay happens every time and is 100% reproducible.

I've also recorded 2 shows, and playing them back is instantaneous - i.e. to switch between recordings is instantaneous. The really strange thing is from the logs, the point at which I switch has the same error messages but it does not cause any problems (there is no 5 second delay).
14:44:02 T:2324 ERROR: ffmpeg[914]: [mpeg2video] mpeg_decode_postinit() failure
14:44:02 T:4624 ERROR: Previous line repeats 1 times.
14:44:02 T:4624 DEBUG: SECTION:UnloadDelayed(DLL: special://xbmcbin/system/ImageLib.dll)
14:44:02 T:5716 NOTICE: Thread Jobworker start, auto delete: true
14:44:02 T:5716 DEBUG: CSaveFileStateJob:Big GrinoWork - Saving file state for video item \\HTPC\Share\Reccording\Made in Chelsea - E4 - 2013-01-05.ts
14:44:03 T:2324 DEBUG: ffmpeg[914]: [mpegts] max_analyze_duration 5000000 reached at 5016000
14:44:03 T:2324 DEBUG: ffmpeg[914]: [mpegts] decoding for stream 3 failed

I'm pretty sure the 5 second delay is what's causing my problems as without this delay, everything would be fine. I've checked the logs on the MediaPortal side on the server and everything is fine.
I've uploaded both logs here:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14047643/xbmc_pl...ive_tv.log
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14047643/xbmc_pl...ording.log

Any feedback on a workaround would be greatly appreciated - I think this is the last stumbling block that's preventing me from making the change.

Thanks
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#2
This is a known issue and something Margro (MediaPortal addon developer) has been working hard to fix. Here is a discussion on the very same a few days ago... http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=141039&page=2

Good luck with the switch & welcome to XBMC!
XBMC PVR Addon Unofficial Builds for Frodo Nightly Builds.
http://www.dotnetdevelopers.net/xbmc
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#3
Thanks for letting me know wileecoyote - I appreciate it.
I won't be switching to XBMC while it has this problem - this is something I couldn't live with!

Is it known if this problem is with certain hardware/software combinations? i.e. is there something I can do to avoid it? If I bought an Rasberry Pi or something else and ran OpenElec for example, would I experience the same problem?
From reading the other thread, it doesn't sound like everyone is having this problem switching channels.
One other thing that struck me ... I have included 2 scenarios above. The 2nd scenario where I've zapping between 2 recoreded shows - this is instant. Why would that be? If the problem is codec related then I would expect to see the same problem with the recorded media!
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#4
It looks like I am in the same boat as you Boofty. I have Windows MCE and it all works flawlessly, ok it isn't that sexy and so that is why I am messing about with XBMC since aesthetically it is amazing and has a larger userbase to bounce ideas off. But, and this is a big one, TV does not work! this is in my eyes fundamentally what a media center is all about. I have four tuners in my system and having the system freeze up all the time and take 10 seconds+ to change channel (when it does) is unfortunately not usable. I have tweaked as many settings as i can find but to no avail. I am happy to be a guinea pig if anyone has any ideas, but until this can be fixed I will have to stick with Windows MCE since otherwise my wife will go up the wall

FYI I am using NextPVR as the backend and it seems to channel change very quickly.

thanks all, if anyone can post me a fix or point me in the right direction when there is one, then it would be greatly appreciated

these are the errors in the log file, if anyone can shed any light on it

18:15:00 T:4984 ERROR: ffmpeg[1378]: [mpeg2video] mpeg_decode_postinit() failure
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#5
@doubleM: no fix at the moment for Frodo, athough I'm testing a workaround with promising results... The ffmpeg library spends max (read: always for Live tv) 5 seconds on stream analysis during a channel switch and I've changed this to 0.5 s in the XBMC code. It is not a proper fix, but it seems to work.
Developer of the MediaPortal PVR addon and retired developer of the Argus-TV PVR-addon.
http://www.scintilla.utwente.nl/~marcelg/xbmc
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#6
@margro: Cheers for the quick response, how can I go about making this change is this something I can apply via a setting or do I need to download code from git hub? Can you point me in the right direction please
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#7
@DoubleM: not a setting. Requires building both XBMC and the development version of the MediaPortal pvr addon from my github repository.
The particular change that reduces the channel switch time for me is this commit.
Developer of the MediaPortal PVR addon and retired developer of the Argus-TV PVR-addon.
http://www.scintilla.utwente.nl/~marcelg/xbmc
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#8
(2013-03-02, 23:55)margro Wrote: The particular change that reduces the channel switch time for me is this commit.
That's a surprisingly small change. Hopefully it helps.
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#9
@someone, those changes, are they going to be fixed in the monthly updates or in the next major release (eg v13?)
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#10
The planned changes from FernetMenta will probably reduce the switching times in a proper way. They are planned for v13.
I'm not aware of planned changes in this aread for a v12.1 release.

When time permits, I will test his changes and post a modified Frodo build to reduce the channel switch times...
I'm quite busy at the moment, so it may take a few weeks...
Developer of the MediaPortal PVR addon and retired developer of the Argus-TV PVR-addon.
http://www.scintilla.utwente.nl/~marcelg/xbmc
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#11
Oke cool thanks Margo,
No rush, just curious.
And the v13 is a yearly update ? Somewhere to see the roadmap ?
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#12
Great news for me margro, I too use MP TV service backend and XBMC on 3 HTPCs - wife is not impressed with the channel change times (5-7 seconds) so no go ahead to ditch my cable TV service and save a few £££s

Look forward very much to your mod, in meantime (noob alert) when you say

(2013-03-02, 23:55)margro Wrote: @DoubleM: not a setting. Requires building both XBMC and the development version of the MediaPortal pvr addon from my github repository.
The particular change that reduces the channel switch time for me is this commit.

What do you mean by 'build', would like to try this in meatime.
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#13
(2013-03-02, 23:55)margro Wrote: @DoubleM: not a setting. Requires building both XBMC and the development version of the MediaPortal pvr addon from my github repository.
The particular change that reduces the channel switch time for me is this commit.

Hmm - I just tried this change.

Good news: Channel switching is really fast now
Bad news: Sometimes there will be no picture, just the audio playing.

Guess I will go and play around a little bit with the max_analyze_duration...
VU+ / Enigma2 PVR Client: Documentation | Development | Discussion
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#14
Can you test this: https://github.com/FernetMenta/xbmc/tree/zappy
The 4 commits on top are relevant.
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#15
(2013-03-21, 13:13)FernetMenta Wrote: Can you test this: https://github.com/FernetMenta/xbmc/tree/zappy
The 4 commits on top are relevant.

Build failed for me. Grapped today at 14:26. Other builds fine... (margro and master)...
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