[runtime]

In my previous post I discussed how to address the 'tearing' and choppy playback issues that affect some of us on later XBMC Live builds. It's worth reading the post for background if you haven't.

There is a more elegant solution to address choppy playback issues related to CPU scaling.

As before, remove powernowd and install rcconf :

Code:

sudo apt-get remove powernowd
sudo apt-get install rcconf

To prevent the CPU scaling governor being altered without your say, using rcconf disable the following (where enabled) : cpufreqd, cpufrequtils, loadcpufreq, ondemand, powernowd, powernowd.early:

Code:

sudo rcconf

Finally, edit your runXBMC.sh script:

Code:

sudo nano /usr/bin/runXBMC.sh

Edit your file so that the first couple of lines read:

Code:

#!/bin/bash

echo performance > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

Reboot XBMC Live for the changes to take effect.

If you're paranoid, you can check which CPU scaling governor is selected using the following command:

Code:

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

As mentioned in my previous post, you may wish to use lm-sensors and fancontrol to keep your CPU fan in check. I use these services to keep fan RPM and CPU temperature fairly constant instead of the default behaviour of my PC which is to turn on the system fan at full blast every 10 minutes!

[eamiryar]

Great info, thanks!

[rrambo]

Runtime, I noticed you are using a geforce 6150 which is the card that I use.. would you be willing to post your xorg.conf so that I can compare with mine? I have a semi-working xorg.conf but am curious as to what yours looks like.

Thanks.

[runtime]

Sure thing - I used the ready made one available here taken from XBMC's wiki pages.

[rrambo]

I appreciate it runtime.

[runtime]

No problem; note: if you installed XBMC Live to USB stick, be sure to copy your xorg.conf into the 'Config' folder on the root of your USB stick.

[sho]

Runtime, what is it like to see the progress your baby has made?

[runtime]

I don't want the thread to go too far off topic so I'll just say that never in my wildest dreams did I envision the project becoming as big as it has, thanks to the efforts of many talented individuals. It's especially cool to see so much cross-platform development going on

[hartiberlin]

Sure thing - I used the ready made one available here taken from XBMC's wiki pages.

Please compile all those updates and
post it as a new ISO file as 9.04 Beta2 version or
something like 9.04 Beta1.1

It is too much of a hassle, that every user should do that , who has a crashing
9.04 Beta1 version.

Many thanks in advance.

[eamiryar]

Thanks for the guide Runtime. I tried this to see if my frame drops would lessen. Performing the above steps did indeed eliminate frame drops, however about 30 mins into playing an MKV my box locked hard, had to hit the reset button. I'm guessing this is because I didn't mess with the fan controls. However, I did the above steps in reverse to undo the changes. I was successful in reversing the steps, however the odd thing is after reversing the steps, my system still doesn't drop frames, but it also no longer locks up. I'm not complaining, it's great, just curious as to what changed.

[eamiryar]

Hey runtime,
Quick question. I got my hands on a more powerful nvidia card and offloaded video decoding to it. Now my HD videos only use 2-3% CPU. I would like to make sure the CPU throttling is on. To undo the instructions in this post I did this:

sudo apt-get install powernowd
sudo rcconf
recheck powernowd, ondemand (didn't have the others)
sudo apt-get remove rcconf
sudo nano /usr/bin/runXBMC.sh
remove line "echo performance..."

Is that right?
Thanks in advance,
-Ed

[runtime]

Yes that sounds about right; for peace of mind, if you like instead of removing the line "echo performance..." replace the word 'performance' with 'ondemand'.

As mentioned in my previous post, you can check which CPU scaling governor is selected using the following command:

Code:

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

[eamiryar]

ahh great, thanks!