[novalis]

Greetings,

I'm a new XBMC user and I see a lot of potential in this package, but so far it's been rather painful getting it set up! I've been able to overcome every obstacle so far though until now. When I browse my video library (DVDs ripped to folders on an SMB share) it takes several seconds at a minimum for thumbnails to appear, or even to "re-appear" if I scroll away from them and then come back to them without closing the window, and that's when they actually do appear, which often (maybe 1 in 4) they do not, but instead show only the generic video thumbnail. Occasionally they don't even show the generic thumbnail. Here's the header from my log file, and the entries which appeared when I enabled logging, browsed through the video library a bit, and then disabled logging (had to trim each of them down a bit to fit into this message, there were lots more of the same errors throughout).

=== HEADER ===
17:26:57 T:808 M:358195200 NOTICE: -----------------------------------------------------------------------
17:26:57 T:808 M:358178816 NOTICE: Starting XBMC, Platform: Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 build 2600. Built on Dec 23 2009 (SVN:26017, compiler 1500)
17:26:57 T:808 M:358178816 NOTICE: Genuine Intel® CPU T1350 @ 1.86GHz
17:26:57 T:808 M:358174720 NOTICE: Desktop Resolution: 800x600 32Bit at 60Hz
17:26:57 T:808 M:358174720 NOTICE: Running with administrator rights
17:26:57 T:808 M:358174720 NOTICE: special://xbmc/ is mapped to: C:\Program Files\XBMC
17:26:57 T:808 M:358174720 NOTICE: special://masterprofile/ is mapped to: C:\Program Files\XBMC\userdata
17:26:57 T:808 M:358174720 NOTICE: special://home/ is mapped to: C:\Program Files\XBMC
17:26:57 T:808 M:358146048 NOTICE: special://temp/ is mapped to: C:\Program Files\XBMC\cache
17:26:57 T:808 M:358146048 NOTICE: The executable running is: C:\Program Files\XBMC\XBMC.exe
17:26:57 T:808 M:358146048 NOTICE: Log File is located: C:\Program Files\XBMC\xbmc.log
17:26:57 T:808 M:358146048 NOTICE: -----------------------------------------------------------------------
=== LOG ===
18:03:29 T:2420 M:322375680 ERROR: InputStream: dvd streams not supported for thumb extraction, file: Z:\DVDs\1982\Ridley Scott\Blade Runner\NONAME\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO
18:03:36 T:2420 M:322355200 ERROR: InputStream: dvd streams not supported for thumb extraction, file: Z:\DVDs\1957\David Lean\The Bridge on the River Kwai\BRIDGE_ON_THE_RIVER_KWAI\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO
18:03:36 T:2420 M:322318336 ERROR: InputStream: dvd streams not supported for thumb extraction, file: Z:\DVDs\1954\Vincente Minnelli\Brigadoon\NONAME\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO
18:03:36 T:2420 M:322326528 ERROR: InputStream: dvd streams not supported for thumb extraction, file: Z:\DVDs\1980\Harold Ramis\Caddyshack\CADDYSHACK\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO
18:16:06 T:808 M:295976960 ERROR: CGUIWrappingListContainer::SelectItemFromPoint: Speed 0.802339
18:16:06 T:808 M:295976960 ERROR: CGUIWrappingListContainer::SelectItemFromPoint: Speed 0.758191
18:16:06 T:808 M:295976960 ERROR: CGUIWrappingListContainer::SelectItemFromPoint: Speed 0.736118
18:16:06 T:808 M:295976960 ERROR: CGUIWrappingListContainer::SelectItemFromPoint: Speed 0.706687
18:16:06 T:808 M:295976960 ERROR: CGUIWrappingListContainer::SelectItemFromPoint: Speed 0.706687
18:16:06 T:808 M:295976960 ERROR: CGUIWrappingListContainer::SelectItemFromPoint: Speed 0.691971
18:16:06 T:808 M:295972864 ERROR: CGUIWrappingListContainer::SelectItemFromPoint: Speed 0.662539
18:16:06 T:808 M:295972864 ERROR: CGUIWrappingListContainer::SelectItemFromPoint: Speed 0.640466
18:16:07 T:808 M:295972864 ERROR: CGUIWrappingListContainer::SelectItemFromPoint: Speed 0.596319
18:16:07 T:808 M:295972864 ERROR: CGUIWrappingListContainer::SelectItemFromPoint: Speed 0.566888
18:16:19 T:3752 M:299728896 ERROR: CFileCurl::CReadState::Open, didn't get any data from stream.
18:19:45 T:3820 M:292474880 ERROR: InputStream: dvd streams not supported for thumb extraction, file: Z:\DVDs\1980\Harold Ramis\Caddyshack\CADDYSHACK\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO
18:19:45 T:3820 M:292474880 ERROR: InputStream: dvd streams not supported for thumb extraction, file: Z:\DVDs\1954\Vincente Minnelli\Brigadoon\NONAME\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO
18:19:45 T:3820 M:292474880 ERROR: InputStream: dvd streams not supported for thumb extraction, file: Z:\DVDs\1957\David Lean\The Bridge on the River Kwai\BRIDGE_ON_THE_RIVER_KWAI\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO
18:19:45 T:3820 M:292474880 ERROR: InputStream: dvd streams not supported for thumb extraction, file: Z:\DVDs\1982\Ridley Scott\Blade Runner\NONAME\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO
18:19:45 T:3820 M:292474880 ERROR: InputStream: dvd streams not supported for thumb extraction, file: Z:\DVDs\1945\George Sidney\Anchors Aweigh\ANCHORS_AWEIGH\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO
18:19:45 T:3820 M:292474880 ERROR: InputStream: dvd streams not supported for thumb extraction, file: Z:\DVDs\1936\Alfred Zeisler\The Amazing Adventure\NONAME\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO
18:19:45 T:3820 M:292409344 ERROR: InputStream: dvd streams not supported for thumb extraction, file: Z:\DVDs\1943\Michael Curtiz\Casablanca\CASABLANCA\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO
18:20:07 T:808 M:297648128 ERROR: DIRECTORY::CDirectory::GetDirectory - Error getting C:\Program Files\XBMC\screensavers\
18:20:07 T:808 M:297648128 ERROR: DIRECTORY::CDirectory::GetDirectory - Error getting special://xbmc/screensavers/
18:20:43 T:808 M:297680896 NOTICE: Enabled debug logging due to GUI setting. Level 2.
=== END ===

[novalis]

PS: Here's the XML entry in the import file I used for Blade Runner, which clearly indicates the correct thumbnail image to be used, despite the error message above indicating XBMC's hopeless search in the wrong place...

<movie>

<title>Blade Runner</title>

<rating></rating>

<year>1982</year>

<top250>0</top250>

<votes></votes>

<outline></outline>

<plot>Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) prowls the steel-and-microchip jungle of 21st-century Los Angeles. He&apos;s a &quot;blade runner&quot; stalking genetically made criminal replicants. His assignment: kill them. Their crime: wanting to be human.



The story of &apos;Blade Runner&apos; is familiar to countless fans. But few have seen it like this. Because this is director Ridley Scott&apos;s own vision of his sci-fi classic. This new version omits Deckard&apos;s voiceover narration, develops in slightly greater detail the romance between Deckard and Rachael (Sean Young) and removes the &quot;uplifting&quot; finale. The result is a heightened emotional impact: a great film made greater. Most intriguing of all is a newly included unicorn vision that suggests Deckard may be a humanoid. &apos;Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?&apos; Is Deckard a replicant? As with all things in the future, you must discover the answer for yourself.</plot>

<tagline></tagline>

<runtime>117</runtime>

<thumb preview="Z:\DVDs\1982\Ridley Scott\Blade Runner\NONAME\folder.jpg">Z:\DVDs\1982\Ridley Scott\Blade Runner\NONAME\folder.jpg</thumb>

<mpaa>R</mpaa>

<playcount>0</playcount>

<lastplayed></lastplayed>

<file></file>

<path>Z:\DVDs\1982\Ridley Scott\Blade Runner\NONAME\</path>

<filenameandpath>Z:\DVDs\1982\Ridley Scott\Blade Runner\NONAME\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO</filenameandpath>

<id></id>

<genre>Action / Sci-Fi / Drama</genre>

<set></set>

<credits></credits>

<director>Ridley Scott</director>

<premiered></premiered>

<status></status>

<code></code>

<aired></aired>

<studio>The Ladd Company / Sir Run Run Shaw / Warner Home Video</studio>

<trailer></trailer>

<actor>

<name>Harrison Ford</name>

<role>Deckard</role>

</actor>

<actor>

<name>Rutger Hauer</name>

<role>Batty</role>

</actor>

<actor>

<name>Sean Young</name>

<role>Rachael</role>

</actor>

<actor>

<name>Edward James Olmos</name>

<role>Gaff</role>

</actor>

<actor>

<name>M. Emmet Walsh</name>

<role>Bryant</role>

</actor>

<actor>

<name>Daryl Hannah</name>

<role>Pris</role>

</actor>

<actor>

<name>William Sanderson</name>

<role>Sebastian</role>

</actor>

<actor>

<name>Brion James</name>

<role>Leon</role>

</actor>

<actor>

<name>Joe Turkel</name>

<role>Tyrell</role>

</actor>

<actor>

<name>Joanna Cassidy</name>

<role>Zhora</role>

</actor>

<actor>

<name>James Hong</name>

<role>Chew</role>

</actor>

<actor>

<name>Morgan Paull</name>

<role>Holden</role>

</actor>

<actor>

<name>Kevin Thompson</name>

<role>Bear</role>

</actor>

<artist></artist>

</movie>

[jmarshall]

You have a single core processor, and my guess (given you didn't provide a debug log) is that you have an ATI graphics card that busy-waits on vsync, and thus the background threads don't get any chance to do their thing. Turn off vsync or investigate the <sleepbeforeflip> setting in advancedsettings.xml.

Cheers,
Jonathan

[novalis]

Sorry, I thought I did post a debug log. Where do I find the actual debug log file?

Your guess sounds pretty dead on (not sure about the video card, but since it's a laptop that's a good guess). I had noticed that my processor was running at 100% when I had vsync enabled, so I already disabled that (when movies aren't playing) and that helped, but the CPU is still running around 85%. I tried to find some way to limit the framerate it rendered the GUI at (do I really need 70+ fps for a GUI? I think not...) but found nothing.

I can't find any documentation regarding this sleepbeforeflip option, but based on some of the forum posts I've found that mention it I'm guessing it forces a sleep call into the rendering thread somewhere? I'm not at home right now but I'll give it a shot ASAP and report back.

[novalis]

Some peculiar results:

So I tried adding the advanced setting and lo and behold it fixed the issue with thumbnails taking seconds to load! It did not resolve the issue of thumbnails that never loaded. I tried re-importing the database and that problem magically went away as well.

Now for the bad news. I don't remember for *certain*, but I believe that the "performance" of the GUI is now drastically sluggish and choppy compared to the way it was before adding the advanced setting. So I tried changing the value (started at 0.85, went down to 0.5, then 0.25 and finally 0.0) and it didn't seem to have any affect at all on the choppy screen updates in the GUI, although it did affect the CPU usage of XBMC. Finally, I tried removing the setting altogether. Same choppy performance, and oddly enough the thumbnails still worked just fine.

So I guess I'll consider this issue resolved for me and start a new thread to try and figure out why my GUI, running at 70+ FPS is so choppy. Thanks for your help jmarshal!