[goldfinger7476]

I purchased 2 of the last gen apple tv's (the 160GB versions) and 2 PCIe BCM970012's. I know now that I should have ordered the 15's but I didn't know that at the time. However, everything I have heard and read is that the BCM970012 can handle 1080p with the apple tv.

I have the latest version of XBMC (Dharma b2) and the latest crystal driver 3.6.0

Every 1080p video I play has such high cpu usage that it makes it have jerky frames and lagging sound. Even 720p video uses about 80% of the cpu but is pretty smooth. I do have the crystal HD driver enabled and it is working (to a degree) because when I disable it, the 720p playback becomes tragic.

I am running atv flash 4.15 and XBMC on top of the atv OS.

Does anyone have any ideas? It is exactly the same on both apple tv's, is anyone able to play 1080p content on these? Even the 1080p Dark Knight BluRay rip is awful.

[TeknoJnky]

seems to have become a common problem with dharma.


http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=81058
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=80702

[davilla]

seems to have become a common problem with dharma.


http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=81058
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=80702

Both URLs point to issues that are not really related. The 1st is playback under XBMC for Mac on PPC. The other was wrong crystalhd driver/lib.

This one is 1080p under atv(osx) which I've already stated is CPU bound. Install a atv(linux) setup if you want 1080p playback under the atv. This might/might not get resolved in the future.

[TeknoJnky]

hmm, ok well no where in the 2nd thread is it mentioned there is a wrong driver/lib.

and the driver/lib that is installed is I think 157 from the crystalhd google code svn.

[goldfinger7476]

Both URLs point to issues that are not really related. The 1st is playback under XBMC for Mac on PPC. The other was wrong crystalhd driver/lib.

This one is 1080p under atv(osx) which I've already stated is CPU bound. Install a atv(linux) setup if you want 1080p playback under the atv. This might/might not get resolved in the future.

I did try linux at first using ubuntu 8.04 before I got the crystal HD cards, even though i did get it running, I was having major issues with the network adapter slowness with the interface, so I caved bought the crystal cards. I guess I am just curious if anyone running atv(osx) is able to play 1080p without issues or if I have to try and make it work with linux.

[davilla]

I did try linux at first using ubuntu 8.04 before I got the crystal HD cards, even though i did get it running, I was having major issues with the network adapter slowness with the interface, so I caved bought the crystal cards. I guess I am just curious if anyone running atv(osx) is able to play 1080p without issues or if I have to try and make it work with linux.

I just committed something that will help 1080p under atv(osx) with bcm70015 cards using it's hw scaler to scale to 720p. Since atv(osx) is limited right now to 720p display, it's a fare trade off to get back some CPU resources. But, that will not help you with bcm70012 cards, they don't have a hw scaler.

"network adapter slowness" sounds like you did not force max_cstate to c2. If the AppleTV is permitted to enter c3, then it's slow coming out and the network driver has problems. The symptom is dog slow network. The wiki guide has how to force max_cstate to c2.

[goldfinger7476]

I just committed something that will help 1080p under atv(osx) with bcm70015 cards using it's hw scaler to scale to 720p. Since atv(osx) is limited right now to 720p display, it's a fare trade off to get back some CPU resources. But, that will not help you with bcm70012 cards, they don't have a hw scaler.

"network adapter slowness" sounds like you did not force max_cstate to c2. If the AppleTV is permitted to enter c3, then it's slow coming out and the network driver has problems. The symptom is dog slow network. The wiki guide has how to force max_cstate to c2.

Yea I spent about 6 hours on both of the apple tv's trying to set that, couldn't get it to be anything but c8. But I also had a ton of issues with the netboot install of linux I was using. I might just spring for the bcm70015 since it would only take a second to swap out. Are there specific kexts for the bcm70015 vs the bcm70012?

[davilla]

Yea I spent about 6 hours on both of the apple tv's trying to set that, couldn't get it to be anything but c8. But I also had a ton of issues with the netboot install of linux I was using. I might just spring for the bcm70015 since it would only take a second to swap out. Are there specific kexts for the bcm70015 vs the bcm70012?

see http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW...he_AppleTV ->Set the MAX_CSTATE. The kernel gods removed the ability to set it from userspace. Thanks you sir, may I have another


The 3.6.0 driver/lib/firmware series has support for both bcm70012 and bcm70015 cards.

[goldfinger7476]

see http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW...he_AppleTV ->Set the MAX_CSTATE. The kernel gods removed the ability to set it from userspace. Thanks you sir, may I have another


The 3.6.0 driver/lib/firmware series has support for both bcm70012 and bcm70015 cards.

That was the guide I followed (it was very detailed and easy to follow btw), but those commands didn't do anything, I read somewhere that it had to something to do with compiling it into the processor options, but that was going out more than my linux knowledge would let me.

I guess I will just enjoy the 720p goodness for now and hopefully when dharma goes final it will be fixed or the driver will get updated. I have no desire to go through and reinstall linux on that thing again, at least not right now.

[goldfinger7476]

So I gave the linux setup another go with Pins image and I got it working and running from the hard-drive and 1080p is actually really watchable now, buuut, all HD content is in black and white where as all xvid/divx avi files are normal, any thoughts?

[curlyjs]

can I quote mr.appleTV ?

http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=533389&postcount=2

[goldfinger7476]

can I quote mr.appleTV ?

http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=533389&postcount=2

Thanks, that fixed it right up. And awesome this thing is pulling off the 1080p version of dark knight like a champ, and the cpu is less than 50%.

Thanks for the help guys

[goldfinger7476]

Just another quick question, where is the setup to make video display at 1080p resolution, mine is stuck at 720p but does play 1080p files

[davilla]

Just another quick question, where is the setup to make video display at 1080p resolution, mine is stuck at 720p but does play 1080p files

atv(osx) has a quirk that limits display to 720p, it's been discussed about a million times and here's a trac ticket for it.

atv(linux) has no such limit, xorg controls display resolutions that are available.

[goldfinger7476]

atv(osx) has a quirk that limits display to 720p, it's been discussed about a million times and here's a trac ticket for it.

atv(linux) has no such limit, xorg controls display resolutions that are available.

Yea I am switched over to atv(linux) now, and looking around I did finally find some ways to do it but everyone seems to recommend staying at 720p which I am ok with.

Another issue I am noticing is that when I pause playback on anything with h264, when I resume, 90% of the time my network video and or audio buffer won't come back for a while or at all sometimes. That never use to happen on my mini, is there known issue for that? The only way I can seem to get it fixed is to stop the video entirely and start it again.

And davilla thanks for being such a great help and resource for all of my questions