Moved to Linux Sage Server, now DivX playback choppy on HD100, but not Placeshifter

[arpotu]

Tonight I converted my Windows XP SageTV server to Ubuntu 8.04 64-bit Linux (Gentoo 2008 was a pain in the @$$; couldn't get it installed and I'm a Linux guy from wayyy back) With the exception of DivX playback, everything else, including SageTV recording, seems to be working properly. After the upgrade, my DivX collection is a bit choppy when played with my STX-HD100.

When I play the same DivX file(s) with Placeshifter, it plays smoothly with no lag or choppiness. Placeshifter also properly displays upper and lower black borders (on widescreen DivX files), but the HD100 appears to be stretching the playback vertically so the borders aren't there.

The Linux Media Server network interface is running at 1Gbit/Full Duplex, and so is the workstation where placeshifter works, but with the same hardware under Windows the DivX playback worked equally well as the STX-HD100, so I don't think it's a network lag issue.

I've played with the obvious menu options on the STX-HD100 to no avail.

I'm not sure if the issue is with the STX-HD100, or perhaps a configuration option(s) I need to specify on the Linux OS to improve performance with the HD100.

SageTV recordings play back with no issues, so I wonder if it's something in the DivX codec on the STX-HD100 <shrug>.

Anyone have experience with this? I would really like to get the performance I saw with Windows, but still be able to use my LVM disk management on Linux.

I'll happily send relevant config info to help debug the issue.

Thanks,
Arpotu.

[arpotu]

FYI, I just upgraded all components to 6.4.4 beta, and there's no improvement in DivX playback on the HD100.

I've also opened a case with SageTV support (a couple of days ago, to which I haven't seen a response... <big frown from a paying customer>).

Anyone have any opinions about the problem?

Arpotu.

[stuckless]

I run Sage on linux and I use the HD-100. I haven't experienced these issues on the HD-100, but I have experienced similar issues on the MVP.

I wonder if Sage is still transcoding your divx files, when it should not need to do so, since the HD-100 can natively handle the divx files.

I think, in the client setup, there is an option to check if you client has hardware mp4 support. Check to see if this is enabled/disabled.

Other than that, I can't really explain why the HD-100 would have stuttering, unless there are network issues.
You may be able to telnet to you HD100 and type ifconfig, it will show stats about the network interface, including error counts, collisions, etc.

But then again, if you saw good performance under Windows, using the same setup, then I doubt it's a network issue or HD-100 issue.... maybe focus on seeing if/why Sage is transcoding on the fly going to the HD100.

[sorrowstyr]

Bump!

I have a same issue with Divx (XVID) files stuttering on my HD-100 but not my MVP. Its very weird.

Did Sage ever respond to you ?

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by sorrowstyr

Bump!

I have a same issue with Divx (XVID) files stuttering on my HD-100 but not my MVP. Its very weird.

Did Sage ever respond to you ?

Recently my Server had become unstable (stupid new Crucial ram) and so periodically it would reboot in the middle of recording shows which means I would lose my recordings (okay I wouldn't lose the recordings but what good is a tv show thats missing 10 minutes in the middle!). So whenever that happened, I just downloaded the video from the net. They were always in XVID format and I have had NO problems playing them back on the HD100.

[sorrowstyr]

They were always in XVID format and I have had NO problems playing them back on the HD100.

Hmm.. interesting.. The stuttering seems to happen only during panning shots.
What version of the firmware are you running on the HD100 ?