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<DIV><SPAN class=postbody>Hi, <BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=postbody><FONT face=Arial size=2>I had posted this to the
Knoppmyth forums but have since found that the problem 'seems' to be related to
the DMA (PCI) audio and the saa7134 cards (so I have posted here in hopes of a
wider audience and hopefully a solution!). </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=postbody><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=postbody><FONT face=Arial size=2>When using the line out
on one PCTV card I do not get the frequent 'prebuffering pauses' (only the
occasional one I can live with!)</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=postbody><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=postbody><FONT face=Arial size=2>Additional
Info:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=postbody><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=postbody><FONT face=Arial
size=2>modules.conf</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=postbody>video_buf<BR>tda9887 qss=0 <BR>saa7134 oss=1
dsp_nr=1,2 video_nr=1,2 mixer_nr=1,2 vbi_nr=1,2
oss_rate=32000<BR>tuner</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=postbody><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=postbody><FONT face=Arial size=2>< I have tried using the
latency=64 option for the saa7134 ></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=postbody><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=postbody><FONT face=Arial size=2>Frontend
output:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=postbody></SPAN><SPAN class=postbody>2005-03-21 14:17:24.359
mythfrontend version: 0.17.20050130-1 www.mythtv.org<BR>2005-03-21 14:17:24.360
Enabled verbose msgs : important general<BR>2005-03-21 14:17:24.542 Switching to
square mode (Iulius)<BR>2005-03-21 14:17:24.899 Registering Internal as a media
playback plugin.<BR>mythtv: could not connect to socket<BR>mythtv: Connection
refused<BR>lirc_init failed for mythtv, see preceding messages<BR>2005-03-21
14:17:24.908 Joystick disabled.<BR>2005-03-21 14:17:24.930 Registering MythDVD
DVD Media Handler as a media handler<BR>2005-03-21 14:17:24.931 Registering
MythDVD VCD Media Handler as a media handler<BR>2005-03-21 14:17:25.660
Registering MythMusic Media Handler as a media handler<BR>2005-03-21
14:17:25.700 Mediamonitor: Adding /dev/cdrom<BR>2005-03-21 14:17:25.700 Starting
media monitor.<BR>2005-03-21 14:17:40.319 Connecting to backend server:
127.0.0.1:6543 (try 1 of 5)<BR>2005-03-21 14:17:40.328 Using protocol version
14<BR>2005-03-21 14:17:40.362 Using protocol version 14<BR>2005-03-21
14:17:41.123 Opening audio device 'default'.<BR>2005-03-21 14:17:41.390 Using XV
port 59<BR>2005-03-21 14:17:41.562 Using realtime priority.<BR>2005-03-21
14:17:41.604 Changing from None to WatchingLiveTV<BR>2005-03-21 14:17:41.664
Video timing method: RTC<BR>2005-03-21 14:20:42.068 prebuffering
pause</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=postbody></SPAN><SPAN class=postbody>2005-03-21 14:22:03.343
prebuffering pause<BR>2005-03-21 14:22:29.042 prebuffering pause<BR>2005-03-21
14:23:31.362 prebuffering pause</DIV>
<DIV> < loads of these follow! ></DIV></SPAN><SPAN
class=postbody><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR><FONT
face=Arial size=2>I also sometimes get periods of:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>2005-03-21 18:46:00.341 prebuffering pause<BR>2005-03-21 18:46:01.126
WriteAudio: buffer underrun<BR>2005-03-21 18:46:01.126 WriteAudio: buffer
underrun<BR>2005-03-21 18:46:01.126 WriteAudio: buffer underrun<PRE>with what looks like slow motion video and no audio....</PRE></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>------------- Original Information:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>I have finally managed to get everything working. However, every time I
watch live tv I get those rather annoying 'prebuffering pause' messages. They
occur every minute (approx it varies 20secs-2mins) and are accompanied by an AV
pause. Playback in-between is smooth. <BR><BR>I have tried the following:
<BR><BR>Setting audio device to ALSA:default and mixer to default <BR>Compiling
latest ALSA CVS <BR>Swapping the on-board sound for an external SB MP3+ USB
<BR>Turning on/off aggressive SC buffering and Use internal volume controls
<BR>Turning on/off deinterlacing, realtime priority threads, XV picture controls
<BR>Switching unused devices off in BIOS <BR>Switching ACPI on/off in BIOS
<BR>Changing card priorities with setpci (for sound/gfx/tv cards) <BR>Compiling
2.6.11.4 kernel <BR>Compiling Myth CVS <BR><BR>In addition: <BR>XV is working as
I get the 'using XV port' message on the front end. <BR>CPU usage is 22%
watching tv. <BR>Memory usage starts with 250MB free and works its way down to
2-5MB free. <BR>Xine DVD playback is fine and smooth. <BR>I have also scoured
the mythtv-users lists... <BR><BR>None of which has made any improvement! The
only thing that has made a difference is taking out both tuners and putting in
an old bttv card (I still get the pauses but they are more random and less
frequent). <BR><BR>Suggestions welcomed as I am unsure where to look!
<BR><BR>Hardware/Knoppmyth version info in sig. <BR><BR>Many thanks for any help
with this, Graham<BR>_________________<BR>Knoppmyth R5A10 <BR>Pundit-r BIOS 1003
<BR>Intel Celeron D320 2.4Ghz <BR>2x Pinnacle PCTV Stereo (saa7134) <BR>512MB
PC3200 RAM <BR>ATI 9100IGP using ATI 3.12 with hex hack <BR>120 GB Western
Digital Caviar 2MB Cache 7200rpm <BR>BTC DVD-ROM <BR>Sapphire (ATI) Remote
Wonder</SPAN></DIV></BODY></HTML>