100% CPU usage with Beyond Media

[4110]

I have had BeyondMedia and BeyondTV for a couple of months. I found very early that I occasionally had jerky video when watching a recorded TV show. The video would freeze for a second then snap forward, play smoothly for a second then freeze again. The sound played smoothly throughout. I have learned more about it. At first I thought it was limited to the TV shows I recorded with BeyondTV. In the last few days I have found that it also happens with live TV in BeyondTV and with videos in BeyondMedia.

When it happens I have also noticed that the computer is extremely sluggish; almost non-responsive. Today when this was happening I opened Control Panel-Administrative Tools-Performance. The CPU usage was 100%. That explains the sluggish computer and probably the jerky video as well. I then opened Windows Task Manager. The only active applications were BeyondTV and BeyondMedia (except for Task Manager and Performance). I closed BeyondTV and BeyondMedia and was surprised to find that CPU usage was still 100%. I then clicked the Processes tab in Task Manager. Even with the applications closed there were still several BeyondTV, BeyondMedia and FireFly processes active. I started closing them and the first three I closed had no impact; CPU usage remained 100%. However, when I closed the SS Beyond Media.exe process the CPU usage immediately dropped from 100% to 0. I don't yet know if this is the only source of my problem nor why it only happens occasionally.

Has anyone else had BeyondMedia (or any of the other processes) run away like that? Is this a problem that the system engineers need to address or something faulty in my setup? If me, how do I prevent the errant process(es) from taking over my computer?

Thanks,

David

[fester]

I think you may want to post hardware specs, OS, BTV software version, DVD decoder (y'know nvdvd, powerdvd, etc... ) and anything else like BTV log's - in order for people or snapstream support to assist you

my take: I couldnt put up with than 5 minutes with more than 25%-35% CPU utilization since I've come to expect about 2-25%. If this is how btv has performed 100% of the time - then you may want to uninstall - clean registry and other files (I use regcleaner but you can also goto regedit if you're brave) then just retry everything w/ 3.5.3. Have you tried any older versions w/ better result?

When was the last time you reloaded the OS? seems like most people who have not defragged the HD or reloaded the OS on a freshly formatted HD have more issues.

defrag takes hours... reload OS takes 15-30 mins depending on hw. good luck

[slpmep]

Have clean XP based systems. one dedicated to BTV and BM. SYstem w/BTV+BM+Firefly routinely pin's itself...usually w/BM consuming full CPU.....

[nanook105]

Anything strange in the log file ? What default settings did you change ? What plugins are you using ?

[4110]

Hi all,

Thanks for your help. I didn't mean to leave you hanging but I am also working with official Snapstream help and they have diverted my attention. Still, since we haven’t solved it, this issue may be of interest to others, and most important, someone here may have the answer so I'll keep going and hope I don't offend Brett at Snapstream.

I did a little more testing since my first post. As I mentioned, the runaway process is SSBeyondMedia.exe. But it doesn't always run away. I found that if BeyondMedia Application is operating normally and I close it the SSBeyondMedia.exe Process also goes away. However, when it runs wild and the CPU usage is 100% then closing the BM Application does not stop the SSBeyondMedia Process.

SLPMEP, I am intrigued about your observation “w/BM consuming full CPU.....” That sounds like what I have. However, I don’t fully understand the rest of your post and how to set up to avoid it. Would you provide more detail for me? Thanks.

Nanook105, I have had the underlying jerky video since I started. I started with the default settings and have probably tried every combination so I don’t think it is settings. I have written before and even thought I solved the problem a time or two but it is intermittent and always comes back. What is new this time is the observation about the runaway process. I don’t know what a plugin is. How do I find out which ones if any?

Fester (and all) at the bottom of this post I have pasted some of my DxDiag file to provide some system information. My computer is new this year so there shouldn't be too much garbage in the registry.

Thanks,
David
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 4/24/2005, 12:41:52
Machine name: MEDIA
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: VIAK8T
System Model: AWRDACPI
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3500+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.2GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
Page File: 389MB used, 3606MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce FX 5200
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0322&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A1
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Default Monitor

The C: drive is a 250gb. TV is recorded to a second drive.

[slpmep]

4110: Sorry....haven't figured out the solution yet...was simply stating what I believe is exactly the same situation as I have...my only difference is that I've experienced it on two different machine, with different hd's [ one=IDE and one=sata ] which two different capture cards [ one=PVR350 and the one=eHome Wonder ]

I find BM get's CPU bound frequently when I bounce in and out of BTV... I also have the same situation as you in that when I exit BM, it often hangs and one of it's processes is running wild....

[4110]

Slpmep,

I probably shouldn't say this but I was a little bit glad to hear that you were having the same problem. Not that I wanted problems for anybody else, but it was comforting to find that I wasn't the only one. I am still working with official Snapstream help. Since it is an intermittent problem it has taken a couple of days to have an event that I was able to capture to a log. But I got it today and sent it off. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the Snapstream engineers can use it to solve this.

David

[cd084]

I to have just started having this prob' as well, started about a week ago. I have been running BTV & BM for about four months now, NO Problems at all. This started one afternoon out of the blue.... 100% for SSBeyondMedia.exe.
My temp solution (I'm on the road allot, and the trouble & strife doesn’t like to miss her shows) was to just to run the btm lite that can with the firefly remote instead of the BM. But I do like my BM would like to get it going again without reinstalling it.
My system... P2.8, XP, 4x160gbata133, NVIDIA 5200, PVR350, 512mb. Windows Updates are turned off (last undated manually about 4weeks ago)

[4110]

I received a suggestion to change settings. Specifically, In Video settings change the MPEG2 Aspect Ratio. Since it is an intermittent problem so I can never be 100% sure if it is fixed but I am trying it now. If others try it too it will increase the sample size. Please let us know how it works.

David

[softnerd]

Hmm. I just started having this problem today. I've been using BM for about a month with no problems at all. Now BM starts to get slow within 10 minutes of opening it EVERY TIME I open it. Task Manager says it's using between 95% and 100% CPU until I eventually close it. I haven't changed any settings or started using any new plugins for 2 weeks. I'm in BM pretty much every night and this is the first I've seen of it. Not good.

HTPC system specs are as follows:

• AMD Athlon XP 1700+
• 512MB Crucial RAM
• Abit KR7A-RAID motherboard
• Radeon 8500DV video, component out to TV
• System Drive: 80GB Hitachi ATA-133
• Media Drive: 200GB Seagate SATA
• M-Audio Revolution 7.1
• 2 x Sapphire Theatrix 550 Pro Tuners
• Broadcom-based PNA network adapter
• Windows XP Home SP2
• BeyondTV v3.5.3
• BM v1.0

Like I said, this just started earlier this evening out of nowhere and is still there after several reboots...I've even tried removing all plugins and using default skin. Puzzling.

[4110]

Hi Softnerd,

I started the thread and still have the problem.

I was comparing specs between our systems. I also have an AMD chip and an abit board. Wonder if it could be something with the hardware that doesn't work with BM? I would welcome input from others on the forum, especially folks with AMD and abit.

Originally I noticed the problem with recorded TV using Beyond TV. At the time I thought BTV was the problem. It was only recently that I found the problem happened in BM with video, pictures or even nothing - just starting BM sometimes triggered the run-away process. Since I now suspect BM I have been using BTV as a stand alone application rather than starting it from BM. So far no problems, although with an intermittent problem you can never be 100% sure.

David

[softnerd]

Originally Posted by 4110

Hi Softnerd,

I started the thread and still have the problem.

I was comparing specs between our systems. I also have an AMD chip and an abit board. Wonder if it could be something with the hardware that doesn't work with BM? I would welcome input from others on the forum, especially folks with AMD and abit.

Originally I noticed the problem with recorded TV using Beyond TV. At the time I thought BTV was the problem. It was only recently that I found the problem happened in BM with video, pictures or even nothing - just starting BM sometimes triggered the run-away process. Since I now suspect BM I have been using BTV as a stand alone application rather than starting it from BM. So far no problems, although with an intermittent problem you can never be 100% sure.

David

Nah. CPU type wouldn't matter...the chipset could, but not very likely. Something like this would either be a BM problem, BM Plug-in problem, or a driver problem (and thus, could relate to the chipset the motherboard uses). The Via K8T chipset in your system and the Via KT266A chipset in my HTPC are so different that there's no common ground there, Via chipset, ABIT board or not. I'm guessing it's a BM problem and I need to clean out a setup file, registry key, or something like that. It's definitely not a hardware problem unless we both have a bad capacitor or something that is making our systems unstable. 99.999999% chance it's a software problem one way or another.

At this point I'm suspicious of 2 things: the 'Recorded Shows' plugin (which I forgot to remove before), and the fact that this may have started for me after I had a BTV recording forcefully ended before its scheduled time, resulting in it having no end date/time stamp for the show. I was seeing the PVSLibraryAppService process eating a lot of CPU cycles after closing BM, and I don't have this problem when I run BTV by itself. I'm going to check these 2 things when I get home. If BM is written in C#, I could be looking at an exception handling problem. Could be stuck in some kind of a Try...Catch...retry loop that somehow isn't causing a stack overflow exception to be thrown. I'll get back to ya.

[Baylo]

Interesting - I just started having this problem last night, too, though too late for me to do anything other than try a couple of reboots which didn't solve the problem. The CPU meter jumps to 100% almost immediately and stays there. I also noticed the PVSLibraryAppService process working overtime as Softnerd notes.

BTV still works fine by itself.

I thought maybe my recent installation of Slimserver might have something to do with it, so I uninstalled it but it made no difference.

Other than that, I've made no changes to a system that has been running happily 24/7 for months.

Mark

[softnerd]

Originally Posted by Baylo

Interesting - I just started having this problem last night, too, though too late for me to do anything other than try a couple of reboots which didn't solve the problem. The CPU meter jumps to 100% almost immediately and stays there. I also noticed the PVSLibraryAppService process working overtime as Softnerd notes.

BTV still works fine by itself.

I thought maybe my recent installation of Slimserver might have something to do with it, so I uninstalled it but it made no difference.

Other than that, I've made no changes to a system that has been running happily 24/7 for months.

Mark

Hmm. That's interesting that you just started getting this too. Do you have the 'Recorded Shows' plug-in loaded? I'm wondering why this seems to tie in with the PVSLibraryAppService process. Once I run BM and close it that process cranks on the CPU until I close the BTV services. I can then re-start the BTV services and it's fine until the next time I run BM, at which time BM starts to seize up within 1-2 minutes and PVSLibraryAppService starts whaling on the CPU again. I deleted my suspect recordings, so that's not causing it. It's starting to annoy me now 'cause we use BM for music almost every day. Grr. I'll look into this more tonight and see what I can find out...

[memphis]

Just an FYI,

I have had BM installled for several months and all of sudden today on 2 different machines the BM exe started to consume 100% of the CPU even after a reboot.

On both of these machines I had installed the showtime plugin that allows you to view the showtimes from the local theathers. I removed the plugin restarted BM and all was fine. This worked for both machines.

I am guessing that the server that this plugin uses to pull its data from was hosed up thus causing the high CPU.

Not sure if anyone else has this plugin but I found it odd that so many people were having a similar issue.