Still MVP bugs in these beta releases

nspindel · #1 04-09-2006, 03:01 PM

Mentioned on another thread that I've been having a lot of skipping/stuttering issues with the last few betas. I was also having serious problems with performance on my server, so I decided to re-build the whole machine - reformatted, reinstalled XP, etc.

I ran teh latest beta build - 4.1.12, all of my pc clients ran just fine. But my MVP was still stuttering and skipping. I tried going back to 4.1.11, which had been working ok for me briefly. Same thing. Back to 4.1.10, still skipping. (Yes, each time I unplug the MVP for 30 seconds to make sure I load the latest mvp.bin....). While all this was going on, I was checking the resources on my server - very low (7%ish) cpu utilization, no memory issues, etc. I can simultaneously play the same stream on a pc client, and it's perfectly smooth.

Finally, I decided to go back to the most recent official release, 4.1.3. Guess what? No more skipping or stuttering - MVP is completely smooth.

Considering the biggest introduction in the last several releases has been the Placeshifting, which I am not using, I am going to stick with the 4.1.3 build.

I know some people are having luck with these builds, but something still lurks in the MVP code causing skipping. I really hope these problems get sorted, because several UI issues in the MVP have been cleaned up in the betas, but it's simply not worth all the hassle, not to mention the angry wife...

Narflex · #2 04-09-2006, 04:49 PM

There's significant improvements in this area in the next beta (4.1.13). It should be out soon. If it doesn't fix your issues, please submit a bug report on it.

dagar · #3 04-09-2006, 05:25 PM

Ah the joys of software development

4.1.12 has been the smoothest MVP operation for me so far ... not budduh but very close ... almost like cream cheese from the fridge

Seriously though it is very nice

now I just need to buy another TV to go with my 2nd MVP

nspindel · #4 04-09-2006, 05:36 PM

I should probably mention a bit about the setup involved.

Server is 2.4ghz P4 running on an Asus P4B533-e, with 1gig of ram and 2 Hauppaugge MCE 150's. XP Pro SP2. I've got a Linksys BEFSR41 router running firmware 1.46.02 (Aug 03, 2004). There is a Linksys switch on the MVP side, and a Linksys switch on the server side, so three hops between the server and the MVP. I'm running Java 1.5, and the latest Hauppaugge drivers.

I'd suspect it's the three hops throwing the MVP off, but then why does 4.1.3 work ok? Not to mention the PC clients don't have a problem with the switches.

I'll give 4.1.13 a try when it comes along I suppose - I think there's a weekend coming up when my wife will be away

If that doesn't work, as suggested I'll submit a bug report.....

Said it before, I'll say it again - Sage rocks, you guys do great work. Still a few kinks to iron out, but once it's all set nothing beats this....

dagar · #5 04-09-2006, 07:16 PM

Have you applied theraputic reboots to all of your network gear? SOHO Ethernet switches aren't typically the most stable Ethernet switches out there

the odd corrupt CAM table or such isn't uncommon ....

nspindel · #6 04-09-2006, 08:07 PM

If network gear were the issue, why would 4.1.3 work? Not to mention, everything else I've got running on the network (music, dvd, etc.) Nothing to indicate anything's wrong with any of the network gear....

PGPfan · #7 04-09-2006, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dagar

Have you applied theraputic reboots to all of your network gear? SOHO Ethernet switches aren't typically the most stable Ethernet switches out there

the odd corrupt CAM table or such isn't uncommon ....

"Theraputic reboots", LOL

That's a great one, I hadn't heard it before.

-PGPfan

dagar · #8 04-10-2006, 06:10 AM

@PGP yeah it's the story of my life it ... they fix a world of problems and not just with Windows

@NSP must've been a PEBKAC on this side

joe123 · #9 04-10-2006, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nspindel

Mentioned on another thread that I've been having a lot of skipping/stuttering issues with the last few betas.
.

You are NOT alone. I too have noticed a lot more shuttering since .10 release.
The .12 release is stable, but I do get a lot of Shuttering which I never got before. A lot of people here have been having the same problem.

Any chance that instead of hurring up to release .13 beta with yet more bugs, that some kind of quality testing can be done? It seems to me that we are moving 1 step forward with 2 backwards.

I know this is beta, but there seems to be next to nothing quality control going on with these beta realses and a good example of this was with beta .11 which would crash SageTV server as soon as you put in in the tray. Non of the beta testers caught this?

BobPhoenix · #10 04-10-2006, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joe123

Non of the beta testers caught this?

That's what YOU are if you use one of the Betas.

BobP.

joe123 · #11 04-10-2006, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

That's what YOU are if you use one of the Betas.

BobP.

Are you saying that all beta's are relased WITHOUT any testing?

If so, I have yet to see a BETA being released with BROKEN authentication - that is, being able to run SageTV without buying KEYS

So some minimal testing is going on, but not enough which was my first point.

dagar · #12 04-10-2006, 01:23 PM

Didn't that happen to the latest Meedio build? (Talking about making a tangent

)

gplasky · #13 04-10-2006, 01:40 PM

Look at the version numbers. These are fresh off the beta block. Sometimes things get broken. If you don't want the issues continue to run the latest release (4.1.3) until the final is released. This is why they're called betas and you sir, are the tester.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dagar

Didn't that happen to the latest Meedio build? (Talking about making a tangent )

Well not quite. Their release was NEVER beta tested and went out as a final release. Not the best way to make people happy.

Gerry

BobPhoenix · #14 04-10-2006, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joe123

Are you saying that all beta's are relased WITHOUT any testing? So some minimal testing is going on, but not enough which was my first point.

No what I'm saying is that they test their fixes but most likely leave it up to US (the beta testers) to see if the code works on our machines. I'm sure they try very hard not to break any other code but that is the nature of development and why they rely on US (the beta testers) to report the problems with debug logs. I run my server with debug_loging=TRUE all the time now (until we get a final release) since that is what the old betas did by default and because I encountered a problem that I can't reproduce and had my logs off. Without the logs and a bug report SageTV can't fix the problem because they can't test all situations. They are a small company.

BobP.

DFA · #15 04-10-2006, 06:07 PM

Complaints about Beta-ware not being 100% or even having fatal flaws is why many developers go the route of closed beta testing. Avoids the sticks and stones from those that have unrealistic expectaions. When using beta SW, problems are the rule, not the exception. Likewise, things that worked before can show up broken.

One issue for developers is when a software package becomes increasingly large. For every change made, full, in-house regression testing becomes almost impossible. The inability and time constraints that inhibit full regression testing is where we, the volunteers, come in. If you don't want trouble, you gotta stay away from it.

Sage owes no apologies to anyone for any problems encountered with beta-ware.

EDIT: "Theraputic Reboot": Got to add that one to the vocab.

DFA

nspindel · #16 04-10-2006, 06:31 PM

On my end, I'm not complaining about the bugs - just stating that they're there. They certainly don't owe me any apologies. I know the drill - I'm a dev manager with about 15 developers working for me. That's why it's beta code

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