System slows to a stop running Sage

[as79]

Hi everyone, thanks for reading.
Here's the situation: I had SageTv running just fine on this new machine I built (specs at the end of the post) but something got screwed and I just cant figure it out.
After running Sage, and sometimes while running it, the mouse and keyboard start responding very slowly (it takes 2 seconds for the mouse to move to a new point). Cpu use is VERY high at 50% even AFTER closing Sagetv (this from the Performance tab in the task manager), but there are no processes listed that are using that much cpu (maybe the total of the processes add up to 15% or so). It remains at that level until a restart or standby.

I had Java 1.6 installed but switched to 1.5 after I started having problems (obviously that didn't solve it). I can't track the moment when this started happening to any particular driver being installed or anything.

I have the log from Sagetv if that would help. I didn't see anything strange on it, but then again I dont know what to look for.

Thanks for any ideas.

Asus P5LD2
Pentium D 805 - overclocked to 3.8 Mhz
EGA Nvidia 7600GS
Avermedia M150
Windows XP SP2 with all updates

[mayamaniac]

"Pentium D 805 - overclocked to 3.8 Mhz"

could that have soemthing to do with it?

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by as79

I had Java 1.6 installed but switched to 1.5 after I started having problems (obviously that didn't solve it). I can't track the moment when this started happening to any particular driver being installed or anything.

There have been a number of issues with recent versions (1.5+) of java. See this post. Maybe this could help matters?

Aloha,
Mike

[as79]

Mayamaniac: everything, including Sage, worked fine for the first couple of weeks, so I don't see why the overclock would become an issue now. Temps are fine and the computer works like a charm except after/while running Sage.

Mike, that's one of the threads that made me go back to Java 1.5 but it just ocurred to me to try version 1.4. I'll do that tonight and report any progress. Thanks for the heads up anyway.

[as79]

Aggggggh.... 1.4 didn't solve it either. I've checked for handle leaks and memory leaks (one of the symptoms of some of the guys having problems with Java) and I didn't see any while running sage or afterwards.
Does anyone know what could be using the cpu at 50% capacity and still not be listed on the processes tab of the task manager?

[BobPhoenix]

You don't have Showanalyzer setup to use the system account and Task Manager only showing tasks that are created by your UserID do you?

BobP.

[as79]

No, I only have one account (the admin) so everything should show on the task manager. Right?
I'll check, I'm out of ideas anyway.
Thanks

[ToxMox]

There is a checkbox at the bottom of the processes screen that says something like "show all processes from all users" make sure that is checked.

You could also download this awesome freeware app that I always use to replace taskmanager:
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilitie...sExplorer.html

[as79]

Ok, I tried checking the "show processes from all users" checkbox, but nothing changed. No other processes appeared but CPU Usage is still at 50%.

Could DirectX had anything to do with this? Does anyone know of any bugs with 9.0c?

Maybe I'm focusing on a meaningless detail here, but look at the attached snap: (I know the "show all" is unchecked, but I took this one a couple days ago) can anyone tell me how is it possible to have CPU usage at 48% and still have the System Idle Process at 92%?

Toxmox, I'll try that app and see if it shows anything different.

Thanks to everyone for your help so far.

[ToxMox]

I'm inclined to think it has something to do with RMclock or overclocking. When you boot into Safe Mode do the numbers make sense then?

[garyellis]

Anxiously watching for answers..I started this week having the same problem... And I haven't changed anything except add 1 MVP..

I'm not overclocking. I have 2 MVP's and they both run just fine, without the delay...It only shows up on the server system.

And it is very, very slow...and intermitent..

Gary Ellis

[as79]

Ok, I found something using the app Tomtox recommended. I'm attaching a snap. Now, what the @#$! are DPCs and why are they using 44.29% of my cpu??? I found a definition on google (http://www.sysinternals.com/Informat...ancedDPCs.html) but it's way over my head.

Tomtox, I wasn't running RMClock when this problem started, I didn't even have it installed actually until recently. Any other ideas?

[MeInMaui]

The DPC explanation went a bit over my head too, but it looks to be driver related. If the CPU usage only goes up when sage is running, maybe it is related to your video encoder device driver? Here's a silly thought. You could try temporarily disabling the encoder driver in device manager and add the null encoder lines to your sage.properties file as described here. (Make sure you back up your sage.properties file before doing anything.) Then try starting sage and see if the cpu usage is still high. It might help narrow down the possibilities.

Aloha,
Mike

[as79]

I found this thread that describes the EXACT problem I'm having. They seem to have it tracked down to the Nvidia display drivers. I haven't gotten through the 32 pages so I'm yet to find an answer.

http://forum.sysinternals.com/forum_...837&PN=1&TPN=1

[mscottsimon]

I have this same problem. I have a scheduled task that reboots the system every day at 4AM which seems to fix it but that's inconvenient.

The discussion over at sysinternals disagrees with my findings, so maybe my problem is different. I'm going to try the solution posted at the bottom of page 30 (pasted after my name for convenience) to see if that affects me or not.

This is the only issue preventing me from having a stellar SageTV experience.

.scott

excerpt from: http://forum.sysinternals.com/forum_...37&PN=1&TPN=30

On my system DPC (30-70% kernel time) disappear when GPU temperature goes above 58°C.
So Yesterday I tried to workaround with nTune.
I lowered the 2D fanspeed to 40%.
Now GPU has 59°C and DPCs are completely gone.

[as79]

Well, I'm going to give that a shot. I haven't found anyone on that thread that has this problem with a 7600gs and Intel chipset. Any of you guys with similar hardware?
I hope Ntune works even though I dont have a Nforce chipset.

EDIT: No luck, Ntune does require an NForce chipset.
Try Riva Tuner (http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163)

[as79]

After days of trial and error (including 1 complete system format and 2 windows restore) I have finally found the problem, or at least the solution. The DPC's which were causing a CPU usage of 50% when idle, went away COMPLETELY the moment I disabled the onboard audio (Realtek ALC882M).

I installed a Chaintech AV-710 that I had laying around to test SageTv (will not work without a sound device ;P) and the DPC's were completely normal.

For anyone else having a similar problem, I did try the Video card temperature fix (by lowering the fan speed) suggested by mscottsimon but in this case it had NO effect on the DPC's.

Thanks to everyone who suggested solutions. I'll remain subscribed to this thread in case anyone else needs help.

Good luck

[mscottsimon]

as79, thanks for posting that. The potential solution I posted failed for me as well. I'll be trying yours as soon as I can dig up an old sound card. :-)

[as79]

Let me know how it goes. Also, what mobo are you running?
I opened a thread on the Asus support forum for my specific mobo(http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?...Language=en-us) but haven't gotten any answers yet.
Everything is working fine now but I actually loved the onboard audio's Dolby Digital Live...I would hate to have to go out and buy another sound card, especially since it's my last PCI slot, no room for a second tuner then!

Andres