CPU Usage

[Stuntman]

I just did a clean install of Windows XP Pro on a new system running dual core AthlonXP 4800+ 64bit processors... Did a clean install of the latest SageTV beta and I am seeing processor usage of 95-100% across BOTH processors when sage is recording at times! This brings the pc to a crawl until I shutdown sage and restart it..

Anybody else seeing weird CPU Usage?

[Enormous]

Originally Posted by Stuntman

Anybody else seeing weird CPU Usage?

Yes. I used to see it on my AMD 2800+, and when I upgraded to a 4200+ X2, it still happens. Sometimes SageTV will start up nicely and not start eating CPU until it has been running for a couple of days, other times it'll hog the CPU from the start and won't let it go no matter how long you wait. I've been in contact with support multiple times about this, but so far we've not been able to narrow down exactly why it happens.

[alexus]

I have had the same problem since 6.1.3RC. I have reinstalled the OS several times and still find that Sage is hogging 100% CPU after several hours. I use the Sage Client on a PC directly connected to my TV, and have an MVP in another room.

My setup is:

K8N Neo4-F Motherboard (6.86 Nvidia platform driver)
AMD64 3700
XFX GeForce 7600GS PCI-e (93.71 graphics driver)
1 x IDE OS Drive
2 x 250GB SATA Drives
3 x Nova-T Tuners
1 x MVP
Sage 6.1.4RC
Java 1.4.2_11
Nvidia Purevideo codec

I have also spent many hours changing drivers, trying different Java versions and still have the same problem. Also see the same issues after moving to 6.1.4.

I submitted a bug report recently with the log files and we're still trying to get to the root cause of the problem. The log files suggest there is an 'out of memory error' with Java which somehow causes the CPU to be tied up, but it's not clear what's causing this.

However, I did make some progress last night but won't have definite confirmation it has worked untill later today. After realising that my MVP had been turned on since I upgraded to 6.1.3 and had switched itself into slideshow mode, I unplugged the MVP last night and this morning Sage seemed OK! Previously, if left overnight, Sage would lock up with the 100% CPU usage issue.

I wondered if either of you used MVPs and had they been switched on for a while (and specifically, had they clicked in to slideshow screen save mode) at the time when the CPU usage went up?

It's a long shot, but I thought it was worth asking the question.

[Stuntman]

Originally Posted by alexus

I wondered if either of you used MVPs and had they been switched on for a while (and specifically, had they clicked in to slideshow screen save mode) at the time when the CPU usage went up?

It's a long shot, but I thought it was worth asking the question.

I have 3 MVP's.. They all have the latest beta release on them.. I turn them off when not in use, but I, obviously, don't unplug them. They are all set slideshow screensaver mode. Do the MVP's actually turn off when you turn them off, or does the light just turn off on the front?

I'll try swithcing my screen saver mode and see what happens....

I figured with dual cores and 3 GB of RAM I'd see a performance improvement!

I have the latest JAVA release installed as well.. which, I believe, is more current that the one that SageTV installed.

[alexus]

Hi,

Just checked and Sage is still fine after a whole day. I had actually switched the MVP off (red light off) rather than unplugged it. Seems a strange coincidence, but looks like it worked. I will now try with MVP on but with using Sage screen saver rather than slideshow.

[flavius]

I have three MVP's that are on all the time, with the default screen saver. No issues. Looks like it's the slideshow. Does the memory usage also go up?

[Wheemer]

have you guys tried the new 1.6 java?

[Stuntman]

Originally Posted by flavius

I have three MVP's that are on all the time, with the default screen saver. No issues. Looks like it's the slideshow. Does the memory usage also go up?

Something else I just changed that made a dramatic difference.. I had been running SageTV server in NON service mode.. I changed it to service mode and I found a dramatic change in responsiveness on my MVP's and my CPU usage has, so far, nearly vanished!

I'll watch some more, then take it out of service mode and see if the issue returns...

[Stuntman]

Originally Posted by Wheemer

have you guys tried the new 1.6 java?

Is 1.6 the latest released version, or a beta? I got a java update reminder shortly after installing SageTV and I upgraded to it.. whatever version that is..

[Wheemer]

I think it's a beta, the java updated won't normally download it.

[nielm]

Java 1.6 is not a beta.

Java SE 6 is the current major release of the Java SE platform

[alexus]

After more fiddling around with MVPs, the Sage application and Java versions (including 1.6), there definitely seems to be an issue for me when the MVP is in use along with the Sage GUI (i.e. in non-service mode). CPU usage is clipping 99%. If the MVP is switched off, then the CPU issues go away. Very strange.

I did try using service mode last week but experienced a scambled picture on the Sage client after an hour or so. Perhaps this is something to with my DVB-T setup. However, that was with 6.1.3 so I'll try service mode again with 6.1.4 to see if there is still the same picture problem.

It's starting to seem that the most stable way to use Sage is with service mode and MVPs - doing away with the client GUI altogether.

[Stuntman]

Originally Posted by alexus

After more fiddling around with MVPs, the Sage application and Java versions (including 1.6), there definitely seems to be an issue for me when the MVP is in use along with the Sage GUI (i.e. in non-service mode). CPU usage is clipping 99%. If the MVP is switched off, then the CPU issues go away. Very strange.

I did try using service mode last week but experienced a scambled picture on the Sage client after an hour or so. Perhaps this is something to with my DVB-T setup. However, that was with 6.1.3 so I'll try service mode again with 6.1.4 to see if there is still the same picture problem.

It's starting to seem that the most stable way to use Sage is with service mode and MVPs - doing away with the client GUI altogether.

I'm seeing similar results.. after going to service mode and removing the photo screensaver from my MVP clients the CPU hardly registers sage activity any longer. I'll re-enable the screensaver at some point and see if the issue returns.. if it does not, I'll chalk it up to some issue with sage running in non-service mode.. on my system.. I'm happy with the responsiveness now that it is in service mode!! But I'd love to know that taking it out of that mode won't cause issues.

[Wheemer]

Originally Posted by nielm

Java 1.6 is not a beta.

If it isnt in some sort of beta classification then the java updater would ask you to download it.

[nielm]

Java.com still considers 1.5 u 11 as the latest 'consumer' version, but 1.6 was really released last november.
I am also not sure that the java updater will ever install a major version upgrade.

[Wheemer]

cool, thanks for the clarification

[one_each]

Java 1.6 is the latest version and will require a full install, the update won't update to it.

That said, I've been having the 100% CPU issue show up on my system. It seems to happen only during playback. I don't have an MVP, just the one system connected directly to the TV. All of my drivers are up to date. One thing I did notice is that is seems to happen a lot less often with the latest update of Java 1.5.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by one_each

Java 1.6 is the latest version and will require a full install, the update won't update to it.

That said, I've been having the 100% CPU issue show up on my system. It seems to happen only during playback. I don't have an MVP, just the one system connected directly to the TV. All of my drivers are up to date. One thing I did notice is that is seems to happen a lot less often with the latest update of Java 1.5.

Are you using a USB-UIRT for both a receiver and blaster with SageTV Service mode active? If so I would suggest that you have the SageTV Service mode app run with the same USERID and Password as the one you use with the GUI. That is a bug in the USB-UIRT drivers according to Sage support. But as long as I use the same account and password for both I have no problems.

BobP.

[perkster]

The other day about a week ago I installed the 6.0 version of SageTV and I never noticed any load average issues ie high cpu % at all. I thought I would play with the beta and well I see sageTV using 80%+ at all times. As soon as SageTV is closed avergae goes back down. I enabled the server in config and I am beginning to wonder if this is the cause as I do not need the server to be running. Will disable and see what happens..

[alexus]

Just as an update, I installed v6.1.4 and decided to use Sage service. This reduced the CPU usage problem. The 6.1.4 Sage client also seems to have solved the DVB-t problems I was seeing when trying to use the service function with 6.1.3 (which was a scrambled picture on the client when watching a DVB-T channel).

Conclusion:

- Using just the Sage Client with 'server' enabled to run an MVP causes high CPU usage which locks the PC.

- Using 6.1.4 with the Sage 'service' enabled solves this problem, plus the Sage client is also stable with DVB-T (using the 'service' approach with v6.1.3 caused the client GUI to display scrambled pictures).