Hard Drive access every sixteen seconds

[strangeandnew]

I recently built a new computer and moved SageTV to it. Even when I have not used my computer for several hours, I can audibly hear my main hard drive being accessed every few seconds.

Using FileMon (www.sysinternals.com) I can see that every sixteen seconds the SageTVService is running the following actions:

8:35:55 AM	SageTVService.e:2000	SET INFORMATION 	C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\software.LOG					SUCCESS	Length: 12288	
8:35:55 AM	SageTVService.e:2000	SET INFORMATION 	C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\software.LOG					SUCCESS	Length: 20480	
8:35:55 AM	SageTVService.e:2000	SET INFORMATION 	C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\software.LOG					SUCCESS	Length: 24576	
8:35:55 AM	SageTVService.e:2000	CREATE			C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\TEMP:6108D5DF	SUCCESS	Options: OverwriteIf Sequential  Access: 00120196	
8:35:55 AM	SageTVService.e:2000	OPEN			C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\			SUCCESS	Options: Open Directory  Access: 00100000	
8:35:55 AM	SageTVService.e:2000	WRITE 			C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\TEMP:6108D5DF	SUCCESS	Offset: 0 Length: 264	
8:35:55 AM	SageTVService.e:2000	SET INFORMATION 	C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\TEMP:6108D5DF	SUCCESS	Length: 264	
8:35:55 AM	SageTVService.e:2000	SET INFORMATION 	C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\TEMP:6108D5DF	SUCCESS	Length: 264	
8:35:55 AM	SageTVService.e:2000	CLOSE			C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\TEMP:6108D5DF	SUCCESS		
8:35:55 AM	SageTVService.e:2000	CREATE			C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\TEMP:6108D5DF	SUCCESS	Options: OverwriteIf Sequential  Access: 00120196	
8:35:55 AM	SageTVService.e:2000	OPEN			C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\			SUCCESS	Options: Open Directory  Access: 00100000	
8:35:55 AM	SageTVService.e:2000	WRITE 			C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\TEMP:6108D5DF	SUCCESS	Offset: 0 Length: 264	
8:35:55 AM	SageTVService.e:2000	SET INFORMATION 	C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\TEMP:6108D5DF	SUCCESS	Length: 264	
8:35:55 AM	SageTVService.e:2000	SET INFORMATION 	C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\TEMP:6108D5DF	SUCCESS	Length: 264	
8:35:55 AM	SageTVService.e:2000	CLOSE			C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\TEMP:6108D5DF	SUCCESS

Does anybody out there know if these actions are necessary or if they can be spaced out further than sixteen second intervals?

[flavius]

Is this causing any problems?

[cslatt]

I have an oddly similar problem. I checked Process Monitor and didn't see any corresponding file activity, but every sixteen seconds my video stutters. Didn't happen before I moved to the latest version. I watch Task Manager and even when I'm not watching a video, the CPU usage for the SageTV.exe process spikes every sixteen seconds from 0 to around 40%. I went back to the default STV, disabled the web server and get status plugins, still see the same behavior. I turned on debug logging, but I don't see anything happening every sixteen seconds.

[strangeandnew]

Is this causing any problems?

I just got done testing, and I am not seeing any issues like cslatt.

It may seem trivial, but I have built a nearly silent PC for the first time and suddenly something as simple as frequent, patterned hard drive access can seem loud at night. I guess I previously had constant fan noise to mask it.

Closing the SageTV GUI and disabling the service takes care of the problem, but I hate to take that step. I have been searching through the Sage.properties file looking for a way to set the access to be less frequent. I tried removing all the library import directories, as well as turning off logging, but it did not help.

[jlmdxtv]

You wrote that you removed the import directories. Did you also turn off the rescan options to them in Setup?

[strangeandnew]

You wrote that you removed the import directories. Did you also turn off the recan options to them in Setup?

I could not find the Setup option you mentioned. Did you mean the "seeker/periodically_scan_library=true" setting in Sage.properties? I just tried setting it to "false" and did not observe any change.

[jlmdxtv]

I'm not sure of the Properties name, I've only changed it in the U.I.'s Setup. But it does sound like you found the correct one.

I take it that you're: 1) shutting off the Sage service, 2) closing the application, and 3) modifying the correct Properties file when you do make changes to that file? If you've been upgrading Sage since 4 or earlier, you *may* find multiple copies of that Properties file on your machine.

john

[strangeandnew]

Thanks for the response. Yes, I am shutting down the GUI and disabling and turning off the service when I make changes.

This is a new computer with a fresh installation of SageTV 6.1.9. I pulled over only Sage.properties and Wiz.bin from the old machine. There doesn't appear to be any confusion related to duplicate or similar properties files.

[KryptoNyte]

Same problem here. Got an HDhomerun unit recently and reinstalled Sage at the same time, 16 second issue started at that point in time.

Anyone resolved this? My media PC gets used about 8 hours a week max, so hard disk access every 16 seconds seems like a rather unnecessary event further shortening the life of the most (relatively speaking) unreliable piece of hardware in any PC I've ever built/serviced.

Quite frankly, it's just annoying as heck.

[strangeandnew]

Same problem here. Got an HDhomerun unit recently and reinstalled Sage at the same time, 16 second issue started at that point in time.

No solution yet for me.

Interesting, mine also started when I added an HDHomeRun as I went from 6.1.8 to 6.1.9.

[Taddeusz]

I really don't think there's any kind of documented proof that this type of hard drive access would cause premature hard drive failure.

My HTPC stays on 24/7 and I have smart recording turned on. The hard drives get accessed for writes quite frequently and a lesser extent for reads. I see the light blink probably about once every few seconds as it's recording. It's been running quite well for at least a year on the same drive. We'll see how long it lasts. My previous drives I had in RAID 0 before one of them failed lasted about 2.5 years, but then WD 120GB drives had a fairly high failure rate. The other drive in the pair is still working as an offline backup.

[Neo]

Originally Posted by cslatt

I have an oddly similar problem. I checked Process Monitor and didn't see any corresponding file activity, but every sixteen seconds my video stutters.

I have the exact same problem. I downgraded to 6.1.8, and the stuttering is still there. I kept the wiz.bin from 6.1.9 though.

It seems to me that Sage does some deep hardware scanning or something, since this affects windows mediaplayer too, but only while sagetv service is running.

I have only SDTV on an FX5200, but it has worked very well earlier. I did have, and still have, something accessing the disk every 15 minutes too, that results in even bigger video stuttering.

[GTwannabe]

Check your Windows event log. See any Disk, ftdisk, bad block, or similar errors under System?

[Slickferret]

I just go a new system recently and collected all of my external hard drives on that system. From the beginning when I started that system, I would get a single periodic 1 second "pulse" of read activity to all hard drives. The little blue light on the Seagate drives comes on for about 1 second occurring about every 16 seconds (approximating - I have never timed it). I always assumed it was an oddity of my new computer system. I see from other posts that it is not unique to my computer.

Oddly though, none of those external hard drives have any folders designated within SageTV as recording or import directories. It is odd that the program would be accessing everything when I have told it to use just a couple of internal drives. When the pulsing read occurs, all drives are accessed (10 external hard drives)

[RobJ]

I can say that I too am affected almost every 16 seconds. I did not think this applied to me as I don't have an HDHomerun, and thought my frequent studder in video playback was random. I decided to examine Task Manager and Process Explorer (SysInternals) at high update intervals and see if either would reveal a problem.

About 95% of the ~16 second CPU spikes exactly coincided with video playback stuttering, the very few remaining stuttering episodes were also related to high CPU spikes, but mostly due to AVG Antivirus, Webroot Spysweeper, Mozy, WinPatrol, or possibly SageTV's own folder rescan. The periods of high CPU were brief, about a half to almost one second, but were 85% to 100% CPU activity. This is an older Dell 866, a Pentium 3, still used as a primary computer, and I need all that stuff, can't afford a dedicated SageTV server.

I studied Task Manager and Process Explorer quite awhile, and it's my opinion that the timer involved is actually 15 seconds, set at the end of each activity cluster. On my computer, the very high CPU spikes seem to last about .5 to almost 1 second, averaging about .75 seconds, making the average interval about 15.75 +- .25. That would certainly seem like 16 seconds. They seem rather variable, seem to occur between 15.5 to 16.3 seconds apart.

My hard drives are attached to a Promise controller, so no LED. Although I tried, with my ear close, I had absolutely no audible, visual, or tactile indication of any hard disk activity. There may be, but until I load one of those tray HD indicator utilities or FileMon, I cannot confirm one way or the other. I did connect a USB thumb drive, confirmed I could see its LED, and waited, unsuccessfully; there was not a single blink apart from those I caused. However, the .75 second length of the high CPU activity blip seems consistent with a series of either hard disk or network scans or polls.

The task monitors never related the high CPU activity with SageTV, but the 16 second blips cease as soon as SageTV is closed, unloaded. Process Explorer associates the CPU spikes with 'Hard Interrupts'. Task Manager does not associate it with anything, but if you turn on 'Show Kernel Times' on the Performance tab, it is definitely red Kernel-related spiking. Perhaps someone else with more expertise and better tools can identify it better.

[Neo]

Originally Posted by GTwannabe

Check your Windows event log. See any Disk, ftdisk, bad block, or similar errors under System?

Nothing in the log. And as said, the stuttering goes away if SageTV is shutdown. I have not noticed if the disks are really accessed every 16 seconds, only that the video stutters.

[Neo]

Has anyone seen if the problems are gone with beta 6.2.4 ?

[RobJ]

After installing SageTV 6.2.4 beta on an 866Mhz Pentium 3 with 512MB of RAM, I can confirm that my 16-second problem seems to be gone, at least after preliminary testing. Playback of SD is much smoother as well, with only a very little stutter, and is much less frequent, can almost be missed! Sage may be using more memory, which in low memory situations like mine, could lead to more disk thrashing, but so far, my computer actually seems slightly faster, subjectively determined. It definitely seems to use a little less CPU while in the background.

More testing is needed, and the issues reported by other posters may not be the same, but it is a great improvement in playback! Thank you, Sage developers!!!

(I don't know if this report should actually be in the Beta forum? Feel free to move.)

[Neo]

Originally Posted by RobJ

After installing SageTV 6.2.4 beta on an 866Mhz Pentium 3 with 512MB of RAM, I can confirm that my 16-second problem seems to be gone, at least after preliminary testing. Playback of SD is much smoother as well, with only a very little stutter, and is much less frequent, can almost be missed! Sage may be using more memory, which in low memory situations like mine, could lead to more disk thrashing, but so far, my computer actually seems slightly faster, subjectively determined. It definitely seems to use a little less CPU while in the background.

More testing is needed, and the issues reported by other posters may not be the same, but it is a great improvement in playback! Thank you, Sage developers!!!

(I don't know if this report should actually be in the Beta forum? Feel free to move.)

I too upgraded to 6.2.4 beta, and I have the same experience. Stutter is much less frequent, and menu navigation is faster too. Good work

[aedgington]

I remember having similar issues several years ago when I first became a Sage user. I *think* I eventually diagnosed it as IR activity.