[PROBLEM] 1.0 Alpha 3 slow FPS vs. 0.83

[agent5150]

Folks I am seeing considerable slow performance on v1.0 Alpha 3 build when it comes to FPS.

With Class 10 SD card I get 52-56 FPS on Alpha 3 (zram enabled)

With Class 6 SD card I get 72-76 FPS on 0.83 (zram enabled)

both with the following config.txt parameters:

arm_freq=840
core_freq=375
force_turbo=1
disable_overscan=1

Skin:
0.83 on Quarzt OR reFocus
1.0 A3 on default skin.

any ideas why this is happening?

[CurlyMo]

Can you start by using our default config in Alpha 3?

[crs]

what vPi ? I have one of each and was about to start looking for best settings for both. v1Pi & new 512 v2Pi

[agent5150]

its a v1Pi (256mb). I did start with default config in alpha 3. I couldn't watch any 1080p mkv files from samba mounted nas drive. Then I changed the config to match 0.83 and added zram, only then it started to smooth out, but it still jitters 4 to 5 times during a movie, where 0.83 plays entire movie jitter free.

[CurlyMo]

What do you mean by zram? Also force_turbo is useless in Alpha 3 due to our kernel configuration.

And it you want to compare systems, make everything the same:

- Config file
- SD card
- Movie
etc.

Lower class SD cards sometimes have a higher random read/write speed in contrast to the sequential throughput.

[agent5150]

ZRAM: http://blog.extremeshok.com/archives/1457

I have tried using same SD class cards as well, but nothing brings up fps on alpha 3 to anywhere close to 70.

[rikardo1979]

sounds weird to me as I have tested Alpha 3 an havent come across any mentioned issues..
I also streaming all my files over Samba from server.
1080p/DTS 5.1 mkv 25gb of size smooth as never so was the rest of the files. I've also tested the killer file what have 40mbs bitrate and this was sooth too just accasion buffer but that is normal as there are some limitations.
So I would suggest to look into your issue bu checking logs or try to fresh install

[CurlyMo]

Why would you want to use zram?

[DraZtiK]

(13th Dec, 2012 11:43 PM)agent5150 Wrote:  its a v1Pi (256mb). I did start with default config in alpha 3. I couldn't watch any 1080p mkv files from samba mounted nas drive. Then I changed the config to match 0.83 and added zram, only then it started to smooth out, but it still jitters 4 to 5 times during a movie, where 0.83 plays entire movie jitter free.

I have no issues streaming from smb linux shares 1080P. Have you tried to copy the file to a usb thumb/drive to eliminate the network for troubleshooting? also what type codec for audio/video? DD/DTS decode or pass-through?

[agent5150]

Why zram?... zram is fully integrated in the Linux kernel and uses lzo compression. Compress memory on the fly to reduce swapping. Uses a small amount of cpu, however the reduced i/o usage more than makes up for this.

checking codecs/network troubleshooting makes sense if I was having the same issue with 0.83. The fact that things work smooth and fast on 0.83 compared to alpha3 is why I brought up the issue. Nothing wrong with my network/codec etc.

[CurlyMo]

Can you post some benchmarks on the improvements of zram? If it's really that better, then we maybe can enable it by default.

Why we ask to troubleshoot those points is because almost all users experience a big improvement over 0.8.3. A good thing to try is switching back to kernel 3.2.27:

Code:

sudo apt-get install xbian-package-kernel3.2.27

[DraZtiK]

(14th Dec, 2012 09:17 AM)agent5150 Wrote:  checking codecs/network troubleshooting makes sense if I was having the same issue with 0.83. The fact that things work smooth and fast on 0.83 compared to alpha3 is why I brought up the issue. Nothing wrong with my network/codec etc.

Troubleshooting requires process of elimination...without trying anything we resolve nothing. Alot has change since 0.8.3. Taking the stance that it worked before it should work now won't fix anything. Help the devs narrow it down some.

[agent5150]

Sorry for late response folks, been tied up with family due to holiday season. Anyways, I will get back on this issue after xmas break.