[mythtv-users] Excessive rebuffering during livetv

[Shawn Hecker]

I am getting an excessive amount of "rebuffering" messages in my 
mythfrontend log.  The (condensed) log is as follows:

2006-02-25 22:49:41.919 Using runtime prefix = /usr/local
2006-02-25 22:49:42.234 New DB connection, total: 1
2006-02-25 22:49:42.256 Connected to database 'mythconverg' at host: localhost
2006-02-25 22:49:42.258 Total desktop dim: 1024x768, with 1 screen[s].
2006-02-25 22:49:42.261 Using screen 0, 1024x768 at 0,0
2006-02-25 22:49:42.283 Current Schema Version: 1123
2006-02-25 22:49:42.284 mythfrontend version: 0.19.20060121-2 www.mythtv.org
2006-02-25 22:49:42.284 Enabled verbose msgs:  important general
2006-02-25 22:49:42.973 lang0: eng
2006-02-25 22:49:42.974 lang: eng
2006-02-25 22:49:42.997 lang1: eng
2006-02-25 22:49:42.997 lang: eng
2006-02-25 22:49:43.040 Total desktop dim: 1024x768, with 1 screen[s].
2006-02-25 22:49:43.043 Using screen 0, 1024x768 at 0,0
2006-02-25 22:49:43.043 Switching to square mode (Titivillus)
2006-02-25 22:49:43.384 New DB connection, total: 2
2006-02-25 22:49:43.385 Connected to database 'mythconverg' at host: localhost
2006-02-25 22:49:43.412 Joystick disabled.
2006-02-25 22:49:43.462 Registering Internal as a media playback plugin.
2006-02-25 22:49:43.529 Registering MythDVD DVD Media Handler as a 
media handler
2006-02-25 22:49:43.530 Registering MythDVD VCD Media Handler as a 
media handler
SIP listening on IP Address 192.168.2.4:5060 NAT address 192.168.2.4
SIP: Cannot register; proxy, username or password not set
2006-02-25 22:49:45.240 Connecting to backend server: 
192.168.2.4:6543 (try 1 of 5)
2006-02-25 22:49:45.251 Using protocol version 26
2006-02-25 22:49:45.287 Starting media monitor.
2006-02-25 22:49:45.291 NetworkControl: Listening for remote 
connections on port 6546
2006-02-25 22:49:52.430 TV: Attempting to change from None to WatchingLiveTV
2006-02-25 22:49:52.438 Using protocol version 26
2006-02-25 22:49:52.869 
RingBuf(/mnt/store/video/record/1066_20060225224952.mpg): Invalid 
file (fd 20) when opening 
'/mnt/store/video/record/1066_20060225224952.mpg'. 12 retries remaining.
2006-02-25 22:49:53.370 
RingBuf(/mnt/store/video/record/1066_20060225224952.mpg): Invalid 
file (fd 20) when opening 
'/mnt/store/video/record/1066_20060225224952.mpg'. 11 retries remaining.
0: start_time: 0.036 duration: 0.147
1: start_time: 0.026 duration: 0.130
stream: start_time: 0.289 duration: 1.746 bitrate=6240 kb/s
2006-02-25 22:49:55.676 AFD: Opened codec 0x9353420, id(MPEG2VIDEO) type(Video)
2006-02-25 22:49:55.694 AFD: Opened codec 0x932ce30, id(MP2) type(Audio)
2006-02-25 22:49:55.717 Opening audio device '/dev/dsp'.
2006-02-25 22:49:55.719 Opening OSS audio device '/dev/dsp'.
2006-02-25 22:49:56.361 OSDTypePositionImage::AddPosition[0](80x244  1, 1)
2006-02-25 22:49:56.379 OSDTypePositionImage::AddPosition[1](80x274  1, 1)
2006-02-25 22:49:56.380 OSDTypePositionImage::AddPosition[2](80x304  1, 1)
2006-02-25 22:49:56.381 OSDTypePositionImage::AddPosition[3](80x334  1, 1)
2006-02-25 22:49:56.650 TV: Changing from None to WatchingLiveTV
2006-02-25 22:49:56.660 Realtime priority would require SUID as root.
2006-02-25 22:49:56.727 Video timing method: USleep with busy wait
2006-02-25 22:50:22.005 NVP: prebuffering pause
2006-02-25 22:50:38.864 rebuffering (26689 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:47.476 rebuffering (10305 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:47.824 rebuffering (22593 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:48.840 rebuffering (28737 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:50.845 rebuffering (26689 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:51.640 rebuffering (20545 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:52.299 rebuffering (20545 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:52.843 rebuffering (22593 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:53.243 rebuffering (28737 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:53.944 rebuffering (28737 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:54.736 rebuffering (4161 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:54.880 rebuffering (12353 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:55.603 rebuffering (12353 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:56.405 rebuffering (24641 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:56.940 rebuffering (18497 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:57.404 rebuffering (2113 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:57.548 rebuffering (14401 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:58.748 rebuffering (18497 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:59.217 rebuffering (26689 32768)
2006-02-25 22:50:59.939 rebuffering (14401 32768)
2006-02-25 22:51:00.100 rebuffering (18497 32768)
2006-02-25 22:51:00.496 rebuffering (20545 32768)
2006-02-25 22:51:00.832 rebuffering (26689 32768)
2006-02-25 22:51:01.612 rebuffering (26689 32768)
2006-02-25 22:51:01.752 rebuffering (30785 32768)
2006-02-25 22:51:02.540 rebuffering (10305 32768)
2006-02-25 22:51:02.936 rebuffering (20545 32768)
<snip>

This continues for as long as I continue to watch live tv. I'm using 
the latest CVS version of mythtv, and have a PVR-150 with ivtv 
version 0.4.2 running on RedHat FC4.  The rebuffering messages start 
appearing after changing channels a few times or after watching the 
same channel for a long period of time.  There is no noticeable 
change in picture quality or playback speed when this happens.

Any idea why this message is appearing in my log or what it means? 
Mythfrontend will usually crash if I continue to watch for too long, 
however I don't know if that is related to the rebuffering messages.

Thanks,
Shawn