[mythtv-users] Netflix under MythTV - Update

Tue Apr 13 15:59:18 UTC 2010

On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 8:49 AM, Andrew Cover <eakster251 at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 7:53 AM, Allen Edwards <allen.p.edwards at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 7:46 AM, Andrew Cover <eakster251 at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Apr 12, 2010 at 7:55 PM, Allen Edwards <
>>> allen.p.edwards at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Apr 12, 2010 at 6:59 PM, Andrew Cover <eakster251 at gmail.com>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Apr 12, 2010, at 6:28 PM, Andrew Cover <eakster251 at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> On Apr 12, 2010, at 3:32 PM, Allen Edwards <<allen.p.edwards at gmail.com>
>>>>> allen.p.edwards at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Mon, Apr 12, 2010 at 2:57 PM, Allen Edwards <<allen.p.edwards at gmail.com><allen.p.edwards at gmail.com>
>>>>> allen.p.edwards at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> This is an update.  I have been trying to get Netflix to work under a
>>>>>> button on MythTV.  The result is very jerky video.  I am running IE under
>>>>>> Windows XP under VirtualBox under Mythbuntu 8.04 on an AMD 5400+ 2G memory.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I have determined that the video is jerky due to the CPU running at
>>>>>> 104% when trying to watch the video.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What I have done:  Installed VirtualBox 3.1 tried alocating 1GB to the
>>>>>> base and 64M to the video, enabled 2d and 3d acceleration.  No difference.
>>>>>>  104% CPU usage
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Downloaded a file at 3.2MBPS and it used 20% CPU.  Assuming this is
>>>>>> proportional, I should only be using 10% CPU for the network part of the
>>>>>> streaming at the 1.5MBPS Netflix rate.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Tried <http://ABC.com>ABC.com streaming.  Also over 100% CPU and
>>>>>> jerky video
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Downloaded and ran a HD Movie trailer that has way more quality than
>>>>>> anything I have ever seen on Netflix.  It looked great, no jerks, and only
>>>>>> 50% CPU usage.  <http://www.pocketmovies.net/download/shrek-4-shrek-forever-after><http://www.pocketmovies.net/download/shrek-4-shrek-forever-after>
>>>>>> http://www.pocketmovies.net/download/shrek-4-shrek-forever-after I
>>>>>> used the mp4 version.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To judge what I had just done, I downloaded the trailer on a Windows
>>>>>> machine that is a little faster than my Myth machine, a Core 2 Duo 3.16GHz.
>>>>>>  The Shreak trailer used up to about 15% CPU and the Netflix movie used up
>>>>>> to 25%.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> That is really strange.  The Netflix was a lower load on the straight
>>>>>> windows machine but 2x the load on the Virtual machine.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I don't know if Silverlight is used by ABC but if it is the most
>>>>>> likely something that Silverlight wants is not implemented well in
>>>>>> VirtualBox.  Everything else has been ruled out.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Comments?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Allen
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Another clew I forgot to post.  Opening a Chrome window on the virtual
>>>>> windows machine kicks the host CPU up to 50% where the XP CPU is showing
>>>>> only 2%. Opening Firefox or IE uses only 2-5% in the host.  Chrome does not
>>>>> use a standard Window so whatever it uses, is not implemented in VirtualBox
>>>>> in an efficient way.  Probably a similar thing missing that Silverlight
>>>>> uses.
>>>>>
>>>>> I am basically stuck.  Again, I ask is anyone using their Myth box to
>>>>> watch Netflix with anything short of 100% CPU?
>>>>>
>>>>> Allen
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> mythtv-users mailing list
>>>>> <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>mythtv-users at mythtv.org
>>>>>  <http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users>
>>>>> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>>>>>
>>>>> I wonder if VirtualBox is the issue, have you considered using vmware
>>>>> player? It's free at <http://www.vmware.com/products/player/>
>>>>> www.vmware.com/products/player/ . I've been using it to run my windows
>>>>> software when wine won't do and have had success even with 3d rendered
>>>>> games. I'm setting up my one month free Netflix account now and we'll see
>>>>> how it goes.
>>>>>
>>>>> Andrew
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Okay just so you know I'm currently watching streaming video of The
>>>>> Taking of Pelham 123 with silverlight on IE running on xp running on vmware
>>>>> player running under ubuntu 9.04. The virtual machine does have it's CPU
>>>>> hitting 100% the majority of the time but the video is extremely watchable
>>>>> so far (not jerky), and the host CPU is averaging somewhere between 65 and
>>>>> 70 percent usage.
>>>>>
>>>>> I hope this will be useful info for you.
>>>>> Andrew
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Yes, this is very helpful.  I will try that tomorrow.  I have pretty
>>>> much come to the conclusion that it must be some kind of bug in VisualBox
>>>> either because of VisualBox or its interaction with my kernel.  Hopefully
>>>> WMWare will not have the same issue.
>>>>
>>>> You are getting 65-70%. What is your CPU model and speed?
>>>>
>>>> Allen
>>>>
>>>>
>>> The CPU i tested it on is an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz. another
>>> interesting piece of information for you: the virtual machine i did this
>>> with only has 512 meg available to it out of the 4 gig on the host system.
>>>
>>> Andrew
>>>
>> Excellent.  Faster than mine but not overwhelmingly.  A 5400+ is slower
>> and not Intel, which makes it slower still, but still I would call it
>> similar.  How much memory for the video, assuming there is a similar option
>> as VirtualBox for that?
>>
>> Allen
>>
> There's no option for setting specific amounts of memory for video that I
> have seen on VMware Player just a check box to accelerate 3D graphics and
> some monitor options and I'm not sure what the amount that it sets when you
> create a new virtual machine is.
>
> Andrew
>

Looking into it a bit more I found this line in my .vmx file that I was able
to determine is the memory setting for video 'svga.vramSize = "134217728"'
so it is set to 128 meg.

Andrew
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