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Author Topic: Increasing priority to MC application  (Read 4612 times)

simonmason

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Increasing priority to MC application
« on: July 05, 2008, 07:16:47 am »

With all of my zones and now the addition of the MainLobby plug-in I have noticed that Media Center is getting a little bogged down.  It will sometimes hang for 10 seconds or so, and it has even (a couple of times so far) affected playback with songs skipping for 10 seconds before they continue.  My Media Center is running on a dedicated PC (plenty of power).  Is there a way I can maximize the priority of the application to ensure it gets all of the resources it needs.  I don't care about interoperability with other apps on the server because playing audio is the primary task of this machine. 
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JimH

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Re: Increasing priority to MC application
« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2008, 07:29:33 am »

What build are you using?
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Lasse_Lus

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Re: Increasing priority to MC application
« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2008, 07:52:06 am »

simon, u can use http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/proctamer/
or http://www.beyondlogic.org/solutions/processutil/processutil.htm

to have the priority of your choice  :)

i always have MC "above" normal, otherwise playback stutters, due to many program running

give it a try
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MT5FR

JimH

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Re: Increasing priority to MC application
« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2008, 08:12:42 am »

A virus checker can also slow down file access.  It should be set not to check the MC library files or content.  We see a lot of silly problems with virus checkers.
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simonmason

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Re: Increasing priority to MC application
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2008, 08:30:16 am »

Running version 12.0.518.

I just downloaded Process Tamer and set JRiver to High.  Let's see how it goes.
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StFeder

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Re: Increasing priority to MC application
« Reply #5 on: July 05, 2008, 03:16:26 pm »

i always have MC "above" normal, otherwise playback stutters, due to many program running

I noticed the opposite: I had many problems with skipping in MC on my old IBM-Laptop but I couldn't figure out why. In the end I thought my IBM might be just to slow.

Then I noticed this: If you set MCs Process priority to high (or even "above normal") and browse to a complex smartlist (or a playlistgroup containing some Play-/Smartlists) MC starts skipping. It steals itselfe playback resources. After changing priority to normal everything works fine. For me it looks as if MC manages to give a high priority to playback jobs. I'd suggest not to touch the application priority.

You may have a look at this thread: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=45058.0
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simonmason

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Re: Increasing priority to MC application
« Reply #6 on: July 05, 2008, 03:25:24 pm »

Thanks, I set the priority back to normal.

I followed the thread and saw the comment about buffering, so I thought I would adjust this.  It is currently set to 50 seconds so I set it to 1:30 - no scientific reason for this so I have no idea what impact this will have.  Ironically, while I was doing this on the second zone Media Center locked up.  No zones were playing.  Task Manager showed it taking between 40-50% of the CPU.  It hung for about 20 seconds and then freed up fine!
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StFeder

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Re: Increasing priority to MC application
« Reply #7 on: July 05, 2008, 04:00:29 pm »

Thanks, I set the priority back to normal.
You're welcome :)

[...] It is currently set to 50 seconds so I set it to 1:30[...]
You are talking about 0.50 seconds and 1.30 seconds, right  ;)
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JimH

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Re: Increasing priority to MC application
« Reply #8 on: July 05, 2008, 04:03:10 pm »

Virus checker?

Also, try this thread for ideas:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=24031.0
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JONCAT

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Re: Increasing priority to MC application
« Reply #9 on: July 05, 2008, 07:50:06 pm »

Whenever things get really bogged down, and skipping occurs (only with video), it's always Nod32 doing a scan or cleaning of log files....REALLY bogs things down.

DC
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TheLongshot

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Re: Increasing priority to MC application
« Reply #10 on: July 07, 2008, 12:25:15 am »

I don't think upping the priority to MC is going to help you much, since MC doesn't seem to take up much processor space.

I wish I knew what went on with MC, since it seems to like to freeze at a drop of a hat for me if I'm playing music and wanting to do anything else within the application.  It doesn't seem to matter, ripping songs, syncing with my Sansa, even changing settings.

Personally, I think it is piss poor.  If I felt that there was a better product for my uses, I'd probably switch.

Jason
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hit_ny

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Re: Increasing priority to MC application
« Reply #11 on: July 07, 2008, 02:24:35 am »

I wish I knew what went on with MC, since it seems to like to freeze at a drop of a hat for me if I'm playing music and wanting to do anything else within the application.  It doesn't seem to matter, ripping songs, syncing with my Sansa, even changing settings.

Why don't you start a thread about it ?

..and include your system info (Help->System Info).
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JONCAT

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Re: Increasing priority to MC application
« Reply #12 on: July 07, 2008, 08:46:44 am »

Hang tight. Once you get it all sorted out, MC will prove to you there is none better.

What 3rd party plugins are you running if any?

What about system specs? Help>System Info (will be copied to clipboard)?

What about hardware? Where are the files located? What OS? What A/V? Have you excluded some of the JRiver app data locations from realtimescanning? Defrag?

DC
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