Beta firmware candidate for InfiniTV available - 14.10.3.163

[mdavej]

^^^
http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 551#p83551

However I suspect the macro blocking is a fluke or caused by something else. I think it would be worth applying the update one more time before you roll back. I've seen no signal problem in this version, only random reboot issues.

[JazJon]

Thanks I just downgraded to the previous firmware linked, macroblocking is totally gone so far. Clean recordings. I'll see if the no signal error popups come back, need a few days longer to confirm.

I won't open a ticket for now unless you want me to re-apply the beta and capture data.

[JazJon]

I spoke too soon pixelation macroblocking is back even on the old firmware.

I've ran into macroblocking on various PCI, usb Ceton tuners on off since their first release. I've moved and replaced all computer hardware, networking switches/wires and never helped. Added filters the works.

I thought macroblocking problems were long gone ok eth 6. really bummed it's back.

What can it be? I guess I'll do a capture and open a ticket.

[JohnW248]

A couple of questions. Do you have WiFi (even though the tuner isn't connected that way).
And do have a cell phone that uses WiFi on your home network?

I've seen reports of issues with cell phones causing problems when they scan for UP&P devices and the request causes problems. For a test if you have WiFi, turn it off and see what happens.

[JazJon]

A couple of questions. Do you have WiFi (even though the tuner isn't connected that way).
And do have a cell phone that uses WiFi on your home network?

I've seen reports of issues with cell phones causing problems when they scan for UP&P devices and the request causes problems. For a test if you have WiFi, turn it off and see what happens.

I did recently get comcast home security and they added a new separate wifi router and secondary cable modem recently. I'll try disconnecting for a day and see what happens.

Is there any special 3rd party or DIY RF shielding I can add around the ETh 6to help if that's the problem?

I have an iPhone 5s but att doesn't support wifi calls yet.

[tzr916]

...Is there any special 3rd party or DIY RF shielding I can add around the ETh 6to help if that's the problem?

I have an iPhone 5s but att doesn't support wifi calls yet.

That wifi they just installed, not only has your private network on it, but it might also provide a separate public xifinity access point for your whole neighborhood! So your comcast router could be taxed by that. If I were you, I would have it removed and get your own wifi router.

I don't think it's about wifi (signals in the air) interfering with the ETH, so shielding doesn't apply.

I think it's an issue where the router might be "busy" doing other things, "bogging down" the network thoroughput between the ETH & PC. Is your ETH plugged into the same switch as the WMC PC? Or do you have the PC plugged into a router and the ETH into a switch?

[JohnW248]

A couple of questions. Do you have WiFi (even though the tuner isn't connected that way).
And do have a cell phone that uses WiFi on your home network?

I've seen reports of issues with cell phones causing problems when they scan for UP&P devices and the request causes problems. For a test if you have WiFi, turn it off and see what happens.

I did recently get comcast home security and they added a new separate wifi router and secondary cable modem recently. I'll try disconnecting for a day and see what happens.

Is there any special 3rd party or DIY RF shielding I can add around the ETh 6to help if that's the problem?

I have an iPhone 5s but att doesn't support wifi calls yet.

The problem (and I haven't seen it since I don't have anything that searches for Media Players on WiFi) is that some devices scan for Media and in doing so the query can cause a problem with some tuners from some devices. Nothing really pinned down but if this just started again, I think you need to try turning off whatever they put in. If there is any "leak" from a public service to your network where requests might be passed into your home network, then you could be looking at the tip of the iceberg.

[JohnW248]

I should add that the problem can be caused by intrusion, i.e. a leak into the cable system. This can be a loose connector, bad splitter, etc. The cable company can measure for intrusion but since you had a recent installation, that might be an area to check. You can also make notes and see if the problems are all on one QAM tank or if it seems to be across the spectrum and if it occurs at the same time on other channels (check a recording that was being made to an observation on live tv). All these would point to a cable issue and not a tuner issue.

[JazJon]

I wanted to follow up. All pixelation macro blocking is gone after I removed the second cable modem used for Comcast home security.

I had a Comcast tech come out to remove the second cable modem and connect the remaining proprietary home security wifi router to my existing internet router network far away. (Atom box running PFsense). Their system already has a 3G backup so I'm totally fine with this and TV is perfect again!

[timaster]

Is it normal for the memory usage to climb over time? At the moment my eth6's are running 23MB/28MB and 21MB/28MB after 29 days uptime. The unit with 23/28 seems like it is switching channels somewhat slower than after a fresh reboot of the eth6 and TA. After rebooting the 23/28 one, it stabilized at around 12.7/28.

[timaster]

Interestingly, the first eth6 unit I manually rebooted, it had become slow to change channels, and memory footprint was high. The second was exhibiting similar symptoms, and I was using it as comparison to the first after the reboot. So, two hours later, the second eth6 spontaneously rebooted. It looks an awful lot empirically like a memory leak or somesuch exists in this firmware. The first unit has gone up approximately 200K in memory usage overnight, nothing huge, but over some period of weeks the rise might cause issues or a reboot if that is the trend. I am going to watch it and see if it climbs daily. I don't know if that's a normal thing, or a problem though, can only speculate.

[timaster]

And as expected, the memory utilization is slowly creeping upward. After 4.5 days, the first unit is at 14.2/28. To erkotz, is this behavior expected? Or is it something Ceton would want me to do any sort of data collection or further testing on? My other unit is at 3 days uptime and is in the mid 13mb range, and is slowly climbing as well. The second unit gets less usage, not sure if that impacts the memory climb. The first unit has several computers that attach to it.

[JazJon]

I have out of memory issues too. Slowly creeps up and asks to close media Center. Even after a fresh rebuild. I think I'll schedule a daily reboot 5am for now.

[timaster]

I have out of memory issues too. Slowly creeps up and asks to close media Center. Even after a fresh rebuild. I think I'll schedule a daily reboot 5am for now.

To be clear, the specific memory leak issue I'm seeing is the memory on the actual infinitv eth6 via its diagnostic web page. The pattern I see is a trend of a slow but steady increase in memory utilization on the eth6 device, followed by slower performance (i.e. slower channel changes) and spontaneous reboots of the eth6 as memory utilization gets high. I have already ruled out heat issues and such from my setup by mounting the unit on its side (better ambient cooling) and the room its in stays cool.

Memory issues on the PC are another animal entirely and shouldn't in general be related to the firmware on the card/standalone eth6 (aside from firmware-driver interactions possibly), but rather driver issues or other windows issues.

If I were you I would be looking closely at any addon's you are using with Media Center, as well as things like the sound and/or video drivers, or any other hardware related third party drivers or software that might be relevant to your system. If you have the tech knowledge you might want to try some software tools (process explorer, the windows event viewer, etc) to try and locate clues to the leak you're experiencing as well.

I noticed that there is a new pre-beta FW out, I am going to try it on one of my eth6's and see if it makes any difference or exhibits other new/changed issues, the other eth6 will stay on 14.x.x.x until I see how 15.x... performs.

[JazJon]

Understood, I'll dig deeper into why Media Center runs out of memory.

Thanks for letting us know about the new Beta update. I just upgraded and so far so good. I was occasionally getting short blips of weak tv signal in the middle of recordings so hopefully this sorts out signal stability even further.

[JohnW248]

Understood, I'll dig deeper into why Media Center runs out of memory.

Thanks for letting us know about the new Beta update. I just upgraded and so far so good. I was occasionally getting short blips of weak tv signal in the middle of recordings so hopefully this sorts out signal stability even further.

short burst of weak signal can have a number of causes other than tuner issues. A buffer issue on the hard drive (remember nothing is live, you're always looking at a playback), a network issue between the tuner and the computer and if you add in an extender it can multiply even more. I can induce this sort of thing when I'm using a laptop with 10/100 wired connection, two extenders, network tuner (either ETH or SD) and have a movie playing on the laptop from a server. If I back or jump on the laptop, I can induce very short digital break-up in the "live" tv playing on an extender streaming from the laptop. Nothing really wrong, just bandwidth is at the limit for a 10/100 connection.

Obviously that doesn't happen when the host is a desktop with 10/100/1000 connection and all servers are the same as well so the only choke point is with the laptop which also happens to just be a dual core processor so that can be a problem as well. All my desktops are quad or i7 so they don't run out of processor or memory.

[tzr916]

All recordings and live tv since this firmware update have sporadic pixellation, audio drop outs, picture freeze. Going to try v15.1.13.152 but have a feeling I will be going back to v14.4.6.21