choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

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edcompsci
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choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by edcompsci »

Has anyone else experienced very choppy unwatchable streaming video on their lmde installation?

I first thought it was the cable company because they changed their available download speeds recently, but they couldn't help me other than to try to sell me a higher speed.

First issue I've had., and not sure it might be my hardware but I had this same hardware up before just about a month ago and it was fine, before cable made the change I even got a new modem that handles higher download speed. Streaming video has become very choppy and mostly impossible to watch on my my zotac zbox running lmde, yet if I watch the same thing from my desktop hooked to the same tv (tv acting only as a monitor) using just plane ubuntu-based Mint I get no choppiness at all, so that I think eliminates the possibility that it's just network latency. Again, I was able to watch streaming video fine on this machine with my 38mbps modem before they got rid of that speed and made their 2 lowest speeds only either 10mbps or 50mbps. I have installed all the gstreamers and hd packages that I could find in synaptic.

I have tried many different browsers....Firefox, Aurora, Chromium, Chrome, Vivaldi

Any suggestions?
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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darknetmatrix
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Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by darknetmatrix »

no suggestion but can confirm the same.
choppy video image on lmde while on mint 20 perfect stream.
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Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by darknetmatrix »

I created /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-radeon.conf and added the following lines to it:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Radeon"
Driver "radeon"
Option "TearFree" "on"
Option "DRI" "3"
Option "AccelMethod" "glamor"
EndSection

But still no improvement after a restart.
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Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by antikythera »

streaming works fine for me. I have tried it with nvidia, amd and intel hardware and there's no chopping. What network hardware are you using?

if you really want help, to begin with please post the output of the following for the affected machine

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxmz
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Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by darknetmatrix »

Here's the output:

Code: Select all

darknetmatrix@darknetmatrix-hp-z400-workstation:~$ inxi -Fxmz
System:
  Host: darknetmatrix-hp-z400-workstation Kernel: 5.7.0-0.bpo.2-amd64 x86_64 
  bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 
  Distro: LMDE 4 Debbie base: Debian 10.2 buster 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Z400 Workstation v: N/A 
  serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 0B4Ch v: D serial: <filter> 
  BIOS: Hewlett-Packard v: 786G3 v03.15 date: 10/29/2010 
Memory:
  RAM: total: 9.78 GiB used: 1.70 GiB (17.4%) 
  RAM Report: 
  permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required. 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Xeon W3565 bits: 64 type: MCP 
  arch: Nehalem rev: 5 L2 cache: 8192 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 25599 
  Speed: 1600 MHz min/max: 1596/3193 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1600 2: 1600 
  3: 1600 4: 1600 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Caicos [Radeon HD 6450/7450/8450 / R5 230 OEM] 
  vendor: PC Partner Limited driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 0f:00.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: radeon 
  resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: AMD CAICOS (DRM 2.50.0 / 5.7.0-0.bpo.2-amd64 LLVM 7.0.1) 
  v: 3.3 Mesa 18.3.6 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 82801JI HD Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.7.0-0.bpo.2-amd64 
Network:
  Device-1: Broadcom Limited NetXtreme BCM5764M Gigabit Ethernet PCIe 
  vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: tg3 v: kernel port: d0c0 bus ID: 01:00.0 
  IF: enp1s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.87 TiB used: 38.85 GiB (2.0%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda model: SPCC Solid State Disk size: 55.90 GiB 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Western Digital model: WD20EFRX-68EUZN0 
  size: 1.82 TiB 
RAID:
  Hardware-1: Intel SATA Controller [RAID mode] driver: ahci v: 3.0 
  bus ID: 00:1f.2 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 54.77 GiB used: 10.93 GiB (20.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 
  ID-2: /home size: 1.78 TiB used: 27.92 GiB (1.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb5 
  ID-3: swap-1 size: 7.55 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sdb2 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 52.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: radeon temp: 59 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:
  Processes: 211 Uptime: 32m Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 
  Shell: bash v: 5.0.3 inxi: 3.0.32 
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Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by antikythera »

Network:
Device-1: Broadcom Limited NetXtreme BCM5764M Gigabit Ethernet PCIe
vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: tg3 v: kernel port: d0c0 bus ID: 01:00.0
IF: enp1s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Does your router support gigabit ethernet? and what cable rating are you using Cat5, Cat6, how long is the cable?

In Network Manager, set negotiation to auto or ignore and you should get gigabit throughput if your router and cabling supports it.

Then there's always the MTU value. You may need to reduce this for reliable streaming and data transfer:

viewtopic.php?p=1871417#p1871417
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Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by darknetmatrix »

all the parent is okay, on my other workstation with mint 20 I don't have a shocking image.
Just installed and rebooted the latest kernel and suddenly it's ok.
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edcompsci
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Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by edcompsci »

antikythera wrote: Thu Sep 10, 2020 5:07 am
Network:
Device-1: Broadcom Limited NetXtreme BCM5764M Gigabit Ethernet PCIe
vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: tg3 v: kernel port: d0c0 bus ID: 01:00.0
IF: enp1s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Does your router support gigabit ethernet? and what cable rating are you using Cat5, Cat6, how long is the cable?

In Network Manager, set negotiation to auto or ignore and you should get gigabit throughput if your router and cabling supports it.

Then there's always the MTU value. You may need to reduce this for reliable streaming and data transfer:

viewtopic.php?p=1871417#p1871417

I sure hadn't thought of doing that. I will try that within the next few days.
Dan_Gerous

[SOLVED see below} Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by Dan_Gerous »

I've had 'choppy' video also, although from youtube. The issue seems to be one of the processors of this "Core Duo" laptop is roughly sine wave cycling between roughly 20 to 100% causing the video to momentarily freeze. The other processor runs between 20-40%. A reboot changed CPU usage patterns from CPU2 to CPU1, same patterns.

"System Reports" doesn't list any crashes, and "System Monitor" / processes tab shows only Cinnamon and gnome using 1-5% of CPU with nothing but the desktop up - Firefox & Web Content adds another 5-20%, depending on what is on the page. There is nothing to indicate anything else additional using CPU, all other processes show 0% CPU usage. Memory (with Firefox running) shows ~25% usage of 7.7g, swap 0% of 7.7g

Last update installed Caribou 0.4.21+mint1+debbie from 0.4.21-7, and mintsystem 8.5.1 from 8.5.0, and mintmirrors 1.2.1 from 1.2.0

Here is the System Report:

Code: Select all

System:    Host: laptop2 Kernel: 4.19.0-13-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0 
           Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: LMDE 4 Debbie 
           base: Debian 10.2 buster 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 6463WDZ v: ThinkPad T61 serial: <filter> Chassis: 
           type: 10 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: LENOVO model: 6463WDZ serial: <filter> BIOS: LENOVO v: 7LETC5WW (2.25 ) 
           date: 11/14/2008 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 54.5 Wh condition: 54.9/73.3 Wh (75%) volts: 12.4/11.1 
           model: SANYO COMPATIBLE serial: <filter> status: Unknown 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core2 Duo T7100 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Core Merom 
           rev: D L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 7181 
           Speed: 1795 MHz min/max: 800/1801 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1795 2: 1795 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics vendor: Lenovo ThinkPad T61/R61 
           driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:2a02 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1680x1050~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 965GM v: 2.1 Mesa 18.3.6 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 82801H HD Audio vendor: Lenovo ThinkPad T61/R61 driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:284b 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-13-amd64 
Network:   Device-1: Intel 82566MM Gigabit Network vendor: Lenovo ThinkPad T61/R61 driver: e1000e 
           v: 3.2.6-k port: 1840 bus ID: 00:19.0 chip ID: 8086:1049 
           IF: enp0s25 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR5418 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5008E 802.11bgn] 
           driver: ath9k v: kernel port: 1c40 bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 168c:0024 
           IF: wls3 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 232.89 GiB used: 23.24 GiB (10.0%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD2500BEVT-00A23T0 size: 232.89 GiB 
           speed: <unknown> serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 218.68 GiB used: 23.04 GiB (10.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-1 
           ID-2: /boot size: 944.6 MiB used: 201.9 MiB (21.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 7.72 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-2 
USB:       Hub: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 chip ID: 1d6b:0001 
           Hub: 3-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 4-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 chip ID: 1d6b:0001 
           Hub: 5-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 chip ID: 1d6b:0001 
           Hub: 6-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 chip ID: 1d6b:0001 
           Hub: 7-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 chip ID: 1d6b:0001 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 59.0 C mobo: 53.0 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): fan-1: 2924 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nordvpn.list 
           1: deb https: //repo.nordvpn.com/deb/nordvpn/debian stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com debbie main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
           2: deb https: //deb.debian.org/debian buster main contrib non-free
           3: deb https: //deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates main contrib non-free
           4: deb http: //security.debian.org buster/updates main contrib non-free
           5: deb https: //deb.debian.org/debian buster-backports main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/opera-stable.list 
           1: deb https: //deb.opera.com/opera-stable/ stable non-free #Opera Browser (final releases)
Info:      Processes: 183 Uptime: 3h 36m Memory: 7.72 GiB used: 2.05 GiB (26.5%) Init: systemd 
           v: 241 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 alt: 8 Client: Unknown python3.7 client 
           inxi: 3.0.32 
Last edited by Dan_Gerous on Thu Jan 14, 2021 6:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dan_Gerous

Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by Dan_Gerous »

Doing some more poking around this morning, and on the processes tab, pulled up "Active Processes", and see that kworker/1:2-events is the culprit hogging the processor. No idea what it's doing, but about every 2.5 seconds, it jumps one CPU to 100%, then disappears.
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Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by antikythera »

In your case Dan it may well be the hardware no longer being up to the task demanded of it but try the following and see if it helps:

echo 10000 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_writeback_centisecs

The default is 500 if you want to put it back.
I’ll tell you a DNS joke but be advised, it could take up to 24 hours for everyone to get it.
Dan_Gerous

Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by Dan_Gerous »

Thanks for the reply, antikythera.
I put that in terminal and got the following:

Code: Select all

owner@laptop2:~$ echo 10000 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_writeback_centisecs
bash: /proc/sys/vm/dirty_writeback_centisecs: Permission denied
owner@laptop2:~$ sudo echo 10000 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_writeback_centisecs
bash: /proc/sys/vm/dirty_writeback_centisecs: Permission denied
What am I missing (besides brainz)?

I realize the laptop is antique, but it's what I have ATM. It has been working very well overall for the limited internet use it gets, started with Mint17.3, then 18.3 and now LMDE4. It usually runs youtube at 480px just fine, occasionally shows tearing with VLC or Celuloid playing dvd's; the hangup has been the graphics processor, not the CPU.
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Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by antikythera »

In that case edit with sudo rights the file /etc/sysctl.conf

add the lines:

Code: Select all

vm.dirty_writeback_centisecs = 10000
vm.dirty_expire_centisecs = 10000
Save and restart the PC. If it makes no difference, delete those two lines from the file, save it and next time you reboot the value will be back at 500.
I’ll tell you a DNS joke but be advised, it could take up to 24 hours for everyone to get it.
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Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by Dan_Gerous »

Succeeded in modifying sysctl.conf. Now to reboot and see...

Thanks
Dan_Gerous

Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by Dan_Gerous »

No change in processor use - one of the cores regularly and repeatedly cycles to 100% by kworker. This isn't normal behavior for this system.

I'm getting old so my memory isn't what it once was, but this had happened once before quite some time ago with 18.3, and it seems something from update set it off. I believe I deleted kworker from the system and rebooted, which IIRC 'fixed' it. Going to try that again, if possible.
Dan_Gerous

[SOLUTION to my issue] choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by Dan_Gerous »

I accessed the /user/lib/python3/dist-packages/aptdaemon/worker/_pycache_ folder and with admin rights (right click menu) deleted the contents. Both processors are running between 8-25%. Video is now playing fine. I haven't noticed any other problems with the system or programs I've run so far.

Looks like something got corrupt, looped, whatever, but clearing the cache has fixed it.
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Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by antikythera »

Fair enough, thanks for sharing the find as it may come in handy :)

Python3 did get updates recently, as did pretty much the entire desktop environment today. I don't know if the mirrors you use have synchronised yet but I'm now running the equivalent package set for Mint 20.1's Cinnamon on LMDE4 including Hyptonix and Web apps as of tonight. All of this is in the debbie repositories now. Cinnamon 4.8 is supposedly more efficient so that may help with your processor and GPU loads a little too.
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Re: choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by karlchen »

<mod> split off varamille's reply in French and moved it to the French sub-forum: viewtopic.php?f=63&t=349238 </mod>
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Re: [SOLUTION to my issue] choppy streaming video (I don't think it's my hardware)

Post by lminar »

Dan_Gerous wrote: Thu Jan 14, 2021 6:44 pm I accessed the /user/lib/python3/dist-packages/aptdaemon/worker/_pycache_ folder and with admin rights (right click menu) deleted the contents. Both processors are running between 8-25%. Video is now playing fine. I haven't noticed any other problems with the system or programs I've run so far.

Looks like something got corrupt, looped, whatever, but clearing the cache has fixed it.
It's 2021, I'm using Mint 20.2. and this has worked for me, like a charm, except the path starts with /usr, not /user
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