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Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 8:10 am
by Xphazer
To anyone having buffering issues using addons, give this a try. It was broken and didn't work before and should be working fine with 31785. :)
If set to 0, content will be cached on the hard drive. Let us know how it goes and have fun testing different values. ^^ Megabytes to Bytes

UserData/advancedsettings.xml

Code: Select all

<advancedsettings>
    <network>
        <cachemembuffersize>5242880</cachemembuffersize>
    </network>
</advancedsettings>
Press the black button on the gamepad or the "Title" button on the remote:
(Using 20971520 with 128MB of RAM :D)
Image

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 9:51 pm
by 00diabolic
Thanks for this..

One question and maybe I'm missing the obvious here. So I set the advancedsettings xml to 5242880 (64mb) and the xbmc settings to cache 0 right?

There is only 1 settings in cache under xbmc dvdplayer is that what should be set to zero? There are multiple settings under mplayer but mplayer as far as I know is not the recommended player for most content, is that still correct? (This is last I know circa 2008) If it is mplayer cache then is it unknown type cache -internet that we set to 0?

Please let me know..

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 5:52 am
by 00diabolic
After much trial and error I answered my own question. It is 0 in advancedsettings.xml to get this file to cache to HD.

1. Now what partition is this using? Also how much of that hard drive will it use? Can we tell it what partition to use for cache?

2. Also what about the 1 settings in cache under xbmc dvdplayer what should that be set to? Is that ignored with this or does it limit the HD space used by this?

3. Does this setting only apply to dvdplayer & not mplayer? If it does apply, there are multiple settings under mplayer but mplayer as far as I know is not the recommended player for most content, is that still correct? (This is last I know circa 2008) If it is mplayer cache then is it unknown type cache -internet that would limit this?

Thanks

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 6:05 am
by Xphazer
Don't touch anything from the GUI, just create UserData/advancedsettings.xml with the correct content.
Its all about 1 single setting, cachemembuffersize in advancedsettings.xml. Noting more, nothing to do from the interface.
You can have a bigger cache on your RAM. <cachemembuffersize>5242880</cachemembuffersize> (Or the value you like)
OR Set to 0, it will cache to hard drive, No size limit beside FATX and hard drive space limitation.. "<cachemembuffersize>0</cachemembuffersize>"
You certainly cannot use a 64MB cache on RAM! 64MB is the amount of RAM the Xbox have, you cant use all the RAM for cache. ^^
5242880 Bytes equals to 5 Megabytes.. (64 Megabytes = 67108864 Bytes) :)

In a nutshell, when streaming content from online, all its doing is "downloading" a "file", but you can watch that file at the same time it download.
So this "file" need to be stored somewhere till it get processed so it can be display on your screen.
And thats what cachemembuffersize is all about.
Now the DVDplayer cache is what's already been processed and ready to be show on your screen.
This doesn't really need any adjustment, and certainly wont help anything with online streaming.
(mplayer is not actively supported anymore, use /report with DVDplayer please)

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 3:25 pm
by 00diabolic
Alright cool.. Only 1 question remains. What drive is used for this caching? I'm assuming Q drive. If it is I'll need to do something to free up more space on my E drive.

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 4:17 pm
by BuZz
it uses special://temp/ which by default is mapped to: Z:\

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 6:59 am
by 00diabolic
My cache does not go above 1.5mb with Z drive being empty.

I keep getting a warning that says cache is full for some reason. Any ideas what it could be?

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 11:06 am
by BuZz
debug log please.

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 4:17 pm
by 00diabolic
Here is my log. If you notice anything let me know..

I've also attached my regular log also. The debug log includes the error that the cache has been filed.

Thanks BUZZ!!

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 6:32 pm
by BuZz
Better would be to use pastebin or similar rather than attaching files. ill take a look though.

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 6:33 pm
by BuZz
well, in none of the logs there do you have an advancedsettings.xml ... did you make one ? check the original post again. default cache is 1mb (and some for back buffer). normally cache errors indicate that the data is not streaming quick enough to playback in realtime. but this thread is specifically about the advancedsettings.xml cachemembuffersize config.

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 9:29 pm
by 00diabolic
Hmmm.. Here is my advanced settings xml see below. I'm sure I got this setup right. It does work except the cache will not go above 1.5mb. It did go to about 2.5mb on one source but did not stay there. I tried a number of sources. It could be my internet or setup but I doubt that. I have already looked into my DD-wrt config to see if I can make it any faster getting to the xbox and I've got it as tweaked as I can get it.

http://pastebin.com/cKMYs4K9

Any suggestions. Also did you look at all of the logs. The line 20860928 INFO: CFileCache::Process - Hit eof.

I figured that might have been where it ran out of cache when streaming. I will run it a bit longer and see if I can recreate the problem more in the log.

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 9:40 pm
by BuZz
in your logs it said it hadn't loaded any advancedsettings.xml - make sure you have it in the right location (UserData folder). it looks as though you have put the advancedsettings stuff in the guisettings.xml or something ?

and the error from the logfile I think is when the cache is empty, ie it isn't being filled fast enough.

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 9:45 pm
by Xphazer
As buzz said.. There is no advancedsettings.xml detected.. Its not named correctly or not in the right location.
So make sure its not named something like advancedsettings.xml.txt
Make sure to unhide extensions for known file types.
Make sure advancedsettings.xml is it into Q:/UserData/

xbmc debug.old.log:
03:21:50 M: 54951936 NOTICE: No advancedsettings.xml to load (special://masterprofile/advancedsettings.xml)

xbmc debug.log
03:57:25 M: 56184832 NOTICE: No advancedsettings.xml to load (special://masterprofile/advancedsettings.xml)

xbmc.old.log
14:58:19 M: 54951936 NOTICE: No advancedsettings.xml to load (special://masterprofile/advancedsettings.xml)

xbmc.log
03:10:03 M: 54951936 NOTICE: No advancedsettings.xml to load (special://masterprofile/advancedsettings.xml)

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:15 pm
by 00diabolic
Ok the exact error I'm getting is "cache filled before reaching required amount for continuous playback"

This is with advancedsettings.xml in place.. See pastebin below..

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:18 pm
by 00diabolic
DUH... I was getting this mixed up with avpacksettings.xml.. This is a separate file.. DOH... Ok got it now..

Ok going to try again with advanced settings in place.. Log attached.. I'm still getting the same error with it in place and cache will not go above 1.5mb..

http://pastebin.com/jQWfv4CB

Appears to be working after reboot. Hmm still not getting as much cache as I'd like. So are all cache related gui settings ignored with advancedsettings.xml in place?

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:40 pm
by BuZz
Check the log yourself first - you still do not have it in the right place

09:04:26 M: 56184832 NOTICE: No advancedsettings.xml to load (special://masterprofile/advancedsettings.xml)

please make sure the config is loaded by reading the log before posting ....

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:41 pm
by trogggy
09:04:26 M: 56184832 NOTICE: No advancedsettings.xml to load (special://masterprofile/advancedsettings.xml)
It's still not loading - either it's in the wrong place or the wrong name / extension.

Edit: too slow!

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:43 pm
by 00diabolic
Sorry Buzz you were right I also needed to reboot. I also got it mixed up with avpacksettings.xml thinking the setting was part of that file.

It appears to be working fine now.. Sorry for my confusion.. You guys have been so helpful...

Re: Buffering issue / cachemembuffersize fixed

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:43 pm
by BuZz
00diabolic wrote: Appears to be working after reboot. Hmm still not getting as much cache as I'd like. So are all cache related gui settings ignored with advancedsettings.xml in place?
gui cache settings are not the same thing. mplayer has it's own additional cache, as does dvdplayer (it has an audio/video queue). the cachemembuffer size is a virtual filesystem cache.