PRIORITY MANAGER V1.6 BY BUYUKBANG : Complete Tool to Power Up Azbox [Archive]

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buyukbang

04-07-2010, 04:33 PM

PRIORITY MANAGER V1.6 BY BUYUKBANG

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/6568/prioritymanager12.png (http://img256.imageshack.us/i/prioritymanager12.png/)

CLICK FOR MORE SCREENSHOTS (http://img3.imageshack.us/slideshow/webplayer.php?id=prioritymanager1 .png)

DESCRIPTION:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This plugin is written by BUYUKBANG to improve total performance of Azbox HD and add some
missing features! However its name remains as "Priority Manager", it now makes more than
its name offers. Here are the features of Priority Manager:

* Priority Manager automatically changes the priorities of the processes to give optimal
performance for the menu being used. I tested all processes one by one, decided their
effects on the performance of all modules and prepared a bug-free (hopefully) and complex
logic to cover all possible usage cases.

* Priority Manager provides power saving! Smudger's power measurements show that
Priority Manager decrease power consumption of the box from 25W to 23W while watching an
SD channel and from 28W to 24W while watching an HD channel.

* Priority Manager provides password protected hidden channel list feature. This will
cover missing function in Azbox and so that you will be able to prepare a separate hidden
channel list which you want hide from people not knowing your password. Default channel
list will be automatically replaced, so that any reboots / electricity problems will not
reveal this second channel list.

* Priority Manager can move plugins to internal HDD or USB storages.

* Priority Manager upgrades Busybox from v1.0 to v1.16.

* Priority Manager enables Cron usage.

* Priority Manager optionally automatically mounts CIF and NFS shares when remote server
is online and automatically unmounts CIF AND NFS shares when remote server is offline, so
protects file manager from freezes when remote goes offline after the shares mounted.

* Priority Manager optionally creates swap file on your HDD/Flash disk which will help
RAM by caching some part of the memory. Priority Manager not only supports creating swap
file on internal HDD or usb HDD/Flash disk connected before Azbox boots, it also supports
creating swap file on usb HDD/Flash disk connected after Azbox boots by continuously
checking for new USB devices.

* You can backup or restore /DISK2 and /PLUGINS folders with just a simple button from
user interface.

* Priority Manager optionally takes backup of /DISK2 and /PLUGINS folders in user defined
periods in background.

* Priority Manager can execute user selected programs after going into SLEEP mode and
the kill them after return from SLEEP mode. By using this feature running resource
intensive programs like transmission, aMule, azepgmgr in only SLEEP mode will be
automatically managed without user intervention.

* Priority Manager increases internal storage (DOM) speed speed up to 20% by changing
its working parameters.

* Priority Manager provides "Deep Sleep Mode" which automatically kills all unnecessary
applications and improve downloading speed when box goes to sleep mode.

* You can reset all system passwords with just a simple button from user interface.

* Up on deactivating or uninstalling Priority Manager, if related features activated in
/DISK2/etc/PriorityManagerSettings.txt, Busybox downgrades to the orginal version,swap file
and cron is deactivated all mounted shares are unmounted and plugins are moved back to
original place. A complete rollback without reboot requirement is performed.

SPECIAL THANKS TO:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Smudger for the all information, tests and power measurements, his tests killed the bugs!

Kanber Kav for his permission for the usage and modification of his Multicas Info plugin
and for the idea of increasing internal storage (DOM) speed!

Zeini for the detailed channel switching time tests!

Bug Reports
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have any problems with Priority Manager, activate VERBOSE LOG from user interface
and restart Priority Manager from PLUGINS-->PriorityManager-->Activate/Reactivate.
This will create a verbose log file /Download/PriorityManager_Verbose_Log . Collect data
with this option set to 1, without stopping, restarting, reactivating and deactivating
Priority Manager, because all this operations will delete all old log files. Then send an
e-mail to buyukbang @ gmail.com containing PriorityManager_Verbose_Log with the approximate
time that problem occured.

HISTORY:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
v1.6
-----
NEW: Fine tune for the channel switching times. (Thanks to Zeini for the tests)

NEW: Reset all system passwords from user interface.

NEW: Automatically change PriorityManagerSettings.txt format to unix againist accidentally
being saved in DOS format by user.

NEW: Priority Management feature can be turn on and off from user interface or direcly
from PriorityManagerSettings.txt .

NEW: DYNAMIC_SLEEP, MAJOR_SLEEP_TIME, MINOR_SLEEP_TIME parameters are added. You can
change this parameters in PriorityManagerSettings.txt if you are not satisfied with (or
have problems with) Priority Management feature. This gives you more control over Priority
Management.

NEW: DOM Speed Increading feature can be turn on and off from user interface or direcly
from PriorityManagerSettings.txt .

NEW: Added support for mounting CIF and NFS shares of same file server at the same time .

FIX: Clicking a button in user interface sometimes shows empty output.

FIX: Wrong do***entation saying that enabling CRON feature requires enabling BusyBox
feature. In fact, /PLUGINS/PriorityManager/busybox is directly called by Priority Manager,
so if you want you can disable BusyBox feature while using CRON feature.

v1.5
-----
NEW: User interface is completely reworked. Toggling all settings from user interface
without any need for using TELNET / FTP is now possible. Added a button to user interface
to review current settings.

NEW: Password protected hidden channel list feature is added.

NEW: Backup /DISK2 and /PLUGINS folder from user interface is added.

NEW: Restore last backup of /DISK2 and /PLUGINS folders from user interface is added.

FIX : Fixed some bugs in "Move Plugins" feature.

v1.4
-----
This was an internal release and only a few testers got this version.

NEW : Faster menu detection algorithm which dynamically manages sleep time between loops.

NEW : Busybox can be upgraded automatically in boot from v1.0 to v1.16 with a simple
option in PriorityManagerSettings.txt (Thanks to Kanber Kav for compiling Busybox!)

NEW : Full automated Cron setup. Cron provides a very flexible UNIX scheduling mechanism.

NEW : Moving plugins to internal HDD or USB storages.

NEW : Scheduled backup of /DISK2 and /PLUGINS folders in user defined periods.

NEW : Improved user interface on Plugins Menu. (Thanks to Kanber Kav for the new version of
his Multimenu plugin!)

NEW : Improvement on automatic management of execution and killing programs: Priority
Manager can start user selected programs when Azbox sleeps. When Azbox wakes up there are
3 things that priority manager can do as an opposite action: kill it, start another
script to stop it or simply do nothing which can be useful if it's a auto-terminated
program or script.

NEW: Better and faster recording detection algorithm.

NEW: Mount checks simplified and tuned for better performance. Now you can mount CIF/NFS
shares directly to HDD folders without using symlinks to DOM folders.

NEW: Improved swap file support. Creation of swap file is now retried when "SWAP FILE
ACTIVATION FAILED" error occurs.

NEW : Up on deactivating or uninstalling Priority Manager, if related features activated
in /DISK2/etc/PriorityManagerSettings.txt, Busybox downgrades to the orginal version, swap
file and cron is deactivated, all mounted shares are unmounted and plugins are moved back
to original place. So a complete rollback without reboot requirement is performed.

NEW : Limiting file size of PriorityManager_Verbose_Log with the given byte value.

FIX : HDD not sleeps when reserved programs are waiting to be recorded.

v1.3
-----
NEW : Packed the script as a plugin. You can look at the script logs, activate,
deactivate, restart the script simply from Plugins Menu without having to use TELNET.
Special thanks to Kanber Kav for his permission for the usage and modification of his
Multimenu plugin!

NEW : Increasing internal storage (DOM) speed up to 20% by changing its working
parameters! (Thanks to Kanber Kav for the idea!)

NEW : Full automated cleanup mechanism: After deleting this plugin from Plugins Menu,
Priority Manager will be deactivated and process will be stopped, all installed files and
log file will be deleted, all process priorities will be set to their default values. No
reboot or user intervention needed!

NEW : Reserved programs are now supported. When a scheduled recording starts, TV
prioritization will be applied until it ends.

NEW : CIF mount support for those who want want to mount CIF shares of your network to
Azbox. (auto-mounts shares when the file server is online, auto-unmounts share when the
file server is offline)

NEW : NFS mount support for those who want want to mount NFS shares of your network to
Azbox. (auto-mounts shares when the file server is online, auto-unmounts share when the
file server is offline)

NEW : Swap file support for Azbox. You can activate this option so that to Priority
Manager creates swap file on your HDD or Flash disk which will help RAM by caching some
part of the memory. Swap usage file helps large file operations like recording.

NEW : "Deep Sleep" option. You can activate this option if you want to kill all
unnecessary applications when box goes to sleep mode to improve downloading speed. There
are some side effects of deep sleep. For more information please read DEEP_SLEEP section
of /DISK2/etc/PriorityManagerSettings.txt .

NEW : Automatic management of execution and killing of sleep mode programs. Priority
Manager can execute user selected programs after going into SLEEP mode and the kill them
after return from SLEEP mode with the new feature. For more information please read
PROGRAM section of /DISK2/etc/PriorityManagerSettings.txt .

NEW : CCcam EMU prioritization. (Thanks to Smudger for the information!)

NEW : NewCS EMU prioritization. (Thanks to Smudger for the information!)

NEW : Transmission (torrent client) sleep mode prioritization.

NEW : aMule (eD2K client) sleep mode prioritization.

NEW : Verbose log generation for debugging added. Please read "IMPORTANT NOTES - 4" for
more information.

NEW : Better TV recording and channel switch speed.

NEW : Better performance for some process priorities.

NEW : All settings are moved from script file to a separate file :
/DISK2/etc/PriorityManagerSettings.txt

FIX : "CANCEL" option in sleep menu is now detected as it should be.

v1.2
-----
NEW : azepgmgr support to protect TV/Media applications from the glitches caused by its
initial process. (Thanks to Smudger for all tests and information!)

NEW : Client/Server mode switch parameter for those who want to this script on a box
being used as a CAM server.

NEW : Audio menu prioritization.

NEW : Settings menu prioritization.

NEW : Plugins menu prioritization.

NEW : Cheops EMU prioritization.

NEW : SBox EMU prioritization.

NEW : All process priorities fine tuned.

NEW : Better menu detection.

NEW : Better sleep mode detection.

NEW : Loop sleep time decreased from 60 seconds to 30 seconds.

FIX : Sometimes CRTVCore collects all CPU power and this slows down everything. So I
decreased priority of CRTVCore.

FIX : Fixed a bug in restart: /DISK2/etc/start.d/S1PriorityManager.sh restart

v1.1
-----
NEW : RSS and Browser components stay in memory after first usage. Added support for
automatically killing RSS and Browser components when using other menu.

v1.0
-----
NEW : All process priorities updated according to the results of my long tests. IP TV,
Mediaplayer, Recording, ECM Time (for EMUs) performances are optimised.

NEW : Old scripts use "snice +XX" command to give processes positive nice values (lower
priority). But this command does not guarantee to decrease the priority and system
sometimes ignore this command. You can check old scripts by top command while changing
menu modes. "<" sign means negative nice value and high priority, "N" sign means positive
nice value and low priority. After a few times changing the menu modes everything has "<"
sign and this is really nonfunctional situation. To fix this problem I used "snice STOP"
which cannot be ignored by the system.

NEW : massimo1167's script is not compatible with the option "Always Start in TV Mode"
and this causes totally wrong prioritization. This is fixed.

NEW : Old scripts block firmware upgrades and upgrade process sticks at "Extracting".
Priority Manager fixes this issue and fully compatible Opensat upgrades. Just wait 45
seconds at "Extracting", then upgrade process will continue.

NEW : ftp,samba,telnet prioritization in sleep mode. I suggest you to transfer your files
with FTP during sleep mode prioritization. This is the fasted method.

NEW : Photo menu prioritization.

NEW : Browser menu prioritization.

NEW : RSS menu prioritization.

NEW : Use this command to stop the script (does not work in old scripts):
/DISK2/etc/start.d/S1PriorityManager.sh stop
NEW : Use this command to restart the script (does not work in old scripts):
/DISK2/etc/start.d/S1PriorityManager.sh restart

NEW : Logging. Use this command to see log file:
tail -n100 -f /tmp/PriorityManager_IsRunning

INSTALLATION:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
METHOD 1 : USING PLUGINS MENU USER INTERFACE
1. Extract PriorityManager.plugin and plugins.lst files from the archive file.

2. Copy PriorityManager.plugin and plugins.lst to USB or simply transfer them by FTP to
/tmp folder of your Azbox.

3. Enter Plugins menu, press Red Button on remote controller to add plugin. If you're
using USB select to install it from USB, or if you transferred files to /tmp folder
install it from tmp folder.

4. Check user defined parameters in /DISK2/etc/PriorityManagerSettings.txt and edit
parameters if you want, save the file.

5. Activate plugin from the plugins menu: PLUGINS-->PriorityManager-->Activate/Reactivate

6. After the first run of the script standby.sh and wakeup.sh scripts will be created
under /DISK2/etc . These scripts will help to main script for the decision of the sleep
mode by creating and deleting a file ( /tmp/PriorityManager_Sleep ) If you have already
standby.sh and wakeup.sh in /DISK2/etc, they will be backed up by installation process
in the same directory. Then you may want to manually add below commands to scripts
before running Priority Manager:
echo 0 > /tmp/PriorityManager_Sleep = to standby.sh
rm /tmp/PriorityManager_Sleep = to wakeup.sh

METHOD 2 : MANUAL INSTALLATION
Those having difficulties with azbox plugin installation mechanism may choose this method.
1. Rename PriorityManager.plugin as PriorityManager.tgz and extract files with an unzip
tool like winrar, 7-Zip, etc.

2. Upload PriorityManager folder to azbox under /PLUGINS folder.

3. chmod 755 everything in PriorityManager folder and its sub folders.

4. Run following command in TELNET: /PLUGINS/PriorityManager/sh/install.sh

5. Check user defined parameters in /DISK2/etc/PriorityManagerSettings.txt and edit
parameters if you want, save the file.

6. Activate plugin from the plugins menu: PLUGINS-->PriorityManager-->Activate/Reactivate

7. After the first run of the script standby.sh and wakeup.sh scripts will be created
under /DISK2/etc . These scripts will help to main script for the decision of the sleep
mode by creating and deleting a file ( /tmp/PriorityManager_Sleep ) If you have already
standby.sh and wakeup.sh in /DISK2/etc, they will be backed up by installation process
in the same directory. Then you may want to manually add below commands to scripts
before running Priority Manager:
echo 0 > /tmp/PriorityManager_Sleep = to standby.sh
rm /tmp/PriorityManager_Sleep

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESSES:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SDecoderServer - A/V playback and demux
DStar - Menu handler
CRTVCore - TV module
CRTVSetup - TV module
detector_test - file type detection
emu_module - Multicas
file_control - manages file operations.
mbox_module - MBox emu
mgcamd - MgCamd emu
cheops_module - Cheops emu
sbox.sigma - SBox emu
telnetd - telnet server
vsftpd - ftp server
JIPC_Server - manages messages between processes (Java Interprocess Communication Server)
cifsdnotifyd - SAMBA server
cifsoplockd - SAMBA server
xfslogd - XFS log
xfsdatad - XFS
xfsbufd - XFS
ir_control - Remote control
youtube_player - Youtube
Polaris - Browser
browser_control - Browser
rssfeed - RSS
EStar - Photo viewer

LIST OF NEW COMMANDS IN BUSYBOX V1.16:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ar, arp, arping, blkid, brctl, bzip2, cal, catv, chattr, chpasswd, chpst, cksum, comm,
cpio, crond, crontab, cryptpw, cttyhack, depmod, devfsd, devmem, dhcprelay, diff, dnsd,
dnsdomainname, dumpkmap, ed, eject, envdir, envuidgid, ether-wake, expand, fakeidentd,
fbsplash, fdflush, findfs, flash_eraseall, flash_lock, flash_unlock, flashcp, fold, fsck,
fsck.minix, fsync, ftpd, ftpget, ftpput, fuser, hd, httpd, hush, ifenslave, ifplugd,
inetd, ip, ipaddr, ipcalc, ipcrm, ipcs, iplink, iproute, iprule, iptunnel, kbd_mode,
killall5, length, linux32, linux64, loadfont, loadkmap, logread, losetup, lpd, lpq, lpr,
lsattr, lspci, lsusb, lzmacat, lzop, lzopcat, makemime, man, mdev, mesg, microcom,
mkdosfs, mke2fs, mkfs.ext2, mkfs.minix, mkfs.reiser, mkfs.vfat, mkpasswd, mountpoint,
msh, nameif, nc, nice, nmeter, nohup, ntpd, patch, pgrep, ping6, pkill, popmaildir,
printenv, pscan, rdev, readprofile, realpath, reformime, resize, rpm, rpm2cpio, rtcwake,
runlevel, runsv, runsvdir, script, scriptreplay, sendmail, seq, setarch, setconsole,
setfont, setkeycodes, setlogcons, setsid, setuidgid, sha256sum, sha512sum, showkey,
slattach, softlimit, split, stat, sum, sv, svlogd, switch_root, tac, tcpsvd, tftpd,
timeout, tr, traceroute6, tunctl, tune2fs, udpsvd, uncompress, unexpand, unlzma, unlzop,
volname, wall, watch, watchdog, who, zcip

SAMPLE LOG FILE:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRIORITY MANAGER V1.6 BY BUYUKBANG
FLAGS => R:RECORD M:MOUNT S:SWAP A:ACTION B:BUSYBOX C:CRON P:PLUGINS
21:56:11 06/27/10: MOVING PLUGINS TO /DATA/usb1/sda1
21:56:48 06/27/10: MOUNTING /DATA/usb1/sda1 TO /PLUGINS
21:56:51 06/27/10: RECREATING SYMLINKS FOR /USER /EMU
21:56:52 06/27/10: PLUGINS MOVED
/dev/sda1 on /PLUGINS type ex** (rw,data=ordered)

21:56:53 06/27/10: INCREASING INTERNAL STORAGE (DOM) SPEED
21:56:53 06/27/10: UPGRADING BUSYBOX
21:57:02 06/27/10: BUSYBOX UPGRADED
21:57:03 06/27/10: CRON ACTIVATED
# THESE ARE JUST EXAMPLES, ADD YOUR ENTRIES WITHOUT LEADING #
# 30 14 * * * /DATA/hdb1/EPG/cronepg.sh
# 50 20 * * 0 /opt/rsync.sh
# 0 10 * * 4 /DATA/hdb1/EPG/update.sh
* * * * * /DISK2/etc/test1.sh

21:57:15 06/27/10: CREATING A NEW SWAP FILE
21:58:58 06/27/10: SWAP FILE ACTIVATED
total used free shared buffers
Mem: 100484 97244 3240 0 2836
Swap: 151700 0 151700
Total: 252184 97244 154940

21:59:01 06/27/10: NFS MOUNT COMPLETED
192.168.2.12:/film on /DATA/hdb1/movie/film type nfs
192.168.2.12:/download on /DATA/hdb1/movie/download type nfs
192.168.2.12:/mp3 on /DATA/hdb1/music/PC type nfs
192.168.2.12:/pictures on /DATA/hdb1/picture/PC type nfs

21:59:01 06/27/10: BACKUP STARTED => /DATA/hdb1/BACKUP/100627215901
21:59:40 06/27/10: DELETING OLD BACKUP /DATA/hdb1/BACKUP/100619151221
21:59:40 06/27/10: BACKUP COMPLETED
21:59:42 06/27/10: START=>PLUGINS TV=10 R=0 M=1 S=1 A=W BU=1 C=1 P=1 BA=1
22:00:39 06/27/10: PLUGINS=>TV TV=13 R=0 M=1 S=1 A=W BU=1 C=1 P=1 BA=1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DOWNLOAD:
You can download this from attachment or from the alternative link:
Alternative Link (http://uploaded.to/file/c07vxv)

aoryx

05-07-2010, 11:42 AM

:respect-055: thank u :respect-055:
0.9.4931 + HW acceleration on + PRIORITY MANAGER V1.6 is v v fast
/also btw epg is perfect on some channels (7days visible)

buyukbang

05-07-2010, 11:47 AM

Yes, I've same configuration. HW accerelation is always on for 2 mounts without any single problem or instability for me.

:respect-055: thank u :respect-055:
0.9.4931 + HW acceleration on + PRIORITY MANAGER V1.6 is v v fast
/also btw epg is perfect on some channels (7days visible)

hfmls

05-07-2010, 03:26 PM

yep, finally we get a stable configuration, thank to buyukbang :)

also EPG finally does not disappear!

blakas

05-07-2010, 07:29 PM

what is the proper way to install this plugin with 1.5 already installed

buyukbang

05-07-2010, 11:05 PM

Delete v1.5 from plugins menu, send these new files to azbox /tmp folder with ftp, install it from plugins menu, edit setting file then activate PM from user interface.

what is the proper way to install this plugin with 1.5 already installed

T0rca1950

05-07-2010, 11:15 PM

I made a test for the new prority manager and i'm not really happy with it. (I appreciate your hard work and thank you for that).

The test is made on Azbox HD Elite (SW 0.9.4931, lastest MultiCAS and PRIORITY MANAGER V1.6 BY BUYUKBANG).

I had these 11 channels and I tested the zap speed.

1. Das Erste HD (FTA HD)
2. ZDF HD (FTA HD)
3. Einsfestival HD (FTA HD)
_______________________________
4. RTL HD (Locked HD)
5. VOX HD (Locked HD)
6. Kabel Eins HD (Locked HD)
7. Sat 1 HD (Locked HD)
8. Prosieben HD (Locked HD)
_______________________________
9. RTL (FTA SD)
10. RTL 2 (FTA SD)
11. Super RTL (FTA SD)

As you can see there are 3 groups of channels: FTA HD, Locked HD and FTA SD. Here are the results:

Without Priority Manager:

FTA Channels (from 9. to 3.): 17.4 s
Locked Channels (from 4. to 8.): 21.7 s
Both (from 9. to 9.): 41.6 s

With Priority manager:

FTA Channels (from 9. to 3.): 18.1 s
Locked Channels (from 4. to 8.): 23.3 s
Both (from 9. to 9.): 41.1 s

As you can see, with Priority manager my Azbox needs more time to zap the same number of channels.
One more notice, navigating through the channel list is also slower with the Priority manager.

Priority manager was 100% good installed, swap file worked fine, no errors in the log file.

Oh, I almost forgot, I couldn't use the "Hardware acceleraction" because when i activate it i get the "No signal" message and "TV" option from the Home menu disappears and i have to clean install the Azbox.

I hope these helps.

buyukbang

06-07-2010, 06:25 AM

Hmm,

Your test results really differs from mine and Zeini's. For us v1.6 is even better than v1.3 which is better than switching channels without PM. Could you retest with a clean old firmware (ie 4890) + v1.3 and v1.6 when you had time?

I made a test for the new prority manager and i'm not really happy with it. (I appreciate your hard work and thank you for that).

The test is made on Azbox HD Elite (SW 0.9.4931, lastest MultiCAS and PRIORITY MANAGER V1.6 BY BUYUKBANG).

I had these 11 channels and I tested the zap speed.

1. Das Erste HD (FTA HD)
2. ZDF HD (FTA HD)
3. Einsfestival HD (FTA HD)
_______________________________
4. RTL HD (Locked HD)
5. VOX HD (Locked HD)
6. Kabel Eins HD (Locked HD)
7. Sat 1 HD (Locked HD)
8. Prosieben HD (Locked HD)
_______________________________
9. RTL (FTA SD)
10. RTL 2 (FTA SD)
11. Super RTL (FTA SD)

As you can see there are 3 groups of channels: FTA HD, Locked HD and FTA SD. Here are the results:

Without Priority Manager:

FTA Channels (from 9. to 3.): 17.4 s
Locked Channels (from 4. to 8.): 21.7 s
Both (from 9. to 9.): 41.6 s

With Priority manager:

FTA Channels (from 9. to 3.): 18.1 s
Locked Channels (from 4. to 8.): 23.3 s
Both (from 9. to 9.): 41.1 s

As you can see, with Priority manager my Azbox needs more time to zap the same number of channels.
One more notice, navigating through the channel list is also slower with the Priority manager.

Priority manager was 100% good installed, swap file worked fine, no errors in the log file.

Oh, I almost forgot, I couldn't use the "Hardware acceleraction" because when i activate it i get the "No signal" message and "TV" option from the Home menu disappears and i have to clean install the Azbox.

I hope these helps.

zeini

06-07-2010, 08:41 AM

Hi T0rca1950!

Make more runs. The times are different from run to run. On my test the runs with Prioritymanager 1.6 was a little faster than without. But the difference was less.

fcis7000e+

06-07-2010, 11:25 AM

Hello,

I made some tests with PM v1.5 with my Elite and I also got poorer results than when PM is disabled, namely in terms of channel switching and menu navigation...
With PM v1.5 I also experienced some problems playing recorded HD channels (e.g. BBC HD and ITV HD).
After aprox. 3 minutes playing no sound and image bouncing... and playing the same recorded channel with PM disabled, there is no problem I was able to watch the 90+15 minutes (aprox. 9GB) of a world cup game :-)

Notes:
- I'm using firm 0.4931
- I didn't make any change on settings file (I'm using the default)
- Usually I'm not using any external USB flash or HDD (I only connect an HDD when I want to record something or watch a movie)
- HW accelaration Off (I never tried by, it seems that it doesn't work very well with Elite model)

Having the aformentioned scenario, do you recommend any change on settings file to improve performance with PM?

Anyway, thanks Buyukbang for your great work.

I hope to have some time during the next weekend, to perform some tests with PM v1.6.

thanks again.

Hmm,

Your test results really differs from mine and Zeini's. For us v1.6 is even better than v1.3 which is better than switching channels without PM. Could you retest with a clean old firmware (ie 4890) + v1.3 and v1.6 when you had time?

hfmls

06-07-2010, 11:38 AM

1.6 is really good. way better than previous ones.

buyukbang

06-07-2010, 12:30 PM

I'll check this today and and pass result here.

For channel switch speed with v1.6, it's better than any previous versions and for the case without PM.

Hello,
With PM v1.5 I also experienced some problems playing recorded HD channels (e.g. BBC HD and ITV HD).
After aprox. 3 minutes playing no sound and image bouncing... and playing the same recorded channel with PM disabled, there is no problem I was able to watch the 90+15 minutes (aprox. 9GB) of a world cup game :-)
thanks again.

T0rca1950

06-07-2010, 01:12 PM

I did a clean install (reseted to factory defaults, deleted channels, deleted plugins, fromated application area). Installed lastest OpenXCAS, MultiCAS, Firmware, Priority manager. I don't even have a big channel list (only Astra 19.2 and Hotbird). I did the test three times and this is the avarage.

I don't belive that I will have time to do more tests today, maybe in the evening, but just maybe.

It would be great if you could put your tests here... Maybe on the same channels as I did. So that we can compare them.

Hmm,

Your test results really differs from mine and Zeini's. For us v1.6 is even better than v1.3 which is better than switching channels without PM. Could you retest with a clean old firmware (ie 4890) + v1.3 and v1.6 when you had time?

buyukbang

06-07-2010, 01:29 PM

Hi again,

These are the Zeini's results for PM v1.6 (its written as v1.5 Test 2). I didn't do***ented my results but I've similar results in my tests. If you check sums there is a relationship like this for channel swithcing speed:

PM v1.6 > PM v1.3 > No PM

Of course PM does not double channel switching speed, because this is highly related with tuner, tuner driver, EMU and firmware user interface. But I think %7 channel switching speed increase with PM 1.6 is a good software upgrade. Speed difference is much more for Media Player since there aren't too many external factors.

I did a clean install (reseted to factory defaults, deleted channels, deleted plugins, fromated application area). Installed lastest OpenXCAS, MultiCAS, Firmware, Priority manager. I don't even have a big channel list (only Astra 19.2 and Hotbird). I did the test three times and this is the avarage.

I don't belive that I will have time to do more tests today, maybe in the evening, but just maybe.

It would be great if you could put your tests here... Maybe on the same channels as I did. So that we can compare them.

buyukbang

06-07-2010, 04:24 PM

T0rca1950

06-07-2010, 05:32 PM

For a fair comparsion we have to use fta channels. I'm more worried about the slow navigating through the menu... I'll try to test the whole thing today or tomorrow...

buyukbang

06-07-2010, 09:17 PM

As I promised I tested recording an HD encrypted channel and playback of this file. Recording is perfect and playback is very smooth with PM v1.6. I suggest you to try v1.6.

I'll check this today and and pass result here.

For channel switch speed with v1.6, it's better than any previous versions and for the case without PM.

Hello,
With PM v1.5 I also experienced some problems playing recorded HD channels (e.g. BBC HD and ITV HD).
After aprox. 3 minutes playing no sound and image bouncing... and playing the same recorded channel with PM disabled, there is no problem I was able to watch the 90+15 minutes (aprox. 9GB) of a world cup game :-)
thanks again.

fcis7000e+

06-07-2010, 10:06 PM

Thanks.

As soon as possible I'll try PM v1.6.
Then I let you know the results.

As I promised I tested recording an HD encrypted channel and playback of this file. Recording is perfect and playback is very smooth with PM v1.6. I suggest you to try v1.6.

fcis7000e+

07-07-2010, 10:16 AM

Quick Tests results with PM 1.6:

1- Using default PM settings, except DOM improving speed, which I set to ON
2- Channel switching and menu navigation times improved (much better than PM 1.5 and it seems slightly quicker than withoiut PM)
3- No more problems playing back recorded HD program of about 9GB (BBC HD and ITV HD) => there was a problem observed with PM 1.5, after 3 minutes playing, no sound and image bouncing, after 10 min watching the same ts video, no problems observed with Pm 1.6
4- "cuts" watching prueba.mkv (1080 HD movie sample) => in previous versions of firmware and using the script of hfmls and typeR I was able to watch this 30 sec movie samples without any "cut".
5- After installing PM 1.6 I'm having again the problem (not) accessing the Settings menu and when switching among the different menus e.g. TV => Plug-ins => TV results in a black image in TV mode and only after a box restart I'm able to watch TV again. After the reboot If I enter again in Plug-ins or RSS menus (the ones I tried) then to watch TV I have to restart the box again...
I reported this same problem some time ago (it is somehow related with IPTV channels), and it seemed that it was misteriously solved (I didn't understand if solved with the latest firmware version or something else...), but after installing PM 1.6 it appeared again. The strange thing is that after disabling PM1.6 the problem still persists...
I will try to remove IPTV channels and make some more tests...
Anyway if you have any ideas to try to overcome this situation, would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Thanks.

As soon as possible I'll try PM v1.6.
Then I let you know the results.

happyhammer

07-07-2010, 11:19 AM

BTW, for a fair comparison you must be sure that your server's response time (ECM) is perfectly same during your tests. This is an important factor that causes differences between results of same tests.

So I think best way of testing the channel switch speed is using PM for a few days.

You need to keep in mind the model being used in your comparisons.

I am an elite user with a DVB-S and a DVB-T interface. I therefore cannot use "Hardware acceleration", my DOM will be smaller than a Premium etc..

buyukbang

07-07-2010, 12:11 PM

Hi again mate,

I'm happy to hear your first three items are solved / improved by PM 1.6.

4- Could you please retest this with other scripts without PM to find if it's related with firmware or latest version of PM.
My experince is that, latest firmware is slower with both channel switch in TV mode (%25-30 slower for me) and media player. I'm not happy with its performance, but latest fixes (EPG and, .sub file support) are really important. So I stuck with it.

5- This is really very mysterious. I never saw this problem with or without PM. Which model are you using? replaced DOM ? Is it solved when you completely delete PM and reboot? Maybe something else which seems irrelevant causes this? Maybe full DOM partitions (PLUGINS folder or DISK2) causes this?

Quick Tests results with PM 1.6:

1- Using default PM settings, except DOM improving speed, which I set to ON
2- Channel switching and menu navigation times improved (much better than PM 1.5 and it seems slightly quicker than withoiut PM)
3- No more problems playing back recorded HD program of about 9GB (BBC HD and ITV HD) => there was a problem observed with PM 1.5, after 3 minutes playing, no sound and image bouncing, after 10 min watching the same ts video, no problems observed with Pm 1.6
4- "cuts" watching prueba.mkv (1080 HD movie sample) => in previous versions of firmware and using the script of hfmls and typeR I was able to watch this 30 sec movie samples without any "cut".
5- After installing PM 1.6 I'm having again the problem (not) accessing the Settings menu and when switching among the different menus e.g. TV => Plug-ins => TV results in a black image in TV mode and only after a box restart I'm able to watch TV again. After the reboot If I enter again in Plug-ins or RSS menus (the ones I tried) then to watch TV I have to restart the box again...
I reported this same problem some time ago (it is somehow related with IPTV channels), and it seemed that it was misteriously solved (I didn't understand if solved with the latest firmware version or something else...), but after installing PM 1.6 it appeared again. The strange thing is that after disabling PM1.6 the problem still persists...
I will try to remove IPTV channels and make some more tests...
Anyway if you have any ideas to try to overcome this situation, would be appreciated.

Thanks.

fcis7000e+

07-07-2010, 04:15 PM

Hi again :-),

4- I hope to have some time to perform such kind of tests with .mkv movies during this weekend.

5- This behaviour is really strange, but there are similar reports in the oficial forum...

Being more specific about my configuration:
- AZbox HD Elite
- Original SAT tuner only
- Original DOM
- MAz indicates about 50% memory usage for both: EMU and Flash
- Usually I haven't USB Flash or HDD connected
- I'm using Diseq 1.2
- I've about 9.000 sat channels (from 30 different SATs)
- I've a list of few IPTV channels, which I believe are the reason of this strange behaviour in my box.

Once again, would be appreciated any idea to overcome this situation.

Thanks.

Hi again mate,

I'm happy to hear your first three items are solved / improved by PM 1.6.

4- Could you please retest this with other scripts without PM to find if it's related with firmware or latest version of PM.
My experince is that, latest firmware is slower with both channel switch in TV mode (%25-30 slower for me) and media player. I'm not happy with its performance, but latest fixes (EPG and, .sub file support) are really important. So I stuck with it.

5- This is really very mysterious. I never saw this problem with or without PM. Which model are you using? replaced DOM ? Is it solved when you completely delete PM and reboot? Maybe something else which seems irrelevant causes this? Maybe full DOM partitions (PLUGINS folder or DISK2) causes this?

fcis7000e+

08-07-2010, 10:03 AM

Hi,

I have some more news about the tests with prueba.mkv.
With my configuration (quote below) and PM 1.6 with DOM_SPEED ON and REMOVING THE IPTV CHANNELS, the sample prueba.mkv runs better than ever.
In the past when I used different priority scripts (and different firmware versions and also without IPTV channels) I was able to run perfectly the sample prueba.mkv, but only with MultiCas disabled.
Now with PM 1.6 it runs perfectly even with MultiCas enabled.

PM 1.6 is perfect :-)

Would be great if PM could make available a way to enable and disable the IPTV channels... ideally without rebooting the box...
Do you think this is feasible?

Thanks again Buyukbang for your great work.

Hi again :-),

4- I hope to have some time to perform such kind of tests with .mkv movies during this weekend.

5- This behaviour is really strange, but there are similar reports in the oficial forum...

Being more specific about my configuration:
- AZbox HD Elite
- Original SAT tuner only
- Original DOM
- MAz indicates about 50% memory usage for both: EMU and Flash
- Usually I haven't USB Flash or HDD connected
- I'm using Diseq 1.2
- I've about 9.000 sat channels (from 30 different SATs)
- I've a list of few IPTV channels, which I believe are the reason of this strange behaviour in my box.

Once again, would be appreciated any idea to overcome this situation.

Thanks.

buyukbang

08-07-2010, 12:34 PM

Good news :)

I'm not sure but my experience is parallel as yours, IPTV Channels slow downs the box in latest 3-4 firmwares. But still I'm not sure about that and this needs some more testing.

BTW, yes you can switch IP TV channels with PM v1.6, (but currently need reboot though). To do this you can use "Hidden Channel Feature" and simply creating a hidden channel list (Let's say second channel list, since only usage purpose differs, but the mechanism is same. ). Steps are as follows:

1- Click "Save Hidden Channel List" button from PM. This will create a second channel list based on your current channel list (exact copy of it)

2- Click "Activate Hidden Channel List" button from PM. This will reboot Azbox.

3- After reboot, now you are working on your hidden (second) channel list. You can make all changes you want here (For your specific example, delete all IP Channels)

4- Click "Save Hidden Channel List" button from PM. This will save all changes you did in your Second Channel List, if you don't do this all changes you did will be discarded.

5- Reboot manually. After reboot your Default Channel List will be automatically loaded. (No changes done to your Default Channel List)

6- You successfully completed preparing you hidden (Second) Channel List. From now on you only need to click "Activate Hidden Channel List" button from PM to switch channel list.

I'll think on "no reboot" method. AFAIK, it's possible to implement. May be, I can implement it in next release. (not a promise but I'll try to do)

Hi,

I have some more news about the tests with prueba.mkv.
With my configuration (quote below) and PM 1.6 with DOM_SPEED ON and REMOVING THE IPTV CHANNELS, the sample prueba.mkv runs better than ever.
In the past when I used different priority scripts (and different firmware versions and also without IPTV channels) I was able to run perfectly the sample prueba.mkv, but only with MultiCas disabled.
Now with PM 1.6 it runs perfectly even with MultiCas enabled.

PM 1.6 is perfect :-)

Would be great if PM could make available a way to enable and disable the IPTV channels... ideally without rebooting the box...
Do you think this is feasible?

Thanks again Buyukbang for your great work.

buyukbang

08-07-2010, 12:43 PM

fcis7000e+

08-07-2010, 01:17 PM

Great, I think the hidden channel list mechanism you described will be an improvement, for my system.
Anyway the ideal scenario would be if we didn't have to reboot the box, to switch between "normal" vs "hidden" channel lists :-) but the current mechanism you suggested is great, too.

BTW the Movie Mode will be also an interesting feature for PM.

Thanks and continue your great job with this box.

Good news :)

I'm not sure but my experience is parallel as yours, IPTV Channels slow downs the box in latest 3-4 firmwares. But still I'm not sure about that and this needs some more testing.

BTW, yes you can switch IP TV channels with PM v1.6, (but currently need reboot though). To do this you can use "Hidden Channel Feature" and simply creating a hidden channel list (Let's say second channel list, since only usage purpose differs, but the mechanism is same. ). Steps are as follows:

1- Click "Save Hidden Channel List" button from PM. This will create a second channel list based on your current channel list (exact copy of it)

2- Click "Activate Hidden Channel List" button from PM. This will reboot Azbox.

3- After reboot, now you are working on your hidden (second) channel list. You can make all changes you want here (For your specific example, delete all IP Channels)

4- Click "Save Hidden Channel List" button from PM. This will save all changes you did in your Second Channel List, if you don't do this all changes you did will be discarded.

5- Reboot manually. After reboot your Default Channel List will be automatically loaded. (No changes done to your Default Channel List)

6- You successfully completed preparing you hidden (Second) Channel List. From now on you only need to click "Activate Hidden Channel List" button from PM to switch channel list.

I'll think on "no reboot" method. AFAIK, it's possible to implement. May be, I can implement it in next release. (not a promise but I'll try to do)

paasoares

08-07-2010, 02:22 PM

BTW, I'm thinking on another method, named "Priority Manager Movie Mode". When you click this button, it kills all unnecessary applications (TV, EMU vs.), and only leaves needed applications for multimedia playback. Another advantage of using "Priority Manager Movie Mode", you also don't need to mess with IPTV channels since TV application will be killed and cleared from memory :) . But there is a side effect: you'll need to reboot your machine to watch TV again (as in Deep Sleep Feature of PM). But I don't think this is important since a it's not logical to switch Movie--> TV during a play back. In addition, this is an optional feature you can use it if you need it.

With this feature, your box will have definitely even more free system resource (both processing power -CPU- and RAM) to play higher bitrate movies than it does in auto-prioritization method that PM currently uses.

"Priority Manager Movie Mode" will be implemented in Priority Manager v1.7.

This would be really GREAT !!!! :respect-055:

But even better woul be if you can lunch those proccesses again (tv, EMus,etc) after we leave the movie mode....don´t know if this is possible.... and if we know all the parameters involved in invoking each process.

Anyway, I think that... if the box only load the necessary processes for a specific job would be much performant.... i don´t mind to wait a litle more for a process to load in each module if the performance of that module were improved.

buyukbang

08-07-2010, 02:48 PM

I'll inspect this. If I succeed to restart killed applications then I can add another button like these:

- ENTER MOVIE MODE
- EXIT MOVIE MODE

Though, I don't know it's possible at the moment.

This would be really GREAT !!!! :respect-055:

But even better woul be if you can lunch those proccesses again (tv, EMus,etc) after we leave the movie mode....don´t know if this is possible.... and if we know all the parameters involved in invoking each process.

Anyway, I think that... if the box only load the necessary processes for a specific job would be much performant.... i don´t mind to wait a litle more for a process to load in each module if the performance of that module were improved.

happyhammer

08-07-2010, 03:51 PM

since your discussing priority manager enhancements, and this may be a complete non-runner, but, is there any possibility to optimise settings to get the box to record HD content onto a USB drive with Muticas?

I'm thinking of a sort of deep sleep recording, so no output to the actual TV required, if that would save processor capacity.
I am specifically refering to my own set up, which is an elite model that cannot have hardware acceleration on. etc

thx for the hidden channel info, will use that to delete all channels but the favourites.

buyukbang

08-07-2010, 10:26 PM

Hi,

If I understood correctly you're describing same thing as scheduled recording ??? When I set a TV program to be recorded, while sleeping azbox it silently starts recording while sleeping. Is that you mentioned?

since your discussing priority manager enhancements, and this may be a complete non-runner, but, is there any possibility to optimise settings to get the box to record HD content onto a USB drive with Muticas?

I'm thinking of a sort of deep sleep recording, so no output to the actual TV required, if that would save processor capacity.
I am specifically refering to my own set up, which is an elite model that cannot have hardware acceleration on. etc

thx for the hidden channel info, will use that to delete all channels but the favourites.

happyhammer

09-07-2010, 12:14 AM

LOL.. Yes, i suppose it is. I have never tested this as i have never put box in sleep mode!!!!

so i will do so over the weekend and see if its possible to record UK HD with Multicas without freezes on elite model with PM.

hfmls

09-07-2010, 12:26 AM

paasoares

09-07-2010, 09:34 AM

i gotta say unfortunetaly i tested to kill all processes other than those that mediaplayer uses, and when i try to run those processes again azbox just goes crazy, i'm 90% sure we HAVE to reboot azbox so all goes to normal.

but, you never know.

yep,

I think those processes must be invoked with some parameters and with a specific order (they could depend on each other)

buyukbang

09-07-2010, 12:34 PM

This is what only opensat knows since the firmware is a closed source project.
And this is what opensat never helps developers and never gives information about...

yep,

I think those processes must be invoked with some parameters and with a specific order (they could depend on each other)

Shadz

11-07-2010, 11:36 PM

Thank you buyukbang for your great job! I'm using your PM 1.6 to play HD movies (720p and 1080p) on azbox and it's working flawlessly!

But there is some files with huge bitrate that still give some slowdowns. Maybe with the "movie mode" in PM v. 1.7 we can play them.

Here is a file with huge bitrate that gives slowdowns on v1.6:

hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=OCJJMJTS

If the new PM can handle this, I think it will hand all.

Thanks!

ebro

12-07-2010, 08:48 AM

I thought I would have a quick try on the indictated file on my pc. I have a Intel i5 processor, 4 gig ram, and an ATI 5770 graphics card with 1 meg ram.

I assumed that I would be able to play everything with my set up, but the whatever the bit rate is on that file, I don't get a smooth playback.

Is the file ok, or do I need to think about buying a new graphics card.

dizzy

12-07-2010, 12:41 PM

hfmls

12-07-2010, 12:42 PM

file must be bad encoded!

Shadz

12-07-2010, 01:22 PM

file must be bad encoded!

It isn't. It's the new "prueba de fogo v.2" posted on the azbox hd spanish forum, haha

ebro

12-07-2010, 02:02 PM

Tried again using VLC. Slightly better on my pc, but still jerky. Must be hell of an encode

Shadz

12-07-2010, 02:32 PM

Tried again using VLC. Slightly better on my pc, but still jerky. Must be hell of an encode

Try with Media Player Classic - Home Cinema, using in options **** Output**** EVR Custom Pres.

This will enable the DXVA to play smooth HD videos.

blakas

12-07-2010, 08:18 PM

Try the pure codec. In my old pc pentium4 @2.8 , 2gb ram & ati 3850 agp 512mb it plays everything with any player
hxxp://rapidshare.com/files/406581330/PureCodec20091225.exe

buyukbang

12-07-2010, 08:48 PM

@Shadz,

I'll try this file when I prepare v1.7 and tell the result. But I don't think azbox (and other mkv players) can play a file flawlessly that "only some" players/codecs flawlessly on our PCs while others play jerky. This is highly related by nonstandard ripping methods/options.

I'm using KMPlayer+Coreavc or XBMC on my PC to play mkv files. With PM, I think azbox is very successful at playing mkv's, at least it plays %90-95 of files that KMPlayer+Coreavc or XBMC plays. This is just my experience and I know there are some very high bitrate movies that azbox will play jerky. But we've still a little room to push azbox to get more. I'll try and share results with you.

Shadz

13-07-2010, 03:00 PM

Thanks buyukbang!

I appreciate that!

buyukbang

14-07-2010, 01:32 AM

@Shadz,
I tried the movie sample after killing TV+EMU. As I guessed it's still jerky on the scene zooming out from the TV. But after testing a few mkv files, I noticed that killing TV+EMU speeds up movie playback, so this method seems working!

BTW, I found a way to kill and restart TV+EMU without rebooting! So as I said before I'll implement 2 buttons:

- ENTER MOVIE MODE
- EXIT MOVIE MODE

I'll use the method that I found in "Hidden Channel List" feature, so that there will be no reboot after activating "Hidden Channel List", too.

I've another news, after Alessio's bug report I fixed a bug that causes HDD not to sleep if there is a reserved recording. This is the second fix on this bug, I thought it was solved in v1.4. But this time it's completely solved according to Alessio's tests. This fix will be included in Priority Manager v1.7.

hfmls

14-07-2010, 02:40 AM

amazing buyukbang!!!! :)
by the way, would it be possible if we had an option to go to mediaplayer, tv+emu stops, and if we get out mediaplayer, tv+emu starts?
if so, that would be amazing!! :), all automatic!

if u want i can test. thank you very much for your work!

buyukbang

14-07-2010, 09:04 AM

Yea, I'm already added this option to settings file but not completed yet. But to prevent stoppping and restarting TV+EMU which takes a little time when accidentally switching to mediaplayer, I'll include a timeout value, so that ie. TV+EMU will be killed 30 seconds later after switching to mediaplayer.
I'll send this for your testing before releasing, but at the moment I'm not very fast in coding since I'm a bit sick and resting home :(

Anyway, I'm expecting PM 1.7 will be ready in one week, probably at this weekend.

amazing buyukbang!!!! :)
by the way, would it be possible if we had an option to go to mediaplayer, tv+emu stops, and if we get out mediaplayer, tv+emu starts?
if so, that would be amazing!! :), all automatic!

if u want i can test. thank you very much for your work!

banditus

14-07-2010, 10:03 AM

BUYUKBANG I wanted to thank for his excellent work and also to others who are participating in the development.

I wanted to ask if you can implement in the near version management also openvpn service.

I noticed that the latest 2 firmware with the latest two versions of priority managers have a lot of lag if you use VPN.

Thanks again great job Buyubang have revived our AZBox.

I apologize for my English

buyukbang

14-07-2010, 11:34 AM

OK, I can add but need some information since I don't use openvpn.

What is the application name you see in ps command output for openvpn? You want it to have always high priority, do you?

Please test and find best nice value for you. You can test this by giving following command:

snice openvpn -5

You need to change openvpn to the right application name and change -5 to values between -1 and -10 to find optimal value.

BUYUKBANG I wanted to thank for his excellent work and also to others who are participating in the development.

I wanted to ask if you can implement in the near version management also openvpn service.

I noticed that the latest 2 firmware with the latest two versions of priority managers have a lot of lag if you use VPN. But try to be as near as -1, since values between -5 and -10 will effect TV and movie playback negatively when openvpn is running. (Of course people not running openvpn will not be effected)

Thanks again great job Buyubang have revived our AZBox.

I apologize for my English

banditus

14-07-2010, 03:29 PM

Thank you.

The application name is "openvpn", use it only when I watch TV.

Following your advice I feel the text set with the value -3 and let you know.

Ps.

Welcome to our forums Italian hihihiih

Shadz

15-07-2010, 02:19 PM

@Shadz,
I tried the movie sample after killing TV+EMU. As I guessed it's still jerky on the scene zooming out from the TV. But after testing a few mkv files, I noticed that killing TV+EMU speeds up movie playback, so this method seems working!

BTW, I found a way to kill and restart TV+EMU without rebooting! So as I said before I'll implement 2 buttons:

- ENTER MOVIE MODE
- EXIT MOVIE MODE

I'll use the method that I found in "Hidden Channel List" feature, so that there will be no reboot after activating "Hidden Channel List", too.

This is great news for us, buyukbang! Thank you very much for your excelent work!

Killing all processes, except the mediaplayer, is really a good idea. In theory, this will give us the maximum performance of the box to read mkv movies. \o/

I think this box will be even better than popcorn to read our movies, except for DTS drops. =D

hfmls

15-07-2010, 05:12 PM

i think that too! :)
performance will be awsome.

by the way, is it possible to kill it all in tvmode too,just to usetv+emu or is not necessary?

aoryx

15-07-2010, 06:04 PM

i think that too! :)
performance will be awsome.

by the way, is it possible to kill it all in tvmode too,just to usetv+emu or is not necessary?

i think theoretically it will improve TVmode as it does to movie mode
will try to manually killall and c

buyukbang

16-07-2010, 07:56 AM

Unfortunately, most of the resource hungry apps are needed for TV Menu.

Quotation from PM's readme.txt:

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESSES:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
SDecoderServer - A/V playback and demux
DStar - Menu handler
CRTVCore - TV module
CRTVSetup - TV module
detector_test - file type detection
emu_module - Multicas
file_control - manages file operations.
mbox_module - MBox emu
mgcamd - MgCamd emu
cheops_module - Cheops emu
sbox.sigma - SBox emu
telnetd - telnet server
vsftpd - ftp server
JIPC_Server - manages messages between processes (Java Interprocess Communication Server)
cifsdnotifyd - SAMBA server
cifsoplockd - SAMBA server
xfslogd - XFS log
xfsdatad - XFS
xfsbufd - XFS
ir_control - Remote control
youtube_player - Youtube
Polaris - Browser
browser_control - Browser
rssfeed - RSS
EStar - Photo viewer

All bold items are needed for TV Menu.

All red marked items are already killed by firmware and PM after menu changes, so they don't exist in TV Menu.

There are some other processes that exist but they have very very small footprints in CPU and RAM. So there is nothing more that we can do for TV Menu.

i think that too! :)
performance will be awsome.

by the way, is it possible to kill it all in tvmode too,just to usetv+emu or is not necessary?

i think theoretically it will improve TVmode as it does to movie mode
will try to manually killall and c

buyukbang

16-07-2010, 08:28 AM

After writing below message I thought of a new idea:

https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showpost.php?p=736782&postcount=154

We can extract the latest mediaplayer executable without DTS sound drop problem and use it with the latest firmware until opensat junior developers release a fixed firmware? I don't know if it works or not but we can try.

AFAIK 4295 was working well with DTS, anyone can confirm or suggest a newer firmware?

Note: Of course we'll loose all later fixes in multimedia module, but DTS sound drops problem is the worst bug of all for me...

hfmls

16-07-2010, 02:08 PM

to be honest there are too many good changes in latest firmwares to ignore...
i for one, won't use old mediaplayer.

i like go to position and improved aspect ratio detection,etc etc.
with your script i can watch DTS without problems, so i think i'll use killall option :)

Shadz

16-07-2010, 03:17 PM

with your script i can watch DTS without problems

Not with the PM version 1.6. At least here, the DTS sound drops still occur. But yes, I also like very much "go to position" and improved aspect ratio detection, hehe

buyukbang

16-07-2010, 06:37 PM

It was just an idea but you're right. There are lots of important fixes. We wish Opensat fix DTS.

to be honest there are too many good changes in latest firmwares to ignore...
i for one, won't use old mediaplayer.

i like go to position and improved aspect ratio detection,etc etc.
with your script i can watch DTS without problems, so i think i'll use killall option :)

Not with the PM version 1.6. At least here, the DTS sound drops still occur. But yes, I also like very much "go to position" and improved aspect ratio detection, hehe

fcis7000e+

17-07-2010, 07:57 PM

Hi Buyukbang,

It seems that your suggestion of using hidden channels doesn't work for enabling/disabling the IPTV channels.
The problem is http_streams.txt residing in disk2.
Whenever I activate the hidden channels (iptv removed), the http_streams.txt is loaded again (after the restart) and the iptv channels appear again.

Do you have any idea to overcome this situation?

Thanks in advance

Good news :)

I'm not sure but my experience is parallel as yours, IPTV Channels slow downs the box in latest 3-4 firmwares. But still I'm not sure about that and this needs some more testing.

BTW, yes you can switch IP TV channels with PM v1.6, (but currently need reboot though). To do this you can use "Hidden Channel Feature" and simply creating a hidden channel list (Let's say second channel list, since only usage purpose differs, but the mechanism is same. ). Steps are as follows:

1- Click "Save Hidden Channel List" button from PM. This will create a second channel list based on your current channel list (exact copy of it)

2- Click "Activate Hidden Channel List" button from PM. This will reboot Azbox.

3- After reboot, now you are working on your hidden (second) channel list. You can make all changes you want here (For your specific example, delete all IP Channels)

4- Click "Save Hidden Channel List" button from PM. This will save all changes you did in your Second Channel List, if you don't do this all changes you did will be discarded.

5- Reboot manually. After reboot your Default Channel List will be automatically loaded. (No changes done to your Default Channel List)

6- You successfully completed preparing you hidden (Second) Channel List. From now on you only need to click "Activate Hidden Channel List" button from PM to switch channel list.

I'll think on "no reboot" method. AFAIK, it's possible to implement. May be, I can implement it in next release. (not a promise but I'll try to do)

buyukbang

17-07-2010, 10:15 PM

Before clicking "Save Hidden Channel List" button, backup and delete http_streams.txt. With this way it will not be included in hidden channel list.

Hi Buyukbang,

It seems that your suggestion of using hidden channels doesn't work for enabling/disabling the IPTV channels.
The problem is http_streams.txt residing in disk2.
Whenever I activate the hidden channels (iptv removed), the http_streams.txt is loaded again (after the restart) and the iptv channels appear again.

Do you have any idea to overcome this situation?

Thanks in advance

fcis7000e+

18-07-2010, 12:39 AM

Hi again,

Don't work, even deleting the http_streams.txt before clicking "Save Hidden Channel List".

The goal is to use PM Hidden Channel to have:
- "Hidden Channel List" without IPTV channels
- "default channel list" with IPTV channels

I've done the following steps:

1- "default channel list" without IPTV channels
2- "Save Hidden Channel List"
3- "Activate Hidden Channel List" + automatic restart
4- "Hidden Channel List" without IPTV channels => OK
5- manual restart to switch to "default channel list"
6- added IPTV channels (copy of http_streams.txt to disk2)
7- manual restart to load iptv channels on "default channel list"
8- "default channel list" with IPTV channels => OK
9- "Activate Hidden Channel List" + automatic restart
10- "Hidden Channel List" WITH IPTV channels => NOK

It seems that the activation of "Hidden Channel List" doesn't mantain/restore the "state" of http_streams.txt (at the time of "Save Hidden Channel List").

Do you confirm?
Can you fix this?

Thanks

Before clicking "Save Hidden Channel List" button, backup and delete http_streams.txt. With this way it will not be included in hidden channel list.

buyukbang

18-07-2010, 01:46 AM

AFAIK after loading IP TV channels you can delete http_streams.txt . I'm not sure but I remember so. If so, you can delete http_streams.txt just after 8, before 9. Then never copy it back.

Hi again,

Don't work, even deleting the http_streams.txt before clicking "Save Hidden Channel List".

The goal is to use PM Hidden Channel to have:
- "Hidden Channel List" without IPTV channels
- "default channel list" with IPTV channels

I've done the following steps:

1- "default channel list" without IPTV channels
2- "Save Hidden Channel List"
3- "Activate Hidden Channel List" + automatic restart
4- "Hidden Channel List" without IPTV channels => OK
5- manual restart to switch to "default channel list"
6- added IPTV channels (copy of http_streams.txt to disk2)
7- manual restart to load iptv channels on "default channel list"
8- "default channel list" with IPTV channels => OK
9- "Activate Hidden Channel List" + automatic restart
10- "Hidden Channel List" WITH IPTV channels => NOK

It seems that the activation of "Hidden Channel List" doesn't mantain/restore the "state" of http_streams.txt (at the time of "Save Hidden Channel List").

Do you confirm?
Can you fix this?

Thanks

fcis7000e+

18-07-2010, 11:18 AM

Hi,

For the recent firmware versions is required to have http_streams.txt on DISK2, otherwise the iptv channels don't work.
Is like the http_streams now being part of the remainder channels list files.

Is much work for the script to store (if any) the http_streams.txt when "Saving the hidden channel list" and restore it (if any) on the "Activation of the hidden channel list"?

I think you've found a way to switch between default and hidden channels lists, without restart. This would be really great.
If so, then PM should present another option:
- "Activate default channel list"

And PM should also restore (if any) the http_stream.txt of the default channel list.

Is this feasible in PM? (if not possible in v1.7 in another in the future :-))

Thanks in advance.

AFAIK after loading IP TV channels you can delete http_streams.txt . I'm not sure but I remember so. If so, you can delete http_streams.txt just after 8, before 9. Then never copy it back.

buyukbang

18-07-2010, 03:04 PM

PM v1.7 is completed and I'll release it tonight. Just waiting some reviews.

BTW,

"Activate default channel list" is already added in PM v1.7.

and

http_streams.txt file is already included in /DISK2/firstlist.tgz (default channel list files) and /DISK2/secondlist.tgz (hidden channel list files) as in PM v1.6.

Your problem is when firstlist.tgz files overwritten by secondlist.tgz files, http_streams.txt of firstlist.tgz still exists there.

You can use an empty http_streams.txt before saving hidden channel list, as a workaround. So, http_streams.txt will be overwriten by this empty http_streams.txt.

Hi,

For the recent firmware versions is required to have http_streams.txt on DISK2, otherwise the iptv channels don't work.
Is like the http_streams now being part of the remainder channels list files.

Is much work for the script to store (if any) the http_streams.txt when "Saving the hidden channel list" and restore it (if any) on the "Activation of the hidden channel list"?

I think you've found a way to switch between default and hidden channels lists, without restart. This would be really great.
If so, then PM should present another option:
- "Activate default channel list"

And PM should also restore (if any) the http_stream.txt of the default channel list.

Is this feasible in PM? (if not possible in v1.7 in another in the future :-))

Thanks in advance.

fcis7000e+

18-07-2010, 06:09 PM

Your suggestion of using an empty http_streams.txt worked.

PM v1.7 will preserve the current hidden channel list, or after the PM instalation one needs to set and save it again?

BTW and what about the current configurations of PM v1.6?

Thanks a lot.

PM v1.7 is completed and I'll release it tonight. Just waiting some reviews.

BTW,

"Activate default channel list" is already added in PM v1.7.

and

http_streams.txt file is already included in /DISK2/firstlist.tgz (default channel list files) and /DISK2/secondlist.tgz (hidden channel list files) as in PM v1.6.

Your problem is when firstlist.tgz files overwritten by secondlist.tgz files, http_streams.txt of firstlist.tgz still exists there.

You can use an empty http_streams.txt before saving hidden channel list, as a workaround. So, http_streams.txt will be overwriten by this empty http_streams.txt.

buyukbang

18-07-2010, 06:56 PM

channel list files will be backward compatible, so you don't need to do anything. Just delete v1.6 then install v1.7.

Settings file contains two new parameters (KILL_TV_EMU and WAIT_SECONDS_BEFORE_KILL), except these everything will be copy & paste compatible.

Your suggestion of using an empty http_streams.txt worked.

PM v1.7 will preserve the current hidden channel list, or after the PM instalation one needs to set and save it again?

BTW and what about the current configurations of PM v1.6?

Thanks a lot.