Very Choppy Playback

Lee Anthony

Hi,

I am using oscam to decrypt and I am using openelec as my tvheadend server. I am getting very choppy playback on all devices. Constant buffering. I have changed the buffer on all of my XBMC heads but still getting the same problem.

The only thing I can see that COULD be the problem is the Req Delay is very high when the picture gets choppy. For example:

Jan 03 16:23:47.347 cwc: Sending ECM (PID 1281) section=0/0, for service "Comedy Cen HD" (seqno: 2588)
Jan 03 16:23:47.716 cwc: Received ECM reply (PID 1281) for service "Comedy Cen HD" even: 00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00 odd: f4.20.29.3d.99.5c.bd.b2 (seqno: 2588 Req delay: 370 ms)
Jan 03 16:23:55.336 cwc: Sending ECM (PID 1281) section=0/0, for service "Comedy Cen HD" (seqno: 2589)

Jan 03 16:23:58.817 cwc: Received ECM reply (PID 1281) for service "Comedy Cen HD" even: fc.1a.22.38.81.9f.51.71 odd: 00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00 (seqno: 2589 Req delay: 3480 ms)

The second ECM is when it gets choppy.

I am also getting this error from time to time:

Jan 03 16:24:20.643 TS: Montage Technology DS3000/ASTRA: 12,090,000 kHz Vertical (No satconf)/Comedy Cen HD: H264

 #512: Continuity counter error
Jan 03 16:24:20.643 TS: Montage Technology DS3000/ASTRA: 12,090,000 kHz Vertical (No satconf)/Comedy Cen HD: AC3

#660: Continuity counter error
Jan 03 16:24:20.643 TS: Montage Technology DS3000/ASTRA: 12,090,000 kHz Vertical (No satconf)/Comedy Cen HD: TELETEXT

#576: Continuity counter error Jan 03 16:24:20.643 TS: Montage Technology DS3000/ASTRA: 12,090,000 kHz Vertical (No satconf)/Comedy Cen HD: MPEG2AUDIO

#640: Continuity counter error

If anybody could help I would very much appreciate it.

Many Thanks

Lee

Hugo Rodenburg

An ECM reply of 3480 is quite high. In my setup it's below 1000ms. Can you check with an FTA channel to see if that problem still exists?
The continuity counter errors are a result of the high ecm time I guess.

Lee Anthony

FTA channels actually seem to be ok. What could be the cause for this?

Lee Anthony

Also, my signal strength is quite low. Average around 15%.

Would that affect this?

Hugo Rodenburg

I would check the oscam logs first. Perhaps you need to enable the logging first (configure "logfile" in oscam.conf). For every ECM request an line is added to the log file. I guess this will show the same response times as shown by tvheadend, but it's easy to check. Also check the logfile for other information regarding the high ecm times.

What causes this high ecm responses would be related to your oscam setup and defined readers. Perhaps you can post the configs.

Signal strength isn't very high. I'm not sure this will affect the quality, but I would focus on the ECM reply's first. Especially because an FTA channel is ok.

Lee Anthony

Fantastic! Thank you for the response. I have only basic settings for my reader.

Could somebody recommend some settings for better performance. CacheEX etc.

Many thanks in advance

Hugo Rodenburg

CacheEx won't help you at all. This has a different purpose. If you can post your config, someone may able to help you, otherwise it's just guessing. I assume you use a local card, so also specify which card reader you use.

Lee Anthony

So I seem to be getting very quick ECM's now after playing around. But the play back still just isn't smooth. Im getting this now:

n 07 21:15:18.661 TS: Montage Technology DS3000/ASTRA: 12,480,000 kHz Vertical (No satconf)/E4+1: MPEG2VIDEO

 #2332: Continuity counter error
Jan 07 21:15:18.661 TS: Montage Technology DS3000/ASTRA: 12,480,000 kHz Vertical (No satconf)/E4+1: MPEG2AUDIO

#2333: Continuity counter error
Jan 07 21:15:18.661 TS: Montage Technology DS3000/ASTRA: 12,480,000 kHz Vertical (No satconf)/E4+1: MPEG2AUDIO

 #2335: Continuity counter error
Jan 07 21:15:18.661 TS: Montage Technology DS3000/ASTRA: 12,480,000 kHz Vertical (No satconf)/E4+1: TELETEXT

#2334: Continuity counter error
Jan 07 21:15:18.996 parser: transport stream MPEG2VIDEO, DTS discontinuity. DTS = 103604400, last = 102834000
Jan 07 21:15:19.081 parser: transport stream MPEG2AUDIO, DTS discontinuity. DTS = 103549478, last = 102791318

Jan 07 21:15:19.082 parser: transport stream MPEG2AUDIO, DTS discontinuity. DTS = 103556678, last = 102798518

It just looks like its dropping frames and then catching up...this happens every few seconds.

Hugo Rodenburg

It's just a guess, and not my (best) area of expertise, but could there be something wrong with your cables, connectors and/or LNB? Since you also report that the signal quality is quite low. In my case it reports 74% on my DVB-S adapter.
I just came accross "this thread" where someone got a much better signal after replacing his LNB (see last post).

Perhaps you can test with an stand alone STB, if you have that available? Just to rule the hardware issues out? I also heard once that bad connectors can cause big signal problems.

Hugo