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Official Ceton Echo Extender Info Thread - Page 211

post #6301 of 7661
2/28/13 at 9:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

I did actually report this in the tracker or beta a while ago but hadn't seen it in a while so I thought it was fixed. It is fixed for me as far as I can tell.

Hmm - it certainly doesn't happen every time.

I will see if I can recreate it this weekend.

xnappo
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post #6302 of 7661
2/28/13 at 10:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by xnappo View Post

Hmm - it certainly doesn't happen every time.

I will see if I can recreate it this weekend.

xnappo

I can make it do it every time. If I turn the Echo on and TV on and then shut the TV off, after a few minutes it will start cycling the processes on the HTPC and cause stuttering. Every time.

I came home for lunch and had a few minutes to look into the processes that are running. Here is a snapshot. These will start and then all MCX2 processes will dissappear from the Task Manager, then start again about 10-15 seconds later. You can see the high CPU usage, when the Echo is turned off I might see 25% at the most. When I turn on the Echo and it's doing this cycling thing, I will see 50-100% CPU usage.



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post #6303 of 7661
2/28/13 at 10:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmeleon View Post

I can make it do it every time. If I turn the Echo on and TV on and then shut the TV off, after a few minutes it will start cycling the processes on the HTPC and cause stuttering. Every time.

I came home for lunch and had a few minutes to look into the processes that are running. Here is a snapshot. These will start and then all MCX2 processes will dissappear from the Task Manager, then start again about 10-15 seconds later. You can see the high CPU usage, when the Echo is turned off I might see 25% at the most. When I turn on the Echo and it's doing this cycling thing, I will see 50-100% CPU usage.

Just so I can try to recreate - when the Echo is on you are just sitting in the WMC menu?

xnappo
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post #6304 of 7661
2/28/13 at 10:11am
A better place to look might be in the Resource Monitor rather than Process Monitor.
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post #6305 of 7661
2/28/13 at 10:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by xnappo View Post

Just so I can try to recreate - when the Echo is on you are just sitting in the WMC menu?

xnappo

I have my Echo start in "Live TV". So the Echo boots, it flashes the WMC welcome screen then automatically goes to live tv. I then shut off the TV only and leave the Echo running. Same way you would a cable box when you are done watching. Then after a few minutes you should start to see the cycling on the HTPC Task Manager. I usually just minimize WMC on the HTPC, CTRL-ALT-DEL and pull up task manager. Make sure you click on "show all processes by all users" on the bottom of the task manager process window. Then just sort by username, the Echo will be MCX#, don't know how many extenders you're running.
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post #6306 of 7661
2/28/13 at 10:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

A better place to look might be in the Resource Monitor rather than Process Monitor.

What's the resource monitor, I'd be happy to tonight.
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post #6307 of 7661
2/28/13 at 10:19am
I have mine boot to the Guide now. Although I like the idea of having LiveTV right away, I don't want the echo hogging a tuner and spinning my storage drive when I'm not watching the TV connected to it. The time that I made this change may be related to the reduction in CPU usage. It only takes a split second to get to live TV.. basically as long as it takes for my TV to show a picture so it really isn't an issue for me.
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post #6308 of 7661
2/28/13 at 10:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmeleon View Post

What's the resource monitor, I'd be happy to tonight.

It is in Control Panel > Performance Information and Tools > Advanced Tools
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post #6309 of 7661
2/28/13 at 10:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmeleon View Post

What's the resource monitor, I'd be happy to tonight.

Type in "Resource Monitor" in the "Search Programs" box off of the start menu and press enter and it will launch. That said it's basically process monitor on steroids. Play around with it a little, there is much that can be found with this tool. Right click on column headers to add/remove columns.
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post #6310 of 7661
2/28/13 at 10:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by skybolt View Post

Type in "Resource Monitor" in the "Search Programs" box off of the start menu and press enter and it will launch. That said it's basically process monitor on steroids. Play around with it a little, there is much that can be found with this tool. Right click on column headers to add/remove columns.

That too. It will probably show up before you finish typing Resource..
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post #6311 of 7661
2/28/13 at 10:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmeleon View Post

I can make it do it every time. If I turn the Echo on and TV on and then shut the TV off, after a few minutes it will start cycling the processes on the HTPC and cause stuttering. Every time.

I came home for lunch and had a few minutes to look into the processes that are running. Here is a snapshot. These will start and then all MCX2 processes will dissappear from the Task Manager, then start again about 10-15 seconds later. You can see the high CPU usage, when the Echo is turned off I might see 25% at the most. When I turn on the Echo and it's doing this cycling thing, I will see 50-100% CPU usage.

If all of the MCX2 processes are disappearing, it sounds like the user is logging in/off and back in. From those screenshots, most of those processes look normal - the ones that stick out to me as "TSTheme.exe" and "taskeng.exe" - I don't recall having TSTheme.exe on any of my extender users (I'll check again tonight) and the taskeng.exe could indicate a scheduled task is attempting execute (maybe normal for extender user, can't recall).

Have you tried disabling going directly into livetv and seeing if it helps?
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post #6312 of 7661
2/28/13 at 11:11am
This may explain why I only see it sometimes. Maybe it only occurs if it is turned off while playing.

xnappo
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post #6313 of 7661
2/28/13 at 12:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tgrinch View Post

If all of the MCX2 processes are disappearing, it sounds like the user is logging in/off and back in. From those screenshots, most of those processes look normal - the ones that stick out to me as "TSTheme.exe" and "taskeng.exe" - I don't recall having TSTheme.exe on any of my extender users (I'll check again tonight) and the taskeng.exe could indicate a scheduled task is attempting execute (maybe normal for extender user, can't recall).

Have you tried disabling going directly into livetv and seeing if it helps?

I have not, I can try just booting into the Guide instead and see if it helps. Still, I should be able to boot to Live TV and not have this issue I would think. Seems like a bug to me but who knows.
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post #6314 of 7661
2/28/13 at 12:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmeleon View Post

I have not, I can try just booting into the Guide instead and see if it helps. Still, I should be able to boot to Live TV and not have this issue I would think. Seems like a bug to me but who knows.

I would try having it boot just to the default WMC menu to start (stock). If that looks good, monitor your process list as you attempt to jump into live tv manually - see if you see similar churn. If not, re-enable booting to LiveTV and ensure it happens again. Assuming it does, you may be able to deduce that it's a combination of the echo add-in with the LiveTV setting and report to Ceton as necessary...
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post #6315 of 7661
2/28/13 at 12:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tgrinch View Post

I would try having it boot just to the default WMC menu to start (stock). If that looks good, monitor your process list as you attempt to jump into live tv manually - see if you see similar churn. If not, re-enable booting to LiveTV and ensure it happens again. Assuming it does, you may be able to deduce that it's a combination of the echo add-in with the LiveTV setting and report to Ceton as necessary...

Agreed - it definitely sounds like a bug, but the more info we give Ceton the faster they can fix it.

xnappo
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post #6316 of 7661
2/28/13 at 9:29pm
Yeah...dont have the start up page be livetv....it messes it up. Ceton is aware of this. I had this issue..had the Echo start up on main page and livetv works fine.
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post #6317 of 7661
2/28/13 at 10:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmeleon View Post

I have my Echo start in "Live TV". So the Echo boots, it flashes the WMC welcome screen then automatically goes to live tv. I then shut off the TV only and leave the Echo running. Same way you would a cable box when you are done watching. Then after a few minutes you should start to see the cycling on the HTPC Task Manager. I usually just minimize WMC on the HTPC, CTRL-ALT-DEL and pull up task manager. Make sure you click on "show all processes by all users" on the bottom of the task manager process window. Then just sort by username, the Echo will be MCX#, don't know how many extenders you're running.

I understand what you going for here with the instant on, but you need to realize the Echo is not a cable box such as a DTA type box, it's more like a Genie Mini. The Echo left powered on with live t.v. is using a tuner from the main box just like a Genie Mini when it's in use, removing a tuner from the tuner pool on the main box restricting recordings or not allowing other clients to use. I would rather Ceton not focus on this issue, but rather advise users to go to the main menu if you are going to leave the Echo powered on.
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post #6318 of 7661
3/1/13 at 3:08am
So as far as random crashes/reboots go, I've observed my Echos crash/reboot while:

Watching Live TV
Watching Recorded TV
Watching MKVs
Watching M2TSs
Sitting idle in MediaBrowser
Sitting idle on the WMC menu
Navigating the guide

I would normally attribute something like this to overheating (and that still may very well be the cause) but I don't have it shoved in some hot AV rack or anything like that. It is currently sitting on a countertop in a room where a ceiling fan is blowing on it almost constantly. The unit is warm to the touch but not anywhere close to hot.
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post #6319 of 7661
3/1/13 at 5:05am
Some of my recordings have all of a sudden started flashing subscription required screens. Like during playback, it'll flick to the subscription required screen for 1/2 a second, then back to the recording for a few seconds. Anyone else seen this? It happened on two different echoes, on two different shows last night.

Edit: Now that I've had my coffee, I'll got post this on the InfiniTV thread, where it probably belongs...
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post #6320 of 7661
3/1/13 at 7:23am
Try the latest firmware. After updating, completely disconnect the Echo for an extended period (1 hr). Many have found that a cold reboot resolves stability issues.
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post #6321 of 7661
3/1/13 at 8:33am
I currently have two echos that I swap back and forth on one TV, one on the latest stable firmware and the other on the latest beta.

Suffice it to say, that swapping them back and forth probably covers the "cold boot" requirement.

And the unit that I've had plugged in for the last few days where I've experienced all of this was the beta unit. But I know I've seen several lockups and reboots with the "stable" version too (though I can't confirm that I've seen it reboot during every one of the instances above like I can with the beta unit)
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post #6322 of 7661
3/1/13 at 6:32pm
Anyone else having a hard time checking for updates from the web interface of the echo?
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post #6323 of 7661
3/1/13 at 6:56pm
I think that the server may be down right now.
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post #6324 of 7661
3/1/13 at 10:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ajhieb View Post

I currently have two echos that I swap back and forth on one TV, one on the latest stable firmware and the other on the latest beta.

Suffice it to say, that swapping them back and forth probably covers the "cold boot" requirement.

And the unit that I've had plugged in for the last few days where I've experienced all of this was the beta unit. But I know I've seen several lockups and reboots with the "stable" version too (though I can't confirm that I've seen it reboot during every one of the instances above like I can with the beta unit)

Ceton would probably suggest you to update your NIC drivers as well. It seems misguided and far fetched but does resolve the problem in many cases.
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post #6325 of 7661
3/2/13 at 1:30am
Intel NIC drivers are the latest from Intel's site.
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post #6326 of 7661
3/2/13 at 6:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by caeguy View Post

Anyone else having a hard time checking for updates from the web interface of the echo?

Yeah, cant get to the download page for the Settings plugin.
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post #6327 of 7661
3/2/13 at 6:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ajhieb View Post

Intel NIC drivers are the latest from Intel's site.

There is one specific Intel NIC that people are having difficulty with on the SiliconDust forums. http://www.silicondust.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=14076&start=30 Someone figured out the driver version one would need to play nice with WMC. Unfortunately, the Intel utility and some locations on their website do not have the latest driver. Try here http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18713&lang=eng

Also your router could cause issues. http://forum1.netgear.com/showthread.php?t=67681

Also try switching the Ethernet cable connecting your Echo.
Edited by shortcut3d - 3/2/13 at 6:59am
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post #6328 of 7661
3/2/13 at 6:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmp14 View Post

Yeah, cant get to the download page for the Settings plugin.

The download page is down completely. Including the plugin download page.

Probably because Android beta is coming today rolleyes.gif

xnappo
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post #6329 of 7661
3/2/13 at 6:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmp14 View Post

Yeah, cant get to the download page for the Settings plugin.

Is this a sign of android coming soon?
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post #6330 of 7661
3/2/13 at 7:21am
No. It is a sign of the update server being down.
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