[AG-TECH] System freezes sending video on Linux w/ IVC-200 capture card

[Andrew Ford]

Hi Chris,

After some testing we've seen this happen with multiple IVCs and multiple
machines - at any rate, we don't have any more spare linux boxes to test
with. I have a feeling it might be related to Ubuntu's CPU frequency scaling
though, as I've never seen it freeze when I manually set it to use the
maximum clock speed. What are the clock settings on your machine?

Also, as a side note, does anyone know how to set the default on boot to be
max clock speed? The gnome-power-manager menu in gconf-editor doesn't have
any options for setting CPU frequency.

--Andrew

2009/3/29 Christoph Willing <c.willing at uq.edu.au>

>
> On 26/03/2009, at 4:58 PM, Christoph Willing wrote:
>
>
>> On 26/03/2009, at 3:34 AM, Andrew Ford wrote:
>>
>>  Hi,
>>>
>>> For a while now we've been seeing hard freezes (ie, trying to kill the X
>>> server does nothing) on one of our Linux machines when it tries to send
>>> video via an IVC-200 cap card. It tends to occur more frequently when the
>>> load is heavier - attempting to send 2 or more 720x480 mpeg4 or h.264
>>> streams causes it to freeze within 5-10 minutes, 4 h.261 videos make it
>>> freeze in about half an hour, and 2 261 videos makes it last about 2 days.
>>> dmesg and /var/log/messages don't give any clues. Other types of load don't
>>> seem to cause freezes, and I ran memtest86 overnight with no errors.
>>> Originally the machine was Ubuntu 8.04 64-bit, then 8.10 64-bit, then 8.10
>>> 32-bit, and the problem was seen in all 3. In all cases it was running the
>>> UQ-provided AG 3.2beta with the stock VideoProducer services. I know there
>>> was a bttv driver deadlock issue in kernels pre-2.6.24, but this is running
>>> kernel 2.6.27 so that shouldn't be the problem.
>>>
>>> Also when sending video on that machine occasionally the stream would
>>> start to flicker, flashing an old frame alternating with the current output
>>> of the camera. Has anyone seen either of these issues before?
>>>
>>
>>
>> Andrew,
>>
>> I just installed a 32bit Ubuntu 8.10 on the UQVislab node's video capture
>> machine. I've been running 2x mpeg4 streams and an h261 stream for over two
>> hours. I just powered the machine down to confirm it is actually an IVC-200G
>> card (it is). After the restart, I've now configured it to run with 3x mpeg4
>> streams. These are full PAL streams 704x576. Its been running for nearly 10
>> minutes now - will leave it running overnight (in the APAG lobby, if you
>> want to check on them) and report back. Based on the previous successful 2
>> hour test, I think this 3 large streams test will be OK too.
>>
>
>
> Andrew,
>
> We've now had this setup (32bit Ubuntu 8.10 with IVC-200G streaming 3x
> mpeg4 streams @ 704x576) running continuously for over three days now
> without any discernible problem. That result suggests a hardware issue with
> your capture card (or even the machine itself).
>
>
> chris
>
>
>
>
>  You could try reseating the card - maybe some dust or contact oxidation is
>> creating some bad effect? Do you have any similar capture cards lying around
>> you could temporarily replace the IVC with? That may indicate whether you
>> have a card fault or machine/OS fault.
>>
>>
>> chris
>>
>>
>> Christoph Willing                       +61 7 3365 8316
>> QCIF Access Grid Manager
>> University of Queensland
>>
>>
> Christoph Willing                       +61 7 3365 8316
> QCIF Access Grid Manager
> University of Queensland
>
>
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