#11401 - 31/07/2000 17:07
Re: Beta 12 track skips
[Re: mac]
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enthusiast
Registered: 21/08/1999
Posts: 381
Loc: Northern Ireland
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Just tried 12d-debug tonight on the Mk1 and got A:14 N:211 X:211 in the 4th or 5th track. Just as I was typing the first couple of words of this message, it skipped again, A:14 N:345 X:345 in the 13th track into the playlist... I tried to turn around to see if the disk icon was up, but I couldn't be sure - if it was, it had gone by the time I turned round!
I'll try connecting it to the serial and leave it running overnight...
Haven't tried it with the Mk2 yet, hopefully tomorrow...
Geoff
---- -------
Got one of the first Mark 2 empegs...
_________________________
Geoff
---- -------
Mk1 Blue - was 4GB, now 16GB
Mk2 Red - was 12GB, now 60GB
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#11402 - 31/07/2000 23:10
Re: Beta 12 track skips
[Re: mac]
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addict
Registered: 15/07/1999
Posts: 568
Loc: Meije, Netherlands
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left a prototype Mark II unit running for around four hours this evening and I had no audible gaps and a maximum value of 55
For what's this worth:
Left my mk2 running overnight, playing on a 2386 tracks shuffled playlist. No info display / no visuals running, just the values showing. After 8 hours and 101 tracks they showed A19, N51, X51.
Henno
mk2 nr 6
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Henno
mk2 [orange]6 [/orange]nr 6
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#11403 - 01/08/2000 10:56
Re: Beta 12 track skips
[Re: mac]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Could you leave your unit (running beta12c is fine) connected to a serial port and if you get a skip see if anything is output please?
I've only had one "Notable" so far today, and all that the serial port said is "audio_write call took 142ms" (I assume part of the same debugging code that puts the numbers on the screen), but no other errors. Unfortunately, when it happened, I had the volume down so I couldn't hear whether it was an audible skip.
Interestingly, the Empeg screen says n:144 x:144, even though the serial port said 142.
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Tony Fabris
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#11404 - 01/08/2000 11:15
Re: Beta 12 track skips
[Re: Geoff]
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enthusiast
Registered: 21/08/1999
Posts: 381
Loc: Northern Ireland
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I put 12d on the Mk2 and started it off before heading to work this morning, and almost 12 hours later it reads A:15 N:55 X:55 so the problem seems to be mainly with the Mk1.
Geoff
---- -------
Got one of the first Mark 2 empegs...
_________________________
Geoff
---- -------
Mk1 Blue - was 4GB, now 16GB
Mk2 Red - was 12GB, now 60GB
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#11405 - 01/08/2000 13:00
Re: Beta 12 track skips
[Re: mac]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Darn! Got a 347 today while sitting at a drive-thru window. Needless to say, I didn't have a computer with me to read what was coming off the serial port. Sigh...
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Tony Fabris
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#11406 - 02/08/2000 07:57
Re: Beta 12 track skips
[Re: mac]
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addict
Registered: 20/05/1999
Posts: 411
Loc: Cambridge, UK
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Hugo and I have spent the last two days getting our hands dirty on the workings of scheduling in the Linux kernel and think we may have found the problem. If you tried the beta12d-gaptest1 version then it would be very useful if you could reinstall that and then apply the appropriate one of the following upgrades. To keep the download size down it only applies a new kernel so applying it to beta12c may help but you won't get the useful statistics on the screen. The same request applies - we're interested in the debug output from the top right of the screen. Mark 1 http://www.empeg.com/downloads/car1-kernel-beta12d-gaptest2.upgradeMark 2 http://www.empeg.com/downloads/car2-kernel-beta12d-gaptest2.upgradeTIA -- Mike Crowe I may not be speaking on behalf of empeg above :-)
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Mike Crowe
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#11407 - 02/08/2000 09:32
Re: Curiouser and Curiouser...
[Re: peter]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/06/1999
Posts: 2993
Loc: Wareham, Dorset, UK
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I've only seen the "blank playlist" thing after booting (sometimes it takes 2 or 3 reboot attempts to get back to normal) One of the few remaining Mk1 owners...  #00015
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One of the few remaining Mk1 owners...  #00015
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#11408 - 02/08/2000 09:40
Re: Beta 12 track skips
[Re: mac]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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The same request applies - we're interested in the debug output from the top right of the screen.
Sure thing. I'll even keep monitoring the serial output.
Question: Did you
a) fix the suspected bug and hope this test never generates any "N"s?
b) locate the suspected bug and put debugging code around it to get more information when we reproduce it?
By the way: Since this is a consumer release instead of a developer release, is it even useful for me to monitor the serial output? Would the consumer release put stuff out on the serial port if it encountered a hardware problem?
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Tony Fabris
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#11409 - 02/08/2000 09:55
Re: Beta 12 track skips
[Re: tfabris]
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addict
Registered: 20/05/1999
Posts: 411
Loc: Cambridge, UK
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We think we've fixed the bug (which wasn't at all empeg specific - we're waiting on other kernel gurus we've emailed to confirm this). It just depends whether the fix is good enough. We're hoping it should be good enough to avoid gaps. It may still give values for N though but they shouldn't be too high (say higher than 100).
Monitoring the serial port with a release build isn't worth it unless you or we suspect hardware problems. This version outputs absolutely nothing to the serial port about the bug.
--
Mike Crowe
I may not be speaking on behalf of empeg above :-)
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Mike Crowe
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#11410 - 02/08/2000 12:24
Re: Beta 12 track skips
[Re: mac]
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enthusiast
Registered: 21/08/1999
Posts: 381
Loc: Northern Ireland
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I installed the gaptest2 update on my Mk1 (which was giving me the most problems) when I got in from work. It has been running for 1.5 hours so far, and the values on the screen are A:19 N:0 X:36 - a vast improvement over the same time with gaptest1 - I think I had X:345 within half an hour. I'll try it in the Mk2 as well, but it only got X as high as 55, so I'm sure it'll be fine. Nice piece of work Mike & Hugo, congratulations  (as soon as I hit 'Send' the Mk1 will probably skip, knowing my luck  ) Geoff ---- ------- Got one of the first Mark 2 empegs...
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Geoff
---- -------
Mk1 Blue - was 4GB, now 16GB
Mk2 Red - was 12GB, now 60GB
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#11411 - 02/08/2000 12:36
Re: Beta 12 track skips
[Re: Geoff]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Yeah, I've been running Gaptest2 for a few hours and haven't had a problem, no "n"s have happened yet. On the other hand, I ran it all day yesterday and only got two "n"s, so since it was an intermittent problem, we should continue to test this build for a little longer before declaring the bug swatted.
I have a question, though:
You gave us two separate upgrade files, one for the Mk1 and one for the Mk2. But this upgrade was kernel-only.
So I'm assuming, because of this, that the kernel is different between the Mk1 and the Mk2. If that's true I want to make sure to get that into my kernel-uploading FAQ. Is that true?
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Tony Fabris
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#11412 - 02/08/2000 13:19
Re: Beta 12 track skips
[Re: tfabris]
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enthusiast
Registered: 21/08/1999
Posts: 381
Loc: Northern Ireland
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In reply to:
since it was an intermittent problem, we should continue to test this build for a little longer before declaring the bug swatted.
Ok, so maybe I got a bit carried away 
Since this thread started, and I consciously started listening for the bug I always got a skip well within an hour of playing, so an hour and a half without a skip was some going...
As things stand now, N is still 0, X is now 50, although the tracks playing at the moment are ones I encoded with LAME VBR at a slightly higher rate than the tracks playing earlier. For some non-scientific, gut-feeling reason I was expecting to X to rise with these tracks. The average has actually dropped by 1 to 18.
I'll be leaving the player going overnight so hopefully that will be a better test.
I'm still reasonably convinced it's fixed, or at least pretty well squished, but then I'm in an optimistic mood lately
Geoff
---- -------
Got one of the first Mark 2 empegs...
_________________________
Geoff
---- -------
Mk1 Blue - was 4GB, now 16GB
Mk2 Red - was 12GB, now 60GB
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#11413 - 02/08/2000 17:23
Re: Beta 12 track skips
[Re: tfabris]
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addict
Registered: 20/05/1999
Posts: 411
Loc: Cambridge, UK
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Yes, the kernels are different for Mark I and Mark II. The source is identical but the configurations are different to accomodate the different USB chips and the networking available on the Mark II for example.
We could probably produce a kernel that worked on both but having different kernels keeps the download size down - especially for Mark I owners.
--
Mike Crowe
I may not be speaking on behalf of empeg above :-)
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Mike Crowe
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#11414 - 02/08/2000 17:29
Re: Beta 12 track skips
[Re: mac]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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That's what I figured, thanks.
And I've had the gaptest2 file running nonstop all day, there were no "n"s, and "x" never went above 43. I'd say: Stick a fork in it, it's done.
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Tony Fabris
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#11415 - 02/08/2000 17:33
Re: Beta 12 track skips
[Re: tfabris]
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enthusiast
Registered: 21/08/1999
Posts: 381
Loc: Northern Ireland
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Yep, gaptest2 on my Mk1 has been running for about 6 hours with A:18 N:0 X:50, and for about 2 hours on my Mk2, giving A:15 N:0 X:44 I'm off to bed now, but I'll leave them running overnight and let you know what the values are again then - I'm not expecting them to be any different Geoff ---- ------- Got one of the first Mark 2 empegs...
_________________________
Geoff
---- -------
Mk1 Blue - was 4GB, now 16GB
Mk2 Red - was 12GB, now 60GB
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#11416 - 03/08/2000 00:22
Re: Beta 12 track skips
[Re: Geoff]
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enthusiast
Registered: 21/08/1999
Posts: 381
Loc: Northern Ireland
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Very quickly (I'm running late as usual ) After running overnight... Mk1: A:16 N:0 X:50 Mk2: A:15 N:0 X:48 Geoff ---- ------- Got one of the first Mark 2 empegs...
_________________________
Geoff
---- -------
Mk1 Blue - was 4GB, now 16GB
Mk2 Red - was 12GB, now 60GB
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