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PowerBook G4 12" lags on playing DVDs

post #1 of 29
3/4/03 at 1:30pm
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It looks like every few seconds DVD Player lags and misses frames playing DVDs, I've tried quite a few. I don't think this happened on my iBook in X and especially not 9. Could it be the stupid NVIDIA pos card? I'm really not liking this. It lags! It's a freaking DVD! Especially when the whole screen is moving, it really annoys me. Matsu, anyone else notice this?
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post #2 of 29
3/4/03 at 1:35pm
you upgrade to 10.2.4 recently? i've noticed all sorts of speed hits since that upgrade. check your pagouts, see what they're at now.

-alcimedes
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post #3 of 29
3/4/03 at 6:07pm
Pageouts with 640MB RAM when the system is only playing a DVD is bad. I don't think that the GeForce 4 Go is at fault: it may not be as good as a Radeon 9000 Mobility (:rolleyes) but it should be able to play a DVD quite happily.

I ordered the same configuration of PowerBook yesterday. Should be here soon.
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post #4 of 29
3/4/03 at 6:11pm
This is a problem a lot of people are having. Me included. There's a slew of people reporting this on the Apple discussion boards and it preceded 10.2.4. Unfortunately it doesn't seem everyone is having this problem (I say that because it means it may not be software :/)
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post #5 of 29
3/4/03 at 9:08pm
Thread Starter 
Well it's downright pathetic and a class action lawsuit should be started if Apple doesn't fix this in an update.

I just did an experiment. Golden Eye did NOT skip in windowed mode, at regular size or maximum. However, it DOES skip in Full Screen mode. This is annoying and I'm calling Apple tomorrow. I mean I spent more than $2000 on this machine!

edit: Yes I have 10.2.4 and nothing else running. I ran top and there were no pageouts. I have 640 megs of RAM. GoldenEye, Vanilla Sky, and Austin Powers 2 all skip when in Full Screen mode. This must be a software issue but it's going to be annoying waiting 2 months to fix it.

[ 03-05-2003: Message edited by: Aquatic ]</p>
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post #6 of 29
3/4/03 at 9:19pm
[quote]Originally posted by Aquatic:
<strong>Well it's downright pathetic and a class action lawsuit should be started if Apple doesn't fix this in an update.

I just did an experiment. Golden Eye did NOT skip in windowed mode, at regular size or maximum. However, it DOES skip in Full Screen mode. This is annoying and I'm calling Apple tomorrow. I mean I spent more than $2000 on this machine!

edit: Yes I have 10.2.4 and nothing else running. I ran top and there were no pageouts. I have 640 megs of RAM. GoldenEye, Vanilla Sky, and Austin Powers 2 all skip when in Full Screen mode. This must be a software issue but it's going to be annoying waiting 2 months to fix it.

[ 03-05-2003: Message edited by: Aquatic ]</strong><hr></blockquote>

Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that the skipping only occurs in full screen mode. Not in windowed mode. Not sure what the deal is. I think it must be a video card thing because Diablo II plays like complete shit on it. Funnily enough, UT X does well. I haven't tried other things full screen.
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post #7 of 29
3/4/03 at 9:22pm
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<a href="http://discussions.info.apple.com/WebX?50@93.GpVRaNrqicw.9@.3bbedcf9" target="_blank">http://discussions.info.apple.com/WebX?50@93.GpVRaNrqicw.9@.3bbedcf9</a>

[quote]Read about this odd little trick on one of the other forums-- while in full screen mode, also have the CPU Monitor app running. You'll notice two things. First, DVD playback uses relatively little processing power (maybe 30-40%), AND the DVD playback is no longer choppy. That's right, when CPU Monitor is running, DVD playback is very good, when it's not, it's choppy in full screen. Obviously, there is some bizarre software problem at work here, that hopefully will be addressed soon.

<hr></blockquote>

This trick DOES work for me! This is really weird. Come on Apple at least acknowledge this is a problem and publish a release saying you're working on it.

edit: you need to have the CPU monitor floating window over the top of the DVD player or else it will still be choppy. This is ridiculous but an interesting fix.

[ 03-05-2003: Message edited by: Aquatic ]</p>
"Overpopulation and climate change are serious shit." Gilsch
"I was really curious how they had managed such fine granularity of alienation." addabox
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"Overpopulation and climate change are serious shit." Gilsch
"I was really curious how they had managed such fine granularity of alienation." addabox
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post #8 of 29
3/4/03 at 9:23pm
<a href="http://discussions.info.apple.com/WebX?50@167.ppeTaOp8ib1.14@.3bbedcf9" target="_blank">Here's the Apple discussion thread</a>. It'll get worked out eventually. Give it time.

edit: you beat me to the link. That's an interesting fix. I'll try it sooner or later...

[ 03-05-2003: Message edited by: torifile ]</p>
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post #9 of 29
3/4/03 at 9:52pm
[quote] Well it's downright pathetic and a class action lawsuit should be started if Apple doesn't fix this in an update <hr></blockquote>

Lawsuit? Are you serious? I swear people are all to willing to threaten a lawsuit for the most trivial matters. I hope you're kidding... or at least exaggerating.

[ 03-05-2003: Message edited by: aribus485 ]</p>
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post #10 of 29
3/4/03 at 9:57pm
Thread Starter 
I am. It is kinda annoying tho. It's fscking NVIDIA I bet.
"Overpopulation and climate change are serious shit." Gilsch
"I was really curious how they had managed such fine granularity of alienation." addabox
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"Overpopulation and climate change are serious shit." Gilsch
"I was really curious how they had managed such fine granularity of alienation." addabox
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post #11 of 29
3/5/03 at 1:53am
[quote]Originally posted by Aquatic:
<strong>I am. It is kinda annoying tho. It's fscking NVIDIA I bet.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Although it doesn't seem to be a CPU processing power problem, traditionally Nvidia cards haven't been as good as ATI Radeons for DVD playback, as the CPU usage can be upto twice that of the equivalent Radeon.
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post #12 of 29
3/5/03 at 4:54am
hmmm... only 256MB here and 10.2.4, NO skippage that I can detect. just played first disc of LoTR. iDunno, weird???
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post #13 of 29
3/5/03 at 9:07am
Thread Starter 
PhysMem: 62.7M wired, 248M active, 83.5M inactive, 395M used, 245M free
VM: 1.88G + 70.0M 19828(0) pageins, 4379(0) pageouts

I have over half a gig of RAM and look at all those pagein/outs. 10.2.4 is looking shady. <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=001967" target="_blank">http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=001967</a>

edit: Matsu did you try in Full Screen mode?

[ 03-05-2003: Message edited by: Aquatic ]</p>
"Overpopulation and climate change are serious shit." Gilsch
"I was really curious how they had managed such fine granularity of alienation." addabox
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"Overpopulation and climate change are serious shit." Gilsch
"I was really curious how they had managed such fine granularity of alienation." addabox
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post #14 of 29
3/5/03 at 9:16am
Yeah, weird. I don't detect any skips, but mebbe I'm just not paying attention. Mine was an early unit for Canada but rather late by American release standards. Could it be an issue with earlier units?
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post #15 of 29
3/5/03 at 9:35am
[quote]Originally posted by Matsu:
<strong>Yeah, weird. I don't detect any skips, but mebbe I'm just not paying attention. Mine was an early unit for Canada but rather late by American release standards. Could it be an issue with earlier units?</strong><hr></blockquote>

Matsu, given your history of disdain for Apple, I'd say that if you're not noticing any skips, then your machine isn't skipping.

It could be that it's an early release thing, but I can't imagine what the differences would be.

Could you fire up Apple System Profiler and tell me what these values are for your machine:

Machine Model (Powerbook6,1 version = 3.3)
Boot ROM Info (4.5.5f4)

And in the Devices and Volumes tab:
(Under the PCI&gt;built in AGP)
ROM# (2030)
Revision (a5)

My values are in parantheses. TIA.
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post #16 of 29
3/5/03 at 9:41am
[quote]Originally posted by Aquatic:
<strong>PhysMem: 62.7M wired, 248M active, 83.5M inactive, 395M used, 245M free
VM: 1.88G + 70.0M 19828(0) pageins, 4379(0) pageouts

I have over half a gig of RAM and look at all those pagein/outs. 10.2.4 is looking shady. </strong><hr></blockquote>

What is your uptime? If you've had it running for a while, those are not many pageouts at all. I have only 256 MB of RAM in my iMac (for now) and I had upwards of 25,000 pageouts after 2 days of use. Pushing her a bit hard with that little of RAM, of course. I'll be adding another 512 this week.

Pageouts aren't evil. Hell, if you have zero pageouts after a few days of use with 640 MB of RAM, you should probably be a bit embarrased. You're not *using* the thing.

Have a little patience on this one, I'm sure we'll see some sort of fix before long.
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post #17 of 29
3/5/03 at 9:47am
I'm not seeing any Lag either {640meg of ram) and I'm watching DVDs through the PB on to a TV Via the Video out deal. not sure what to say.
flick.
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post #18 of 29
3/5/03 at 9:52am
[quote]Originally posted by Flick Justice:
<strong>I'm not seeing any Lag either {640meg of ram) and I'm watching DVDs through the PB on to a TV Via the Video out deal. not sure what to say.
flick.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I think it's supposed to be better through the video out. How is it when your watching it fullscreen on the LCD?
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post #19 of 29
3/5/03 at 9:55am
not a very useful post but...
I'm watching on my 12" PB and the DVD playback is perfect in 10.2.4 in fact it plays a few discs that had probs for me on the iBook in 10.2.3...

But I do have a SuperDrive maybe that helps?.....
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post #20 of 29
3/5/03 at 10:02am
[quote]Originally posted by robster:
<strong>not a very useful post but...
I'm watching on my 12" PB and the DVD playback is perfect in 10.2.4 in fact it plays a few discs that had probs for me on the iBook in 10.2.3...

But I do have a SuperDrive maybe that helps?.....</strong><hr></blockquote>

Could you check the specs I posted earlier in the thread and post them here?
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post #21 of 29
3/5/03 at 10:27am
My machine and boot rom info is the same as yours. Under the Devices and volumes tab I don't see anything other than a few branches of flow chart.
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post #22 of 29
3/5/03 at 11:40am
Just tested it with fullscreen on the LCD alone, seems fine.
flick. &lt;oh and I do have a superdrive don't know if that matters&gt;
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post #23 of 29
3/5/03 at 12:11pm
Hven't noticed any issue on mine (640MB too), but I haven't honestly sat and watched a lot of DVDs on it.

Don't forget that the screen resolution automatically drops down when you plug in the external video adaptor, which can't but help DVD playback.
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post #24 of 29
3/5/03 at 12:12pm
Thread Starter 
I just got off the phone with Apple and they know the problem exists. Kewl. 10.2.5 will kick ass! Maybe DVD Player will even get surround sound...
"Overpopulation and climate change are serious shit." Gilsch
"I was really curious how they had managed such fine granularity of alienation." addabox
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"Overpopulation and climate change are serious shit." Gilsch
"I was really curious how they had managed such fine granularity of alienation." addabox
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post #25 of 29
3/5/03 at 6:52pm
Interesting....

Sure seems odd that my iBook SE running at 466 (with a 66 bus) and an 8MB Rage3mobile does just fine with DVD's and 10.2.4

Yet a top-o-the-line G4 with a 32MB GeForce can't handle it ????

Something is screwed up here !
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post #26 of 29
3/5/03 at 7:24pm
Aquatic [quote] 10.2.5 will kick ass! <hr></blockquote>

Did you hear something interesting on that phone call?
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post #27 of 29
3/5/03 at 7:27pm
Thread Starter 
No sorry to imply that!
"Overpopulation and climate change are serious shit." Gilsch
"I was really curious how they had managed such fine granularity of alienation." addabox
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"Overpopulation and climate change are serious shit." Gilsch
"I was really curious how they had managed such fine granularity of alienation." addabox
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post #28 of 29
3/5/03 at 7:29pm
Sad to ask, but what are these pageouts that you all refer to?
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post #29 of 29
3/5/03 at 9:36pm
[quote]Originally posted by Aquatic:
<strong>PhysMem: 62.7M wired, 248M active, 83.5M inactive, 395M used, 245M free
VM: 1.88G + 70.0M 19828(0) pageins, 4379(0) pageouts

I have over half a gig of RAM and look at all those pagein/outs. 10.2.4 is looking shady.

[ 03-05-2003: Message edited by: Aquatic ]</strong><hr></blockquote>

Those are page ins/outs to physical RAM, not the hard drive. Things will only start to slow down when your physical RAM is full and swapping to and from the HD occurs. However here it says that you have 245 MB of RAM free. Also notice the zeros in parentheses where it mentions the pageins and pageouts - the numbers in parentheses indicate how much swapping to and from the hard drive has occurred, as opposed to the number to the left of each "(0)" which refer to page ins/outs to physical RAM.
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