How to Make 2011.06 FM Faster?

[buckeye]

Any suggestions for improving the speed performance of a Full Monty system?  I'm not opposed to removing eye candy to get better throughput.  I'm running on a mid-range dual core with 4GB and an OK GPU.  For normal desktop use the system is fine, but when I'm running a graphing app that streams data off the internet (eTrade), and then try to watch MSNBC live streamed with flash, the flash video is jerky and the audio is out of sync.  When I reboot the same system in XP, the video is very smooth and the graphic updates are nice and quick.

I have another system that's similar, but runs an older PCLOS system (2009), and it does not  have any speed problems with these apps.

Is there anything I can remove or update that will improve my FM system's performance?

thanks in advance.

[pinoc]

I don't think you can improve the FM-performance. However, what you report is more likely a generic flash-related problem, is your system fully updated? Else you can try to install, or first test a live-session of, a lightweight PCLinuxOS-version, such as the latest LXDE, and see if that will improve the situation.
-p.

[buckeye]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, my system is fully updated.  I read in this forum that the line

EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode=1

in file mms.cfg might improve flash performance.  I will try that after the day is done and will let you know if that helps.

Has anyone compared CPU load for flash in an LXDE system compared to FM on an identical system?  You would probably have to add the browser CPU load to that of X to get an approximate total.

I'm so used to KDE that I would like to avoid switching to something else if possible.  I've read some people are running KDE 3 with 2011.06.  Is that a reasonable alternative?

[menotu]

I've read some people are running KDE 3 with 2011.06.  Is that a reasonable alternative?

Interesting!

[buckeye]

Maybe not. I searched for those posts and I think mainly it was people whining about KDE4.  I like KDE4 just fine.  I'm just trying to figure out the jerkiness and audio sync problem in flash.  Don't know if it's KDE4 related but seems the box is plenty fast enough to play a flash stream.

[buckeye]

I tried using stage video as discussed here:

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,88505.0.html

This did not improve flash performance.  Speed is the same, and it causes problems.  After watching the CNBC stream, if I try to watch another flash video as on youtube, then X goes haywire.  It doesn't play any more flash videos and responds erratically to the mouse.  The screen flashes occasionally.  My video card is an nVidia 8400 GS and is supposed to work with stage video.

OK, now a little more about my flash problem.  The jerkiness and audio sync problem seems to be unique to CNBC.  I tried other videos and they're fine.  Youtube is great as are CNBC videos played from their own website.  Live streams from other websites are also pretty good.  I found one that is resource heavy here:

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,88505.0.html

There's a news ticker on the bottom that shows a little jerkiness, but nowhere as bad as what I'm seeing on CNBC.  The audio sync is fine here as well.  My system activity shows the following resource usage:

X 35%
plugin 9%
firefox 9%
kwin 4%

Total is around 57%


What's different about the CNBC stream I'm having problems with is that it was started by a java application.  The etrade.com java app has a link that pops up a small firefox window just big enough to hold the flash player which plays the live stream.  I don't know if the bit rate is different from world news.  Can't figure out how to display that.  The CPU usage for CNBC is:

plugin 32%
X 32%
firefox 1%
kwin 1%

for a total of 66%.  Not a whole lot different but the video is not as smooth. The audio sounds fine, but it's playing a little ahead of the video.

Anyone know if there's a way to tweak the system to improve it a bit?

[Dragynn]

Some known issues with the Nvidia 8400's and linux, I don't have one myself, but if you do a search here on the forum on the 8400 there are several threads that may be helpful, and more on the internet.

[buckeye]

Thanks for the suggestion. I researched the nVidia 8400 both here and on the wider web but didn't find much specific to my system.  Most of the performance problems were related to the mobile version 8400M.  That's not my GPU. The rest of the problems involved the system not working.  Many older posts when stable drivers were not yet available. I am happy to report that the current PCLOS drivers are quite stable.  I think I've hit the performance limit of my computer.  It's a dual core Intel E2220 with 4 Gig.  The compositor effects work great, the response is very snappy and I don't have any complaints overall.

I tried the LXDE PCLOS and it didn't improve flash performance for the CNBC stream.  On top of that, after one day with the Full Monte KDE, working with LXDE made me feel like I moved to the desert.  Not my cup of tea.

So I have a problem with only one stream.  Everything else I tried works great.  I was wondering if anyone else has an etrade account and if they see the same issue with CNBC live?  Turns out there is a direct link to the stream on the main accounts page.  It's on the right side of the screen towards the bottom.

After a close inspection of that stream on my 2009 system, I'm not so sure it's a whole lot better than the 2011 PCLOS.  The older system has a dual core Intel 6320 which is faster than the E2220.  The GPU is a GeForce 7500LE which is probably a little slower than the 8400GS.  The audio is in perfect sync, but the video also jitters.  The jitter is different.  On the old system the jitter is occasional but a larger frame loss when it happens.  On the new system the jitter is constant, but the frame loss is very small.  It's almost like the new linux gives the flash system smaller time slices.  I think the constant jitter is a bit more annoying to the eye.

So I'm thinking I should mark this thread solved and graciously accept what I got.