DOS ain't dead - MPLAYER poorformance (FloX's issue moved from other forum)

DOS386

13.08.2007, 06:52

MPLAYER poorformance (FloX's issue moved from other forum) (DOSX)

FloX wrote:

> juhu! Now it works? but bad things:
> * it is very slow
> * doesn?t support sound blaster live ;-)
> * doesn?t switch back to text mode
> So QV is still first choice?

I wrote:

> > slow
> Known issue :-( A native DOS player would be faster ?
> > doesn?t support sound blaster live
> Maybe with HX 2.20 or 3.0 ;-)
> > doesn?t switch back to text
> Works for me. Bugged VESA ?
> > QV is still first choice
> No OGG Theora :-(

Japheth wrote:

> > doesn?t support sound blaster live
> I also have a SB Live. Since this card is SB16 compatible, it works with mplayer.
> > Known issue :-( A native DOS player would be faster ?
> Yes, may be 1% faster. I doubt this will change the impression from "slow" to
> "wow, super fast". Things which REALLY fasten things: 1. use VESAMTRR, 2. don?t
> load the mouse driver (reading video memory is VERY slow), 3. don?t run
> mplayer fullscreen.

-------------------------------------------------------------

> Since this card is SB16 compatible, it works with mplayer

SB Live (PCI IIRC ? ) compatible (by hardware ? ) with SB16 (ISA ? ) ? I always considered this as a lie coming from "Creative" :no:

> may be 1% faster

Is the "loss" caused by OGL emulation via VESA that negligible ?

> 2. don?t load the mouse driver

Doesn't work ... no effect or up to cca 2% (!!!) speedup at best :no:

> 3. don?t run mplayer fullscreen.

Very big effect ... where (MP or HX ?) and how ( NN / linear / bilinear / Lancosz / ... ) is the scaling done ?

> 1. use VESAMTRR

Almost dummy :no: ... up to 5% speedup ...

From my recent tests MP wastes cca:

- 60% of the time in the scaling of "-fs"
- 30% in the codecs
- 10% by writing into LFB

So, very "easy" solution: don't use "-fs" or speed it up / port the/some codecs to ASM and optimize them "correctly" :lol3:

But there is still some mystery here :confused: ... transcoding to a less CPU hoggy codec does not help much either ... and nor reducing bpp ... maybe an odd timer bug ?

---
This is a LOGITECH mouse driver, but some software expect here
the following string:*** This is Copyright 1983 Microsoft ***

Rugxulo Usono, 13.08.2007, 13:34 @ DOS386	MPLAYER poorformance (FloX's issue moved from other forum) Post reply
	Dare I ask, what would it take to recompile Mplayer, and has anyone here ever tried (even old versions)?? I'm thinking it may be more realistic to do that than try to get a previous build working "fast". EDIT: BTW, there are drivers for SB Live! that let normal old DOS sound stuff work (but I haven't tested 'em yet).

DOS386

11.09.2007, 06:43

@ Rugxulo

[ testers needed ] MPLAYER poorformance | Timing BUG :-(

Post reply

> there are drivers for SB Live! that let normal old DOS sound stuff work

YES, reportedly, exactly as you wrote :-(

> Dare I ask, what would it take to recompile Mplayer

I'm not a GCC expert :-(

> and has anyone here ever tried (even old versions)??

If anyone tries, one should compile the 2007 May version, not "old" :-|

> I'm thinking it may be more realistic to do that than try to get a previous build working "fast".

Multithreading ? Linux VESA :confused: reusable in DOS ? Timing (it's the challenge/bug, see below) ? Sound (where one should push it: discard ? | ISA SB ? | PCI cards ( :clap: ) ? PC-speaker ? | Alex's driver ? ) ?

BTW, did some more tests and got very odd results:

- Slow as h*** is DOS

- Work perfectly in XP on "XP-machines" :-(

- In WinME/98, it is slow when video "window" is active and pretty fast otherwise/ !!!

I'm 99.9999% sure it's a timing / syncing BUG, and the main problem is NOT the CPU hogginess of the codecs, nor the OGL emulation via VESA, nor the mouse arrow :surprised:

Please test following:

- MPLAYER in XP on a slow PC (< 1 GHz)
- MPLAYER in ME/98 on a fast PC (> 2 GHz)

with the video "window" active and inactive/background :hungry:

---
This is a LOGITECH mouse driver, but some software expect here
the following string:*** This is Copyright 1983 Microsoft ***

DOS386

25.10.2007, 07:29

@ Rugxulo

MPLAYER compiler with D**PP ... but

Post reply

> Dare I ask, what would it take to recompile Mplayer

All the GCC/DGJPP annoyances plus x

> and has anyone here ever tried

YES: Michael Kostylev :clap: http://mik.mkw.ru/dos-stuff/

Minor problem: the VESA doesn't work (thus it's useless as-is :-( )

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This is a LOGITECH mouse driver, but some software expect here
the following string:*** This is Copyright 1983 Microsoft ***

Berlin, Germany,
25.10.2007, 10:39

@ DOS386

MPLAYER compiler with D**PP ... but

Post reply

> Minor problem: the VESA doesn't work (thus it's useless as-is :-( )

How did you test VESA? Michael Kostylev's port seems to support Allegro and Allegro supports VESA. What do you mean by "doesn't work"?

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Forum admin

Khusraw 25.10.2007, 14:43 @ DOS386	MPLAYER compiler with D**PP ... but Post reply
	> YES: Michael Kostylev http://mik.mkw.ru/dos-stuff/ > > Minor problem: the VESA doesn't work (thus it's useless as-is ) I tested Michael Kostylev's MPLAYER DOS port, and it works very well There is no VESA problem.

DOS386

26.10.2007, 08:39

@ Khusraw

MPLAYER compiler with D**PP ... but

Post reply

[image]

> How did you test VESA?

Just tried to play some movies ...

> Michael Kostylev's port seems to support Allegro and Allegro supports VESA

Indeed ... but the DOS support has been "not optimal" for years and it never worked well for me - OTOH some apps could at least setup the VESA and display some GUI ...

> What do you mean by "doesn't work"?

See shot. Many 100's lines of same hint, tries to setup VESA multiple times on some movies, but no success, on some movies, it switches to 25 lines mode at the end, on some not (remains in 50 lines text mode I had set before). It tries to set up an appropriate (?) mode for given movie resolution (or exactly this resolution ? Then 1. can't work ...). At 2. it cries about 640x480x16bpp - this mode works perfectly for me in RayeR's VESATEST ... Most VESA apps do work sufficiently well for me ... have VESA 2.0

> I tested Michael Kostylev's MPLAYER DOS port, and it works very well :-)
> There is no VESA problem.

Details please: What DOS ? Grafcard ? CPU ?

Does it play for you ? Fast ? Top-Left / Centered / Fullscreen ?

---
This is a LOGITECH mouse driver, but some software expect here
the following string:*** This is Copyright 1983 Microsoft ***

Berlin, Germany,
26.10.2007, 11:14

@ DOS386

MPLAYER compiler with D**PP ... but

Post reply

> Details please: What DOS ? Grafcard ? CPU ?

Same from you, please! Your screen shots always look like taken from an emulator.

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Forum admin

DOS386

28.10.2007, 02:49

@ rr

MPLAYER compiled ....... emulating shots

Post reply

> Your screen shots always look like taken from an emulator

Please point me to the evidence of emulator more precisely and precise emulator type :hungry:

Anyway:

- The shots above were made using SNARF on DOS
- I use emulators:
- - Only if there is a reason to do so (screenshooting, Error-200-bug, deb-bug-ging, get other "hardware", ...)
- - Only good emulators (BOCHS, QEMU) running DOS as-is (no hacked DOS/DPMI kernel)
- - Host OS is DOS :clap:

---
This is a LOGITECH mouse driver, but some software expect here
the following string:*** This is Copyright 1983 Microsoft ***

Berlin, Germany,
28.10.2007, 17:49

@ DOS386

MPLAYER compiled ....... emulating shots

Post reply

> > Your screen shots always look like taken from an emulator
>
> Please point me to the evidence of emulator more precisely and
> precise emulator type :hungry:

1) gray borders
2) screen height/font appearance

Of course, these are not evidences, but I just said "look like".

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Forum admin

DOS386

15.12.2007, 18:48

@ rr

MPLAYER compiled ....... emulating shots

Post reply

> 1) gray borders

While "modern" "windows" based stuff has much more fancy borders

> 2) screen height/font appearance

It's the standard 8x8 VGA font ... but it comes even worse: some of my other shots do expose your :-) FIX8x14 font :lol3:

---
This is a LOGITECH mouse driver, but some software expect here
the following string:*** This is Copyright 1983 Microsoft ***

Berlin, Germany,
15.12.2007, 21:18

@ DOS386

MPLAYER compiled ....... emulating shots

Post reply

> It's the standard 8x8 VGA font ... but it comes even worse: some of my
> other shots do expose your :-)
> FIX8x14 font
> :lol3:

"worse"? FIX8X14 is the best software around. :-P Second comes JEMM386. ;-)

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Forum admin

Laaca_ 26.10.2007, 16:47 @ DOS386	MPLAYER compiler with D**PP ... but Post reply
	I have exactly same problem. FreeDOS or MS-DOS 7.10 GeForce 4

Deniska

27.10.2007, 10:27

@ DOS386

MPLAYER compiler with D**PP ... but

Post reply

I have the same problem on 2 of my computers with the same error
message. I have a TNT2 GFX card, which is 100% VESA 3 compliant.
I've also noticed that it is possible to play most movies if
you redirect the output to null! Try:

mplayer movie.mpg > nul

The error message still appears, but only for a limited time.
After 5-10 sec the playback actually starts. Also, I can not
control the resolution which is set by the player. It seems
to depend on the actual resolution of the movie.

I have also placed the standard allegro configuration file
ALLEGRO.CFG in the BIN directory and configured it for my
system. Also, I found it interesting that MPLAYER prints a
portion of this file to the screen when it starts. Strange.