HP Mini 2133 - 'choppy' video and sound.....

[never_stop_learning]

The HP Mini 2133 (Via processor) I've been using as a test netbook has 'choppy' video and sound on 'you tube' various news sites, etc.....

I upgraded the RAM from 512 to 1gb with no improvement.

Running VL 6.0 Light. Everything else works great.

Video works perfectly on my personal HP Mini (Intel ATOM - VL 6.0 Standard) over the same Internet connection.

Is there this much of a performance difference between the Via and Intel processors?

[nightflier]

The differences in CPU power is one factor, but my guess is that the VIA video driver is the main issue here.
You probably have Intel video in your Atom powered netbook.

Light 6.0 comes with openchrome version 0.9.203.
There is a newer version here: http://www.openchrome.org/releases
You would have to build it yourself unless you can find a binary package somewhere.
http://www.openchrome.org/trac/wiki/Installation

I understand that the quality of the driver is still way behind the Intel offering, though.

[never_stop_learning]

The differences in CPU power is one factor, but my guess is that the VIA video driver is the main issue here.
You probably have Intel video in your Atom powered netbook.

Light 6.0 comes with openchrome version 0.9.203.
There is a newer version here: http://www.openchrome.org/releases
You would have to build it yourself unless you can find a binary package somewhere.
http://www.openchrome.org/trac/wiki/Installation

I understand that the quality of the driver is still way behind the Intel offering, though.

Your assumption is correct - my personal Mini has Intel graphics.....

I am always up for a good challenge and will try to build the newer openchrome driver.....

[never_stop_learning]

Well, I keep getting the following error:

root:# tar xvzf xf86-video-openchrome-0.2.904.tar.gz
tar: This does not look like a tar archive
tar: Skipping to next header
tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors

Tried re-downloading the package - no change.

I do not have kernel-src installed on the 2133 due to HD (4gb) space limitations. Is this an issue?

Other than choppy video, this is such a cool little netbook and Vector 6.0 Light works absolutely great.

I know that there are others who are using the 2133 with Vector. Are you experiencing the same choppy video issue? How did you solve it? Or is this just a limitation?

Google has numerous references to this issue for numerous distros so I know it's not just a Vector issue but there don't seem to be any solutions, either.

[Daniel]

Well, I keep getting the following error:

root:# tar xvzf xf86-video-openchrome-0.2.904.tar.gz
tar: This does not look like a tar archive
tar: Skipping to next header
tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors

Try using just tar -xf instead of tar xvzf

[never_stop_learning]

Thank you, Daniel.....Unfortunately, I get exactly the same error.

[newt]

What does: file xf86-video-openchrome-0.2.904.tar.gz
indicate is the type of file?

Have you tried uncompressing it first, just to see (gunzip xf86-video-openchrome-0.2.904.tar.gz)?

Otherwise, yeah, it sounds like a bad/corrupt download. Maybe try one more time.

Edit:
I was able to extract the contents by first gunzipping and then untaring the package.
gunzip xf86-video-openchrome-0.2.904.tar.gz
tar -xvvf xf86-video-openchrome-0.2.904.tar

[never_stop_learning]

Thank you, newt.....that was the step I was missing.....!

Now to run 'vxconf' and see what happens.....

[never_stop_learning]

Thank you, newt.....that was the step I was missing.....!

Now to run 'vxconf' and see what happens.....

Installed the updated driver.....ran 'vxconf'.......looks like some improvement but the video is still choppy and the audio still cuts out.....

Regular audio (Shoutcast, etc.) sounds great.....it's just the audio associated with video that cuts out.

I read somewhere that CPU scaling may be an issue? I went through the BIOS options and I did not see anything pertaining to power settings or CPU scaling.....

One thing that I did notice is that APM states 'OK' instead of 'failed' when booting up. Added 'acpi=force' to LILO - no change.....

Can anyone think of something that I have missed?

[newt]

You mention CPU scaling: I wonder if cpufreqd (check the menu for something similar) is affecting the performance (i.e. software cpu scaling)?

Is it just video/audio via the browser that has problems? In other words, if you play a video file using VLC does it have the same performance problem?

[never_stop_learning]

According to Gslapt, vcpufreq is not installed. Can vcpufreq be used to maximize processor performance?

So far, just Internet video. I'll hook up a DVD player and try it that way.....

[never_stop_learning]

According to Gslapt, vcpufreq is not installed. Can vcpufreq be used to maximize processor performance?

So far, just Internet video. I'll hook up a DVD player and try it that way.....

Hooked up an external DVD player - works PERFECTLY.......!

Thank you for suggesting that I check 'local' versus Internet playback.....It appears that the issue is Internet video only.....

I only have Firefox installed on this machine (again, due to very limited HD capacity) but will install Opera and see if there is any difference.

[never_stop_learning]

Installed Opera 10.10 from 'testing'...... Internet video is better (and the audio actually plays) but still not usable.

Are there any browser add-ons, etc that will help?

[newt]

Just kind of thinking out loud here: Most internet video nowadays is provided via a flash player.  I wonder if upgrading flash would help.  Try upgrading flash and see if the video playback is any better in firefox. To get the latest flash working in Opera (after you've installed it of course), you can follow my command usage in #1 from the following link:
http://forum.vectorlinux.com/index.php?topic=10845.msg68893#msg68893

Edit: These are the commands to get the latest flash working in Opera (requires root access):

Code:

ln -s /usr/lib/seamonkey/libnss3.so libnss3.so
ln -s /usr/lib/seamonkey/libssl3.so libssl3.so
ln -s /usr/lib/seamonkey/libnspr4.so libnspr4.so
ln -s /usr/lib/seamonkey/libsmime3.so libsmime3.so
ln -s /usr/lib/seamonkey/libplds4.so libplds4.so
ln -s /usr/lib/seamonkey/libplc4.so libplc4.so
ln -s /usr/lib/seamonkey/libnssutil3.so libnssutil3.so

[never_stop_learning]

We are getting much closer....... I followed your instructions to get the latest Flash working in Opera - made a definite improvement.....but still not there.

I wonder if bumping the RAM from 1g to 2g would help?

Thank you, newt, Daniel and nightflier.....this has been a great learning experience and I am confident that we will get this solved.