Not a smooth play when torrents are running

[Worez]

I have this long time problem: if I'm downloading torrents, every couple of minutes I get a 1-2 second involuntary pause of whatever is playing in Winamp. But the minute I close my torrents- the problem disappears


This issue was not existing on my previous Windows [XP SP3]. This issue came to be on a clean install of Windows 7. The hard drive stayed the same- and it is a 10 000 RPM SATA III drive, not used for the system. And also recently I have acquired an SSD, which is even faster- and it has the same problem. I also have the same sound card as when I was running on XP. I was also using the same version of BitTorrent on both systems; and recently tried out uTorrent, to see if the problem would disappear

Of course I've tried making a priority of Winamp higher [and lower] but it didn't help


I'm running Winamp Pro 5.666 on Windows 7 x64 and using Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro. This problem is persistent throughout my updates of my current Windows


[Unfortunately, this is probably a fault of Windows or of BitTorrent / uTorrent; and not a bug in a Winamp]

[Aminifu]

This is probably caused by the disk caching feature in your torrent app. In the uTorrent advanced options you can disable it's disk caching or modify how it works.

In Winamp you can select the option for storing an entire mp3 file in memory before playback starts. This will prevent the playback pausing of mp3s if it is caused by interrupts in reading the drive. Press the Ctrl and P keys to look in the Winamp Preferences - Plug-ins - Input section and select the Nullsoft MPEG Audio Decoder. Then click the Configure button at the bottom and switch to the General tab in the window that opens. Enter a value in the Full File Buffering section that is larger (in kilobytes) than the largest mp3 file you will be playing. I have not found a way to make Winamp buffer other file formats.

[Worez]

This is probably caused by the disk caching feature in your torrent app
[...]

Most likely

Enter a value in the Full File Buffering section that is larger (in kilobytes) than the largest mp3 file you will be playing.

I will try this out, but it will take time to test it. If the playback won't be smooth, then I will move up to torrents settings

I have not found a way to make Winamp buffer other file formats.

Wouldn't simply listing FLAC [WAV, WV, etc.] in the
Preferences > Plug-ins > Input > Nullsoft MPEG Audio Decoder > Configure > General > File Association
do the trick?

[Aminifu]

...

Wouldn't simply listing FLAC [WAV, WV, etc.] in the
Preferences > Plug-ins > Input > Nullsoft MPEG Audio Decoder > Configure > General > File Association
do the trick?

Interesting idea. I don't know what would happen. There are separate input decoders for those file formats, so that idea never came to mind. Maybe the MPEG audio decoder will buffer each file type and then pass the decoding on to the appropriate decoder. Maybe it will buffer and try to decode all the formats and succeed with some and fail with others. Maybe it will ignore all formats it can't handle and pass the processing on to the appropriate decoders (or not) and just buffer and decode the formats it can handle. Worst case, it may cause Winamp to hang or crash when trying to process formats it can't handle. If you try this idea, please post your results.

[Koopa]

Wouldn't simply listing FLAC [WAV, WV, etc.] in the
Preferences > Plug-ins > Input > Nullsoft MPEG Audio Decoder > Configure > General > File Association
do the trick?

Nope, that list is only for file associations which in_mp3 is able to play. The reason is that you can de-register e.g. mp3 files if you want to play these with an alternative plugin (e.g. in_mad) or if you want to play mp3 files with another player in general.

File buffering is only available, if the relevant decoder supports it.

[Worez]

[...]
In Winamp you can select the option for storing an entire mp3 file in memory before playback starts
[...]

Yes
Preferences > Plug-ins > Input > Nullsoft MPEG Audio Decoder > Configure > General > Full File Buffering
seems to do the trick

[...]
File buffering is only available, if the relevant decoder supports it.

I can confirm that now. So for FLACs there isn't a thing I can do?

Although I think that this problem is limited to MP3 format. Since I set that buffer for MP3 I did not get any pauses when listening to my music, which consists mostly of MP3s but also of FLACs [7.5%] and WV [1.3%]. But I can be wrong on [I may have not noticed pauses or had no torrent running in the background] that and only time will tell [more test in form of just listening to my music]


I have a question: why did I have to change buffer in Input and not in Output?

Previously I tried changing in
Options > Preferences > Plug-ins > Output > Nullsoft DirecSoud output v2.64 (d) > Configure > Buffering
all those values [from > too]
Buffer Lenght: 665 > 1305
Prebuffer on start / seek: 255 > 500
Buffer-ahead on track change: 255 > 500
but It did not help

[Also what did not help me was the change of Winamp's Priority Class from High to Realtime]

[Aminifu]

...

I have a question: why did I have to change buffer in Input and not in Output?
...

[Also what did not help me was the change of Winamp's Priority Class from High to Realtime]

That main output buffer must be filled (and kept full until the song is ending) before further output processing can continue. Increasing the size of the main output buffer when reading pieces of a file at a time could just make the problem worst, since it would take longer to fill the buffer at the start and may make it harder to kept the buffer full until the last part of the file is buffered.

Running Winamp with a realtime priority is not recommended. This could lead to other problems and would not help in this case if Winamp was given another slice of processing time while it was still waiting for results (i.e. data from the drive) from prior time slices. Best case, Winamp would just give the time back to the OS to distribute elsewhere, but I don't know if it is designed to do this. Maybe assigned processing time it can't use is just wasted.

Are you using a multi-core CPU? If you are and the problem returns, you could try using the Windows Task Manager to assign different cores to Winamp and the torrent app when you are running both at the same time. You can use a free utility like "HWiNFO" (http://www.hwinfo.com/) to see which cores are being used and how much they are being used to guide any reassignments. Without specific assignments, the OS may assign different cores each the apps are ran.

[Worez]

Yes
Preferences > Plug-ins > Input > Nullsoft MPEG Audio Decoder > Configure > General > Full File Buffering
seems to do the trick
[...]

No

Unfortunately when I started to download multiple new XX GB torrents, the problem has returned. It seems that when my uTorrent is downloading / uploading little, the problem doesn't manifest itself. But heavy duty work brings back the pauses

So it seems that if those settings have helped, they only did so to some extent

[...]
Are you using a multi-core CPU? If you are and the problem returns, you could try using the Windows Task Manager to assign different cores to Winamp and the torrent app when you are running both at the same time. You can use a free utility like "HWiNFO" (http://www.hwinfo.com/) to see which cores are being used and how much they are being used to guide any reassignments. Without specific assignments, the OS may assign different cores each the apps are ran.

Yes, I'm running on AMD APU A10-7850K 3.7 GHz with 4 cores

I've installed that HWiNFO, but I do see in it that information that you speak of

[Also in windows' Resource Monitor there is the CPU tab. It shows all of my CPUs all together and 4 of my cores independently; but doesn't specify what process is assigned to which core. And that's kind of disappointing, because Resource Monitor is able to show what exact file is accessed on which drive by what software / process]

But in Window Task Manager I see that I have to just "Set Affinity", from the right click menu, so that I can choose specific core for a process. Unfortunately: a simple closing of Winamp and restarting it, resets my choice to the default [which is all cores]; so also after a system reset it would go to a default. And as such, even if choosing a proper core would be the solution, it would be a drag to do this every single time


I'm spending on this issue so much time, while in future it will probably "disappear" by itself. Because the broader bandwidth I will get, the sooner things like torrents will be completed by my hardware. And I can always just turn off uTorrent or whatever is destroying my experience of listening to music. But unfortunately that is no always possible

[Worez]

I confirm my statement: torrents are the problem

I used BitTorrent till recently but now I use uTorrent and the problem persists; and disappears when torrents are either completely turned off or when running on very low values [like 3-5 torrent with 5-10 kilos]

And it seems that that the same problem manifests itself in BS.Player PRO 2.70, when watching movies- when torrents are active they can stop the video for a second or two. But what's interesting the audio then is played without a pause. It is only the video that gets chopped



So it is a problem of my system [Windows 7 x64] or torrent software and not a problem of Winamp [or Winamp has the same bug as BS.Player]

[Worez]

[...]
So it is a problem of my system [Windows 7 x64] or torrent software and not a problem of Winamp [or Winamp has the same bug as BS.Player]

I can now atest to that more than ever: downloading over a 100 torrents worth of ~500 GB makes my hardware and / or software choke so much, that it is sometimes unbearable to the point of resetting the system

And for example VLC Media Player gets it even more in the butt than the BS.Player [or Winamp], because for a moment it can display the video as if it was a case of a corrupted file

[Worez]

And as an epilogue to this problem



Recently I have been experiencing system slow downs, degrading in time to a point beyond response, because of even bigger user induced workload o torrents

An so I went to the uTorrent forum: https://forum.utorrent.com/topic/103...yond-response/



In that thread user IRainman have provided a working solution in form of adding this change to the registry

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\utorrent.exe]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\utorrent.exe\PerfOptions]
"PagePriority"=dword:00000001

[Unfortunately, developers there do not tolerate users pointing serious flows in their software and do not appreciate ready to use simple solutions; as the answer given by IRainman was simply deleted]


With that small registry adjustment, my Winamp has stopped having that involuntary pause problem. The trade off however is, that now on occasion I will get a total freeze up off Windows, lasting for as long as even 5-7 seconds. [Of course I can simply turn of uTorrent or load up to it only few torrents instead of a ~150]

[Alrock]

You didn't mention (on a quick skim of thread) which version of uTorrent you are using...

If you're using the latest version (or recent) have you tried downgrading to v2.2.1?
That is the version recommended by most private trackers as that is the last stable version before they started filling it full of bloatware.

[Worez]

You didn't mention (on a quick skim of thread) which version of uTorrent you are using...

If you're using the latest version (or recent) have you tried downgrading to v2.2.1?
That is the version recommended by most private trackers as that is the last stable version before they started filling it full of bloatware.

Mine is 3.4.7

I newer thought about going back to some older version


And I think I went up in the first place, because I started to have some problems; don't remember really

[Aminifu]

Hi Worez,

Happy Holidays!

At the end of this post are links to articles about 2 apps that may be able to help with your Winamp response issues when using uTorrent at the same time. They both try to prevent Windows from letting active resource hungry apps use a level of resources that hinders the performance of other running apps. Download links for these apps are provided in the articles. "Project Mercy" is provided in a free version that nags you for a donation if you change any of it's default options. It's donor version is nag free and you decide the amount you want to donate. "CPUBalance" is currently available for $9.95, but you can try it free for a limited time.

http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/21/project-mercury-improve-responsiveness-in-heavy-load-situations/

http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/24/cpubalance/

[Worez]

Hi Worez,
[...]
At the end of this post are links to articles about 2 apps that may be able to help with your Winamp response issues when using uTorrent at the same time
[...]

http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/21/project-mercury-improve-responsiveness-in-heavy-load-situations/

http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/24/cpubalance/

Thanks for the info


I tried both. Unfortunately they have sooo much options which tell me little to none. I tried a little tempering with them, mostly no really knowing what I am doing- and as expected to no success

And that problem of mine has grow bigger over the months- now whole my system can freeze up even for 10 seconds. But at least now the graph in Process Lasso clearly how me that those freezes are caused when "responsiveness" is overwhelmed by "processor use"