Memory Usage - xbox

[Cranial]

Been doing some playing comparing the memory usage of Horizonz vs. MediaStream on the xbox.

While cycling through movies in 'info' mode, I've found that Horizonz and MediaStream have similiar memory usage.

Focused on movie, fanart showing and info: 11500-13000 freemem.

But I did discover that with this little freemem MediaStream will happily play the selected movie, whereas Horizonz will hang the xbox. (get the please wait, or codec info dialogue at bottom of screen then a freeze).

Going by this it appears not so much the memory usage of Horizonz while scrolling the library, but more a problem with the way the skin unloads? on video playback.

Anyone with ideas on what this might be? I have no skinning experience, so can't begin to guess how this function is done.

[Livin]

there could be a few things...

have you set the skin to work in XBOX mode (under settings\AEON, I think)?

do you have high-res backdrops loading?

is XBMC your dash?

[Cranial]

Originally Posted by Livin

there could be a few things...

have you set the skin to work in XBOX mode (under settings\AEON, I think)?

Yes, always have this set.

do you have high-res backdrops loading?

All backdrops resized to 960x540 BMP.

is XBMC your dash?

Yep.

But this isn't really about getting my xbox to work without memory issues. It's more about what Horizonz is doing differently than other skins when a video is selected. You know, the transition period. I've noticed that you can have the same amount of FreeMem available in MediaStream and Horizonz, MediaStream will play the video, and Horizonz won't. Just trying to figure out why.

[xb2iris]

Originally Posted by Cranial

Yes, always have this set.


All backdrops resized to 960x540 BMP.


Yep.

But this isn't really about getting my xbox to work without memory issues. It's more about what Horizonz is doing differently than other skins when a video is selected. You know, the transition period. I've noticed that you can have the same amount of FreeMem available in MediaStream and Horizonz, MediaStream will play the video, and Horizonz won't. Just trying to figure out why.

no idea... worked on xboxes i tried it on back in the day... but i don't know... if ur not getting to where u want to go... disable the backdrop cycling... i put that in there for xbox people having trouble... too much bling can do that...

[Cranial]

Originally Posted by xb2iris

no idea... worked on xboxes i tried it on back in the day... but i don't know... if ur not getting to where u want to go... disable the backdrop cycling... i put that in there for xbox people having trouble... too much bling can do that...

I'm thinking it's the original slow drive causing it.

But I'm not too worried about it, was just wondering what was different.

[minipierre]

I've noticed the same problems with launcing videos from Aeon and Horizonz. Thanks to Cranial for helping me identify the source of the problem

"I'm thinking it's the original slow drive causing it." - I'm running a 500GB WD drive with a faster IDE cable installed - not sure it will be the drive speed that's affecting things, but I could be wrong.

I can launch all of my videos now from the Showcase View but need to disable backdrop cycling, which if fine (thanks for this option xb2iris) but I was just wondering if there was a way to change the default Horizonz background you are presented with? - the black and white Horizonz image. I know that you can change the background image/folder using the Aeon menu, but I want to keep the backdrop cycling in the Home menu as this doesn't affect performance or my ability to launch movies. Am I missing something obvious?!

Thanks in advance.

[Cranial]

Originally Posted by minipierre

I've noticed the same problems with launcing videos from Aeon and Horizonz. Thanks to Cranial for helping me identify the source of the problem

"I'm thinking it's the original slow drive causing it." - I'm running a 500GB WD drive with a faster IDE cable installed - not sure it will be the drive speed that's affecting things, but I could be wrong.

I can launch all of my videos now from the Showcase View but need to disable backdrop cycling, which if fine (thanks for this option xb2iris) but I was just wondering if there was a way to change the default Horizonz background you are presented with? - the black and white Horizonz image. I know that you can change the background image/folder using the Aeon menu, but I want to keep the backdrop cycling in the Home menu as this doesn't affect performance or my ability to launch movies. Am I missing something obvious?!

Thanks in advance.

To do this you'll need to unpack Textures.xpr file in Horizonz and change the background in there. Not sure how though, never bothered looking. Next release will be different anyway

[paul]

To unpack the textures.xpr search for xprexpress it's what i use

[minipierre]

Thanks for the pointers guys, I'll play around with the textures and hopefully this will resolve my problems.

The support I've recieved from the XBMC community has been invaluable!

[skunkm0nkee]

Another thing to consider is how much memory the skin uses when a video is playing (ie what memory usage is required for the OSD etc).

If you are right and both skins have similar memory usage when finding the media then it could just be that Horizonz uses slightly more for OSD displays.

Ah the fun of trying to get skins to run on the xbox