Hi all,
I notice the HDD r/w like crazy when watching LiveTV using MCE. I assume it
is buffering up tv for timeshifting? is there anyway I can stop it? I am not
a heavy TV user, I don't need timeshifting. also the SATA HDD i/o appears to
saturate PCI bus and cause the TV to stutter (I have a PCI DVB TV card).

Thanks

This question has been asked many times in the past, including by
myself, and the answer appears to be that there is no way to stop it.
I was even investigating trying to buffer to a RAM Disk as I have
1024MB installed and figured I could easily set aside 512MB as a
buffer. But no joy.

But, thinking about it, I'm really not sure it's that big a deal. Can
you imagine the traumas that server disks must go through, for web
streaming, or to support hundreds of office workers? I'm not sure
there is much reason to worry on a single user system.

Anyway, my approach to this is to have a two disk setup. I have a
400GB drive for my OS and programs (20GB partition) and the rest of
the disk is used for data that doesn't get altered much, or thrash the
disk heads, like music, photos, videos and archived TV recordings.

My second disk (250GB) is dedicated solely to TV recording (and
buffering). I hope it will last a few years but if it does go tits up
it won't cost much to replace and it won't take everything else with
it.

This approach also means that my "TV" disk can concentrate on doing TV
stuff while I am watching or listening to something else and doesn't
lead the heads on a merry dance while doing it.

Finally, I have my disks set to spin down when not in use so most of
the time there is only one or even no disks running at all. This helps
keep the system cooler, quieter and cheaper to run.

I'm not sure about your stuttering problem, though. My system never
skips a beat. I did have problems in the early days with a dodgy mpeg
decoder but that was all remedied when I installed the nVidia decoder.
The system has been perfect ever since (roughly 10 months or more).

On Fri, 4 Nov 2005 13:15:48 +1000, "Fred" <g0m04 at yahoo.com.au>
wrote:

>Hi all,
>I notice the HDD r/w like crazy when watching LiveTV using MCE. I assume it
>is buffering up tv for timeshifting? is there anyway I can stop it? I am not
>a heavy TV user, I don't need timeshifting. also the SATA HDD i/o appears to
>saturate PCI bus and cause the TV to stutter (I have a PCI DVB TV card).
>
>Thanks
>

--
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I agree, if i have a dedicate HDD just for TV, this wouldn't be much of a
problem. but I only got one HDD, and doesn't sound worth it to get another
HDD just for TV as I am not a heavy TV viewer.

ah well.. guess back to the TV program that came with the card till VISTA
MCE starts..


"Tiny Tim" <_tim_dodd@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:l71mm1p42mv05hcq2ffnn7qoq7t071437r@4ax.com...
> This question has been asked many times in the past, including by
> myself, and the answer appears to be that there is no way to stop it.
> I was even investigating trying to buffer to a RAM Disk as I have
> 1024MB installed and figured I could easily set aside 512MB as a
> buffer. But no joy.
>
> But, thinking about it, I'm really not sure it's that big a deal. Can
> you imagine the traumas that server disks must go through, for web
> streaming, or to support hundreds of office workers? I'm not sure
> there is much reason to worry on a single user system.
>
> Anyway, my approach to this is to have a two disk setup. I have a
> 400GB drive for my OS and programs (20GB partition) and the rest of
> the disk is used for data that doesn't get altered much, or thrash the
> disk heads, like music, photos, videos and archived TV recordings.
>
> My second disk (250GB) is dedicated solely to TV recording (and
> buffering). I hope it will last a few years but if it does go tits up
> it won't cost much to replace and it won't take everything else with
> it.
>
> This approach also means that my "TV" disk can concentrate on doing TV
> stuff while I am watching or listening to something else and doesn't
> lead the heads on a merry dance while doing it.
>
> Finally, I have my disks set to spin down when not in use so most of
> the time there is only one or even no disks running at all. This helps
> keep the system cooler, quieter and cheaper to run.
>
> I'm not sure about your stuttering problem, though. My system never
> skips a beat. I did have problems in the early days with a dodgy mpeg
> decoder but that was all remedied when I installed the nVidia decoder.
> The system has been perfect ever since (roughly 10 months or more).
>
> On Fri, 4 Nov 2005 13:15:48 +1000, "Fred" <g0m04 at yahoo.com.au>
> wrote:
>
>>Hi all,
>>I notice the HDD r/w like crazy when watching LiveTV using MCE. I assume
>>it
>>is buffering up tv for timeshifting? is there anyway I can stop it? I am
>>not
>>a heavy TV user, I don't need timeshifting. also the SATA HDD i/o appears
>>to
>>saturate PCI bus and cause the TV to stutter (I have a PCI DVB TV card).
>>
>>Thanks
>>
>
> --
> To save on your shopping click here - http://www.rpoints.com/?ruid=44653
> To sign up with PlusNet click here - http://tinyurl.com/b9wqs

Writing the time shift buffer may not be the cause of your stuttering. Try
pausing LiveTV and starting it again so what you are watching is out of the
buffer instead of coming at the time you write the buffer. Another test is
tosee if you have any stuttering playing a recorded program.
If the time shift buffer writing still appears to be a problem check to be
sure Write Caching is enabled on your disk drive.

"Fred" <g0m04 at yahhoo.com dot au> wrote in message
news:u7nUwaT4FHA.3684@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>I agree, if i have a dedicate HDD just for TV, this wouldn't be much of a
>problem. but I only got one HDD, and doesn't sound worth it to get another
>HDD just for TV as I am not a heavy TV viewer.
>
> ah well.. guess back to the TV program that came with the card till VISTA
> MCE starts..
>
>
> "Tiny Tim" <_tim_dodd@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:l71mm1p42mv05hcq2ffnn7qoq7t071437r@4ax.com...
>> This question has been asked many times in the past, including by
>> myself, and the answer appears to be that there is no way to stop it.
>> I was even investigating trying to buffer to a RAM Disk as I have
>> 1024MB installed and figured I could easily set aside 512MB as a
>> buffer. But no joy.
>>
>> But, thinking about it, I'm really not sure it's that big a deal. Can
>> you imagine the traumas that server disks must go through, for web
>> streaming, or to support hundreds of office workers? I'm not sure
>> there is much reason to worry on a single user system.
>>
>> Anyway, my approach to this is to have a two disk setup. I have a
>> 400GB drive for my OS and programs (20GB partition) and the rest of
>> the disk is used for data that doesn't get altered much, or thrash the
>> disk heads, like music, photos, videos and archived TV recordings.
>>
>> My second disk (250GB) is dedicated solely to TV recording (and
>> buffering). I hope it will last a few years but if it does go tits up
>> it won't cost much to replace and it won't take everything else with
>> it.
>>
>> This approach also means that my "TV" disk can concentrate on doing TV
>> stuff while I am watching or listening to something else and doesn't
>> lead the heads on a merry dance while doing it.
>>
>> Finally, I have my disks set to spin down when not in use so most of
>> the time there is only one or even no disks running at all. This helps
>> keep the system cooler, quieter and cheaper to run.
>>
>> I'm not sure about your stuttering problem, though. My system never
>> skips a beat. I did have problems in the early days with a dodgy mpeg
>> decoder but that was all remedied when I installed the nVidia decoder.
>> The system has been perfect ever since (roughly 10 months or more).
>>
>> On Fri, 4 Nov 2005 13:15:48 +1000, "Fred" <g0m04 at yahoo.com.au>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>Hi all,
>>>I notice the HDD r/w like crazy when watching LiveTV using MCE. I assume
>>>it
>>>is buffering up tv for timeshifting? is there anyway I can stop it? I am
>>>not
>>>a heavy TV user, I don't need timeshifting. also the SATA HDD i/o appears
>>>to
>>>saturate PCI bus and cause the TV to stutter (I have a PCI DVB TV card).
>>>
>>>Thanks
>>>
>>
>> --
>> To save on your shopping click here - http://www.rpoints.com/?ruid=44653
>> To sign up with PlusNet click here - http://tinyurl.com/b9wqs
>
>