Flash player

[Sotha]

Hey, does anyone else here have choppy flash performance?

 

All flash-related run a few seconds, then pauses, then continues. In other words flash does not run smoothly, but it is really choppy. Like slideshow choppy.

 

This is *not* related to bandwith, it is just playback of a flash video which has already been buffered.

 

On the same computer, linux side, everything runs perfectly (as always).

 

I've tried uninstalling and installing flash several times, but no dice.

 

Perplexing. Tried googling, no solutions. Does anyone here have this problem?

[PranQster]

All I can think of is that something in Winderz is using resources needed by flash. Try killing unneeded processes and stopping non-essential services. Clean all temp files under the user's Docs&Settings/username/LocalSettings/Temp*/ directories (or /users/usernameAppData/Local/Temp*/). Also try cleaning out /Windows/Temp/ as well.

If worse comes to worse, try running a script like the following in Linux (after adjusting the mount path to the Windows partition):

(the line saying 'Windows/Cookies/*' continues from the previous line.)

 

#!/bin/bash
rm -rf /media/disk/Documents\ and\ Settings/*/Local\ Settings/Temp*/*
rm -rf /media/disk/Documents\ and\ Settings/*/Cookies/*
rm -rf /media/disk/Users/*/AppData/Local/Temp*/*
rm -rf /media/disk/Users/*/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Windows/Cookies/*
rm -rf /media/disk/System\ Volume\ Information/_restore*
rm -rf /media/disk/pagefile.sys
rm -rf /media/disk/PAGEFILE.SYS
rm -rf /media/disk/hiberfil.sys
rm -rf /media/disk/HIBERFIL.SYS
rm -rf /media/disk/Windows/Temp/*
rm -rf /media/disk/Windows/Prefetch/*
rm -rf /media/disk/Windows/\$*
rm -rf /media/disk/WINDOWS/Temp/*
rm -rf /media/disk/WINDOWS/Prefetch/*
rm -rf /media/disk/WINDOWS/\$*
rm -rf /media/disk/RECYCLER/*

Edited September 14, 2010 by PranQster

[PranQster]

If the hard drive has a custom volume name, you can use the following script, run in a terminal, to define the volume name:

 

 

#!/bin/bash
echo "Enter the Windows drive name to follow /media/";
echo "For example, if the drive mounts as /media/disk1/ then enter 'disk1'";
echo "To cancel, simply press [Enter]";
while read inputline
do
n="$inputline"
if [ -z "${n}" ];
then
exit
fi
rm -rf /media/${n}/Documents\ and\ Settings/*/Local\ Settings/Temp*/*
rm -rf /media/${n}/Documents\ and\ Settings/*/Cookies/*
rm -rf /media/${n}/Users/*/AppData/Local/Temp*/*
rm -rf /media/${n}/Users/*/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Windows/Cookies/*
rm -rf /media/${n}/System\ Volume\ Information/_restore*
rm -rf /media/${n}/pagefile.sys
rm -rf /media/${n}/PAGEFILE.SYS
rm -rf /media/${n}/hiberfil.sys
rm -rf /media/${n}/HIBERFIL.SYS
rm -rf /media/${n}/Windows/Temp/*
rm -rf /media/${n}/Windows/Prefetch/*
rm -rf /media/${n}/Windows/\$*
rm -rf /media/${n}/WINDOWS/Temp/*
rm -rf /media/${n}/WINDOWS/Prefetch/*
rm -rf /media/${n}/WINDOWS/\$*
rm -rf /media/${n}/RECYCLER/*
exit
done

 

[aidakeeley]

Could also be the codec embedded within the flash. Might be a monster.

[Sotha]

Ha! I just figured out what was the problem!

 

I'm using ASUS P5Q motherboard, with which comes a piece of software called EPU-6 engine. The program is supposed to reduce power consumption by changing the computers clock frequency as required. More power when performance is needed and under-clocking the cpu when the computer is idle.

 

A beautiful idea, yes, but the program is pure piece of sh... For example, if I tried to set it to auto, where it should automatically save power when comp is idle, it would cause random crashes. Not good. So after these tests, I've simply kept it at performance setting, so it should keep everything at normal levels at all time. Somehow it still managed to fuck up flash video playing.

 

I simply went to bios, and now the epu engine THINKS the computer is overclocked and thus disables its "features." Meanwhile the computer is not overclocked, but simply works at normal leves.

 

Everything worked in Linux, because this epu engine was not running there and causing instability.

Everything works now nice and smooth in windows too. I think the epu engine was installed among the normal motherboard driver installation. What's the point of making such software if they're so crappy? How to avoid this kind of troublemaking shitware in the future?

[PranQster]

I think the epu engine was installed among the normal motherboard driver installation. What's the point of making such software if they're so crappy? How to avoid this kind of troublemaking shitware in the future?

If you are the one doing the driver installation in Windows after getting a new motherboard, then try to do the installations manually in device manager instead of running the install program from the CD (if possible). Select the device which needs the driver (often the firmware/system bus, network device, and on-board audio, etc.) and choose to update/install it, then do a browse on the CD for the appropriate .inf file for installing the device. That way you get the drivers all installed, but not the crappy utilities.

Edited October 10, 2010 by PranQster