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2.0.19 Probs: Chat, PM, Resource Hogging, CW Keyboard, Progressive Degradation
2010-01-28 22:21 |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 64 |
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Kelly,
I've been having more and more problems with 2.0.19. I'll try to sum them up, but the problems are hard to define since the symptoms seem to be dynamic. First of all, the CW keyboard is still broken. Same problems as always, except that things start out well, but rapidly degrade to the same ol' : you can't queue text, entering a line of text while the current line is being transmitted kills the transmission, occasionally entering a line of text that isn't sent at all and, weirdest one of all, I've observed text entered long ago, but wasn't sent, popping up out of the blue and begins sending. Bottom line: not ready for prime-time ragchewing. Resource hogging: It seems that, without rhyme nor reason, Hamsphere seems to tie up all my machine's resouces. By tie up, I mean that the machine comes to a standstill such that my mouse isn't responsive, and the Hamsphere UI locks up. Given enough time, it seems to start to release resources a bit at a time, but the only way to get control of the machine is a cold boot. Not of Hamsphere - of the whole computer. The times it takes to reach this stage vary widely, and I haven't been able to pin the problem down to any specific user actions. Sometimes Hamsphere will run for hours on end with no problems, sometimes my machine will go to 100% usage on both processors within minutes after firing up Hamsphere. PM and Chat: PM and Chat text into the Chat box is transmitted sporadically. About as often as not, Hamsphere just ignores PMs and Chat text I enter into the Chat window. No discernible pattern, but the occurrence is frequent enough to be really, really irritating. I know the answer is probably 'no,' but might it be possible to drop back to 2.0.17 or so? I don't think '19 is the answer. Tom |
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Re: 2.0.19 Probs: Chat, PM, Resource Hogging, CW Keyboard, Progressive Degradation
2010-01-28 22:23 |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 64 |
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More on the keyboard -- forgot to mention it in my previous.
When you do have text queued and the other station breaks in, tapping the PTT button doesn't clear all text out of the queue and stop your transmission. All in all, the CW keyboard is still too flaky for practical ragchewing, or actually, even for casual use. |
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Re: 2.0.19 Probs: Chat, PM, Resource Hogging, CW Keyboard, Progressive Degradation
2010-01-29 19:41 |
Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 34 |
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I've did not monitored resource use, so I do not know if this the same issue, but I've noticed sometime a strange delay in operations. Sometime, not so often, I click a band button, I get the beep feedback, but nothing happens for a few seconds. Then, the band is switched and the audio flows fluently. But if I change band or frequency, I have the same delay. 73 + 51 -- 1HS104 Stefano - IZ3XNJ HamSphere Admin HamSphere Italia Frequenza Monitor 21.380 |
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Re: 2.0.19 Probs: Chat, PM, Resource Hogging, CW Keyboard, Progressive Degradation
2010-01-29 20:44 |
Moderator Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 437 |
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Hello Tom and Stefano,
I have something interested related to this topic. While running Hamsphere, if I am running additional programs on my computer at the same time, the lagging in Hamsphere gets worse and worse. (I have a high speed direct connection) It gets so bad sometimes that I have to shut everything down, clear my computer of misc memory and reboot. This was happening very bad last night and Hamsphere was running extremely slow. I shut down Hamsphere and brought it back up on my laptop, which is running on a wireless connection and it was the fastest its ever been. I recently installed a wireless N router and its incredibly fast. So, now I believe that most the lagging problems are in the computer system itself and not a sever issue. Do you think this may be the case with you Tom? 73 Jerry - N1TKO |
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Re: 2.0.19 Probs: Chat, PM, Resource Hogging, CW Keyboard, Progressive Degradation
2010-01-30 02:22 |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 64 |
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No, Jerry, this definitely a server issue. It's a problem with the client.
Very 73, Tom |
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Re: 2.0.19 Probs: Chat, PM, Resource Hogging, CW Keyboard, Progressive Degradation
2010-01-30 02:34 |
Moderator Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 437 |
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Hi Tom
Well.... I had a theory but..... knowing what I know and knowing what you know.... I believe you! hi hi But, I am so baffled as to why my laptop is so fast. I think the ram is the same as my desktop.... but, I'm probably wrong about that too. I'll check it. Haven't heard you in a day or two my friend. Keep in touch on the bands!! 73 Tom Jerry - N1TKO |
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Re: 2.0.19 Probs: Chat, PM, Resource Hogging, CW Keyboard, Progressive Degradation
2010-01-30 07:00 |
Admin Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 1,061 |
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Hi Tom.
I tested the CW typing a long string. Then I clicked PTT, it immediately stopped sending the CW. Does it not do this on you side? Kelly AB9B Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > More on the keyboard -- forgot to mention it in my > previous. > > When you do have text queued and the other station > breaks in, tapping the PTT button doesn't clear > all text out of the queue and stop your > transmission. > > All in all, the CW keyboard is still too flaky for > practical ragchewing, or actually, even for casual > use. |
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Re: 2.0.19 Probs: Chat, PM, Resource Hogging, CW Keyboard, Progressive Degradation
2010-01-30 07:02 |
Admin Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 1,061 |
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The remedy to this is to re-synchronize the Sphere as described in the manual.
The delay builds up if the packet loss is too great between the server and your radio. Click PTT for 2 seconds. And the buffers will be re-synchronized lowering the delay and catching up the lost packets. Regards kelly 1HS104 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I've did not monitored resource use, so I do not > know if this the same issue, but I've noticed > sometime a strange delay in operations. Sometime, > not so often, I click a band button, I get the > beep feedback, but nothing happens for a few > seconds. Then, the band is switched and the audio > flows fluently. But if I change band or frequency, > I have the same delay. |
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Re: 2.0.19 Probs: Chat, PM, Resource Hogging, CW Keyboard, Progressive Degradation
2010-01-30 07:07 |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 64 |
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N1TKO Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > Hi Tom > Well.... I had a theory but..... knowing what I > know and knowing what you know.... I believe you! > hi hi > But, I am so baffled as to why my laptop is so > fast. I think the ram is the same as my > desktop.... but, I'm probably wrong about that > too. I'll check it. > Haven't heard you in a day or two my friend. Keep > in touch on the bands!! > 73 Tom > Jerry - N1TKO Oops... I should proofread before I hit the send button. The above message should read "it's definitely not a server problem..." Well, I don't know. The problem comes and goes, so it's tough to track down the cause. As I mentioned, sometimes it runs just fine, other times it will drive both my processors to 100% usage within minutes, and drag my machine down so far that I can hardly move my mouse. At that point, the only answer is a hard boot of the machine using the power button (since I can't get the mouse to the Pwr button on Hamsphere.). I had task manager open, once, when it happened, and was watching CPU usage. I had the sort set so the processes taking the most CPU time jumped to the top of the list. I noticed that the Java process had jumped to the top of the list, sharing the limelight with NMIndexStoreServer.exe. Although I don't think it's related, I noticed, once, that the problem started as I was adjusting Hamsphere's Mic level. Very 73, Tom |
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Re: 2.0.19 Probs: Chat, PM, Resource Hogging, CW Keyboard, Progressive Degradation
2010-01-30 07:34 |
Admin Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 1,061 |
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Dear Tom.
Thank you for your feed back. I am going to respond to each of your query. CW Keyboard: The problem you are experiencing doesn't sound like a HamSphere issue. It sounds like a combination of: 1. Dodgy Internet connections with lagging building up. 2. The ressource issue you have been having. It may have affected the overall app performance. 3. As you say it is gradually get worse, to me it looks like the Java isn't "garbage collecting" good enough. This may be a sign of depleted system resources from either the Java it self or another application hogging all memory. 4. I need more feedback on this as CW is still a little "untested". I'd like to have more users commenting on the CW before I can say it is working without problems. You may have found an error in there, but we need to establish other users having the same issue. Just one CPU having this problem isn't enough to call in the cavallery. Resource hogging I have 8 CPUs running in my home and office. All of them are running HamSphere. We have lap tops, stationary computers and a TVPC. I run Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. HamSphere run perfectly OK for a long time on all of these machines. There are not other reports of resource hogging that I know of. To me again it sounds like the Java and a memory issue. Do a CTRL+ALT+DEL and check the memory and system resources when this happens. Look at CPU and the amount of memory the different apps and services take. The bottom line is. HamSphere and all other Java applications rely on the Java Runtime system and its ability to utilize the hardware and memory. I know that all Java runtimes aren't always 100%, especially together with certain hardware. When these problems occur you should check the CPU and overall resources and make me a screen dump. I'd like to see what you have running in the system besides HS. PM And chats The way you describe these problems sounds like a combination of Internet lagging and Java runtime issues. See, the HS app is extremely Multi-Threaded and rely on the Java subsystem to perform all tasks in a correct and timely order. I know that you will experience lagging in chat and PM when packets are lost. Using the "Key down" trick described in a post further up resolves the lagging and temporarily lost packets. And it synchronizes the streams accordingly. And no, there is no way of reverting to an older version of HS as that will only bring old problems back. The versions have basically taken up the same resources since 2.0.1 and the feeling that "It worked back in version xxx" is not relevant. There might have been a different config of your computer since version xxx or there might be a different Java version compared to when you run version xxx. Or you might have installed something since the version xxx...etc etc. It is simply impossible to know this. I think you understand what I am trying to say... I sincerely hope that there is a remedy to your problems. And I am sure it has to do with your setup in your computer, your other programs or something else beyond control. Kind Regards Kelly AB9B Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Kelly, > > I've been having more and more problems with > 2.0.19. I'll try to sum them up, but the problems > are hard to define since the symptoms seem to be > dynamic. > > First of all, the CW keyboard is still broken. > Same problems as always, except that things start > out well, but rapidly degrade to the same ol' : > you can't queue text, entering a line of text > while the current line is being transmitted kills > the transmission, occasionally entering a line of > text that isn't sent at all and, weirdest one of > all, I've observed text entered long ago, but > wasn't sent, popping up out of the blue and begins > sending. > > Bottom line: not ready for prime-time > ragchewing. > > > Resource hogging: It seems that, without rhyme > nor reason, Hamsphere seems to tie up all my > machine's resouces. By tie up, I mean that the > machine comes to a standstill such that my mouse > isn't responsive, and the Hamsphere UI locks up. > Given enough time, it seems to start to release > resources a bit at a time, but the only way to get > control of the machine is a cold boot. Not of > Hamsphere - of the whole computer. > > The times it takes to reach this stage vary > widely, and I haven't been able to pin the problem > down to any specific user actions. Sometimes > Hamsphere will run for hours on end with no > problems, sometimes my machine will go to 100% > usage on both processors within minutes after > firing up Hamsphere. > > > > PM and Chat: PM and Chat text into the Chat box > is transmitted sporadically. About as often as > not, Hamsphere just ignores PMs and Chat text I > enter into the Chat window. No discernible > pattern, but the occurrence is frequent enough to > be really, really irritating. > > I know the answer is probably 'no,' but might it > be possible to drop back to 2.0.17 or so? I don't > think '19 is the answer. > > Tom |
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Re: 2.0.19 Probs: Chat, PM, Resource Hogging, CW Keyboard, Progressive Degradation
2010-01-31 16:42 |
Admin Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 1,061 |
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Dear Tom.
Did a little more testing with the CW mode. It seems that when the buffering is short (not many characters used) it really messes up the buffering, when you keep feeding it with CW lines. Impossible as you say to mainatain a QSO. I will look into this immediately. It is on the server side fortunately so no need to update the client. Thanks for letting me know this. 73 Kelly |
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Re: 2.0.19 Probs: Chat, PM, Resource Hogging, CW Keyboard, Progressive Degradation
2010-01-31 17:06 |
Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 64 |
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That's excellent news, Kelly. Thanks very much!
Would the buffering code from my own (stalled) keyboard project help you out? It processes text just fine. Very 73, Tom 5B4AIT Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dear Tom. > > Did a little more testing with the CW mode. It > seems that when the buffering is short (not many > characters used) it really messes up the > buffering, when you keep feeding it with CW lines. > Impossible as you say to mainatain a QSO. > I will look into this immediately. It is on the > server side fortunately so no need to update the > client. > > Thanks for letting me know this. > > 73 > Kelly |
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