Bug #268
problem with mplayer-vdpau-nogui and xscreensaver
| Status: | Closed | Start date: | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Priority: | Normal | Due date: | ||
| Assignee: |  jams |
% Done: | 0% |
|
| Category: | - | Spent time: | - | |
| Target version: | - |
Description
I'm using the mplayer-vdpau-nogui and the xscreensaver packages from the LinHES distro. Under R5.5 I only needed to add the following to my ~/.mplayer/config to stop xscreensaver when mplayer plays:
heartbeat-cmd="xscreensaver-command -deactivate > /dev/null"
When I have this in my config under R6, it does indeed keep xscreensaver from starting during playback BUT video playback literally hangs for 5 sec or so every 20 seconds! As well, when I initially load the video file, it too kinda hangs for 10 sec or so.
I get the following in my mplayer output if I launch it from a shell:
xscreensaver-command: no response to command.
xscreensaver-command: no response to command.
xscreensaver-command: no response to command.
xscreensaver-command: no response to command.
Indeed, if I simply execute it from a shell, I get the same 10 sec pause, then the same error:
$ xscreensaver-command -deactivate
xscreensaver-command: no response to command.
If the screensaver is active, the command will stop it if I issue it from an ssh session into the box.
Any thoughts on this?
History
Updated by graysky over 15 years ago
I believe this problem has nothing to do with mplayer. I am going to open a new ticket describing it. See task number
Updated by nickca over 15 years ago
I have this exact same problem. However, xscreensaver does respond to commands from xscreensaver-command most of the time. It does occasionally fail, though.
Updated by nickca over 15 years ago
Okay, it seems that if xscreensaver is started at login (from .fluxbox/apps), it doesn't respond to commands with xscreensaver-command. However, if I ssh in, su to mythtv, and start it from the command line, it does respond to commands. However, mplayer still periodically freezes either way.
Updated by graysky over 15 years ago
The [[http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=511469#p511469|best solution]] to this problem is to add the following line to your ~/.mplayer/config
heartbeat-cmd="xscreensaver-command -deactivate &"
The & makes a world of difference. On my system with two 45 min files:
1) xscreensaver never started during mplayer playback
2) I didn't observe that damn freezing of the video playback
Updated by nickca over 15 years ago
The added "&" seems to fix the problem totally. Thanks! This was probably the biggest annoyance with R6 for me.
Updated by graysky over 15 years ago
How does mythfrontend handle xscreensaver? Same as under R5.5? Are you using the mythtv-vdpau packages as well?
Updated by nickca over 15 years ago
Well, the "&" doesn't seem to really fix the problem. It's a workaround for the periodic mplayer freezing (if you look at mplayer's output, xscreensaver still isn't responding to the -deactivate command, but for some reason it keeps it deactivated anyway), but xscreensaver still doesn't work properly (won't respond to most commands, occasionally becomes totally unresponsive). In one of the other xscreensaver-related tasks, someone found out that commenting out the line in the LinHES-run script that runs /usr/X11R6/bin/unclutter appears to fix the xscreensaver problems. I haven't been able to confirm it yet, but it's the best lead so far.
Updated by graysky over 15 years ago
//In one of the other xscreensaver-related tasks, someone found out that commenting out the line in the LinHES-run script that runs /usr/X11R6/bin/unclutter appears to fix the xscreensaver problems//
Yeah, that someone was me :) Unfortunately, unclutter isn't to blame for the xscreensaver command dying. You are correct though, if you look at the mplayer output, it does indeed show the error, but it also keep xscreensaver come starting as well. Not the most eligant solution, but a solution nonetheless. I'm still waiting to hear back from jamie (dev of xscreensaver). I filed a bug report on v5.08 since google searches showed this affects folks on debain, gentoo, and other distros.
Updated by nickca over 15 years ago
Just installed the latest updates, including xscreensaver 5.08-2 and the new scripts to enable it from LinHES config. None of the xscreensaver problems are fixed - mplayer still freezes without the "&" at the end of the heartbeat-cmd line, xscreensaver still doesn't respond to commands most of the time, and it still won't deactivate properly on events (I can't determine the circumstances where it won't - it seems pretty random, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it does). I realize it's a work in progress, just reporting my findings.
Also, disabling unclutter doesn't seem to fix it either. I think we're going to have to wait for a new xscreensaver from upstream before these bugs are fixed.
Updated by nickca over 15 years ago
I take that back - after using it for a while, the new xscreensaver does seem to work a lot better. The "&" is still required to prevent mplayer freezing and it still doesn't respond to commands sometimes, but overall it seems to be more reliable - it deactivates properly on events (if you activate it manually with xscreensaver-command, it will never deactivate without deactivating it manually, but if you just wait for it to timeout it deactivates properly).