BI webserver goes from crystal clear to pixelated...

[erkme73]

My father's BI server has been running problem free. But today I noticed that after watching any camera (or all via the indexed view) for more than about 30 seconds, the stream suddenly gets so pixelated, the images are nearly useless.

It's almost as though I switched from stream 0 (5mbps) to stream 2 (150kbps). But I didn't. Yet, if I toggle to any other stream and then go back to stream 0, the quality goes back to 100% - for about another 30 seconds.

His CPU is not getting over 50%, all cameras are showing 15FPS. Nothing was changed.

Any ideas what could be causing the server to throttle back the bitrate?

 

[corkangel76]

is this local or remote playback?

 

[erkme73]

Both. Dad sees it on his LAN locally, and I see it via the web.

 

[corkangel76]

when was the last time you rebooted the BI system? I had the same problem in the early 4 versions, and a quick reboot after a rogue update seemed solve the problem once and for all.

 

[erkme73]

He hasn't rebooted it since this started today. That's my next step, but before wiping the OS clean with a restart, I thought I'd ask to see if there aren't any settings the could be tested.

 

[corkangel76]

I wasn't saying wipe the drive!!!! I was saying a simple restart of the machine, start, shutdown, restart the computer.

 

[erkme73]

Sorry - I should have been clearer - wiping the OS of all the gunk that builds up between restarts... Not wiping the OS itself. I need technical support, but I'm not THAT wet behind the ears

 

[corkangel76]

I get you loud and clear, I'm just saying that I had the same issue with my BI machine, and a quick reboot solved that problem for good. Sometimes the easiest method just works!

 

[erkme73]

Two reboots later, and she's still doing exactly the same thing. Time to get Ken on the line...

 

[erkme73]

I've sent an email to Ken. It would seem that the problem is related to the ActiveX component of the webserver. Only when accessing the default.htm page does the pixelization occur. Using the jpegpull.htm it remains perfect.

I'll post back what we determine here.

 

[erkme73]

Ken already responded... I had given him an account so he could verify the symptoms. His response is that a fix should be pushed out in tonight's update. What's odd is that both my dad and I are running the same version (4.1.1.4), and on identical PC's. You'd think if his was buggered up, mine would be too. Oh well. Just grateful Ken is working on it.

 

[ExumaWiFi]

Have you tried the Autoruns app from MS? You can download it from TechNet site. Highly recommend it to get rid of unnecessary startup system slowing junk.

 

[erkme73]

Neither of the systems run any addition background programs or services. What I meant by junk was excessive memory use (i.e. memory leaks, DB inefficiencies, etc) that don't get cleaned automatically or completely. When an OS is up for days/weeks/months, there tend to be enough inefficiencies that show up that cause the system to slow. A reboot usually resets those things. It's the reason most tech support people recommend rebooting the OS as the first step to most problems.

I just didn't want to jump straight to a reboot without first trying some other 'things' that might pinpoint the problem. Ultimately, it appears it doesn't matter as the reboot didn't fix it... And Ken is clearly of the impression there's a bug in the latest updates that needs squishing.

 

[erkme73]

The latest update, 4.1.1.5 fixed this issue. I emailed Ken about the problem. 1 hour later he acknowledged the bug, and said an update that night would be pushed out. 12 hours later problem is solved. Anyone who ever doubts Ken, his abilities, or his dedication to his users needs a straight jacket.