[vlc-devel] Can anybody explain this?

[Galen P. Zink]

I'm trying to figure out what is going on here and the user list  
didn't evoke any feedback... any thoughts from the developers? Should  
I file a bug report?

-Galen

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "galenz at zinkconsulting.com" <galenz at zinkconsulting.com>
> Date: October 2, 2006 4:48:20 AM PDT
> To: vlc at videolan.org
> Subject: "Process Bloat" - Degrading OS X Performance
>
> Hello,
>
> When I run VLC with XviD-encoded content for a long time, it  
> progressively uses more and more CPU until the video begins to  
> skip. Restarting VLC does not resolve the issue. The more of the  
> CPU the video uses, the sooner the problem appears. DVD-resolution  
> XviD takes dozens of hours to exhibit this problem on a 1.33 GHz  
> G4, but higher resolution files become a problem much quicker - a  
> few hours at the most before 540 x 960 XviD becomes choppy on the  
> same machine. Top reports no other applications are using a  
> significant amount of CPU. renicing the VLC process to maximum  
> priority doesn't solve the problem.
>
> I've been tracking this interesting issue with VLC 0.8.x under Mac  
> OS 10.4.x. I've reinstalled OS X fresh, etc. and found it does not  
> go away. I've checked CPU performance settings, etc. The disk  
> performance does not change. Allowing the computer to "sleep" and  
> cool down has no impact. Basically, there's no logical reason for  
> this to be happening, except some sort of a "leak" within the OS/ 
> kernel.
>
> Interestingly, the amount of CPU time used by "top" also  
> progressively increases - a sort of "process bloat." After a fresh  
> reboot, top uses several percent of the cpu.... by the time we're  
> done, top may be using 20, 30% of the CPU. I can leave a single top  
> process running, or spawn a new one, the results will be the same.  
> I have also observed this happens when OS X is used for very  
> extended periods, but normally these kinds of numbers would  
> represent weeks of very intense OS X use... VLC playing higher  
> resolution video can drive top to 20 or 30% in just hours.
>
> I realize this may partially be an OS issue, but no other  
> applications I have ever seen cause this problem to emerge so  
> rapidly. Any comments or insight as to what's going on? It gets to  
> the point where I get watching HD XviD and find myself regularly  
> rebooting so I can keep watching.
>
> -Galen

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