The VideoLAN Forums

This has been happening on my computer for the past few versions now. I am a IT support tech guy and have gone above and beyond what I would even do to troubleshoot this for a client. It appears it happens for both PC and Mac as I have a macbook pro. I have the NVIDIA GeForce 9600 with the 9400 and the entire 4gb memory dedicated to VLC and it still lags?

This is an issue that needs to be resolved.

This is the very end of the error message log, the rest before it is the same:
I should also throw in that it happens both on OS X 10.5.7 and 10.6 (snow leopard) -

Unfortunately, I have tried file cache from 0 - 10,000 with no marked improvement. If anything it tends to defer the dropped frames by about 2-4 seconds going from 100-500 on cache. After that the performance remains constant and then eventually fully declines to non-functional in the 5k+ range.

Since it appears to be a pervasive issue, I would like to assist in diagnosing the issue. Unfortunately, I am not sure what debug settings and system performance monitors to correlate to help figure out the bottleneck : ie, read rate, rendering, memory, cpu, etc. Any suggestions on what else I could look at to pinpoint the cause for this?

The good news, at least for now, is I am able to view all of my AVCHD stutter free in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. Not a tad of stutter. Actually, I can throw up about 5 AVCHD (MTS) files in my preview playing simultaneously with no stutter and my combined quad core average utilization under 35%. I really wish some of the VLC devs would help a bit more actively on this issue, unless it's just a known gap to be avoided. If the devs are able to play MTS files with no errors, I really would like to know the equipment they are running. There's no reason why my physical configuration can't easily (with it's eyes closed) run MTS files. The latest Mac Pro 2.93Ghz 4 core easily competes with prior generation 3.2Ghz 8 core.

Cheers

+1 for same problem here, stutters after upgrading to 1.0 on Intel Macbook 2Ghz

Same for me on Mac Pro 2x 2.66 GHz Dual Core 6 Gb Memory (model 2006). When watching from DVD, movie window freezes after 2-3 seconds while VLC clock continues to tick away the seconds. No sound.
Quicktime has no problem playing directy from the DVD disk. VLC can play the movie without stutter directly from the internal drive. Movie format mp4 transcoded by Handbrake ("AppleTV quality" settings).



Erik

Hi!

I've been using VLC ever since I bought my first mac (almost two years now).

It stuttered from the beginning, just occasionally and I didn't mind.

Now it just stutters so frequently that I stopped using it, quickplayer has to do the job now.

Even when I just use it to try a mp3 it stutters.


First, I thought it could be some problem with the video encodes or such but since it doesn't happen in quicktime and now happens with almost all the videos...

My system: OSX 10.5.7 in a Intel Core 2 Duo 2Ghz with 4Gb RAM.

Most of the times the image freezes about 2 seconds (not the sound). Now both image and sound being freezing and after that the image shows a lot of artifacts.


nulio

Stuttering is out of control, BY FAR the worst its ever been, skipping on really simply files when it used to handle 1920x1080 hd easily... this needs to be fixed ASAP, or this version needs to be removed from the updates, because this is truly like a bad joke.

ive got a macbook pro with 10.5.7, 2.6 ghz intel duo, 2 gb ram, and I play bluray remuxes all the time with no skipping, on version 9.8 (9.9 had a few probs for me)

Generally speaking, there needs to be much more quality control on these updates, at least for mac ... Its kind of annoying that I have to keep 4 different versions of the application in order to play all my files properly and with the features Id like (i.e. simple crap like being able to jump/scan, etc).

Don' t want to sound too optimistic but since 1.0.1 the stuttering has dissapeared , skipping through the timeline is unusually snappy and last but not least - I have the impression that it consumes less cpu than before . Thx to the dev team for the fast reaction

I had the stutter problem (viewtopic.php?f=12&t=61848&start=15#p209994) but it looks like VLC 1.0.1 resolves the problem. Good work!

Erik

Btw: VLC did not report there was a new version available, not via "Check for update" in the VLC menu nor with the automatic checking ????

It didnt fix the problem for me... It is a small bit better, thats for sure, but my high def remuxes all still stutter after like a minute at most... And its even skipping on smaller stuff, like Im currently watching an avi of a dvdrip, generic mpeg4 vid, mp3 aud, 512x384, and its skipping a lot after about the 5 min mark... Granted its not the only task my computer is processing, but 9.8 and lower never skip when Im watching a simple vid file and doing low-level email/websurfing type stuff.... IMO, 1.0.1 is still too broken to be worthwhile....

I guess i talked too soon - after a day of impeccable work , this is what I get


7/29/09 11:29:19 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:19 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:19 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:20 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:20 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:20 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:22 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:23 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] [0x1083aa8] avcodec decoder error: more than 5 seconds of late video -> dropping frame (computer too slow ?)
7/29/09 11:29:24 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:52 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:52 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:52 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:52 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:52 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:52 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:53 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:53 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:29:56 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] [0x1083aa8] avcodec decoder error: more than 5 seconds of late video -> dropping frame (computer too slow ?)
7/29/09 11:29:57 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] header damaged
7/29/09 11:30:11 AM [0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266] Interface initialization failed
7/29/09 11:30:11 AM com.apple.launchd[95] ([0x0-0x1d01d].org.videolan.vlc[266]) Exited with exit code: 1
7/29/09 11:30:15 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] [0xcaca78] main interface error: no interface module matched "globalhotkeys,none"
7/29/09 11:30:15 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] [0xcaca78] main interface error: no suitable interface module
7/29/09 11:30:15 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] [0xc01908] main libvlc error: interface "globalhotkeys,none" initialization failed
7/29/09 11:30:15 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] [0xc01908] main libvlc: Стартиране на vlc със стандартния интерфейс. Използвайте 'cvlc', за да използвате vlc без интерфейс.
7/29/09 11:30:20 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] [0x10cd4a8] a52 decoder: A/52 channels:6 samplerate:48000 bitrate:448000
7/29/09 11:30:23 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] No accelerated IMDCT transform found
7/29/09 11:30:59 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:30:59 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:30:59 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:30:59 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:30:59 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:30:59 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:31:03 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] [0x10c1ea8] avcodec decoder error: more than 5 seconds of late video -> dropping frame (computer too slow ?)
7/29/09 11:31:04 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:31:26 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:31:26 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:31:26 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:31:26 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:31:27 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:31:27 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:31:27 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:31:31 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] [0x10c1ea8] avcodec decoder error: more than 5 seconds of late video -> dropping frame (computer too slow ?)
7/29/09 11:31:31 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:32:03 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:32:03 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:32:03 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:32:03 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:32:04 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:32:07 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] [0x10c1ea8] avcodec decoder error: more than 5 seconds of late video -> dropping frame (computer too slow ?)
7/29/09 11:32:26 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:32:26 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:32:26 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:32:26 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:32:26 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged
7/29/09 11:32:26 AM [0x0-0x23023].org.videolan.vlc[416] header damaged

same file yesterday was playing nicely , I don't see any reason to stutter so heavily today , it's unwatchable ( maybe on shutdown some old resident files from 0.9.9 are trashed , dunno , just a wild guess )

p.s.
gotta love those 'computer too slow' remarks

Just updated to 1.0.1... It's even worse Now the movie spends more time freezed than playing. Gone back to 0.9.9a, it seems better so far.

still get the occasional stutter in 1.0.1, same as 1.0.

main warning: PTS is out of range (-34658), dropping buffer
mpgatofixed32 debug: libmad error: bad main_data_begin pointer
main warning: late picture skipped (291717 > -3135)
main warning: late picture skipped (325083 > -3135)

0.9.8 works perfectly though.

some more message log:
main warning: late picture skipped (70217 > -4045)
main warning: PTS is out of range (-37383), dropping buffer
mpgatofixed32 debug: libmad error: bad main_data_begin pointer
main warning: late picture skipped (10825 > -4045)
main warning: output date isn't PTS date, requesting resampling (-40008)
main warning: buffer is 40008 in advance, triggering downsampling
main warning: resampling stopped after 9624055 usec (drift: -471)
main warning: late picture skipped (2790 > -1804)

VLC 1.0.1 has improved the issue but not fixed it...
Can you set this to a high priority? It doesn't have any other visible problems.

it is very annoying!
same prob here....
why is this so difficult to fix?

i m back with my old 0.9.5 version!
happy and trouble free... everyone should downgrade until they fix this!

Tried again VLC 1.0.1 but now viewing an HD movie trailer (Valkyrie downloaded from Apple website, encoded with H.264 1920x1056, bitrate 9814). When it previously stuttered I thought it way a memory limitation on my Mac Mini (1.66 GHz Core Duo with 500 Mb memory driving a full HD TV screen 1920x1080 over HDMI). Unfortunately, there is no difference after I upgraded to 2Gb memory: same stutter. Whether the file is local or on the network does not make a difference. I increased the "file" read-ahead to 3000 ms with no difference.

When I play the file with Quicktime there is no problem under the same circumstances.

Pity.
Erik

The major difference is probably that QuickTime's H.264 decoder is able to be processed on both CPU cores are the same time, while VLC is currently limited to 1 of these. The developer's of our H.264 decoder are currently working on an improved version, but I don't know when they'll be finished.
Please note that the RAM size does not affect VLC's performance in most setups.

Hopefully it will be soon, as I'd like the DTS-HD support (... without major video issues), and clearly this is an issue MANY (if not all) are having....

the stutter occurs with non-HD res xvid/mp3 videos with low CPU requirements. videos that play fine in vlc 0.9.8. and by "stutter" i mean it plays fine, but every once in a while, both the video and audio freeze for a second or two and then continues playing. it's not dropping frames continuously like when the cpu can't handle HD video. and the pause/stutter occurs in random spots so it's difficult to reproduce. hope that clarifies the problem.

Try changing the cache settings.

Settings -> Preferences and choose Input/Codecs. tick the All option to display advanced settings. Goto Access modules -> File and increase Caching value from 100ms to something like 800ms.

bc1323,
raising the cache value used to help prior to v1.0, but it does not fix the stutter problem in v1.0.x. i can change it 2000ms and it will still get the occasionally stutter. so the problem is something else.

Try going into the display settings, then change from Millions to Thousands of colors. I have this problem with a Mac Mini, but it stutters using VLC, DVD PLayer, DIVX player, everything. Changing to thousands of colors seems to have fixed my problem so far.

Changing the cache setting caused problems with seeking video for me. Basically sometimes it would work and sometimes the video wouldn't appear after seeking. Set back to default cache and it works again. The VLC guys just need to fix the core issue instead of us trying to implement a wonky workaround that causes other issues.

I was getting a bit of stuttering earlier, but since upgrading to Snow Leopard, I can't watch a video and simultaneously do anything with the processor (like opening Firefox) withoug massive stuttering. QT X is fine.

Try using Onyx, the free maintenance app. Under "Cleaning," purge all User and Font caches. Restart. This got rid of my stuttering problem after I had tried all the usual methods, multiple times. (Deleting prefs. Deleting VLC and reinstalling. Increasing cache under Preference >> Input /Codecs >> Access modules >> File. None of that helped at all.)

My stuttering problem began when I tried to change fonts in a subtitle. Deleting prefs didn't help. Maybe a font cache was causing the problem?