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Topic: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder (Read 107025 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder

Reply #600 –
Quote from: john33 on
@KevinB52379, could you please give this GCC x64 build a try? All my previous GCCx64 offerings had the 'msvcrt' dependency whereas this one has the 'ucrt' dependency which the Clang compiles also depend on. Will it make any difference? I guess we're about to find out!
https://www.rarewares.org/files/mp3/hmp3-dev-5.2.4-20240612-UCRT64.zip

I appreciate your efforts, I really do...but unfortunately, this compile is one that causes one of the worst system freezes/hanging I've seen to date.  The "Abort" and "Pause" button don't even appear on the dialog box during conversion with foobar.  The file progress list never changes, however the progress bar does, albeit slower than a Helix compile that works fine on my system.

Thanks for trying though :)

Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder

Reply #601 –
Ah well, some you win and some you don't!! Thanks for trying it out.

Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder

Reply #602 –
When experimenting with web radio usage, it turned out that hmp3 would create very bursty output, with many MP3 frames being emitted every few seconds. That's because by default, hmp3 fetches ~3 seconds of input data, then encodes and outputs that audio, then fetches another big chunk of audio. For file-based use cases, that's desirable to avoid I/O-overhead.

For web radio, that's potentially problematic. Thus hmp3 now switches to a "low delay" mode when outputting to stdout. In this mode, input audio is consumed and encoded in small chunks (as few bytes as the encoder expects for a complete MP3 frame), which lowers the delay and creates a more evenly spaced stream of packets.

https://github.com/maikmerten/hmp3/commit/2b03a33c760693dc29d6e6854211684452ff703b

Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder

Reply #603 –
Lastest dev builds:
win32XP: https://www.rarewares.org/files/mp3/hmp3-dev-5.2.4-2b03a33c-20240615-win32XP.zip
GCC x64: https://www.rarewares.org/files/mp3/hmp3-dev-5.2.4-2b03a33c-20240615-x64.zip
CLang x64: https://www.rarewares.org/files/mp3/hmp3-dev-5.2.4-2b03a33c-20240615-Clang.zip

Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder

Reply #604 –
Quote from: KevinB52379 on
Quote from: john33 on
@KevinB52379, could you please give this GCC x64 build a try? All my previous GCCx64 offerings had the 'msvcrt' dependency whereas this one has the 'ucrt' dependency which the Clang compiles also depend on. Will it make any difference? I guess we're about to find out!
https://www.rarewares.org/files/mp3/hmp3-dev-5.2.4-20240612-UCRT64.zip

I appreciate your efforts, I really do...but unfortunately, this compile is one that causes one of the worst system freezes/hanging I've seen to date.  The "Abort" and "Pause" button don't even appear on the dialog box during conversion with foobar.  The file progress list never changes, however the progress bar does, albeit slower than a Helix compile that works fine on my system.

Thanks for trying though :)
Did the encoding complete in expected time window when it causes the system to hang?
(i.e. did the encoding time consumption of hang/no-hang situation roughly the same?)

If you use single thread will the system still hang?

Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder

Reply #605 –
Quote from: l4cache on
Quote from: KevinB52379 on
Quote from: john33 on
@KevinB52379, could you please give this GCC x64 build a try? All my previous GCCx64 offerings had the 'msvcrt' dependency whereas this one has the 'ucrt' dependency which the Clang compiles also depend on. Will it make any difference? I guess we're about to find out!
https://www.rarewares.org/files/mp3/hmp3-dev-5.2.4-20240612-UCRT64.zip

I appreciate your efforts, I really do...but unfortunately, this compile is one that causes one of the worst system freezes/hanging I've seen to date.  The "Abort" and "Pause" button don't even appear on the dialog box during conversion with foobar.  The file progress list never changes, however the progress bar does, albeit slower than a Helix compile that works fine on my system.

Thanks for trying though :)
Did the encoding complete in expected time window when it causes the system to hang?
(i.e. did the encoding time consumption of hang/no-hang situation roughly the same?)

If you use single thread will the system still hang?

The elapsed time/time remaining never shows up, neither do the "Pause" and "Abort" buttons.  The progress bar is the only thing that changes, and it is much, much slower than versions that works for me...it does however successfully create mp3s once the encoding is done and the system becomes responsive again.

Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder

Reply #606 –
Has development on the Helix mp3 encoder stopped?  There hasn't been any posts here lately.

FYI - I recently got a new computer (Lenovo IdeaCentre 3 desktop) with 32gb of DDR4 RAM, Intel UHD 770 graphics and an Intel Core i7-14700.

Using the 64 bit Helix encoder from Rarewares, I can encode 5071 songs in under 9 and a half minutes (files are on the SSD and encoding to the same SSD).

Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder

Reply #607 –
There isn't really anything that needs to be done to the encoder at the moment. And you never provided any logs or debug information to help figure out what in your old system caused the system freeze. It was not your CPU, other users with the same hardware didn't have the issue. It was none of the other software you mentioned (I installed a virtual environment where I tested the screen reader, process lasso and your antivirus - they couldn't make the system freeze combined with hmp3).

Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder

Reply #608 –
Quote from: KevinB52379 on
Has development on the Helix mp3 encoder stopped?  There hasn't been any posts here lately.

FYI - I recently got a new computer (Lenovo IdeaCentre 3 desktop) with 32gb of DDR4 RAM, Intel UHD 770 graphics and an Intel Core i7-14700.

Using the 64 bit Helix encoder from Rarewares, I can encode 5071 songs in under 9 and a half minutes (files are on the SSD and encoding to the same SSD).

I think that, in terms of functionality and performance, the goals set for the common user have been achieved. Case and Maikmerten have IMHO brought this encoder up to "competition" standard, which means a lot of work and time invested! 
As far as buggyness is concerned.. I use the current main branch build 5.2.4, namely Wombat's compile from 1.6 and Joshua's PGO compile from 9.6 via fb2k converter on various Intel platforms and configurations up to 11th generation (Tiger Lake). The result from a casual usage perspective is that I can't contribute with any bug report, starting with both stability and performance, unfortunately.. ;)

If I understood it correctly, there is a realtime conversion optimization for web radio needs currently in the works at Developer Branch, which can potentially contribute to more hmp3 expansion. This is obviously of more "strategic" than user interest.
So.. be happy with the build you currently use and report a bug if any. That's it, i think.

Sorry for small Off-Topic/Request:  Personally, I would be delighted if hmp3 and 64-bit versions of the other encoders appear in Case's Free Encoder Pack sometime in the future ;)

Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder

Reply #609 –
Quote from: Case on
There isn't really anything that needs to be done to the encoder at the moment. And you never provided any logs or debug information to help figure out what in your old system caused the system freeze. It was not your CPU, other users with the same hardware didn't have the issue. It was none of the other software you mentioned (I installed a virtual environment where I tested the screen reader, process lasso and your antivirus - they couldn't make the system freeze combined with hmp3).

I admit the reason I didn't do much debugging is because I was frustrated, not at you, but at the situation, and I apologize for that. 

I'll be honest Case, I admire what you've done, and appreciate all the hard work you'v eput into Helix MP3 encoder (as well as the other contributors).  I think the hard work you all have put in have made Helix an excellent MP3 encoder, and I admit it is the primary MP3 encoder I use.

The version that is the fastest for me on the Intel Core i7-14700 is Joshua's clang PPO version of 5.2.4.

I will also admit over the last couple of weeks I was having issues with that system (random restarts and system shut downs).  Was pretty sure it was a hardware issue and the system was out of warranty and since it was an HP it has proprietary parts so repair would be difficult.

When I was asking about further developments to helix, it wasn't because I was unhappy or anything, on the contrary I am very pleased with the encoder and the work put into it.  Sorry if I sounded like I was being impatient or unhappy with the progress.

I still also think there was an issue with my screen magnification software Zoomtext that played a part too.  Because when I used the built in windows magnifier, I didn't have this freeze problem.

Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder

Reply #610 –
I will just enter the discussion to inform @KevinB52379 that there is a big discussion over these new Intel processors, it seems that they have some defects, and Intel is scrambling with microcode updates to fix it - it has thermals misconfigured, as far as I understood, so it often crashes and behaves erratically.
More info can be found at various youtube channels that review hardware, I found pretty lengthy explanation at GamersNexus youtube channel. If you are the guy who had problems with encoder encoding slowly and /or stopping, it could be just that - CPU bug. BIOS updates should arrive soon, so you can try these first.
TAPE LOADING ERROR

Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder

Reply #611 –
Kevin, are you using / were using variable refresh rate monitor?
gold plated toslink fan

Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder

Reply #612 –
Quote from: itisljar on
I will just enter the discussion to inform @KevinB52379 that there is a big discussion over these new Intel processors, it seems that they have some defects, and Intel is scrambling with microcode updates to fix it - it has thermals misconfigured, as far as I understood, so it often crashes and behaves erratically.
More info can be found at various youtube channels that review hardware, I found pretty lengthy explanation at GamersNexus youtube channel. If you are the guy who had problems with encoder encoding slowly and /or stopping, it could be just that - CPU bug. BIOS updates should arrive soon, so you can try these first.

Unfortunately (or fortunately since I am ware of the issue?) I found out about these issues a few days ago (after I bought the Lenovo).  I became aware of it because os the GamersNexus on Youtube (I'm subscribed to them because I find their videos interesting). 

I am guessing I avoided the oxidation issue, because I have a 14th gen and that issue seems to impact early 13th gen processors.

As for the voltage issues, there was a BIOS update when I set up the computer, and then there was another one a day or two later (this one I am guessing has the micro architecture changes and the voltage fix). 

Thankfully I only had the computer a day or two before this BIOS update came out.

I ran a utility called StressMyPC with aggressive CPU testing for a couple hours or so and no system freeze or reboot.

Last night I ran Cinebench and it completed without issues (I ran all tests).

I am planning on running Prime95 for a couple of hours or so and see how that goes.

I did consider returning the PC and getting an AMD based system again (my previous desktop was a Ryzen 7 5700g).  But, I didn't find out this issue until after the purchase, and my mom did it as a gift, so I didn't want to cause trouble. 

I had just returned a computer to Amazon because the seller advertised it as new, but it was opened to upgrade it (which was not disclosed in the item listing) and worse of all the computer was Gray Goods (The computer was designed to be sold and used in the United Arab of Emirates and I could NOT buy a warranty from Lenovo).  Naturally I returned this computer for full refund and left negative feedback to seller).
My final action is going to be buying an extended warranty through Lenovo for at least 3 years because if the processor becomes unstable, I want to get it fixed even if it's over a year out.
 

Re: Resurrecting/Preserving the Helix MP3 encoder

Reply #613 –
Quote from: KevinB52379 on
My final action is going to be buying an extended warranty through Lenovo for at least 3 years because if the processor becomes unstable, I want to get it fixed even if it's over a year out.
Before buying an extended warranty...
https://community.intel.com/t5/Processors/Additional-Warranty-Updates-on-Intel-Core-13th-14th-Gen-Desktop/m-p/1620853
https://www.anandtech.com/show/21499/intel-extends-13th-14th-gen-core-retail-cpu-warranties-by-2-years-in-response-to-chip-stability-issues