XBMC idle CPU usage

[rubenvb]

Hi everyone,

I am having a blast using Arch Linux ARM on the Raspberry Pi.

The only thing I have a "problem" with is that XBMC uses too much CPU when it's idle. Lacking a decent way to autostart the XBMC systemd service when I need it, I thought about keeping the process running always.

It seems now that XBMC uses ~50-60% CPU (in top and htop) from a fresh start, when it's doing nothing at all. This might interfere with my webserver and other things running on the pi (yes I'm pushing it to the limits).

Adding a file /home/xbmc/.xbmc/userdata/advancedsettings.xml with the following contents:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
<advancedsettings>
<gui>
<algorithmdirtyregions>3</algorithmdirtyregions>
<nofliptimeout>0</nofliptimeout>
</gui>
</advancedsettings>
')

changed absolutely nothing in CPU percentage. I see people reporting 12-20% (even on this forum). I'm just wondering how on Earth they manage to do that.

Thanks for any tips!

[udakak]

I used to have the same problem, now xbmc uses ~20% cpu, that is less than half of what it used before.

The only things I changed are that I use the alarm/xbmc-rbp package instead of aur/xbmc-rbp-git
and that I start xbmc with systemd instad of just by typing "xbmc".

Maybe that can help you too?

[sajuuk]

I had the same problem and I just disabled the rss feed display.

[rubenvb]

OK, some form of update:

The location of xbmc's "home" directory on the Raspberry Pi is
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
/var/lib/xbmc/
')
which puts the file you could mess with
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
/var/lib/xbmc/.xbmc/userdata/advancedsettings.xml
')
But messing with it changes nothing signficantly (for me). Other dirtyregionalgorithm settings (1 or 2 instead of the default 3) messed up rendering, as can be found on diverse other fora.

Some more data:
XBMC Frodo 12.1
no overclock
no non-default skins
fanart and every default media library feature is enabled in XBMC.
CPU usage measured with nmon

It seems any form of fanart (ie dvd covers or album covers) displayed on screen pushes the cpu usage up above ~50%. I can get about ~30% in the menus (the System menu gives me about 10-20% CPU usage).

I am blaming the implementation of the home screen in the Confluence skin. This finding kind of baffles me...