Tech Forum

MerrillDL wrote:Question: were you watching the broadcast via satellite or Internet stream?

I asked a similar question about a dozen or so posts back. Haven't seen an answer come through yet.

MerrillDL wrote:This raised a question in my mind; where can I find documentation that explains or documents the names of services, processes and applications of an Internet packet (of a streaming type) from the moment it enters the computer, all the way to the program that is playing the stream? If I could set the affinity and raise the priority of these processes in the Task Manager, I think it would eliminate buffering problems.

Anyone have any ideas?
Doug

You might try Process Explorer from the Sysinternals suite, which is now owned by Microsoft. Aside from the already great visibility it provides, it recently added a process timeline column that can graphically depict a process’s lifetime relative other processes, which you might find useful.

MerrillDL wrote:This raised a question in my mind; where can I find documentation that explains or documents the names of services, processes and applications of an Internet packet (of a streaming type) from the moment it enters the computer, all the way to the program that is playing the stream? If I could set the affinity and raise the priority of these processes in the Task Manager, I think it would eliminate buffering problems.

I'm not sure if that will work. Is the bottleneck the CPU utilization or disk I/O? I tend to suspect the latter. I don't know as priority will fix that. And, I'm pretty sure that while priority may prioritize the starting some something, (like a disk seek) it probably doesn't cause the operation to be aborted when a higher priory process comes along.

Frankly I think this makes a good argument for a dedicated playback device - something that doesn't have the normal stuff found on a typical desktop or laptop. Something like a Roku, WD, etc. Because a general purpose computer will always have extra stuff on it or risk getting re-purposed when a need arises.

To clarify, I was watching the satellite broadcast, sorry. (I mentioned our internet service because someone had asked about it.)

I can help you troubleshoot your satellite issue. Send me a PM if you still need help.