FantaXP7

[FantaXP7]

So yesterday the Intel EXPI9400PTBLK came in and I saw some improvement with the tuner. I was able to watch live tv on two HTPC’s and switch channels without a problem. However I noticed two channels wouldn’t tune in, and previously they would. Also after awhile I saw a little bit of stuttering on a commercial…

Anyways, the Intel E1G42ET will be coming in today and we’ll see what that does for me.

[FantaXP7]

[quote=mikinho]

btw….Not saying you should or shouldn’t change the order. The PT is a great network card as well. It really comes down to your own expectations. I’m overly anal when it comes to network performance and stability.

[/quote]

 

I hear ya and I am sort of the same way, just don’t have much of the know-how with networking (gets quite confusing). 

I will try out the one I first ordered and if things don’t clear up I will try out the second one. 

Thanks again

[FantaXP7]

I’ve just ordered this card, before seeing these posts…http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106011

It doesn’t seem to mention VMDq. Should I look at purchasing one that does?

The reason for this second Intel NIC is I would like to keep one dedicated for my FreeNAS install.

Thanks

[FantaXP7]

[quote=mikinho]

Sounds like packet loss or latency issues. What network card do you have?

Can you go over your network topology and Hypervisor setup?  For instance, you really should never share a network card between the host and its virtuals. 

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Thanks for the reply,

I have passed through the onboard NIC which is a Realtek 8111E and that is bridged with the Ceton. I also have a Intel NIC which is being used with my only other VM which is FreeNAS. I was thinking it may be a good idea to throw in another Intel NIC and pass it through to the Win7 VM to replace the onboard Realtek.

Not sure if these would play a role at all, but I have an i5 2400 as a cpu. Would hyperthreading be necessary at all?

Also, the host is currently sharing a connection with the FreeNAS VM and I haven’t had problems. But I assume from what you  are saying they should have separate NICs? I could use the onboard for ESXI, pass through an intel NIC for FreeNAS and for Win7 if that is an ideal setup.

Thanks for any input.

[FantaXP7]

[quote=Aaron Ledger]

It sounds like you’re looking in a good direction with the idea that there could be a networking issue. Have you checked any of your network interface statistics to see if there are any errors? Do you have flow control enabled on all of your PC NICs? What type of switch(es) are you using? Are you using FastEthernet, Gigabit or combination of both?

Another thing to consider playing with is the NIC interrupt moderation settings. You could try disabling to see if it helps.

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Thanks for the reply,

I’ll have to look into some of these things as I am not too certain of all of them, but my switch is Gigabit, flow control is enabled on the main (I will check other HTPC’s).

 

[FantaXP7]

Guess I really stumped people here 

Take away the fact that the card is being using in a virtual machine. Has anyone else seen something similar to the poor signal that occurs with multiple machines accessing the Ceton?

Thanks

[FantaXP7]

I found it curious that the same three threads popped up at AVS…But then I saw your name in the sig and thought hey it’s the same guy. Then I noticed the bottom of your sig and it all makes sense .

 

I do some day plan to purchase a Streacom case. I just have no need for another HTPC at the moment. Great looking case at a great price and I would finally get to experimentwith fanless.

 

[FantaXP7]

Ok I have another theoretical setup.

 

What about a USB version of the Ceton tuner? I would think you could skip Intel VT-D this way and use VIRTIO drivers. 

[FantaXP7]

[quote=lowry]

[quote=FantaXP7]

Cool, I appreciate it. I’ll probably try out the last one. I never thought much of NICs for home servers and my HTPC with Ceton distributing through the house. 

[/quote]

You are using a Linux based server, right?  So, I’m guessing you are using KVM as the virtual machine platform?  If that’s the case, you want to use VIRTIO drivers for your NIC and disks in any Windows based VM.  It gives near native performance in the Windows VM.

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Thanks for the response. So that would solve possible NIC related issued. So to recap, I would have the windows KVM utilize the Ceton Tuner via Intel Virtualization VT-D and use VIRTIO drivers so that network I/O is good? Would this setup theoretically work? I think I would rather go this route as setting up with Linux sounds to be a pain. 

On the other hand I could maybe install another NIC just for that windows KVM and use Intel VT-D. 

I have never played around with Intel VT-D but it intrigues me with it’s possibilities…

[FantaXP7]

Cool, I appreciate it. I’ll probably try out the last one. I never thought much of NICs for home servers and my HTPC with Ceton distributing through the house. 

[FantaXP7]

[quote=mikinho]

In what way do you see a slowdown?  The NIC only comes into play if you are using Network Tuner usage.  With just about any NIC other than an Intel (and not the Intel PRO/1000 GT) then it is possible that it slows it down some due to crappy drivers.

[/quote]

Thanks for the response.

Yes I am using that HTPC to stream to others in the house. I am confused with how you worded your statement about NICs. So all Intel NICs are good except the one you list above? Could you possibly suggest a certain NIC that I should get?

Thanks

[FantaXP7]

Thanks for the great info guys.

I think I might have to give up on this, or consider switching to a windows server.

I feel like the Ceton card in my HTPC slows it down just a little bit. I am running a core i5 with 8gb of memory so it’s a decent system…So maybe it is the I/O of the NIC card? 

[FantaXP7]

[quote=mikinho]

You can also take a look at our Linux drivers: http://cetoncorp.com/infinitv_support/linux-drivers/

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Thanks for the reply and link.

I remember seeing linux drivers however I thought that cable card channels wouldn’t work? Also could this stream to my HTPCs? I run windows on those…

[FantaXP7]

I have a linux server. I have been trying to find info on intel VT-D and it is interesting. I hope that I can setup a windows virtual machine and use VT-D to use the ceton card there. I would like to keep it in my server since it is on all the time.

[FantaXP7]

Nice find!

I personally use this as well and love it. Once you use modular, you never want to look back.

I also find it to be very quiet.

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