[FIXED] Blackberry Playbook: Sound stutters

[Progweed]

Do you mean streaming with Neutron?

Yes. Streaming some webradio stations works just fine. No stuttering there, even with multiple apps running at the same time.

I do not think so. All PlayBooks are based on standard hardware unless there is underclocked CPU with less than 1 Ghz per core but I am unsure that this is the problem because Neutron was stable on Android device if CPU is underclocked to around max 200 Mhz (dual core).

Well, at least it's odd that some people are (or seem to be) more affected by stuttering than others on the exact same hardware. It would be interesting to hear from other Playbook owners concerning this problem.

@mikeywilliams:

I havent tested what happens when neutron is put to the back while browsing or whatever as i dont intend to do that.

Hey mikeywilliams, could you do this - just for testing purposes? I'm curious.

[dmitrykos]

Yes. Streaming some webradio stations works just fine.

Ok! May be the problem is either slow internal storage, or motherboard of device has slow throughput for IO, or inefficient driver which is blocking too much... If streaming mode of Neutron is not affected by sluttering then it is clearly showing that when there is no IO with storage - all is ok.

I have ideas how to solve this problem and will try to implement it for the next update asap.

[mikeywilliams]

I tried running neutron in the background and then opened a browser window and yes there are stutters. Not a lot (as I used to get listening to flacs with frequent every few secs stutters) but glitches there are. This happens with flacs or even low bitrate mp3s. But even with a few apps in the background the stutters seem to disappear if neutron is brought to the front.
However the above is after only 15mins or so of testing. I hope to have some me time soon to do some serious listening.

[Thinker]

I have a 32GB wifi playbook, running OS 2.0.1.358. I am using Neutron v1.62.5, to play MP3 files of various sample rates.
I find it difficult to play any music without the playback "stuttering". Each break in the sound seems to last about 1/2 second. The counter display update freezes at the same time as the sound is stopped. Judging by breaks in the lyrics being sung when the stutter occurs, the playback may continue while the sound is off, or the player is skipping ahead.
The stuttering seems to occur fairly consistently each time I delete an email message or download a file. I have also had stuttering in Airplane mode, with no other App running that I know of.
I have stuttering whether the OS Application mode is Showcase or Default.
I have stuttering whether in setup screen or home screen or Neutron in full screen.
The stuttering is not constant, but it is frequent enough to affect every song on an album even if I don't run any other app at the same time. Hard to know whether there is a direct correlation between actions and stuttering, since the effects are not consistent. I just tried browsing reviews in the App store. Every time I selected "more reviews", the playback stuttered. Then the player went completely silent. I returned to home screen, and the sound was still off. I scrolled back to see the Neutron Window. A moment later, the Neutron playback counter and sound started playing again. That was several seconds of pause. Returning to the App store browser and continuing to browse reviews then had no impact at all, on playback. Go figure.
I am willing to try specific test sequences, if it will help. Good luck.

[Progweed]

Thanks for testing mikeywilliams and Thinker!

Thinker, your description sounds a lot like my own experience. In fact I can reproduce pretty much everything you said. To me it seems clear now that Neutron is in trouble when something writes to or reads from the internal storage. Starting an app – stuttering. Loading a web page in the browser – stuttering.

[dmitrykos]

Hi Guys!

Thank you for all your details. Yes, I can confirm that IO with storage makes the problem. Unfortunately Neutron audio core had weak place which could result in audio rendering thread waiting on file/decoder IO thread. This part of code is around 3 years old and so far on all OSes there weren't any problem but ... finally on QNX/PlayBook OS it became a real problem.

I managed to simulate IO by copying many files to device through USB connection.

Today that part of code was greatly improved and the following test case was executed:
- copying 600 mb of files to/from device
at the same time:
- opened photo camera, browser, app world app and actively used them

All this did not cause a single playback interruption on my device although in 1.62.5 copying a single file to device was causing instability.

I really hope that in next update (1.62.6) which will go to App World for review today (and will be reviewed I believe by Thursday) the problem with sluttering will be solved and Neutron will gain the same playback stability as it is on Android platform that will let moving further towards implementation of new features, improvement of existing and etc.

[Progweed]

Sounds good! How do you manage to fix bugs so quickly?

[dmitrykos]

There will be number of other bug fixes and new improvements as well (will be in update release notes), not just this one I hope this problem will finally be defeated.

[dmitrykos]

The 1.62.6 is approved and in App World now. It will be great to know if it fixed sluttering finally.

[mikeywilliams]

I think you have cracked it.
I loaded up a flac and then downloaded the latest guardian newspaper which was guaranteed to stutter before.
Not a hint of a stutter.
Well done and thank you.

Mike Williams