1 second pause in early gameplay (newer dolphin versions)

[mbc07]

(03-26-2014, 03:37 AM)MaLDo Wrote: But it doesn't occur in older dolphin versions. Even in older versions just downloaded from scratch.

And more important, it happens every time I launch newest dolphin versions, not only the first time. Is there a new automatic cache clean up function recently added?

Is "My Documents\Dolphin Emulator\ShaderCache" folder empty? If yes, something is wrong. When you run games, Dolphin make cache of compiled shaders in that folder. At least for me it's very common Dolphin getting micro stutters when this folder is empty, but only when it's empty. After the shader get cached I never get micro stuttering in that game again. Does this "1 second pause" always occur at exactly the same point all times you play or just the first time?

In case this is really an issue, you'll have to find the exact version where this started if you want to get attention from some dev, although it's still sounds like the Shader Cache generation process for me...
Also, you could try deleting the ShaderCache folder (if it isn't empty), then playing the game again for cache regeneration. The next time you should not get the micro stuttering...

[MaLDo]

(03-26-2014, 02:47 PM)Jhonn Wrote:

(03-26-2014, 03:37 AM)MaLDo Wrote: But it doesn't occur in older dolphin versions. Even in older versions just downloaded from scratch.

And more important, it happens every time I launch newest dolphin versions, not only the first time. Is there a new automatic cache clean up function recently added?

Is "My Documents\Dolphin Emulator\ShaderCache" folder empty? If yes, something is wrong. When you run games, Dolphin make cache of compiled shaders in that folder. At least for me it's very common Dolphin getting micro stutters when this folder is empty, but only when it's empty. After the shader get cached I never get micro stuttering in that game again. Does this "1 second pause" always occur at exactly the same point all times you play or just the first time?

In case this is really an issue, you'll have to find the exact version where this started if you want to get attention from some dev, although it's still sounds like the Shader Cache generation process for me...
Also, you could try deleting the ShaderCache folder (if it isn't empty), then playing the game again for cache regeneration. The next time you should not get the micro stuttering...

I will take a look at that folder today. But my questions remain, how is possible I can download a fresh dolphin 3.5 and run any game without stutters/pauses? There is no shader cache created in that situation.

About the version, I starting to think is 4.0 or the version where they rewritte the audio part. The 1 second pause is a bit different/longer when using xaudio or dsound. Is a bit different too when using HLE or LLE.

[mbc07]

Assuming that the shader cache is the problem here, you may not experience this in 3.5 in the following cases:

* If you're using OpenGL in 3.5, because there is no shader cache in that builds since we were using nVidia CG toolkit for rendering. Current builds have dropped that in favour to HLSL (not sure), which allowed a lot of improvements to OpenGL backend, and now OpenGL also have its shader cache.

* If you were running 3.5 with DX9, then it's very likely it didn't stutter because DX9 simply didn't emulate many things and was full of hacks, but in current builds it's gone for good and won't come back, so nobody cares about DX9 anymore.

However, if you were running DX11 in 3.5 and didn't get micro stutters, then I have no clues, at that time my GPU wasn't compatible with it and I didn't play any games or did any extensive testing with DX11 in Dolphin 3.5...

[MaLDo]

(03-25-2014, 11:14 PM)haddockd Wrote: Can you find exactly which revision the issue starts in? If you can it may help the devs pursue the issue further

(03-26-2014, 07:58 PM)MaLDo Wrote:

(03-26-2014, 02:47 PM)Jhonn Wrote:

(03-26-2014, 03:37 AM)MaLDo Wrote: But it doesn't occur in older dolphin versions. Even in older versions just downloaded from scratch.

And more important, it happens every time I launch newest dolphin versions, not only the first time. Is there a new automatic cache clean up function recently added?

Is "My Documents\Dolphin Emulator\ShaderCache" folder empty? If yes, something is wrong. When you run games, Dolphin make cache of compiled shaders in that folder. At least for me it's very common Dolphin getting micro stutters when this folder is empty, but only when it's empty. After the shader get cached I never get micro stuttering in that game again. Does this "1 second pause" always occur at exactly the same point all times you play or just the first time?

In case this is really an issue, you'll have to find the exact version where this started if you want to get attention from some dev, although it's still sounds like the Shader Cache generation process for me...
Also, you could try deleting the ShaderCache folder (if it isn't empty), then playing the game again for cache regeneration. The next time you should not get the micro stuttering...

I will take a look at that folder today. But my questions remain, how is possible I can download a fresh dolphin 3.5 and run any game without stutters/pauses? There is no shader cache created in that situation.

About the version, I starting to think is 4.0 or the version where they rewritte the audio part. The 1 second pause is a bit different/longer when using xaudio or dsound. Is a bit different too when using HLE or LLE.

(03-27-2014, 02:29 AM)Jhonn Wrote: Assuming that the shader cache is the problem here, you may not experience this in 3.5 in the following cases:

* If you're using OpenGL in 3.5, because there is no shader cache in that builds since we were using nVidia CG toolkit for rendering. Current builds have dropped that in favour to HLSL (not sure), which allowed a lot of improvements to OpenGL backend, and now OpenGL also have its shader cache.

* If you were running 3.5 with DX9, then it's very likely it didn't stutter because DX9 simply didn't emulate many things and was full of hacks, but in current builds it's gone for good and won't come back, so nobody cares about DX9 anymore.

However, if you were running DX11 in 3.5 and didn't get micro stutters, then I have no clues, at that time my GPU wasn't compatible with it and I didn't play any games or did any extensive testing with DX11 in Dolphin 3.5...

Ok, every dolphin version I tested is running in portable mode, so shadercache folder is into emulator folder. And it is there for all versions.

3.5 doesn't show the problem in DX11.

[tuanming]

Maldo, what is your full pc specs?

Edit: Nvm it'sin your profile. You're getting the 1 sec pause when frame limiter off or on?

[MaLDo]

(03-27-2014, 10:32 AM)tuanming Wrote: Maldo, what is your full pc specs?

Edit: Nvm it'sin your profile. You're getting the 1 sec pause when frame limiter off or on?

Framelimiter set to OFF - framerate is 60 fps but sound is accelerated and sometimes gameplay is too fast too. Not playable.
Framelimiter set to 60 - framerate is 60 fps but there is some judder here and there and sound distorsion in DKC when load assets
Framelimiter set to Audio - framerate is 60 fps and 1 second pauses after start some levels


Maybe is confusing, but the 1 second hitch is delayed a bit when using mouse+keyboard instead of xinput controller. ¿?

[JMC47]

They weren't asking if the game was playable with frame limiter set to off, they were asking if it still had the 1 second hitch.

[MaLDo]

That was my answer.

The big pause is there when framelimiter is set to Audio. Is a unique big hitch. If it is set to 60 fps limit, there are little hitches here and there that mask big pauses. Similar behavior when set it to OFF.

[mbc07]

What happens if you set framelimiter to auto?