High CPU usage

[jonbanjo]

I first noticed this when I upgraded to 17.7.31 but temporarily reverting back to the previous version did not resolve matters.

My expected (using top) cpu usage for my 4 cameras on xeoma when I have observed it has been about 40%. It has jumped to about 140%

What is puzzling me most at the moment is that if I disable every single module I use in xeoma, its CPU usage is still about 100% which seems rather a lot for “doing nothing”!

Could there be something else (eg. database) causing this? I did set a limit of 750GB on the preview and archive for one camera the other day. This more than halved the size of that archive. Could that have upset things?

Or any other ideas?

---
While here, is there is there any chance of offering a greater range of options on the sliders for number of days to keep and maximum size for the archive or allowing a user to type in their own custom settings?

[Admin_K]

Hello!

What version did you use before? You tried to use previous version again, but it didn't help?

Pleae check CPU load using ‘htop’ command via console. It’ll show you CPU loading of each core.

What amount of CPU does Xeoma process consume?

[jonbanjo]

I was using 17.5.5. Reverting to that one didn't help.

I can't see how to save text from htop but here is a screenshot of a bit of it.

[jonbanjo]

I've taken a gamble. I deleted (well renamed) the files Archive.db, Archive.db-shm and Archive.db-wal from /user. And restarted xeoma. Since doing this, xeoma cpu usage has stayed between 30 and 40% so I'm hopeful this has fixed things.

I don't seem to ave lost much in doing this? The files were re created and I can still view the older archived video.

[Admin_P]

Hello! The file Archive.db keeps the archive's metadata necessary for searches by motion, visualization of movement, etc. As of version 17.7.31 you can prevent Xeoma from keeping this data at all by accessing the settings for "Preview and Archive" and UNCHECKING the box Visualization and search for motion in the archive, if you don't need those functions.

[Fry]

Hello!

I'm having the exact same problems with my Xeoma installation.

I've been using Xeoma for over a year now without any problems, but with one of the last updates (can't figure out which one it was), i've got the same high CPU usage as mentioned by jonbanjo.
Currently I'm using V 17.11.24, running on Ubuntu Server 16.04.3 LTS (Quad Intel Core i3, 12GB RAM) with 3 Foscam Fi9903P (720p).

Screenshot of htop on the machine:

Bildschirmfoto 2018-01-07 um 14.10.20.png (239.29 KiB) Viewed 29841 times

As you can see, Xeoma creates nearly 100% load on every CPU core.
In the Past, I always got a CPU load around 30-40% (in total).

If i delete the Archive.db, Archive.db-shm and Archive.db-wal as mentioned before, the CPU load drops to around 40%. But after a short time it rises again to 100% / core.
I turned off the "search for motion in the archive" function, but this has no effect. No recording is running at the moment, but Xeoma still generates 100% CPU load.

I've also tried to completely remove (including archives and settings) and reinstall Xeoma on the Server -> nothing changes.

At the moment Xeoma is not usable for me, because my Server is completely occupied by Xeoma, even without recording.

Is there anything else I can do?

[mtux96]

Fry, I had the same issue with high cpu usage and high load numbers that went way beyond where they should be. I have a "fix" that "works" for me, though it's not really the best fix as it removes a good feature to have in a security camera system. But it did solve the high cpu/load issue for me.

I simply had to disable the preview video from the main page that shows all the cameras. It'll still record but you will not see a preview of multiple cameras, though you can see the preview on single view mode if you check off the box for use h.264 feed in single view mode on the camera. I still have the continuous recording on with the databases and all as well.

It's not the best fix in the world like I said and wish there'd be a fix for this issue in the software side of things rather than disabling a core feature. That should at least hopefully back up with recording.

Hello!

I'm having the exact same problems with my Xeoma installation.

I've been using Xeoma for over a year now without any problems, but with one of the last updates (can't figure out which one it was), i've got the same high CPU usage as mentioned by jonbanjo.
Currently I'm using V 17.11.24, running on Ubuntu Server 16.04.3 LTS (Quad Intel Core i3, 12GB RAM) with 3 Foscam Fi9903P (720p).

Screenshot of htop on the machine:

Bildschirmfoto 2018-01-07 um 14.10.20.png

As you can see, Xeoma creates nearly 100% load on every CPU core.
In the Past, I always got a CPU load around 30-40% (in total).

If i delete the Archive.db, Archive.db-shm and Archive.db-wal as mentioned before, the CPU load drops to around 40%. But after a short time it rises again to 100% / core.
I turned off the "search for motion in the archive" function, but this has no effect. No recording is running at the moment, but Xeoma still generates 100% CPU load.

I've also tried to completely remove (including archives and settings) and reinstall Xeoma on the Server -> nothing changes.

At the moment Xeoma is not usable for me, because my Server is completely occupied by Xeoma, even without recording.

Is there anything else I can do?

[Admin_P]

Hello! Version 17.8.31 included a particularly big update for the archive's database. Please try using the previous version (17.5.5) and check if it keeps the load lower.
If so, please post this data here or via e-mail - we'll double check the database.

[Fry]

Thanks, I will try both ways and give you a feedback afterwards.

[Fry]

Now I had the time to test with Version 17.5.5:

I've removed the complete Xeoma installation with all archives and settings and reinstalled V17.5.5.

After restoring the saved settings, everything worked fine. All 3 cameras ran at 15fps and the CPU load was around 40-50% (increasing to >80% if something was moving in the image).
But then i noticed that the frame rates of the cameras are slowly decreasing. In the same moment the CPU load increased more and more. Now after 10 minutes the frame rates are around 1-3 fps and the CPU load again is at 100% on every core.

Could there be a problem with the restored backup? Maybe I should test a new setup from scratch.

[Admin_P]

Could there be a problem with the restored backup? Maybe I should test a new setup from scratch.

Yes, this is worth a try. If the clean install works ok, you could help us greatly by sending us the settings.dat file you used for the previous installation at our email: http://felenasoft.com/xeoma/en/contacts/

[Fry]

I've tested a clean install with 17.5.5 and set up everything from scratch.

Unfortunately i got the same problems, after just adding one camera without constant recording.

As a last try, I've removed everything on my Server (again) and installed the server-part on my Mac Pro (6-Core Xeon, 32GB RAM, OSX El Capitan).
I had problems to activate my license because Xeoma complained that it is already activated on another computer, so i tested everything in the 4-hour testmode and created all settings from scratch. Just to see what happens.

On this machine I got a CPU load around 18-20% for the server part. Everything seems to work well, but I can't occupy my workstation for this.

After the 4-hour test-period, I've installed Xeoma (latest version) again on my server. After restoring all settings, the CPU load is at ~24% for some hours now (only motion-depending recording) and i have a reasonable frame rate.

Bildschirmfoto 2018-01-27 um 21.18.36.png (98.28 KiB) Viewed 29316 times

Now I'm totally confused what is going on.

During testing on the Mac, I've installed an Ubuntu update on the server, maybe this has fixed something .

I will keep watching this issue und give feedback, if anything changes.


Thank you for your help!

[Fry]

Ok all problems returned just after one day.

Now I exchanged my i3-Server with an (older) workstation (Intel Xeon E3-1230 Quad, 8GB RAM) also on Ubuntu 16.04 Server.
For the moment it is running much better (of course it should be better with an Xeon CPU...).

But i don't get, why it had worked on the i3 system for a long time and then spontaneously slowed down and started making such problems.
I'll now try it with this Xeon machine, it should have more than enough power.


BTW: Is there a possibility to use the GPU hardware acceleration on Ubuntu? I have a Nvidia Quadro graphics card installed in this machine, but it won't work.
Do I need some special drivers or is ist Windows only?

[Admin_K]

Ok all problems returned just after one day.

Now I exchanged my i3-Server with an (older) workstation (Intel Xeon E3-1230 Quad, 8GB RAM) also on Ubuntu 16.04 Server.
For the moment it is running much better (of course it should be better with an Xeon CPU...).

But i don't get, why it had worked on the i3 system for a long time and then spontaneously slowed down and started making such problems.
I'll now try it with this Xeon machine, it should have more than enough power.

Hello, sure, keep us informed. If you still experience issues on the new machine, please contact us via email, so we could effectively help: http://felenasoft.com/xeoma/en/contacts/

BTW: Is there a possibility to use the GPU hardware acceleration on Ubuntu? I have a Nvidia Quadro graphics card installed in this machine, but it won't work. Do I need some special drivers or is ist Windows only?

Yes, latest version of Xeoma should support CUDA on Ubuntu. You can try it (turn it on in 'Universal camera' module's settings and 'Layouts' menu (bottom panel 'windows' icon)).