Application Processor Affinity Problem

[lexluthermiester]

I run a video conversion program, but the process that does the actual converting only uses half the available cores/threads on the CPU.
Entering the Task Manger I can set it to all cores manually, but I'd like to set the affinity to all cores permanently.

Does anyone know/remember how that can be done, or where to find info on such?
Been researching for several hours and there are no definitive answers.

To save time, it should be noted that I've tried the following utilities without success;
Prio
Process Lasso
Bill's2 Process Manager
Process Hacker

No problems with CLI commands.

 

[enxo218]

not sure but since some programs allow you to set available hardware resources to them maybe try searching the application help page or contacting its devs you may not need a third party tool

 

[Punx223]

Which video conversion program is it and which CPU?

I have run into this before and found ways to force it within the program itself as it simply didn't identify all cores as usable for the application (not optimized)

 

[lexluthermiester]

not sure but since some programs allow you to set available hardware resources to them maybe try searching the application help page or contacting its devs you may not need a third party tool

Settings do have a option for CPU thread and memory usage, but are set to defaults. Changing them to maximum values didn't do anything. Think I might just have to bite the bullet and uninstall/reinstall with fresh settings and re-setup the custom profiles again.

Which video conversion program is it and which CPU? I have run into this before and found ways to force it within the program itself as it simply didn't identify all cores as usable for the application (not optimized)

XMedia Recode

Am open trying something new as long as it is stand-alone(IE installs and runs offline) and is not expensive or possibly free like XMedia Recode.

 

[DRDNA]

Am open trying something new as long as it is stand-alone(IE installs and runs offline) and is not expensive or possibly free like XMedia Recode.

Try Handbrake yet? https://github.com/HandBrake/HandBrake

ITS FREE

 

[eidairaman1]

Perhaps a registry hack to prioritize the application.

I wonder ig a core unparker would be needed to change the registry at that point too...

 

[lexluthermiester]

Try Handbrake yet? https://github.com/HandBrake/HandBrake ITS FREE

While it's been a while, have tried it. Wasn't very intuitive and the results were not what was needed.

Perhaps a registry hack to prioritize the application.

Thought of that. Couldn't find where such entries would be located.

 

[eidairaman1]

Perhaps try this

https://superuser.com/questions/908848/how-do-i-permanently-set-the-affinity-of-a-process

Or these
https://www.raymond.cc/blog/permanently-set-process-priority-in-windows-task-manager-with-prio/

 

[Ebo]

Have you tried project mercury, that a core booster, try and look it up on google.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Perhaps try this https://superuser.com/questions/908848/how-do-i-permanently-set-the-affinity-of-a-process

Found that one, tried and didn't have any effect.

Or these https://www.raymond.cc/blog/permanently-set-process-priority-in-windows-task-manager-with-prio/

None of those worked either.

project mercury

Interesting, gonna read more about that one.

However, I did just unistall and then tested the portable version of XMR and it works. Grrr. Should have just tried that in the first place..

 

[er557]

I always create a right click shortcuts to launch an app with desired affinity, i.e run with 15 affinity, etc. Here's the tutorial with preset reg files ready

https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/83864-processor-affinity-add-set-affinity-context-menu.html

 

[Punx223]

Settings do have a option for CPU thread and memory usage, but are set to defaults. Changing them to maximum values didn't do anything. Think I might just have to bite the bullet and uninstall/reinstall with fresh settings and re-setup the custom profiles again.

XMedia Recode

Am open trying something new as long as it is stand-alone(IE installs and runs offline) and is not expensive or possibly free like XMedia Recode.

Did you list the CPU model somewhere? I have not seen it yet that I can find.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I always create a right click shortcuts to launch an app with desired affinity, i.e run with 15 affinity, etc. Here's the tutorial with preset reg files ready
https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/83864-processor-affinity-add-set-affinity-context-menu.html

Excellent! While the problem is solved, that is a very useful article. Thank You! Funny thing is, I'm frequent visitor to SevenForums and never crossed paths with that page.

Did you list the CPU model somewhere? I have not seen it yet that I can find.

Ruled out the hardware as no other programs are being affected in such a way.

 

[Punx223]

Excellent! While the problem is solved, that is a very useful article. Thank You! Funny thing is, I'm frequent visitor to SevenForums and never crossed paths with that page.

Ruled out the hardware as no other programs are being affected in such a way.

I was not based on failed hardware... was more asking so I have a reference point so I could just pull down the software you're using and test it in my R&D lab which is where my ass is planted ATM

I woudl like to try to repro your issues and see if I can help debug it rather than have you try to relearn a new SW if it can be easily patched or tweaked.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I was not based on failed hardware... was more asking so I have a reference point so I could just pull down the software you're using and test it in my R&D lab which is where my ass is planted ATM I woudl like to try to repro your issues and see if I can help debug it rather than have you try to relearn a new SW if it can be easily patched or tweaked.

Gotcha. The system in question is based on a Core i7 5820k.

Recently did a fresh install of Windows7 but copied over the XMR directory without reinstalling. When this problem was discovered, I reinstalled over the top of the existing directory as I wanted to keep the config and custom profiles intact. In the past, copying programs straight over has never produced this problem. Some programs require re-installation, rarely requiring a complete fresh install. Thinking it might have been a change made over a version change to XMR. They recently released a new version and this install was updated.

 

[newtekie1]

Did you go into the preferences of XMR and change the multi-threaded area to make sure everything was set to 0(Auto)? That might be why the portable version worked when the installed version didn't, I think they use different settings.

Also, I've switch to MeGUI a while ago for most of my encoding. It encodes so much faster than XMR for some reason. MeGUI looks a little overwhelming when you first open it, but if you just use the "One Click" option it is actually pretty easy to use.

 

[Punx223]

Gotcha. The system in question is based on a Core i7 5820k.

Recently did a fresh install of Windows7 but copied over the XMR directory without reinstalling. When this problem was discovered, I reinstalled over the top of the existing directory as I wanted to keep the config and custom profiles intact. In the past, copying programs straight over has never produced this problem. Some programs require re-installation, rarely requiring a complete fresh install. Thinking it might have been a change made over a version change to XMR. They recently released a new version and this install was updated.

Just to confirm same as newtekie1 Asked... you did set the multicore to 0 right?

 

[lexluthermiester]

Did you go into the preferences of XMR and change the multi-threaded area to make sure everything was set to 0(Auto)? That might be why the portable version worked when the installed version didn't, I think they use different settings.

Just to confirm same as newtekie1 Asked... you did set the multicore to 0 right?

Yes, all options in "MultiThread settings" were and are set to auto, which defaults to "0".

Also, I've switch to MeGUI a while ago for most of my encoding. It encodes so much faster than XMR for some reason. MeGUI looks a little overwhelming when you first open it, but if you just use the "One Click" option it is actually pretty easy to use.

Haven't seen that one before. Was reading on the SF page it needs a non-restricted operating folder. Did you follow that recommendation?

 

[natr0n]

http://systemexplorer.net/

I use this. It remembers affinity.

 

[newtekie1]

Haven't seen that one before. Was reading on the SF page it needs a non-restricted operating folder. Did you follow that recommendation?

Nope. I just download it, and run it. With the one-click it is pretty easy to use and you don't need any special setup. Though I do recommend setting it to use the developement update server under Settings -> Extra Configuration. Also there is a one time hoop you have to jump through if you use FDKAAC to encode your audio, you have to compile the FDKAAC.exe program yourself, but it is pretty easy to do. I used FDKAAC Autobuild to do everything for me and generate the fdkaac.exe file MeGUI needs: https://github.com/nu774/fdkaac_autobuild

I'm not sure what they are saying it needs an non-restricted opereating folder. If you use the One-Click function, it does everything in the folder the original media is located in. It also outputs to the original folder as well, though you can change that.

 

[lexluthermiester]

if you use FDKAAC to encode your audio

No, I like to keep things simple. Generally use AVI as a container, H264 for video and high bitrate MP3 for audio.

 

[OneMoar]

just because you can set affinity does not mean the program accually uses those cores

 

[lexluthermiester]

just because you can set affinity does not mean the program accually uses those cores

Task Manager performance window says otherwise. XMR is now completing it's work in half the time it was before the fresh install, indicating more threads and thus CPU resources are being used.

On a side note, I've been offered a really good deal on a Xeon E5-2667V2, which my board supports. Booyaah baby!

 

[OneMoar]

id be contacting the author of said program and asking him to fix the default
if its FFmpeg based you can specify how many cores to use with -threads 6 or whatever you neeed
most programs that use FFmpeg have a option to specify additional ffmpeg cmdline options

 

[lexluthermiester]

id be contacting the author of said program and asking him to fix the default
if its FFmpeg based you can specify how many cores to use with -threads 6 or whatever you neeed
most programs that use FFmpeg have a option to specify additional ffmpeg cmdline options

That's ok, it's been solved. No worries.