System shuts down when encoding specific files

[dfresh4130]

I've encountered an unusual problem when re-encoding some files.  My problem is they won't play natively on my Roku2 XS or my Sony SMP-N100 so I'm re-encoding them with H.264/AAC in the MP4 container.  Within about 10-20 minutes the system will just be powered off.  At first I thought it might be my system overheating, but then I remembered I'm able to encode other files with no problems.  An example is taking an H.264/AC3 in MKV and changing it to Xvid/MP3 in AVI.  My system is Linux Mint 11 with all the latest updates.  Below is the output of my file I'm trying to re-encode from mplayer's identify option.  Not sure how to continue troubleshooting this one.  Any suggestions are appreciated. 

Code Select Expand


mplayer -vo null -ao null -identify -frames 0 VIDEO.mkv

mplayer: Symbol `ff_codec_bmp_tags' has different size in shared object, consider re-linking
MPlayer 1.0rc4-4.5.2 (C) 2000-2010 MPlayer Team
mplayer: could not connect to socket
mplayer: No such file or directory
Failed to open LIRC support. You will not be able to use your remote control.

Playing VIDEO.mkv.
ID_VIDEO_ID=0
[mkv] Track ID 1: video (V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC), -vid 0
ID_AUDIO_ID=0
ID_AID_0_LANG=eng
[mkv] Track ID 2: audio (A_DTS), -aid 0, -alang eng
ID_SUBTITLE_ID=0
ID_SID_0_LANG=eng
[mkv] Track ID 3: subtitles (S_TEXT/ASS), -sid 0, -slang eng
ID_SUBTITLE_ID=1
ID_SID_1_LANG=rum
[mkv] Track ID 4: subtitles (S_TEXT/UTF8), -sid 1, -slang rum
[mkv] Will play video track 1.
Matroska file format detected.
VIDEO:  [avc1]  1280x720  24bpp  23.976 fps    0.0 kbps ( 0.0 kbyte/s)
ID_FILENAME=VIDEO.mkv
ID_DEMUXER=mkv
ID_VIDEO_FORMAT=avc1
ID_VIDEO_BITRATE=0
ID_VIDEO_WIDTH=1280
ID_VIDEO_HEIGHT=720
ID_VIDEO_FPS=23.976
ID_VIDEO_ASPECT=1.7778
ID_AUDIO_FORMAT=8193
ID_AUDIO_BITRATE=0
ID_AUDIO_RATE=48000
ID_AUDIO_NCH=6
ID_START_TIME=0.00
ID_LENGTH=3121.03
ID_SEEKABLE=1
ID_CHAPTERS=0
==========================================================================
Opening video decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg's libavcodec codec family
Selected video codec: [ffh264] vfm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg H.264)
==========================================================================
ID_VIDEO_CODEC=ffh264
==========================================================================
Opening audio decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg/libavcodec audio decoders
AUDIO: 48000 Hz, 2 ch, s16le, 1536.0 kbit/100.00% (ratio: 192000->192000)
ID_AUDIO_BITRATE=1536000
ID_AUDIO_RATE=48000
ID_AUDIO_NCH=2
Selected audio codec: [ffdca] afm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg DTS)
==========================================================================
AO: [null] 48000Hz 2ch s16le (2 bytes per sample)
ID_AUDIO_CODEC=ffdca
Starting playback...


Exiting... (End of file)
ID_EXIT=EOF


[Agent_007]

If you have multicore system, the x264 encoder will tax it more than Xvid does. I would bet on overheating, since driver bugs and memory corruptions should usually cause kernel panics.

[dfresh4130]

That makes sense.  Guess I'll have to check out the CPU and see if it needs a new heatsink.  Do you know if there's a way to limit the amount of CPU/cores avidemux uses?  Thanks

[Jan Gruuthuse]

Yes you can limit the cores used or lower priority of processes in avidemux: Preferences -> [Threading] in Multi Threading and Prioritisation
Dust could be a culprit to. Use a "dried air" spray can to blow dust from cpu cooler and check case fans to.

[zakk]

That way CPU will still be used at 100%.
What you could do is change Preferences/Threading to avoid usin all cores.

[nibbles]

I agree with Agent_007.  There are clues to the problem.  If the issue is software like avidemux itself, the program would crash, and the OS would tell you that.  If the issue is drivers, like video card drivers or sound card drivers causing memory corruption in sensitive locations that have privileges to write in, the OS can't recover from that and you get a kernel panic in Unix or a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) on Windows.  If the problem is overheating, an inadequate power supply, or hardware like a funky mouse or broken video card, then the system will either freeze or spontaneously reboot.  If your computer is set to not automatically restart after a power outage, it might not actually reboot but just stay off.

So how do you test for these things?  You run Prime95 in torture test mode and see if it fails.  That's more consistent that trying to encode something, but it's the same idea, stress testing.  Good luck.