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[Dotpitch]

Eh... If it's in the tray, isn't it minimized by default? If not, maybe it should be .

True, except when you have 'Always in tray' ticked.

[moriez]

One thing that stands out about the Lithe skin is that it uses a large (9MB) bitmap for the position knob/slider, but if that is the cause of the problem it shouldn't happen when XMPlay is minimized, as the position knob/slider shouldn't be updated then. Are you sure the problem did occur even when XMPlay was minimized, eg. might it have been in the tray without being minimized?

I am not sure at all because I don't minimize first but just click on the tray button to hide and show. The position knob/slider I never see because it runs in mini-mode all the time. The only things that move in mini-mode panel is the round position indicator on the left, the song title and track time. I will test Lithe again so we can draw some conclusions on the sucker. Right now, I have it set the way it was before: not minimized in tray.

[Pike84]

Eh... If it's in the tray, isn't it minimized by default? If not, maybe it should be .

True, except when you have 'Always in tray' ticked.

Ah, silly me... I even use "Always in tray" myself .

I haven't thought about it before, but my suggestion is actually valid. Could there be an option to make XMPlay be minimized automatically, whenever it loses focus?

[edit]Wrong thread for suggestions, but oh well...

[moriez]

It's still hard to get a hold of. In this latest test it only happened when XMP has focus. When in tray, whether minimized first or not, the peak drops. Also when it's peaking and I switch to another skin it drops but immediately returns when I choose Lithe again.

[Ian @ un4seen]

Does it happen when the Lithe skin is in normal and mini modes? The mini mode has a much smaller position bitmap, so if it is the bitmap size causing the problem, then I guess that should reveal it, ie. if it only happens in normal mode.

[moriez]

Happens in both modes. Usually I only make use of mini-mode.

[Dotpitch]

Do you have a particular track that always causes the peak CPU usage?

[moriez]

Unfortunately not. That's what makes it so hard to clear it up. The randomness. Or at least, I still think it is at random.

[Dotpitch]

Then I'd say it has to be something more than just the position indicator.

[Ian @ un4seen]

Happens in both modes. Usually I only make use of mini-mode.

OK. Perhaps it's related to the fact that a multi-state "knob" bitmap is being used for the position slider at all, not just the size of the bitmap. I don't think there are currently any other skins using that feature to make comparisons with, but here's a modified version without any position knob/slider in mini-mode...

   www.un4seen.com/stuff/Lithe-test.xmpskin

Does the problem still happen in mini-mode with that?

For reference, what Windows version and video card/chipset are you using, and are you using the latest driver for the video card?

[moriez]

Cheers. Will try it out. I am on XP SP3 with a Nvidia Geforce 6800. Not using the latest drivers. I gave up on these regular updates which added nothing but I will try latest if Lithe-test acts up.

Btw, I don't want to put a strain on you guys to fix this at any cost but if it's out of curiosity or helpful to the community I'm happy to contribute. The Royale Vista skin is an excellent replacement Lithe-test results in the exact same behavior even with latest drivers.

[Ian @ un4seen]

I wonder what it could be then, as there doesn't appear to be anything else out of the ordinary about the Lithe skin. One other thing to check... when the problem happens, is the title display scrolling? If so, you could try disabling the "Scroll long titles" option (in the "Titles" options page), and see if that makes any difference.

[moriez]

is the title display scrolling? If so, you could try disabling the "Scroll long titles" option (in the "Titles" options page), and see if that makes any difference.

Well well, heeere we go. You've nailed it with that one! That's the culprit! Still, I can't put my finger on when exactly. When it peaks on a long songtitle one moment it doesn't with another long songtitle the next moment. I leave it to you analytical minds but this is definitely a ''breakthrough'' and sufficient as far as I am concerned