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Why PS4 downloads are so slow

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Re: Why PS4 downloads are so slow

#181

Post by Drdrdrq »

kiallmacinnes wrote: post #144
Drdrdrq wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of the reasons for Docker containers to be so popular. They are basically statically linked apps, carrying everything they need within themselves. But - I like that. Not having to worry about some library version because I know the obe that is supplied is the same one the developer put there. Nice.

I believe this is a myth! You still very much have to care - for security updates. However, more often than not, you've just lost visibility into what libraries and versions you're actually running..

Sure, but that should be part of updates. Even if developer doesn't take care of it, you can rebuild the image to update libraries. Of course app might stop working, but at least other apps/containers still work and you can revert the change easily.

Re: Why PS4 downloads are so slow

#182

Post by xorblurb »

amluto wrote: post #178
xorblurb wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Needing to wake up usermode is not necessarily an insurmountable obstacle; under Linux you can use a PREEMPT config. Storming a network card having unwanted consequences can also be mitigated: under Linux you have some network device driver that use an hybrid interrupt/polling approach with the NAPI. Combining both should theoretically allow a system to generate sound smoothly in the described conditions.

IMO you shouldn't really need to wake user mode that often. Just let user code buffer the output samples well ahead of the hardware needing them and have the kernel do the copies when needed.

Of course if you can do that, it's really good. However, sometimes you need low latency.

Re: Why PS4 downloads are so slow

#183

Post by lostlogin »

chii wrote: post #96
jzwinck wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely. And that "quick hack by default" person will often end up being the favorite of management because they get so many things "done." So it's important to figure out what kind of manager you have, and try not to be the slow guy on a team full of quick-hack people. You won't look good and nobody will be happy.

> the slow guy on a team full of quick-hack people isn't that called 'cultural fit'?

That assessment is best made by the People and Culture team, not you.

Re: Why PS4 downloads are so slow

#185

Post by mlonkibjuyhv »

matwood wrote: post #161
jsnell wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The other "trick" if a download is getting slow is to run the in built "network test". This seems to reset all the windows back even if other things are running. I did not see that in my testing. The built in speedtest runs with a large receive window, but the store downloads are not affected. (You can see an example in the last graph; there's a speedtest early on that has a receive window 100x larger than the PSN…

> It's probably just a placebo. Possibly, but I think the OP above was onto something about it 'resetting' the windows. I just tested downloading a large game while I had another game running. The PS4 showed it was going to take 6 hours. I closed the other game I had running, and it still showed 6 hours. I ran the speed test, and now it shows it's going to take 50 minutes. BTW, thanks for running these tests as I hav…

But how long did it end up actually taking?

Re: Why PS4 downloads are so slow

#186

Post by jsnell »

matwood wrote: post #161
jsnell wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The other "trick" if a download is getting slow is to run the in built "network test". This seems to reset all the windows back even if other things are running. I did not see that in my testing. The built in speedtest runs with a large receive window, but the store downloads are not affected. (You can see an example in the last graph; there's a speedtest early on that has a receive window 100x larger than the PSN…

> It's probably just a placebo. Possibly, but I think the OP above was onto something about it 'resetting' the windows. I just tested downloading a large game while I had another game running. The PS4 showed it was going to take 6 hours. I closed the other game I had running, and it still showed 6 hours. I ran the speed test, and now it shows it's going to take 50 minutes. BTW, thanks for running these tests as I hav…

My experience is that the finish time prediction isn't reliable. It's based average speed over the whole connection, not the current speed. So the projection will lag behind if the speed changes dramatically. Maybe the speedtest somehow resets the projection?

The measurement really needs to be done on the wire.

Re: Why PS4 downloads are so slow

#187

Post by FridgeSeal »

jsnell wrote: post #8
ckorhonen wrote: post #2

Interesting - definitely a problem I've encountered, though I had assumed the issues fell more on the CDN side of things. Anecdotally, when I switched DNS servers to Google vs. my ISP, PS4 download speeds improved significantly (20 minutes vs. 20 hours to download a a typical game).

Yeah, there are definitely other possible reasons. E.g. one workaround I found had Australian users block a specific IP in their firewall. Turns out the DNS configuration was bad, and they were getting an overseas CDN server every now and then. Due to the way the PS4 schedules the downloads (chunks downloaded serially, chunk boundaries at static byte offsets rather than based on time) having even one bad server in th…

I don't suppose you'd know what that ip is and if this fix still works do you?

Re: Why PS4 downloads are so slow

#188

Post by mikewhy »

HumbleGamer wrote: post #124
govg wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Upgrading a PC is a one time thing you need to do once every few years. You'd be "upgrading" your console by putting it in the bin and buying a new one, so I'm not sure what the argument is against PC gaming here...

There is a convenience factor. You dont have to think if you will be able to play 'xxxx' game on your ps4, if its a ps4 game. That plays heavily in keeping me away from PC gaming. I just dont want to have to even consider can I play the game or not.

Until the Pro and One X have been out for a bit, then the question might come up. Or "Pro only games", which they've said won't happen, but I can see any way around that other than "well you'll just have to accept the awful performance".

Re: Why PS4 downloads are so slow

#189

Post by ekianjo »

MBCook wrote: post #165
ekianjo wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You also get the downside of having to maintain/upgrade the PC, which is one of the things I was happy to leave behind when I became a console-only gamer. Oh, you mean the 15 mins swap of a graphics card every 3 years?

Plus researching WHICH graphics card to buy, plus constant driver upgrades, plus the driver upgrades may cause issues with some of your games... It's not as bad as it used to be… but it's still not like an appliance.

On Linux driver upgrades are pretty easy and I have not recently experienced any game break related to drivers. Getting much better than before, thats for sure.

Re: Why PS4 downloads are so slow

#190

Post by ekianjo »

ric2b wrote: post #149
ekianjo wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If my steam purchase downloaded super slow, I could simply get a refund on steam (an automated process) and purchase the same game on GOG, or on Humble Store I'm with you in general (PC Gamer here) but your example does not really work well. There are many games only available on Steam and not GOG, and while you get most Steam games (but not all) on Humble Bundle, Humble Bundle only gives you a Steam key so you are…

> Humble Bundle only gives you a Steam key so you are back to Steam and its potential issues. No, you can download the game directly from Humble Bundle but sometimes (often) they also give you a steam key.

No, only drm free purchases are like that but most of what you buy on the HB store are just steam keys.
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