Massive stutter + "No unused sound buffers to free, using xxxxxxxx bytes !" in Sadrith Mora/Wolverine Hall

[Balmoraishome]

Hey guys!

So I'm having some major performance issues in Sadrith Mora/Wolverine Hall. The game stutters heavily in the general area and makes it a pain to visit the city.

On investigating and looking at the openmw.log, I am SPAMMED with the following message:

"No unused sound buffers to free, using xxxxxxxx bytes !"

Where xxxxxxxx is a "random" number.

This is definitely a mod issue, as I tested with vanilla morrowind and everything was smooth, then tested with the official plugins, and everything was working fine.

I'm trying to figure out what mod is causing this - maybe someone could tell me what this error message means so I can better figure out my issue?

[Pop000100]

we cant know what mod is causing it with a list.

[Chris]

I'm trying to figure out what mod is causing this - maybe someone could tell me what this error message means so I can better figure out my issue?

The message means the sound buffer cache is using more memory than it's allowed to, and there's not enough unused cache entries to bring it back down. It can happen if you're using mods that add long, high-quality sound effects, and mods that play a lot of those sounds continuously (music doesn't count; that's streamed, not cached).

The default cache sizes are fine for the vanilla game, though they may be a bit low for mods that add a lot of (high quality) ambient sounds. In your screen shot I see at one point it's using almost 52MB, where the default max cache size is 16MB (it will still load and play the extra sounds, it just complains about it and will be quick to free what it can next time). The cache sizes can be changed by editing settings.cfg:
https://openmw.readthedocs.io/en/master ... -cache-min
https://openmw.readthedocs.io/en/master ... -cache-max

It might not be a bad idea to increase the default cache sizes, although I wouldn't know what an appropriate size would be. Setting the max to 64MB would eliminate the warnings I see in that log, though it probably should be higher to leave enough head room (the idea is that the cache can comfortably hold a more than it will need to use at a given time, so by the time buffers get purged, it will remove sounds that haven't played in a good while and aren't likely to play again soon).

[Balmoraishome]

we cant know what mod is causing it with a list.

Thanks for the replies guys!

Here's my current mod list:

Spoiler: Show

content=Morrowind.esm
content=abotGondoliers.esp
content=adamantiumarmor.esp
content=AreaEffectArrows.esp
content=Tribunal.esm
content=bcsounds.esp
content=Ashlander_Transports.esp
content=Bloodmoon.esm
content=EBQ_Artifact.esp
content=entertainers.esp
content=LeFemmArmor.esp
content=master_index.esp
content=RealSignposts.esp
content=Siege at Firemoth.esp
content=Simple Balmora Player Home.ESP
content=abotBoats.esp
content=Adventurer's backback.ESP
content=On the move.esp
content=tong.ESP
content=Animated Morrowind 1.0.esp
content=1SB_LightBonemold.ESP
content=MabrigashArmoredRobes_NPC.ESP
content=Silt Strider Armor - Ashlander Guards.ESP
content=Argonian_Armor_sets.esp
content=sg1_alchemy_book.esp
content=DwemerClock.esp
content=LittleHazel.esm
content=Lucrative_Hunting.esp
content=OAAB Armor Preview.ESP
content=HYSHYL.esp
content=gr_AetheriumForging.esp
content=KS_Julan_Ashlander Companion_2.0.esp
content=ManualIntelligence's Throwing Spears.esp
content=Welcome to the Arena! v6.6.esp
content=RR_Windoors_Glow_1C.esp
content=Windows Glow - Tribunal Eng.esp
content=Windows Glow - Bloodmoon Eng.esp
content=Goggles 2.0.esp
content=Scout's Services 2.esp
content=beware of pickpockets! 1.3.esp
content=Imperials Go Home v1.esp
content=Graphic Herbalism.esp
content=Animated_Morrowind - merged.esp
content=JVtweak.omwaddon
content=Blightward Player Home.ESP
content=CM_Minor_Quests_1.2.esp
content=Packs.ESP
content=PW_durzog_quivers.esp
content=bw_striderports.esp
content=NX9_Guards_Complete.ESP
content=Gluby's Creature Loot Mod v1.11.esp
content=PlayerTasks.ESP
content=Tamriel_Data.esm
content=Graphic Herbalism Tamriel_Data.esp
content=PC_Stirk_v4.8.ESP
content=NX9 Redoran Founders.ESP
content=NX9_Guard_LGRedoran_Patch.ESP
content=Redoran War and Sathil Mercenary Armor.ESP
content=Sky_Main.esp
content=hunters_achievements.esp
content=Ald-Ruhn game of three cups.esp
content=Clean {KON}Shields On The Back.esp
content=Clean jac_bearcub.ESP
content=Carry your Bedroll.esp
content=DM_DB Armor Replacer.esp

Plus a few esp-less mods such as ones that add splash screens, Windows glow, Darknut's textures. NONE of these plugin-less mods are the culprit though, already tested.

EDIT: After more testing, I found this line in my log. Is this a clue to solving what's causing my issue?

[Balmoraishome]

The message means the sound buffer cache is using more memory than it's allowed to, and there's not enough unused cache entries to bring it back down. It can happen if you're using mods that add long, high-quality sound effects, and mods that play a lot of those sounds continuously (music doesn't count; that's streamed, not cached).

OK that could narrow down the list.. I can think of a few mods of mine that adds sounds to Sadrith Mora/Wolverine Hall:

Animated Morrowind, Animated Morrowind II, Animated Morrowind extended, Abot's Boats, Banners with sound.

It might not be a bad idea to increase the default cache sizes, although I wouldn't know what an appropriate size would be. Setting the max to 64MB would eliminate the warnings I see in that log, though it probably should be higher to leave enough head room (the idea is that the cache can comfortably hold a more than it will need to use at a given time, so by the time buffers get purged, it will remove sounds that haven't played in a good while and aren't likely to play again soon).

What effect would this have on my game and computer? I'm very much a technical "idiot", so I have no clue what the effect on my computer would be if I changed the max cache size to 64MB+

EDIT: After more testing I found this in my openmw.log. Is this helpful to finding out the cause of my issue?

[Chris]

What effect would this have on my game and computer? I'm very much a technical "idiot", so I have no clue what the effect on my computer would be if I changed the max cache size to 64MB+

Shouldn't have much (if any) negative effect, since it's not that much more memory. I'd probably increase the min cache size too, to avoid clearing too many buffers (i.e. sounds that have a good chance of playing again soon) when the max is reached.

EDIT: After more testing I found this in my openmw.log. Is this helpful to finding out the cause of my issue?

No. Those are just extra silent music files being played, to randomize the amount of time between actual music tracks.

[Balmoraishome]

What effect would this have on my game and computer? I'm very much a technical "idiot", so I have no clue what the effect on my computer would be if I changed the max cache size to 64MB+

I'd probably increase the min cache size too, to avoid clearing too many buffers (i.e. sounds that have a good chance of playing again soon) when the max is reached.

Thanks for the advice, will definitely try out that and test the issue again.

What would you suggest I change the min cache size to?

So max should be 64MB+ (I'm thinking 66MB?) and min cache size should be set to...?

[Balmoraishome]

UPDATE:

OK. Played with the min/max buffer cache settings and sadly this does NOT help the stuttering in performance.

It DOES, however, get rid of the "No unused sound buffers to free, using xxxxxxxx bytes" message in the openmw.log, so I guess that's a positive.

[lysol]

It's probably the physics bug again. In certain places with complex objects, the physics engine hits the roof. This is partly fixed in the upcoming 0.42. Are you by any chance running 0.41 now? If yes, try download the latest RC or the latest nightly.

[Balmoraishome]

It's probably the physics bug again. In certain places with complex objects, the physics engine hits the roof. This is partly fixed in the upcoming 0.42. Are you by any chance running 0.41 now? If yes, try download the latest RC or the latest nightly.

Ah ok. I am, in fact, running the latest nightly build (22nd July), though!

But the weird thing is when disabling all my mods and just using vanilla + DLCs + official plugins, the issue isn't there and I'm able to walk without the game stuttering.