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Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

JCEW
Aspirant

HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pro ??

Hello,
So sad, I am getting really frustrated. :?

I purchased a new high performance HTPC with Windows7 (for running Media Center), PowerDVD10 and a ReadyNAS Pro to watch and archive my HD movies using the ".ts" file format (ripped and converted using BDINFO & TSMUXER). Media player used for HD movies is the Microsoft Media Player 12 including all required codecs.

Everything runs smoothly and looks great - except playing HD movies from the ReadyNAS (CIFS) share. The movies play well if stored on the local HD on the HTPC, but not from the NAS share. The movies starting 5-10 seconds fine, then stuttering so much that you neither can watch or hear them. :oops:

LAN connection is 1Gbit, running at 1-3%. I tried so much, including increasing network buffers etc...nothing helped. :evil:

Any tips ?? Anything is highly appreciated.

Thank You, JCEW
P.S. Today I tried the ReadyDLNA feature...this feature appears not to work with W7 WMC (acting as DLNA client) at all ??
Message 1 of 27
xsspeed03
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

I have the same problem when streaming to my laptop.
I would like to mention another issue I've noticed when streaming HD video from my NAS to my PS3. The video will stutter if I try to transfer data from my laptop to the NAS while streaming video to my PS3.
The ReadyNAS Pro should have no problem with this. I have NAS Monitor installed, but I'm not sure what I should be looking for to know if the NAS is the issue here.

I have all CAT6a STP cables.
2Gbps teaming from the NAS to a Netgear GS108T switch.
1Gbps port on the PS3 which is connected to the GS108T.
1Gbps port on my laptop which is also connected to the GS108T.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks guys.
Message 2 of 27
solo8788
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

Sorry to say this, but it is a known problem.

http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=44760
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=45133

They both have a potential fix.
Message 3 of 27
JCEW
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

solo8788 wrote:
Sorry to say this, but it is a known problem.

http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=44760
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=45133

They both have a potential fix.


Thank You for pointing to the other two entries.
I changed the speed of the (Realtek) NIC at the HTPC from 1Gb down to 100mbit - but no change. Same stuttering, problem persists. No change at all, except that the movie starts significantly slower...and then stutters same way as before... 😞

Did I miss anything? Please help... :shock:

Thanks, Jan
Message 4 of 27
solo8788
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

You should rule out the router/switch, have you tried a direct connection?

http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=35583
Message 5 of 27
JCEW
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

solo8788 wrote:
You should rule out the router/switch, have you tried a direct connection?

http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=35583


Thank You. May be I did not get the point...

I have a Netgear unmanaged Gbit switch, which is connected to the HTPC (living room) and the ReadyNAS (other room). Where do I "rule out" the switch? ...another cable is not possible as I can not put another cable throughout the rooms...

Please advise, thanks, JAN
Message 6 of 27
sphardy1
Apprentice

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

Temporarily move the NAS to your living room and directly connect the HTPC to the NAS with a single ethernet cable - ethernet port to ethernet port - no switch at all. Instructions here.

If you can then stream without stuttering, you have diagnosed that the issue is somehow network related - first suspect being the switch
Message 7 of 27
JCEW
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

OK, thank you.

Will give it a try next days and keep you posted

Jan
Message 8 of 27
JCEW
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

OK, finally worked it out, unfortunatly the problem is still there.

I eliminated the switch by setting up the direct connection. SPHARDY, thank you very much for pointing to the instructions...

Even when directly connected, the HD video stutters...but not when played from local harddrive. The HTPC is an Intel i5, 8GB memory running 64bit W7 on a brand new ASUS board, which includes a Realtek Gbit NIC. It should be able to play HD movies like hell...

I am somewhat frustrated. HD movies playing fine from local drives, but stuttering from network drives. Regular DVD movies playing fine from local AND network drives. Both using same media player, the W7 built in MSFT mediaplayer. Codecs can not be an issues, otherwise the local stored HD movies would not play fine. Regardless if HD or DVD, CPU consumption never goes over 15-17%, memory is around 1.5GB...so the system is not very busy at all.

Anyone any tips/hints? ...can it be that the W7 firewall is blocking network traffic somewhat/somehow? I am using MS Security Essentials for virus protection... So, i deactivated the firewall and viruus protection. No change - is there anything which I may missed there? Or any others?

...PLEEEAAASE HEEELP :oops: :oops: :oops:
Message 9 of 27
sphardy1
Apprentice

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

Can you try something:

Stream an HD movie from the NAS to your PC - while it is playing (& stuttering) transfer another file or files to/from the NAS (anything large will do) and see if it has an impact on the movie playback

If the quality of playback IMPROVES - then have a read here: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=44713
Message 10 of 27
JCEW
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

sphardy, thank you for your further support... 😄

If i copy another larger file from NAS to HTPC stuttering gets much (!) worse....

I did read the thread you posted anyway and exchanged the Realtek NIC driver with the Microsoft NIC driver shipped with W7. I deleted the Realtek one, restarted the system and W7 installed a Microsoft NIC driver dated Feb 2008. (the thread was talking about a MSFT driver dated 2009...anyway..)

This MSFT driver makes that the movies running smoothly - but only if you do not press fastforward (FF), next chapter or others. If you let the move play (without touching) the movie plays. This is definetly some progress into the right direction :idea:

Downturn is, if I touch next chapter, it goes to next chapter and then the movie stutters again. Not as worse as before changing the NIC driver, but in a way that you can not watch the movie. Strange thing is that if i press stop, wait a few sconds, the movie plays a few seconds smoothly and then stutters again. Appears if the NAS and the HTPC getting out of sync???

While playing (smoothly) the movie the W7 task manager showing a 3.9% - 4.2% network consumption. After pressing FF or others the movie stutters and the network traffic is going down to 2.8-3.3% and not getting back to the prior level...

FYI, I checked for the latest Realtek driver (the preinstalled one was outdated, may be the vendor used and image with an outdated driver), installed it but this did not help either.

I tried jumbo frames and so on...no change...Any idea?

/Jan
Message 11 of 27
sphardy1
Apprentice

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

Symptoms sound like a buffering issue, but not much more I can suggest as I'm not a windows 7 user. As you may deduce from the other thread, there certainly seems to be some issue with Win 7 and the CIFs support in the latest firmware - I hope someone more familiar can offer a suggestion
Message 12 of 27
JCEW
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

IT IS DEFINETLY A READYNAS CIFS PROBLEM!!!

Finally, I tested streaming the HD (1080p) movie from ReadyNAS: stuttering all time, details...see my last posts. Firmware 4.2.11 and 4.2.15 same results. 😞

Then i tried streaming from another Windows7 PC (same network): runs flawless, like a charm, no stutters, instant fastforward or skipping chapters...HD streaming at its best 😄

This is the proof there is something broken in CIFS support of the ReadyNAS Pro. :evil:

Jedi Council or others, are you working on this???

Many users using the ReadyNAS for (HD/Bluray) movie archive and streaming and watching using W7 MediaCenter or others. It would be a shame if the ReadyNAS does not support HD movie streaming to local clients!!! :oops:

Please let me know, otherwise I have to sell the Pro at ebay and get another brand supporting HD movie streaming....Please help!!!

Thanks, Jan (would love to keep the Pro..)
Message 13 of 27
victorhortalive
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

I have another take on this same problem.

I'm copying between 2 ReadyNAS ProPioneers (backing up one onto the other).
The PC in the middle is a reasonably powered Win7 PC with a Realtek PCIe Gigabyte mobo NIC.
I'm running ViceVersa Pro 2.5 as the backup programme (see : http://www.tgrmn.com/)
Both NASs have the same drives (2TB Seagate 5900rpm drives) - NAS#1 has 5, NAS#2 has 6.
The network is connected by CAT6 through 3 Netgear GS108tV1 switches.

Here's where it gets interesting.

If I start one instance of VVPro2.5 to copy Share#1 on NAS#1 to BackupShare#1 on NAS#2, then I get erratic data rates similar to the Video stuttering data rate patterns.
If I then start a second instance of VVPro2.5 to copy Share#2 on NAS#1 to BackupShare#2 on NAS#2, then I get a nice smooth (and faster) data rate pattern.
(Also works fine with 3 and 4 instances, but the data rate saturates at 3)
The data being copied are video .iso files, each one 7GB or so in size.
Similar results are seen with smaller files down to 500MB or so.

The moment one of the instances is finished, the pattern reverts. Starting another instance recreates the smooth, better pattern.

It's as if NAS#1 doesn't have time to lose/drop the connection when dealing with 2+ read requests ?

PS
I don't get the same problem with drag/drop nor when running copy operations to/from just NAS to/from PC - so is it a NAS problem, a ViceVersa problem, a network problem or a PC OS/Driver problem ?
Message 14 of 27
Sunday_Afterno1
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

I have experienced the same problem with Realtak GigE NICs. I posted some details in another thread: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=44713&start=30#p255212

My solution is to use the Windows 7 default drivers and not use the offered upgrades in Windows update.
Message 15 of 27
victorhortalive
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

Thanks, I'll try that, but my install is the 32 bit version.
However, I had a worse problem with the original Win7 installed driver and partly fixed it by updating from the Realtek site.
So everytime I have to reinstall Win7, I always update the driver, but I'll see if the old driver is better.
I never use Windows update, but wait for the SPs.

I'll post the driver versions I use.
Message 16 of 27
Sunday_Afterno1
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

An update - I finally updated my Pro to f/w 4.2.15 for which the release notes list the following:
Fixed network dropout issues reported on the Pro, NVX, and Ultra series.

I then re-tried the Reaktek drivers that had been causing stuttering in the past and I again got video stuttering. So, I went back to the Windows drivers and the stuttering went away. There appear to be 2 available drivers, one that came with the Win7 Pro installation I have and one available through Windows Update (with a May date). The May driver appears to work fine for me.
Message 17 of 27
victorhortalive
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

Thanks. To be sure, can you post the driver info that works for you on 4.2.15.
The one I'm using that has the problems listed is : Realtek 25/10/2010 7.31.1025.2010
Message 18 of 27
Sunday_Afterno1
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

Here are the details of my successful driver.

The device name is listed as "Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20)".

The driver is by Microsoft, dated 5/14/2009, Version 7.2.1127.2008

With the unsuccessful driver, I get a different device name.
Message 19 of 27
JCEW
Aspirant

CIFS BUG: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

Hi Folks,

yes, the W7 default driver improves the situation, but does not solve the problem. The W7 client plays HD movies like charm when streaming from other servers, i.e. another W7 PC. This applies to the W7 default NIC driver and the latest Realtek NIC driver.

STUTTERING HD MOVIES (while streaming from ReadyNAS to W7 clients) IS DEFINETLY A READYNAS CIFS PROBLEM!!!

I tested all combinations streaming the HD (1080p) movie from ReadyNAS:
1) Realtek NIC driver (regardless of version) stuttering all time, details...see my last posts.
2) W7 default NIC driver: Movies with lower bandwith consumption starting, running smoothly - if you do not touch Pause or fastforward, if you do so the video stutters again.Probability of stuttering applies very much to HD movies with higher bandwith requirements or peaks (i.e. HD movies with multiple audio tracks etc.)
3) If you stream the HD movie - regardless if using Realtek or W7 driver - from another "server" (i.e. other PC running W7) everything runns smoothly and very (!) fast response to FF, skip chapters or other functions.

This applies to ReadyNAS Firmware 4.2.11 and 4.2.15 😞
This is a clear proof there is something broken in CIFS support of the ReadyNAS Pro. :evil:

PLEASE, can someone from ReadyNAS look into this...? Is anyone working on this???

Many users using the ReadyNAS for (HD/Bluray) movie archive and streaming and watching using W7 MediaCenter or others. It would be a shame if the ReadyNAS does not support HD movie streaming to W7 clients!!!

/Jan
Message 20 of 27
victorhortalive
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

Sunday Afternoon wrote:
Here are the details of my successful driver.

The device name is listed as "Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20)".

The driver is by Microsoft, dated 5/14/2009, Version 7.2.1127.2008

With the unsuccessful driver, I get a different device name.



Thanks, but no help to me in the end as I have the new 8111E version. This isn't in the Microsoft catalogue and so I'll have to use the Realtek versions.
I've tried a number of Realtek drivers and the newest one is better, but I'm also convinced that there is something not right in the bowels of the ReadyNAS CIFS code.
Message 21 of 27
solo8788
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

I definately agree that its something on the readynas. I'm not sure if this is related, but it does sound similar to our problem.

https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Linux_Performance
Message 22 of 27
victorhortalive
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

The new 4.2.16 seems to have improved things.
I'm running a backup up now between the 2x ProPioneers and I'm getting a smoothish datarate trace with 70MBps or so upstream and 70MBps downstream.
This is a lot better than previous.
Message 23 of 27
JCEW
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

victorhortaliveson wrote:
The new 4.2.16 seems to have improved things.
I'm running a backup up now between the 2x ProPioneers and I'm getting a smoothish datarate trace with 70MBps or so upstream and 70MBps downstream.
This is a lot better than previous.


Thanks for making me believe that there might be some light at the end of the tunnel :wink:

Are you able to test playing/streaming HD movies with the movie file stored on the NAS and played on the W7 client by MSFT MediaPlayer or MCE? When copying files from NAS (CIFS) to the W7 client the datastream here is showing 60MBps. CIFS absolute speed appears not the problem, it seems to something to with streaming HD movies (which require higher variable bandwith on demand)...or so...

AFAIK there is no way back from 4.2.16 to 4.2.15, therefore I want to be 100% sure the problem is solved before upgrading...after 4.2.16 has been released...

/Jan
Message 24 of 27
victorhortalive
Aspirant

Re: HELP: HD movies stuttering when playing from ReadyNAS Pr

I'm not sure I can do that yet.

What I can do is :
1. Stream SD movies as .iso from ProPioneer to Netgear NTV550 to Sony TV. Works fine (but always did)
2. Ditto to PC running Windows Media Player. Also works fine.

I don't have any HD content for the moment, but might have some in a few weeks. (needs the purchase of a BluRay PC reader).

I think the problem was not so much the absolute data rate as the variability.
According to NetMeter, the "real-time" data trace is now pretty good - without the ups and downs of previous.
Message 25 of 27
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