VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 8 of 8
Thread
  1. Member Yanta's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Australia
    Search Comp PM
    Hi,

    I am trying to play MKV files - My Blu-rays ripped to 1080p DTS (True-HD and MA in some cases) - across my network.

    The MKV files are stored on my Win 2008 R2 server and shared using Windows SMB shares.

    The PC in my bedroom is running 4gb Ram, I5-2500 CPU with Windows 7 Ultimate. It has an SSD boot drive, GTX-650 graphics card (gigabyte), with the latest drivers. The infrastructure is all gigabit. I can read files from network at constant 90MBs, and write and 60 - 80MB constant.

    The files have bitrates of 10MB or greater. Files with 4MB or less play fine.

    I've tried several versions of Potplayer, VLC and even resorted to Windows Media Player (as a last resort).

    Nothing seems to fix the problem.

    In VLC, the file will play for 2 - 3 seconds, stop for anything up to 30 seconds, then start again.
    In PotPlayer it just very choppy (Audio and video).
    Media Player is the same.

    Other than copying the files locally to my PC, is there a way I can play the files over the network properly?

    I read somewhere that running NFS on the server might help, but also saw some other threads saying that is a waste of time.

    Would appreciate some guidance and assistance.

    thanks
    tanya
    10940x with Creator X299 Motherboard, 32GB DRR4-3733, RTX 3080 Ti GPU
    Quote Quote  
  2. Originally Posted by Yanta View Post
    The files have bitrates of 10MB or greater. Files with 4MB or less play fine.
    You must mean 10 Mb/s, not 10 MB/s. 10 MB/s (80 Mb/s) would be way beyond Blu-ray spec.

    But since you are confusing Mb/s with MB/s -- maybe you're network throughput isn't what you think? 90 Mb/s is about right for a good 100Tx Ethernet setup. Are you sure you don't have a 100Tx switch/hub?

    Originally Posted by Yanta View Post
    Other than copying the files locally to my PC, is there a way I can play the files over the network properly?
    I have Gb LAN running between all the computers in the house and have no problems playing straight Blu-ray rips and even higher bitrates. The one device that has problems with high bitrate files is a Western Digital WDTV Live -- it only has a 100 Mb/s Ethernet port and a wimpy CPU. But it's good for up to 30 or 40 Mb/s h.264.

    Originally Posted by Yanta View Post
    I read somewhere that running NFS on the server might help, but also saw some other threads saying that is a waste of time.
    I don't think it's really a matter of NFS vs. NTFS, but better latency under Linux. You might try setting Windows to give priority to server tasks rather than foreground tasks.
    Quote Quote  
  3. Member Yanta's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Australia
    Search Comp PM
    Hi,

    thanks for your reply.

    Sorry, I meant 10 megabits.

    My cabling is all CAT6.

    All switches are gigabit. (Netgear GS108TV2) - http://www.netgear.com.au/images/pdf/gs108tv2_ds_10dec0918-5336.pdf

    On a gigabit network one might expect 125 megabytes of through put. The reading is definitely 90 mega BYTES sustained, and writing between 60 and 80 mega BYTES sustained. I would not expect to get those speeds on 100 megabit infrastructure.

    I have had 4 WDTV boxes. All of them ceased to work after 60 days. They would not see the network. I will never buy one of those again.

    There are no Linux boxes in this equation (I do have Linux boxes, but this is an issue between the Windows 2008 R2 server and a Windows 7 PC in my bedroom).

    I also tried clearing the VLC cache.

    There are no foreground tasks running on the server. It's used for WSUS and file storage only.
    10940x with Creator X299 Motherboard, 32GB DRR4-3733, RTX 3080 Ti GPU
    Quote Quote  
  4. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Location
    Deep in the Heart of Texas
    Search PM
    You might try setting Windows to give priority to server tasks rather than foreground tasks.
    That should already be the default for ANY Windows Server (I know it is with my 2003R2Std, NT4s & 2kASs, the 03 & 08s that I worked with at my last gig, and with SBS).

    Maybe the switch isn't configured for good streaming QoS. Stop+start asynchronous file packet transfers is not even close to the same thing as the consistent throughput needed for realtime media streaming.

    Sounds like you have, but just to make sure: have you tried actual benchmarking of LAN shares write+read transfers? Like this: http://www.rarst.net/software/lan-speed-test/

    Scott
    Quote Quote  
  5. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    666th portal
    Search Comp PM
    hate to ask but have you checked the server to make sure it isn't "owned" by someone off your network. a/v anti-trojan anti-rootkit. can you watch the task manager on the server while you try to play video to see what is actually being sent out over lan? and check cpu usage. even a 100mb lan should transport normal HD 1080p 10mbps video fine.
    --
    "a lot of people are better dead" - prisoner KSC2-303
    Quote Quote  
  6. Member Yanta's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Australia
    Search Comp PM
    Ok, I've now found this is happening on two PCs. One connected to the server through one gigabit switch, and one connected through two switches.

    Attempting to play the files the server shows no impact whatsoever. Task manager shows CPU usage at 0% - 1%. There were no other programs running (just the typical server processes).

    Using Kasperky KAV 10 Rescue disk there are no infections. I also use Malware bytes real time as well on all PCs.

    Have checked everything I can think of for ownership. I am not getting access denied errors. Everything looks fine. Don't know how to check "owneship of the server".

    Yes, I did benchmark the LAN speeds. Using that software, coincidentally. I've also just done simply copies in both directions.

    Tearing my hair out now..
    10940x with Creator X299 Motherboard, 32GB DRR4-3733, RTX 3080 Ti GPU
    Quote Quote  
  7. Originally Posted by Yanta View Post
    I also use Malware bytes real time as well on all PCs.
    Is it possible Malware bytes is scanning the video files as you play them?
    Quote Quote  
  8. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    666th portal
    Search Comp PM
    did you watch the task manager networking tab on a receiving pc? is the data transfer smooth and above the data rate of the video?
    --
    "a lot of people are better dead" - prisoner KSC2-303
    Quote Quote  
Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!