Movies accelerate and freezing

S

Skinamp

Member
Hi there,

i'll try to explain my problem, i have the MiniX U1 connected trough 4 port LAN switch and a second 8 port switch to the Router.
My NAS QNAP TS-469L with 3Gb RAM is connected to the router directly.

When i play movies from NAS on my Laptop (LAN connected trough 8 port switch) everything is fine, no problems, not even with the biggest files.
When i play movies from MiniX some of them "not all of them", and i found no difference in avi. mkv or video_ts behave strange. The soundtrack
plays like there is no problem at all, this means no interruptions in playback. At the same time the video freezes, waits 5 to 10 or even up to 30
seconds and then suddenly accelerates (playing 2 till 3 times faster then normal) and then playing less then 60 seconds normal to start freezing again.
I use SMB to connect and play video's with Kodi.

I use both switches for more than 2 years without problems, the freezing thing is new !!
I already reset the MiniX to factory settings and installed Kodi fresh, without any result.
What could cause this ?
 
Skinamp said:
Hi there,

i'll try to explain my problem, i have the MiniX U1 connected trough 4 port LAN switch and a second 8 port switch to the Router.
My NAS QNAP TS-469L with 3Gb RAM is connected to the router directly.

When i play movies from NAS on my Laptop (LAN connected trough 8 port switch) everything is fine, no problems, not even with the biggest files.
When i play movies from MiniX some of them "not all of them", and i found no difference in avi. mkv or video_ts behave strange. The soundtrack
plays like there is no problem at all, this means no interruptions in playback. At the same time the video freezes, waits 5 to 10 or even up to 30
seconds and then suddenly accelerates (playing 2 till 3 times faster then normal) and then playing less then 60 seconds normal to start freezing again.
I use SMB to connect and play video's with Kodi.

I use both switches for more than 2 years without problems, the freezing thing is new !!
I already reset the MiniX to factory settings and installed Kodi fresh, without any result.
What could cause this ?
Click to expand...

Hopefully making the adjustments as @Skynet has already advised will solve your problems & you'll soon be back to trouble free entertainment again :).

However, one thing you could quickly try before you start getting stuck in making any serious changes is to double check the actual minimum SMB version protocol that you've set your QNAP NAS to, or that it was already set to by default. SMB V1, SMB V2 or SMB V3.

Once determined, Kodi itself also has a specific setting for adjusting the minimum SMB version that it can be instructed to use, again, SMB V1, SMB V2 or SMB V3. (By default, this setting in Kodi is set to the slowest & the least insecure minimum of SMB V1 & you could actually get away with simply adjusting that setting in Kodi alone to SMB V2 & voila, problem solved. Obviously there are other factors & variables involved so that will depend.) Ergo, depending on the compatibility & capabilities of your particular NAS, ideally you want this setting at least set to a minimum of SMB V2 if you can. It's far more secure & it's quicker than V1 too. If available, you could even try out setting SMB V3 on the NAS, but bear in mind that if hard set on the NAS, ANY other client device that currently has or that you may need to have access in the future must also support the same minimum SMB version that you hard set which could possibly lead to incompatibility issues!!!

Hard setting SMB V2 on your NAS would be the safer compromise than going straight up to SMB V3 & then experiencing access problems with other devices. You can always adjust this setting again later to increase it if appropriate & applicable, or decrease it if if V2 happens to cause issues :).

That may be all you need to look in to & your problems could be solved with the absolute minimum of fuss. Obviously, it's your choice entirely if you'd like to attempt the quickest fix possible or get a bit more involved with NFS with the possibility that you'd also come to prefer the NFS protocol too :).

Like @Skynet , I also prefer the NFS protocol myself when it comes to my NAS' & the multiple client devices having access to my shared folders, data & media. But, that's not to write SMB off totally as being utter rubbish or useless as it isn't. It may just need your server & clients to be on the same page & the best page, so to speak ;). NFS does need a little extra configuration over SMB, however, as SMB is more "plug N play" based. NFS generally needs more specific security permissions per shared folder, hostname or IP access permissions, & more such as specifically mapping users (clients) to your admin account. Obviously, you'll need to research the basics for your particular NAS & its configuration.

If you're not familiar with NFS vs SMB you'll want to have a brief surf around first, probably in particular on the QNAP website to just get an idea of what's involved, the differences, & what to expect ;). (Personally, all of my NAS are Synology so I can't be more specific for you with regards to instructions for a QNAP ;)!!)

Hopefully @Skynet has immediately put you onto the right track for this problem & one or the other option will help with your current issues. But, you know where we are if the problems persist beyond making some adjustments to your NAS & Kodi on your U1 :).

Fingers crossed this particular avenue of exploration will immediately help with your U1 playback issues :).

Keep us updated as to your progress if you wish :).
 
Hi ArcticWolf, thnx for your reply. Lack of time at the moment forces me to try all tips tomorrow.
I have a lot to read and try and hope the solution is to find in your or Skynet's ideas.
I'll let you know the result !
 
Skinamp said:
Hi ArcticWolf, thnx for your reply. Lack of time at the moment forces me to try all tips tomorrow.
I have a lot to read and try and hope the solution is to find in your or Skynet's ideas.
I'll let you know the result !
Click to expand...

Thank you also, & you're welcome :).

Not a problem!!

The information provided is there for you purely as a reference as per your personal choice, & in your own time.

Cheers :).
 
Well, i checked the SMB version in use, it was set to V3, i don't know why so i set it back to V2 (no result)
I installed the Ares repo and set the buffering memory to the advised amount (no result)

Then i tried NFS option to access the movies on NAS. When i click NFS the system freezes for several seconds
and after freezing nothing has happened. So i don't know how to set it up. I used the helpfiles on QNap website
to set NFS on the NAS using the internal NAS Ip adress "see scrsht" but it won't work.
 

Attachments

  • NFS.jpg
    NFS.jpg
    37.3 KB · Views: 8
Skinamp said:
Well, i checked the SMB version in use, it was set to V3, i don't know why so i set it back to V2 (no result)
I installed the Ares repo and set the buffering memory to the advised amount (no result)

Then i tried NFS option to access the movies on NAS. When i click NFS the system freezes for several seconds
and after freezing nothing has happened. So i don't know how to set it up. I used the helpfiles on QNap website
to set NFS on the NAS using the internal NAS Ip adress "see scrsht" but it won't work.
Click to expand...

Have you tried mapping users to admin under the squash option?

Syno NAS' also have a specific option for allowing the use of non-priveleged ports under the NFS permissions, does QNAP have a similar setting? If yes, select it.

Just double checking, is 192.168.2.8 definitely the IP address of your U1?

BTW, if the setting you changed on your NAS was set to SMB V3 by default & everything was otherwise working fine, which all indications would suggest it was, I'd leave it set to SMB V3. Obviously, it varies by device/software but some are a hard setting to use that version only while others are to use it as a minimum.

The last thing we want is to introduce new problems for you.

If this doesn't help, try clearing the cache for Kodi as normal.

Have you also tried clearing Kodi's data? Obviously this will wipe Kodi clean but sometimes this is necessary.

Failing all of that, can you try moving your U1 up the chain? Test it with either a direct connection to the router or connected to your 8 port switch. That may at least give you a quick & simple indication if something is going on downstream so to speak.

Lastly, there may also be the consideration of factory resetting your U1 as well but you have a few things to try before you get to that particular option.

Keep us updated :).
 
The V2 works just as good as V3, but i'll bring it back to V3 if thats better.
The mentioned IP is the IP of the NAS, so i made a mistake there, changed it to 192.168.2.33 what's the IP of the Minix.
Also had to change a lot of read/write access settings and at least i got NFS to work, unfortunately the freezing
stays. I already brought the MiniX back to factory settings because of this freezing thing.

I'll try cleaning the Kodi cache, have to google a bit to find out how, but i'll manage ;-)
Moving the U1 up the chain is not possible because of its location and it used to work just fine until for some months.

I used Exodus to clear the cache, freezing stays!
I'll try loading the movie i'am testing on again, but i know there are more movies with this problem.

I'm out of options )-:
 
Skinamp said:
The V2 works just as good as V3, but i'll bring it back to V3 if thats better.
The mentioned IP is the IP of the NAS, so i made a mistake there, changed it to 192.168.2.33 what's the IP of the Minix.
Also had to change a lot of read/write access settings and at least i got NFS to work, unfortunately the freezing
stays. I already brought the MiniX back to factory settings because of this freezing thing.

I'll try cleaning the Kodi cache, have to google a bit to find out how, but i'll manage ;-)
Moving the U1 up the chain is not possible because of its location and it used to work just fine until for some months.

I used Exodus to clear the cache, freezing stays!
I'll try loading the movie i'am testing on again, but i know there are more movies with this problem.

I'm out of options )-:
Click to expand...

Don't use Exodus to clear the cache as this may not be sufficient, clear the cache from the U1's settings.

It sounds like you have an awful lot of add-ons installed to Kodi as well !!

Try clearing Kodi's data again or uninstall/reinstall Kodi & try it as minimal as possible without installing a bunch of add-ons.

If you're trying a fresh install of Kodi but you then load a backup as well, you could also immediately be introducing the same problem files back in too.
 
Pffff, next mistake.... Instead of clearing the cache from U1 i set factory defaults. So, i can make a second fresh start ;-)
normaly i have exodus and one or two other adons installed. So i think this must be possible?
After installing Kodi again and adding my movies (this may take a long time with 5000 movies on several
attached drives) i'll be back and hope the problem is gone with the wind.....
 
Skinamp said:
Pffff, next mistake.... Instead of clearing the cache from U1 i set factory defaults. So, i can make a second fresh start ;-)
normaly i have exodus and one or two other adons installed. So i think this must be possible?
After installing Kodi again and adding my movies (this may take a long time with 5000 movies on several
attached drives) i'll be back and hope the problem is gone with the wind.....
Click to expand...

Lol.

Technically you could install 100 or more add-ons to Kodi. It's possible, but what performance effects that may have could be wide & varied lol ;).

Such a massive library with Kodi on the U1 itself building & managing the database could also affect how Kodi performs too. (Not to mention it is a giant pain in the backside rebuilding such a big library after wiping Kodi. Even cleaning your library must take some considerable time?)

You could also consider running a MySQL server on your NAS which will then takeover management of your Kodi database. Your U1 would then simply become a client to access that data as required freeing up additional resources :).

However, whilst not rocket science, setting up MySQL does entail additional configuration so don't just jump into that without doing some homework first ;).

In the meantime, hope you've discovered what your original cause was :).
 
:)

i first installed a link to the network attached drive where the problem (test) video is stored. Playing the
movie is oke now. So i will install my addons one by one and test after every install if the movie still
plays the way it should.

I would like to use MySQL but i know i will not get it to work, lack of experience and
the websites explaining howto set it up are in English and go beyond my knowledge.

Thnx for the help and if i find what caused the problem, i'll report it here !!
 
Skinamp said:
After installing Kodi again and adding my movies (this may take a long time with 5000 movies on several
Click to expand...
im no expert of library sizes etc but 5000 does seem like a very large media libary and must take up a significanr amount of avaiable storage space ?
 
pusb87, where do i find the size of the library?

i do not know if it makes a difference, i have one attached drive containing several folders with movies
f.e. Drive "Multimedia" contains the folders (2D movies boxset) - (3D Movies) - (2D Movies_1) - (2D Movies_2) and (Docu). All together
about 4200 movies. I used to add each folder seperately to the Kodi library using SMB
Now i just added the complete drive "Multimedia" with NFS in one action, the result seems the same.

Now i'm unsure if this contentscanning makes a difference to the Library size?

P.S.
See screenshot
i dont think i used much memory
 

Attachments

  • mem.jpg
    mem.jpg
    90.4 KB · Views: 8
Skinamp said:
pusb87, where do i find the size of the library?

i do not know if it makes a difference, i have one attached drive containing several folders with movies
f.e. Drive "Multimedia" contains the folders (2D movies boxset) - (3D Movies) - (2D Movies_1) - (2D Movies_2) and (Docu). All together
about 4200 movies. I used to add each folder seperately to the Kodi library using SMB
Now i just added the complete drive "Multimedia" with NFS in one action, the result seems the same.

Now i'm unsure if this contentscanning makes a difference to the Library size?

P.S.
See screenshot
i dont think i used much memory
Click to expand...
as i said im no expert on libraries......you may want to look at the kodi wiki for more info...i guess you could see file sizes using es file explorer.

my thoughts really were that for every movie etc there must be an index and meta data associated with it and for a very large library size that may be quite large and have an impact on system performance....i was just throwing it out there as a possible reason for your freezing

another thought is maybe you have either update library on startup enabled, or when you do a manual update , because it is so large that it consumes resources ??
 
pusb87 said:
im no expert of library sizes etc but 5000 does seem like a very large media libary and must take up a significanr amount of avaiable storage space ?
Click to expand...

Depends on the file format/encoding/compression of the movie files themselves really. If they're all (or mostly) just low quality SD XviD/DivX rips (for example) you could potentially fit a relatively large library of 5000+ movies onto a single external 4TB drive or NAS.

Obviously, what could come into play as a library grows larger based on individual settings/options is Kodi's locally stored user data, .db files, thumbnails and/or optional extra thumbnails, add-on data, etc. etc. etc. All stored on the U1's internal storage. Or, is that what you were actually referring to in the first place :)?

(Despite one of my NAS' running a MySQL server for Kodi my U9-H is still very nearly full, mainly because of the thumbnails, however.)

Skinamp said:
I would like to use MySQL but i know i will not get it to work, lack of experience and
the websites explaining howto set it up are in English and go beyond my knowledge.

Thnx for the help and if i find what caused the problem, i'll report it here !!
Click to expand...

If it's something you are interested in, it's actually not that difficult to get up & running :). (I researched it for some time before I went ahead with the whole idea of MySQL, but I was getting completely hung up on the fact I was running multiple NAS' /sources & every written or video tutorial I found just went through the process with one NAS. After eventually explaining my scenario on the Kodi forums & asking for assistance with MySQL there it turned out I had been totally overthinking the whole subject, (not particularly common that I've been accused of that PMSL LOL ;) :) ).

Depending on the capabilities of your particular NAS too (I haven't looked it up), it can literally be as simple as installing & configuring a couple of packages on the NAS following written or video tutorials, & configuring your first Kodi client which is incredibly simple. (After that you just copy a couple of files from the initial Kodi client & drop them into Kodi on other machines & that's it, your library immediately appears :).)

The main questions are more, is MySQL something you'd really benefit from or find useful? I.e. if you do run 2 or more devices with Kodi it can be incredibly convenient in many ways. Not just by having a central database, but your own user ratings or watched status/resume points are all stored by the MySQL system. You can literally stop watching a movie from Kodi in your lounge/den/whatever & immediately pick it up from the same point with a Kodi device in a bedroom etc.

Additionally, if you're constantly testing different devices that may require frequent factory resets or updates that wipe all data etc., MySQL is perfect as your library database is already stored centrally on the NAS. (Even if you use the backup add-on in Kodi (which I do myself), even that can still take time to reatore etc. but in the meantime you can literally have Kodi back up & running again in seconds after the reset/wipe just by pasting a couple of files in :). No more waiting for Kodi to rebuild your library each & every time :).

I wouldn't say go ahead & set it all up or use it arbitrarily. Think about how it could possibly benefit you & then go from there.
 
pusb87 said:
im no expert of library sizes etc but 5000 does seem like a very large media libary and must take up a significanr amount of avaiable storage space ?
Click to expand...
pusb87 said:
as i said im no expert on libraries......you may want to look at the kodi wiki for more info...i guess you could see file sizes using es file explorer.

my thoughts really were that for every movie etc there must be an index and meta data associated with it and for a very large library size that may be quite large and have an impact on system performance....i was just throwing it out there as a possible reason for your freezing

another thought is maybe you have either update library on startup enabled, or when you do a manual update , because it is so large that it consumes resources ??
Click to expand...
ArcticWolf said:
Depends on the file format/encoding/compression of the movie files themselves really. If they're all (or mostly) just low quality SD XviD/DivX rips (for example) you could potentially fit a relatively large library of 5000+ movies onto a single external 4TB drive or NAS.

Obviously, what could come into play as a library grows larger based on individual settings/options is Kodi's locally stored user data, .db files, thumbnails and/or optional extra thumbnails, add-on data, etc. etc. etc. All stored on the U1's internal storage. Or, is that what you were actually referring to in the first place :)?

(Despite one of my NAS' running a MySQL server for Kodi my U9-H is still very nearly full, mainly because of the thumbnails, however.)



If it's something you are interested in, it's actually not that difficult to get up & running :). (I researched it for some time before I went ahead with the whole idea of MySQL, but I was getting completely hung up on the fact I was running multiple NAS' /sources & every written or video tutorial I found just went through the process with one NAS. After eventually explaining my scenario on the Kodi forums & asking for assistance with MySQL there it turned out I had been totally overthinking the whole subject, (not particularly common that I've been accused of that PMSL LOL ;):) ).

Depending on the capabilities of your particular NAS too (I haven't looked it up), it can literally be as simple as installing & configuring a couple of packages on the NAS following written or video tutorials, & configuring your first Kodi client which is incredibly simple. (After that you just copy a couple of files from the initial Kodi client & drop them into Kodi on other machines & that's it, your library immediately appears :).)

The main questions are more, is MySQL something you'd really benefit from or find useful? I.e. if you do run 2 or more devices with Kodi it can be incredibly convenient in many ways. Not just by having a central database, but your own user ratings or watched status/resume points are all stored by the MySQL system. You can literally stop watching a movie from Kodi in your lounge/den/whatever & immediately pick it up from the same point with a Kodi device in a bedroom etc.

Additionally, if you're constantly testing different devices that may require frequent factory resets or updates that wipe all data etc., MySQL is perfect as your library database is already stored centrally on the NAS. (Even if you use the backup add-on in Kodi (which I do myself), even that can still take time to reatore etc. but in the meantime you can literally have Kodi back up & running again in seconds after the reset/wipe just by pasting a couple of files in :). No more waiting for Kodi to rebuild your library each & every time :).

I wouldn't say go ahead & set it all up or use it arbitrarily. Think about how it could possibly benefit you & then go from there.
Click to expand...

LMAO. I was typing that just as you replied again anyway mate :).

Obviously, ignore the Kodi library questions lol :).
 
Well, as you see in my screenshot, there's plenty of resource

Maybe i'll take a look at a video tutor about installing MySQL, the nas has MySQL on board for creating websites etc. so
that may not be the problem. I use one NAS with 4 HDD's total of 16Tb from those 16Tb are available 12Tb and in use 75%
I use only one MiniX, use the bedroom for other activities ( like sleeping :) ) and that leaves me with the question if using
MySQL is somehow usefull for storing the database, till now i never had playback problems, not even with 30Gb movies and
my video collection is schrunk from nearly 6000 to "only" 4000+ movies.
Only thing i still have to do is creating the music Library, about 60.000 songs!

For now i'm busy installing addons on MiniX and make it "user interface" my own again.
No problems till now and hope it stays this way :)
 
Skinamp said:
Well, as you see in my screenshot, there's plenty of resource

Maybe i'll take a look at a video tutor about installing MySQL, the nas has MySQL on board for creating websites etc. so
that may not be the problem. I use one NAS with 4 HDD's total of 16Tb from those 16Tb are available 12Tb and in use 75%
I use only one MiniX, use the bedroom for other activities ( like sleeping :) ) and that leaves me with the question if using
MySQL is somehow usefull for storing the database, till now i never had playback problems, not even with 30Gb movies and
my video collection is schrunk from nearly 6000 to "only" 4000+ movies.
Only thing i still have to do is creating the music Library, about 60.000 songs!

For now i'm busy installing addons on MiniX and make it "user interface" my own again.
No problems till now and hope it stays this way :)
Click to expand...

The problem you originally reported has at least cleared when you accidentally reset the device :). As you've said, fingers crossed it stays that way :). Yes please mate, if you do experience a problem & work out a fix, report your findings for the benefit of other forum members. I'm sure they'd be appreciative :).

We now know your U1 itself & a "clean" Kodi are operating normally & they work OK too :).

(In a way "ooops", as the immediate factory reset didn't give you the opportunity to troubleshoot anything individually beforehand. However, obviously it wasn't a bad accident to have as the problems immediately ceased.) Now, you just need to be careful about possibly reintroducing it again!!

I can understand you wanting to get Kodi back to looking how it was before so everything is familiar to you :). However, don't madly rush into re-installing too many other add-ons back into Kodi at this time!!!!! If you start to install multiple add-ons without sufficient time or testing in-between each one & the problems suddenly return, how could you effectively track the problem back to a guaranteed source? (We're not saying test for days or weeks before installing another add-on, but be sure that you're happy the problem hasn't been reintroduced before adding another Kodi add-on, & another, & so on. The same applies to installing a whole bunch of apps simultaneously too.)

Additionally, install the Kodi backup add-on once you've got it all back to looking how you like it & take a backup. If you should experience a repeat in the future, you can then at least quickly wipe Kodi & restore a known clean backup too ;)!! It's also a good idea to install the Kodi "log viewer" add-on too before you take the backup. (If you should encounter a future problem you can then enable component specific logging or log everything that may help you find it).

As has also been previously discussed or mentioned, whilst it's "technically" possible to install a number of add-ons to Kodi, "realistically" there is a limit. You do have a large library being managed on the U1 as well which you obviously also rely on to playback your movies & apparently a huge music collection too ;). I think the main point being made by @pusb87 to advise you is that your system has finite resources, it can only handle so much.

Otherwise, everything that's been provided here for you is purely for your informational purposes or as examples etc. Beyond that, it's up to you to make your own informed decisions based on your own additional research :). Obviously, Google/Yahoo/Bing/"whatever" is your friend :).

Do make sure you understand what you're doing before proceeding or carefully follow specific o line tutorials etc. The following tutorials may also help to give you some additional information & understanding before you consider proceeding further with anything on your QNAP NAS. (Even if you do watch/read them; personally I watched & read multiple tutorials for MySQL not only for my Synology NAS', but also for Windows & LINUX based systems in case other tutorials included some helpful or important information that the specific Synology tutorials had left out. Some did as it happened & it helped.)....

https://firstadekit.com/2018/05/31/how-to-setup-kodi-database-on-a-qnap-nas/



Enjoy your "rejuvenated" U1 :).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top