Freezig/ Buffering issue (tried almost everything)

Merces

New member
Hi community :)

I have had the minix box since 2018 and keep getting issues, to the point that my girlfriend has already given up on the system.
Since day one I've had the box (without updates) and used a 1tb 2,5" hdd to play my movies and series, but alot of the times the box freezes of buffer a movie, alot of the time only a reboot would help but after restarting a serie of movie the issues come back after a couple of minutes.

Recently I did a :
  • Reset
  • Cleaned cache multiple times
  • Update
  • Used a fast usb stick( instead of the hdd)
  • Shortened movie titles (and got rid of special signs in the title)
  • Tried VLC, BSPlayer and others, currently using Kodi
But the issues keep comming back, I have no idea what else to do, should I just give up and buy another system ?
 
How big are the video files and what are their format?

Things to try without losing your data:
* Clear dalvik cache from recovery.
* A different usb port on the box.
* Transfer the video file to internal memory to see if the problem still happens.
* I use mxplayer without issue. You didn't mention it, so it's worth a shot. You an get codec packs to increase format compatibility.


Things to try, but you will lose all your data:
* Factory reset.
* Reinstall firmware from the usb burning tool.
* Update to the community ROM (Nougat).

Edit: fixed typos
 
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@Merces
1st thing to try is as @MooseJaw suggested is to transfer the video file to the internal memory and use the standard movie player. See whether the issue persists. If not then it may be your hdd / usb interface.

Ideally I would also suggest updating via the USB burning tool to FW008 as the u9 -h is perfectly capable of playing most video formats.

It may also be a faulty power adapter
 
Thanks for your quick replies:)

The video format are really diverse, sometimes I have issues with tv series that are around 2 or 3 gb's (MKV) but last week I had a 4k (MKV) movie of 70GB and I played fine for more than an hour (to test).

  • Dalvik cache is just the "Wipe cache partition" in the recovery menu right ? (I will try this again)
  • I tried different USB ports (does not matter)
  • I will copy some files to internal to test
  • MXPlayer is also one of the players I tried
If these things do not solve the issue, I will try to use another power adapter, I'm already on FW008 should the community ROM perform better ?

I'll keep you updated !
 
The video format are really diverse, sometimes I have issues with tv series that are around 2 or 3 gb's (MKV) but last week I had a 4k (MKV) movie of 70GB and I played fine for more than an hour (to test).
MKV is just a "container" fo the video codecs being used to encode the video. You may find that some older video files have codecs that the U9/player struggles with and gives stuttering/freezing issues. You may want to see if a particular video file that always gives an issue can be reencoded into a newer format. Handbrake is good for this.

Dalvik cache is just the "Wipe cache partition" in the recovery menu right ? (I will try this again)
I dont think so. You may need TWRP recovery to do this ?
If these things do not solve the issue, I will try to use another power adapter, I'm already on FW008 should the community ROM perform better
I dont think updating to the community ROM will make any difference and reccomend sticking with FW008
 
Thanks for your quick replies:)

The video format are really diverse, sometimes I have issues with tv series that are around 2 or 3 gb's (MKV) but last week I had a 4k (MKV) movie of 70GB and I played fine for more than an hour (to test).

  • Dalvik cache is just the "Wipe cache partition" in the recovery menu right ? (I will try this again)
  • I tried different USB ports (does not matter)
  • I will copy some files to internal to test
  • MXPlayer is also one of the players I tried
If these things do not solve the issue, I will try to use another power adapter, I'm already on FW008 should the community ROM perform better ?

I'll keep you updated !

Is your U9-H connected directly to your TV or via an AVR, HDMI splitter, etc.? If connected directly, which HDMI port on your TV?

Have you enabled HDMI self adaptation in the U9-H settings? (Try both level 1 & level 2).

Which resolution & frequency do you have the U9-H set to or is it just on the auto setting?

If using Kodi, for example, do you have the adjust display refresh rate setting set to on start/stop?

What is the FPS of the files you're having the stuttering issues with? I.e. is the 70 GB .MKV that apparently plays just fine 23.976 or 24 FPS, & the TV show episodes are perhaps 25 or 50 FPS?

Also, try disabling hardware acceleration just for the TV show episodes.

Any changes or improvement trying any of the above at all or still the same as before?
 
In my living room, the Minix is connected to my surround receiver, currently to test further, I have it connected in my office to a 32 inch screen directly.

I changed the HDMI self adaption from 1 to 2, but stil get freezes

Yesterday I tested:

4 episodes of Vikings :
1080p, 23,98 frames , H264 codec no problems

The movie :2012
4k, 23,98 frames, complete bluray rip M2ts video file no problems

The movie :The Virtuoso
1080p, 23,98 frames, H264 codec, constant freezes

Today I wanted to continue testing, I had the power of (last night) so at a fresh start it's slow as h*ll, even before I opened a video file, I've had this before.
(Kodi automaticly starts when the Minix starts), but when browsing through folders, it loads for seconds per folder ! so I closed Kodi and tried the same with the File Browser, same results when trying to browse my external hdd or internal storage, sometimes I doesnt even show the complete content of a folder !

So it's not just slow when playing movies but sometimes the overal performance is slow as h*ll, the only thing I can think of : it must be the power supply right ?
 
The movie :The Virtuoso
1080p, 23,98 frames, H264 codec, constant freezes
what if you play this file from internal storage

Probably not a good idea to have Kodi start when powering on.

Maybe your HDD/power supply is on the blink ?

Maybe try a factory reset although you will have to reinstall apps etc
 
I played the Vikings Series from the internal drive.
But the other movie is 12 gb (it was on my 2,5" non exernal powered hdd) I cannot copy to internal because the file is too big :(

I just did a factory reset, and will try again to play this movie but now from a (fast) USB Flash drive
 
Yesterday I did a factory reset, and tried with the stock apps (without updates etc) and got a freeze again.

Today I did a firmware update, tomorrow I'll test again with the fresh installed box, kyp :)
 
Yesterday I did a factory reset, and tried with the stock apps (without updates etc) and got a freeze again.

Today I did a firmware update, tomorrow I'll test again with the fresh installed box, kyp :)

It would have been better to first update all apps after the factory reset rather than using old apps, but if you've since carried out a firmware update (presumably to the CE ROM) then you'll never know if that may have helped.
 
Thanks for al the replies, for a couple of days I had the box play all kind op movies and have not witnessed any freezes since the last update to the officicial update.

When trying to load the latest image, I also found another image called S912-v008-20180209.iso
I gues this is the image I had previously flashed, probably an unofficial one !?:unsure:

Now it's time to move the box from the office back to the living room and see if it keeps on working without freezes, I'll keep you posted !
 
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