Minix Neo U1 + Kodi 18.x = jerky movies

Thanks for everyone's input!
At the moment it looks like I managed to have smooth play of my 1080p mkv files using Kodi 18.3, but still having issues, since player keeps caching every 3-5 minutes.
I started to play around with advancedsettings.xml a bit, but no luck yet.
 
Thanks for everyone's input!
At the moment it looks like I managed to have smooth play of my 1080p mkv files using Kodi 18.3, but still having issues, since player keeps caching every 3-5 minutes.
I started to play around with advancedsettings.xml a bit, but no luck yet.
If you need help with advancedsettings.xml and kodi NAS server (sql) maybe i can help you.
Now i have everything working well but i had some doubts and atempts.
Check this link and read step by step all info and youtube video also.
https://theminixforum.com/index.php?threads/any-knowledgeable-kodi-mysql-users-please.1274/
 
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Thanks for everyone's input!
At the moment it looks like I managed to have smooth play of my 1080p mkv files using Kodi 18.3, but still having issues, since player keeps caching every 3-5 minutes.
I started to play around with advancedsettings.xml a bit, but no luck yet.
if you playing media from your NAS and have caching issues then i would hazard that either your NAS or network is playing up.

To test transfer one of your videos to your minix internal memory and play from there.

This is the advancedsettings.xml i use without any buffering issues from my NAS with kodi 18.2
 

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Advancedsettings.xml for network may improve a little.
What is the best thing is a good network configuration/speed.
Try check your connections like router, ethernet, etc....
 
Advancedsettings.xml for network may improve a little.
What is the best thing is a good network configuration/speed.
Try check your connections like router, ethernet, etc....
I agree, you must be sure to have a good bandwith from point to point.
 
Connections are fine: Mikrotik gigabit router, Netgear gigabit switch, Linksys WAP300N
The NAS is wired on 1gbit, the U1 is on wifi.

Problem is definitely with Kodi 18(.3) at the moment, no issues with XBMC for MINIX 16.3, but I would like to change to official Kodi, since no new versions of XBMC for MINIX.
 
Connections are fine: Mikrotik gigabit router, Netgear gigabit switch, Linksys WAP300N
The NAS is wired on 1gbit, the U1 is on wifi.

Problem is definitely with Kodi 18(.3) at the moment, no issues with XBMC for MINIX 16.3, but I would like to change to official Kodi, since no new versions of XBMC for MINIX.
No. I think the problem is sinal strength.
Make this simple test:
1-put the u1 next to router , test with wifi
2-use u1 with ethernet gigabit (test rj45)and not Wifi

The best for you is use ethernet gigabit with your u1 (connected to router/switch)

If you cant use ethernet in u9h (only wifi) you must buy a wifi signal repeater or similar.

What is the distance (if you use wifi and when you have problems) to your router?

Check also this:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6943024/amp
 
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Connections are fine: Mikrotik gigabit router, Netgear gigabit switch, Linksys WAP300N
The NAS is wired on 1gbit, the U1 is on wifi.

Problem is definitely with Kodi 18(.3) at the moment, no issues with XBMC for MINIX 16.3, but I would like to change to official Kodi, since no new versions of XBMC for MINIX.

Of course the problem is with the way some kind of files were coded. I also couldn't believe it until I got some of them and they stutter even playing from inside the Minix hard drive.

I described that in my message, but suddenly people started talking about streaming over network or whatever, when that was never the issue. (Where or how was that ever in question?)

No matter where you keep these files to be read they will stutter, no matter what advancesettings you use they will stutter.

I spent hours around it. Only way they don't stutter use an U9-H or maybe another machine, because with the U1 they stutter except with the Minix XBMC.

Sorry guys but @vuk is right, these special sort of 1080p files, as described in my previous long comment will stutter in Kodi 18 and I couldn't initially believe it myself.

I wish I was wrong but I told you so.
 
my AP is approx. 3 meters away from the U1, so signal is pretty good ;)

and now it looks like some tweaks in the advancedsettings solved the problem, same 1080p movie (coded with x264, bitrate is around 9mbps) plays with no issue
 
my AP is approx. 3 meters away from the U1, so signal is pretty good ;)

and now it looks like some tweaks in the advancedsettings solved the problem, same 1080p movie (coded with x264, bitrate is around 9mbps) plays with no issue

That seems to be quite a good step. Are you using the 18.3 from the Playstore and the advancesettings file that @pusb87 kindly provided?
Because for me that combination still didn't do the trick.
 
That seems to be quite a good step. Are you using the 18.3 from the Playstore and the advancesettings file that @pusb87 kindly provided?
Because for me that combination still didn't do the trick.

I grabbed the apk from the official Kodi site: http://mirrors.kodi.tv/releases/android/arm/

You can find my advancedsettings, it's pretty simple, but it solved the jerkiness, though I still think, that playback is a little bit smoother with XBMC for MINIX 16.3

XML:
<advancedsettings>
     <cache>
            <buffermode>1</buffermode>
            <memorysize>20971520</memorysize>
            <readfactor>4</readfactor>
     </cache>
     <network>
           <curlclienttimeout>45</curlclienttimeout>
           <curllowspeedtime>20</curllowspeedtime>
           <curlretries>2</curlretries>
     </network>
     <video>
           <subsdelayrange>0</subsdelayrange>
     </video>
     <audio>
            <applydrc>0.0</applydrc>
     </audio>
     <splash>false</splash>

</advancedsettings>
 
I grabbed the apk from the official Kodi site: http://mirrors.kodi.tv/releases/android/arm/

You can find my advancedsettings, it's pretty simple, but it solved the jerkiness, though I still think, that playback is a little bit smoother with XBMC for MINIX 16.3

XML:
<advancedsettings>
     <cache>
            <buffermode>1</buffermode>
            <memorysize>20971520</memorysize>
            <readfactor>4</readfactor>
     </cache>
     <network>
           <curlclienttimeout>45</curlclienttimeout>
           <curllowspeedtime>20</curllowspeedtime>
           <curlretries>2</curlretries>
     </network>
     <video>
           <subsdelayrange>0</subsdelayrange>
     </video>
     <audio>
            <applydrc>0.0</applydrc>
     </audio>
     <splash>false</splash>

</advancedsettings>

Thanks a lot @vuk
I do agree with you. But should there be no Minix XBMC in the U1, this combination you found would be quite acceptable. I will pursue my quest to find the new Kodi version playing these files (so far I could only find this effect in the 1080p files coded with recent libebml 1.3.6 and libmatroska 1.4.9, other x264 seem to play ok) as well as our favorite Minix XBMC in à U1, should I find it I will come back, if not these comments will probably give hope to those that really don't find the former player version of use. ;)
 
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I grabbed the apk from the official Kodi site: http://mirrors.kodi.tv/releases/android/arm/

You can find my advancedsettings, it's pretty simple, but it solved the jerkiness, though I still think, that playback is a little bit smoother with XBMC for MINIX 16.3

XML:
<advancedsettings>
     <cache>
            <buffermode>1</buffermode>
            <memorysize>20971520</memorysize>
            <readfactor>4</readfactor>
     </cache>
     <network>
           <curlclienttimeout>45</curlclienttimeout>
           <curllowspeedtime>20</curllowspeedtime>
           <curlretries>2</curlretries>
     </network>
     <video>
           <subsdelayrange>0</subsdelayrange>
     </video>
     <audio>
            <applydrc>0.0</applydrc>
     </audio>
     <splash>false</splash>

</advancedsettings>


I can see you are using the default values suggested in the kodi wiki

you can easily increase memorysize by a factor of 10 to give an aprox buffer of 210Mb instead of the 21Mb you have now
 
I can see you are using the default values suggested in the kodi wiki

you can easily increase memorysize by a factor of 10 to give an aprox buffer of 210Mb instead of the 21Mb you have now

Since I play 1080p files with bitrate up to 8-10 mbps, it caches approx 3-4 MB ahead with readfactor = 2
Can you please explain why it would make sense to set cache size to ~200 MB ?
 
Since I play 1080p files with bitrate up to 8-10 mbps, it caches approx 3-4 MB ahead with readfactor = 2
Can you please explain why it would make sense to set cache size to ~200 MB
First off i didnt know what sort of files you play.

Increasing the memory size can act as a cover all for different and higher bitrate files, local streaming, web streaming etc
The u1 has sufficient memory to handle a 200Mb memorysize so why not use it..
The video cache is stored in RAM and erased on the fly, as needed. It requires no user intervention to "empty" this cache.

your choice at the end of the day...what works for you
 
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@vuk I have 2 NEO U1's both using Kodi 18.3 and I have no problems whatsoever. I'm using a 5ghz router, 8TB NAS streaming over WiFi. No settings changed, simply as is stock, no OS patches just a clean install.

Are you trying to play AVI files? If you are, that's the problem. AVI's have been a problem streaming over WiFi. But play properly locally on a PC.

What else do you have on your U1? With all the fanart, addons etc, that data can be as much as 3 or 4 gbs. If you have very little space left on your storage, that too could cause problems.
 
@vuk I have 2 NEO U1's both using Kodi 18.3 and I have no problems whatsoever. I'm using a 5ghz router, 8TB NAS streaming over WiFi. No settings changed, simply as is stock, no OS patches just a clean install.

Are you trying to play AVI files? If you are, that's the problem. AVI's have been a problem streaming over WiFi. But play properly locally on a PC.

What else do you have on your U1? With all the fanart, addons etc, that data can be as much as 3 or 4 gbs. If you have very little space left on your storage, that too could cause problems.

@Adam Foreman actually I tried with .avi, .mkv, it was not matter of the filetype or the codec.
I have also both 5g and 2.4g wifi, the problem was more like the Kodi settings....
It looks like now the performance is good, movies play smooth.
I am not sure about the amount of data used by addons, fanart, cache, etc. As far as I remember I still have 4 gigs free.
 
Anyone have advancedsettings for smoth play without microstuttering on movies? Is there anything i can fix that?
 
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