[ATV2] Play 1080p without buffering XBMC vs Media Player vs Plex (with Time Capsule)
#1
Hi there!

I just received my ATV2 one week ago and I would like to share my experience. I tried several solutions before managing to play a 1080p movie!

This is my (detailed!) network :

Image

XBMC => Always buffering

I added the SMB source (shared folder on the external disk connected to time capsule), then I play the 1080p movie and it was always buffering. I can play this movie from my iMac, so the network is not the problem!

Media Player (aTV black beta 5) => Black Screen

I added an AFP share (shared folder on the external disk connected to time capsule), then I play the 1080p movie and I get a BLACK screen!. And I payed for that!!! Stare

Plex Client => THE WINNER

With Plex Client I can play the 1080p movie without any buffering!!! And it's great!!! But I don't like this solution because I have to start my iMac (Plex Server) when I'd like to watch a movie. But I prefer XBMC, so is there any tweaking to play a 1080p without buffering!? Could you share your experiences please!

I did all the tests with the same movie. Hint.. (if you'd like to try) Batman.Le.Chevalier.Noir.1080P
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#2
Nice work, but please use the search function. Myself and many others have posed the same question, and there are numerous threads on how others have gotten it to work. Good luck.
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#3
hint, these are xbmc forums. we don't like plex much here Smile
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#4
Plex "works" because the iMac is doing all the real work in this case. Plus, you have to transcode your video which means a decrease in quality. Probably not enough to be really noticeable, but a quality loss none the less. As you already know, the downside to Plex is that it requires a server (and is often not forgiving of older hardware that can still do the same tasks). XBMC is a full blown install, doing everything on the ATV2 itself.

Also, Plex is only sending the ATV2 a 720 video signal (since it's transcoding to the ATV2 client), even though your source file is 1080. That means less data going to the ATV2, less chance for buffering, etc.

Like someone else said, search the forums. There are some good solutions that are working for a lot of people and will probably help you out as well, but in these early days you might have to dig a little bit. Development of XBMC on iOS is still on going, so improved performance is a pretty safe bet.
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#5
Davilla, I know this a XBMC forum, as I said I don't like the plex solution (server), the reason I posted here is because I'd really like to use XBMC!!!

RoseVilleHT, I already did some search before posting. But there isn't any sticky post that gathers all interesting solutions. All informations are scattered in several posts..

This is what I found interesting regarding to my network (time capsule or airport extreme) :

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?p=803801
  • Urkman said there is a problem with samba and airport extreme.. it's very slow..
  • Masterbrew said it's the airport extreme usb controller, it's too slow to transfer HD..
  • tger3112e said hey for me it's ok, I use airport extreme in 5GHz and I can play MKV's..
  • Doombelly said there is something wrong with the router mode you must use the bridge mode..
  • 0xsegfault bought a NAS and that was the solution..

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=93514&page=19
  • cyrusir said I jailbreak again and it works fine now..
  • Urkman said Samba is the problem I use a NAS with UPN and it's fine! (page 22)
  • PressureDrop has done some tests, he created a SMB share on his MacBook pro and it works fine. With external disk on Time Machine he has the buffering issue.
  • lakie1982 has found that plex can read the file but not XBMC but he would like to use XBMC as me!!!

None of these replies helped me.. And I don't want to buy a NAS with UPN just to test if it works.. I'm a little bit lost right now.. If someone can share a good post or settings regardless to my network configuration that would be great!!!!!!
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#6
I'm surprised you can get 1080p to work at all using wireless. Switched to fully wired and that will help enormously.
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#7
Ned Scott Wrote:Plex "works" because the iMac is doing all the real work in this case. Plus, you have to transcode your video which means a decrease in quality. Probably not enough to be really noticeable, but a quality loss none the less. As you already know, the downside to Plex is that it requires a server (and is often not forgiving of older hardware that can still do the same tasks). XBMC is a full blown install, doing everything on the ATV2 itself.

Also, Plex is only sending the ATV2 a 720 video signal (since it's transcoding to the ATV2 client), even though your source file is 1080. That means less data going to the ATV2, less chance for buffering, etc.

Like someone else said, search the forums. There are some good solutions that are working for a lot of people and will probably help you out as well, but in these early days you might have to dig a little bit. Development of XBMC on iOS is still on going, so improved performance is a pretty safe bet.

Good to now! I didn't notice the downgrade.. I already did some search and didn't find something relevant for me.. Now I wonder if it's simply impossible to play some 1080p.. Or Is NAS with UPNP the solution? Or An implementation of an AFP client in XBMC (many people noticed that smb could be the problem)?

Defbref Wrote:I'm surprised you can get 1080p to work at all using wireless. Switched to fully wired and that will help enormously.

I just switch to a wire solution, I connected Time Capsule and ATV2 through a wire and I still get a buffering : slow motion video and always buffering.

I'm lost! Oo
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#8
I think SMB on Time Capsule / Airport Disk is non-standard, and has changed significantly between firmware versions - so that could lead to some differing experiences from people on ostensibly the same hardware. Also it is definitely slower than an SMB share from a Mac, have you tried that with XBMC? This works for me, and the Mac which is sharing the media is only a 1GHZ PPC.
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#9
Thank you johndo, I have the exact same issue and wanted the exact same info. Every time someone who is stuck posts a valid request for assistance, an xbmc admin fires back with "there's an answer for that, search the forums". Granted, many lazy noobs will want instant answers rather than doing homework. But often, the answer is not stated in any forum, only similar issues which may also have no solution. I've had my ATV2 for around 4 months now, and it is only half functional at best. Purchasing a wifi drive and connecting it to my TV would have done the same thing with much less hassle and frustration. Currently only .avi files will play fine. MKV, MP4, forget about it. I've trawled the forums and searched every keyword. Hardware acceleration turned off, subtitles turned off, download/update/settings/equipment/etc turned off, adjusted, restarted, checked. Buffering and crashes abound.

I'm not a tech noob, but i'm not pro enough to try a nightly release which may fix some of these bugs at the risk of causing others. I've JB'd, SSH'd, restored, and re-installed several times now. As it stands, XBMC for iOS is only 6 months old and not a main release yet. It's still a project in infancy and may not be fully functional until the release of Version 11 'Eden'.

A note to fellow users out there: regardless of platform, if xbmc works for you, donate. Downloading free software, bitching about it not working properly (whether valid or not), having an xbcm team member help you remedy the solution, and then sit back and enjoy someone else's hard work with little more than a thank-you, is brat-like behaviour.
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#10
For the na-sayers out there. I typically run 720p, h264 video in mkv containers. That's what I watch unless the content is only available in 1080p. Why? Because I don't feel like waiting a day for a 1080p to come down. DSL 2.8Mb is not the fastest thing in the world but it's much better than ISDN or dial-up Smile .

For testing, I have several typical sets that I use (over and over, hundreds of times). One which is the 1080p of Avatar. If that does not play smooth then there's a regression going on.

Setup, wired to Linux server using SMB. Never see the 'buffering' issue unless someone borks trunk then I'm all over it like white on rice.
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#11
I wasn't sure where to share this since there are so many threads on this topic including ones that I have started.

I have raised/asked questions about the buffering issue pretty much since I installed xbmc on atv2 a few months back. I fall in the category of those using smb sharing. The issues have been consistently been of stuttering and buffering of the files (eg. 1080 mkvs) that are acknowledged in the stickys as possible candidates for those affected.

A couple of days ago I updated to the nightly for the first time (uptill now I had been on the official release). Immediately the stuttering has disappeared. The buffering remains, although less frequent. The end result is the I would now consider to watch files that I previously couldn't. Even though, I had seen a similar remark in the hundreds of comments about this topic, I also found that some of the issues about running nightlies atleast discouraged me from updating to the nightlies.

Anyway, had I known this as possible fix, I would have probably tried it much earlier. As pointed out earlier in this thread, I think it would be worthwhile to compile a list of "possible fixes" for those encountering these issues.

PS. Thank you to those working on the nightlies.
Macmini Server 2011 i7 Quad Core, OS 10.8.2, Amp Onkyo TX-SR308 USB WD drives 3x2TB TV Samsung Plasma 720p EyeTV Integration
There are only 10 kinds of people in this world, those who understand binary, and those who don't.



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#12
Hi dukevim,

I tried several SMB solutions wire and wireless, here are my results :

Wireless

Image

Wire

Image

As you can notice, there isn't any differences between wire and wireless! So the network is not the issue and SMB as well.

Perhaps you are wondering if Movie 2 and Movie 3 are corrupted, no! they play very nice with VLC and Pl**.
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#13
davilla Wrote:For the na-sayers out there. I typically run 720p, h264 video in mkv containers. That's what I watch unless the content is only available in 1080p. Why? Because I don't feel like waiting a day for a 1080p to come down. DSL 2.8Mb is not the fastest thing in the world but it's much better than ISDN or dial-up Smile .

For testing, I have several typical sets that I use (over and over, hundreds of times). One which is the 1080p of Avatar. If that does not play smooth then there's a regression going on.

Setup, wired to Linux server using SMB. Never see the 'buffering' issue unless someone borks trunk then I'm all over it like white on rice.

davilla, I've got Avatar in 1080p here also.
It won't run on my wired atv running latest nightly, but it runs great wireless (!!!) in xbmc on my laptop.

I'm streaming from a server2008 through smb.

I can hardly play anything on my atv. I bought it for the dvd-iso's I have for my kids, but since I bought it, I haven't been able to use it in a decent way.
Just now, I watched a normal sd-divx and it buffered 3 times during the movie... Sad

I've tried everything I can imagine, upgrading to 4.2.2, downgrading back to 4.1.1, nothing is helping. It even seems to be worse now since divx used to work pretty good before.

We (don't know johndo personally, but I guess I can speak for him Big Grin ) are getting kind of desperate.
I'm even thinking of just selling the damn thing.

Please (pretty please) give us a hand with this! Sad
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#14
Fire69...did you also try ftp. I still have the buffering as I have mentioned on smb but...Some people have found that ftp has worked for them. I got stuck because mac's native ftp share doesn't allow for anything outside the home directory..and sharepoint is not available for leopard. I'd have to install xcode, etc. to install a ftpserver....so I didn't keep at it.
Macmini Server 2011 i7 Quad Core, OS 10.8.2, Amp Onkyo TX-SR308 USB WD drives 3x2TB TV Samsung Plasma 720p EyeTV Integration
There are only 10 kinds of people in this world, those who understand binary, and those who don't.



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#15
No, I haven't tried ftp.
I'm willing to try it by setting up an ftp-server, but I would find it very strange I need to do this to get xbmc running in a decent way.
I've been using xbmc since 2003 on an xbox with smb without any problems, so I think it is still a problem with the atv-build.
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[ATV2] Play 1080p without buffering XBMC vs Media Player vs Plex (with Time Capsule)0