Android Weird Buffering problem 45 minutes into a stream
#1
BASELINE:
I've run XBMC on my modified Xbox for years and it's been great.

Over the last few months I was using it to stream 480p MKV files from an SMB share on my desktop. The console on Gigabit Ethernet, desktop on Wireless N with a really strong signal (there's no way at the moment to get my desktop on a wired connection, the wire in the wall got damaged and I'll need to tear it up to get it fixed).

These ran great except due to the lack of horsepower on the old Xbox I'd get some slowdown during any scenes with a lot of movement while the console struggled to decode it... not a problem because the show I was watching didn't have much action.

so based on this I'd assume that my network configuration is just fine for my needs here.

Why I switched to Ouya:
So I started watching some new files that DID have a lot of movement and the Xbox just choked trying to keep up. I decided to install XBMC on my Ouya, again hooked up to the same Ethernet switch as the Xbox. I installed XBMC on Ouya using these instructions: http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW...0on%20OUYA

The Problem:
The MKV files stream beautifully to XBMC on Ouya except about 45 or 50 minutes into an hour long video file the play back will pause, a little pause icon with a progress bar will appear in the corner of the screen.
it will pause for 5 or 10 seconds, then I'll get 60 to 90 seconds of playback
then it will pause for 5 or 10 seconds, then I'll get 60 to 90 seconds of playback
and this will repeat until the end of the video

I'm assuming this is some kind of buffering, but it doesn't happen on my old Xbox with the same exact network connection from the same exact source.
I've even watched through a few files that have played all the way through on the Xbox to make sure it wasn't file specific, they run fine on the Xbox but run into the buffering problem on the Ouya.

I've searched around but I haven't been able to find anyone else sighting similar issues (just people who had choppy playback or no playback). I also looked around the setting for something to change the buffer size but couldn't find anything. I'm still pretty green when it comes to homebrew on android.

Anyone have any suggestions how I can fix this? I'd like to be able to stream a whole video to my Ouya without having to watch the last 10 minutes in minute long chunks.

Thanks in advanced Cool
Reply
#2
Try installing one of the nightly builds (wiki) onto the OUYA. Just use the same instructions, but with the URL for the latest Android nightly build. That should tell us if it's at least been fixed or not.
Reply
#3
so I installed the latest nightly build and the problem got worse.

instead of making it 45-50 minutes before pausing it only made it about 20 and after a few pauses it would kick me back to the XBMC interface with an error message "connection timed out". I tried rebooting the Ouya and reinstalling and that didn't help either, network health was good.

I also noticed that the progress bar on play back just sat at 0 the whole time.

--------

I switched back to the recommended stable build and it again made it about 45 minutes before encountering the error.
Reply
#4
At this point we'll need a debug log (wiki) to see what's going on.
Reply
#5
here is the log file: http://xbmclogs.com/show.php?id=48033

I've setup a UPnP server using Serviio and I've been able to stream ok with that... occasionally the video will skip or stutter but it makes it all the way through without stopping and without kicking me back to the menu.
Reply
#6
Hmm, sure enough, it's struggling with the SMB setup. I don't know enough about that kind of stuff to say why it would be doing that, or why UPnP doesn't have the same issue.

There's an unofficial XBMC for OUYA version now in the OUYA Store that you can also try, but I suspect that the results will be the same.

Maybe Koying or another dev can shed some light on this.

Also, I assume you're using Windows for the SMB server?
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
Weird Buffering problem 45 minutes into a stream0