[Son_Of_Diablo]

Hello,

I have noticed that artwork seems to load somewhat slow on my system.
Some even takes more than a second to load which (to me at least) seems way longer than it should.

So when I enter a movie collection it takes a bit to load the artwork for the movies, then when I return to the movie list I have the same issue even though the artwork was already loaded for them before I entered the movie collection. Same goes for entering/exiting TV shows and seasons.
The issue even presents itself when scrolling through content (I'm guessing Kodi "unloads" artwork for content not currently on screen).
As far as I have been able to gather, Kodi should cache artwork locally so even though the video and artwork files are on a network drive, the artwork should be loaded from Kodi cache right?

Here is a snippit from the log of me scrolling through my TV Shows after having scrolled through once to make sure everything loads and has a chance to be cached: 

Code:

2019-12-06 15:49:34.141 T:2145325936 DEBUG: DoWork - took 1015 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/7/715f9390.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:38.212 T:2076386160 DEBUG: DoWork - took 962 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/b/b1bbcad6.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:38.215 T:2210394992 DEBUG: DoWork - took 965 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/e/e601563f.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:38.220 T:2161095536 DEBUG: DoWork - took 970 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/d/dcd10d89.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:38.224 T:2145325936 DEBUG: DoWork - took 974 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/d/dcd10d89.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:39.274 T:2145325936 DEBUG: DoWork - took 866 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/7/7391c019.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:40.294 T:2210394992 DEBUG: DoWork - took 620 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/4/4e94f60f.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:40.296 T:2076386160 DEBUG: DoWork - took 854 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/6/68c23e68.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:48.239 T:2210394992 DEBUG: DoWork - took 1006 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/8/86f301ba.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:48.240 T:2161095536 DEBUG: DoWork - took 1010 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/9/930b73e1.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:48.247 T:2145325936 DEBUG: DoWork - took 1008 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/b/b1bbcad6.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:48.247 T:2076386160 DEBUG: DoWork - took 1008 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/d/dcd10d89.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:50.331 T:2076386160 DEBUG: DoWork - took 623 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/1/10ff68da.jpg

The size of the images:

Code:

9/930b73e1.jpg - 71.51 KB - 367x540
4/4e94f60f.jpg - 166.80 KB - 1280x720
1/10ff68da.jpg - 213.64 KB - 1280x720
e/e601563f.jpg - 56.03 KB - 367x540
7/715f9390.jpg - 126.73 KB - 1280x720
7/7391c019.jpg - 204.32 KB - 1280x720
8/86f301ba.jpg - 50.95 KB - 367x540
b/b1bbcad6.jpg - 87.34 KB - 367x540
6/68c23e68.jpg - 364.93 KB - 1280x720
d/dcd10d89.jpg - 72.03 KB - 367x540


So now to my questions:

1. Is this normal load times for artwork? Am I just being unreasonable here?
2. Is there anything I can do to cause artwork to load faster?
3. Could this just be a limitation of the hardware?
4. Does Kodi only extract thumbs once you browse to the media or should it extract thumbs when media is added to the library?
    4.1 I have noticed that some episodes doesn't have thumbs on the home screen and they don't get extracted until I browse to the episode (TV Shows > Show Name > Season)
          Is this normal or could it just be an issue with the theme?
    4.2 If it's only when you browse to the media, is there a way to trigger thumb extraction on the entire library?

 Extra info that could be relevant:

• All my media and artwork is on a NAS (A Raspberry Pi 3B+ running OpenMediaVault)
  • Except Movie Collection Artwork which are stored locally
    
• I'm using the theme Estuary (I have also tried using Estuary Mod v2 for a while)
  
• I have used Artwork Beef to download artwork (No animated artwork yet)
  • I have enabled Artwork Beef to download the artwork, I had previously just had it add URLs to Kodi
    
• Kodi log: http://ix.io/23GS
  
• Running Kodi 18.5 (LibreELEC 9.2.0) on a Raspberry Pi 4
  

[Klojum]

All my media and artwork is on a NAS (A Raspberry Pi 3B+ running OpenMediaVault)

I wouldn't go as far to call a RPi3B+ a NAS... :-)
Maybe OMV is too heavy on a Raspberry Pi device as it is.
No matter how you look at it: an older RPi is limited in UTP speed, it's limited in read speeds, and it's certainly limited in write speeds regarding the onboard SD card.

1. Is this normal load times for artwork? Am I just being unreasonable here?

A second per thumbnail is relatively slow, should it be the initial time it is retrieved and taken the RPi3B+ "performance" in consideration.
If the thumbnail is already cached, a second is too slow although I don't know which the sizes and resolutions used are not outrageously large.
I have never used Artwork Beef, so I have no idea what the impact of that tool can possibly be.

The one problem could be the SDcard(s). Not every SDcard has the same performance.

[Son_Of_Diablo]

I wouldn't go as far to call a RPi3B+ a NAS... :-)

Well NAS literally stands for Network-attached storage so when configured the way it is, it's a NAS... Now it might not be the best or even a good NAS, but a NAS none the less
 

Maybe OMV is too heavy on a Raspberry Pi device as it is.

OMV officially supports RPi: https://sourceforge.net/projects/openmed...%20images/
There is a few limitations compared to more powerful hardware, but nothing that should cause these kinds of issues (as far as I'm able to tell). 
Specific to RPi b+ is the limitation of Network Speed to 100 Mbits/sec

A second per thumbnail is relatively slow, should it be the initial time it is retrieved and taken the RPi3B+ "performance" in consideration.
If the thumbnail is already cached, a second is too slow although I don't know which the sizes and resolutions used are not outrageously large.

The times I included in my original post is after I had let everything load and cache. So those listed is the time it takes for Kodi to load from Cache.

The one problem could be the SDcard(s). Not every SDcard has the same performance.

The SD Card in my RPi 4 (The one running Kodi) is a Class 10 (10 MB/s) and UHS 3 (30 MB/s).
The one in the RPi3 b+ (OpenMediaVault) is a Class 6 (6 MB/s).
(That is if I understand what's written on them correctly. Photos just in case I'm wrong: RPi4 RPi3bp )
So yea the 3b+ could probably use a new SD Card, but I wouldn't imagine that, that would be root of the issue here?

[Klojum]

Specific to RPi b+ is the limitation of Network Speed to 100 Mbits/sec

The problem is that on the Rpi3, the 100Mb/s port is linked to the internal USB2.0 port, so a max of 30-40Mb/s aka 4-5MB/s, is more realistic.
Thus, every slow link in the file transport of your files will eventually result in a sluggish overall performance.

To be short: it's a Raspberry Pi, a $35 kid's toy. Don't expect PC-like power/performance.
The Rpi4 is good step up with proper gigabit and usb3.0 interfaces.

About the SD cards: Put a Class10 sdcard also in the RPI3 instead of the Class6 card. It needs all the help it can get.

[Son_Of_Diablo]

The problem is that on the Rpi3, the 100Mb/s port is linked to the internal USB2.0 port, so a max of 30-40Mb/s aka 4-5MB/s, is more realistic.
Thus, every slow link in the file transport of your files will eventually result in a sluggish overall performance.

Yea I get around 10 MB/s up/down from the RPi3b+, so not really amazing, but, it shouldn't really impact the cache hits from Kodi which is installed on the RPi4... right?
 

To be short: it's a Raspberry Pi, a $35 kid's toy. Don't expect PC-like power/performance.

Probably wouldn't call it a "Kid's toy", but yea I didn't expect anything amazing from my janky NAS setup.. Just didn't have the money for a proper NAS and I had the RP3b+ from when I upgraded to the RPi4 for Kodi.
 

About the SD cards: Put a Class10 sdcard also in the RPI3 instead of the Class6 card. It needs all the help it can get.

Probably gonna grab a Class 10 next time I'm out somewhere that has it

[Klojum]

Probably wouldn't call it a "Kid's toy", but yea I didn't expect anything amazing from my janky NAS setup.. Just didn't have the money for a proper NAS and I had the RP3b+ from when I upgraded to the RPi4 for Kodi.

The Raspberry Pi was/is intended for school children, learning how to program. The thing just happened to have a great video chip as well, so when that secret got out, the home theater movement grew fast.

I'm still waiting for the RPi 4 to be USB bootable, so I can attach a USB/SSD to it. After that I can use it more and more as a full server.
Now I'm just running a MySQL database for Kodi off its sdcard (which is not ideal), the performance isn't that bad.

[rmrector]

Ya, Kodi on the Pi4 should perform better pulling thumbnails from its local cache. I'm pretty sure it's the SD card you've got in that - SD card Class signifies sustained write speed, but read speed is what you need here and that can vary quite a bit between those kind of cards.

I'd go with the Samsung Evo+ nowadays.

[Son_Of_Diablo]

I'd go with the Samsung Evo+ nowadays.

I have been looking at the SanDisk Extreme Pro it seems to be about 100/90 MB/s Read/Write and just ~$3 more.
How important is write speed for this? Would that just be total overkill compared to Samsung Evo+ that has 20 MB/s write?
 

I'm still waiting for the RPi 4 to be USB bootable, so I can attach a USB/SSD to it. After that I can use it more and more as a full server.

I read about this for older Pis yesterday, didn't know that was even an option until now.. I might need to keep an eye on this ^^

[Klojum]

didn't know that was even an option until now

It works well enough for the Rpi3B+ I have as I prefer an SSD over an SDcard storage solution, but the overall speed of the 3B+ is lacking in all connection aspects compared to the 4B. If that is not your main concern, the 3B+ will do fine running Raspbian or Ubuntu Mate with an SSD.

[Son_Of_Diablo]

It works well enough for the Rpi3B+ I have as I prefer an SSD over an SDcard storage solution, but the overall speed of the 3B+ is lacking in all connection aspects compared to the 4B. If that is not your main concern, the 3B+ will do fine running Raspbian or Ubuntu Mate with an SSD.

Yea I mean, if I have to replace the SDcard in the 3B+ anyways, then I might as well look into getting an SSD, then I have that as an upgrade option for the 4B when that gets the capability and the new SDcard I'm getting for the 4B can then go to the 3B+... If I haven't replaced it at that point in time.

[Klojum]

Just make sure you pick a USB/SATA adapter that also has TRIM support.

[Son_Of_Diablo]

Just make sure you pick a USB/SATA adapter that also has TRIM support.

I will now, thanks

[rmrector]

Ya, the SanDisk will likely work better.