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mkl86 · (This post was last modified: 2017-02-24, 22:18 by mkl86.)

Kodi version - Kodi 17 Krypton final (also tried nightly)
OS - Windows 10 Professional
System - CPU Core i5 6600K
- MB Asus Z170 Pro Gaming
- 16 GB RAM
- Samsung 850 EVO 256GB SSD
- Video MSI Geforce 980Ti, also used for sound over HDMI
Storage - Freenas 10 stable winth SMB shares, permissions set correctly; I also use the Emby plugin but the problem manifested itself even before I started using it, when Kodi was scanning the media folders.

Problem
Ever since I updated Kodi to version 17, it has intermittent playback errors. Sometimes it plays 5-6 episodes from a show and then it is unable to play the next one unless I exit the program and open it again. Other times it is unable to play the first episode I try playing, unless I exit and open it again.

I updated to Kodi 17 when it was in beta status (used some nightly builds as well) and I noticed that the problem manifested itself more or less often depending on the build. With some builds it played all the files without problem while on other builds it had frequent playback problems.

The thing is, when Kodi is unable to play a file, if I exit the program and open it again, Kodi would play it without a problem.

Before using the Freenas system for storage, I used a Synology NAS and Kodi behaved the same so I don't think there's a problem with the SMB shares.

Full debug log http://pastebin.com/9HAV7eEd - I think the first file that is unable to play is at 22:02:46

Thank you for the assistance!

(edit: made title a little clearer, grammar)
(edit 2: marked problem as solved)

mkl86 · 2017-02-20, 13:27

Am I really the only one having playback problems while playing from SMB shares?
Any hints as to where I should start checking for problems?

**wsnipex** · 2017-02-20, 14:05

try without emby

mkl86 · 2017-02-20, 15:11

I used Kodi 17 with a Synology NAS and without Emby until last week and I had the exact same problem.

I use Emby with path substitution and, according to the log, Kodi tries to access the files using the SMB shares address. I don't think Emby is the source of the error.

I'm totally puzzled by the fact that, after exiting and opening Kodi again, the problem goes away temporarily.

neo201069 · 2017-02-21, 04:55

I am having this same issue with smb but i use the Mysql instead of emby.

TheSwede1970 · 2017-02-21, 09:02

Network: WiFi or cable?
Sounds like a network error.

mkl86 · 2017-02-21, 14:02

@neo201069
Before using Emby, I used Kodi the same way as you, with a Mysql db.

@TheSwede1970
Both the pc running Emby and the FreeNas system are connected by cable to the router (Asus RT-AC68U). The Synology NAS I used before was connected by cable to the same router.

neo201069 · 2017-02-22, 08:58

I seemed to have set my Cache to large. I lowered it and the problem went away. I don't think it will help your issue but thought i would share.

mkl86 · 2017-02-22, 10:16

In my log there was an error about being unable to open the cache

"ERROR: CFileCache::Open - failed to open cache"

I have the cache set at 1048 MB (1048576000 bytes in advancedsettings.xml). I will try lowering it when I get home. What was the value that worked for you?

neo201069 · (This post was last modified: 2017-02-23, 03:43 by neo201069.)

I set it to 859296000 and it works without issue again. Oh and i have 16gb of ram, windows 10. Oh and i restarted comp. Restarting Kodi doesn't seem to take like it did with Jarvis.

mkl86 · 2017-02-23, 09:29

(2017-02-23, 03:33)neo201069 Wrote: I set it to 859296000 and it works without issue again. Oh and i have 16gb of ram, windows 10. Oh and i restarted comp. Restarting Kodi doesn't seem to take like it did with Jarvis.

Apparently you were right. I set the cache at 536870912 (512 MB) and I haven't encountered the problem again. I opened around 20 episodes consecutively and everything was OK. I'll try raising the cache at the level you indicated and see how that works.

My guess is it has something to do with the fact that Kodi is a 32 bit program. Due to the way the cache system works, when I set the cache at over 1000 MB, Kodi tries to use over 3 GB of RAM, which is more than a 32 bit program is able to manage.

Anyway, I'll check again tonight and, if everything is OK, I'll mark the problem as solved.

Thank you for your help!

neo201069 · 2017-02-24, 02:01

Your welcome, just glad it worked. Oh and if you find the maximum you can safely set your cache let me know so i can do same.

homerjs · 2017-02-24, 02:08

I had the same issue, use FTP if you can, solved my problems...twice, once way back in version 15 and then recently when I reinstalled Kodi 17 and forgot to do my shares via FTP, I used SMB and was getting intermittent freeze issues. Switched my shares to FTP and issue is now resolved

mkl86 · 2017-02-24, 22:17

@neo201069 I think I will use your cache value for now. I tinkered enough with it for a while. If/when I will look for the maximum usable cache value, I will reply to the thread.

@homerjs I use the SMB share with multiple PC's and I have it mounted as a remote folder. Using FTP would be a little more trouble so I'll stick with SMB, especially now that I've found the source of the issues I had with Kodi. Thank you for the suggestion! I will keep it in mind if I get errors again.

As a conclusion for anybody that reads the thread, the problem was solved by lowering the video cache from 1048576000 to 859296000.