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lonchaney · 2009-10-16, 04:55

I built a server to store all my movies/tv shows on and am running windows home server. I can copy files from my server to my main computer, which also runs xbmc, at good speeds. When trying to watch HD movies/tv shows there are times when the picture messes up (hard to explain the problem, looks like giant pixels are showing up on the screen) and the network activity when watching shows/movies spikes up and down. I've attached pics to show you what I'm talking about.

I'm running windows xp on my main computer. If you guys need more info let me know. I appreciate any help you guys can give me.

when copying file
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/5453/copyingfile.jpg

when watching media over xbmc
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/2748/...gmedia.jpg

**natethomas** · 2009-10-16, 08:33

How are they connected together?

lonchaney · 2009-10-16, 15:14

i'm using a dlink dir-655 router and cat6 cables.

infy · 2009-10-16, 16:44

looks like it's just filling it's buffer everytime. normal imo?

Have you tried playing a file stored locally?

lonchaney · 2009-10-16, 22:00

when i play hd stuff locally i don't get the weird pixel thing going on. i didn't realize that's how small a buffer xbmc uses but it must still be a network problem since i can play everything fine locally, right?

joshuass · 2009-10-16, 22:09

It might be a windows home server thing.

I store all my movies and stuff on my main computer, and network the folders as drives on my HTPC. Never had the problem you describe while playing any of these movies.

I have a Zonet 16port switch with an Intel Atom ITX board with Vyatta on it as the router. 10/100 speeds.

If you have another computer somewhere, try and stream from computer to computer instead.

lonchaney · 2009-10-16, 22:43

i don't have another computer to test unfortunately. what do you mean "network the folders as drives on my htpc"? does that mean map them and then use the mapped drive as a source? would that help? i'm at work so i can't test this right now

joshuass · 2009-10-16, 22:50

Yea all I did was share the folder on one computer, and on my HTPC, map the shared folder as a drive.

So I have:

V: mapped to \\Hybrid\Movies
M: mapped to \\Hybrid\Music

Then I told XBMC to use those drives rather than network locations.

Its worked for me pretty well so far.

However, you run into problems where usernames and passwords aren't the same between computers running non-ultimate/professional versions of windows.

I got the best consistency using the same username and password for both computers (both are running Vista Home Premium x64). That way I wasn't forced to reconnect mapped networked drives every time my restart my HTPC. Sharing is a bit convoluted in Vista I guess Smile

lonchaney · 2009-10-16, 22:54

ok sweet...i'll try this when i get home tonight and report back...thanks for the help so far

lonchaney · 2009-10-18, 02:51

so i tried mapping the network drives that have my tv shows and movies but i still get the pixel problem...anyone else have any other suggestions?

**natethomas** · 2009-10-18, 10:47

Might be time to post a debug log. See the link on posting a windows problem in my sig.

lonchaney · 2009-10-19, 23:40

it looks like xbmc isn't actually the problem. using vlc or mpc gives me problems too. i guess if anyone still has any advice i would be glad to hear it.

thanks

harbingerofdoom · 2009-10-20, 08:54

you might try looking at different codecs and/or containers

for some reason i can not stream .264 in an mp4 container without the exact same problems you are having... but the same exact movie done in the exact same codec and all identical settings using an mkv container instead works just fine. (im sure someone else can explain why that is)

remco9999 · 2009-10-20, 13:06

Maybe its just basic drive speed in windows home server (it isn't the fastest around). When files get scattered over multiple disks combined with some heavy defragmentation migth just be the problem. Try copying a problematic file to the xbmc and see what netwok speed you get.

Try defragging and rebalancing the windows home server drive. For rebalancing there is a tool for this: http://homeservershow.com/windows-home-s...ility.html.

lonchaney · 2009-10-20, 17:01

harbingerofdoom Wrote:you might try looking at different codecs and/or containers

for some reason i can not stream .264 in an mp4 container without the exact same problems you are having... but the same exact movie done in the exact same codec and all identical settings using an mkv container instead works just fine. (im sure someone else can explain why that is)

i use mkvs pretty much exclusively

remco9999 Wrote:Maybe its just basic drive speed in windows home server (it isn't the fastest around). When files get scattered over multiple disks combined with some heavy defragmentation migth just be the problem. Try copying a problematic file to the xbmc and see what netwok speed you get.

Try defragging and rebalancing the windows home server drive. For rebalancing there is a tool for this: http://homeservershow.com/windows-home-s...ility.html.

copying a file gets me 24-30MB/s when i copy. i am re-balancing the drives now so we will see if that helps.

thanks a lot for the help...i've posted my problem at several forums and xbmc, as usual, has given me the best response.