[jsun311]

Guys, I am having issues with almost every video file I attempt to stream; I have tried divx and xvid with some success. However, when it comes to mkv or H264 files they buffer so bad they are impossible to watch or sometimes XBMC won't even open them. My desktop and laptop are both connected wirelessly to my network, as is my ATV2. See below for specs and logs etc..

Router: Netgear Dualband Wireless N Router
Desktop: Dell Connects via Wireless G; OS is Vista
Laptop: Macbook Pro Connects via Wireless G; OS is OSX
Apple TV2 connects wirelessly; jailbroken with Greenpois0n RC6
XBMC Buildlatform: Mac OS X (10.4.0 AppleTV2,1). Built on Feb 19 2011 (Git:4b032be)

Here is part of my log when I just tried to play the movie Tangled for my daughter and it never played, it just timed out and told me to check the log for details.

Code:

23:45:28 T:154968064 M:120709120   DEBUG: CGUIMediaWindow::GetDirectory (smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/)
23:45:28 T:154968064 M:120709120   DEBUG:   ParentPath = []
23:45:28 T:154968064 M:120709120   DEBUG: Loading fileitems [smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/]
23:45:28 T:154968064 M:120709120   DEBUG:   -- items: 15, directory: smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/ sort method: 0, ascending: false
23:45:28 T:176844800 M:120709120   DEBUG: thread start, auto delete: 0
23:45:28 T:176844800 M:120705024   DEBUG: OpenDir - Using authentication url smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/Black%20Swan
23:45:28 T:176844800 M:120705024   DEBUG: OpenDir - Using authentication url smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/Due%20Date
23:45:28 T:176844800 M:120705024   DEBUG: OpenDir - Using authentication url smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/The%20Fighter
23:45:29 T:176844800 M:120705024   DEBUG: OpenDir - Using authentication url smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/Frontline%20%2d%20The%20Vaccine%20War
23:45:29 T:176844800 M:120705024   DEBUG: OpenDir - Using authentication url smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/It%27s%20Kind%20Of%20a%20Funny%20Story
23:45:29 T:176844800 M:120705024   DEBUG: OpenDir - Using authentication url smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/The%20Kings%20Speech
23:45:29 T:176844800 M:120705024   DEBUG: OpenDir - Using authentication url smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/Love%20and%20Other%20Drugs
23:45:30 T:176844800 M:120705024   DEBUG: OpenDir - Using authentication url smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/Paranormal%20Activity
23:45:30 T:176844800 M:120705024   DEBUG: OpenDir - Using authentication url smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/Tangled
23:45:30 T:176844800 M:120705024   DEBUG: OpenDir - Using authentication url smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/Waiting%20For%20Superman
23:45:30 T:176844800 M:120705024   DEBUG: Thread 176844800 terminating
23:45:31 T:154968064 M:121057280   DEBUG: CGUIMediaWindow::GetDirectory (smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/Tangled/)
23:45:31 T:154968064 M:121057280   DEBUG:   ParentPath = [smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/]
23:45:31 T:181747712 M:121057280   DEBUG: OpenDir - Using authentication url smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/Tangled
23:45:31 T:176844800 M:121061376   DEBUG: thread start, auto delete: 0
23:45:31 T:176844800 M:121061376   DEBUG: Thread 176844800 terminating
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:119988224   DEBUG: Error: Requested setting (karaoke.enabled) was not found.  It must be case-sensitive
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120020992   DEBUG: new file set audiostream:0
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerCoreFactory::GetPlayers(smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/Tangled/ahole-tangled.avi)
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerSelectionRule::GetPlayers: considering rule: system rules
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerSelectionRule::GetPlayers: matches rule: system rules
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerSelectionRule::GetPlayers: considering rule: rtv
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerSelectionRule::GetPlayers: considering rule: hdhomerun/myth/rtmp/mms/udp
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerSelectionRule::GetPlayers: considering rule: lastfm/shout
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerSelectionRule::GetPlayers: considering rule: rtsp
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerSelectionRule::GetPlayers: considering rule: streams
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerSelectionRule::GetPlayers: considering rule: dvd
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerSelectionRule::GetPlayers: considering rule: dvdfile
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerSelectionRule::GetPlayers: considering rule: dvdimage
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerSelectionRule::GetPlayers: considering rule: sdp/asf
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerSelectionRule::GetPlayers: considering rule: nsv
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerCoreFactory::GetPlayers: matched 0 rules with players
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerCoreFactory::GetPlayers: adding videodefaultplayer (1)
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerCoreFactory::GetPlayers: for video=1, audio=0
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerCoreFactory::GetPlayers: for video=1, audio=1
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerCoreFactory::GetPlayers: adding player: DVDPlayer (1)
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832   DEBUG: CPlayerCoreFactory::GetPlayers: added 1 players
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832  NOTICE: DVDPlayer: Opening: smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/Tangled/ahole-tangled.avi
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120184832 WARNING: CDVDMessageQueue(player)::Put MSGQ_NOT_INITIALIZED
23:45:33 T:183910400 M:120180736   DEBUG: thread start, auto delete: 0
23:45:33 T:183910400 M:120180736  NOTICE: Creating InputStream
23:45:33 T:183910400 M:120172544   DEBUG: CFileSMB::Open - opened Movies/Tangled/ahole-tangled.avi, fd=10000
23:45:33 T:183910400 M:120172544    INFO: CDVDFactorySubtitle::GetSubtitles, searching subtitles
23:45:33 T:183910400 M:120172544   DEBUG: CacheSubtitles: START
23:45:33 T:154968064 M:120172544   DEBUG: ------ Window Init (DialogBusy.xml) ------
23:45:33 T:183910400 M:120164352   DEBUG: CacheSubtitles: Checking for common subdirs...
23:45:34 T:183910400 M:119795712   DEBUG: CacheSubtitles: Done (time: 223 ms)
23:45:34 T:183910400 M:119795712   DEBUG: CacheSubtitles: Searching for subtitles...
23:45:34 T:183910400 M:119791616   DEBUG: OpenDir - Using authentication url smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/Tangled
23:45:34 T:183910400 M:119791616   DEBUG: CacheSubtitles: Done (time: 45 ms)
23:45:34 T:183910400 M:119791616   DEBUG: CacheSubtitles: END (total time: 290 ms)
23:45:34 T:183910400 M:119791616    INFO: CDVDFactorySubtitle::GetSubtitles, searching subtitles done
23:45:34 T:183910400 M:119791616  NOTICE: Creating Demuxer
23:45:34 T:183910400 M:119787520   DEBUG: Loading: /private/var/stash/Applications/XBMC.frappliance/XBMCData/XBMCHome/system/players/dvdplayer/avformat-52-arm-osx.so
23:45:34 T:183910400 M:119459840   DEBUG: Open - probing detected format [avi]
23:46:01 T:181747712 M:120123392   DEBUG: Thread 181747712 terminating (autodelete)
23:46:01 T:180162560 M:120127488   DEBUG: Thread 180162560 terminating (autodelete)
23:46:02 T:178171904 M:120131584   DEBUG: Thread 178171904 terminating (autodelete)
23:46:04 T:183910400 M:120135680   DEBUG: Open - av_find_stream_info starting
23:46:04 T:183910400 M:120123392 WARNING: could not find codec parameters for smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/Tangled/ahole-tangled.avi
23:46:04 T:183910400 M:120131584   ERROR: OpenDemuxStream - Error creating demuxer
23:46:04 T:183910400 M:120131584  NOTICE: CDVDPlayer::OnExit()
23:46:04 T:183910400 M:120131584  NOTICE: CDVDPlayer::OnExit() deleting input stream
23:46:04 T:183910400 M:120131584   DEBUG: CFileSMB::Close closing fd 10000
23:46:04 T:183910400 M:120127488   DEBUG: Thread 183910400 terminating
23:46:04 T:154968064 M:120127488   DEBUG: CAnnouncementManager - Announcement: PlaybackStopped from xbmc
23:46:04 T:154968064 M:120127488   ERROR: Playlist Player: skipping unplayable item: 0, path [smb://MACBOOKPRO/Movies/Tangled/ahole-tangled.avi]
23:46:04 T:154968064 M:120127488   DEBUG: Playlist Player: one or more items failed to play... aborting playback
23:46:04 T:154968064 M:120127488    INFO: Loading skin file: DialogOK.xml
23:46:04 T:154968064 M:120127488   DEBUG: ------ Window Init (DialogOK.xml) ------
23:46:04 T:154968064 M:120127488  NOTICE: CDVDPlayer::CloseFile()
23:46:04 T:154968064 M:120127488 WARNING: CDVDMessageQueue(player)::Put MSGQ_NOT_INITIALIZED
23:46:04 T:154968064 M:120127488  NOTICE: DVDPlayer: waiting for threads to exit
23:46:04 T:154968064 M:120139776  NOTICE: DVDPlayer: finished waiting
23:46:04 T:154968064 M:120139776   DEBUG: LinuxRendererGL: Cleaning up GL resources
23:46:04 T:154968064 M:120139776   DEBUG: CGUIAudioManager::Initialize
23:46:04 T:154968064 M:120758272   DEBUG: ------ Window Deinit (DialogBusy.xml) ------
23:46:34 T:154968064 M:120782848   DEBUG: SECTION:UnloadDelayed(DLL: special://xbmcbin/system/players/dvdplayer/avformat-52-arm-osx.so)
23:46:34 T:154968064 M:120782848   DEBUG: Unloading: avformat-52-arm-osx.so

One thing that I found odd was I have installed Bluecops HULU addon on and it works flawlessly, very little, if any buffering. Any feedback would be great.

[Memphiz]

the "ahole-tangled.avi" seems to have an unsupported codec. Maybe you could post the mediainfo (google for mediainfo - it is a program for displaying the codec details of videos).

[akid1]

i had a similar problem, but it started to run and then exits to xbmc...

i checked the file and it was an FLV, so not really supported.

I also have regular buffering on EVERY file i tested (300mb divx, x264 etc.) with the latest version, before that (with the first official release) streaming worked like a charm.

Also, i saw several posts from people like us, maybe there is also a failure in this version?

[lakie1982]

If you see the topics lately its all about buffering.
Not to mention the views these topics have.
For sure its a software problem. Hope someone fix this soon.

[jsun311]

Here is the mediainfo for the film. http://pastebin.com/8NMa2BLu

[ktjensen]

read through the twenty pages about buffering issues

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=93514

[dazex]

We watched ahole-tangled last night and not a single buffer. I don't know why some are running into buffering issues and other not.

I wonder if there are differing hardware revisions? I got my ATV2 on the day of release. Recently jailbroken using PwanageTools instead of GreenPois0n like I did prior to that.

The only reason I switched jailbreak method was to narrow down a remote control bug that I finally traced to the SMFramework file installed by BTStack.

Anyways, I share my movies from multiple paths over a 10/100 SMB connection.

[jsun311]

We watched ahole-tangled last night and not a single buffer. I don't know why some are running into buffering issues and other not.

I wonder if there are differing hardware revisions? I got my ATV2 on the day of release. Recently jailbroken using PwanageTools instead of GreenPois0n like I did prior to that.

The only reason I switched jailbreak method was to narrow down a remote control bug that I finally traced to the SMFramework file installed by BTStack.

Anyways, I share my movies from multiple paths over a 10/100 SMB connection.

Very interesting, I purchased my ATV2 around Christmas of last year. I have tried SMB, UPNP, PS3 Media Server as well as various unofficial builds and they have all returned about the same results - all most unwatchable video. I find it odd that my video wouldn't even play at all - which build are you using.

[dazex]

jsun311,
I am currently running the latest build from keith. Look at the unofficial build thread that's sticked above.

Just about everything we watch nowadays are running perfectly for me. Including most of my 1080p content encoded in h.264. I can fast forward, pause, rewind and skip and video/audio stay sync.

Even pressing menu to exit a movie, upon launching it, I get to resume where I left off. I know some people are having issues with this as well.

I had recorded a video of all this at one time, but Youtube flagged it as copyright violation shortly after posting it up. I am as interested in getting to the bottom of this as you all are.

Like the remote button BREvent 15 and 18 bug that I ran into. Took a couple of days of solid troubleshooting before tracing it down to the SMFramework dependency that BTStack installed.

However, it's hard to troubleshoot a problem that I don't have. I even went as far as downloading movies that people posted problems with, such as the ahole-tangled, and just don't see the problem. Not even a little.

So I think I need to recreate the problem somehow. There gotta be a link somewhere to all this buffering issues. Hopefully the source come into light soon so we can get a proper fix in code.

[Eric_S]

Guys, I am having issues with almost every video file I attempt to stream; I have tried divx and xvid with some success. However, when it comes to mkv or H264 files they buffer so bad they are impossible to watch or sometimes XBMC won't even open them. My desktop and laptop are both connected wirelessly to my network, as is my ATV2. See below for specs and logs etc..

Router: Netgear Dualband Wireless N Router
Desktop: Dell Connects via Wireless G; OS is Vista
Laptop: Macbook Pro Connects via Wireless G; OS is OSX
Apple TV2 connects wirelessly; jailbroken with Greenpois0n RC6
XBMC Buildlatform: Mac OS X (10.4.0 AppleTV2,1). Built on Feb 19 2011 (Git:4b032be)

Try connecting via Wireless N. I noticed buffering on wireless G, even though the actual rate (per the Airport Utility Monitor) should have been sufficient to eliminate wireless speed as a cause of buffering (the buffering disappeared via wireless N).

[dazex]

ATV2 should have no problem decoding ahole-tangled. I am watching the codecinfo OSD and it's only taxing the ATV at roughly 40% and the bitrate is about 0.5Mb/s. I have movies with bitrate going up as high as 25Mb/s without buffer or drop frame. So I know the ATV can decode properly encoded h.264 content as high as that at least.

Ahole-tange is xvid, so that should be decoded entirely via CPU. But I haven't seen a single dropped frame yet and no buffering. My kid is watching it for the first time and I am keeping an eye on the CodecInfo OSD. Glad he is young enough not to mind.