Streaming Buffering Issues

[MRobi 159]

Did some troubleshooting in a thread in the kodi addon forum. I believe I've narrowed it down to being an issue on the server side.

 

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/48724-streaming-bitrate-clarification/

 

Running Emby server Freenas plugin.

The system is:

ASROCK z77 pro 4 mb

Intel Core i5-3450 3.1ghz quad core

32Gb ram

Intel gigabit nic

8x 4tb hdd

 

My connection speed is 1Gbps down, 100mbps up.

 

Streaming to my camp where the connection speed is terrible at 7mbps down, 0.5mbps up. I've had a tech out from my isp to run numerous tests on the line. They've switched the port and even run a new line from the switch in. They've also replaced the modem. They insist my connection is good.

 

 

Running kodi 17.3 with Libreelec on 2 intel nuc boxes.

 

Adjusted advancedsetting.xml to

<advancedsettings>

<cache>

<buffermode>1</buffermode>

<memorysize>419430300</memorysize>

<readfactor>10</readfactor>

</cache>

</advancedsettings>

 

Adjusted video quality in the kodi app all the way down to 664kbps SD.

 

I can't play more than 5 minutes without buffering. Meanwhile I'm able to stream iptv 720p @ 60fps with no issues and also stream through Exodus at 720p with no issues.

 

So I guess the next place to look is on the server side. Could it be possible that the server is not transcoding the file fast enough to stream properly? Are there any settings I can adjust on the server side?

 

Looking for advice on where to start.

[Luke 37116]

Hi, best thing to do is please discuss an example while providing the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. thanks !

[MRobi 159]

Example: I play any file and it buffers constantly. Sometimes within seconds other times within minutes.

 

I reviewed the steps in the link and I'm pretty sure I covered it all above

-problem description are above

-steps already taken are above

-error message: buffering

-app in use is above

-log from transcoding is attached

Log.txt

[Luke 37116]

Can you attach the emby server log as well? Does this happen when transcoding is not utilized? 

[MRobi 159]

Can you attach the emby server log as well? Does this happen when transcoding is not utilized?

 

Server log attached.

 

By when transcoding is not utilized I assume you mean when I direct play from home? No issues at all there. Only having this issue while trying to stream.

Log (1).txt

[Luke 37116]

@, so this is all when playing using Emby for Kodi? What if you try playing from the web app?

[MRobi 159]

@, so this is all when playing using Emby for Kodi? What if you try playing from the web app?

Tried the Web app this morning on my tablet and still buffers. Also tried the kodi app on the tablet just for fun and same thing.

 

One thing I forgot to mention, when I first started with this issue I was using freenas 9.10.2-u5. When 11 came out I did a complete fresh install of everything.

Log (2).txt

[MRobi 159]

I have one system at home set as play through addon instead of direct play. It's now constantly buffering as well, and will sit for so long it actually boots me out of the show I'm watching. The ones set to direct play seem to have no issues.

[MRobi 159]

Updated to 3.2.25.0

 

Was excited when I saw the feature under Playback/Streaming for Internet Streaming Bitrate Limit. Set that to 3Mbps and was excited to come to the camp to try it out.

 

Sad to report that 5m09s into the first episode I tried it started buffering. And that's with the kodi server side still set at 664 kbps SD.

[MRobi 159]

Double post

Edited July 21, 2017 by IronRobi

[Luke 37116]

Updated to 3.2.25.0

 

Was excited when I saw the feature under Playback/Streaming for Internet Streaming Bitrate Limit. Set that to 3Mbps and was excited to come to the camp to try it out.

 

Sad to report that 5m09s into the first episode I tried it started buffering. And that's with the kodi server side still set at 664 kbps SD.

 

This feature has always existed but I am not sure the Kodi add-on is respecting it. If you play from an Emby app, it will work as you expect.

 

Workaround is to just set your quality setting inside the Kodi add-on. The end result is the same thing.

[MRobi 159]

This feature has always existed but I am not sure the Kodi add-on is respecting it. If you play from an Emby app, it will work as you expect.

 

Workaround is to just set your quality setting inside the Kodi add-on. The end result is the same thing.

Interesting. I've never seen the feature on the server side before.

 

Here's a curveball to the whole thing. With the server limit set to 3mbps and the kodi app as low as 664kbps it buffers constantly. I left the server limit at 3mbps and set the kodi playback setting back to 100mbps (default) and it has been streaming flawlessly all evening.

[Luke 37116]

Interesting. I've never seen the feature on the server side before.

 

Here's a curveball to the whole thing. With the server limit set to 3mbps and the kodi app as low as 664kbps it buffers constantly. I left the server limit at 3mbps and set the kodi playback setting back to 100mbps (default) and it has been streaming flawlessly all evening.

 

Because like I said, the kodi app is not respecting the server side setting. With the bitrate setting set to 664k, we'd have to look the server and ffmpeg log before trying to speculate what might have caused that.