Constant freezing when playing 4K

[rbjtech 4223]

so you have it setup like this -

{QNAP} -> (SMB) -> {Windows Emby Server} -> (HTTP) ->  {Nvidia Shield Emby Client}

previously you had it setup like this (I believe)

{QNAP running Emby Server}  -> (HTTP) ->  {Nvidia Shield Emby Client}

so yes, you have an additional 'hop' - but it's not going down the same wire 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2020 by rbjtech

[CHA0SENG7NE 28]

I was just thinking that! Haha 

That actually looks right. I wish I could draw my network setup. So you can see how it's located. It might help. In fact I'll do a drawing to show you......

[CHA0SENG7NE 28]

[CHA0SENG7NE 28]

Technical drawing

[rbjtech 4223]

what's a 'sport switch' ?  Is this just a wired gigabit switch which you are cascading from the 8 port switch ?

Also on the QNAP - you have 4 cables - are these all bonded together to give you 4 Gig/sec ?

[Carlo 4330]

Anyway to plug everything directly into the 8 port switch? Have 2 Ethernet ports in the Emby Server by any chance for bonding?

[rbjtech 4223]

3 minutes ago, cayars said:

Anyway to plug everything directly into the 8 port switch? Have 2 Ethernet ports in the Emby Server by any chance for bonding?

If the 'sport switches' are just layer 2 ethernet switches - then it will not make any difference at this level.

[CHA0SENG7NE 28]

5 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

what's a 'sport switch' ?  Is this just a wired gigabit switch which you are cascading from the 8 port switch ?

Also on the QNAP - you have 4 cables - are these all bonded together to give you 4 Gig/sec ?

5 port switch... Sorry yes it is just another gigabit switch

I have 4 bonded - lag for 4 gig/s

 

[CHA0SENG7NE 28]

The 5 port switches are Netgear gs308bso just standard. The 8 port is a gs108t V2.

If I got another 8 port switch for pc emby server to connect into and had a 2 port bond to itdo you think that would help?

[Carlo 4330]

6 minutes ago, CHA0SENG7NE said:

The 5 port switches are Netgear gs308bso just standard. The 8 port is a gs108t V2.

If I got another 8 port switch for pc emby server to connect into and had a 2 port bond to itdo you think that would help?

Yes it would help a bit.  Your server would access the data faster and could send it faster as well.  It also cuts down latency a bit.

I used to use bonded connections before moving to 10 gb.

[CHA0SENG7NE 28]

But looking at my setup I really shouldn't be having this trouble. Surely it should work especially direct play files.

I'm thinking I might just go back to the qnap

[Carlo 4330]

I disagree. A file transfer can easily dominate/saturate that link making anything else running over it that streams stutter.

I've got one area in my house where my laptop is connected via 1 gb to my main switch.  If I plug a 5 port switch there and feed both my Shield TV and notebook running Emby it will stutter on playback on the Shield while fetching via SMB files from my server.  The file fetch from Emby saturates the link and causes latency.  Now if I put in a smart switch with QOS I can avoid this and get smooth playback by limiting SMB and giving higher service to streams.

It's not just the "size" of the pipe, but how it's used. <-- doesn't that sound just like a guy? LOL

[CHA0SENG7NE 28]

Hahaha

I'll try unplugging everything expect qnap shield and windows pc emby server see if it makes a difference. Worth a try

[rbjtech 4223]

For this application - bonded connections will not increase bandwidth at all - as you only have a single connection (stream) being made.  Bonded connections only help when you have multiple parallel requests.  Generally, you will NOT get 4Gbit/sec out of 4 x 1 Gbit/sec connections.  If Emby Server had 4 x 1 Gig connections and the NAS could deliver 4 x 1 Gig streams and you had 4 users using Emby at the same time, THEN it would help as each user could use up to 1 Gig if they wanted to.

@cayars - if you can saturate your 1gig links playing 4K remux's - then I think you need to invest in some new switches ! 

 

 

[rbjtech 4223]

If it were me - to eliminate the network/bandwidth as the issue, I would remove/disable the 4 bonded connections on the QNAP, and leave 1 normal connection - and then connect everything (server, shield) to a single switch and unplug the others.  Effectively, go back to basics/bare minimum setup.

[CHA0SENG7NE 28]

3 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

If it were me - to eliminate the network/bandwidth as the issue, I would remove/disable the 4 bonded connections on the QNAP, and leave 1 normal connection - and then connect everything (server, shield) to a single switch and unplug the others.  Effectively, go back to basics/bare minimum setup.

I can do that easy enough. I'll give it a try tomorrow. I bonded the qnap because I had 2 switches and the wireless router connected to the same switch. So each one an have full access. Well that was my thinking....

[Carlo 4330]

7 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

For this application - bonded connections will not increase bandwidth at all - as you only have a single connection (stream) being made.  Bonded connections only help when you have multiple parallel requests.  Generally, you will NOT get 4Gbit/sec out of 4 x 1 Gbit/sec connections.  If Emby Server had 4 x 1 Gig connections and the NAS could deliver 4 x 1 Gig streams and you had 4 users using Emby at the same time, THEN it would help as each user could use up to 1 Gig if they wanted to.

@cayars - if you can saturate your 1gig links playing 4K remux's - then I think you need to invest in some new switches ! 

 

 

Sure can.  If Emby is pulling the file from a NAS or file server over that Gb link and using it to send data to clients it's easy without QOS.  If the file read isn't saturating the link something is wrong.  It should transfer normally using as much "pipe" as possible and that's the problem as you have competing things at play using the same bandwidth to both fetch and send.

Not to mention if anything else is using that bandwidth like file transfers. And in Wifi via a switch that also requires the use of the Gb connection and things just get worse.  This is where DAS storage helps as the network is only used for SENDING the stream.

[CHA0SENG7NE 28]

Well I'll have a go at moving some of the networking around and see if it helps. So the next step up from 1gig is 2.5gig? 

 

[rbjtech 4223]

Why would Emby ever be requesting to read a file @ 120 Mbytes/sec ! (ie saturate a 1 gig link)

As I think I said earlier in the thread - if there are 6-8 x 100 Mbit/sec 4K Remux's being played down the 1gig pipe simultaneously, then yes I'm with you - but the OP is playing 1 x 4K ... we don't know what bitrate, but I've gone with worst case.  

 

 

[Carlo 4330]

rbtech, do a test.  Open File manager & connect to your server or other computer with a large media file and copy it to your local computer.

What speed did you get with a simple copy?

Edited September 25, 2020 by cayars

[CHA0SENG7NE 28]

5 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

Why would Emby ever be requesting to read a file @ 120 Mbytes/sec ! (ie saturate a 1 gig link)

As I think I said earlier in the thread - if there are 6-8 x 100 Mbit/sec 4K Remux's being played down the 1gig pipe simultaneously, then yes I'm with you - but the OP is playing 1 x 4K ... we don't know what bitrate, but I've gone with worst case.  

 

 

 

[rbjtech 4223]

1 minute ago, cayars said:

rbtech, do a test.  Open File manager & connect to your server or other computer with a large media file and copy it to your local computer.

What speed did you get with a simple copy?

If I am copying a file from my NAS to my PC, then yes of course it will attempt to saturate the link - BUT, we are not talking about that here - we are talking about streaming a 4K file in Emby ?  Emby reads what it needs to read and no more - ie 100Mbit/sec for a 4K remux, probably 50Mbit/sec etc..  

 

[rbjtech 4223]

2 minutes ago, CHA0SENG7NE said:

 

Ah thanks - there we go - 75 Mbits/sec = ~9 Mbytes/sec.  If you can COPY the file @ 120 Mbytes/sec, then your network is not the problem !

[CHA0SENG7NE 28]

Ok thank you. That's a big help. When the video plays it shows 8-9 mb/s on the qnap network resource monitor. Hardly any load. So now begs the question why isn't it working?

Is it possible to install an older version to see if the new version is the issue?

[Happy2Play 8252]

There is still the controversy of Direct play, is the the item actually direct playing without the server or is the server feeding the client (so bandwidth in and out)?  What is the max bitrate of the Shield?