Is there anyone with a large library using xbox360 extenders ? No lockups ?

[vaise 340]

Hi,

 

Sorry in advance for the size of this post.

 

System summary - I have a server on the LAN, cat 6 cable to all rooms, network Switch etc, with 6 xbox360's around the house, all have been perfectly fine for WMC since we built the house, no lockups with WMC and viewing content from recorded TV or the pictures and video section.  Media browser was added to this a 3+ years back for the cool metadata etc and everyone gets a large number of lockups on them.

 

I have read all I can on this over time, removed the backdrops,  image sizes half what they should be.  Is this just normal behavior with a large media collection (900+ Movies, 1300+ TV episodes).  More Info - Im using the new viewer, I do NOT use legacy folders, Only have Movies, TV and Collections.  Plugins are only Chocolate, boxedsets and coverart (but they have only been added in the last 2 weeks) - lockups we have had forever it seems.

 

The kids, being kids, say it is just part of their day now to have to power off and on the xbox between shows.  note - it never locks up during playback, mainly when exiting a TV show and going 'back' to the TV list.  Sometimes when you fire up the xbox, start media browser, then leave it a while, it will lock up.

 

These xboxes are purchased specifically for this - no games are played, they are just used for media viewing.

 

Wife is just over it - so much that I have ordered a Roku 3 player (for the media broswer app) in the hope that this will not lockup for her.

 

I even went 'outside the box' this morning and installed plex, added my media, installed the app on the xbox (native app - come on media browser), paid for a months subscription and gave it to a kid to try and lock up - $5 is she could as an incentive - no lockups at all. Unfortunately, their home users does not work on their xbox apps so I cancelled the subscription as that is very much needed in our house.

 

So, the long and the short of it - is it wishful thinking to have a stable 'lock up free' media browser system on an Xbox360 extender with a large media library ?

 

Thanks.

 

 

[Spaceboy 2573]

i don't think thats a particularly large library. have you tested this though? have you seem better performance with less library items?

[ebr 16171]

There may be hope on the horizon.  Paul has contributed some changes that could fix this for you.

 

How far down did you move the image sizes?  Did you try something like 120 for primary image width?

[vaise 340]

Image sizes set to this in the advanced :

 

Max image width - 170

Max thumb image width - 250

Max backdrop width - 720 (But the backdrops are turned off so I dont think this matters)

 

(I just halved the ones there).

 

The pictures sure look dinky now - and 5 rows on the poster view - so I usually have to reach for my glasses!

 

On theme options, under backdrop settings, all options are un-ticked.

 

I can change to 120 max image width so will do that but really dinky then.....

[vaise 340]

Hi,  re library size - I have not tested it - I would lose my recent watched stuff I thought, and a bit of a pain for the rest of the family if I tookk their media away while testing this.  Just re-checked my library

 

TV A-R - 1115 folders 

TV S-Z - 789 folders

Movies - 1113 folders

 

The above Tv shows include Season 1, Season 2, Season 3 etc etc.

The above movies only have the movie (not extrafanxxx folders)

 

Thanks.

[vaise 340]

Another lock up - press stop on the tv show being watched, press back to the season, back to the main menu (the TV menu that shows most recent TV shows etc) - locked up.  Nothing untoward in the mbclassic log.  Have to power off and on xbox.

 

FYI - Plex has a solution for multiple separate users on the xbox they tell me (after I cancelled subscription), you have to create a free plex account for each xbox, then share the primary account (that has the plexpass) with the free accounts.  Each xbox is linked to the free acounts then and each has its own view then.  This is in test by two of the kids in the house.  No lockups reported so far on that.

 

Thanks. 

[ebr 16171]

If you can hang with us for just a few days, I'll hopefully have a dev version you can test out on your 360s.

[Macburp 112]

Another lock up - press stop on the tv show being watched, press back to the season, back to the main menu (the TV menu that shows most recent TV shows etc) - locked up.  Nothing untoward in the mbclassic log.  Have to power off and on xbox.

 

FYI - Plex has a solution for multiple separate users on the xbox they tell me (after I cancelled subscription), you have to create a free plex account for each xbox, then share the primary account (that has the plexpass) with the free accounts.  Each xbox is linked to the free acounts then and each has its own view then.  This is in test by two of the kids in the house.  No lockups reported so far on that.

 

Thanks. 

 

I get exactly this fault too on my xbox. Here's hoping ebr can fix it.

[vaise 340]

I wont be jumping ship to Plex unless there is no light at the end of the MB3 tunnel.  $150 for the plexpass.... a big ask unless it is fully tested (I have a mkonth to do that).

 

As a side note, my shiny new Roku 3 arrived today, shipped from amazon for $82.  Fired up the UK VPN, added the roku Uk account, signed up for a week free unblockus and set my router to UK DNS (and blocked the google dns) and now I have BBC Iplayer, and all the other Uk cool TV.  But a bonus - No lockups at all yet on the mediabrowser3 app for Roku.....

 

Options :

 

1 - Wait for MBC to work in a stable fashion on xbox

2 - Wait for MB3 dedicated app for xbox360 (please please please)

3 - Buy plexpass lifetime and move to plex (oh no)

4 - Buy 6 roku players for MB3 

 

Cheers,

V.

[mediaGuy 8]

I'm having the same lockups with my 360s. When I stop media playing it basically locks up, no decent info in the logs.

 

It only started happening a month or so ago when I started using Media Companion. I updated all my posters to higher resolution, stored them in Kodi format (instead of moviename.jpg) and use nfo instead of xml. So not sure which one actually broke it but judging from this topic it's the image size.

Navigating is crazy slower now.

Edited March 27, 2015 by mediaGuy

[vaise 340]

I can cause a lockup by navigating around to anything, then pressing back to go to the TV screen again (with the recent TV list).  Or, i can cause a lockup by just starting media browser, then leaving it for a while (not sure what the limit is), then trying to use it again.  Pretty much most things on the xbox360 you want to do will cause a lockup.  The roku however has never locked up to date - however the wife is not impressed with the FF/RW on the roku, and it does not have the 'cool'ish inteface - but I see on these forums that may change.  I want to convert to roku fully, wife wants her WMC 'Recorded TV' for all the reality tv crap - We have a shed load of investment in xboxes (7 in total on the network) - so would love it working nicely.

[Spaceboy 2573]

Hi, re library size - I have not tested it - I would lose my recent watched stuff I thought, and a bit of a pain for the rest of the family if I tookk their media away while testing this. Just re-checked my library

 

TV A-R - 1115 folders

TV S-Z - 789 folders

Movies - 1113 folders

 

The above Tv shows include Season 1, Season 2, Season 3 etc etc.

The above movies only have the movie (not extrafanxxx folders)

 

Thanks.

No you wouldn't, play state isn't dependent on location and is retained even if the recording is not there

[Spaceboy 2573]

Roku is the way to go though in my opinion, I've got three myself and two in use by remote ysers

[mediaGuy 8]

Any update on this dev release?  The wife's yelling is about to switch me over to Kodi.

[ebr 16171]

Very sorry.  Changes at the server level required me to shelve this particular issue for a bit.  I should have a release out this week you can test.

[jordy 284]

@@ebr, whilst you are fixing this issue can you also have a look at the web client remote control for x-box360. The web client will start a video on the 360 but doesn't show/enable any of the remote buttons after the video commences. Even when accessing the remote menu, the stop, pause FF/RW buttons are greyed out and unavailable. Using the latest dev server.

Thanks

[ebr 16171]

Okay, guys - give dev version 263 a whirl on your extenders.

[MrWebsmith 598]

@@BAS

[djmoi 0]

I have the exact same problem the library is all there i can go into the different sections no problem but when i play a tv show after i press stop and go back it freezes. If i stay in the same season of a show i can watch different shows no problem but the second I exit out of the season and go back it freezes.

 

i've been using media browser for years now as a extender i never had the problem until i upgraded to Emby and the media browser classic and the wheels fell off the bus. I might have to go back to the legacy media browser this is becoming annoying i can't keep restarting the program everytime i finish a show.

[ebr 16171]

I have the exact same problem the library is all there i can go into the different sections no problem but when i play a tv show after i press stop and go back it freezes. If i stay in the same season of a show i can watch different shows no problem but the second I exit out of the season and go back it freezes.

 

i've been using media browser for years now as a extender i never had the problem until i upgraded to Emby and the media browser classic and the wheels fell off the bus. I might have to go back to the legacy media browser this is becoming annoying i can't keep restarting the program everytime i finish a show.

 

And have you tried the new version (264)?

[vaise 340]

Sorry, I was in the UK - just returned to Aus - Just installed the latest beta now.  Will report back on any future lockups (which I have had all afternoon when exiting any show for another with the older version).

[Macburp 112]

Just installed the latest beta now.

 

The latest version that I think solves the lock-up problems is 264, which is dev at the moment. The user interface is a lot more fluid and responsive too.

[jordy 284]

I'm afraid I have to disagree that it fixes the lock-ups. The interface is slightly more responsive than 263 but its still like moving through molasses. Navigation is extremely slow. Playback is OK on the first episode and on ending emby is correctly updating the played state. I'm using an Xbox cordless remote. Navigation after playback is still slow and allows only a few back and forward selections before locking up completely. Only way out is to restart the Xbox. I am running latest Dev server on the same machine as wmc/classic v264. Xbox is connected via power line connection.

This connection is perfectly good enough to provide flawless playback on my laptop using emby theater.

Edited April 14, 2015 by jordy

[ebr 16171]

This connection is perfectly good enough to provide flawless playback on my laptop using emby theater.

 

You are comparing an app that is designed for efficient network use to a cobbled together 10-year old piece of technology to RDP your screen to the 360.  The 360 has always had issues with large amounts of data being passed over the network and/or high bitrates.

 

The updates made in the new MBC version should help in a lot of situations but we are still handcuffed by the underlying technology.  You may have to do things like remove backdrops or reduce image sizes to see if it helps.  If it is possible to even temporarily test on a wired actual Ethernet connection that may shed some light as well.

[ab123ga 14]

I have 2000+ movies and that's primarily what I use MB for. I have 3 xbox extenders and use Windows Media Center and Classic for all 3 (+ 1 PC) and don't have any lockups. Some people think me crazy but I've re-encoded all of my movies into a WTV format since that is the most native for the xboxs and again pretty much have zero issues. 

 

Since I let me WMC do all of my TV recording, I got an app called recorded tv HD that has a very nice interface that is accessible by all systems.