Laggy and Stuttering Movies - High Spec PC

[Willo 0]

Hi Guys,

 

I'm seriously struggling with my new build which was originally on a VM but I have installed on new bare metal PC to eliminate that.

 

Build:

 

Gigabyte Z77-Mini ITX with Wifi (Not Using WiFi for this though)

Core i5-3470S 2.9GHZ
16GB RAM

500GB WD Black 2.5" 7200RPM 32MB Cache

Gigabit Network Hard Wired through house.

 

I have installed a clean Windows 8.1PRO with WMC 64bit

Media Browser 3 Server

MB Classic for WMC

Playback on XBOX 360 as extender

Shark Codec Pack

 

SO far my files play back good quality except they stutter and lag often enough to be a pain in the butt.

 

Looking at PerfMon, I'm running at 2-3%CPU and 2Mbps Network for an AVI and 15% CPU for an MKV.

 

So the PC isn't stressed out in any way shape or form.

 

I've tried just about all of the settings in the codec pack and so far nothing helps.

 

I assume MB3 installs some codecs to transcode?  Could that be killing it?  Can I permanently disable transcoding. 

 

I will not be using any other feature other than playback on extender.

 

It's quite frustrating as I have two low spec media players a TVIX M-6600 and an AppleTV2 with Firecore ATV Black installed.  Both playback my movie collection with ease (TVIX) does has the occasional issue with newer encoded formats.

 

So the files are fine.  This is one of the reasons I got a TVIX a while ago, it's point and click.  I just need something that shows the files the way Media Browser 3 does for my kids.

 

I'd love to keep playing but the WAF is rapidly declining

 

Cheers

 

Willo
 

[Tikuf 663]

I assume MB3 installs some codecs to transcode?  Could that be killing it?  Can I permanently disable transcoding.

 

 No, No, and No

 

I assume your playback issue is in mbc? 

 

​I personally ditched shark long ago (nothing against it just too much stuff) 

I use Lav and Lav only don't see any stuttering on xbox extenders at all with anything.

 

There are several guides on the forums on configuring codec packs and lav all i can suggest is read and try.

 

[ebr 16169]

Dump Shark.  install LAV.

[Willo 0]

Will LAV play mkv files?

[bigjohn 753]

Will LAV play mkv files?

 

Yes, LAV makes use of ffmpeg, and ffmpeg has no problem with MKV.

[Willo 0]

Excellent, thank you.

 

I'll report back one I get testing.

[Willo 0]

Tikuf,

 

Are you able to quickly point out what you'd consider an "approved" guide?

 

Cheers

 

Willo

[Tikuf 663]

Jon wrote a very good one that can be found here

 

http://www.thehtpc.net/htpc-tips-and-tweaks/media-center-lav-filters-and-external-subtitles/

 

I cant put my finger on the thread atm.

[CBers 7450]

Jon wrote a very good one that can be found here

 

http://www.thehtpc.net/htpc-tips-and-tweaks/media-center-lav-filters-and-external-subtitles/

 

I cant put my finger on the thread atm.

 

MB3 tutorial here, but it ultimately refers to the same link.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 .

Edited February 4, 2014 by CBers

[ronvp 92]

I am no shark fan either, and I personally use just the LAV splitter with the FFDShow Video and Audio codecs (more flexibility and much better subtitle handling) , but an all LAV install will work fine..

 

If you have playback problems with AVI's, then it is NOT a codec issue. The 360 and Windows will play those back natively and there should be no 3rd party codecs needed or transcoding required.

 

I think your problem is most likely a networking/cable/router issue, but here are some pointers to see if it are the codecs;

Uninstall all codecs on the PC

Play back a AVI file on the PC without any codecs installed and see how that goes if it is good then playback an AVI on the 360 without using MBC and without any codec installed. it should be good.

Then try installing LAV codecs and repeat the same thing with the same AVI's and see how that goes.

If it is all good, try a MKV on the PC. it should be perfect. No need to try the 360 if it is not good on the PC..

if you have no problems with the AVI, but do have problems with the MKV's, make sure you disable hardware decoding in the LAV splitter and try a few different MKV's.

If you still have problems, try all different hardware decoder options in LAV video settings.

 

If you can play movies fine on the PC but not on the 360, you have most likely a network cable or NIC driver/configuration issue.

If this is a "builder" install of the home network cables, be prepared for bad errors. My brother had Cat5 and Cat5E mixed in his house..and had many streaming related issues. We ended up re-running all cables. To check if the pins are wired correctly you can get a little tester (Frys sells these). A other way to test if you have cabling issues in your house is to bring the router, pc ,360 and TV into the same room and hook it up with other cables.

 

Assuming you have no cable issues, you can try if your NIC has a problem:

I suggest to first disable all settings on the NIC card on the PC that have to do with "Green" (These may not be available in windows 8.1)

Then try disable all settings that have to do with "unload"

 

If the problem persist, uninstall and delete (important to delete) your NIC drivers, and restart your PC. this should cause windows to re-install new drivers. 

 

If you still have a problem, try installing a "un-managed switch". This is a network device that allows for 2 or more PC's to directly connect with each other through a network cable. They are not all that expensive and will eliminate many, many issues that have to do with routers. After you get one (you need one with at least 3 ports), plug 1 cable from the router to the switch, and then plug your network cables from PC and 360 into the switch. All data goes from the PC directly to the 360 with almost no router interference and you still have a complete network. If your movies are on the PC, you would not even need to plug in the router.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited February 4, 2014 by ronvp

[Willo 0]

Thank you guys,

 

I'll try and report back

[Willo 0]

While I'm here, I'm happy to drop the use of wmc but as I'm playing back on an Xbox 360 I guess there's no native client available for the 360 on the store?

[Tikuf 663]

I  guess there's no native client available for the 360 on the store? 

 

Correct.

[Willo 0]

Thanks,

 

Looks like an Xbox 360/Network issue.  Playback with current settings works with no stuttering on the PC, but on the extender it stutters.  Played with a few cables and I'm about to enable the 2nd NIC and have dedicated subnet just for connection to NAS and access to media.

[jcain 7]

xbox360 is a PITA with codecs. fyi good luck

[Willo 0]

Definitely an XBOX 360 issue.  I even put the PC down where the XBOX 360 is on the same un-managed switch to test network cable run and punch down.

 

It still stutters not as much but still does.

 

Searched the net and pretty much a common issue, some people say enabling flow control gets rid of the issue but not for me.  

 

I think I'll be looking for a new PVR/Media Player to replace the TVIX.

 

Apparently the network stack from WMC to extender is crap, can I stream to Xbox from MB Theater?

Edited February 6, 2014 by Willo