Troubleshooting the bottleneck in my setup

[dougw03 16]

Hello,

I have Emby Server v4.5.2.0 running on a Windows machine connected via 802.11ac WiFi to my TP-Link AC1300 router. My NAS is a Zyxel 326 connected via gigabit ethernet to my router. The drives in my NAS are HGST/Hitachi HDS5C404/HMSd40AL (I believe these are Deskstar 5K4000 drives). Anytime I try to direct play 4K videos at ~45mbps, I always run into buffering issues and have to transcode. I'm pretty sure it's not my router because I have the same buffering issues whether I use a Wifi or gigabit ethernet client (Windows PC, Google TV Chromecast, or 2017 Nvidia Shield TV) . Since I am direct playing via GigE from the NAS to client, I'm led to believe the issue may be with my NAS? Any ideas on how to troubleshoot? Thanks

embyserver.txt

Edited November 28, 2020 by dougw03

[Luke 42081]

Hi there, let's look at an example. Please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue:

 

Thanks !

[dougw03 16]

3 minutes ago, Luke said:

Hi there, let's look at an example. Please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue:

 

Thanks !

Attached Server Log. Thanks!

[Luke 42081]

Hi, there's nothing obvious here. You could try putting some media directly on the server machine and see how that compares versus pulling it from the NAS.

[Happy2Play 9783]

If I understand the playback would be Server wifi to network storage, storage back to Server wifi, then Server wifi  to client?  I am guessing http direct stream not direct file access.

A test would be do you see the same issue if you have a test library on laptop?

[dougw03 16]

15 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

If I understand the playback would be Server wifi to network storage, storage back to Server wifi, then Server wifi  to client?  I am guessing http direct stream not direct file access.

A test would be do you see the same issue if you have a test library on laptop?

I did not realize the client can't interact directly with the file on the NAS. Does emby server have to be running on the NAS to get direct file access? 

[Happy2Play 9783]

It all depends on if the client is capable of direct file access.  But someone more proficient in specific clients will have to provide more info.

[Happy2Play 9783]

Just had a similar discussion here

Emby buffering 4K when direct play to Android TV and other network devices - trying to figure out what is wrong - Linux - Emby Community

[dougw03 16]

1 hour ago, Happy2Play said:

It all depends on if the client is capable of direct file access.  But someone more proficient in specific clients will have to provide more info.

Thanks. I was perusing around and it seems that you cannot get direct file access on Emby Android TV without using an external player. I tried using an external player (VLC) and the buffering issue seemed to have gone away in the 2 minutes of testing I did. I had no way to tell if VLC was direct file access playing (I assume it was). The user experience with VLC is not great so I think my best option will be to upgrade my NAS to something beefy enough to handle Emby Server and transcoding. Thanks for your help

[Carlo 4561]

Hi,

You can direct file play in Android TV if using a Shield TV.  It's one of the perks of the OS the Shield TV uses.

https://support.emby.media/support/solutions/articles/44002058102-android-tv-storage-attachment

My hunch would be your issue is the fact your Emby Server is running over WIFI.  The first thing I would do is make sure my Emby Server is attached to my network via Ethernet cable.

[dougw03 16]

2 hours ago, cayars said:

Hi,

You can direct file play in Android TV if using a Shield TV.  It's one of the perks of the OS the Shield TV uses.

https://support.emby.media/support/solutions/articles/44002058102-android-tv-storage-attachment

My hunch would be your issue is the fact your Emby Server is running over WIFI.  The first thing I would do is make sure my Emby Server is attached to my network via Ethernet cable.

Thanks. I've stopped using my Shield TV in favor of the chromecast for Dolby Vision and better SW, but this may a reason to go back. Unfortunately I do not have any means of running ethernet to my server due to proximity.

[Luke 42081]

You could try this on the Shield and see if it performs better: