Divx performance over NAS

[lampcov]

This is a "new thread" to continue a topic from a previous thread that I didn't start.... http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25529

I am running the 6.2.5 Beta of Sage and have a number of files out on a SmarkDisk Soho NAS device. The device is referenced by UNC path as an import directory. The NAS is an appliance so there is no real config for details such as block size, etc.

The issue I have is with the playback of xvid/divx files. There is a stutter when playing them back on the SageTV server. They playback fine from other machines on the network when using WMP or Quicktime, and they also playback correctly when using the Placeshifter on various PCs.

MPG, VOB, and WMV files playback fine however on the SageTV server.

The SageTV box is an AMD 1700+ with 768MB Ram, I know it's a bit old, but it works great and I have no Divx/Xvid playback issues from files on the local drives.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Marc

[fyodor]

Have you tried moving the files to a local hard drive to see if the problem persists?

[lampcov]

fyodor,

I have moved the same files to the local drive and they playback without stutter as expected. I am beating my head against the wall a bit.

I have looked at the perfmon and CPU is not high, network I/O doesn't appear to be bound up....memory is fine...and the files play fine on other network machines...i'm sure i'm missing something obvious, just can't quite tell.

The fact that the files play correctly, without stutter, over the placeshifter is really tweaking my melon....

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.

Marc

[fyodor]

Sorry, I just saw that you did say that you posted that in your original post. Hmm, do you have mpeg4 playback set to the sagetv player or dshow? You could try switching the setting to see if it has any impact. Which mpeg4 decoder are you using?

[AtariJeff]

Not an actual NAS but still a managed set of drives, I playback DivX files perfectly from WHS using SageClient 6.1. Just my 2 cents

[lampcov]

Originally Posted by fyodor

Sorry, I just saw that you did say that you posted that in your original post. Hmm, do you have mpeg4 playback set to the sagetv player or dshow? You could try switching the setting to see if it has any impact. Which mpeg4 decoder are you using?

Fyodor,

I HAD the dshow decoder, and to be honest, I didn't know there was a choice for MP4 playback.

I have changed to sagetv and the playback from the nas now doesn't stutter. BUt it does seem to be lesser quality. Is that just my imagination?

So, if the issue was the dshow codec, and if there is a quailty difference between the two, how do I switch back to dshow and tweak the settings/choose the best codec in ffdshow to have the best balance of performance and quality.

Thanks for the nudge in the right direction!

Marc