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Livanto
August 30th, 2010, 11:01 AM
Hello,
I've been trying to set up Boxee in the last few days. It looks very promising but i'm having problems streaming movies and TV shows across my local network. Here's how I have it all set up…

External Seagate hard-drive ----(USB2.0)----> iMac (2010 model) ----(wi-fi)----> Macbook Pro (late-2006 model) ----(DVI to VGA connection)----> Samsung TV

Wi-fi (n specification) is provided by a Time Capsule.

All the movies are currently on the external hard-drive, and I have set up SMB shares so Boxee can find the library just fine.

The trouble is actually playing the movies (which are a mixture of AVI and higher-quality m4v). I have problems where the image stutters about once or twice every second and the audio goes out of sync quite badly. They play fine when using Quicktime/Preview or VLC.

I did have similar problems streaming content from apps (like YouTube or Revision3) but I fixed this by disabling the 'Always enable hardware acceleration' option that has been recommended before.

I thought that maybe having the movies several steps away could be the problem, so I tried placing the movies on the iMac itself (no luck) and also locally on the Macbook Pro that is running Boxee (same problems).

I have been ripping DVDs myself (to m4v) to try and complete my library (using Handbrake). I've tried various options with no difference in result:
Constant quality: 70.10%
Codec: H.264
FPS: 25fps (PAL)
Audio: AAC 160kbps
(With 'Web optimised' on and off)

Any ideas are greatly welcomed.

Livanto
September 1st, 2010, 09:30 AM
I've discovered something interesting...

Because i'm using a Macbook Pro, i turn it on, launch Boxee, close the lid and then rewake the computer with the Apple remote (otherwise the screen on the laptop itself will stay on all the time when using Boxee) - I think some people call this "closed clamshell mode". But when I wake it from sleep that's when the problems with audio sync and video slowdown/stutter happen.

If I just turn on the laptop and run boxee, movies seem to play fine.

Any idea why waking from sleep would cause video problems?