Constant buffering for 30gb .mkv movies

[aaronwt]

If you can't or won't use nfs you can also downgrade to a 1.1.x firmware version of the boxee box. Then there's no buffering issues....

Hopeless SMB performance with 1.2.x

So far with the new firmware, I've only run into one BD ISO with buffering issues, Gran Torino. It's not even a very high bitrate title. Other BD ISOs I have with much higher bitrates have not had any buffering issues over SMB.

But for whatever reason Gran Torino had an issue with buffering over SMB. When I played it from my unRAID using NFS instead of SMB it didn't have any buffering problems.

[mkohman]

Guys,

I have switched from SMB to NFS last night and did a scan ... All movies (.mkv files approx 10-16 gb 1080p working flawless with HD sound like it did with SMB) however Transformers which is 36GB still buffering every 3-5 secs.. so annoying.. I have no idea why this is happening.. Its not a big issue as I have already wacthed this on my HTPC which is downstairs and also running from the gigabit network with XBMC which has no problems streaming what so ever but its just nice to have the Boxee Box play these files with no problems to.. Oh well may be the next firmware update will sort this problem out..

Can someone tell my what benefit NFS has over SMB as so far I have not really noticed any? Also do I need to run haneWIN NFS everytime I restart my computer which has the files on or does windows automatically run this app in the background? Thanks for all your help

[jasmeet_9sb]

I'm surprised that, you haven't noticed any difference !!
Most likely it will start itself on startup, if it doen't then include it in your start-up programs. See this youtube video and increase transfer size as mentioned, which might make a difference. Also if you've windows firewall on then, forward the ports according to the video tutorial.

[ScottAllyn]

[...]however Transformers which is 36GB still buffering every 3-5 secs.. so annoying.. I have no idea why this is happening.. Its not a big issue as I have already wacthed this on my HTPC which is downstairs and also running from the gigabit network with XBMC which has no problems streaming what so ever but its just nice to have the Boxee Box play these files with no problems to.. Oh well may be the next firmware update will sort this problem out..

The HTPC is connected to the gigabit network via ethernet, right? And the Boxee Box is connected via the powerline adapters? If that's the case, can you temporarily bring the Boxee Box downstairs and hook it up where the HTPC is hooked up?

If the Boxee Box still buffers over that ethernet cable, then it's clearly an issue with the Box or with your windows networking. If it doesn't buffer, the powerline adapters are the bottleneck and futzing with your windows settings isn't going to make much, if any, improvement.

[drunkwithpower]

The HTPC is connected to the gigabit network via ethernet, right? And the Boxee Box is connected via the powerline adapters? If that's the case, can you temporarily bring the Boxee Box downstairs and hook it up where the HTPC is hooked up?

If the Boxee Box still buffers over that ethernet cable, then it's clearly an issue with the Box or with your windows networking. If it doesn't buffer, the powerline adapters are the bottleneck and futzing with your windows settings isn't going to make much, if any, improvement.

This is a very sensible test. I had a Boxee hooked up through Powerline adapters and it buffered every minute or so, even though the Powerline utility said there was more than enough bandwidth for streaming 1080p movies. I dropped a 100 foot cable to the Boxee (wife didn't like this much), but miracle of miracles the Boxee could stream whatever I threw at it. So it's all about stable bandwidth.

Unfortunately, just for kicks I put the Powerline adapters in place to use with my Samsung SMART TV, and the kicker is it can stream all the files without buffering - the same ones the Boxee choked on. Had to shake my head at that one. Of course, the Samsung is getting it's feed via Serviio rather then SMB, so I'm thinking Boxee's implementation of SMB is actually the issue.

[Mike Hock]

Well I guess I get to shake my head even harder. I went through all of those options moving from wireless G to wireless N, powerline 200Mbps to powerline 500Mbps, and finally wired ethernet both with Cat 5 and Cat 6 cables and I still get buffering trying to stream my high bit rate ISOs and MKVs.

I can stream something like Tropic Thunder or the Superman movies but let me try to stream the Shoot Em Up, Avatar, or the Star Wars ISO rips I have or any other higher bit rate file and it starts buffering all over the place. If I hadn't given up and bought something else that outperforms the Boxee Box in that regard, I would be seriously angry.

[dladrach]

Guys,

I have switched from SMB to NFS last night and did a scan ... All movies (.mkv files approx 10-16 gb 1080p working flawless with HD sound like it did with SMB) however Transformers which is 36GB still buffering every 3-5 secs.. so annoying.. I have no idea why this is happening.. Its not a big issue as I have already wacthed this on my HTPC which is downstairs and also running from the gigabit network with XBMC which has no problems streaming what so ever but its just nice to have the Boxee Box play these files with no problems to.. Oh well may be the next firmware update will sort this problem out..

Can someone tell my what benefit NFS has over SMB as so far I have not really noticed any? Also do I need to run haneWIN NFS everytime I restart my computer which has the files on or does windows automatically run this app in the background? Thanks for all your help

I have set mine at statup but you may not need to do that. Also, did you get all your answers regarding SMB vs NFS. I can give you some additional Network tweaks regarding windows 7.

[mrjohnyblaze]

I have been experiencing buffering issues since the updates to 1.2 and I am extremely annoyed. If I revert to 1.1 or lower releases, the same mkv files play perfectly.

[mkohman]

I have set mine at statup but you may not need to do that. Also, did you get all your answers regarding SMB vs NFS. I can give you some additional Network tweaks regarding windows 7.

please let me in to some tips thanks

[dladrach]

please let me in to some tips thanks

First, I replaced my NIC card with 2 x 1 gig D'link DGE-530T and Team'd them together, making sure all the latest drivers were used. I also disabled protocols that I was not using i.e. IPv6.

Next,
I ran the following Optimizer on my system to adjust some of the settings on my system.

http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php

I am not saying this is going to solve issues but I know windows 7 by default does some things, (i.e. window scaling) that causes potential throughput issues.