Synology DS-410j video streaming problems HELP!

[braindew]

I recently go the 410j and have been uploading a lot of 1080p movies ripped from my Blu-rays. I am having a strange 50% success rate of the movies copying over and still working (about 10/20). I have them in two places for now, my PC and the NAS while testing. I am using WDTV Live boxes to view the movies. The "bad" skipping movies are able to play from the PC on WDTV Live. Ironically, when I repeat the ripping process it is always the same movies (various Codecs). I have tried the following with no luck:

• Re-rip with different codecs
  Try without subtitles
  Rename the movies
  Turn off UPnP, reboot, turn on UPnP, re-index
  Ripping directly to the 410j
  Updated firmware in 410j and WDTV Live

Nothing works and the skipping occurs in the same places in the movies...what could it be, I am new to NAS. Oh, and I have all wired ethernet with 5e (the movies still play from the PC to the media player so the bit rate can't be the problem). All the HDD show good in the management program...and all have green lights the NAS. I am using 4, 2TB Seagates (5400 rpm model).

 

[thiggins]

Does the WDTV Live require running a server on the PC? Or can it just scan the network for shares and play the content from them?

 

[braindew]

The WDTV Live is a pretty versatile little player. It can see PCs or the NAS as either a media share or a Network device. I do not have any server software on my PC. The only topic that comes close to this anywhere on the net is some people struggling to get PS3s to play video content from another NAS without stuttering, while video streaming from a PC was fine. They fixed their problem with a PS3 firmware update. I would say it is a WDTV Live problem, but how can I watch the exact same files streaming from a PC. That leads me to believe that it is a RAID 5 problem on the NAS.

 

[thiggins]

I was trying to determine if it was a server / UPnP AV / DLNA issue.

What I'd do is profile the stream bandwidth by running Netmeter on a PC that is playing the stream from the NAS. It should also reveal stream hiccups.

 

[braindew]

I'll try that tonight...thanks. I am leaning to a UPnP problem as well. With all of teh problems of teh 409j I was hoping I would dive into a fixed model.

 

[braindew]

I tried Netmeter, and it definitely shows choked flow (down to 100 KiB/s at times). I might add that I am daisy chaining two gigabit switches across the house...but others have done so with success.

Works:
PC > D-link DGS-2205 Gigabit Switch > NetGear GS608 v3 Gigabit Switch > WDTV Live

Doesn't Work:
410j NAS > NetGear GS608 v3 Gigabit Switch > WDTV Live

WHAT IN THE WORLD?! Now other movies that previously worked are stuttering.

 

[thiggins]

Two daisy-chained switches won't cause a problem.

How much bandwidth does Netmeter show for the stream with the "Works" setup?

Where is the PC that Netmeter is running on in the "Doesn't work" configuration, i.e. how did you measure the bandwidth.

Perhaps there is an indexing or other service that is running and impacting throughput. Shut off all media serving on the 410j to rule that out as a problem. The WDTV live should be able to play the files from a networked share with no media server involved.

 

[braindew]

The plot thickens. I was able to measure as much as 9 MB/s with my PC running Windows Media Player reading a Bluray rip from the NAS (no hiccups whatsoever). AHHH, but when I go to play the same movie with PowerDVD the bitrate chokes down to < 1 MB/s. The playback resembles what I am seeing on the WDTV Live.

thiggins, To answer your question: On the "doesn't work" with the WDTV Live I did not run Netmeter...only I got video/audio drop outs.

When you say, "Shut off all media serving on the 410j to rule that out as a problem." do you mean turn off UPnP? And then just try playing the files as a "network share". I will try that. What is it about Windows Media player that allows more bandwidth?

 

[thiggins]

Go to the Applications section of the Admin and disable all services that are running. This is make sure that no indexing processes are running in the background.

As to why Windows Media Player may be doing better than PowerDVD, if you're using Vista, check out this article
Vista Multimedia Playback and Network Throughput

Have you been asking over in the Synology forums about this?
Also the WDTV Live forum?

 

[braindew]

Thanks again...I will try that tonight. I have essentially mirrored this post in the Synology Forums. Only thing that came up there was to try and copy down a file from the NAS and see if it still plays (it does). I haven't gone to the WDTV Live forum yet...since I can play the same movies streaming from PCs I thought it was down to Synology Hardware/software or Seagate 2TB HDDs. I guess if the movie plays in Windows Media Player then it's not the HDD fault.

Oh and I'm using Windows 7.

 

[braindew]

All applications were off on the 410j by default.
So to summarize:

1. Streaming HD works from PC to WDTV Live
2. Streaming HD works from Synology 410j NAS to PC via Synology File Station (open movie in new window...Windows Media Player)
3. Streaming HD drops audio/video playing on the WDTV Live from the 410j (both as a media source and network source...network source was worse)
4. Streaming HD drops audio/video playing on a PC from the 410j through network

Now what? WDTV Live is doing it's job since I can watch the same files streamed from a PC. This also means the network is OK. Since I can get Windows Media Player to work from the NAS, it isn't a HDD problem. That only leaves the compatibility of the NAS and WDTV Live, right?

 

[thiggins]

I was with you on your conclusion until case 4. That indicates you have problems playing HD using both the WDTV and a PC as the players.

Which points back to the NAS again, I think.

 

[PowerMAC]

What are the specs of that nas, maybe it's just not up to the task / underpowered? Are you using the most recent firmware? Maybe the cable is faulty? What's the cable length between the nas and de WDL? Have you tried using a real cat6 cable?

 

[braindew]

Just hooked up directly to WDTV Live with same results. Now I am thinking the 410j is underpowered. While doing this research, I found out that they dropped the 256MB RAM from the 409 to 128MB in the 410j...the Wii even has 512MB!!

 

[thiggins]

RAM size should make no difference for what you're doing.

The 410j uses an 800MHz Marvell Kirkwood, as does the Seagate BlackArmor NAS 110 and 220. The 440 uses a 1.2 GHz Kirkwood.

All are capable of reads around 30 Mb/s, which is ~240 Mbps. This should be more than enough for your 1080p stream if there isn't something interfering with steady sustained read throughput in the 410j.

I'll ask my Synology contact for comment.

 

[thiggins]

Looks like you're already gotten Synology engaged over in their forum. I'll let you play this out there.

 

[braindew]

Thanks for all of the help narrowing down the problem...you are right it is in Synology's court now.