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[CountryBumkin]

I've been trying to figure out a problem that is causing one of my Client machines to stutter when a BD rip is first played.

1) The stutter is in the Video and Audio. I've only seen it on my BD rips.

2) It starts about 60 +/- seconds after starting playback.

3) Doesn't matter if I'm using RO-Std or RO-HQ ( I also reset MadVR to its default, but no change).

4) Mostly it will stutter a few times then clear up (sometimes I hit the back button and replay the same movie section without stuttering),
Sometimes the entire movie stops and the audio gets stuck (like "da da da da da da ... da) and I have to hit stop.

I was thinking that maybe I have a streaming issue (network issue) but my other Client machine does not have this problem. Of course it could be a LAN problem specific to this one Client machine.

I've run all the PC stress tests I can find (Prime95, Furmark, SandaSoft) but have not found a problem with the PC. One thing I noticed watching the Resource Manager is that I have no memory left (available) sometimes i will see "1 MB" available but usually it's "0". Is this normal - or could this be the problem? I see on my office PC  that I only have 4MB available (and I'm not running anything but IE).

My Client machine is a AsRock H67X MB with Intel i3-3225, 4GB GSkill ram, nVidia MSI GT640, Cruicial C300 64GB SSD, and a 450W power supply.

[JimH]

0MB isn't good.  Maybe something is trying to swap?

Here's a video stuttering problem that was related to background uploading:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=24031.msg664411#msg664411

[Hendrik]

Windows can be a bit funny about showing memory, so have to be careful to figure out whats really "free", and whats just used for caching but will be free'ed if an app needs it.
It may make a difference there between "Free" and "Available".

In the Task Manager, Windows Vista/7 show you both "Free" and "Available". If Free is 0, that is usually not a bad thing, as long as "Available" still has plenty room. It'll immediately free some memory used for caches when an app requests it.
On 8/8.1, it only shows you "Available", if that reaches 0, you are in trouble.

ie. on 7:


"Free" being low is normal. "Available" is how much RAM is actually available for applications to use. Windows will use it otherwise for caching purposes.
If you are really reaching 0-1MB "Available", then you are out of memory, and it will hit the swapfile - and your system will crawl.

[CountryBumkin]

Thanks for the explanation on the memory.
So I have plenty of memory "available" on my machine - that's not the problem then.

I noticed that all of the movies that stutter are dts-hd ma". I wonder if that might be the root of the problem.

next I went checking the Sound properties of my client computer which connects directly to my Samsung TV (no AVR). In Windows Sound properties, this computer only supports 44.1 and 48kHz with "no compressed formats found". I have selected the "Samsung WASAPI" device in MC and under Audio>Settings have the output set to convert everything above 48kHz to 48, Channels: 2 channel (stereo) with JSS mixing.

In summary, this stuttering problem started a few versions back (I don't know if it was an MC change, or something changed with my computer. I think its more likely it is my computer), and the other client machine (a little more powerful (i5 with GTX750Ti) and connected to AVR) doesn't have any issues with playback. I'll continue to investigate.

Suggestions and opinion welcome.

[Ekpen]

+1. I noticed same issue including playing music. I think it started two versions back.
I also complained about movies just stopping in the middle of no where.
I thought It was my network, now a few days ago, my bandwidth bumped up with a new ISP, problem still remains

George

[CountryBumkin]

It has be extremely difficult and frustrating for the developers to be continuously writing/providing new programming to keep up with the latest audio/video advances, while adding support for all the odd ball formats, and keeping the program working flawlessly on the "infinite" number of computer/audio configurations (i.e. seems that no two Users have exactly the same computer and audio hardware setups).

Regarding my issue, as you mentioned, I also think this may have started a few versions back. I suppose the smart thing to do now is to revert back to an older version and see if the problem goes away.

[Ekpen]

My htpc is weird at the moment.

I was out of the internet for maybe 5 weeks due to bad timing. I dumped my ISP, got a new ISP, because of bad weather, cable was not able to be put underground. Probe was not able to find old cable buried. They were almost going to blow up the street in order to pass cable underground, this would take up to 8 weeks to get the permit. Long story short, my internet came back on 03/18. You think MC will load, NO. MC thinks that my PC is new, and upgrading me to 20.0.84 was not possible. Attempt to do upgrade failed error MC installed on another PC-- abort. I had to look for version .66 or so, from this version , I was able to upgrade to 84. But I lost a few third party utilities, including my favorite Mikldrop2.
Now I tried to install JRemote, I got invalid user and or password Jim. (CEO) tried to help. Same MC computer has EOS, and Gizmo, both worked with no flaws with authentication enabled on the server. BUT JRemote no go using same information... Weird.
Yesterday, I went to help a friend install a couple of security cameras. While there, I tested my "OUT OF HOME" IP set up.
With my phone, VNC logged me in to my desktop. Later, I used EOS to play "Yanni In concert Blu ray". I did not try using JRemote, because I thought it was not working. Again, I noticed video stuttering, and same with music.

SURPRISE: This A.M, let me try play with JRemote set up again.. If EOS and Gizmo work,using same authentication enabled on my server, why will JRemote fail to log me in?. BAMMMMM.. JRemote WORKED as expected... four days of fighting with a simple straight forward installation process.
I will be updating my post today regarding JRemote not working in a different thread.
I hope the developers will find the cause of this stuttering and other abnormalities...

Thanks for sharing.

George

[CountryBumkin]

UPDATE: I copied a 24GB movie to a USB stick and it played flawlessly on my Client machine (then retesting with the same movie streaming over the network (server to client) resulted in stuttering) so I believe that confirms that the problem is network related -- but only the network to this specific Client machine.

Since the other Client machine plays my movies from the Server without stuttering, I think it is safe to conclude that the Router, and Cat cabling from the Server to the router are okay. Now I need to figure out where the problem is.

Possibly:
1) Router port is bad
2) CAT5e cabling from router to computer is bad
3) Ethernet card/board in computer is bad
4) Some setting, driver not correct or optimal
5) anything else?

So I guess I need some "LAN testing software" now.
I found this article on t3esting LAN connections at "Small Net Builder" http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/lanwan-basics/31220-how-fast-is-your-network-five-ways-to-measure-network-speed. There are some LAN testing products review, the best looks like either this http://www.hootech.com/NetMeter/ or  http://www.totusoft.com/lanspeed.html

If anyone has recommendations to diagnose this, or experience with any (preferably "free") testing software, please post.

[JimH]

The "Weird and Wonderful" thread has a few posts that might provide clues.

In the properties for the Ethernet device, try setting it to a fixed speed, not auto.  Try updating the driver.

[CountryBumkin]

I could not figure out what was going on with my setup, so I did what every other non-computer-geek would do - I reinstalled the OS. Now everything is working fine again. I'll blame the issue on a Windows update. What else could it be?

I tracked the issue a network streaming problem. I was watching the performance/resource monitor and I was seeing that the network was "receiving" the (movie) file mostly at 900Mbps (jumping from 400 to 1,000Mbps at times). The stuttering seems to coincide with maxing out the network. My other client machine (call it machine 2 in an adjacent room) would receive the same (movie) file at a steady 200 Mbps. Then I moved client machine 2 in place of the problem machine (so same network, cabling, etc.) and it received at 200Mbps and playback was smooth. This lead me to the conclusion that something inside the computer (client 1) was broken.
Failing to figure out the internal problem, I gave up, and reinstalled the OS. Everything is working fine now.

Question
Now JRiver program says I have 3 installs (out of 10) remaining. It doesn't say over what the time period that is. How do I find out what the date is when the restores "roll back" to 10 again? I assume it's based on the purchase date  but I don't recall the date I first purchased MC (or is it based on the calendar year?). This would be good to know since many times I fix my problems by doing a full restore/reinstall.

[Hendrik]

Question
Now JRiver program says I have 3 installs (out of 10) remaining. It doesn't say over what the time period that is. How do I find out what the date is when the restores "roll back" to 10 again? I assume it's based on the purchase date  but I don't recall the date I first purchased MC (or is it based on the calendar year?). This would be good to know since many times I fix my problems by doing a full restore/reinstall.

AFAIK, its a rolling window, ie. every reset is returned to you exactly one year after you used it. So if you kept the reset mails, you could check from that. Of course the keys are valid for 14 days, so if you do a big re-install, you can only use one key instead of several.

If you run out, you can just let us know, and we will reset it.

[JimH]

Good to hear.

The restores are added back one year after they are used.  If you run out let us know.  We can reset the count.  You can extend your restores by using the Install Key (for 14 days) or by using the full trial period.

[CountryBumkin]

Thanks.