Wild media server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)

Hi all,

This is my setup:

WMS 1.01 licensed, installed on a Windows Home Server (custom build)
Using a Western Digital Live (latest Firmware) for playback...

The WDTV-Live has the ability to play from a network share OR from a UPnP/DLNA server. I prefer to play back from the WMS server because the stream is more reliable for high bitrate files, the interface is cleaner and there are fewer folders to navigate.

I have a few movie files (1080P MKV's with DTS audio) that do not "stream" well from the WMS. I'll try to explain what I mean:

1.) Using the WDTV-Live, if I play the movie via a CIF's network share everything is normal, and the movie plays just fine. The WTV-Live also accurately reports the file size, FF & RW work. This tells me the video and audio format is 100% compatible with my player.

2.) IF I try to play exactly the same file over the WDTV-Live "server" connection using WMS, 3 things tell me something is wrong. 1.) The media file size is incorrectly interpreted by the WDTV-Live; WMS reports the file (as example) to be 438Mb instead of actually 12,342mb... 2.) Fast Forward and Rewind do NOT work on these files. 3.) After a few minutes of watching, the movie starts to "glitch" and an "Incompatible Format / File" error appears.

Let me repeat:
>> These problems only happen when streaming via the WMS -Network shares or direct from a USB drive attached to the Western Digital -Live are OK.
>> I know the movies are 100% compatible with the playback device because they play OK when NOT using the WMS.
>> There should be no need to transcode these files because they are 100% supported by the playback device.

Anyone else have this problem?
What other data do you need to help troubleshoot this problem?

Thanks,

Bertrand

Hi,

brettich wrote: 2.) IF I try to play exactly the same file over the WDTV-Live "server" connection using WMS, 3 things tell me something is wrong. 1.) The media file size is incorrectly interpreted by the WDTV-Live; WMS reports the file (as example) to be 438Mb instead of actually 12,342mb... 2.) Fast Forward and Rewind do NOT work on these files. 3.) After a few minutes of watching, the movie starts to "glitch" and an "Incompatible Format / File" error appears.

Let me repeat:
>> These problems only happen when streaming via the WMS -Network shares or direct from a USB drive attached to the Western Digital -Live are OK.
>> I know the movies are 100% compatible with the playback device because they play OK when NOT using the WMS.
>> There should be no need to transcode these files because they are 100% supported by the playback device.

Anyone else have this problem?
What other data do you need to help troubleshoot this problem?

Settings - Transcoder - Execution of transcoding - turn on "Show transcoding panel".
Start a playback on WDTV Live, check a transcoding panel. Transcoding exists ?

Thanks for the respose.
No there is no transcoding taking place. Are there any log files I can send you?
I have attached the mediainfo of one file that is causing me problems...

######################################################
General
CompleteName : \\HOME-SERVER\Videos\Kids Movies\Percy Jackson And The Olympians The Lightning Thief 2010\Percy Jackson And The Olympians The Lightning Thief 2010.mkv
Format : Matroska
FileSize/String : 8.73 GiB
Duration/String : 1h 58mn
OverallBitRate/String : 10.5 Mbps
Encoded_Date : UTC 2010-06-05 17:35:15
Encoded_Application : mkvmerge v3.3.0 ('Language') built on Mar 24 2010 14:59:24
Encoded_Library/String : libebml v0.8.0 + libmatroska v0.9.0

Video
ID/String : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format_Profile : High@L4.1
Format_Settings_CABAC/String : Yes
Format_Settings_RefFrames/String : 5 frames
MuxingMode : Container profile=Unknown@4.1
CodecID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration/String : 1h 58mn
BitRate/String : 9 041 Kbps
Width/String : 1 920 pixels
Height/String : 816 pixels
DisplayAspectRatio/String : 2.35:1
FrameRate/String : 23.976 fps
ColorSpace : YUV
ChromaSubsampling : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String : 8 bits
ScanType/String : Progressive
Bits-(Pixel*Frame) : 0.241
StreamSize/String : 7.30 GiB (84%)
Encoded_Library/String : x264 core 96 r1613 81e75e9
Encoded_Library_Settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.15 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=0 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=9041 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=2:1.00
Language/String : English

Audio
ID/String : 2
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
CodecID : A_DTS
Duration/String : 1h 58mn
BitRate_Mode/String : Constant
BitRate/String : 1 510 Kbps
Channel(s)/String : 6 channels
ChannelPositions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
SamplingRate/String : 48.0 KHz
BitDepth/String : 24 bits
StreamSize/String : 1.25 GiB (14%)
Language/String : English

Text
ID/String : 3
Format : UTF-8
CodecID : S_TEXT/UTF8
CodecID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language/String : English

######################################################


Thanks fo your help.

Bertrand

I may have fixed it ?!?!

I changed and enabled the settings I have circled in red here:
I changed the "resolution?" in the WDTV Live description to 1920x1080 becase that is what the WDTV supports...
Note sure exactly what those check box settings do, I was just trying things out...
But all my problem files now seem to work when streamed over WMS!!!

Cheers,

Bertrand

brettich wrote:I may have fixed it ?!?!

I changed and enabled the settings I have circled in red here:

I changed the "resolution?"

No, is simply the name of configuration. "720x406" - comment for the transcoding frame size.

brettich wrote: Note sure exactly what those check box settings do, I was just trying things out...
But all my problem files now seem to work when streamed over WMS!!!

Probably you re-selected device configuration and all settings become default. Perhaps you had enabled "Always perform transcoding then subtitles are found" - this could cause transcoding and problems with playback.