The toddler loves having Kodi full of all their faves but I haven’t been able to iron out all the buffering I’m getting streaming from my mini-pc NFS mounted shares to the pi4 libreelec hooked up via Ethernet in the living room. Everything is wired, so I wouldn’t think that would be an issue but here I am about to put down a couple hundred dollars for a Synology router that looks like the monolith from 2001. Is this going to do the trick, you think? Is there another router recommended to keep a distributed little homelab (any 10tb spread between various usb hdd, raspberry pi’s and mini PCs all hosting a variety of containers and services) running smoothly? Budget I’m hoping to keep under 300 and lower the better but happy toddler and buttery smooth streaming over lan is the priority.
Do you experience buffering if you watch on a pc / laptop on VLC via network? This will tell you if it’s network speed related or hardware power related. I would assume the pi is not quite powerful enough. I am using a device called a Vero 4k+ and it works wonderfully. But my network setup sounds similar to yours, I just have an smb share on my pc and I added it as a source in kodi.
My first thought was also that it’s a Pi bottleneck. I have a 4b, and I don’t think I would really trust it to handle some of the higher-quality streaming. Maybe just barely.
Otw but after replacing the flat Ethernet cable (no change), and while waiting for the vero I switched to connecting to jellyfin / jellycon via its local address instead of its external one (🤦♂️) and zero buffering silky smooth everything. I don’t understand why but holding my breath for now while I wait for the vero when I can retire this unit at least to the office tv where it doesn’t have the responsibility of always performing for the family.
? Not particularly. I have an intel mini pc hosting jellyfin and a few drives via nfs and samba in one room along with the rest of my homelab. In the living room I need to get that media to the tv so I’m using a pi4 running libreelec atm to connect to those shares.
I do have a young child, and where does op state they are a single parent. Yes throwing screens in front of kids is the easiest way for you to ignore them and do what you have to do, but it’s not recommended and it’s bad for their development.
Are you by any chance using flat Ethernet cables? Those are not to spec and are vulnerable to radio noise. Friends don’t let friends buy and use flat Ethernet cables.
Your setup sounds much too complex and misses key information and troubleshooting steps. The flat cables are kind of the cherry on top.
You need to start laying out which devices grab which stuff from where and which cables, switches, routers and panels you are using.
Otherwise people wont be able to help you. A new router isnt going to help you at all.
Example: I run plex on a terra miniserver, stream to my phones and computers over wifi (the server is connected via cat7 wired networking with a tested gigabit connection). I also stream to a libreelec-pi in another room which is also on wifi and has issues sometimes. That is why I‘m gonna wire the connection later this month so that is no issue. I also have an appletv in the livingroom which is connected by wire and has no buffering. There are 3 gigabit switches and a fritz!box also connected but they‘re all gigabit as well: Between PCs and the main router, appletv and the main router and the server and the main router.
It’s really neither much too nor very complex at all. I have a home lab stack of mini PCs and raspberry pi’s in my office hooked up to a switch to my router. Among the stack is an intel nuc with a few attached usb hdd, sharing those drives via NFS and Samba and hosting Jellyfin. The same machine serves jellyfin to my other devices and a few family members over the internet. That machine is more than capable for the task. In order to get that media to the living room I have a raspberry pi 4 running libreelec also hard wired to the Ethernet also to the same switch (running through a cable window in the wall). No, I had not heard of the issues with flat Ethernet cables that are otherwise advertised as cat 7 compatible, because I have (some) of the machines networked with flat Ethernet cables. Those are getting replaced.
For the most part the pi4 libreelec machine handles content fine. But I have a number of multichannel audio, hd not-quite-4k animated movies that do routinely cause buffering issues. It seems most likely upon review and after the comments in this thread that it was a simple bottleneck at the pi4. The same content plays unstuttwring on other more equipped machines on the network. I do think the router is on its way out though and deserves an upgrade but that looks to be an optional next step. I’m replacing the pi as a media machine for now.
I meant much too complex to grasp without more context, sorry if that came out wrong.
I didnt think of the pi being potentially used for high resolution/audio quality footage. My pi runs on a 720p tv so the internal gpu has a lot less to do than yours so I guess its possible that was the problem.
Just run a sustained load over the cable in both directions and/or use testing tools. Even if the cables were okay, something is sincerely wrong with that setup and its not the pi as they work very well.
Before you buy anything, put some of the same content that buffers on a USB stick or powered drive and play it directly from the pi4. Also connect via ethernet to your router from another PC and check your dl speed from the NFS share.
Oh brilliant. Thanks. Yes. This only tends to happen on larger files, 5gb mkvs or multi audio track deals etc. I was also concerned it’s just a pi4 bottleneck, but that’s fixable too with more hardware. Just need to figure out what to get.
I’d lean towards the pi being the problem, but you can test the network throughput with iperf, and would want to test the videos outside of Kodi on the pi, so you could also check top and see what the processing looks like.
If I remember my pi 4 hardware decoding specs correctly, I believe h.264, MPEG 2, and VC1, and some support for HEVC. If I had to guess, you may have some codecs that aren’t handled by hardware acceleration, and instead just CPU.
My best rec would be to use either a dedicated stream box (like a fire stick, Nvidia shield, etc) which has better codec support, or pick up like a little Intel n100 based system, which will handle a drastically wider set of codecs with full acceleration support.
Right now I’ve got a Roku and a Google TV Chromecast, and I’ve been trying with various environments on an old Lenovo m910q so I can find my favorite fit of UI/distro. The Roku and Chromecast never stutter, and I don’t do transcoding for inside the home. Works with 4K HDR HEVC no problem.
Thanks, really appreciate the thoughtful response. I have an intel n100 NUC actually on the network. It used to be the jellyfin machine but has shifted to other duties. I probably should have tried to throw that in and reconfigure things but I just went with the OSMC Vero box which should tick all the necessary hardware boxes to at least free that from being the problem. Bonus: I get to add the pi4 back to the homelab stack.
Appreciate the solicited technical advice, less so the unsolicited parenting advice, thanks! You’ll be shocked to hear that hyperbole exists, I’m sure. I’m just trying to watch the Aristocats with the kiddo without them wondering why the screen stops mid song, stranger.
The Pi4 USB controller and network adapter share bandwidth. Do you have any devices on the USB port that could be causing collisions? I really can’t think of anything in that kind of scenario that would cause that sort of issue unless somehow you were using USB for video out…
I’m not sure about how this works in kodi but in jellyfin the client might request a different resolution which causes the server to try and reencode the provided file on the fly. In my case my server isn’t fast enough for this which leads to constant buffering
Likely, This is it.
It transcodes and hence it has to buffer because the server isn’t strong enough. Best is to use a gpu like intel a380 as described in jellyfin’s doc.
There’s no backend server to do the transcoding in this case. Kodi can access raw NFS/SMB file shares the same as accessing local storage, so it’s just reading the file over the network, the same as if you were playing it in VLC on your PC.
No no transcoding happening on kodi, it’s just playing it straight over the lan. That said I do have jellyfin set up on a machine that can handle transcoding for a number of clients. I gave considered switching to Kodi +Jellyfin and seeing if that’s better.
Installing the Jellyfin add on into kodi takes a few minutes. Nothing much to consider, just try it and see if that changes anything.
I have a similar setup (rpi with OSMC, media hosted on file server) and prefer using Jellyfin as the source for all clients, as it keeps track of watched status across everything. It’s not perfect, but better than without Jellyfin.
I havent used kodi in a long time, since swapping to jellyfin. I personally found kodi would always buffer sometimes, far more than it should ever need to. With jellyfin, same server, no buffer
What quality is the content?
I have a pi4 running OSMC, kode front end and things are buttery smooth. All content is 1080p or lower as the pi can’t handle 4k
Network is a 1gb switch from the mini pc running NFS and homeplugs to get the network from a bedroom to the living room.
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Do you experience buffering if you watch on a pc / laptop on VLC via network? This will tell you if it’s network speed related or hardware power related. I would assume the pi is not quite powerful enough. I am using a device called a Vero 4k+ and it works wonderfully. But my network setup sounds similar to yours, I just have an smb share on my pc and I added it as a source in kodi.
I don’t, super helpful. So I’m guessing this is a pi bottleneck. Just ordered the Vera V so we’ll see! Fingers crossed for happy toddler.
My first thought was also that it’s a Pi bottleneck. I have a 4b, and I don’t think I would really trust it to handle some of the higher-quality streaming. Maybe just barely.
Nice, should be a nice upgrade! Been debating getting the V for av1 support, but I’m also just holding off hoping Apple TV will support it soon.
Any luck with the vero?
Otw but after replacing the flat Ethernet cable (no change), and while waiting for the vero I switched to connecting to jellyfin / jellycon via its local address instead of its external one (🤦♂️) and zero buffering silky smooth everything. I don’t understand why but holding my breath for now while I wait for the vero when I can retire this unit at least to the office tv where it doesn’t have the responsibility of always performing for the family.
I have a similar setup but my nfs server is not a mini pc.
You could try diagnosing if it’s the network or if your mini pc is too busy (maybe out of disk i/o?).
If that’s too hard, temporarly stop all other programs on the mini pc. Does it help?
Does streaming something from the internet to kodi work without freezes? If it’s ok, then network is likely not the issue
Last but not least, does playing the same video from an USB stick work smoothly? If not, maybe the quality is too high or the video is x265
Before getting all crazy and changing the setup why don’t you try Wi-Fi. Yes Wi-Fi. Your cable might only be 100mbit and your WiFi may be faster.
Wi-Fi 5 can theoretically transmit data at speeds of up to 3.5 Gbps. And obviously WiFi 6 and 7 are even faster.
All these answers are wrong you want Stremio.
That is a complex setup. What’s wrong with Jellyfin?
Also doing media streaming from a RPI is not going to work well. Go with a old minipc as they are cheaper anyway
? Not particularly. I have an intel mini pc hosting jellyfin and a few drives via nfs and samba in one room along with the rest of my homelab. In the living room I need to get that media to the tv so I’m using a pi4 running libreelec atm to connect to those shares.
Have you tried reading to your kid instead
https://lemmy.world/comment/11720780
Well maybe don’t post about how your kid crys when they can’t watch TV. And maybe you should have solicited advice from your pediatrician.
https://lemmy.world/comment/11720780
Your poor kid
I’m going to assume you don’t have kids.
Unless you’ve had kids you don’t understand that it is practically impossible to complete even the most basic tasks unless your child is distracted.
Staying on top of household duties while managing a child is challenging enough, but then add on work, study, and every other responsibility.
I’ve never met a single parent who shares your opinion.
I do have a young child, and where does op state they are a single parent. Yes throwing screens in front of kids is the easiest way for you to ignore them and do what you have to do, but it’s not recommended and it’s bad for their development.
I didn’t mean OP was a single-parent. I meant I haven’t met any parents.
In any case, are you telling me you haven’t ever let your kid watch TV because you were too busy?
Sorry you seem to not be getting it https://lemmy.world/comment/11720780
Change the baby for a dog. You’re welcome.
Instructions unclear. Baby is now a werewolf and howls loudly when Kodi is buffering.
My bad, I apologize. Put it in the freezer for now and I’ll shout out when I have clear instructions in a codeberg repo.
I hear you need dark magic for that
Depends on the color of the dog.
Broth…er?
You made my wife cry
EDIT IRL
Same solution as with the baby. Sorry, gotta go hide from my wife before she reads this. I kind of like breathing.
Are you by any chance using flat Ethernet cables? Those are not to spec and are vulnerable to radio noise. Friends don’t let friends buy and use flat Ethernet cables.
Woah really?? I am actually…
Your setup sounds much too complex and misses key information and troubleshooting steps. The flat cables are kind of the cherry on top.
You need to start laying out which devices grab which stuff from where and which cables, switches, routers and panels you are using.
Otherwise people wont be able to help you. A new router isnt going to help you at all.
Example: I run plex on a terra miniserver, stream to my phones and computers over wifi (the server is connected via cat7 wired networking with a tested gigabit connection). I also stream to a libreelec-pi in another room which is also on wifi and has issues sometimes. That is why I‘m gonna wire the connection later this month so that is no issue. I also have an appletv in the livingroom which is connected by wire and has no buffering. There are 3 gigabit switches and a fritz!box also connected but they‘re all gigabit as well: Between PCs and the main router, appletv and the main router and the server and the main router.
It’s really neither much too nor very complex at all. I have a home lab stack of mini PCs and raspberry pi’s in my office hooked up to a switch to my router. Among the stack is an intel nuc with a few attached usb hdd, sharing those drives via NFS and Samba and hosting Jellyfin. The same machine serves jellyfin to my other devices and a few family members over the internet. That machine is more than capable for the task. In order to get that media to the living room I have a raspberry pi 4 running libreelec also hard wired to the Ethernet also to the same switch (running through a cable window in the wall). No, I had not heard of the issues with flat Ethernet cables that are otherwise advertised as cat 7 compatible, because I have (some) of the machines networked with flat Ethernet cables. Those are getting replaced.
For the most part the pi4 libreelec machine handles content fine. But I have a number of multichannel audio, hd not-quite-4k animated movies that do routinely cause buffering issues. It seems most likely upon review and after the comments in this thread that it was a simple bottleneck at the pi4. The same content plays unstuttwring on other more equipped machines on the network. I do think the router is on its way out though and deserves an upgrade but that looks to be an optional next step. I’m replacing the pi as a media machine for now.
Understood!
I meant much too complex to grasp without more context, sorry if that came out wrong.
I didnt think of the pi being potentially used for high resolution/audio quality footage. My pi runs on a 720p tv so the internal gpu has a lot less to do than yours so I guess its possible that was the problem.
Good luck
Flat cables can be conformant and they still have twisted pairs. Cables just have to meet the physical properties set by the standard.
Sure they might exist but the ones you buy off of That Website never are.
Just run a sustained load over the cable in both directions and/or use testing tools. Even if the cables were okay, something is sincerely wrong with that setup and its not the pi as they work very well.
Before you buy anything, put some of the same content that buffers on a USB stick or powered drive and play it directly from the pi4. Also connect via ethernet to your router from another PC and check your dl speed from the NFS share.
Oh brilliant. Thanks. Yes. This only tends to happen on larger files, 5gb mkvs or multi audio track deals etc. I was also concerned it’s just a pi4 bottleneck, but that’s fixable too with more hardware. Just need to figure out what to get.
I’d lean towards the pi being the problem, but you can test the network throughput with iperf, and would want to test the videos outside of Kodi on the pi, so you could also check top and see what the processing looks like.
If I remember my pi 4 hardware decoding specs correctly, I believe h.264, MPEG 2, and VC1, and some support for HEVC. If I had to guess, you may have some codecs that aren’t handled by hardware acceleration, and instead just CPU.
My best rec would be to use either a dedicated stream box (like a fire stick, Nvidia shield, etc) which has better codec support, or pick up like a little Intel n100 based system, which will handle a drastically wider set of codecs with full acceleration support.
Right now I’ve got a Roku and a Google TV Chromecast, and I’ve been trying with various environments on an old Lenovo m910q so I can find my favorite fit of UI/distro. The Roku and Chromecast never stutter, and I don’t do transcoding for inside the home. Works with 4K HDR HEVC no problem.
Edit: Autocorrect annoyances.
Thanks, really appreciate the thoughtful response. I have an intel n100 NUC actually on the network. It used to be the jellyfin machine but has shifted to other duties. I probably should have tried to throw that in and reconfigure things but I just went with the OSMC Vero box which should tick all the necessary hardware boxes to at least free that from being the problem. Bonus: I get to add the pi4 back to the homelab stack.
If it turns out to be a Pi bottleneck, you can just re-encode the videos with a lower quality and h.264 codec.
can you run something like iperf3 or openspeedtest between the server and client to prove its a network throughput issue?
do you have a network switch you can add to avoid switching through your router (if it is indeed bad?)
Have you ensured you arent unknowingly using wifi at either end?
To me it looks like you don’t have enough power, either on the Pi4 side to decode, or the mini-pc to encode.
There are very few things more obnoxious than an asshole with unsolicited parenting advice
Right? The absolute gall.
Removed the parental advice part. I didn’t want to be an asshole, believe me.
❤️
Appreciate the solicited technical advice, less so the unsolicited parenting advice, thanks! You’ll be shocked to hear that hyperbole exists, I’m sure. I’m just trying to watch the Aristocats with the kiddo without them wondering why the screen stops mid song, stranger.
ADHD diagnostic in 3, 2, 1…
The Pi4 USB controller and network adapter share bandwidth. Do you have any devices on the USB port that could be causing collisions? I really can’t think of anything in that kind of scenario that would cause that sort of issue unless somehow you were using USB for video out…
I’m not sure about how this works in kodi but in jellyfin the client might request a different resolution which causes the server to try and reencode the provided file on the fly. In my case my server isn’t fast enough for this which leads to constant buffering
Likely, This is it. It transcodes and hence it has to buffer because the server isn’t strong enough. Best is to use a gpu like intel a380 as described in jellyfin’s doc.
There’s no backend server to do the transcoding in this case. Kodi can access raw NFS/SMB file shares the same as accessing local storage, so it’s just reading the file over the network, the same as if you were playing it in VLC on your PC.
No no transcoding happening on kodi, it’s just playing it straight over the lan. That said I do have jellyfin set up on a machine that can handle transcoding for a number of clients. I gave considered switching to Kodi +Jellyfin and seeing if that’s better.
Installing the Jellyfin add on into kodi takes a few minutes. Nothing much to consider, just try it and see if that changes anything.
I have a similar setup (rpi with OSMC, media hosted on file server) and prefer using Jellyfin as the source for all clients, as it keeps track of watched status across everything. It’s not perfect, but better than without Jellyfin.
I havent used kodi in a long time, since swapping to jellyfin. I personally found kodi would always buffer sometimes, far more than it should ever need to. With jellyfin, same server, no buffer
Kodi doesn’t do any transcoding. It just mounts the NFS share and plays the file.
What quality is the content? I have a pi4 running OSMC, kode front end and things are buttery smooth. All content is 1080p or lower as the pi can’t handle 4k
Network is a 1gb switch from the mini pc running NFS and homeplugs to get the network from a bedroom to the living room.