Mezzmo fast-forward issue

[xt_nan]

Hi Team,

This is my first post on this forum.

I am using Mezzmo paid version. When I try fast-forward a video file, the stream gets stuck. I have tried this with a Panasonic TV, using Panasonic Viera 2013 profile as well as XBMC on PC using XBMC profile. In both cases the result was the same. I am using wireless and have sufficient bandwidth available. In both cases no transcoding was used.

Following is a ffmpeg dump of a file I tried fastforwarding and failed

ffmpeg version N-66094-gbb8b752 Copyright (c) 2000-2014 the FFmpeg developers
built on Sep 4 2014 16:23:51 with gcc 4.8.2 (GCC)
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86_64 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=x86_64-w64-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-postproc --prefix=/home/peter/ffmpeg/build/gpl64 --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect --extra-cflags=-I/home/peter/cc32/include --extra-ldflags=-L/home/peter/cc64/lib --pkg-config=pkg-config --disable-w32threads --enable-libvpx --enable-libvorbis
libavutil 54. 7.100 / 54. 7.100
libavcodec 56. 1.100 / 56. 1.100
libavformat 56. 4.100 / 56. 4.100
libavdevice 56. 0.100 / 56. 0.100
libavfilter 5. 0.103 / 5. 0.103
libswscale 3. 0.100 / 3. 0.100
libswresample 1. 1.100 / 1. 1.100
Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'W:\SHS01E01.mkv':
Metadata:
encoder : libebml v1.3.0 + libmatroska v1.4.1
creation_time : 2014-09-23 02:28:33
Duration: 00:43:09.26, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 5032 kb/s
Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 1280x720 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn, 47.95 tbc
Stream #0:1: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), fltp, 448 kb/s (default)
At least one output file must be specified

<MEZZMO>: Child process ended with code: 109, ExitCode=1

Any help to resolve this issue is much appreciated.

Cheers

[Paul]

The problem may be the encoding of the MKV file itself. It may be badly encoded so that your TV's firmware and XBMC are unable to FF/REW through the file. As a test, try pre-transcoding the file to another format and see if that works. Right-click on the file in Mezzmo and click 'Pre-transcode Files'. On the Pre-transcode Files dialog, select your TV and click 'Choose Formats'. On the Pre-transcode Formats dialog, select the bolded format and select the 'Force full transcode of all channels' checkbox. Click OK and select the 'Pre-transcode files even if they match the devices supported formats' checkbox. Click OK to start transcoding. Wait until it has completed and try streaming the video again. If it plays fine, then it confirms that the original file's encoding may be at fault.

[xt_nan]

Thank for the answer Paul,

I couldn't find any issues with the original file. I was using the latest version of Mezzmo v4.1.3.0 and just to test things, I downgraded to v3.4.4.0 on the same hardware. Once downgraded, I could FF/REW without any issue. I am running Mezzmo on a Gigabyte Brix BX-i5-4200 with 8GB of RAM on Win8.1. Only thing running on that box is Mezzmo. Could this be an issue with v4.1.3.0?

Cheers

[Paul]

Interesting result. Can you send us a set of logs for both v3.4.4.0 and v4.1.3.0? That will tell us the differences and we'll be able to fix the problem for you. Turn on logging in Mezzmo (see http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread.php/419-FAQ-How-to-turn-on-diagnostic-logging) and restart your Mezzmo server. Stream the video to your TV and try FF/REW. Then stop your Mezzmo server and exit Mezzmo. Zip up the logs and email them to us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com. Next, uninstall Mezzmo and then install the other version you have been testing. Repeat the same steps to create a new set of logs and email them to us as well. Once we get them, we'll analyse them to determine what's going wrong. (If you're emails do not reach us, then upload the zipped logs to a filesharing site like Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, mega.co.nz, etc. and email us the download link.)

[Ray XIV]

Hi team, any news on this?

I have a similar issue but in my case I think it is actually related to a problem with transcoding and it only affects MKV files. I have a Philips TV (8000 series). Whenever I try to fast forward an MKV that is being transcoded it won't work, same goes for rewind. Fast forwarding the same MKV without transcoding however is no problem (as long as the TV can handle the file of course).
FF on AVIs however is also no problem, also not if being transcoded. MP4 same problem as MKV, if being transcoded no possibility to FF. I used different performance settings just to be sure it is not a matter of speed, actually transcoding takes place at about ~ 200 fps so that should not be the problem. Any thoughts or ideas on this? I am still testing Mezzmo in trial and I like it better than any other DLNA server so far, definitely want to get it if this issue can be solved somehow...

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Ray

[Paul]

Hi Ray,

Your test results can be explained by the way that your Philips TV's firmware works. The various decoders and video player contained in your TV's firmware enables it to play various formats and, unfortunately, you are seeing some limitations in your TV playing certain formats when transcoding is taking place. Mezzmo server streams original files and transcoding files in the same manner no matter the format.

To remove the FF/REW issues when streaming a transcoding on-the-fly file, you can pre-transcode the video and then stream the file. This will remove any FF/REW issues. See this FAQ regarding pre-transcoding - http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread.php/6025-Tutorial-Pre-transcoding-Files.