Mezzmo 2.7.1: Samsung C, D and Philips TV 7000 prematurely skip to next title

After more extensive use I have to report that 2.7.1. causes my three TV's (Samsung C, D and Philips TV 7000) to occasionally skip to the next library title.

The effect is not reproducible and happens 20-40 mins into the MPEG2 streams. The effect does not appear on each stream. There is no 'Preparing to Play' message that would indicate the network connection to be too slow or interrupted. Th devices simply and instantly skip to the next title.

I am back to Mezzmo 2.5.0 which still seems to be the last stable version for my environment.

Hi BeFi,

That is dissapointing. As mentioned in your other posts, did you check your home network for possible causes (e.g. cabling, router, network cards, etc.)? Perhaps even try turning off all devices connected to your home network except your PC and one of your TVs to see if that works (i.e. less congestion). If it does, then try another TV. It may help isolate a problem device or a weak point in your home network.

We are happy to continue to help you isolate the problem. Probably the best next step is to get Wireshark logs so we can see all data transmission on your home network while you are streaming. If you are keen, let us know & we'll help out.

We have not had any other reports like this as yet for Mezzmo v2.7.1.0. If any other user is experiencing this type of problem, please let us know.

Having quite a bit of experience with networking, you'd think that if it were a network issue it wouldn't have "suddenly" cropped up after upgrading from version 2.5.0; that it would have been an issue all along if that were the case.

Of course, this is being said based solely on the information that he is giving.

We do think we know why it has cropped up. Mezzmo is delivering data much faster now to DLNA devices since v2.6 and this seems to have exposed problems in some users' home network setups. A few users also reported disconnects like BeFi when upgrading from v2.5 to v2.6 (or to v2.7) and after working through it with them, they found issues in their home network & rectified it. The are streaming fine now with v2.7.x.

Having said that, if there are issues in Mezzmo, then we're happy to find & fix them to get any user up and running.

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Originally Posted by Paul

We do think we know why it has cropped up. Mezzmo is delivering data much faster now to DLNA devices since v2.6 and this seems to have exposed problems in some users' home network setups. A few users also reported disconnects like BeFi when upgrading from v2.5 to v2.6 (or to v2.7) and after working through it with them, they found issues in their home network & rectified it. The are streaming fine now with v2.7.x.

Having said that, if there are issues in Mezzmo, then we're happy to find & fix them to get any user up and running.

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Hi Paul,

I do not mean to throw fuel on to the fire but... I am one of the ones that you worked through the Samsung BDP disconnect issues I was having. To hear that Mezzmo delivering data faster caused an issue with my Samsung device where no issue existed prior is a little disconcerting. Does Mezzmo have the ability to adjust its delivery rate?

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Originally Posted by Paul

Hi BeFi,

That is dissapointing. As mentioned in your other posts, did you check your home network for possible causes (e.g. cabling, router, network cards, etc.)? Perhaps even try turning off all devices connected to your home network except your PC and one of your TVs to see if that works (i.e. less congestion). If it does, then try another TV. It may help isolate a problem device or a weak point in your home network.

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Paul

The effect I am reporting here is new. It is not a disconnect issue like in my earler post related to 2.6.x. Its Mezzmo skipping to the next title.The skipping happens fast in one second or so.

Edit: and the skipping now affects all three of my TVs - Not just the Samsung D as with most of the 2.6.x issues.

The disconnects I reported with 2.6.x looked very different: stream stopped and the TV entirely exited its DLNA client falling back to TV. THAT were disconnects! What we are now facing is a random behavior of Mezzmo itself.

To the 'user have rectified the weak points in their home networks and are streaming fine now with 2.7 ....': I did not see a single thread in the forum confirming that the 2.6 patches or 2.7 has fixed a user's streaming problem. I have however seen multiple posts on skipping to next title. If i read these posts my setup seem to be on the stable side as the skipping occurs rather seldom.

Bernhard

Hi Bernhard,
can you please enable diagnostic logging and send us logs showing this behavior of Mezzmo where the skipping occurs. If the skipping is occurring on files that are transcoded then this could be caused by transcoding being too slow, if the skipping is occurring on native files then this is something else and we would like to see the logs to determine what is causing it.

Peter,

I am back to 2.5 and don't plan to upgrade to newer versions any more - I am sorry. 2.5 is streaming to all my three TVs in a rock-stable fashion. The newer versions of Mezzo have zero functional advantage for my setup but bring instabilities.

My recommendation to you guys is to remove the acceleration algorithms you added since 2.6. i have not seen any visible speed advantage but it has wreaked havoc of all sorts.

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Originally Posted by mark11

Hi Paul,

I do not mean to throw fuel on to the fire but... I am one of the ones that you worked through the Samsung BDP disconnect issues I was having. To hear that Mezzmo delivering data faster caused an issue with my Samsung device where no issue existed prior is a little disconcerting. Does Mezzmo have the ability to adjust its delivery rate?

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Thanks Mark for supporting me here.

Its a pity that this perfect product got ruined by an attempt to improve something that seemed to not need any improvement. Mezzmo was rock stable until 2.5 and speed of navigation wasn't an issue. Since 2.6 its supposed to be faster whatever that means but since this acceleration was introduced it has side-effects like disconnects on my Samsung D, stuttering on my Samsung C and D, devices not recognized, skipping. These effects have affected just one of my device type or several. I was told that the Samsung TV's are particularly sensitive (to faster streaming ;-). The latest issue (random skipping) however affects my two Samsungs and my Philips 7000 equally.

I still haven't given up hope that we can jointly convince the Conceiva team to remove that strange acceleration-logic from Mezzmo. Otherwise I will use the rock-stable Mezzmo 2.5 until I run into compatibility issues in the future. If that happens I will have to depart for another DLNA-product.

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Originally Posted by BeFi

I still haven't given up hope...

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We have not given up hope either, BeFi :) We'll continue to try to isolate & fix the problem you are having with later versions of Mezzmo.

Can you please email us the FFmpeg Information on one of the files that skipped to the next file when you tried Mezzmo v2.7.1.0? You can use Mezzmo v2.5 to get this FFmpeg information (no need to re-install Mezzmo v2.7.1.0). Right-click on the file in Mezzmo and click 'Get Ffmpeg Information'.

Once we get this, we'll try to replicate your problem here with our Samsung C and D-series TVs.

Sorry to say, i too have this issue. I watched quite a few TV shows and Films over the weekend, and most were skipping to the next file after about 20mins.

My setup is all cabled, and while the TV isnt gigabit, all other devices are Gigabit. Not only that, the only devices powered up were my server (HP ProLiant N40L) and my TV (LE40C650). The server has no other function apart from Mezzmo.

The files were all MKVs and were mostly 1.3gb 720p TV shows.

Happy to grab logs etc but they might be a little on the big side since it can take 20-30mins to happen, and it may not happen.

Happy to test any patch if you would like.
cheers

Gus

Hi Gus,

Please do capture a set of logs so we can see this happen. Don't worry if it takes several movies for it to occur. Once it does occur, stop your Mezzmo server and exit Mezzmo. Zip up all the logs and send them to us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com. If the logs are over 10MB zipped, then upload them to a filesharing site like dropbox or rapidshare & send us the download link.

Hi Paul,

FFmpeg information of a file that skipped after app. 2/3rd of its lenght. I watched the same file with Mezzmo 2.5 twice since with no skipping.

ffmpeg version N-36036-ga40f43d, Copyright (c) 2000-2011 the FFmpeg developers
built on Dec 22 2011 13:44:49 with gcc 4.6.2
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-w64-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-postproc --prefix=/media/ffmpeg --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect --extra-cflags=-I/home/dennis/cc/include --extra-ldflags=-L/home/dennis/cc/lib --pkg-config=pkg-config --disable-w32threads
libavutil 51. 32. 0 / 51. 32. 0
libavcodec 53. 46. 1 / 53. 46. 1
libavformat 53. 27. 0 / 53. 27. 0
libavdevice 53. 4. 0 / 53. 4. 0
libavfilter 2. 53. 0 / 2. 53. 0
libswscale 2. 1. 0 / 2. 1. 0
[mpeg @ 003d89e0] max_analyze_duration 5000000 reached at 5000000
Input #0, mpeg, from 'F:\Filme\Natur und Reise\Rucksack - Auf dem Keschtnweg in Südtirol _11-10_15-27-00.mpg':
Duration: 00:28:30.79, start: 0.296300, bitrate: 7872 kb/s
Stream #0:0[0x1e0]: Video: mpeg2video (Main), yuv420p, 720x576 [SAR 64:45 DAR 16:9], 9585 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 90k tbn, 50 tbc
Stream #0:1[0x1c0]: Audio: mp2, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 192 kb/s
At least one output file must be specified


---> DB Level Info: 8, 4
---> Frame rate: 25,00
---> Aspect ratio: 16:9

FFmpeg of a second file during which skipping occured, again probably 30-35 mins into the file.

ffmpeg version N-36036-ga40f43d, Copyright (c) 2000-2011 the FFmpeg developers
built on Dec 22 2011 13:44:49 with gcc 4.6.2
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-w64-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-postproc --prefix=/media/ffmpeg --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect --extra-cflags=-I/home/dennis/cc/include --extra-ldflags=-L/home/dennis/cc/lib --pkg-config=pkg-config --disable-w32threads
libavutil 51. 32. 0 / 51. 32. 0
libavcodec 53. 46. 1 / 53. 46. 1
libavformat 53. 27. 0 / 53. 27. 0
libavdevice 53. 4. 0 / 53. 4. 0
libavfilter 2. 53. 0 / 2. 53. 0
libswscale 2. 1. 0 / 2. 1. 0
[mpeg @ 016889e0] max_analyze_duration 5000000 reached at 5000000
Input #0, mpeg, from 'F:\Filme\Natur und Reise\Die Alpen von oben - Vom Dauphiné in die Hochalpen_09-20_19-27-01.mpg':
Duration: 00:43:09.80, start: 0.360000, bitrate: 5835 kb/s
Stream #0:0[0x1e0]: Video: mpeg2video (Main), yuv420p, 720x576 [SAR 64:45 DAR 16:9], 9553 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 90k tbn, 50 tbc
Stream #0:1[0x1c0]: Audio: mp2, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 224 kb/s
At least one output file must be specified


---> DB Level Info: 8, 4
---> Frame rate: 25,00
---> Aspect ratio: 16:9

Needless to add that I had watched the same file with 2.5 at least three times without skipping.

I haven't seen a file skipping in its first 10-15mins on any of my three TVs. It always seems to happen in the later half of the file. It doesn't happen in every file viewed which makes the phenomenon hard to catch.

I came here to post the exact same issue, Samsung C series TV here.

MKV files are skipping to the next file anywhere from 10-30 minutes into the file. For me it's happening more often than not, although not everytime. I've just had to give up on a file by the time it skipped a 4th time.

Also in addition I am now finding all MP4 files have audio sync issues until I convert them to MKV.

Seems from the other posts that this may be a real issue and not just isolated to the OP.

Thanks for informing us, KillCheeze. We're looking into it right now. We'll post back our findings.

In the meantime, given that you can replicate the issue every time, can you capture a set of logs when this happens? It will really help us determine what the problem might be. Please turn on logging (see http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread...nostic-logging) and restart your Mezzmo server. Stream the file that always skips and let it play. After it skips to the next file, then stop your Mezzmo server and exit Mezzmo. Zip up all logs and send them to us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com.

Update: We've been streaming videos to our Samsung C and D series TVs all day today and have not seen any skipping as yet. So, we would really appreciate a set of logs from users that are experiencing this problem. Many thanks!

Paul,

Seeing you guys working hard on the analysis I tried to chime in and produce logs of skipping streams.

Ran image copy of OS partition with Mezzmo 2.5, installed 2.7.1, switched on logging (!!!!) and let the same videos stream on Samsung C and Philips 7000 that occasionally skipped

Now guess: With logging ON no skipping occurred over 2h of streaming on each of the devices. That reminds me of a conversation we had over the disconnects with 2.6.x. - logging changes timing in Mezzmo and hence avoids the issues it was going to help analyze.

Finally I restored my image copy and am back on 2.5 - slow enough without logging to be rock-stable.

Hi BeFi,

Many thanks for testing this for us. Interesting results that are consistent with your home setup.

Yesterday, we tried streaming with logging turned on and turned off, and still could not get any skipping as yet. We are now trying different videos and different settings to try to get videos to skip on our network. If you have time, please send us a set of logs for Mezzmo v2.7.1.0. Even though it does not skip, they may help us see something irregular in the logs.

Gus, KillerCheeze: If you could capture a set of logs when the skipping occurs & send them to us, it would be much appreciated.

will do when i can but i'm off on hols soon. will try....

Thanks, Gus. Enjoy your vacation.

I don't know if this helps any, but I have a copy of the movie Prometheus that is a 1080p M4V file, and there's a scene in the movie where the android is watching someone's dreamscape. The dreamscape is intentionally pixellated (it was in the original theatrical movie too) and that specific scene consistently causes skipping with my Samsung BD58. The rest of the movie before and after work just fine. The movie is played natively by the player (shows as MPEG in the menu), and doesn't do any transcoding.

I didn't have this movie prior to last week, so I don't know if it would have caused skipping in the previous versions, but I figured that it might help you to have more info.

Hi ftanner,
can you please enable diagnostic logging and after restarting your Mezzmo media server try playing the Prometheus movie on your device and then send us the logs after it skips at the pixellated scene so that we can try and track this problem down.

I am also being affected by the sudden stop of movies played. (samsung C here).
One thing I noticed yesterday is that most of the stops occured near the samsung movie division markers.
Today, if I have the time, I will enable logging and after it happens again I will send you the log files.
Also this stop does not occur on mu ipad using xbmc. I have yet to test it on my ps3

I had that exact same issue with that exact same movie! I converted it to an MKV and it played fine.

As requested I will upload logs when I get time to replicate the skipping issue, unfortunately my 6 week old son took very ill earlier this week and has been admitted to hospital so I've not been home or had chance to check it out. He is on the mend though so over the weekend I'll take a look.

Okay I put 'Taken' on tonight and not only did it bring up the issue this thread relates too, it also brought up a similar issue to the 'Prometheus' issue posted above during the credits to 'Taken' as they too have a pixelated effect, so I've submitted logs to you for both issues.

It's worth noting that the 'prometheus' pixelated effect freeze can be fixed by converting your file to MKV, in my case the original file was an MP4.

As for the main issue this thread is about, it seems to be all files types. One way you may be able to replicate this issue for yourselves is that I can guarantee it happening to me within a few minutes of pausing a file. Try it, start a file and pause it for a couple of seconds, then carry on playing it, it'll skip to the next file within 2-20 minutes everytime. Well it certainly does here. It also seems to do this if I skip forward or back in the file.

This is what makes Mezzmo almost unusable for me right now, because if the file skips to the next file I would have to watch the file from the begining to even have a chance of getting through the whole thing, if I try to skip back to where I was I can guarantee a file jump with 2-20 minutes.

Hope all this helps and you can sort a fix.

Many thanks, KillerCheeze. We received your logs and we'll analyze them now. Also, we'll try your steps to replicate the issue. (Hope your son is getting better!)

Ok... Perhaps here is a clue to the issue with the Samsung devices... This is a quote from an e-mail from Peter @ Concevia Support while I was working through my own Samsung C series issue with the later 2600 upgrades.
Hi Mark,
That is good news, please let us know if you can isolate the network problem and determine why it is so poor. The Samsung devices are very sensitive to network timing, Sony devices are more robust and will tolerate a higher latency in network communication.

My network issue was this... My Samsung device was some ways away from media server - wireless. Prior to these upgrades, it played files just fine. I fixed my network issue by hard wiring to the Samsung device. My issue is resolved.

My question... What changes did Concevia make to Mezzmo to cause the Samsung device to react to be "sensitive to network timing" to become an issue? I will assume whatever change that was made was made as an enhancement. I assume it was done with the best of intentions. And I really appreciate the effort to work through the issue. But what we could really use is an AK-47 version of Mezzmo and not an M-16 version. We don't need the perfect version of Mezzmo, just one that plays effortlessly. Perhaps a different development approach is needed...

Thanks for your thoughts, Mark. I know it is frustrating and we're working through the issue now. We finally received some some logs yesterday (thanks KillerCheeze!) that helped expose the issue. I'm sure we'll find the issue and fix it.

Sorry. I didn't see your reply until today. I will have the chance to do that for you tomorrow, and I will get the logs to you.

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Originally Posted by ftanner

Sorry. I didn't see your reply until today. I will have the chance to do that for you tomorrow, and I will get the logs to you.

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Many thanks, ftanner.

I have just tested out the patch you emailed me and so far I think this has sorted it. I tried to force the issue by pausing several times and skipping through the file and then I continued watching. Normally it would skip to the next file within 5-10 minutes but this didn't happen. I'll have to watch several more files and test to be absolutely sure but so far it appears to be good news.

Can I just say that the level of support offered by you and your team is brilliant, keep up the good work and I will post back in a few days with the results of further testing.

Unfortunately I spoke too soon, next file I watched I had to pause for a moment, within 5 minutes it skipped to the next file again.

Hi KillerCheeze,

Can you send us a new set of logs when it skips again when using the Mezzmo patch that we sent you? It would really help us track down the problem. Many thanks.

Hello, I write only to point out that I also have the same problem. :-(

many thanks to Conceiva Staff.

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Originally Posted by crossmyheart

I write only to point out that I also have the same problem.

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Please contact us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com for a patch to try.

Strangely for the past two days and without any patch the problem did not occur...
The only thing I remember that I did was to defrag all hard drives.

I already sent an email to support asking for the patch.

I've had the patch installed for a few days but only just managed to get time to test, just watched 3 TV episodes in MKV 720p, and while these would jump between 1 and 3 times per episode, i didnt see any jumps at all tonight.

So far so good...

Thanks.

Gus

Thanks for the update, Gus. Keep us updated if the problem reappears. A few other users reported that the patch did not fix their skipping problem, so we're looking into it now.

I'll do some more testing and logs over the weekend whilst running the patch as requested.

Thanks, KillerCheeze. If it still has the same problem, we'd really like to know more about your computer setup as I outlined in the email we sent you containing details about the patch. That will help us set up a similar environment here so we can reproduce the skipping.