Samsung and ""Preparing to play"

[pbelisle]

I've recently begun having problems playing back HD home movies with Mezzmo on my Samsung UN46C65000 LED: the movies pause briefly while the "Preparing to play" displays. These annoying pauses occur randomly and repeatedly throughout the movies. Curiously, Samsung's own DNLA (PCShare) plays the movies flawlessly as, once, did Mezzmo (edit: that was true earlier but not now: playing the movie on PCShare resulted in a half-dozen playback delays).

These movies are (edit: MP4s) approximately 7000 KBPS, 1920x1080. Mezzmo plays run-of-the-mill (edit: MP4) files (eg., 1500 KBPS 1280x720) without difficulty.

Any thoughts appreciated.

[Paul]

The stuttering or "preparing to play" issue can be caused by several factors - for example, a high video bitrate of the video, the available bandwidth of your home network, and whether or not Mezzmo is transcoding the video on-the-fly. See this FAQ for a full explanation of the possible causes and how to fix the problem - http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread...reaming-videos.

If still no success, let us know and we'll help further.

[pbelisle]

Hi Paul, thanks for your quick response and the link to the troubleshooting thread. I have resolved the problem (though I don't know yet what the cause was).

Following the link, I did the following:

Home network...

- using wired network, 100MBs. Actual rate appears to be 65mbps using a network measuring tool
- no other applications/congestion
- router reset, just in case

Mezzmo settings
- default settings for device (Samsung C) and appropriate connection (100mps)

Transcoding

- N/A file not transcoded

Video files

- Device can play in real time (inserted the same file via USB on the TV) so the issue was not with the Samsumg tv.

What I did was to install Mezzmo on the ancient PC that used to be my media server and was replaced by the more recent PC. Problem disappears! Same network, same router, same cable. Clearly, there is something (process, hardware?) on the culprit machine that is interfering with the smooth delivery of the video stream. I'll do more testing and see what I can come up with and report back. If you have any thoughts on what I could look for, please let me know.

Pierre

[Paul]

Good troubleshooting, Pierre. If you are streaming the same video file, with the same device profile and same Mezzmo settings, and one PC streams fine but the other causes your TV to constantly buffer (i.e. 'preparing to play' message), then then the problem must be caused by some bottleneck in network bandwidth. The first place to look is your PC's settings. Check the network adaptor & check for network driver updates. Try turning off the PC's firewall and anti-virus/system protection software. Let us know how you go.

[pbelisle]

Good troubleshooting, Pierre. If you are streaming the same video file, with the same device profile and same Mezzmo settings, and one PC streams fine but the other causes your TV to constantly buffer (i.e. 'preparing to play' message), then then the problem must be caused by some bottleneck in network bandwidth. The first place to look is your PC's settings. Check the network adaptor & check for network driver updates. Try turning off the PC's firewall and anti-virus/system protection software. Let us know how you go.

Well, I got tired of watching the same movie over and over, so I:

- uninstalled the anti-virus system
- turned off the firewall
- updated the driver on the Fast Ethernet connector
- removed a virtual box connector that might have been in conflict.

And, one of those worked, but I can't tell you which one, I'm afraid! The movies all play without buffering.

Thanks for your help!

Pierre

[Paul]

Excellent result, Pierre! Glad you are up and running now