SageTV and NFS

[PiX64]

I searched for a post related to this topic and was unable to successfully find anything that resembled my issue.

Background
-----------
I have been running SageTV with hd200s and client pc for 18 months or so now. I have also been running freenas with a raid 5 array the entire time successfully. I h ave noticed over time that since my dvd/blu-ray collection has started to grow freenas just can't seem to keep up. I decided to ditch out on freenas and go with another solution.

Issue
------
DVD and blu-ray have a micro stutter that most people can't seem to detect, but i know its there, i see it, and it bugs the crap out of me.

Current setup for movie storage
------------------------------
I recently installed ubuntu server 9.10 and am using wembin to manage it. I started out by setting up SMB shares from the Raid arrays, and i must say the throughputk as compared to freenas is AMAZING roughly 10 times the throughput.

I have however still seen the micro stutter and need to come up with a solution to get rid of it.

I have also tried NFS on my ubuntu server, and im able to see the drives and access data inside of windows using the msft unix driver pack, but i am unable to get sageserver (windows machine) to import from those drives. I can see the drives when setting them up in media center, but the contents never import.

Questions
------------
1) Does anyone know how to access NFS from SageServer on windows?
2) SMB doesn't seem to be a viable solution for streaming content, Any other suggestions?
- Ive considered using windows as a server and using windows file sharing, but i really would rather get as much away from windows as i can.
3) Is it possible that there is something else wrong within SageTV that is causing this micro stutter?

Thank you all in advance,
Pix64

[Beefcake550]

perhaps the micro stutter is a function of your HDTV and not anything else. Do you have a 120Hz set with some kind of motion control? I have a Samsung A640 and I turn it off.

I would say the easiest way to test that theory is to put a movie on a seperate hard drive (no raid etc) and see how the HD200 reads off of it.

Personally, I have a server running WHS in the basement feeding up to 3 HD200s and never have a problem.

-Brian

[stanger89]

1) Theoretically Win 7 can mount NFS but I've never been able to get it to work.
2/3) It's incredibly unlikely that the sharing protocol is at fault for "micro" studder, if you you were getting pauses or "macro" studder maybe, as that would be an indication that the extender was being starved of data, but the data transfers are asyncronous, meaning unless the buffer is run down, any network quirks aren't going to affect playback.

So the questions are, what did you do that lead you to determine the HD200 is the "cause" of this microstudder?

What's your config, what's the extender connected to, what resolution, refresh, etc?

[PiX64]

Thanks guys for your response.

Well i don't think the hd200 is the issue. I think that that the network protocol is the issue. so right now the setup is as follows

the hd200 is connected to a Sony Bravia Kdl55v100 via hdmi 1080p. optical audio out to my onkyo 7.1 receiver. The tv has motion control and is a 120HZ LCD. hd200 is conneted to a 24port gigabit switch with jumbo frame supported. jumbo frames enabled on server as well as Ubuntu Server.

The server specs are in my sig, but there should be more than enough horsepower to handle blu-ray. I say this because i have been doing blu-ray and DVD for quite some time now without issue.

The TV is brand new, so that may be the culprate. I will try turning motion control off and see if that helps.

Stanger89: if you need more info or anything or have any suggestions I am willing to try anyting.

Like i said before bluray was working from freenas on raid 5 fine with current' configuration only difference is that the TV is new. I had freenas mess up on me causing me to switch and trying differntg things. I tried:

freenas
openfiler
ubuntu
- smb
- nfs

raid arrays are now both formatted in XFS and throughput went way up with the use of ubuntu so i don't think it is the ubuntu server...possibly the use of SMB but you guys dont' seem to think so.

Like i said im willing to try anything.

Thanks,
Pix64

[Motofreak75]

I guess the easiest way to determine this, is to login in the HD200 and look at the logs and see what the buffer levels are at during playback. This right here will tell you if your network/server can serve up your dvd/BRrips. And then from there your can look else where.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by PiX64

The TV is brand new, so that may be the culprate. I will try turning motion control off and see if that helps.

Stanger89: if you need more info or anything or have any suggestions I am willing to try anyting.

So I'm confused, did something change that "caused" this microstudder. Is it present now but was not at some point in the past? Is it present with the HD200 but not your BD player?

Like i said before bluray was working from freenas on raid 5 fine with current' configuration only difference is that the TV is new. I had freenas mess up on me causing me to switch and trying differntg things. I tried:

freenas
openfiler
ubuntu
- smb
- nfs

raid arrays are now both formatted in XFS and throughput went way up with the use of ubuntu so i don't think it is the ubuntu server...possibly the use of SMB but you guys dont' seem to think so.

I really don't think any of the network or storage is the problem, that doesn't cause "micro" problems, they'd cause "macro" problems that are very obvious, and usually inconsistent.

At the moment I'm leaning toward you just noticing something "normal", like maybe the normal 24fps judder inherent in film. Most people aren't used to it since they usually only see film on 60Hz display and it's usually buried by the 3:2 cadence judder.

[koan00]

Originally Posted by Motofreak75

I guess the easiest way to determine this, is to login in the HD200 and look at the logs and see what the buffer levels are at during playback. This right here will tell you if your network/server can serve up your dvd/BRrips. And then from there your can look else where.

This sounds like a good idea. Even is if the overall throughput of the connection/stream is enough, if the data rate isn't consistent and uninterrupted, then you will observe stutter.

If there are buffer issues, you might look into tweaking things like the IO scheduler on the linux side and/or playing with NAPI setting for the network interface.

[RocKKer]

Originally Posted by PiX64

The TV is brand new, so that may be the culprate. I will try turning motion control off and see if that helps.Pix64

Do you have the ability to connect the old TV? if so, this could eliminate (or pinpoint) the new TV as the problem.

Sorry can't tell you what's wrong but as far as the network/protocols go you may be able to eliminate them as an issue. I would install and run iftop on the Ubunto server and DL, install and run Netmeter on the Windows server to watch the network flow. These tools are easy to use and should give you a good idea of the data flow from each server and show any hiccups (both are free also!).

Try removing jumbo frames, for me (using consumer grade non-managed switches) jumbo frames made no noticeable improvement in throughput.

You might also try a 10/100MB switch/network, my 3 HD200's drop many millions of packets over several days on my GB network and absolutely nothing dropped when I experimented with 10/100 network. I have not tried any BRD rips yet but it's all smooth at the display end with all the other media (Music, HDTV, DVD rips, MKV).

If you try all these and your network is smooth and you still get stutters likely you can eliminate the network/protocols as a problem.

[PiX64]

Sorry it took so long for me to reply. busy weekend. Stanger - i reverted back to the ubuntu server using SMB, and all that i changed was my settings on the new TV. I tunred off motion control (or wahtever it is called on a Sony) as suggested by Beefcake i think, and everything seems to be working 100% good.

Thank you all so much for you help. I truly appreciate it.

~Pix64