Video playback over smb skipping/lagging

[fixtafernback]

I'm not 100% sure that this is a VLC issue, but when playing back video from a smb share over wifi, I experience frequent (frequent enough to be annoying) pauses/lag during playback. When copying the same file with the same network configuration, I saturate the connection at a consistent 70mbps. After looking at network activity, it looks like VLC or whatever application happens to be playing back the video gets part of the video at full speed, and then completely stops buffering (not sure if its the right term) until the video pauses/lags, and then it immediately starts to buffer another chunk of the video. Is this something that I can change in VLC, or is it some weird bug in Apple's samba replacement, or god forbid the behavior is built into the networking stack itself.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[dosboy]

Preferences > Show All

On the left panel make sure Input / Codecs is selected. Scroll down in the right panel until you get to the Advanced section. All of the default caching in here is set to 300ms. I changed all of them to 10000ms (10s) and the skipping problem went away.

Hope that helps.

[nelsonj3]

Sorry to bring up an old post, but I had the same issue, tried your solution and it only made the buffer issue take longer, from tens of seconds to a couple of minutes. Any other suggestions?

[fkuehne]

This was fixed for VLC 2.2, which should be out in a few weeks from now.

[Pienamics]

As of 25 Sep 2014 with VLC 2.1.5 on Mac OS-X 10.9.4 this is not fixed. I have the same behaviour as the OP when watching video over network from an SMB share; viz

10 Playback works fine - but no data downloaded while playback in progress.
20 Playback freezes for a while (few secs to a minute or so)
30 Data are downloaded at rates between 3MBPS to 8MBPS for a while (few secs to a minute or so)
40 Playback starts
50 Data download stops (I mean - zero)
60 Goto 10

VLC is not buffering while it's playing. Increasing the cache size makes the pauses last longer.

Will it ever be fixed?

[fkuehne]

Please try this pre-release build of VLC 2.2.0: https://www.dropbox.com/s/r39ona7ykqilw ... 3.dmg?dl=0

[arantius]

That pre-release build fixes this for me.

[Pienamics]

It's a lot better, but it still freezes when it runs out of data. Same symptoms - while playing it loads bugger all data at a few BPS then, when it's frozen, it grabs a load at 3-6MBPS. The freezes are a lot further apart with his pre-release but it still needs work.

[dfuhrmann]

It's a lot better, but it still freezes when it runs out of data.

What should it do instead, if no data is available?

If your connection speed is considerably too low, you cannot do much. Although, you can try to increase the caches to buffer short-term drops.

[Pienamics]

It should buffer so it doesn't run out of data, shouldn't it?

The behaviour is that while it's playing the download rates are tiny - in the range of few bytes per second to (rarely) a kBPS. After a while playback freezes and then it downloads a chunk of data at rates between 3 and 8MBPS - available data rates are fine. Then it starts playing again and as soon as playback re-starts the download rate plummets back to the few BPS range as described above.

Setting the cache size bigger just makes the freezes last longer, presumably because it has a bigger buffer to fill and for some reason VLC appears to fill its buffer only when it's not actually playing.

There's no doubt that this build is massively better because the previous build download zero BPS when it was playing and I can live with it.

Thanks for replying and if you were part of the team that developed this build then thanks for that too.

[Pienamics]

BTW - instead of my speculating from a very weak technical position about what VLC is doing - here's what the log says when there's a freeze in VLC playback. The following is a cut and paste from the log immediately after three short freezes which all occurred within the space of a couple of minutes.

core error: \cf4 ES_OUT_SET_(GROUP_)PCR is called too late (jitter of 14071 ms ignored)\
\cf2 core warning: \cf3 playback way too early (-1998446): playing silence\
\cf2 core debug: inserting 95925 zeroes\
core error: \cf4 ES_OUT_SET_(GROUP_)PCR is called too late (jitter of 14575 ms ignored)\
\cf2 core warning: \cf3 playback way too early (-1997660): playing silence\
\cf2 core debug: inserting 95887 zeroes\
core error: \cf4 ES_OUT_SET_(GROUP_)PCR is called too late (jitter of 15744 ms ignored)\
\cf2 core warning: \cf3 playback way too early (-1997774): playing silence\
\cf2 core debug: inserting 95893 zeroes\

[dleedev]

Let me see if I can attempt to explain the bug better:

Upon initial playback, VLC buffers a large chunk at a fast rate up front. One would expect that as VLC is playing through the buffered content, it would continue to download at the rate of playback to ensure the buffer is constantly filled with fresh content. However, VLC does NOT continue downloading during playback. After a few minutes, when VLC has played through the entire buffer, VLC has to stop playback while it refills the buffer with new content since it has not been doing so during playback.

It is definitely not a network problem, since when VLC does download, it does so at a fast rate.
My guess is that VLC (or OSX's samba mount) uses a naive chunked buffer instead of a circular buffer.

[Pienamics]

Hi dleedev. You've summed up the symptoms perfectly.

I don't think that VLC does the downloading directly. When VLC is playing it hovers at the top of the CPU usage list. When VLC stops playing it drops way down the list and a kernel task hits the top when downloading starts in earnest.

I guess (I'm not a softie) that VLC attempts to get round this problem by having the ability to set its internal cache separately, but in this case it seems not to be working because increasing the VLC cache makes the freezes last longer (presumably because it's got more buffer to fill). It looks as though the trigger for when the kernel process should start to download is coming from when VLC buffer is empty - rather than when the buffer starts to be consumed.

[Panel]

Hello

I have the same issue.
I have tested it on VLC 2.1

I have also downloaded 2.2.0 Pre 3 as adviced by Felix Paul Kuehne and I have set all netrork caching other 3 caching in advanced section to 10000ms.
Video is definitly buffering longer, but it's still lagging after a while ;/

I am runing from windows 7 smb share over wifi.
I have noticed is that video file is propably buffered to slow - while playing video Task manager shows network usage 2-4Mbs but when copying the video it usually goes 50-60Mb\s (4-6MB\s). Copying whole 2GB video file takes about 15-20min. This clearly proofs that 90min video sould be easly buffered druring playback, becosue there is a lot of spare brandwitch but as task manager shows video is buffered to slow.
Important Hint I have also noticed that when I am copying file over smb wifi it usually goes 50-60Mb\s but when I start to play video (from local very fast Vertex 4 SSD Drive) file is copied much slower 350-700b\s over sbm. This happens while playing video in VLC player and windows media player so the problem may be in some system setting. Only way to speed up copying is to close video player. After oing so transfer goes back to 50-60Mb\s

Configuration:
1. Procesor laptop wirh 2nd gen core i5, about 20-30% usage
2. 8GB Ram, 6GB free
3. Win 8 x64

Any suggestions?

[Besbes]

Hi Felix Paul Kuehne
I had the same problem that Pienamics has been explaining..

Using your posted V2.2.0 pre3 solved my problem..
Thank you very much..

[fkuehne]

@Besbes: thanks for the heads-up. Happy to hear!

[chaos2oo2]

I can confirm this. Just opened a thread there (https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=123453).

I monitored the upload/download rates of my NAS setting the cache to 60000ms. VLC at first buffers in the beginning with rates about 12 Mb/s from my NAS (via wifi). Soon later the transfer rate drops to 0 (zero) Mb/s and restarts several seconds later. So it seems VLC is not continuously filling the buffer in the background while playing back the video.

[chaos2oo2]

I followed Felix Paul Kuehne's advice and tried the 2.2.0 RC2 and the problem still persists. I am under Yosemite (!!) with VLC 2.2.0 RC2 now and still not able to play back a 1080p HD movie. Again, downloading from the smb share gives me 13 Mb/s download speed. Even when I set the network buffer to 60000 VLC is fetching it's data with a lousy 1.4 Mb/s (doesn't make sense)- and it is not going beyond this. No wonder the buffer runs out with a 14 GB HD movie. Anyways if you'd need logs of something just tell me.

Just something I came across: in XBMC/Kodi there's a parameter (readbufferfactor: Increase the fill-rate of the cache) which tells the player whitch bandwidth it should use. It will never be possible to play such a file if VLC will not make use of the necessary bandwith.

The question is "why is VLC buffering so slow?". VLC needs to be more 'aggressive' to keep it's buffer filled! How can a buffer of 10 seconds movie suddenly stop when a bandwith of 13 Mb/s exists?

EDIT:
here you can see this:

[chaos2oo2]

here is the log file. It takes VLC some 8000 ms to buffer 10000ms, copying the movie would take 30 minutes, so definitely there is something wrong with the buffering...

Code: Select all

core debug: VLC media player - 2.2.0-rc2 Weatherwax core debug: Copyright © 1996-2014 the VideoLAN team core debug: revision 2.2.0-rc2-0-g0f9d349 core debug: configured with ../extras/package/macosx/../../../configure '--prefix=/Users/fpk/Desktop/vlc-2.2/release/vlc_install_dir' '--enable-macosx' '--enable-merge-ffmpeg' '--enable-growl' '--enable-faad' '--enable-flac' '--enable-theora' '--enable-shout' '--enable-ncurses' '--enable-twolame' '--enable-realrtsp' '--enable-libass' '--enable-macosx-eyetv' '--enable-macosx-qtkit' '--enable-macosx-avfoundation' '--disable-skins2' '--disable-xcb' '--disable-caca' '--disable-sdl' '--disable-samplerate' '--disable-macosx-dialog-provider' '--with-macosx-version-min=10.6' '--build=x86_64-apple-darwin10' 'build_alias=x86_64-apple-darwin10' 'CC=xcrun clang' 'CFLAGS=' 'LDFLAGS=' 'CXX=xcrun clang++' 'OBJC=xcrun clang' core debug: adding item `Ghostbusters 1.ts' ( file:///Volumes/dreambox/Ghostbusters%201.ts ) core debug: processing request item: Ghostbusters 1.ts, node: Wiedergabeliste, skip: 0 core debug: Creating an input for 'Ghostbusters 1.ts' core debug: rebuilding array of current - root Wiedergabeliste core debug: rebuild done - 1 items, index 0 core debug: starting playback of the new playlist item core debug: resyncing on Ghostbusters 1.ts core debug: Ghostbusters 1.ts is at 0 core debug: creating new input thread core debug: Creating an input for 'Ghostbusters 1.ts' core debug: requesting art for Ghostbusters 1.ts core debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MiB, in path '/tmp' core debug: looking for meta fetcher module matching "any": 1 candidates core debug: `file:///Volumes/dreambox/Ghostbusters%201.ts' gives access `file' demux `' path `/Volumes/dreambox/Ghostbusters%201.ts' lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Users/hugo/Library/Application Support/org.videolan.vlc/lua/meta/fetcher core debug: specified demux `any' core debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='any' location='/Volumes/dreambox/Ghostbusters%201.ts' file='/Volumes/dreambox/Ghostbusters 1.ts' lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/fetcher core debug: looking for access_demux module matching "file": 14 candidates lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/fetcher/tvrage.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/fetcher/tvrage.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/share/lua/meta/fetcher core debug: no meta fetcher modules matched core debug: searching art for Ghostbusters 1.ts core debug: looking for art finder module matching "any": 2 candidates lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Users/hugo/Library/Application Support/org.videolan.vlc/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/00_musicbrainz.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/00_musicbrainz.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/01_googleimage.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/01_googleimage.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/02_frenchtv.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/02_frenchtv.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/03_lastfm.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/03_lastfm.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/share/lua/meta/art core debug: no art finder modules matched core debug: art not found for Ghostbusters 1.ts core debug: no access_demux modules matched core debug: creating access 'file' location='/Volumes/dreambox/Ghostbusters%201.ts', path='/Volumes/dreambox/Ghostbusters 1.ts' core debug: looking for access module matching "file": 18 candidates filesystem debug: opening file `/Volumes/dreambox/Ghostbusters 1.ts' core debug: using access module "filesystem" core debug: Using stream method for AStream* core debug: starting pre-buffering core debug: received first data after 3 ms core debug: pre-buffering done 1024 bytes in 0s - 253 KiB/s core debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "any": 9 candidates core debug: no stream_filter modules matched core debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "record": 9 candidates core debug: using stream_filter module "record" core debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='any' location='/Volumes/dreambox/Ghostbusters%201.ts' file='/Volumes/dreambox/Ghostbusters 1.ts' core debug: looking for demux module matching "any": 65 candidates core debug: Creating an input for 'Ghostbusters 1.ts' macosx debug: Enable media key support macosx warning: variable stereo-mode doesn't exist or isn't handled ts debug: PATCallBack called ts debug: new PAT ts_id=1 version=0 current_next=1 ts debug: * number=0 pid=31 ts debug: * number=1 pid=256 ts debug: PMTCallBack called ts debug: new PMT program number=1 version=0 pid_pcr=4097 ts debug: * descriptor : registration HDMV ts debug: * descriptor : EACEM Simulcast HD ts debug: * es pid=4113 type=27 dr->i_tag=0x28 ts debug: * es pid=4113 type=27 fcc=h264 core debug: selecting program id=1 ts debug: * es pid=4352 type=129 dr->i_tag=0x5 ts debug: * es pid=4352 type=129 dr->i_tag=0x81 ts: HDMV registration not implemented for pid 0x1100 type 0x81 ts debug: * es pid=4352 type=129 fcc=a52 core debug: using demux module "ts" core debug: looking for a subtitle file in /Volumes/dreambox/ core debug: meta ok for (null), need to fetch art core debug: meta ok for (null), need to fetch art core debug: looking for meta fetcher module matching "any": 1 candidates core debug: meta ok for (null), need to fetch art lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Users/hugo/Library/Application Support/org.videolan.vlc/lua/meta/fetcher core debug: meta ok for (null), need to fetch art core debug: looking for meta fetcher module matching "any": 1 candidates lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Users/hugo/Library/Application Support/org.videolan.vlc/lua/meta/fetcher lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/fetcher lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/fetcher lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/fetcher/tvrage.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/fetcher/tvrage.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/fetcher/tvrage.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/fetcher/tvrage.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/share/lua/meta/fetcher macosx warning: variable stereo-mode doesn't exist or isn't handled core debug: no meta fetcher modules matched lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/share/lua/meta/fetcher core debug: searching art for Ghostbusters 1.ts core debug: no meta fetcher modules matched core debug: looking for art finder module matching "any": 2 candidates core debug: searching art for Ghostbusters 1.ts core debug: looking for art finder module matching "any": 2 candidates macosx warning: variable stereo-mode doesn't exist or isn't handled macosx warning: variable stereo-mode doesn't exist or isn't handled macosx warning: variable stereo-mode doesn't exist or isn't handled macosx warning: variable stereo-mode doesn't exist or isn't handled macosx warning: variable stereo-mode doesn't exist or isn't handled lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Users/hugo/Library/Application Support/org.videolan.vlc/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Users/hugo/Library/Application Support/org.videolan.vlc/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/00_musicbrainz.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/00_musicbrainz.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/00_musicbrainz.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/00_musicbrainz.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/01_googleimage.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/01_googleimage.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/01_googleimage.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/02_frenchtv.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/01_googleimage.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/02_frenchtv.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/02_frenchtv.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/03_lastfm.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/02_frenchtv.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/03_lastfm.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/03_lastfm.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/share/lua/meta/art core debug: no art finder modules matched core debug: art not found for Ghostbusters 1.ts lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/03_lastfm.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/share/lua/meta/art core debug: no art finder modules matched core debug: looking for meta fetcher module matching "any": 1 candidates lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Users/hugo/Library/Application Support/org.videolan.vlc/lua/meta/fetcher lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/fetcher lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/fetcher/tvrage.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/fetcher/tvrage.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/share/lua/meta/fetcher core debug: no meta fetcher modules matched core debug: searching art for Ghostbusters 1.ts core debug: looking for art finder module matching "any": 2 candidates lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Users/hugo/Library/Application Support/org.videolan.vlc/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/00_musicbrainz.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/00_musicbrainz.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/01_googleimage.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/01_googleimage.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/02_frenchtv.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/02_frenchtv.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/03_lastfm.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/03_lastfm.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/share/lua/meta/art core debug: no art finder modules matched core debug: looking for meta fetcher module matching "any": 1 candidates lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Users/hugo/Library/Application Support/org.videolan.vlc/lua/meta/fetcher lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/fetcher lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/fetcher/tvrage.luac core debug: looking for decoder module matching "any": 40 candidates lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/fetcher/tvrage.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/share/lua/meta/fetcher core debug: no meta fetcher modules matched core debug: searching art for Ghostbusters 1.ts core debug: looking for art finder module matching "any": 2 candidates lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Users/hugo/Library/Application Support/org.videolan.vlc/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/00_musicbrainz.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/00_musicbrainz.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/01_googleimage.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/01_googleimage.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/02_frenchtv.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/02_frenchtv.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/03_lastfm.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/art/03_lastfm.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/share/lua/meta/art core debug: no art finder modules matched core debug: art not found for Ghostbusters 1.ts core debug: art not found for Ghostbusters 1.ts core debug: art not found for Ghostbusters 1.ts avcodec debug: CPU flags: 0x0007d3db avcodec debug: trying to use direct rendering avcodec debug: allowing 4 thread(s) for decoding avcodec debug: avcodec codec (H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10)) started avcodec debug: using frame thread mode with 4 threads core debug: using decoder module "avcodec" core debug: looking for packetizer module matching "any": 22 candidates core debug: using packetizer module "packetizer_h264" core debug: looking for decoder module matching "any": 40 candidates core debug: using decoder module "a52" ts debug: DEMUX_SET_GROUP 0 0x0 core debug: looking for meta reader module matching "any": 2 candidates lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Users/hugo/Library/Application Support/org.videolan.vlc/lua/meta/reader lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/reader lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/reader/filename.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Applications/VLC_220_RC2.app/Contents/MacOS/share/share/lua/meta/reader core debug: no meta reader modules matched core debug: `file:///Volumes/dreambox/Ghostbusters%201.ts' successfully opened ts debug: pid[31] unknown ts debug: pid[4097] unknown core debug: Buffering 0% ts warning: first packet for pid=4113 cc=0x1 macosx warning: variable stereo-mode doesn't exist or isn't handled ts warning: first packet for pid=4352 cc=0x1 packetizer_h264 debug: found NAL_SPS (sps_id=0) packetizer_h264 debug: found NAL_PPS (pps_id=0 sps_id=0) avcodec debug: available hardware decoder output format 81 (vda_vld) avcodec debug: available hardware decoder output format 120 (vda) avcodec debug: available software decoder output format 0 (yuv420p) core debug: looking for hw decoder module matching "any": 1 candidates core debug: no hw decoder modules matched a52 debug: A/52 channels:6 samplerate:48000 bitrate:640000 core debug: reusing audio output core debug: Buffering 1% core debug: VLC is looking for: 'a52 ' 48000 Hz 3F2R/LFE frame=1536 samples/2560 bytes core debug: looking for text renderer module matching "any": 3 candidates auhal debug: attempting to use device 0 auhal debug: using default audio device 38 auhal debug: found 4 stream formats for stream id 39 freetype debug: looking for Arial Unicode MS auhal debug: Audio device supports PCM mode only auhal debug: Current device has a latency of 176 frames freetype debug: found /Library/Fonts/Arial Unicode.ttf freetype debug: looking for Monaco freetype debug: found /System/Library/Fonts/Monaco.dfont freetype debug: Using Arial Unicode MS as font from file /Library/Fonts/Arial Unicode.ttf freetype debug: Using Monaco as mono-font from file /System/Library/Fonts/Monaco.dfont freetype debug: using fontsize: 2 core debug: using text renderer module "freetype" core debug: looking for video filter2 module matching "any": 57 candidates core debug: Buffering 2% swscale debug: 32x32 (32x32) chroma: YUVA -> 16x16 (16x16) chroma: RGBA with scaling using Bicubic (good quality) core debug: using video filter2 module "swscale" core debug: looking for video filter2 module matching "any": 57 candidates core debug: Buffering 2% yuvp debug: YUVP to YUVA converter core debug: using video filter2 module "yuvp" core debug: Deinterlacing available core debug: deinterlace 0, mode blend, is_needed 0 core debug: Opening vout display wrapper core debug: looking for vout display module matching "any": 6 candidates core debug: looking for vout window nsobject module matching "any": 1 candidates core debug: Buffering 3% core debug: Buffering 4% auhal debug: current format is: [44100.000000][mcpl][9][8][1][8][2][32] auhal debug: layout of AUHAL has 2 channels auhal debug: selected 2 physical channels for device output auhal debug: VLC will output: Stereo auhal debug: we set the AU format: [48000.000000][mcpl][9][8][1][8][2][32] auhal debug: the actual set AU format is [48000.000000][mcpl][9][8][1][8][2][32] auhal debug: analog output successfully opened core debug: Buffering 5% core debug: output 'f32l' 48000 Hz Stereo frame=1 samples/8 bytes core debug: looking for audio volume module matching "any": 2 candidates core debug: using audio volume module "float_mixer" core debug: input 'a52 ' 48000 Hz 3F2R/LFE frame=1536 samples/2560 bytes core debug: looking for audio filter module matching "scaletempo": 14 candidates scaletempo debug: format: 48000 rate, 6 nch, 4 bps, fl32 scaletempo debug: params: 30 stride, 0.200 overlap, 14 search scaletempo debug: 1.000 scale, 1440.000 stride_in, 1440 stride_out, 1152 standing, 288 overlap, 672 search, 2400 queue, fl32 mode core debug: using audio filter module "scaletempo" core debug: conversion: 'a52 '->'f32l' 48000 Hz->48000 Hz 3F2R/LFE->3F2R/LFE core debug: looking for audio converter module matching "any": 11 candidates core debug: no audio converter modules matched core debug: looking for audio converter module matching "any": 11 candidates core debug: using audio converter module "a52tofloat32" core debug: conversion pipeline complete core debug: conversion: 'f32l'->'f32l' 48000 Hz->48000 Hz 3F2R/LFE->Stereo core debug: looking for audio converter module matching "any": 11 candidates core debug: using audio converter module "simple_channel_mixer" core debug: conversion pipeline complete core debug: looking for audio resampler module matching "any": 2 candidates core debug: using audio resampler module "ugly_resampler" core debug: End of audio preroll core debug: Buffering 6% core debug: Buffering 7% core debug: Buffering 8% core debug: Buffering 9% core debug: Buffering 10% core debug: Buffering 11% core debug: Buffering 12% macosx debug: prevented sleep through IOKit (4683) core debug: Buffering 13% core debug: Buffering 14% core debug: Buffering 15% core debug: Buffering 16% core debug: Buffering 17% core debug: Buffering 18% core debug: Buffering 19% core debug: Buffering 20% core debug: Buffering 21% core debug: Buffering 22% core debug: Buffering 23% macosx debug: releasing old sleep blocker (4683) macosx debug: prevented sleep through IOKit (4685) macosx debug: toggle playlist from state: removed splitview 0, minimized view 0. Event 2 macosx debug: toggle playlist to state: removed splitview 0, minimized view 0 macosx debug: returning videoview with proposed position x=0, y=0, width=1920, height=804 core debug: using vout window nsobject module "macosx" core debug: Buffering 24% core debug: Buffering 25% core debug: VoutDisplayEvent 'resize' 1920x804 window core debug: using vout display module "macosx" core debug: original format sz 1920x834, of (0,0), vsz 1920x804, 4cc I420, sar 1:1, msk r0x0 g0x0 b0x0 core debug: removing module "freetype" core debug: looking for text renderer module matching "any": 3 candidates freetype debug: looking for Arial Unicode MS freetype debug: found /Library/Fonts/Arial Unicode.ttf freetype debug: looking for Monaco freetype debug: found /System/Library/Fonts/Monaco.dfont freetype debug: Using Arial Unicode MS as font from file /Library/Fonts/Arial Unicode.ttf freetype debug: Using Monaco as mono-font from file /System/Library/Fonts/Monaco.dfont freetype debug: using fontsize: 2 core debug: using text renderer module "freetype" avcodec debug: enabling direct rendering core debug: VoutDisplayEvent 'resize' 811x429 window core debug: End of video preroll core debug: Received first picture freetype debug: looking for Arial Unicode MS freetype debug: found /Library/Fonts/Arial Unicode.ttf core debug: Buffering 26% core debug: Buffering 26% core debug: Buffering 27% core debug: Buffering 28% core debug: Buffering 29% core debug: Buffering 30% core debug: Buffering 31% core debug: Buffering 32% core debug: Buffering 33% core debug: Buffering 34% core debug: Buffering 35% core debug: Buffering 36% core debug: Buffering 37% core debug: Buffering 38% core debug: Buffering 39% core debug: Buffering 40% core debug: Buffering 41% core debug: Buffering 42% core debug: Buffering 43% core debug: Buffering 44% core debug: Buffering 45% core debug: Buffering 46% core debug: Buffering 47% core debug: Buffering 48% core debug: Buffering 49% core debug: Buffering 50% core debug: Buffering 50% core debug: Buffering 51% core debug: Buffering 52% core debug: Buffering 53% core debug: Buffering 54% core debug: Buffering 55% core debug: Buffering 56% core debug: Buffering 57% core debug: Buffering 58% core debug: Buffering 59% core debug: Buffering 60% core debug: Buffering 61% core debug: Buffering 62% core debug: Buffering 63% core debug: Buffering 64% core debug: Buffering 65% core debug: Buffering 66% core debug: Buffering 67% core debug: Buffering 68% core debug: Buffering 69% core debug: Buffering 70% core debug: Buffering 71% core debug: Buffering 72% core debug: Buffering 72% core debug: Buffering 74% core debug: Buffering 74% core debug: Buffering 75% core debug: Buffering 76% core debug: Buffering 77% core debug: Buffering 78% core debug: Buffering 79% core debug: Buffering 80% core debug: Buffering 81% core debug: Buffering 82% core debug: Buffering 83% core debug: Buffering 84% core debug: Buffering 85% core debug: Buffering 86% core debug: Buffering 87% core debug: Buffering 88% core debug: Buffering 89% core debug: Buffering 90% core debug: Buffering 91% core debug: Buffering 92% core debug: Buffering 93% core debug: Buffering 94% core debug: Buffering 95% core debug: Buffering 96% core debug: Buffering 97% core debug: Buffering 98% core debug: Buffering 98% core debug: Buffering 99% core debug: Stream buffering done (10089 ms in 8639 ms) core debug: Decoder wait done in 0 ms core warning: playback way too early (-505210): playing silence core debug: inserting 24250 zeroes core error: ES_OUT_SET_(GROUP_)PCR is called too late (pts_delay increased to 10000 ms) core error: ES_OUT_RESET_PCR called core debug: End of audio preroll avcodec debug: available hardware decoder output format 81 (vda_vld) avcodec debug: available hardware decoder output format 120 (vda) avcodec debug: available software decoder output format 0 (yuv420p) core debug: looking for hw decoder module matching "any": 1 candidates core debug: no hw decoder modules matched core debug: Buffering 0% core debug: Buffering 0% core debug: End of video preroll core debug: Received first picture core debug: Buffering 1% core debug: Buffering 2% core debug: Buffering 3% core debug: Buffering 4% core debug: Buffering 5% core debug: Buffering 6% core debug: Buffering 7% core debug: Buffering 8% core debug: Buffering 9% core debug: Buffering 10% core debug: Buffering 11% core debug: Buffering 12% core debug: Buffering 13% core debug: Buffering 14% core debug: Buffering 15% core debug: Buffering 16% core debug: Buffering 17% core debug: Buffering 18% core debug: Buffering 19% core debug: Buffering 20% core debug: Buffering 21% core debug: Buffering 22% core debug: Buffering 23% core debug: Buffering 24% core debug: Buffering 24% core debug: Buffering 25% core debug: Buffering 26% core debug: Buffering 27% core debug: Buffering 28% core debug: Buffering 29% core debug: Buffering 30% core debug: Buffering 31% core debug: Buffering 32% core debug: Buffering 33% core debug: Buffering 34% core debug: Buffering 35% core debug: Buffering 36% core debug: Buffering 37% core debug: Buffering 38% core debug: Buffering 39% core debug: Buffering 40% core debug: Buffering 41% core debug: Buffering 42% core debug: Buffering 43% core debug: Buffering 44% core debug: Buffering 45% core debug: Buffering 46% core debug: Buffering 47% core debug: Buffering 47% core debug: Buffering 48% core debug: Buffering 49% core debug: Buffering 50% core debug: Buffering 51% core debug: Buffering 52% core debug: Buffering 53% core debug: Buffering 54% core debug: Buffering 55% core debug: Buffering 56% core debug: Buffering 57% core debug: Buffering 58% core debug: Buffering 59% core debug: Buffering 60% core debug: Buffering 61% core debug: Buffering 62% core debug: Buffering 63% core debug: Buffering 64% core debug: Buffering 65% core debug: Buffering 66% core debug: Buffering 67% core debug: Buffering 68% core debug: Buffering 69% core debug: Buffering 70% core debug: Buffering 71% core debug: Buffering 72% core debug: Buffering 72% core debug: Buffering 73% core debug: Buffering 74% core debug: Buffering 75% core debug: Buffering 76% core debug: Buffering 77% core debug: Buffering 78% core debug: Buffering 79% core debug: Buffering 80% core debug: Buffering 81% core debug: Buffering 82% core debug: Buffering 83% core debug: Buffering 84% core debug: Buffering 85% core debug: Buffering 86% core debug: Buffering 87% core debug: Buffering 88% core debug: Buffering 89% core debug: Buffering 90% core debug: Buffering 91% core debug: Buffering 92% core debug: Buffering 93% core debug: Buffering 94% core debug: Buffering 95% core debug: Buffering 96% core debug: Buffering 96% core debug: Buffering 97% core debug: Buffering 98% core debug: Buffering 99% core debug: Stream buffering done (10082 ms in 24283 ms) core debug: Decoder wait done in 0 ms core warning: playback way too early (-370303): playing silence core debug: inserting 17774 zeroes core debug: picture might be displayed late (missing 18 ms) core debug: incoming request - stopping current input ts debug: eof ? core debug: EOF reached core debug: control: stopping input core debug: incoming request - stopping current input core debug: finished input macosx debug: releasing sleep blocker (4685) core warning: can't get output picture avcodec warning: disabling direct rendering core debug: removing module "avcodec" core warning: can't get output picture avcodec debug: ffmpeg codec (H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10)) stopped core debug: killing decoder fourcc `h264', 136 PES in FIFO core debug: saving a free vout core debug: reusing provided vout core debug: removing module "packetizer_h264" core debug: discarded audio buffer core debug: removing module "a52" core debug: killing decoder fourcc `a52 ', 150 PES in FIFO core debug: removing module "ugly_resampler" core debug: removing module "a52tofloat32" core debug: removing module "scaletempo" core debug: removing module "simple_channel_mixer" auhal debug: Stopping the auhal module core debug: removing module "float_mixer" core debug: keeping audio output core debug: removing module "ts" ts debug: pid list: ts debug: - pid[0] seen ts debug: - pid[31] seen ts debug: - pid[256] seen ts debug: - pid[4097] seen ts debug: - pid[4113] seen core debug: Program doesn't contain anymore ES ts debug: - pid[4352] seen ts debug: - pid[8191] seen core debug: removing module "record" core debug: removing module "filesystem" core debug: incoming request - stopping current input core debug: dead input core debug: destroying useless vout core debug: removing module "macosx" core debug: removing module "freetype" core debug: removing module "yuvp" core debug: removing module "swscale" macosx debug: releasing sleep blocker (4685) macosx debug: toggle playlist from state: removed splitview 0, minimized view 0. Event 2 macosx debug: toggle playlist to state: removed splitview 0, minimized view 0

[chaos2oo2]

hmmm....the problem seems to exist since 2013 already. That's bad...(http://archiv.raid-rush.ws/t-845171.html)

[chaos2oo2]

Sorry to bother with this problem, but we have over 8000 views here and nobody is able to say something about this problem? What else should I post to try to find the problem?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Someone who understands this issue. It is complex, since smb is done by the OS.

[chaos2oo2]

that's true, but when I copy the whole amount of data I get 13 MB/s, so what I don't understand is why the VLC Player doesn't request enough data to not run out of buffer as it is definitely possible for the network? SMB is not responsible for the buffering, isn't it? The result is the same when I choose AFP instead of SMB.

[Pienamics]

Interestingly I've tried giving VLC highest priority and either closing or demoting other processes in an attempt to improve its performance. It makes no difference.

Even more interestingly is the speed of response from VLC staff on this thread when someone posts how great their product is but the complete lack of response to the freezing problem which is a pain for a lot of us. If the developers are not going to fix this problem I'd prefer it if they just told us - although I guess we can take the hint.

BTW - I got a new MBA and moved to Yosemite and it's still the same. I haven't used VLC for a while now because of this problem. I'm using the Mac native DVD player for the formats it supports and I've been re-recording the DVDs which I've only got in VOB format so that I can use the native player instead of VLC - which I've had to give up on because of this freezing problem.

The Mac DVD is better player anyway because the "start from last position" feature works, unlike with VLC. Much nicer FFWD too. If they added an audio advance/delay feature it would be my goto player.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Even more interestingly is the speed of response from VLC staff on this thread when someone posts how great their product is but the complete lack of response to the freezing problem which is a pain for a lot of us. If the developers are not going to fix this problem I'd prefer it if they just told us - although I guess we can take the hint.

People are volunteers. They do what they can...

A complex problem that noone can reproduce, give enough info or solve is useless to answer to.

SMB access is done by the OSX kernel, not VLC code.