Slow to start playback on opening .mkv over SMB

[FredFS456]

Hello, first post here. I'm having an issue with VLC on Windows where opening a large .mkv file from an SMB (samba) share will take a while. Here's what I know:
- when opening the file, VLC will sit on the 'playlist' screen, UI is responsive
- Depends on file size: file size ~2GB takes ~30 seconds to open, file size ~1GB takes ~10 seconds to open, file size ~50MB takes ~2 seconds to open
- once open, file plays smoothly (even when seeking, no lag)
- during the delay on opening the file, network activity is ~1Mbit/s
- Specific to VLC on Windows (works fine with VLC on Android + Solid Explorer, works fine on Win10's Photos app)
- specific to .mkv files (no starting delay on a ~1GB .mp4 file)
- this is NOT server-side - my phone start video right away
- local storage is not a problem

Setup:
Laptop on Win10 + VLC 2.2.4, connected to network over Wifi
Server on Debian + Samba, connected to network over ethernet

I'm guessing this is a bug of some sort, or else a problem with the .mkv container format itself (?). Any insight?

[jayR]

This looks normal to me. VLC will start playing when full local copy is available.

[FredFS456]

As far as I'm aware, when playing over SMB, VLC doesn't copy the whole file over to local (or else it would take forever for large files to start playing). Instead, it sort of streams the file as it's playing. For example, .mp4 files are totally fine with playing over SMB on my setup, even up to a GB or two (largest .mp4 I've tested). It's .mkv files that take a while to start playing.

[ExaltedVanguard]

JayR, I can confirm that VLC does not need a full copy downloaded off the network to start playback (when using SMB, at least). Playing files at home results in instantaneous playback for me.

However I'm also experiencing the same issue describe by FredFS456 when I connect to my home network via VPN, as I detailed (and troubleshooted) in this thread: https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=134334

It my case, however, there is almost no network traffic during the load. Maybe 10Kbs. The fact you have so much network traffic during the load makes me think that perhaps it is a buffering issue of some sort.

[FredFS456]

I would not be surprised if it was a buffering issue of some sort, although my network (since it's local) is definitely capable of more than 1mbps speeds. However, if it IS a buffering issue, it's on VLC's side (or somehow with VLC interacting with Windows) since other players play the same file just fine.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Please try 3.0. for MKV over smb

[FredFS456]

I just tried the 3.0.0 nightly - starting to play the video takes roughly as long as 2.4, but with a yellow buffering animation in the seek bar. There's a rendering/playback problem on my system (flashing video) but that's almost certainly unrelated.