Kodi buffering heavily when playing 1080p mkv (x264) videos from Synology NAS on Chromecast 4K

[yahoo666]

Hey. 

I am a Chromecast newbie (using for 30 days or so), and have recently stumbled upon a following issue: I am running a Synology NAS in my home network, shared internally via NFS; I have Kodi installed on the Chromecast, with one of the Synology volumes as a source. Chromecast is using WiFi, Synology runs on LAN.

When playing some of the video files (1080p, x264, mkv and mp4) - the playback stops, "buffering" progress circle appears, and after a few seconds - playback starts again saying "The source response is too slow for continuous playback" (translation might not be perfect, I get this message in my native language). The message pop-up appears to be something Chromecast generic, not a Kodi specific one.

Appears, that:

• everything used to work well like a week ago; at least this is how I perceive it - obviously, I was not observing things carefully before the problem appeared
• nothing was changed in the network nor NAS settings; did not touch it at all, auto updates disabled
• potentially some Chromecast or Kodi auto update?
• when I play the same files using Kodi on a Raspberry (also using Synology NAS via NFS) - everything works well.
• when I play 4K movies from the online VOD platforms - everything works well. This makes me think that the network bandwitch is not the issue.
• the impacted files are all .mkv format, 1080p, x264. File size does not appear to be the case - out of 2 exampl-ish 4GB files, one works well, the other one - not so much. 
• I tried playing with different buffer file size on Kodi  - no luck. 
• Restarting everything did not help. 
• My current short list of hypotheses is:
  • Chromecast underperforming for some reason
  • Wifi lagging - the RPI works well, but it uses a cable connection. Perhaps I could try using cable for Chromecast too, however the VOD works well on the same setup.
  • Insufficient chromecast power adapter output. But that's just a blind shot.

Any clues? Thank you!

best regards

KŁ

[MagicAndre1981]

Maybe try such an USB hub with LAN connection to get a stable connection. Connect the USB-C cable to the Chromecast and add the USB-C power cable to the USB-C connector on the hub:

[almighty]

If you do this you may need to use a beefier power supply, depending on the usb-c Hub and what all is connected to it. A good indication of the need is if the Google TV reboots or acts up while on the hub. I think the stock power is 7.5w and I used an 18w one I had from a phone. 

[yahoo666]

Hey. 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Finally had some time for it this morning, prepared all the cables and stuff , but decided to take baby steps approach - so started with just replacing the  power adapter. I went for a MacBook USB-C one, and the problem was gone! Then I've downgraded the power source to an iPad power adapter (12W) - still everything was fine. So finally I've returned to the original power supply - and it's also fine. WTF.

I did not touch any setup (neither network, synology, kodi nor chromecast) since I've posted a week ago, so in the end it looks like there was some round of updates on kodi or chromecast, that have first introduced and then solved the problem behind the scenes. 

Long story short, happy that the problem is gone, not happy that I have no bloody clue about the reason.

Have a great time everyone!

[Jeran]

Thank you for helping out on this thread, MagicAndre1981 and almighty!

Hey there yahoo666,

I'm just checking up on this thread, I'm glad you were able to get everything working again! In that case, do you have any more questions or need any additional help? 

Best regards,
Jeran

[yahoo666]

Hey Jeran.

Thanks for reaching out. My basic problem of playback issues is gone, and the only mystery remaining is what on earth has happened here. If the device is to be such an unreliable beast (i.e. random playback problems appearing and disappearing occasionally without any reason) then I would be cautious with recommending it.

All the best!

y666

[Jeran]

Hey there yahoo666,

Totally understandable! It's hard to say in this case because there are so many factors involved, such as Kodi, the video files, the Chromecast, the adapter, etc. It could have been a number of things. Regardless, if you have any other questions regarding the Chromecast, I'd be happy to address them.

Best regards,
Jeran

[Jeran]

Hey there yahoo666,

Do you have any more questions that we can address? 

Thank you,
Jeran

[Jeran]

Hey yahoo666,

Do you have any more questions that we can address? If not, I'll go ahead and lock up this thread in 24 hours.

Just checking up,
Jeran

[yahoo666]

Hi. Thanks for making sure. No, no questions nor topics. The problem appears to be gone for now, and I suppose we won't discover the cause. 

Cheers!

y.

[Jeran]

Hiya yahoo666,

No problem at all! In that case, I'll go ahead and lock this thread. If you have any more questions in the future, feel free to create a new thread.

Have a good one!

Best regards,
Jeran