D-Link Forums
The Graveyard - Products No Longer Supported => D-Link Multimedia and USB => DSM-750 => Topic started by: vifa84 on April 12, 2009, 01:44:09 PM
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I have had the 750 hooked up for a few weeks now without much success. I originally bought it to use as an extender as I like sifting through the thumbnail view of video files, but now I just would be happy with it streaming HD mkv files from my computer via a upnp server like twonkyvision or tversity.
1.) Dlink says in FW update 1.02 it now supports mkv conatiners(the reason I finally went and bought it)
2.) Windows media center does not work streaming HD h264 mkv files to the 750, you get audio and no video.
3.) Twonkyvision and tversity both support mkv
4.) streaming HD mkv h264 from twonkyvision and tversity to the 750 both result in unwatchable, hanging, choppy playback and loss of audio.
5.) the 750 is directly wired to the router
6.) All of the files stream perfect to the other media player I have which is a Popcorn Hour A-110 connected to the exact same network via netgear powerline adapters, so it's not a network speed issue.
7.) Yes, supposedly you can play mkv ok by connecting an ext drive to the usb but is that really the prime function of this media extender? I would think it's primarily designed to receive streams over a network.
8.) When I say HD h264 mkv files I'm talking about files that are around 4.5gb 4,500kbs for a 720p movie and 8.5gb 10,000kbs for 1080p movies. Again, these files play back without one pause or studder on my other media player through the network.
Please report your setup, computer, network etc if you can play 720p and 1080p h264 HD mkv movies streamed over your network to the 750 without any hanging, studdering or loss of audio.
If the only possible way to do that at the moment is to connect a hard drive to it's usb port then I will just wait to tinker with it after they do another fw update.
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I an not using it as an extender, but i did put it on a usb key and it would still studder and couldn't keep up.
I have now converted all my mkv files to hd 1080p avi files and trying to stream it from my dns-323 nas and it still won't keep up, if i fast forward a bit i lose the audio
i have tried wireless and wired, i am on a gigabit network.
i have on issues streaming to my ps3 which is also wired.
overall very frustrating
anyone have any ideas???
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Guys..I have the same problems. Matroska works only when I use the USB facility on the 750. Tversity does support it but it gets choppy at one point or another. I have a Dlink N network that pumps 240 mbps to the 750 without relief. Looks like we are stuck. Dlink's NAS DSM-G600 does not even see the .mkv extension, so running .mkv on the DSM-750 native over my network is not possible. 1TB USB drives are cheap. This is how I am solving my connectivity problems..
CE
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SUre... I run a pair of 750's over my network. MKV's are stored and served from my DNS323 on which I have installed Twonky Server and disabled the less than functional UPNP Media server installed by Dlink.
I have no trouble watching my MKV's on my 750's with the added benefit of not needing a TVersity computer server or such to do it.. Its one solution and reasonably inexpensive.
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I have not had a chance to test the larger files. My largest mkvs at the moment are 1.5GB and I have the same setup as Slyder.
though just the one 750.
I'd be thinking that the network bandwidth is the issue even though you discounted it.
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I have not had a chance to test the larger files. My largest mkvs at the moment are 1.5GB and I have the same setup as Slyder.
though just the one 750.
I'd be thinking that the network bandwidth is the issue even though you discounted it.
If your mkv's are HD movies x264 ripped from blu-ray disc then they wouldn't be 1.5GB. A two hour movie at let say 1280x544(720P) would be somewhere around 5GB and stream at an average of 4500kbs. the 750 is directly wired to my router and remember, I have another player that plays these exact same files with not one problem steamed over the same network.
SUre... I run a pair of 750's over my network. MKV's are stored and served from my DNS323 on which I have installed Twonky Server and disabled the less than functional UPNP Media server installed by Dlink.
I have no trouble watching my MKV's on my 750's with the added benefit of not needing a TVersity computer server or such to do it.. Its one solution and reasonably inexpensive.
You say your not using the bundled Twonkyvision media server so do you have the DNS323 directly connected to the usb port on the 750 or are you streaming the files over a network with another media server or using it as a media center extender?
Again, are you sure the mkv's yo are watching are HD? Have you tried streaming an HD mkv file that is around 8GB in size and 1920 x 1080p? or 5GB in size and 1280 x 544?
Are you guys sure your streaming HD - high bitrate movies?
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I have not dug into them to see what the mkv setup is for them but they are 720p videos of 43 minute TV shows, and weigh in at 1.5GB which is fairly close to your estimate. I'm still learning about matroska... neat format but info until recently has been very vague. I started running the 323 to be able to add storage to run larger files.
Just some other network thoughts... your direct wired... are you gigabit set up? if you are are you using a cat6 cable? if you are 100 mbs you'd be using about 1/3 your total bandwidth just on the streaming... round up to half of that for any other overhead. are you running anything else on the computer serving this up?
it just seems odd, the only other issue could be the size over the network... are you running anything that might impose a QoS on you?
the DNS323 is a network device (not USB). the Twonkyvision is installed on the 323 itself using funplug (running right off the NAS unit no computer)
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I have not dug into them to see what the mkv setup is for them but they are 720p videos of 43 minute TV shows, and weigh in at 1.5GB which is fairly close to your estimate. I'm still learning about matroska... neat format but info until recently has been very vague. I started running the 323 to be able to add storage to run larger files.
Just some other network thoughts... your direct wired... are you gigabit set up? if you are are you using a cat6 cable? if you are 100 mbs you'd be using about 1/3 your total bandwidth just on the streaming... round up to half of that for any other overhead. are you running anything else on the computer serving this up?
it just seems odd, the only other issue could be the size over the network... are you running anything that might impose a QoS on you?
the DNS323 is a network device (not USB). the Twonkyvision is installed on the 323 itself using funplug (running right off the NAS unit no computer)
I misunderstood your post above, I thought you disabled twonkyvision but you said you disabled the media server that came with the 323 and installed twonkyvision. I already have a 5.0 twonky license, do they have a NAS setup already for the 323? I bought a Linksys WRT610n router which comes with twonkyvision preinstalled and has a usb port. However, the version of twonky they have installed is dated and doesn't support mkv and of course, they can't tell me when they will update it, if ever. I am looking for a NAS that streams mkv but I kind of wanted one that had a usb connection also, as I already bought a 2TB usb2.0 ext drive and loaded it with some 450 movies.
The 750 isn't gigabit so unless I had several other devices streaming at the same time that wouldn't be and issue, the wrt610n is gigabit though and I have cat6 connected. Also, it does the exact same thing whether I have the cat 6 connected or going wireless through 5ghz connection. Again, it does this with tversity or twonkyvision and streamed from two different computers.
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you need to fun plug the unit first
http://wiki.dns323.info/howto:ffp
here is the link to the site with the 323 setup.
http://www.twonkyforum.com/unsupported/4.4.11/
My thought is gigabit to the router and as fast as I can get to the 750. The wireless N was too flakey for me so I wired it.
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I use MediaTomb as my server running under Mandriva Linux on a low spec 64 bit Athlon X2 server.
720P hi def encoded at 4.5Mb video (plus audio at about 500K) works well. I have 2 DSM750s one wired and one wireless (5GHz wireless N). Both systems work equally well with this file format. I have one movie length file that is 6GB and plays OK (I think that was encoded at about 9Mb)
I've tried 1080P but can't get satisfactory results. The wired system can work with low bit rates, but wireless always seems to stutter. If I try using the sort of data rates used on Blu-Ray disks then even the wired systems fails miserably, even though my server can deliver the file about 3 times faster than needed. (ie I don't think the problems are at the server end!)
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I use MediaTomb as my server running under Mandriva Linux on a low spec 64 bit Athlon X2 server.
720P hi def encoded at 4.5Mb video (plus audio at about 500K) works well. I have 2 DSM750s one wired and one wireless (5GHz wireless N). Both systems work equally well with this file format. I have one movie length file that is 6GB and plays OK (I think that was encoded at about 9Mb)
I've tried 1080P but can't get satisfactory results. The wired system can work with low bit rates, but wireless always seems to stutter. If I try using the sort of data rates used on Blu-Ray disks then even the wired systems fails miserably, even though my server can deliver the file about 3 times faster than needed. (ie I don't think the problems are at the server end!)
What kind of container are you using? mkv? or something else I assume your using the h264 codec?
I have unplugged my 750 and shelved it in the closet. It seems some of you may have had a good experience, but after messing with it for over a month now I am moving on and just ordering another popcorn hour A-110.
I did go and buy a DNS-323 and installed twonkyvision on it with two 1TB drives and am very satisfied with the results. It serves mkv files to my popcorn hour with no problems at all, even 1080p files with dts audio.
Never studders a bit.
I'm not sure why some of you guys can get the 750 to play HD x264 encoded mkv files over a network with no studdering or audio sync problems but I cannot. It even studders and loses audio sync streaming xvid files.
What is funny is that I have two DSM-520's and one popcorn hour and even the 520's have no problems streaming xvid files. The 750 reminds me a lot of the 320 that I used to have in that it has hanging problems that upon first glance would seem to be network speed related but, in the 320's case, firmware updates eventually fixed. I can literally take a 520 and stream a standard xvid file with no problems, unplug the ethernet cable and plug it into the 750 and it hangs and has audio sync problems with the same file, same connection and won't even start to play HD mkv stuff.
maybe i could try installing mediatomb on the DNS-323?
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Sorry to hear you've given up on it...
For mediatomb... yes you can run it on the 323... just yahoo "mediatomb DNS-323" and there are a few good sets of instructions that come up.
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Here's how I am getting my "MKV" files to play on the dsm-750. I use MKV2VOB to transcode the video to XVID AVI's. It's funny because the bitrate on the XVID Avi files is over 40mb/s and it plays perfect on the 750. If I don't configure MKV2VOB to transcode always, if the AVC video is over 1.5mb/s studder badly! I know there is some video quality lost, but I really don't see it. I have my 750 connected to a 50" Plasma and the pic is great. The good thing about transcoding these files is that I also can use them on my PS3, which mkv2vob is actually for.... One issue I've come across is if the MKV has DTS audio I have to use popcornaudioconverter to convert the audio stream to AC3 before transcoding using mkv2vob. sux but it works.....
jv
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Some more info about my setup.
I only use medialounge mode (no vista allowed in this house ;D). I use Handbrake (see http://handbrake.fr (http://handbrake.fr)) for all of my encoding. For high-def you need the latest pre-release - I built from source, but that is not a trivial task.
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I use my DNS-323 UPnP AV media server it streams my mkv files great.
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Vifa84...just bought the DSM 750 to replace my DSM 520 for the sole purpose of playing mkv files. So far, the only way to get these files to play is to copy them on a 4gb flash drive and use the usb1 feature on the 750. When I try to stream them from my Media Server, they simply do not show up!!!!
Dlink Techs told me this would not be a problem so I made the investment. Unless somebody shows me how to stream them soon, the 750 is going back to the store and this will be the last DLink product I ever purchase. As for the rest of the people who have responded to your post, I doubt anyone of them is being honest with you and, in any event, they fail to address your question directly.
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Tigrman699... The only way that the 750 can play .mkv effectively is via USB. I have a N network and at 240 mbps they are horrible.
Chris
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As for the rest of the people who have responded to your post, I doubt anyone of them is being honest with you and, in any event, they fail to address your question directly.
Gee thanks for calling me a liar Tigrman.
I answered with my setup exactly and with as close as I could to Vifa84 situation. I have no problems with them. Though I don't keep blu-ray rips HDtv rips were the next closest.
everyone here has a slightly different setup and seems some people are able to get it all to work, some not.
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No offense or disrespect intended. However, this is a dlink established forum so nothing prevents them from posting under a false username to try to disguise the fact that this device just doesn't perform as advertised or represented.
As for the DNS323 setup, im happy for u and the others if it works to stream mkv files to the DSM750, however, this is not what dlink had in mind when they designed the 750 and advertised it as capable of streaming these files from ur computer; otherwise they would have indicated that in their advertising.
I plan to call dlink tomorrow and try to get to a level 3 tech there i know to discuss this issue in detail. After that, i will report back on his comments and recommendations for this community. Hopefully, this will clarify this matter once and for all.
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Vifa84...just bought the DSM 750 to replace my DSM 520 for the sole purpose of playing mkv files. So far, the only way to get these files to play is to copy them on a 4gb flash drive and use the usb1 feature on the 750. When I try to stream them from my Media Server, they simply do not show up!!!!
Dlink Techs told me this would not be a problem so I made the investment. Unless somebody shows me how to stream them soon, the 750 is going back to the store and this will be the last DLink product I ever purchase. As for the rest of the people who have responded to your post, I doubt anyone of them is being honest with you and, in any event, they fail to address your question directly.
The Problem you are having is simply the Media server software you are using does not support .mkv. If the server software does not support .mkv the DSM-750 cannot see those file available to play.
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The Problem you are having is simply the Media server software you are using does not support .mkv. If the server software does not support .mkv the DSM-750 cannot see those file available to play.
ECF...your assertion is, quite simply, incorrect. Both Tversity and PS3 software server applications expressly support .mkv and, in fact, begin to stream it wirelessly to the DSM 750 after first transcoding the files. Unfortunately, this is, however, where the problem apparently occurs in that the concurrent transcoding and streaming is not 100% foolproof and eventually (anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes into the video) will begin to stutter or, worse still, freeze up entirely. Of course, this might depend on the speed of your individual processor, which might explain why the guys who are using a separate dlink DNS server to store these files first are not having this problem But I did not plan on spending even more money to buy a separate server for this purpose, especially when dlink advertises the ability of the DSM 750 to stream .mkv files wirelessly from one's computer and doesn't even mention the requirement of such additional hardware.
Just to set the record straight for everyone on this forum (especially ECF as a dlink representative/moderator), I spoke to a dlink Level 3 Tech today named Alex in the company's Huntingdon Valley headquarters about this issue. In turn, he consulted their project management team of experts for the DSM 750. They all acknowledged (or conceded...if you will) that the dlink media server software does not now and may not in the future support .mkv files. That is why they refer to other server applications in their owner manual as possible alternatives. Moreover, they agreed that these other existing alternate applications may not work correctly on all computer systems, as I and many others have already recognized. At present, they stand by their advertising statement that the DSM 750 "supports" .mkv or .h264 files in that these files can be played perfectly by use of the USB port feature.
I'll leave it to everyone to form their own opinion on whether this type of qualification is expressly explained in their advertising promotions or whether dlink is being deliberately deceptive to appear to have the only wireless media product capable of streaming .mkv files. As for me, I have concluded that its just as easy to plug my laptop into my HDTV with an HDMI jack as it is to copy the .mkv video file onto a flashdrive and insert it into the DSM 750. Further, I really miss the "jump" feature and volume adjustment on my old DSM 520, the elimination of which from the DSM 750 really makes no sense to me.
That said, I have decided to return the DSM 750 and wait for software server technology to catch up to dlink's hardware, so the product will actually work as advertised right out of the box. Hopefully, with the speed of technology today, I won't have to wait too long. Meanwhile, I just wish dlink would, at least, reimburse me for the 15% restocking fee I will have to pay when I return the unit for a refund.
As the say in law school, caveat emptor or let the buyer beware!!!!!!!!!!!
Parenthetically, it seems worth mentioning that Divx has actually released a server application capable of streaming .mkv files to a "Divx Connected Device." Their web site actually links to the dlink DSM330 as just such a device, so at some point in the past Divx and Dlink worked together to try to bridge this gap. Unfortunately, that partnership appears to have been abandoned now and Dlink no longer supports Divx (as opposed to Xvid), which is a shame because Divx may be one of the first companies to produce a codec capable of resolving this transmission/streaming issue.
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Tigrman699 have you tried streaming the video in a wired network environment? Is your PC and the DSM-750 both wirelessly connected and are they both connecting at 802.11N?
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ECF...your question begs the answer. The DSM 750 is advertised as a "wireless" device and was purchased specifically for this purpose. If I wanted to "wire" my laptop or computer to the device, I could just as easily run a HDMI cable from my laptop to my HDTV and watch .mkv files perfectly with VLC player. The sole reason for upgrading from the DSM 520 to the 750 was to be able to stream these files wirelessly, just as I am able to do with all other media formats supported already by the DSM 520.
When Dlink issued its 1.02 firmware release, it stated expressly "Added support for Matroska H.264 video files" without the same limitation it included for SRT files "when played from a USB drive". This omission is, at best, significant and curious and, at worst, recklessly (if not intentionally) deceptive.
Without such disclaimer on the limitations of the device when it comes to playing this new and wildly popular video format, you are misleading buyers into thinking they are getting something they are clearly not!!!!!
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Yes this device does support a wireless connection. If you are having issue such as this there are many other factors that could cause choppy playback of HD format video's. Not lack of support by the DSM-750. As you stated in your previous posts that the video played fine on the unit via USB direct so it is not the unit having an issue supporting this file type.
Lets go back to my previous question..Is your PC and the DSM-750 both wirelessly connected and are they both connecting at 802.11N?
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Ok i'll play along for now to see where this is going. The answer is yes to both questions but i'm curious as to why you ask about the n transmission. Are you suggesting that the DSM 750 only works with streaming video files if it is running at n speed?
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Well if you are streaming HD videos you will want your wireless device connected at 802.11N as this standard was added to the DSM-750 for streaming HD video as it required much more bandwidth to stream HD smoothly wirelessly.
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I understand, however, remember that, unlike the only people here who reported having success running Tversity in conjunction with their DNS 323 servers, I do not have a separate server and am instead serving directly from my laptop or computer, neither of which has a dual core processor but does have a single core intel processor running at minimum speed of 2gHz with at least 1gb DDR2 Ram. Since Tversity software appears to simultaneously transcode and then stream, this may be where the problem lies, since such transcoding usually requires a very fast processor to accomplish in less time. I would like to hear any thoughts you might have on this as well so we can try to successfully troubleshoot this issue and I won't have to return the DSM 750.
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I've been following this thread with some interest as I too am trying to set up a streaming environment for .h264 MKV videos. (huge bleach fan :) )
After MUCH trial and error I've determined that the HALF DUPLEX nature of the wireless environment is RARELY suited for a stream of this caliber.
Lets assume for a minute that the entire network is 802.11N and pushing data at 300Mbps. Thats all well and good as the MB throughput should realistically be around 25-30MBps.
However throughput isn't the issue ( at least not in my situation) environment was. I'll explain.
The radio on the router is HALF DUPLEX, this means that is has to stop talking to listen, normally this wouldn't pose an issue with a stream as the stream is 1 direction, however 2.5Ghz is susceptible to ALL types of interference, this can cause the radio to stop communication for a second to sort out wether that was a transmission from a potential client or just interference. Enter your frame loss. You take that and times it by the fact that your server is wireless as well and you've got a situation that's not easily rectified.
The best thing to suggest here is increase the number of AP's so that the 1 radio in the router isn't forced to constantly try to switch between the server and the client DSM.
However I doubt seriously that this will completely rectify your problem, hardwired solutions are always a safe bet.
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I think the best thing to do right now it to test it wired and see if the issue is your wireless connection or your PC Processor power for transcoding the video. Unfortunately there aren't any media servers available out there that support .mkv to allow a device such as the DSM-750 that actually support .mkv to have direct access to the file for playback without trancoding as it seems to be very rare right now and poeple just have not designed software to support it just yet.
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I have the same problem. I have my DSM-750 wired to my home computer (2.4 Ghz, Pentium, 2GB ram, 7200 RPM drive) using Tversity. The mkv files play for 3 mins or so then it stutters or freezes. It was posted that those using the DNS-323 don't seem to suffer from this problem. That suggests that drive speed latency (the DNS-323 is noted for its drive performance) and/or the amount of free CPU power for transcoding (in older comps the windows overhead on the computer may limit this) are the culprits - not the DSM-750 itself. However, there is a wrinkle in this theory.
Interestingly enough I attempted to play the same file on an IBM T41 laptop (1.8 Ghz Pentium, 1.5MB RAM, 5400 RPM drive) and it displayed the same behavior on windows media, and media player classic. However, it played fine when I downloaded and used VLC media player on the same laptop. Go figure.
I've posed more questions than answers but perhaps it helps to shed some light on the probable cause.
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Hi ECF,
That's great to know that DSM-750 & DNS323 works together but would you mind sharing the information of your DSM-750 and DNS-323 in terms of firmware version and hardware version. I have those 2 gadget as well and I can't make it work like you do. I tried it both in wired and wireless N scenario connection and both failed. It it helps, my location is in Australia and from what I know, the firmware differs between regions and I don't know what's the difference.
Cheers. :)
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Hi ECF,
That's great to know that DSM-750 & DNS323 works together but would you mind sharing the information of your DSM-750 and DNS-323 in terms of firmware version and hardware version. I have those 2 gadget as well and I can't make it work like you do. I tried it both in wired and wireless N scenario connection and both failed. It it helps, my location is in Australia and from what I know, the firmware differs between regions and I don't know what's the difference.
Cheers. :)
Are you running the beta firmware? It is located in the DNS-323 forum Child board. No official firmware support mkv yet so this feature is only available if you run the beta code.
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JUst installed ver 1.08B. Seems to work fine and glad to see it moving in the right direction in terms of supporting MKV's etc.. So far no issues although I do keep Twonky available just in case I find something, but have not encountered any issues so far.
Thanks for the efforts so far.
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"The mkv files play for 3 mins or so then it stutters or freezes."
You may find that the profile level of the codec is to high. I have noticed under VC-1 codec your above situation was seen with a movie ~8GB that the DSM-750 does not support Profiles over AP@L2. This you can check with application MediaInfo v0.7.14.
-Clint.B