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[ECF]

It looks like the problem may be the file type and codec. Its looks the software used to recode your files installs the codec to the PC to allow playback on that computer. I was not able to play it in WMP11 or MCE alone not to mention the DSM-750 it was seen as an unsupported file.  Without this codec the files is useless I can see playback of this file type being an issue for the DSM-750.

[djloewen]

The codec is MPEG-4 ASP. Specifically, I used DivX to encode the file. And you're right, Windows Media Player does not play this format natively. To watch it, you will need to install an MPEG-4 ASP codec (either, DivX, XviD, FFDshow, or any number of others). The DSM-750 claims to be able to play this file type. And it's right, it does. In fact, the DSM-750 can do a lot of things that Windows Media Player can't do, including Dolby Digital audio, and .mp4 video.

Also, this is NOT, I repeat NOT, a codec problem. As I mentioned earlier, it has occured with an MPEG-2 file as well, straight off a DVD. I will upload such as file and send you the link, but as I mentioned iin my private message it is less practical for troubleshooting because the 1gb limit on the upload site only allows me to upload a 25min video.

And just to update everyone, I have now actually seen the device skip. If I crank the router settings right down, I can make it skip without "finishing". So, yeah. *shrug*

[ECF]

I did that I am still unable to play the files sent to me. They may be getting corrupt somehow. That is odd MPEG-4 ASP should not have an issue playing or MPEG-2 especially It seems like an issue specific you or the few on here maybe its the software used to create these files or your network configuration because alot of people are using this device and I have checked with the call centers and there are not reports of this as a problem with the DSM-750. I would recommend testing the unit in another environment and try other software for creating your videos. There are just so many codecs and softwares for creating videos that there are just so may different ways to encode and tweak the same file type that it can be very hard to support everything, however we are always working to improve the codec support with firmware updates. There is alot of fee software online please just try another recoding software and try again. People on the forums can probably help you out with what they use and work really well for them.

[djloewen]

ECF, thank you for your continued efforts. It sounds like the upload website you suggested is corrupting the files somehow.

I have downloaded a number of videos online in various codecs, including MPEG-1, WMV, and MPEG-4 ASP (Mostly XviD). I have had videos playing in the background throughout this week, and I have seen the problem occur in all of the MPEG-4 videos. These are made by different people using different programs, and they couldn't possibly all be corrupt. Also, I am positive that mine are perfectly within specs, and are not corrupt at all. The other (MPEG-1 and WMV) videos, I have been unable to make quit. So I think it is a codec problem, but there's no way that it's limited to my files.

The reason I thought it wasn't a codec problem is that I saw it happen with an MPEG-2 video, but it happened around the 20-25 minute mark, which on the original DVD would have been where the first 1gb file break occurs. So I'm wondering if it had something to do with the transport stream having a break in it at that point. I tried once more with that file (only once) and it didn't quit at that point. I was going to upload a 1gb 22min sample of that movie for you, but I actually haven't been able to make the sample skip (hence my theory about the transport stream having some weirdness at the 1gb mark).

So to summarize, it probably is a codec problem, and I strongly doubt that it is isolated to my encodes. To test this, please upload an MPEG-4 ASP video that you think works perfectly and PM me the link, and I'll see if I can get it to quit on me.

In the meantime, I am continuing to test the MPEG-1 and WMV videos that I have to see if it will ever happen with them.

[djloewen]

I have played the MPEG-1 files over and over, and it seems that they will not quit.

ECF, I still have not heard from you. This is absolutely not limited to my files. Please do one of the following two things:

1.) Get the tech guys to test a long MPEG-4 ASP file (in a wireless environment, although it may be unrelated), find the problem, and release a firmware fix.

2.) Please send me a link to an MPEG-4 ASP file that you think doesn't have a problem. The longer the better, it is very hard to test on a 5-20 minute clip because I have to sit there restarting it over and over waiting for it to skip.

[djloewen]

If this issue is going to be ignored, I will need to return this device. Please tell me how to go about doing this.

[sofla]

If this issue is going to be ignored, I will need to return this device. Please tell me how to go about doing this.

I have gotten rid of mine already. I replaced it with a DMA2200. I have not exprerienced premature stopping with it yet. Linksys's Extenders can be found dirt cheap now.

The main benefit of DSM-750 for me was the MediaLounge non-Extender mode, but it is very flaky. That was the single unique feature that differentiated the DSM-750 from other extenders. Now HP's x280n offers the same UPnP non-Extender capability. I have not tested the HP device, as I am so far happy with the D-Link.

In any case, there is now absolutely no reason to choose DSM-750 over a Linksys or an HP device. In terms of features, it does not offer any unique ones anymore. In terms of price, it is more expensive than others.

[djloewen]

sofla, there are three things that make the DSM-750 better for me. Two are temporary, on I'm not so sure about.
1.) The 750 can now play .mkv. HP will be supporting that shortly. No idea about Linksys.
2.) The x280n is not yet available in Canada. Otherwise, I would have bought one by now. I  h a t e  this 750 with a passion.
3.) The 750 can output 1080p - to the best of my knowledge, neither the Linksys or the HP can. I don't know if this will be changing or not. That is a big upside for the 750 IMO.

Anyway Dlink is refusing to give me my money back (thanks guys), so I'm still stuck trying to troubleshoot this paperweight. I came up with something interesting last night that I'd like to share, as I think it sheds some light on why Dlink can't duplicate the issue. I have uploaded a MS Word document with some screenshots in it, please download the file here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L3ZLO9XX

The screenshots are of the Media Center "Network Performance Monitor", a tool which can be accessed in Media Center, both on the DSM-750 and on the host computer. (On your computer, open Windows Media Center, go to Tasks->Settings->Extender->DSM-750->Network tuner.) The advantages to doing it on the computer are that 1) I can take screenshots, and 2) I can run the graph while watching a video. Here's a summary:

1.) This shot was taken while the device is on and connected (obviously, otherwise there would be no line at all), but there is no video playing at this point. I am currently using the 5ghz band of my WRT600n router. As you can see the bandwidth is "maxed out" right at the top of the graph, but it is also full of spiky dropouts. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what my wireless environment looks like. I have no idea why it's so full of downspikes, or how common that is. I suspect that it is not very common. When I am connected on the 2.4ghz band (on either the WRT600n or the DIR-655) the bandwidith "ceiling" is lower, around the HDTV line, but it is just as spikey. If anyone else wants to check their computers and tell me what theirs looks like, please do.

2.) This shot was taken while I was playing a video. It looks basically the same as the first, but the bandwidth "ceiling" is lower. That missing bandwidth is being used to stream the video. It is, however, still full of downspikes.

Here come the fun ones:

3.) and 4.) are two separate examples of when the problem occurs. It's easy to spot: there's a big downspike, and then when it pops back up it goes back to maxed-out bandwidth like in picture 1. Now that downspike isn't even enough to make the buffer run out, but there's something about it that makes the MPEG-4 ASP codec say "hm, there's nothing coming, I guess the video's done".

5.) was taken while playing an MPEG-1 video. You can see a huge wide dropout in the signal, but the video kept playing with no problems. It didn't even need to pause and rebuffer. This is what the device needs to do for MPEG-4 ASP video.

6.) and 7.) were taken five minutes apart while playing MPEG-4 ASP again. The first shows a relatively big downspike that the video stream manages to survive. But then in picture 7 you can see a bigger one that makes the video quit.

So what I'm thinking is that anyone who has a nice smooth wireless environment won't be able to duplicate the problem. As far as why mine looks like that, I have no idea. I've tried a lot of different settings, different routers, different channels, it always looks like that. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the airwaves are just really crowded because I live in an apartment in the heart of a major city. The bottom line is, even though it looks really spikey, my network never gives me any problems: internet, file transfers between computers, video streaming from NAS to computers etc etc all work perfectly. I don't actually have a network problem. It's just this one thing that doesn't work.

(And yes, I'm running the new firmware. Problem not solved.)

FIX IT FIX IT FIX IT FIX IT FIX IT

[sofla]

D-Link should add you to their payroll. You have been doing the work they should have done in the lab themselves.

I do have a couple of suggestions.
1) When you take the screen captures, try using Alt+PrintScreen to capture the active window only and not the wholedesktop. This way it will be easier to see the relevant information.
2) DOCX file was a pain to view because I had to download a viewer. You may want to consider saving it to PDF in the future.

I also have a couple of observations:
1) I had a premature stop on my Linksys extender the other day. I guess I don't get to use it that often, otherwise I would see it more often. So, there may be a flaw in MS specifications/design that causes this kind of problem. On the other hand, D-Link and Linksys may be sourcing the product from a common supplier. If I understand correctly, the extender portion of all extenders is pretty much identical in terms of hardware. The bottom line is, there is a problem with AVIs located on a server and played in an Extender via a Vista PC.

2) I saw signal fluctuations when viewing network performance on my extenders. I am wondering if the routers are in fault, specifically their QOS features. Do you have QOS enabled? What if you disable it? Would it smooth out the spikes?

3) I have been looking at Netgear XAVB101 and HDXB111 Powerline Adaptors. The latter one is an HD-capable (on paper at least) and can be had for around $125/pair. The former one can be had for $80/pair. I saw one review where XAVB101 was about 20% faster at file transfer than an N-router. I might splurge on this to see if it improves the performance.

[djloewen]

Yeah what I find particularly frustrating is that, in all these months of me testing, I still have not seen any interest on Dlink's part in actually identifying and solving this problem. I always hit the "we can't duplicate it, so you're SOL" roadblock. I've even invited them over to my home to test it here (their Canadian office is about 20mins drive from where I live) - they didn't respond.

Thank you for the tips, I will do that in the future.

I've always wondered whether other extenders had this problem. Anyway that's the sort of thing that I need to rely on Dlink to determine. Also, if they did determine that it is a Microsoft problem, they'd be in a much better position to work with Microsoft and get it fixed than I would. As a reminder, the problem occurs for me even when the videos are stored on my local hard drive, not just a server.

Right now on my WRT600n I have the WMM QoS enabled, the others disabled. I've tried a lot of different router settings, and no, it always looks that spikey. Also, I really don't want this signal issue to pull focus away from the actual problem. If they can fix this bug then I've got no issues. IMO the device should work for me, I shouldn't have to work for it: I shouldn't need to transcode my videos, or buy new network equipment, etc.

On top of which, the bug is not limited to wireless anyway. It happened once for me over ethernet. I was serving from my Home Server at the time, which has a cheap AMD chip in it and it's terrible at doing two (or more) things at once. So I suspect that it briefly stopped streaming the video to do a file transfer or something, and the device interpreted that in the same way as a wireless downspike. The bottom line is, I don't want to fix my wireless signal (until this bug is fixed at least - after that, I'd love to discuss getting a nice smooth wireless signal).

[sofla]

Yeah, I guess all signs do point to a flawed design by Microsoft and/or OEMs. I seriously doubt there would be any interest in fixing this issue as this whole technology generates about ZERO consumer interest.

When Dell was recently clearing out their DMA2100/2200 inventory, they were shipping units that were manufactured 9 months earlier. Nine months is an awfully long shelf time for a product like this. No wonder they don't bother to fix bugs: Consumers are not interested, period.

I wish there was a software-based MCX. You would get cheap HTPC and install the Extender software on it. Perhaps it would be more stable.   

[sofla]

Your testing prompted me to look into my network performance. Well, my network performance is not a problem. I did not do screen captures, but my wirless connection was hardly ever more than a couple of percent utilized.

I am leaning toward an explanation that the server/PC gets overwelmed and interrupts the stream.

[djloewen]

...except it doesn't happen with MPEG-1. And it doesn't happen at all in MediaLounge mode.

[sofla]

...except it doesn't happen with MPEG-1. And it doesn't happen at all in MediaLounge mode.

MediaLounge mode (UPnP ? ) may be more forgiving, or the bufferring is done differently. I did have a feature-length movie cut out on me in MediaLounge mode 2 minutes from the end. Left me scrambling to get the laptop to finish watching it. (I had to get a laptop because DSM-750 never let me FF/REW in MediaLounge mode).

[djloewen]

I spent quite awhile testing MediaLounge mode, and it never quit on me (although it dropped frames left and right). The point that I am getting at is that it is clearly possible for this device to work with my network, no matter how spikey it looks. It can do it with MPEG-1 in WMC mode, and it can do it with MPEG-4 ASP in ML mode, there's no reason why it can't theoretically work with MPEG-4 ASP in WMC mode. What I need is for Dlink to identify the problem, and either fix it ASAP or, if the problem lies with Microsoft, report the issue to them (in my experience they are very good at fixing things in a timely manner).