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Author Topic: Please report a successful setup that plays h264 mkv files over a network  (Read 38005 times)

Tigrman699

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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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eman

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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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Arvald

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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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Tigrman699

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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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ECF

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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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Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream

Tigrman699

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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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ECF

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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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Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream

Tigrman699

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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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ECF

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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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Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream

Tigrman699

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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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ECF

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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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Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream

Tigrman699

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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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Lycan

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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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ECF

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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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Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream

Mr_Bee

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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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