RPi 3b+ buffering issues

  • Hello,

    I use a RPi 3b+ with a fresh install of Libreelec 9.2. The RPi is connected to my TV which is located in a room next to my wireless network router.

    Following advice on this forum, I use a small mikrotik to bridge the wireless network, so the RPi is connected to the network via its Ethernet port.

    Most commonly, I use Kodi to watch videos stored on my Windows PC using SMB shares.

    Generally things are OK. I had to tweak the cache settings a bit to allow buffering, otherwise the videos would stutter immediately:

    Code
    <advancedsettings>
     <cache>
      <buffermode>1</buffermode>
      <memorysize>104857600</memorysize>
      <readfactor>20</readfactor>
     </cache>
    </advancedsettings>

    These settings improved the situation, but when I play relatively high quality videos, every few minutes Kodi's video cache seems to empty, and the video is stuck.

    I used Action(playerdebug) to inspect the situation in real time. It seems the cache fills very slowly but persistently. It usually reaches a maximum of only 5-7 percent. Then, at some time, the cache starts draining until it is emptied. The video stops. Then it fills slowly again, and so on...

    The wireless connection is stable and I have no similar issues with other devices. The video rate is not very high and this should be well within the limits of the wireless network.

    I suspect either a problem on Kodi's side, or perhaps some strange behaviour of the SMB shares on my Windows machine, but these are just guesses.

    Any suggestions?

    Thank you very much.