Unusably slow SMB access with 12.0.1

    • New

    Hi, LibreElec 12.0.1 on a Rpi4, Synology NAS connected via SMB using 1Gbps ethernet. Fine for years, but somewhere around the 12.0.1 update (I can't say with certainty it was caused by it though), I'm getting unusably slow folder access. Entering a folder with a dozen items took under 3 seconds before, now is taking almost a minute. Other clients have no issue accessing the same folders.

    Video playback itself starts quickly though!

    No changes in the network or the NAS. Logs are enclosed. Thanks for any help or pointers.


    EDIT: clean install from scratch on a new SD card does NOT solve the issue. Whenever there's activity such as scraping new content, accessing folders via SMB takes dozens of seconds. To me, it looks like both activities run on the same thread and block each other.


    EDIT2:

    Confirmed, it's a LE 12.x issue.

    Opening the SMB folder on LE 11.0.6: 1s

    Opening the same folder on LE 12.0.0 or 12.0.1: almost a minute

    Both totally clean installs.

    • New

    (Sorry to hijack your thread) I am new to Kodi.

    Since day1 with a brand new RPi5 + wired gigabit LAN, I experience a similar type of slowness issue. Using LE 12.0.1 and SMB via Windows 10 home server. Folders (even small 1-2 files in it) usually open under 2-3 seconds (which is still somewhat slow, heck its on a gigabit LAN!). But what worries me more, during these 2-3 seconds, basically the UI blocks any other input action. If the delay is more, the UI block is more noticeable. Sometimes the circling happens for a minute (I cannot confirm if its due to the slow SMB or something completely different stuck in the background reason). Then suddenly all inputs I entered in the past 1 minute gets processed in a split second. Looks crazy I can tell you.

    Is that something sort of "get used to it, it works like that since xbmc 2001" and normal in the Kodi universe @ 2024? Or Kodi v21 is very new, contains too much experimental and untested stuff?

    • New

    Perhaps experiment with SMB client "chunk size" which is now configured/configurable in Kodi SMB client settings. The defaults were changed in Kodi 21 and your setup just might not like them. FWIW, no issues here between an RPi5 and a Synology NAS over Gb LAN using the defaults.

    • New
    Quote from soder10

    Is that something sort of "get used to it, it works like that since xbmc 2001" and normal in the Kodi universe @ 2024? Or Kodi v21 is very new, contains too much experimental and untested stuff?

    I have had nothing but issues after the upgrade to 12.x. The whole thing is unstable and freezing. Playback is always fine though. I consider starting from scratch with a clean install of 11.

    • New
    Quote from Stooovie

    Hi, LibreElec 12.0.1 on a Rpi4, Synology NAS connected via SMB using 1Gbps ethernet. Fine for years, but somewhere around the 12.0.1 update (I can't say with certainty it was caused by it though)

    You can always revert back to 12.0.0 and report if that works fine or has the issue.

    If it really is due to 12.0.1 then the number is changes to consider is very much smaller than if it is 11->12.

    • New
    Quote from popcornmix

    You can always revert back to 12.0.0 and report if that works fine or has the issue.

    I don't see 12.0 download, only 12.0.1 and nightlies. Can you link?

    EDIT: oh nvm, I got 12.0.0 through the LE Config util.

    Downgrading to 12.0.0 did not fix the issue, nor did adjusting SMB chunk size.

    Edited once, last by Stooovie: Merged a post created by Stooovie into this post. (October 1, 2024 at 12:47 PM).

    • New

    I know you have resolved this issue, but I'd just add that this type of issue has happened to me before and it has always been a DNS problem for me.

    In the past, I've added a DNS entry into the LibreELEC hosts file, this has worked but not always .. and when this didn't work I had to change my SMB share configuration in KODI to use the server IP address rather than the hostname.

    Cheers

    • New

    Update: not really resolved. The folder I'm accessing is NOT a library but a plain SMB folder (as in, it's a video source with None as a type of content as it's a hodgepodge of files and folders, not worthy or even possible of cleaning up and scraping).

    Entering Libraries such as Movies and Shows is quick. Entering a plain SMB folder is dog slow.

    Quote from D4rk-M4tt3r

    I know you have resolved this issue, but I'd just add that this type of issue has happened to me before and it has always been a DNS problem for me.

    In the past, I've added a DNS entry into the LibreELEC hosts file, this has worked but not always .. and when this didn't work I had to change my SMB share configuration in KODI to use the server IP address rather than the hostname.

    Cheers

    IPs are used, not hostnames. And both the Kodi Pi and the NAS do have static IPs reserved on the router.

    Edited 3 times, last by Stooovie: Merged a post created by Stooovie into this post. (October 1, 2024 at 5:02 PM).

    • New

    Might be useful to install LE 11.0.6 and absolutely confirm that does not have the issue.

    Just in case the issue is due to some change in the network or SMB server.

    • New

    Confirmed, it's a LE 12.x issue.

    Opening the SMB folder on LE 11.0.6: 1s

    Opening the same folder on LE 12.0.0 or 12.0.1: almost a minute

    Both totally clean installs.

    • New

    I can try tomorrow. Which one is it, KODI.log, System.log or something else? There's 10 different ones in the logs export. Also I've included logs in my first post. The issue happens when accessing smb://192.168.0.216:445/Public/Video/Pohadky.

    • New
    Quote from Stooovie

    Entering Libraries such as Movies and Shows is quick. Entering a plain SMB folder is dog slow.

    Hi, sure it's a SMB issue? If I understand correctly, when you enter into Movies or Shows is quick, for another folder is too slow. Maybe the LE 12 it's scanning that folder when entering into it, or trying to update the library... and this to lead to that delay?

    • New

    Is entering an empty folder as slow, or does it scale with number of files?

    Does it depend on the file type of files?

    Note that archives (e.g. zip/rar) can cause a massive slowdown, as kodi will open and decompress to file if they contain video/subs etc.