Help needed with nasty streaming problem

Forums › Online streaming services › Help needed with nasty streaming problem - Pipo X7

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Awrrr
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#1289200 22-Apr-2015 12:15

ZollyMonsta:

I absolutely love your cat avatar. What a wonderful image.

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robjg63

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#1289244 22-Apr-2015 12:52

Rikkitic:
robjg63: Thats why it would be a good idea if you could take the internet issue out of the picture while trying to isolate the problem.
Either stream a video from a USB stick - test that the graphics etc are ok and that it runs smooth
And/Or try streaming over your internal network (off another PC) - makes sure there is no way your internet connection is causing issues.

You have suggested this before and it is a good idea. I just haven't got to it yet. Our computers at home are not networked. Because of the layout of our house and the way we use computers (no gaming) we have never seen the need. Now we do have some ethernet cabling to different parts of the house (wi-fi won't reach) so in principle we could do this. What I did do early on was just play a recorded video off a usb stick to make sure the internal graphics were working properly and that was fine.

If they are connected to the same router they are already on a network - whether that be connected to the router by cable or via wifi. I have one PC that is connected to the router via a cable and other devices around that house (on wifi) that can access a share on that PC. But this main PC could just as easily be connected via wifi.

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#1289293 22-Apr-2015 13:28

Ok, I get it. I am a little nervous about setting up a share for security reasons because I don't have experience with networks and don't know what I am doing (and I don't trust Windows 8.1 at all). How do I make sure it is confined to my local network? A problem might be that there is no direct link between the computers. Everything goes via the gateway device which also provides the RBI connection. As an aside, I cannot change settings on that device (not that I would want to try). I do not have a password for accessing it. I suppose I could disconnect the RBI aerial to block Internet access.

I wonder if this is really necessary, though. When the problems with the Pipo were so bad, I set it up next to my desktop computer and connected both through the same LAN switch. I then streamed the identical video through both computers simultaneously. The desktop worked perfectly. The Pipo stuttered and sputtered. Does this not prove that the problem does not lie with the Internet connection?

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richms

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#1289303 22-Apr-2015 13:42

Rikkitic:
I wonder if this is really necessary, though. When the problems with the Pipo were so bad, I set it up next to my desktop computer and connected both through the same LAN switch. I then streamed the identical video through both computers simultaneously. The desktop worked perfectly. The Pipo stuttered and sputtered. Does this not prove that the problem does not lie with the Internet connection?

No, as they could both be using totally different servers and protocols to play the content.

Your router will prevent incoming connections to your lan, and when you enable sharing you put a password on the share so that it is needed to access it anyway so randoms on your network wont be able to get into the share.

Richard rich.ms

robjg63

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#1289309 22-Apr-2015 13:47

Rikkitic: Ok, I get it. I am a little nervous about setting up a share for security reasons because I don't have experience with networks and don't know what I am doing (and I don't trust Windows 8.1 at all). How do I make sure it is confined to my local network? A problem might be that there is no direct link between the computers. Everything goes via the gateway device which also provides the RBI connection. As an aside, I cannot change settings on that device (not that I would want to try). I do not have a password for accessing it. I suppose I could disconnect the RBI aerial to block Internet access.

I wonder if this is really necessary, though. When the problems with the Pipo were so bad, I set it up next to my desktop computer and connected both through the same LAN switch. I then streamed the identical video through both computers simultaneously. The desktop worked perfectly. The Pipo stuttered and sputtered. Does this not prove that the problem does not lie with the Internet connection?

If you have connected 2 devices on a switch then thats about the fastest way you can get data between them.
If its stuttering then either the ethernet port or video rendering is at fault.
If the same file is copied to a USB stick and you play it back then:
1) If it plays ok from USB stick then its likely the ethernet port that has an issue
2) If the file still stutters on USB I would be thinking it would probably be the graphics.

Will it let you copy a file from a USB stick onto its own local disk?
If playback from there is still an issue then its defo the graphics (or CPU issue) at fault.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

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#1289514 22-Apr-2015 16:15

I really, really am becoming seriously fed up. Every time I see anything with the label ‘smart’ attached to it I want to start breaking stuff.

I went to do some more tests on the Pipo. First I changed the connection back to wi-fi, since both are equally available and it seems that wi-fi may be the better choice here. Then I started streaming Jools Holland from the BBC. It looks great. Sharp picture, no freezes or jumps. Oh wait, what has happened to the sound?

The Pipo has no separate audio outputs, except stereo headphones. Digital audio is through the HDMI. I have a Sony TV that can extract the audio and pass it out through the digital audio output, which goes to my home theatre amp. I have used this without problem for a year with my satellite receiver, which also has no separate digital output for audio.

The Pipo recognises the presence of the Sony for audio and has added an icon for that under the one for speakers. Last night it was all working fine. Today it says a cable is not connected to the Sony. Of course this is utter crap. Nothing has changed since yesterday so this is just some internal stupidity of the Pipo/Windows 8.1. I am getting very tired of this and I really wish Geekzone wouldn’t censor my language at this moment. I have a real need to utter some very naughty words.

I finally got it to work again by switching the HDMI cable to the satellite box and powering that up. Of course the audio was fine. I then unplugged the HDMI cable and plugged it back into the Pipo and the audio works again. Am I going to have to through this kind of stupid !@#$%@ every time I want to turn the bloody thing on?

This is part of the problem I am having because every time I try to focus on one thing something else seems to pop up to distract me. I was going to try some video tests but by the time I got the audio working again I wasn’t really in the mood any more. What I can say is that iplayer seemed to stream perfectly for the 20 minutes or so I let it run, which suggests that the Internet connection is okay, at least during the daytime. I will have to see how that goes tonight and beyond to say for sure. Now, does anyone have any idea how to fix the @#%@#$ audio problem?

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Rikkitic

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#1289814 22-Apr-2015 22:15

We just spent a long evening watching media streams. The Pipo seems to be working pretty good now, though still not perfect. I am using wi-fi. Video is reasonably smooth, though every now and then there is a very brief skip or freeze. Once only it paused a few seconds to buffer. It is far, far better than it was before. It can easily be viewed without irritation at the occasional hiccups. My feeling is this is about how it should work. I don’t expect perfect with our connection and this really isn’t bad. I also see it as confirmation that our connection is up to the job, if only barely.

Now I just have to figure out how to fix that stupid audio problem. If everything else stays like this it should be okay.

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CokemonZ

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#1290118 23-Apr-2015 12:50

Hi, I just saw this article on neowin.net.
Essentially it seems a lot of the PIPO units have terribly installed cooling, and therefore throttle.
http://www.neowin.net/news/our-review-of-the-pipo-x7-the-128-quad-core-windows-81-mini-pc

Have a look - this could be happening to yours.

Rikkitic

Awrrr
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#1290204 23-Apr-2015 15:03

Thanks for the tip. I have also seen a lot of comments to this effect. One of the first things I did was install a temperature monitor but if that is to be believed all four cores are running rather cool, usually as low as 20 degrees or less, sometimes up to about 30 max. At those temps I don't see how it could be overheating.

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Rikkitic

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#1290295 23-Apr-2015 16:56

What should have been a simple and straightforward process has turned into something of a nightmare. A quick review: I bought a Pipo X7 with Windows 8.1 to use as a streaming computer. When I tried it, video was very choppy and began freezing with long pauses between freezes.

The problem was complicated by two other issues: First, while I am familiar with Windows I have no prior experience of 8.1. This made it difficult to determine whether it was the computer or Windows causing trouble. I have a slow Internet connection and also didn’t know what effect that might be having. Eventually I was able to get the Pipo to stream fairly well after installing Windows updates, disabling unnecessary services, and turning off all automatic updates.

Unfortunately, I keep discovering new problems. The Pipo outputs audio via the HDMI connection. This is very weak and only seems to work on one channel, though the stereo earphones appear to work correctly. I tried connecting a media player with the same HDMI cable to the same input of the TV and I get full 5.1 Dolby Digital so I know that is working correctly. When I go through all the audio settings on the Pipo, I can find nothing to improve the sound. I have tried updating all the drivers but Windows keeps insisting they are all up to date. I don’t know what else to try.

There are other problems I haven’t solved yet with the audio installation and the usb drive but I am trying to focus for the moment on the HDMI audio problem. I know at least two other people who have been following this thread own Pipo X7s. Can anyone tell me anything about their audio connection through HDMI? Is there anything I am missing or anything else I might try? Device Manager says the audio device is Intel sst (wdm).

All of this has thoroughly stressed me out. I have been trying to get this working for days. Any help will be very much appreciated.

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ZollyMonsta

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#1290318 23-Apr-2015 18:13

My PIPO when connected to my Samsung TV via HDMI just shows up as Samsung Speakers in the volume bar. I did not notice any issues with audio over HDMI while testing, it just worked for me.

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richms

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#1290325 23-Apr-2015 18:27

I get sound on my Samsung but none on the garage vevo cheapie. At least the pipo doesn't keep popping up warnings about resolution on it like my old windows 7 laptop did.

Richard rich.ms

Rikkitic

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#1290400 23-Apr-2015 20:54

Thanks for the responses people. I am getting very discouraged about this. I have just had so many problems with this device that I can't make sense of. There is definitely something wrong with the audio but as with the streaming, I can't be sure if it is a hardware issue or not. I think it is but I can't prove it. All very depressing. I need to find a way to get more insight into this. Why do the earphones work ok but only one weak channel of audio comes out of the HDMI? There has to be a way to figure out where the problem is. I am going to sleep on it.

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Rikkitic

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#1292115 27-Apr-2015 10:27

I feel I ought to bring this thread to a conclusion for the benefit of anyone still following. My Pipo seems to have a fault that affects the audio, but I suppose that is just bad luck. I have contacted the supplier about it, but communication is difficult as I bought the unit in China. That was probably a mistake.

I don’t think I will try to exchange it. I wanted it for streaming video from specific sites. None of this is HD, which my Internet connection can’t handle anyway and there doesn’t seem to be anything missing from the audio component. Although I am only getting audio on one channel, it may be a blend from both channels because there are no apparent differences when the sound source moves from one side to the other. I also have a HD PVR 2 in the mix. This accepts external audio inputs and the stereo output from the Pipo is normal so I might try to use that at some point.

The audio issue is a disappointment, but comments and reviews I have read seem generally positive, and I don’t think the Pipo is a bad box. I had a lot of trouble getting it to work initially, but I think that was mainly due to the way Windows came pre-installed and my own lack of experience with 8.1.

If anyone does buy one of these, be aware that while the Pipo is essentially a mini-desktop, the software is intended for a tablet. This caused me a lot of headaches. This is a special version of Windows (‘with Bing’) and it is optimised for power saving, not performance. This is pointless with the Pipo since it relies on mouse and keyboard control and a TV for a monitor and has to be plugged in all the time anyway. To get it to perform acceptably, I had to dig out all the energy-saving features scattered through the OS and disable them. Downloading all the latest Windows and driver updates is also essential. I also disabled all non-essential services to improve performance, though I can’t be certain if that actually made a difference. Any setting regarding performance should be set to maximum. Since the OS is intended for touchscreens, which the Pipo lacks, it should also be set to boot into the desktop instead of the metro screen, which makes it a lot easier to use.

With all of this, the Pipo X7 does seem to perform acceptably. I just wish it had not taken me so much time and effort to get there. At least I know a little about Windows 8.1 now. I can’t wait to upgrade to 10.

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richms

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#1292177 27-Apr-2015 11:54

Is it a 4 pole socket on the pipo? Ive had issues in the past with putting a stereo 3.5mm in and it thinking it is a mono headset for some reason.

Richard rich.ms

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