Universal Media Server | Forum

Here is a quick rundown. On Windows 10 x64, running UMS without issues. Unfortunately I do not know what version I was using during this time.

Then I reinstall Windows 10 x64 and install the newest version of UMS (6.4.0.) After this, I started having playback issues where audio would sometimes cut in and out. Also, every now and then my player (Sony XBR-55X850B) would skip to the next video in the directory during the middle of playback. For the videos with audio issues, I restart the video and the stuttering and choppiness happens in the exact same place. I tried changing all kinds of settings such as max bandwidth, Max Transcode Buffer size, etc...

I decided to try version 5.5.0 of UMS. At first, did not see any change in playback. I wondered what would happen if I decrease the Max Transcode Buffer size. I set this to 10MB. To my surprise, playback improved, though still not perfect. I also noticed, that when Max Transcode Buffer was set to 10MB, that the bitrate was much higher. I decide to set Max Transcode Buffer to 50MB, and playback seems to be working without issues.

Since I did not have to change any transcode settings in my previous install, I decided to perform a clean install of UMS 5.3.1, wiping out all previous settings and using defaults. As of right now, I have not had any issues playing back videos.

I am not sure what is causing this bug, however I suspect something with Bandwidth throttling. The reason I say this, is that on 5.5.0 I selected Wired (100Mbps) during the configuration wizard, and if I lowered Max Transcode Buffer to 10, the bitrate would go above 100Mbps. I noticed similar behavior on 6.4.0. For both 5.5.0 and 6.4.0, when I selected Wired (100Mbps) during configuration wizard, Bitrate would not exceed 76, but if I lower Max Transcode Buffer to 10MB, then the Bitrate would peak at around 400Mbps. Now, my TV is connected with ethernet and the link is only at 100Mbps. I question if the bitrate being reported is accurate. I also think that UMS was flooding the TCP connection and packets were being dropped along the path causing the stuttuering...

I'm not sure, but these are the things that I noticed during my last 3 weeks of trying to resolve my issues when using the newer programs. It looks like I will keep the 5.3.1 installer backed up in case I ever decide to reinstall Windows again.

I was going to post a bug report, but I am not searching through 300+ open cases to see if this has already been reported. Unfortunately, I don't have logs as I have reinstalled several times and am currently on a working system. I also do not intend to reinstall just to be able to provide logs.

Without logs the Devs can't help, they need to be able to see what's happening with your instance of UMS.

Also for future reference you don't actually have to read through every single post to see if your issue has already been reported. Just create a post with logs and if it was already discussed someone will point you to the proper post.

It's not that they can't, but they won't. And I understand why. It is very difficult to diagnose something if you can't see what is happening.

If I was still experiencing issues, then I'd gladly reproduce the issues with logs. However, I don't see any features that I must have in the newer versions and I'm content with 5.3.1.

I mainly posted this so that others with similar issues will try to downgrade and see if it resolves their issues. Just a suggestion some can try if experiencing issues.