Channel Issues & Questions

[pensivenk]

RMP on my Roku 3 and TCL 65S403 (system v8.1 for both) crash the DLNA servers(mediatomb and dlink) the same way:
(1) after playing one video for about 30 min, it loses connection to the servers. I see the servers on the NAS are dead. Once I restart the NAS, RMP can work again for another 30 min.
(2) forwarding a few times also makes the servers crash right away.
(3) switching videos also crashes the servers right away.

My fire tv and xbox work very well with these servers. So I am totally confused. Any input is appreciated.

[atc98092]

I've tried MediaTomb, and wasn't impressed with it. I use RMP daily with my Serviio DLNA server without issue. The wife will use it for hours with no disconnects on our Insignia Roku TV. Unsure if there's a new version of RMP that might help your issue. You might try reaching out to RokuDale. He's responsible for RMP.

[pensivenk]

Thanks, atc98092.  Is Serviio hardware demanding? My NAS has 512M RAM and single-core 800M Hz CPU, and I do not even have Java installed.

[atc98092]

"pensivenk" wrote:
Thanks, atc98092.  Is Serviio hardware demanding? My NAS has 512M RAM and single-core 800M Hz CPU, and I do not even have Java installed.

I don't know if Java is required for operation on a NAS, or if it's only used for user interface stuff. But I do know that Java is required for a computer install, so it's possible there. However, Serviio NAS versions are created by 3rd parties, not the Serviio developer himself, and there aren't too many NAS versions available. As far as hardware, as long as your media doesn't require transcoding, I see very little CPU demand on my computer installations. Transcoding of course is a completely different situation, and your NAS probably doesn't have the power to do it well. 
.
Disclosure: I am not affiliated with Serviio, but I am a forum administrator. 

[Avid_Streamer]

I have had this same question for almost a year now!  All these same problems happen when I use RMP against my DLNA server running on my Netgear router against a USB NAS I have attached.  Fast-forwarding, after an MP4 has started playing, works about 50% of the time, but completely crashes the DLNA server the other 50% of the time.  Once it "crashes" i have confirmed it's unreachable from another Windows machine as well ... until presumably the router re-starts the DLNA server (I'm guessing) .... before it re-starts it doesn't even show up for a while in the RMP app or in Windows Explorer.

Is this a known issue or has it been fixed?  I have all the latest firmware updates and it keeps happening.  I'd be happy to generate a core dump if I could help with this analysis

@RokuDale  was mentioned as a possible SME regarding this?

[atc98092]

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@Avid_Streamer wrote:

I have had this same question for almost a year now!  All these same problems happen when I use RMP against my DLNA server running on my Netgear router against a USB NAS I have attached.  Fast-forwarding, after an MP4 has started playing, works about 50% of the time, but completely crashes the DLNA server the other 50% of the time.  Once it "crashes" i have confirmed it's unreachable from another Windows machine as well ... until presumably the router re-starts the DLNA server (I'm guessing) .... before it re-starts it doesn't even show up for a while in the RMP app or in Windows Explorer.

Is this a known issue or has it been fixed?  I have all the latest firmware updates and it keeps happening.  I'd be happy to generate a core dump if I could help with this analysis

@RokuDale  was mentioned as a possible SME regarding this?

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RokuDale has retired, so is no longer the SME for RMP. But this is the guess I have. When a DLNA server is running on a router, it has very little resources available so it has only so-so performance. My PC-based DLNA servers never break a sweat streaming to multiple devices, even when transcoding is necessary.

A router absolutely does not have the power to transcode. Unless your videos are completely Roku compliant, meaning container, video and audio codecs, then I can absolutely see them crashing attempting to stream. There's nothing Roku can do about that. They have a very specific and limited number of codecs supported, and even fewer containers. While it's convenient to use a router as the media source, it's really not a practical piece of hardware for it. 

I strongly suggest looking at a computer-based solution. It doesn't require a powerhouse PC, and it doesn't even have to be Windows. There are MacOS, Linux and NAS versions of DLNA servers available. And if you're only streaming to Roku devices, you might prefer using Plex or Emby, which have their own dedicated (and free) channels for Roku devices, so you don't even need to use RMP. 

But if you want to continue using RMP and try a DLNA server, both Plex and Emby also support DLNA, and Serviio is an excellent standalone DLNA server.

Disclaimer: I wrote the Roku profiles for Serviio (but not an employee), so I know quite well how they work.