Minix Neo X5 - Playing 1080p over Ethernet

[OSULugan]

Anybody have experience with this?

I just got a WDLive NAS drive and put some .mkvs on it that I ripped from Blu-Rays (1080p quality). Using the internal home media center app, I'm able to stream the movies with minimal stuttering over Ethernet in full 1080p (I assume this is coming through the DLNA server provided by the WD NAS drive).

However, the interface is clunky and I'd prefer to use XBMC or something like it for more user friendliness to the wife/kids. XBMC's internal player chugs through even 720p video over the SMB connection (DVD rips play fine). It doesn't look like it wants to talk to the DLNA server, either. I got the XBMC XAF version which uses MXPlayer to play videos, but it doesn't work for SMB attachments. This leaves me with the choice of rooting the device (and voiding warranty) to try to mount the NAS location locally using CIFS which I've read still isn't the best, or getting a USB drive to hook up locally to try it out.

Is there a better format to use other than .MKV that might work better for the device? Is there a way to point XBMC XAF to use the DLNA connection and more importantly the video player that is included?

Thanks.

 

[markbeloved]

MKS is not a compressed format but a container format so changing from mkv wouldn't make a difference unless the stuttering is caused by handling the bigger file size. The NAS ethernet maybe just too slow.

Possible solutions

Try mp4 for much smaller file size. You will need the h.264 encoder.
Try defragging the NAS drives.
Replace the hard drives for faster ones.
Make your network faster with Gigabit 1000Mbps cards
Replace the NAS for faster.
Sell the Neo 5 for a faster Neo 8 H Plus

Try using VLC Player to stream.