Pass External player actual network path of files for Direct Play

[zaudio]

Fider: https://features.jellyfin.org/posts/2394...rk-routing

Files external to the Jellyfin server device itself have to be routed via the Server using it's mounted shares to be played. This occurs even for Direct play via an external player. This is unnecessary and degrades performance, particularly when playing high bit rate files (60mpbs + )

I have a Zidoo Z9x with the latest but one version Android TV client installed. It's set to use External player, that being the Zidoo Media Player.
My Jellyfin server runs on a NAS. I have a lot of storage on an external NAS to that also. Files played from that external storage on my Zidoo using Jellyfin stutter occasionally, and even disconnect, despite 'Direct playing'.
Playing the same files using the Zidoo media player from their actual network location is 100% fine and glitch free.
Higher bit rate UHD files suffer more degradation than lower bit rate files.
I've exhausted all performance upgrades I can make. There is no reason in my mind for Direct Play via an external player to route in this way, and it causes problems.
   

Please discuss/vote on this feature request. I would very much like to be able to use Jellyfin in my setup. I should not have to buy a lot of new hardware to build one large Jellyfin server to make this work.

Thanks
Simon

[Deleted User]

fwiw to overcome what you are referring to i have no trouble
- mounting storage to my server where docker is running
- then adding that mount point as a volume in the jellyfin docker (bind mount, not volume)

the result is jellyfin serves files from my external server without even knowing they are external and neither do the clients

the downside is turning off live library scanning and only doing scans manually when there is new content
- otherwise jellyfin will remove items in the case the external server or mount to internal server is not connected

and just to make things interesting i also sometimes use sshfs to mount from the external server to the internal one, jellyfin still doesnt care

[zaudio]

what hardware are you running JF server on? I feel I should not be limited there, but maybe the server needs more CPU and RAM than I can give it... which would be odd to just direct play a file from storage.
The other difference might be that I've currently limited to SMB1 (CIFS) to mount my external drives to my NAS... I have requested the manufacturer enter modern times and allow me to use SMB2/3 for that. But that aside, my feature request stands, as it resolves the problem, adds a useful feature, and make high bit rate media more playable in perhaps some lighter weight JF servers.

[Deleted User]

my home server is just a little mini pc
i7-9700T x8
CoffeeLake-S GT2 [UHD Graphics 630]
32GB DDR4
1x Samsung 980 Pro 2TB, 1x Samsung 970 Pro 500GB

not trying to deflect or detract your feature request, just a 'in the meantime'


edit:
32GB 'sounds like' a lot but right now, 1 client watching a 4K Remux there is 29688MB free so mostly it is unused

[zaudio]

Ya so a lot more hardware than I'm running mine on... docker on a Synology Ds220+ with maxed out ram of 6Gb... its a Intel Celeron 2 core j4025 2ghz processor in there.
I've given the container high CPU and 5Gb of ram max... no improvement over default container settings (which I think is medium CPU and 4GB of ram max)

[Deleted User]

if you truly think it is the cifs being the limit, perhaps give sshfs a go just for a comparison

use arcfour, on a lan there isn't much need for security and i think your operating systems will support it

of course, that entails - mount nas -> server, add a mount point to docker, add a generic library to that mount in jf

[zaudio]

Do you know of a Synology plugin that would add additional mount support? The protocol needs to be supported by both that an my external NAS (which might only support SMB2/3 to be honest). Synology currently only allows CIFS or NFS for mounted remote folders

[Deleted User]

i have actually never owned one so i am limited to what i can google

edit:

https://kb.synology.com/en-us/DSM/help/D...?version=7

[Deleted User]

i am typing too fast, trying to do too much so my apologies

once the sftp server is enabled on the serving nas it would be a matter of opening a shell into the jellyfin docker

apt update && apt install sshfs

sshfs user@hostpath/to/files mountpath

in the jellyfin control panel add a new library to that path

-

using -o Cipher=arcfour from my laptop on wireless to/from my home server for a single thread is roughly 30-35MB/s (~250Mbps)

[zaudio]

My 'External NAS' is just a Nvidia shield pro with a lot of external drives attached. It has great access via SMB to those drive. So I'd have to see if there was a playstore app to serve sftp there effectively. UPDATE: nothing I would trust putting on there, and also would be dubious of performance. So looks like a non starter here.
Would you expect SFTP to be faster than my CIFS mount then? I moved 120GB from one external drive to another external drive today, both at my Shield; but used my Synology's Filestation via those CIFS shares to do the file move, and it copied at 50 to 80 MBps pretty consistently... so that's like 400 to 640 Mbps.
When I watch via Jellyfin, 99% of the playback is just fine... so its delivering like 130mbps UHD... but I also consistent get those 1 to 2 second interruptions, and have had disconnects requiring me to restart movies sometimes also. Those off course not happening when not using Jellyfin. I did not get those interruptions watching a movie from a drive inside my Synology NAS... at least not yet.
I just wish I had the option to just play the file direct per this request... then this problem goes away.