I hope this thread qualifies as a Mac HTPC topic... if not, it's cool to dump it Further...

So, as I've said previously, I am kind of between a rock and a hard place trying to get HD video (Comcast doesn't have it here, wife doesn't want a dish on the house, no OTA here either), and thought with the opening of on-line ABC & NBC shows, I would be finally there. Not to be, so far.

Equipment:
Mac mini (early 2006 - 1.66GHz, 2GB RAM) connected via DVI->HDMI to a Sony 52" XBR5 LCD, and connected via Airport Extreme-n Gigabit (by the mini) to a Quicksilver Dual 1GHz connected to a Airport Express-n (for storage).

HTPC info:
DVDs:
-great DVD & ripped DVD video/audio (as long as the rips are on the mini's HD)
-jerky playback if watching rips on the Quicksilver. This DOES NOT occur if I 1) directly connect the Quicksilver via ethernet to the Airport Extreme -n gigabit. or 2) connect the Quicksilver to the Airport Extreme -n Gigabit and connect the mini to an Airport Extreme -n (non-gigabit) and use Airport.
Very strange...:confused::confused::confused: Any idea why this occurs would be much appreciated. This is a bit of a repeat, but I have now tried every connection possible, and the only way it works is as above.

On-Line content:
-jerky play of ABC's on-line HD content (specifically Grey's Anatomy) at full-screen, good playback in small-screen window.
-OK playback of NBC's on-line content, but HD isn't.
-perfect full-screen playback of both ABC & NBC on-line content if I replace the mini with my MacBookPro 2.33GHz.
So, armed with that info, and also info from another poster who has been able to stream Grey's Anatomy using his 2GHz mini, I did my stupid best to "fix" this. Namely, I changed my mini's stock 80GB 5400RPM HD to a 320GB 7200RPM (Hitachi) drive, and I replaced the 1.66GHz CPU with a 2.33 GHz CPU (T7600). After much testing, I am quite confident that the new HD and the T7600 are working as intended... the mini is much faster in doing the "/sbin/fsck -fy" start up testing procedure, the "Repair Permissions" procedure, and just about anything else I throw at it.
What it doesn't do, however, is play on-line HD content (again, specifically ABC's Grey's Anatomy in HD at full-screen) correctly. Which of course means I've blown some dollars making a super-mini that still doesn't do what I need.
Again, any suggestions would be much appreciated.* I still do not understand why another person's mini would not have this specific problem.

*actually, I realize how idiotic it was for me to do the upgrade with no assurance that was the problem... a major failing as I grow older.. so I don't need any suggestions like swift kicks in my rear.

Sorry can't help.

My 2006 Core Duo 1.83GHz/2GB/Leopard mini has no problems streaming the ABC player at full screen (61" Samsung DLP). Does your replacement hard drive cause any heat or noise problems?

If your problem has something to do with 1) your home network, i.e. how you've configured your Extreme and Express, or 2) the ancient GMA950, or 3) that the connection speed you're getting from Comcast isn't reliably fast enough, then upgrading the hard drive and CPU won't overcome that.

This isn't a help to you, I realize, but I just tried ABC's on-line HD player, specifically Grey's Anatomy, at full-screen, and it played just fine on my 2007 2.0 C2D Macbook with Leopard, 4GB RAM and a 320GB 7200RPM WD Scorpio Black. Comcast is pretty good in my area with respect to download speed, we always get the highest Netflix instant streaming quality indication as well.

another poster who has been able to stream Grey's Anatomy using his 2GHz mini

I still do not understand why another person's mini would not have this specific problem.

does this poster live in your area, have the same home network hardware and use Comcast as well?

Sorry can't help.

My 2006 Core Duo 1.83GHz/2GB/Leopard mini has no problems streaming the ABC player at full screen (61" Samsung DLP). Does your replacement hard drive cause any heat or noise problems?

Hmmm, I'm beginning to think that Apple changed something with the mini's video in the update from the early 2006 to the late 2006 mini....

As for noise, no problems. I also followed other folks at THIS THREAD (http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/mac_mini_core_2_duo_swaps.html) suggestion to use SMC's fan control and upped the minimum fan speed to 2500 RPM. I do not notice any more noise, and the CPU heat stays around 55°C when doing video, and about 40°C at idle. I'm not doing any really intensive work (like rendering) with my mini, though so I don't know if there'd be heat problems.

ABC's HD player is atrocious on the Mac, and also highly dependent upon your Internet connection. I watch Lost on it, and have about a 50% success rate. This is on my Mac Pro (4 cores/8GB memory) so it's not a performance issue. I don't have this connected to an HDTV, I just use my 30" ACD.

I've tried running the ABC player on my mini that is connected to my HDTV, and it's a no go. Like your original model, mine is a core duo2 1.66 maxed with 2GB of memory. I haven't tried streaming the standard def shows, as I'd rather rent it from iTunes in HD then suffer through SD.

ABC's plug-in for their shows sucks. I can not play anything full screen on a 1080p display with their latest plug-in. An older version worked beautifully however. SD or HD material stutters at full screen 1080p. Play it in a window or on a smaller display and it's perfect. This is with multiple C2D MacBooks and a C2D mini. Also, I know it's not a matter of bandwidth. Their buffer indicator is maxed out and it still stutters badly.

If your problem has something to do with 1) your home network, i.e. how you've configured your Extreme and Express, or 2) the ancient GMA950, or 3) that the connection speed you're getting from Comcast isn't reliably fast enough, then upgrading the hard drive and CPU won't overcome that.

This isn't a help to you, I realize, but I just tried ABC's on-line HD player, specifically Grey's Anatomy, at full-screen, and it played just fine on my 2007 2.0 C2D Macbook with Leopard, 4GB RAM and a 320GB 7200RPM WD Scorpio Black. Comcast is pretty good in my area with respect to download speed, we always get the highest Netflix instant streaming quality indication as well.

does this poster live in your area, have the same home network hardware and use Comcast as well?

Hi. I actually have two completely separate (I believe, anyway) problems.

1) Jerky audio/video streaming ABC's on-line HD content and going to full-screen on my 52" XBR5.

I have no problem with the content using small-screen, or on my MacBookPro's screen.

I use ATTYahoo DSL, not Comcast, for my broadband. I get perfect HD streaming with my C2D MacBookPro connected with the same cabling/Safari/10.5.6 as I use with the mini, so I'm pretty sure it's the mini causing the ABC streaming problem.

With feedback from folks that their 1.83 GHz mini has no problems, I'm beginning to think there's an important difference (other than the CPU) between the early 2006 mini vrs later models. Unfortunately, I don't know anybody who owns a later model mini that I could borrow to test this theory, so the only other thing to do would be to actually purchase a new mini in the hope that the problem would be resolved... considering what I've spent so far (:o:o:(), I don't think that is a viable choice.

2) Jerky audio/video of ripped DVD's:
If I connect my Dual 1GHz Quicksilver to my Airport network with any Airport device (Airport Extreme 802.11n, Airport Express 802.11n, Airport Express 802.11g, or Airport Extreme 802.11g) other than an Airport Extreme 802.11n Gigabit the playback is jerky. If the Airport Extreme 802.11n Gigabit is at the other end of the Airport network (e.g., at the mini), playback is jerky. I also get good playback if I directly connect ethernet cabling from the Dual 1GHz Quicksilver to any Airport Extreme device (802.11g, 802.11n, or 802.11n Gigabit) which is also directly connected via ethernet cabling to the mini. This is extremely puzzling to me, as it indicates the slow-down is somewhere between the Dual 1GHz Quicksilver's HD and its Airport Extreme/Express connection, not in the Airport Network itself.

Diagrammatically:

Good Playback:

A. Ripped DVDs on Dual 1GHz Quicksilver's HDs -> ethernet OUT -> Airport Extreme 802.11n Gigabit -> 802.11n Airport Network -> Airport Extreme 802.11n (not gigabit) -> ethernet IN -> Mac mini.

B. Ripped DVDs on Dual 1GHz Quicksilver's HDs -> ethernet OUT -> Airport Extreme (-g, -n, -n Gigabit) -> ethernet IN -> Mac mini (this is not using an Airport network).

Jerky Playback:

Ripped DVDs on Dual 1GHz Quicksilver's HDs -> ethernet OUT -> Airport Extreme 802.11g or Airport Extreme 802.11n (not gigabit) or Airport Express 802.11n -> 802.11n (and/or g) Airport Network -> Airport Extreme 802.11n Gigabit -> ethernet IN -> Mac mini.

So far, for this problem, my solutions appear to be:

a) directly connect ethernet cabling - no go with my wife.
b) use my Airport Extreme 802.11n (not gigabit) for my Airport Network base station and my Airport Extreme 802.11n Gigabit as the Quicksilver's Airport device. Probably what will happen, but I'd sure like to know why the jerkiness occurs.
c) buy a 2nd Airport Extreme 802.11n Gigabit and sell my Airport Extreme 802.11n (not gigabit) and my Airport Express 802.11n

ABC's HD player is atrocious on the Mac, and also highly dependent upon your Internet connection. I watch Lost on it, and have about a 50% success rate. This is on my Mac Pro (4 cores/8GB memory) so it's not a performance issue. I don't have this connected to an HDTV, I just use my 30" ACD.

I've tried running the ABC player on my mini that is connected to my HDTV, and it's a no go. Like your original model, mine is a core duo2 1.66 maxed with 2GB of memory. I haven't tried streaming the standard def shows, as I'd rather rent it from iTunes in HD then suffer through SD.

ABC's plug-in for their shows sucks. I can not play anything full screen on a 1080p display with their latest plug-in. An older version worked beautifully however. SD or HD material stutters at full screen 1080p. Play it in a window or on a smaller display and it's perfect. This is with multiple C2D MacBooks and a C2D mini. Also, I know it's not a matter of bandwidth. Their buffer indicator is maxed out and it still stutters badly.

Yeah, I am getting that idea too. The only show we watch on ABC is Grey's Anatomy (I know, sorry). Our Comcast Cable TV connection is so crappy (no Clear QAM, no HD) I was hoping to use the on-line stuff. Seems ABC has decided to discourage folks who can connect to their big-screens with computers, making on-line stuff mainly for folks on the go.:(

With feedback from folks that their 1.83 GHz mini has no problems, I'm beginning to think there's an important difference (other than the CPU) between the early 2006 mini vrs later models.
Sorry to hear that you're still struggling with Grey's Anatomy. I know firsthand it can be difficult dealing with a low WAF. I feel your pain :eek:

But I'm having success with the ABC plugin and my mini, which is an early 2006 model (the 1.66 core duo - same as yours I believe) with a 2.0 C2D & 2MB RAM upgrade. (I'm still using the stock HDD.) I'm also using ATT DSL. So I'm thinking your playback problem lies within the home network.

That said, I don't think you've spent unwisely - I was getting real tired of having to close all other apps on the 1.66 mini before I wanted to watch somehting in HD (I'm running mythfrontend) - that was a big hit on the WAF. With the CPU/RAM upgrade, I can leave all my other apps (firefox/itunes/dvdplayer/etc) open and not have to worry. Plus, if your hard drive fails, you've now got a ready spare - something I still need to procure.

I also get good playback if I directly connect ethernet cabling from the Dual 1GHz Quicksilver to any Airport Extreme device (802.11g, 802.11n, or 802.11n Gigabit) which is also directly connected via ethernet cabling to the mini.
I.e. a direct wired connection with the airport device acting as a hub? Makes sense. I know running cables across the carpet is a non-starter. However, with the help of a friend, I wired up a few drops in my home by running the cable through the attic. You need a long drill bit for drilling through the wall headers, and a special tool for crimping the connectors.

Finally, it wasn't completely clear if the bad playback occurred only when you were using the mini's wireless antenna. In my limited experience, that antenna is horrible. You've no doubt seen it first hand during your upgrade process.

On one of my macs that does not have wireless, I'm currently using an inexpensive DD-WRT compatible wireless router (a linksys wrt54g) in "client bridge" mode as a wireless bridge. With that connected to an 802.11g network, I get smooth playback of my myth HD content (network HD shows recorded from cable). So if you don't want to spend the money on more airport hardware, that could be an option.

But I'm having success with the ABC plugin and my mini, which is an early 2006 model (the 1.66 core duo - same as yours I believe) with a 2.0 C2D & 2MB RAM upgrade. (I'm still using the stock HDD.)

What is your display? It works fine on my mini until I display fullscreen at 1080p. Then it starts to drop almost a second worth of video every few seconds.

Sorry to hear that you're still struggling with Grey's Anatomy. I know firsthand it can be difficult dealing with a low WAF. I feel your pain :eek:

But I'm having success with the ABC plugin and my mini, which is an early 2006 model (the 1.66 core duo - same as yours I believe) with a 2.0 C2D & 2MB RAM upgrade. (I'm still using the stock HDD.) I'm also using ATT DSL. So I'm thinking your playback problem lies within the home network.

That said, I don't think you've spent unwisely - I was getting real tired of having to close all other apps on the 1.66 mini before I wanted to watch somehting in HD (I'm running mythfrontend) - that was a big hit on the WAF. With the CPU/RAM upgrade, I can leave all my other apps (firefox/itunes/dvdplayer/etc) open and not have to worry. Plus, if your hard drive fails, you've now got a ready spare - something I still need to procure.


I.e. a direct wired connection with the airport device acting as a hub? Makes sense. I know running cables across the carpet is a non-starter. However, with the help of a friend, I wired up a few drops in my home by running the cable through the attic. You need a long drill bit for drilling through the wall headers, and a special tool for crimping the connectors.

Finally, it wasn't completely clear if the bad playback occurred only when you were using the mini's wireless antenna. In my limited experience, that antenna is horrible. You've no doubt seen it first hand during your upgrade process.

On one of my macs that does not have wireless, I'm currently using an inexpensive DD-WRT compatible wireless router (a linksys wrt54g) in "client bridge" mode as a wireless bridge. With that connected to an 802.11g network, I get smooth playback of my myth HD content (network HD shows recorded from cable). So if you don't want to spend the money on more airport hardware, that could be an option.

Hi Scram!
For on-line stuff and/or interacting with other computers in my local network, the mini is ethernet-cabled to an output on the 802.11n Airport Extreme, the mini's Airport is OFF. According to Speakeasy, I'm getting 5099 KBPS download speed. I still cannot get why ABC on-line works fine with my MacBookPro and not the newly upgraded mini... Heck, I still cannot get why you aren't having a problem...

As for playing rips stored on my Quicksilver, I'm using Front Row on the mini right now to watch Star Trek Nemesis and it's in perfect audio/video. I just switched my Airport Extremes (802.11n/5GHz) again so the gigabit is in with the Quicksilver and the non-gigabit is out with the mini. It was definitely jerky audio/video playing rips with the extremes the other way around.

What is your display? It works fine on my mini until I display fullscreen at 1080p. Then it starts to drop almost a second worth of video every few seconds.

Actually, mine starts dropping at 540 or so (adjustable in the lower-left of the ABC screen) in fullscreen.

What is your display? It works fine on my mini until I display fullscreen at 1080p. Then it starts to drop almost a second worth of video every few seconds.
My tv is 720p (my couch is more than 6' away). However, this article (http://www.macworld.com/article/60046/2007/09/now_stream.html) in macworld describes the HD engine underlying ABC's streaming plugin as only being capable of 1280x720 fullscreen anyway.

Hi Scram!
For on-line stuff and/or interacting with other computers in my local network, the mini is ethernet-cabled to an output on the 802.11n Airport Extreme, the mini's Airport is OFF. According to Speakeasy, I'm getting 5099 KBPS download speed. I still cannot get why ABC on-line works fine with my MacBookPro and not the newly upgraded mini...
OK, thanks for clearing that up. Next thing to check is Activity Monitor for both the MBP and the Mini while streaming HD from ABC. Assuming there is a difference in playback quality between the two machines, there should be a difference in what Activity monitor reports. Is there?

My tv is 720p (my couch is more than 6' away). However, this article (http://www.macworld.com/article/60046/2007/09/now_stream.html) in macworld describes the HD engine underlying ABC's streaming plugin as only being capable of 1280x720 fullscreen anyway.

The stream is in 720p because that's what ABC broadcasts. However, the OS can still upscale the image to fill a 1080p screen. The annoying thing is that it worked flawlessly on 1080p when they first came out with their HD streams over a year ago (when the Macworld article was written). Now, since they have a newer version of the Move plugin, full screen chokes no matter the content, HD or SD. It's a flaw in their plugin, not a limitation of it being a 720p stream.

Actually, it being a 720p stream would play with less overhead on a 1080p display than a 1080p stream would. So, it shouldn't be having a problem at all.

OK, thanks for clearing that up. Next thing to check is Activity Monitor for both the MBP and the Mini while streaming HD from ABC. Assuming there is a difference in playback quality between the two machines, there should be a difference in what Activity monitor reports. Is there?

I still :o don't know how to play the ABC shows at fullscreen AND see Activity Monitor (or any other program, actually).

The stream is in 720p because that's what ABC broadcasts. However, the OS can still upscale the image to fill a 1080p screen. The annoying thing is that it worked flawlessly on 1080p when they first came out with their HD streams over a year ago (when the Macworld article was written). Now, since they have a newer version of the Move plugin, full screen chokes no matter the content, HD or SD. It's a flaw in their plugin, not a limitation of it being a 720p stream.

Actually, it being a 720p stream would play with less overhead on a 1080p display than a 1080p stream would. So, it shouldn't be having a problem at all.

It may be the video module in the mini. It must not be capable of upscaling to 1080p with the ABC feed but it is capable of sending the 720p to scram's TV??? Remember, my MacBookPro 2.33GHz plays it with no problems using the same cabling and 52" 1080p TV, and it can do it with the MBP using Airport, not wire-connected to the DSL like the mini is.

It's capable. I watch 1080p material on it a lot, stuff that is much more demanding than ABC's stream. It's the plug-in. To be frank, it sucks. It shouldn't require a high end computer to be able to play a 720p stream at full screen on a 1080p display.

It's capable. I watch 1080p material on it a lot, stuff that is much more demanding than ABC's stream. It's the plug-in. To be frank, it sucks. It shouldn't require a high end computer to be able to play a 720p stream at full screen on a 1080p display.

I hear you... they even are now saying they have a newer player, but I couldn't get it to work.
The thing is, if it were just that, then my MBP shouldn't work with it either...:confused:

I still :o don't know how to play the ABC shows at fullscreen AND see Activity Monitor (or any other program, actually).
Good point. Sorry.
What you want to do is ssh in from your MBP. Make sure remote login is enabled in sys prefs on your mini. Then, open terminal or X11 on your MBP and type:
ssh -l <valid admin account name on the mini> <ip address of the mini> e.g. ssh -l grubavs 192.168.1.2 Answer yes to any question about RSA encrypton, and enter your password. Then, at the prompt, type "top" to get a running update of the processes and their cpu usage. You may need to make the terminal/X11 window bigger.

So, I just tried a little experiment. I have a 22" LCD connected to my mac desktop. The display resolution is set to 1680x1050. The desktop runs OS X 10.5 and has a dual core 1.6 GHz intel processor, and integrated intel graphics (GMA950). I tried "Grey's Anatomy" via abc.com full screen, and it was pretty jerky. CPU usage for firefox was 160-180%.

Then, on the same desktop, I played back Grey's Anatomy recorded from ABC HD (cable) using mythfrontend. Playback looks great. mythfrontend CPU usage is about 50%.

Finally, to test jason75's theory, I set the display resolution to 1280x720. Playback was not perfect, but not as bad as 1680x1050. So Jason75 has a point. CPU usage was still 160-180%, however.
Anyway, you might want to try dropping your display resolution from the mini out to your Sony and give that a try. I know, doesn't explain why the MBP works, but it's worth a try. And the difference in displays seems to explain why our comparable mini's yield different results.

I still :o don't know how to play the ABC shows at fullscreen AND see Activity Monitor (or any other program, actually).

If you have another computer, you can use ssh to connect to the mini, and run top. It's a commandline utility that will show you various performance metrics. Activity Monitor is just a fancy GUI version of top.

Gah... Scram beat me to it by 1 min...

I hear you... they even are now saying they have a newer player, but I couldn't get it to work.
The thing is, if it were just that, then my MBP shouldn't work with it either...:confused:

The MBP is a much better computer with a dramatically better GPU. What I was saying is that their plugin is horribly designed in that it takes a MBP to play it decently when everyone else's plugins, etc work fine on a mini.

Good point. Sorry.
What you want to do is ssh in from your MBP. Make sure remote login is enabled in sys prefs on your mini. Then, open terminal or X11 on your MBP and type:
ssh -l <valid admin account name on the mini> <ip address of the mini> e.g. ssh -l grubavs 192.168.1.2 Answer yes to any question about RSA encrypton, and enter your password. Then, at the prompt, type "top" to get a running update of the processes and their cpu usage. You may need to make the terminal/X11 window bigger.

So, I just tried a little experiment. I have a 22" LCD connected to my mac desktop. The display resolution is set to 1680x1050. The desktop runs OS X 10.5 and has a dual core 1.6 GHz intel processor, and integrated intel graphics (GMA950). I tried "Grey's Anatomy" via abc.com full screen, and it was pretty jerky. CPU usage for firefox was 160-180%.

Then, on the same desktop, I played back Grey's Anatomy recorded from ABC HD (cable) using mythfrontend. Playback looks great. mythfrontend CPU usage is about 50%.

Finally, to test jason75's theory, I set the display resolution to 1280x720. Playback was not perfect, but not as bad as 1680x1050. So Jason75 has a point. CPU usage was still 160-180%, however.
Anyway, you might want to try dropping your display resolution from the mini out to your Sony and give that a try. I know, doesn't explain why the MBP works, but it's worth a try. And the difference in displays seems to explain why our comparable mini's yield different results.

So, I'm doing it now: max CPU usage for Safari is ~125%. The jerkiness seems to coincide with the CUP usage going above 100%.

OK: a little testing reveals that any resolution above 1280x1024 results in jerkiness. Selecting 1280x1024 gives me about a 42" screen equivalent when running fullscreen. I cannot get it to "stretch" to fill the 52" screen. 1024x768 and the Sony automatically fills the screen, so I will use that. The picture is still so much better than anything I can get from Comcast! It's certainly DVD-equivalent. CPU Usage is always above 100% and usually above 130% for Safari while show is running fullscreen. Interestingly enough, the CPU temps go through the roof >70°C so I upped the fan speed to 3500RPM and that seems to keep the temp down to 60°C or so...

Thanks!


just added: hmm, sometimes the Sony gets the picture spread to 52", sometimes it's 37" (I measured it):confused:

grubavs - glad you have a workable solution for now. Having to change resolutions is not ideal, but I think we've diagnosed the issue.

There is a "feedback" button on ABC's website, but as far as I can tell, it is only visible the first time you use their player on any given machine (i.e. when you see the screen with all the legal mumbo jumbo and the "I accept" button). I went ahead and left them a short message about the poor performance of their player in full screen mode.

BTW- have you tried Hulu HD on your mini? With the 1.66 my playback was a little rough, but it is very nice since the upgrade.

grubavs - glad you have a workable solution for now. Having to change resolutions is not ideal, but I think we've diagnosed the issue.

There is a "feedback" button on ABC's website, but as far as I can tell, it is only visible the first time you use their player on any given machine (i.e. when you see the screen with all the legal mumbo jumbo and the "I accept" button). I went ahead and left them a short message about the poor performance of their player in full screen mode.

BTW- have you tried Hulu HD on your mini? With the 1.66 my playback was a little rough, but it is very nice since the upgrade.

Yeah, we watched Heroes last night on Hulu... pretty cool!

One of the big downsides of changing the resolution is when the show goes to an ad, the screen drops back to small (not fullscreen... I'm not sure what to call it when it's the smaller of two choices) and there isn't any way to get to the fullscreen button (it's off the screen). I'm still playing with it, though.

Hi. I actually have two completely separate (I believe, anyway) problems.

1) Jerky audio/video streaming ABC's on-line HD content and going to full-screen on my 52" XBR5.

I have no problem with the content using small-screen, or on my MacBookPro's screen.

I use ATTYahoo DSL, not Comcast, for my broadband. I get perfect HD streaming with my C2D MacBookPro connected with the same cabling/Safari/10.5.6 as I use with the mini, so I'm pretty sure it's the mini causing the ABC streaming problem.

With feedback from folks that their 1.83 GHz mini has no problems, I'm beginning to think there's an important difference (other than the CPU) between the early 2006 mini vrs later models. Unfortunately, I don't know anybody who owns a later model mini that I could borrow to test this theory, so the only other thing to do would be to actually purchase a new mini in the hope that the problem would be resolved... considering what I've spent so far (:o:o:(), I don't think that is a viable choice.

2) Jerky audio/video of ripped DVD's:
If I connect my Dual 1GHz Quicksilver to my Airport network with any Airport device (Airport Extreme 802.11n, Airport Express 802.11n, Airport Express 802.11g, or Airport Extreme 802.11g) other than an Airport Extreme 802.11n Gigabit the playback is jerky. If the Airport Extreme 802.11n Gigabit is at the other end of the Airport network (e.g., at the mini), playback is jerky. I also get good playback if I directly connect ethernet cabling from the Dual 1GHz Quicksilver to any Airport Extreme device (802.11g, 802.11n, or 802.11n Gigabit) which is also directly connected via ethernet cabling to the mini. This is extremely puzzling to me, as it indicates the slow-down is somewhere between the Dual 1GHz Quicksilver's HD and its Airport Extreme/Express connection, not in the Airport Network itself.

Diagrammatically:

Good Playback:

A. Ripped DVDs on Dual 1GHz Quicksilver's HDs -> ethernet OUT -> Airport Extreme 802.11n Gigabit -> 802.11n Airport Network -> Airport Extreme 802.11n (not gigabit) -> ethernet IN -> Mac mini.

B. Ripped DVDs on Dual 1GHz Quicksilver's HDs -> ethernet OUT -> Airport Extreme (-g, -n, -n Gigabit) -> ethernet IN -> Mac mini (this is not using an Airport network).

Jerky Playback:

Ripped DVDs on Dual 1GHz Quicksilver's HDs -> ethernet OUT -> Airport Extreme 802.11g or Airport Extreme 802.11n (not gigabit) or Airport Express 802.11n -> 802.11n (and/or g) Airport Network -> Airport Extreme 802.11n Gigabit -> ethernet IN -> Mac mini.

So far, for this problem, my solutions appear to be:

a) directly connect ethernet cabling - no go with my wife.
b) use my Airport Extreme 802.11n (not gigabit) for my Airport Network base station and my Airport Extreme 802.11n Gigabit as the Quicksilver's Airport device. Probably what will happen, but I'd sure like to know why the jerkiness occurs.
c) buy a 2nd Airport Extreme 802.11n Gigabit and sell my Airport Extreme 802.11n (not gigabit) and my Airport Express 802.11n

Ideal resolution should be 1360x768. See if that works. Otherwise your image will be stretched. Next best is 1280x768.

Ideal resolution should be 1360x768. See if that works. Otherwise your image will be stretched. Next best is 1280x768.

Yep, tried them both (almost). My choices in Display Preferences are:

1024x576 = very good video, fullscreen 16x9 picture,
1024x768 = beautiful video, but 37"-diagonal 16x9 picture with no way to expand to fullscreen
1280x1024 = beautiful video, but 37"-diagonal 16x9 picture with no way to expand to fullscreen
1344x756 = jerky video, skipping and out-of-sync audio
1600x900 = jerky video, skipping and out-of-sync audio
1920x1080i = jerky video, skipping and out-of-sync audio

So I'm probably going to use 1280x1024 unless my wife insists upon fullscreen, then we'll use 1024x576.


BTW: new problem. Prior to trying to find a workable resolution, I'm fairly sure I had 1920x1080p as a choice... I no longer have it. However, if I select the 1920x1080i choice, the Sony XBR5 indicates it's receiving 1920x1080p
:confused::confused::confused: