Videos stop loading?

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Videos stop loading?

I have satellite internet connection (Wild Blue) and have been able to load videos fairly quickly with no problems at all, until a few months ago. Since then, the videos have been starting to load well, but approx. halfway through they will stop loading. The progress bar will fill out quickly, making me think the video is all the way loaded, but when we get to that point in the video, it will stop playing and never pick back up. Is this a memory problem, or an internet connection problem, or something else? I have tried many videos from different sources including youtube and vimeo, and it happens both in lengthy and shorter videos, at random times. I have tried Safari and Firefox internet browsers. A couple of years ago, when we first got the satellite internet, we had trouble with both online video and audio. We thought it was a memory problem, but it ended up being a configuration problem with our satellite connection. Any advice or thoughts on this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

PowerMac6,4, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 512 MB DDR SDRAM

Posted on Mar 14, 2011 6:25 PM

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Answer 1

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BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Mar 14, 2011 7:18 PM in response to Honoria

Hi Honoria, and a warm welcome to the forums! 🙂

Very Important, how much Free Space is on your Hard Drive first of all? Click on the Macintosh HD on the Desktop, then do a Get Info on it.

Try putting these numbers in Network>TCP/IP>DNS Servers, for the Interface you connect with...

208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

Then Apply

DNS Servers are a bit like Phone books where you look up a name and it gives you the phone number, in our case, you put in apple.com and it comes back with 17.149.160.49 behind the scenes. 🙂

These Servers have been patched to guard against DNS poisoning, and are faster/more reliable than most ISP's DNS Servers.

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Answer 2

Honoria Author

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Mar 15, 2011 12:34 PM in response to BDAqua

Here's my free space info:

Capacity: 74.41 GB
Available: 31.43 GB
Used: 42.97 GB on disk
(46,139,277,312 bytes)

I followed the steps you suggested and put those numbers in Network.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Mar 15, 2011 12:51 PM in response to Honoria

Good free space.

Are those numbers entered for the Interface you're using? Is it Airport, Ethernet, or other?

No change yet?

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Answer 4

Honoria Author

Level 1

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Mar 15, 2011 1:29 PM in response to BDAqua

I'm not exactly sure if they are entered for the interface. Please forgive me-I'm computer slow! Here's what I did. I clicked system preferences and then network. Built-in ethernet is what I'm using so I clicked on that, then on the TCP/IP tab. Then I entered those numbers in the DNS servers space and clicked Apply. It says the built-in ethernet has the IP address 75.XXX.126.XXX.

I am loading a video now and all seems to be going well. But because sometimes it works fine and other times it doesn't, I'm not really sure yet.

Thanks so much for your help.

< Edited by Host >

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Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Mar 15, 2011 1:30 PM in response to Honoria

Built-in ethernet is what I'm using so I clicked on that, then on the TCP/IP tab. Then I entered those numbers in the DNS servers space and clicked Apply

Good work, you did it correct then, we'll have to wait & see if it helps or not I guess. 🙂

EDIT: Asked that your IP be edited out, since it's the outside one the whole world can see that you have with Wildblue Communications, Inc. 😉

Message was edited by: BDAqua

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Answer 6

Honoria Author

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Mar 15, 2011 1:45 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks for having my IP edited. I will keep you posted on whether or not it helps.

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Answer 7

Honoria Author

Level 1

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Mar 15, 2011 4:30 PM in response to BDAqua

Hi there,
It looks like my problem is not solved. In the process of downloading a 25 minute video, the loading stopped at only 3 minutes and 51 seconds. The progress bar filled out, but the video would not play beyond that point. When I opened Window>Activity, the Activity box said POSIX error: Connection reset by peer. I vaguely remember that message displaying a couple of years ago when we had a problem similar to this, and a very kind Apple technician worked with me for weeks to figure it out. Unfortunately I can't remember what we ended up doing to fix it.

BDAqua, I really appreciate all your help. I understand that you may not have time to help me figure this out but I hope that you or someone else who knows what they're doing might have some more ideas.

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Answer 8

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Mar 15, 2011 4:58 PM in response to Honoria

Hopefully we can get some brighter heads in here! 🙂

What kind of connection/ISP do you have?

Have you tried it in Firefox?

Any other apps/computers using your connection?

Some things that cause Connection reset by peer are...

Some device getting your IP or resetting yours.

Too many errors in downloading, open Network Utility>Info tab,choose the Interface you're using, check for errors/collisions.

Too many open connections of files.

Airport interference or dropping out.

Flaky Modem/Router, what brand & models are they?

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Answer 9

Honoria Author

Level 1

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Mar 15, 2011 5:42 PM in response to BDAqua

We have a satellite provider. We have tried it on Firefox without success. There is only one computer using the connection. We checked our Network Utility and found no errors, no collisions. I'm not sure how to tell if some device is getting or resetting my IP. Our Modem Model is JUMP. Hardware Version-1.0. Our computer is an older mac, so we try not to have too many files open at one time. Could what is resetting our connection be the satellite?
Thanks again for your help.

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Answer 10

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Mar 15, 2011 5:48 PM in response to Honoria

Oh yes, Satellite could be the problem alright, lots of lags in Satelite.

In Network Utility>Ping tab, enter this & report the times...

www.youtube.com

Ping has started ...

PING youtube-ui.l.google.com (74.125.53.190): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 74.125.53.190: icmp_seq=0 ttl=52 time=89.169 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.53.190: icmp_seq=1 ttl=52 time=93.671 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.53.190: icmp_seq=2 ttl=52 time=73.747 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.53.190: icmp_seq=3 ttl=52 time=88.816 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.53.190: icmp_seq=4 ttl=52 time=88.793 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.53.190: icmp_seq=5 ttl=52 time=83.766 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.53.190: icmp_seq=6 ttl=52 time=88.641 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.53.190: icmp_seq=7 ttl=52 time=93.355 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.53.190: icmp_seq=8 ttl=52 time=83.624 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.53.190: icmp_seq=9 ttl=52 time=83.570 ms

--- youtube-ui.l.google.com ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 73.747/86.715/93.671/5.543 ms

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Answer 11

K Shaffer

Level 7

34,978 points

Mar 15, 2011 6:14 PM in response to Honoria

Perhaps if you look into System Profiler for the broadband
modem, you may find it connected via Ethernet; or maybe USB.

{The Jump modem sounds like old info, for Dialup 56k Modem.}

However, that said, my interpretation may be incorrect...!

Does any interruption in service to a satellite internet
provider, constitute a 'reset'? A few times a year, there
are out-ages due to Solar interference; plus a huge flare
from the Sun in recent weeks has some residual effects on
various communications systems, especially satellites.

Is there any means on your end of the satellite reception
to test and check if the dish is still correctly aligned?

Perhaps the provider has some actual support technicians
whose interests are beyond repeating a standard PC reply.

After years battling digital satellite system issues in bad
weather & adjusting dishes, etc, can't say I miss Dish TV.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

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Answer 12

Honoria Author

Level 1

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Mar 16, 2011 5:29 AM in response to BDAqua

I followed your steps regarding Ping- the results were
10 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, 0% packet loss

We spoke with our satellite provider and they said that videos do not work in the satellite world, especially during peak hours (2-11 pm). They said get used to that reality. They did suggest the internet browser Thunderbird for videos instead of Safari.

Thank you both so much for your help. BDAqua, you've been very patient with me. We're willing to try other things if you have any ideas, but otherwise we'll just try to adjust to reality. 😟
Thanks again.

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Answer 13

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Mar 17, 2011 9:34 AM in response to Honoria

Thanks for the report, not much you can do, sorry.

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Answer 14

Vivanedi

Level 1

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Mar 17, 2012 10:29 PM in response to BDAqua

Hey,

I have been experiencing the same problem she has ("have been able to load videos fairly quickly with no problems at all, until a few months ago. Since then, the videos have been starting to load well, but approx. halfway through they will stop loading. The progress bar will fill out quickly, making me think the video is all the way loaded, but when we get to that point in the video, it will stop playing and never pick back up.").

With the exception that my videos wouldnt load any longer than 3mins and I use the campus' internet connection. I have tried on loads of diff browsers - safari, google chrome, firefox, opera mini- with the same results. I also tried change the IP adress for the dns as stated above. It didnt work but it helped me gain a few seconds.

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Answer 15

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Mar 17, 2012 10:49 PM in response to Vivanedi

Hello,

How much free space is on your Hard Drive?

So we know more about it...

At the Apple Icon at top left>About this Mac, report OSX version, then click on More Info, then click on Hardware> and report this upto but not including the Serial#...

version 10.7.3

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: iMac

Model Identifier: iMac7,1

Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo

Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz

Number Of Processors: 1

Total Number Of Cores: 2

L2 Cache: 4 MB

Memory: 6 GB

Bus Speed: 800 MHz

Boot ROM Version: IM71.007A.B03

SMC Version (system): 1.21f4

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