Videos not Playing Correctly, please help

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Videos not Playing Correctly, please help

Hello, I have a late 2013 27" iMac and when attempting to play ANY video file, I get laggy, unwatchable video.

The video files I'm trying to watch are being streamed from a Seagate 4TB NAS. I've even tried copying the files directly to the mac and then playing them, and it doesn't make a difference. The videos themselves range from 480p to 1080p in quality, 150 mb to 3 gb in files size, and 5 minutes to 2 hours in length. The apps I've tried to use are Qucktime, VLC, XBMC, and Plex. Some of the files are .avi, .mkv, .mov, and .mp4. Over 2800 videos saved on the NAS, and NONE of them will play on the iMac without being choppy, laggy, and unwatchable.

And if anyone thinks this is a problem with the NAS, or the files themselves, you are incorrect. I've had the NAS running for 2 years without a single hiccup, until now. I can watch the same full 1080p videos that run like sh** on the iMac on my Galaxy Note II smart phone without a hitch. Also, pretty much anything else ive tried works fine. My Smart TV plays the videos fine directly from the NAS, Windows 7 laptops do fine. ****, even the POS original Surface RT runs it fine.

I'm obviously missing something here, and will appreciate any help I can get.

Specs:

3.4 GHz i5

8 GB DDR3

Nvidia GeForce GTX 775M 2GB (Tomb Raider runs at full 2560 x 1440 res, and graphics turned all the way up works better than anything I've ever seen. Yet, I still can't play a 150 mb 480p video 😟)

OS X 10.9.1

1 TB SATA HD

If you have any questions, or if I need to add some more info just let me know.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Jan 24, 2014 4:24 PM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Jan 24, 2014 4:38 PM in response to deanna289

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.

Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select

View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar.

Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then try the action that you're having trouble with again. Select any messages that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message (command-V).

When posting a log extract, be selective. In most cases, a few dozen lines are more than enough.

Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

Important: Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

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Answer 2

deanna289 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 24, 2014 4:56 PM in response to Linc Davis

Thank you for the quick reply. I started a video in VLC, it skipped within 5 seconds in, for almost 20 seconds.

Here's the log:

1/24/14 7:49:26.372 PM Finder[326]: nsc_smb XPC: handle_event error : < Connection invalid >

1/24/14 7:49:26.395 PM Finder[326]: nsc_smb XPC: handle_event error : < Connection invalid >

1/24/14 7:50:04.688 PM WindowServer[172]: disable_update_timeout: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "VLC" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.

1/24/14 7:50:04.874 PM WindowServer[172]: common_reenable_update: UI updates were finally reenabled by application "VLC" after 1.19 seconds (server forcibly re-enabled them after 1.00 seconds)

1/24/14 7:50:42.880 PM PluginProcess[24224]: CoreText performance note: Client called CTFontCreateWithName() using name "Arial Unicode MS" and got font with PostScript name "ArialUnicodeMS". For best performance, only use PostScript names when calling this API.

1/24/14 7:50:42.880 PM PluginProcess[24224]: CoreText performance note: Set a breakpoint on CTFontLogSuboptimalRequest to debug.

1/24/14 7:50:43.209 PM PluginProcess[24224]: CoreText performance note: Client called CTFontCreateWithName() using name "Times Roman" and got font with PostScript name "Times-Roman". For best performance, only use PostScript names when calling this API.

1/24/14 7:51:43.653 PM PluginProcess[24227]: CoreText performance note: Client called CTFontCreateWithName() using name "Arial Unicode MS" and got font with PostScript name "ArialUnicodeMS". For best performance, only use PostScript names when calling this API.

1/24/14 7:51:43.654 PM PluginProcess[24227]: CoreText performance note: Set a breakpoint on CTFontLogSuboptimalRequest to debug.

1/24/14 7:51:43.976 PM PluginProcess[24227]: CoreText performance note: Client called CTFontCreateWithName() using name "Times Roman" and got font with PostScript name "Times-Roman". For best performance, only use PostScript names when calling this API.

Once again, thanks.

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Jan 24, 2014 5:33 PM in response to deanna289

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It won’t solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

The purpose of this test is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account. Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”

While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your personal files or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.

Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?

After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.

*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault in OS X 10.7 or later, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The "Guest User" login created by "Find My Mac" is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.

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