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For months now I've put up with various media players stuttering constantly when playing MP3s sitting on my NAS. WMP, VLC, FooBar, probably a few more - didn't matter how I configured any of their options, including pre-buffering, somehow it seemed like my network gear couldn't keep up with a few KB trickling in every second. Yet large high-bitrate HD video files (also on the NAS) played back fine, and I could transfer files at full gigabit speed. When I copied the same MP3 files locally, they played back flawlessly.
When I played back the same MP3 files when copying files over the network at the same time, they also played back flawlessly. As soon as the file copy operation finished, the stuttering would resume shortly thereafter.
What solved it?
Unchecking the "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" checkbox, under Power Management, in the NIC's Properties dialog box in Device Manager.
Which is certainly NOT something I would've turned on myself. Seems to be the default.
I wonder how much power that option has saved me during all that time...
'nuff said. I'm just posting this in the hope that it saves someone the same frustration.
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[EDITED]
The NIC was going into power save mode while NOT copying files?
If it's not broken, fix it until it is
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Kyle (below) has the right idea - while the NIC is busy transferring a large amount of data as fast as it can, it never has the opportunity to go to sleep mode, but when media players are only requesting the next chunk of data a few KBs at a time, it seems to rather aggressively go back in sleep mode ASAP.
I wouldn't have thought it'd be this quick to do so, but in hindsight, it's the only explanation I could come up with (but it's still only speculation from my part). Task Manager's Networking tab is now showing a steady stream of data coming in at regular intervals in a see-saw fashion. Until now, I'd get a few gaps in that transfer graph, and that's when I got the audio stutters.
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Probably due to streaming vs. non-streaming (if that makes sense.)
When you copy the file, the NIC sees it as a single 'request' and stays powered up for the duration. When you try to play the MP3, it streams the file in numerous small 'requests', so the NIC 'powers down' in between, creating a short lag when it powers back up for the next 'request'.
I have no idea if this is accurate, but that's what sounds like is going on.
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Nice.
You should put this (and Kyle's seemingly correct explanation) into Tips & Tricks, to make it easy to find.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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That's a really interesting (though terribly frustrating) problem and a really great explanation of the resolution.
Thanks for sharing.
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The once was a gas man named Peter
Who went downstairs to check the meter
When he struck a light
He rose out of sight
And as any good student of poetry knows he completely destroyed the meter.
[please keep any response SFW, and kid sister appropriate]
"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana."
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There was a young lady from Madras,
Who had a magnificent ass.
Not pretty and pink
As you probably think.
It was grey, had long ears, and ate grass!
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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OriginalGriff wrote: Who had a magnificent ass.
Not pretty and pink
Was she sunburnt?
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Edward Gorey:
Each night Father fills me with dread
When he sits on the foot of my bed;
I'd not mind that he speaks
In gibbers and squeaks,
But for seventeen years he's been dead.
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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There was an enchanting young bride
Who ate many green apples and died.
The apples fermented
inside the lamented
and made cider inside her inside.
There are two types of people in this world: those that pronounce GIF with a soft G, and those who do not deserve to speak words, ever.
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While downloading updates on my puter'
and fiddling around with my router(English pronunciation)
a calamity struck
and my first thought was...(best not say really)
Windows 10! Now I'm going nucular!(Bush pronunciation)
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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GuyThiebaut wrote: nucular!(Bush pronunciation)
JFK, atcherley.
Kids these days...
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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No, it was Jimmy Carter.
Well okay it was all of them. But Jimmy was most pronounced.
I'm retired. There's a nap for that...
- Harvey
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What, the long-haired lover from Liverpool?
Oh, wait. Am I getting the Osmonds mixed up with American presidents, again?
I'm always doing that.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Or was it Billy Connolly[^]?
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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There one was a man with no luck,
Whose wife cooked and served his pet duck,
He cried and he cried,
When he saw how it died,
But me, I just don't... see how to end this limerick
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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He shouldn't have taught it to cluck?
"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana."
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If you let them cluck, they'll run amok, and that would suck.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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A limerick writer from Bow
Was asked why he appeared to be low
"It's a terrible shock
But I've got writer's"
I am not a number. I am a ... no, wait!
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There once was a fellow O'Doole
Who found little red spots on his tool
His Doctor a cynic
said 'Get out of me clinic',
'and wipe off that lipstick you fool!'
The tool being a fork, otherwise I'd be breaking some rule
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
modified 16-Mar-16 21:48pm.
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It wasn't until my second read that I actually got the joke. Fantastic. Upvote for you!
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I know of a town named Limerick
About it I'm writing this limerick
It's not very good
But I did what I could
To find words that rhyme with "limerick"
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There once was a lad from Saint Lou
Who's limericks ended at two
I'm retired. There's a nap for that...
- Harvey
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