When playing back media files on the NETGEAR EVA8000, you may find that they stutter, lose audio, or just won't play at all. In most cases, it's usually caused by badly encoded or unsupported files, network issues, or what I lovingly refer to as "user error." (We've all fallen victim to it sometimes!) In some rare instances, it's caused by bad hardware, or a bad firmware update. The steps described below will help you to determine the cause of these playback issues. To complete these troubleshooting tests, you will need a USB memory stick (also known as a thumb drive) that is large enough to fit several of the test files (at least 1 Gigabyte in size).

Determing if your EVA8000 has hardware issues

The EVA8000 supports many different file formats and codecs for playback. This is a list of the formats that are currently supported:

• Container Formats: AVI, DivX, Xvid WMV, MOV, M4V, VOB, MPG, MP1, MP2, MP4, ISO, IFO, MKV, TS, M2TS
• Video CODECs: MP1/2/4, Xvid, VC-1/WMV-9, H.264, FLV, OpenDivX all to 1080p
• Audio Formats: MP1/2/3, WMA, WMA-Pro, AAC, AC3, FLAC, AIFF, WAV, PCM, DTS passthrough
• Photo Formats: JPG, BMP, TIFF, PNG
• Tag Formats: ID3 v1, ID3 v2, WMA, WMV, AVI, DivX, Xvid, FLAC, EXIF, MOV, M4A, M4P, M4V

  

The following troubleshooting steps will focus on video playback issues (stuttering, dropped audio, etc). If you are experiencing any playback issues, first try the following to determine if you have a bad piece of hardware or if it may be a network configuration problem. By default, all units pass through a QC check at the factory that tests playback of HD video files using the samples available from the Microsoft Windows Media Showcase, located here, before being shipped out.

To test the EVA8000, go to the Windows Media Showcase site and download the clip titled "Amazon" (you can also download any of the other files there to test with as they are all used in the testing/QC phase, except the "Alexander" clip, which has known encoding errors and will cause stuttering in most cases) and extract the file to the USB memory stick (I tested it with the 1080p file which is linked above). Now, make sure you are running the latest officially released firmware (as of this writing it is at 2.0.159). This can be retrieved from the "Update" selection located under the "Supervisor functions" menu on your EVA8000.

Next, set the EVA8000 to browse by folder by going to the Supervisor/Advanced/Other menu and set "folder browsing" to enabled, and then return to the "Main Menu" by using the "Back" button (<--) on the remote. Remove the power by unplugging the unit from the wall and let it sit for 30 minutes (do not pull the power cord directly out of the back of the unit, as this can cause sparking and damage the power supply). Removing the power allows the unit to cool down and helps in troubleshooting if the unit has any heat related issues caused by overheating components. After letting it cool down, reapply the power and let the unit start up. Once it comes to the main menu, insert the USB stick in the front USB connector. The EVA8000 will do a quick scan of the media and add the found files to your library.

Browse to the USB drive by choosing "TV-Video/Recorded Video/Folder/mnt/usb1" and select one of the files you downloaded to playback. The clip should play all the way through and bring you back to the menu. If it plays the file all the way through, then play the file again, and once it starts playing, press the "Repeat" button on the remote to play the file in a continous loop. Let it play for 30 minutes or more to allow the unit to heat up and see if there are any heat related issues. After letting it play for an extended period of time without issues, press the "Stop" button to end the playback. You have now confirmed that the unit itself is fine.

Ensuring you have the latest EVA8000 firmware

If the clip does not play all the way through, go to the Netgear Support page for the EVA8000 here and download a fresh copy of the firmware. Problems playing the test file can be caused by a bad firmware update. Copy the downloaded file to your USB drive. Insert the USB drive into the front USB port and restart the unit from the Supervisor funtions/Restart menu selection. After the unit has restarted, go to the Update menu and choose "Specify a location". It should find the firmware file and populate the name for you. Choose "OK" to update the firmware. After the update is complete, the unit will restart, and you will have to go through the setup of the unit again. Once setup, try rerunning the test file to see if it still has problems. If it does, you most likely have a bad unit and will need to call NETGEAR Support to get it replaced if still under warranty or repaired.

If the unit plays the test file without any issues, then most likely the problem is with the media you are trying to play or your network configuration. Each network configuration is unique and you will need to determine where the bottleneck is if you suspect your network is the issue.

Ensure that the media is supported by the EVA 8000

You should also check the media to determine if it is supported by the EVA8000. You can use an application called "MediaInfo" to get detailed information on the file in question. Download, then install the application (it's free) and change the output to "Text" by clicking the "View" menu and choosing "Text". This will display quite a bit of useful info to help you determine what codec is used, and what the bitrate of the file is. If the file's bitrate is too high, this can cause playback problems. I have successfully played back files with bitrates as high as 12Mbps though you may have success with higher rates as the EVA8000 is supposed to support up to 18Mbps. Remember that the info only gives the stated bitrate and it can peak to higher ones during playback on scenes with lots of movement. So, while it states the bitrate is 12Mbps, it may have some peaks that go over 18Mbps.

Another thing to check is the profile level. The EVA8000 supports the High @ L4.1 profile. It does not support the High @ L5.1 profile. This can be checked by using an application called AVInaptic. Download and install the application (this one's free too) and run the file through it, then check the output to determine the profile setting. You should also check the "ref frames" setting from the output and make sure it isn't over 6 as this can cause issues too. Any problems with files can be corrected by re-encoding it to a supported format the the EVA8000 can play (listed above). There are many free and commercially available software packages to accomplish this.

Hopefully, this has helped you to address the problem with your EVA8000. If this didn't help, please leave a comment, or post a question on the EVA8000 forums here at MyDigitalEntertainer.

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