[SOLVED] Slow transfer speed on Minix U9-H?

As most of you now, Minix U9-H has a gigabit-ethernet port, which suits my network quite good. I only have cat6 cables in my house.

With that being said, I am a bit puzzled over the transfer speed from my Xpenology NAS (gbit) and my Minix (bit port). I end up with somewhere around 7 mb/s (50-60 mbps). Is that really a fair value? The box can’t really play uhd-movies from my nas. It takes a couple I’d minutes before they start playing and will stop to buffer almost immediately and this process will continue as the movie goes on.

I know that cheap sd-cards can be a bottleneck, and I do not rule that out yet, but I think my Samsung Evo, class10 card should cut it.

What should I expect in terms of transfer speed?

Thanks for your input guys!

How does the speed compare with transferring the same file to a different device on the same LAN?

SD card is the bottleneck probably. Try to transfer a file to /dev/null or use iperf to see the real speed.
You could try to installtointernal if you don’t need the Android.
Also you could see about kodi cache settings.

Hi Ray!
Just changed STORAGE label to /dev/data to utilize the internal memory, and just use SD-card to boot. I guess that should have the same effect to transfer speed as to installtointernal?

Anyway, after changing label, nothing really changed in terms of transfer speed or playability. It takes thre minutes to start a UHD movie, and when it finally starts, it just contantly stops to buffer.

What kind of transfer speed do you have, and what do you consider a fair speed is?
I would have expect at least, at lest 20-30 mb/s?!

Currently I use a LePotato which is 100Mbit and I get full 100mbit/s through sftp.
I also have a C2 and in iperf it was 1Gbit/s but I could never reach those values through sftp/ssh. Are you using Samba/Windows Share?
Can you try iperf. It is in the network-tools addon iirc.

Thanks for your feedback Ray!
I do not use samba anymore (I thought it became more shaky when I replaced my server), I use NFS from my Synology server.

I will see if I am able to execute on iperf, seems a bit too complex for me. I successfully installed the Network Tools on my box though. See if I can find a good guide.

I discussed this matter with a friend, and we agreed on that changing the label name to utilize internal memory may not make a difference as the kodi folders might still remain on the SD card (bottleneck)

I also consider installtointernal

Hi @Ray, I got this working with help from a friend. I must say I am a bit surprised by the result, in several ways. It is much better that what I have measured by moving a file back and forth. On the other hand, quite disappointing given the fact that this is gbit network:
Connecting to host 192.168.1.28, port 5201
[ 4] local 192.168.1.166 port 51744 connected to 192.168.1.28 port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-1.00 sec 22.2 MBytes 186 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 1.00-2.00 sec 23.1 MBytes 194 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 2.00-3.00 sec 25.1 MBytes 211 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 3.00-4.00 sec 25.2 MBytes 212 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 4.00-5.00 sec 25.1 MBytes 210 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 5.00-6.00 sec 25.1 MBytes 211 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 6.00-7.00 sec 24.5 MBytes 206 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 7.00-8.00 sec 23.8 MBytes 199 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 8.00-9.00 sec 24.8 MBytes 208 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 9.00-10.00 sec 25.4 MBytes 213 Mbits/sec


[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 244 MBytes 205 Mbits/sec sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 244 MBytes 205 Mbits/sec receiver

What is your take on this? Is the SD-card the bottleneck still? After all, I have huge problems playing UHD movies and the bandwidth (~200 mbps) should be good enough for streaming uhd content

No something is wrong. When I do this on my C2 I get 980mbit
Are you sure your cable and port on router switch supports gbit?

Hi @Ray, yes, something is definitely wrong. Big time. I updated some drivers on the computer this morning, and had another run. I reversed the setup, having the windows computer acting as a server and the minix as the client. An this is another ball game:
[ 5] local 192.168.1.231 port 46466 connected to 192.168.1.166 port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr Cwnd
[ 5] 0.00-1.00 sec 6.26 MBytes 52.5 Mbits/sec 0 212 KBytes
[ 5] 1.00-2.00 sec 4.69 MBytes 39.3 Mbits/sec 0 212 KBytes
[ 5] 2.00-3.00 sec 5.82 MBytes 48.8 Mbits/sec 0 212 KBytes
[ 5] 3.00-4.00 sec 5.75 MBytes 48.2 Mbits/sec 0 212 KBytes
[ 5] 4.00-5.00 sec 6.51 MBytes 54.6 Mbits/sec 0 212 KBytes
[ 5] 5.00-6.00 sec 6.31 MBytes 52.9 Mbits/sec 0 212 KBytes
[ 5] 6.00-7.00 sec 6.57 MBytes 55.2 Mbits/sec 0 212 KBytes
[ 5] 7.00-8.00 sec 5.89 MBytes 49.4 Mbits/sec 0 212 KBytes
[ 5] 8.00-9.00 sec 6.45 MBytes 54.1 Mbits/sec 0 212 KBytes
[ 5] 9.00-10.00 sec 6.41 MBytes 53.8 Mbits/sec 0 212 KBytes


[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 60.7 MBytes 50.9 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 60.4 MBytes 50.7 Mbits/sec receiver

Yeah, everything is connected through cat6- cables and gbit switches

Keep in mind that installtointernal is discouraged and not supported by CoreELEC;

a safer, supported compromise is described here;
https://discourse.coreelec.org/t/how-to-boot-from-sd-usb-using-internal-storage-for-data/82/8

Thanks for the heads up Poida, I am well aware. But to be honest, I do not see any other way forward, as the “safer” way did not improve performance at all!!

@Ray
I did some more exntended testing. I moved the MINIX and connected it to the router directly, and also introduced my homebuilt Libreelec HTPC. This time, one old switch and my windows desktop was bypassed. When Minix acted as a server, and Libreelecbox as a client, I got some other figures.
Connecting to host 192.168.1.28, port 5201
[ 5] local 192.168.1.35 port 38142 connected to 192.168.1.28 port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr Cwnd
[ 5] 0.00-1.00 sec 107 MBytes 899 Mbits/sec 0 2.90 MBytes
[ 5] 1.00-2.00 sec 112 MBytes 942 Mbits/sec 0 2.90 MBytes
[ 5] 2.00-3.00 sec 112 MBytes 944 Mbits/sec 0 2.90 MBytes
[ 5] 3.00-4.00 sec 111 MBytes 934 Mbits/sec 0 2.90 MBytes
[ 5] 4.00-5.00 sec 112 MBytes 944 Mbits/sec 0 2.90 MBytes
[ 5] 5.00-6.00 sec 111 MBytes 933 Mbits/sec 0 2.90 MBytes
[ 5] 6.00-7.00 sec 112 MBytes 944 Mbits/sec 0 2.90 MBytes
[ 5] 7.00-8.00 sec 112 MBytes 943 Mbits/sec 0 2.90 MBytes
[ 5] 8.00-9.00 sec 112 MBytes 944 Mbits/sec 0 2.90 MBytes
[ 5] 9.00-10.00 sec 111 MBytes 934 Mbits/sec 0 2.90 MBytes


[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.09 GBytes 936 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.09 GBytes 934 Mbits/sec receiver

When Libreelecbox was server, and the MINIX acting as client, the figures are not that impressing:
Accepted connection from 192.168.1.231, port 60366
[ 5] local 192.168.1.35 port 5201 connected to 192.168.1.231 port 60367
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate
[ 5] 0.00-1.00 sec 34.2 MBytes 287 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 1.00-2.00 sec 37.7 MBytes 316 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 2.00-3.00 sec 37.5 MBytes 315 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 3.00-4.00 sec 38.0 MBytes 319 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 4.00-5.00 sec 37.7 MBytes 316 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 5.00-6.00 sec 38.1 MBytes 320 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 6.00-7.00 sec 37.2 MBytes 312 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 7.00-8.00 sec 37.8 MBytes 317 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 8.00-9.00 sec 38.6 MBytes 324 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 9.00-10.00 sec 38.1 MBytes 320 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 10.00-10.05 sec 2.14 MBytes 331 Mbits/sec


[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate
[ 5] 0.00-10.05 sec 377 MBytes 315 Mbits/sec receiver

Might the conclusion be that the switch/windows computer is shit, and at the same time the SD-card can’t keep up?

Another test with Libreelecbox (for comparison), and the windows desktop and older switch involved, Libreelecbox as a server, and windows as a client:

Accepted connection from 192.168.1.166, port 50479
[ 5] local 192.168.1.35 port 5201 connected to 192.168.1.166 port 50480
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate
[ 5] 0.00-1.00 sec 91.7 MBytes 769 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 1.00-2.00 sec 96.7 MBytes 812 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 2.00-3.00 sec 108 MBytes 902 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 3.00-4.00 sec 91.5 MBytes 767 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 4.00-5.00 sec 109 MBytes 918 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 5.00-6.00 sec 109 MBytes 913 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 6.00-7.00 sec 95.7 MBytes 803 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 7.00-8.00 sec 109 MBytes 913 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 8.00-9.00 sec 109 MBytes 910 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 9.00-10.00 sec 92.0 MBytes 772 Mbits/sec
[ 5] 10.00-10.04 sec 2.66 MBytes 635 Mbits/sec


[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate
[ 5] 0.00-10.04 sec 1014 MBytes 847 Mbits/sec receiver

Seems like the speed of the Minix’s sd card is pretty fucked up, despite I utilize the internal memory, as @Poida recommended.

I will consider installtointernal, as it is now, the box is useless at the moment. The purpose to buy it was to have a hassle free way of watching 4k content, and it is not even close to achieve that.

iperf doesn’t rely on your storage speed.
Not sure why your client mode is so much slower, but over 300Mbps is more than plenty for streaming 4K HDR content.

Thanks for your feedback! Okay, so storage might not be a factor. And I agree with you, 200-300 mbps should be enough for any content.

But, it is so annoying that I only can get a fifth of the speed I “should” get. It seems to me that I can rule out every network component from the equation, no cable or switch seem to be the bottleneck.

Then neither will installtointernal. Both methods use the same internal storage for data . All you stand to acheive is loss of support :thinking:

Ok @Poida. I understand, then I am stuck…

I use 2 x96 boxes (S905, 2GB/16GB, 1GB eth). Transfer speeds from my NAS are also crap and I only managed to stream from it, without buffering, when I changed from SMB to NFS shares. I’m not sure what your setup is, just thought it worth mentioning, because I’ve not had an issue since (I don’t bother with 4K files though, so can’t comment on them) :slightly_smiling_face:

Yeah, I also use NFS nowadays.
I tried a 4k movie yesterday, 21gb so not that heavy. I took a minute to start and it stopped about 10 times to buffer during the two hour movie.
Not really satisfying, unfortunately.

Read this as as well
Have you logged into your router and looked at the connected devices.
My router shows the speed connection of all connected devices both WiFi and Ethernet.
I only have Cat5 cables in my home and don’t do 4K anything so mine looks as below.
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