Kodi Community Forum
v18 Artwork loading slow - Printable Version

+- Kodi Community Forum (https://forum.kodi.tv)
+-- Forum: Support (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=33)
+--- Forum: General Support (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=111)
+---- Forum: OS independent / Other (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=228)
+---- Thread: v18 Artwork loading slow (/showthread.php?tid=349849)

Artwork loading slow - Son_Of_Diablo - 2019-12-06

Hello,

I have noticed that artwork seems to load somewhat slow on my system.
Some even takes more than a second to load which (to me at least) seems way longer than it should.

So when I enter a movie collection it takes a bit to load the artwork for the movies, then when I return to the movie list I have the same issue even though the artwork was already loaded for them before I entered the movie collection. Same goes for entering/exiting TV shows and seasons.
The issue even presents itself when scrolling through content (I'm guessing Kodi "unloads" artwork for content not currently on screen).
As far as I have been able to gather, Kodi should cache artwork locally so even though the video and artwork files are on a network drive, the artwork should be loaded from Kodi cache right?

Here is a snippit from the log of me scrolling through my TV Shows after having scrolled through once to make sure everything loads and has a chance to be cached: 
Code:
2019-12-06 15:49:34.141 T:2145325936 DEBUG: DoWork - took 1015 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/7/715f9390.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:38.212 T:2076386160 DEBUG: DoWork - took 962 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/b/b1bbcad6.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:38.215 T:2210394992 DEBUG: DoWork - took 965 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/e/e601563f.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:38.220 T:2161095536 DEBUG: DoWork - took 970 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/d/dcd10d89.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:38.224 T:2145325936 DEBUG: DoWork - took 974 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/d/dcd10d89.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:39.274 T:2145325936 DEBUG: DoWork - took 866 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/7/7391c019.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:40.294 T:2210394992 DEBUG: DoWork - took 620 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/4/4e94f60f.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:40.296 T:2076386160 DEBUG: DoWork - took 854 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/6/68c23e68.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:48.239 T:2210394992 DEBUG: DoWork - took 1006 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/8/86f301ba.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:48.240 T:2161095536 DEBUG: DoWork - took 1010 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/9/930b73e1.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:48.247 T:2145325936 DEBUG: DoWork - took 1008 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/b/b1bbcad6.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:48.247 T:2076386160 DEBUG: DoWork - took 1008 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/d/dcd10d89.jpg
2019-12-06 15:49:50.331 T:2076386160 DEBUG: DoWork - took 623 ms to load special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/1/10ff68da.jpg

The size of the images:
Code:
9/930b73e1.jpg - 71.51 KB - 367x540
4/4e94f60f.jpg - 166.80 KB - 1280x720
1/10ff68da.jpg - 213.64 KB - 1280x720
e/e601563f.jpg - 56.03 KB - 367x540
7/715f9390.jpg - 126.73 KB - 1280x720
7/7391c019.jpg - 204.32 KB - 1280x720
8/86f301ba.jpg - 50.95 KB - 367x540
b/b1bbcad6.jpg - 87.34 KB - 367x540
6/68c23e68.jpg - 364.93 KB - 1280x720
d/dcd10d89.jpg - 72.03 KB - 367x540

So now to my questions:

1. Is this normal load times for artwork? Am I just being unreasonable here?
2. Is there anything I can do to cause artwork to load faster?
3. Could this just be a limitation of the hardware?
4. Does Kodi only extract thumbs once you browse to the media or should it extract thumbs when media is added to the library?
    4.1 I have noticed that some episodes doesn't have thumbs on the home screen and they don't get extracted until I browse to the episode (TV Shows > Show Name > Season)
          Is this normal or could it just be an issue with the theme?
    4.2 If it's only when you browse to the media, is there a way to trigger thumb extraction on the entire library?

 Extra info that could be relevant:
  • All my media and artwork is on a NAS (A Raspberry Pi 3B+ running OpenMediaVault)
    • Except Movie Collection Artwork which are stored locally
  • I'm using the theme Estuary (I have also tried using Estuary Mod v2 for a while)
  • I have used Artwork Beef to download artwork (No animated artwork yet)
    • I have enabled Artwork Beef to download the artwork, I had previously just had it add URLs to Kodi
  • Kodi log: http://ix.io/23GS
  • Running Kodi 18.5 (LibreELEC 9.2.0) on a Raspberry Pi 4


RE: Artwork loading slow - Klojum - 2019-12-06

(2019-12-06, 17:35)Son_Of_Diablo Wrote: All my media and artwork is on a NAS (A Raspberry Pi 3B+ running OpenMediaVault)
I wouldn't go as far to call a RPi3B+ a NAS... :-)
Maybe OMV is too heavy on a Raspberry Pi device as it is.
No matter how you look at it: an older RPi is limited in UTP speed, it's limited in read speeds, and it's certainly limited in write speeds regarding the onboard SD card.

(2019-12-06, 17:35)Son_Of_Diablo Wrote: 1. Is this normal load times for artwork? Am I just being unreasonable here?
A second per thumbnail is relatively slow, should it be the initial time it is retrieved and taken the RPi3B+ "performance" in consideration.
If the thumbnail is already cached, a second is too slow although I don't know which the sizes and resolutions used are not outrageously large.
I have never used Artwork Beef, so I have no idea what the impact of that tool can possibly be.

The one problem could be the SDcard(s). Not every SDcard has the same performance.

RE: Artwork loading slow - Son_Of_Diablo - 2019-12-06

(2019-12-06, 19:34)Klojum Wrote: I wouldn't go as far to call a RPi3B+ a NAS... :-)

Well NAS literally stands for Network-attached storage so when configured the way it is, it's a NAS... Now it might not be the best or even a good NAS, but a NAS none the less Wink
 
(2019-12-06, 19:34)Klojum Wrote: Maybe OMV is too heavy on a Raspberry Pi device as it is.
OMV officially supports RPi: https://sourceforge.net/projects/openmediavault/files/Raspberry%20Pi%20images/
There is a few limitations compared to more powerful hardware, but nothing that should cause these kinds of issues (as far as I'm able to tell). 
Specific to RPi b+ is the limitation of Network Speed to 100 Mbits/sec
(2019-12-06, 19:34)Klojum Wrote: A second per thumbnail is relatively slow, should it be the initial time it is retrieved and taken the RPi3B+ "performance" in consideration.
If the thumbnail is already cached, a second is too slow although I don't know which the sizes and resolutions used are not outrageously large.

The times I included in my original post is after I had let everything load and cache. So those listed is the time it takes for Kodi to load from Cache.
(2019-12-06, 19:34)Klojum Wrote: The one problem could be the SDcard(s). Not every SDcard has the same performance.
The SD Card in my RPi 4 (The one running Kodi) is a Class 10 (10 MB/s) and UHS 3 (30 MB/s).
The one in the RPi3 b+ (OpenMediaVault) is a Class 6 (6 MB/s).
(That is if I understand what's written on them correctly. Photos just in case I'm wrong: RPi4 RPi3bp )
So yea the 3b+ could probably use a new SD Card, but I wouldn't imagine that, that would be root of the issue here?

RE: Artwork loading slow - Klojum - 2019-12-06

(2019-12-06, 21:15)Son_Of_Diablo Wrote: Specific to RPi b+ is the limitation of Network Speed to 100 Mbits/sec

The problem is that on the Rpi3, the 100Mb/s port is linked to the internal USB2.0 port, so a max of 30-40Mb/s aka 4-5MB/s, is more realistic.
Thus, every slow link in the file transport of your files will eventually result in a sluggish overall performance.

To be short: it's a Raspberry Pi, a $35 kid's toy. Don't expect PC-like power/performance.
The Rpi4 is good step up with proper gigabit and usb3.0 interfaces.

About the SD cards: Put a Class10 sdcard also in the RPI3 instead of the Class6 card. It needs all the help it can get. Smile

RE: Artwork loading slow - Son_Of_Diablo - 2019-12-06

(2019-12-06, 22:09)Klojum Wrote: The problem is that on the Rpi3, the 100Mb/s port is linked to the internal USB2.0 port, so a max of 30-40Mb/s aka 4-5MB/s, is more realistic.
Thus, every slow link in the file transport of your files will eventually result in a sluggish overall performance.
Yea I get around 10 MB/s up/down from the RPi3b+, so not really amazing, but, it shouldn't really impact the cache hits from Kodi which is installed on the RPi4... right?
 
(2019-12-06, 22:09)Klojum Wrote: To be short: it's a Raspberry Pi, a $35 kid's toy. Don't expect PC-like power/performance.
Probably wouldn't call it a "Kid's toy", but yea I didn't expect anything amazing from my janky NAS setup.. Just didn't have the money for a proper NAS and I had the RP3b+ from when I upgraded to the RPi4 for Kodi.
 
(2019-12-06, 22:09)Klojum Wrote: About the SD cards: Put a Class10 sdcard also in the RPI3 instead of the Class6 card. It needs all the help it can get. Smile
Probably gonna grab a Class 10 next time I'm out somewhere that has it Smile

RE: Artwork loading slow - Klojum - 2019-12-07

(2019-12-06, 22:44)Son_Of_Diablo Wrote: Probably wouldn't call it a "Kid's toy", but yea I didn't expect anything amazing from my janky NAS setup.. Just didn't have the money for a proper NAS and I had the RP3b+ from when I upgraded to the RPi4 for Kodi.

The Raspberry Pi was/is intended for school children, learning how to program. The thing just happened to have a great video chip as well, so when that secret got out, the home theater movement grew fast.

I'm still waiting for the RPi 4 to be USB bootable, so I can attach a USB/SSD to it. After that I can use it more and more as a full server.
Now I'm just running a MySQL database for Kodi off its sdcard (which is not ideal), the performance isn't that bad.

RE: Artwork loading slow - rmrector - 2019-12-07

Ya, Kodi on the Pi4 should perform better pulling thumbnails from its local cache. I'm pretty sure it's the SD card you've got in that - SD card Class signifies sustained write speed, but read speed is what you need here and that can vary quite a bit between those kind of cards.

I'd go with the Samsung Evo+ nowadays.

RE: Artwork loading slow - Son_Of_Diablo - 2019-12-07

(2019-12-07, 02:54)rmrector Wrote: I'd go with the Samsung Evo+ nowadays.

I have been looking at the SanDisk Extreme Pro it seems to be about 100/90 MB/s Read/Write and just ~$3 more.
How important is write speed for this? Would that just be total overkill compared to Samsung Evo+ that has 20 MB/s write?
 
(2019-12-07, 02:15)Klojum Wrote: I'm still waiting for the RPi 4 to be USB bootable, so I can attach a USB/SSD to it. After that I can use it more and more as a full server.

I read about this for older Pis yesterday, didn't know that was even an option until now.. I might need to keep an eye on this ^^

RE: Artwork loading slow - Klojum - 2019-12-07

(2019-12-07, 11:37)Son_Of_Diablo Wrote: didn't know that was even an option until now

It works well enough for the Rpi3B+ I have as I prefer an SSD over an SDcard storage solution, but the overall speed of the 3B+ is lacking in all connection aspects compared to the 4B. If that is not your main concern, the 3B+ will do fine running Raspbian or Ubuntu Mate with an SSD.

RE: Artwork loading slow - Son_Of_Diablo - 2019-12-07

(2019-12-07, 11:53)Klojum Wrote: It works well enough for the Rpi3B+ I have as I prefer an SSD over an SDcard storage solution, but the overall speed of the 3B+ is lacking in all connection aspects compared to the 4B. If that is not your main concern, the 3B+ will do fine running Raspbian or Ubuntu Mate with an SSD.

Yea I mean, if I have to replace the SDcard in the 3B+ anyways, then I might as well look into getting an SSD, then I have that as an upgrade option for the 4B when that gets the capability and the new SDcard I'm getting for the 4B can then go to the 3B+... If I haven't replaced it at that point in time.

RE: Artwork loading slow - Klojum - 2019-12-07

Just make sure you pick a USB/SATA adapter that also has TRIM support.

RE: Artwork loading slow - Son_Of_Diablo - 2019-12-07

(2019-12-07, 12:29)Klojum Wrote: Just make sure you pick a USB/SATA adapter that also has TRIM support.
I will now, thanks Smile

RE: Artwork loading slow - rmrector - 2019-12-09

Ya, the SanDisk will likely work better.