On the netflix player, after the video starts press shift+Alt and left mouse click. A diagnostic window comes up.Click stream manager.
If you let the video play, you will find that buffer rate is less than playing rate.
To fix this, check the manual selection box and increase the buffer rate to 1750 or more and pause the video for a moment or slide the progress bar a little bit.
I have the exact same problem with watching netflix movies online. It started to occur about 2 weeks back.I have Dell E1405 which is 4 and half years old.
I called netflix customer service and they pointed me out that my CPU Usage is tanking up to 90% as soon as streaming starts. I am not sure if it is hardware issue at my end or some software issue with the player and new windows updates. In some other related recent post I read that CPU temperature was going high along with CPU Usage for someone with same issue. He tried a basic laptop cooler and it fixed the issue for him. So I guess CPU is not handling the netflix player properly.
Any solution to the problem will be highly appreciated.
I am sorry to read that you as well are having problems with streaming video. Since this is a recent issue with the notebook have you tried system restore, restoring the notebook to a point saved before the problem started happening? The following link has more info on system restore.
Since you are concerned with possible heat issues, taking compressed air and cleaning up the vents on the notebook may help. I suggest running the fan and thermal extended diagnostics and see if there is a problem with the cooling fan. Once in the extended diagnostics, choose custom tests and then look for fan and if present thermal tests. The following link gives instructions on loading extended diagnostics.
Since this is a fairly new occurrence, I suggest thinking back at what software may have been installed just prior to this started happening. Did Windows install any updates, was any drivers updated, have you installed any specific programs at the time? They may be clues on what is happening.
As I mentioned, if you already have not done so, try reinstalling the video and audio drivers and see if that helps.
I installed a fresh copy of windows 7 on my laptop and updated the video driver but no luck.
The problem is only with Netflix streaming. All other streaming works perfectly fine. But other people in my area are not experiencing problems with Netflix.
Thank you for your suggestion. I will try that. I also noticed that if you leave your computer off for a few hours and then restart it and try to watch a movie, it seems to work for some movies but not for others.
I tried your suggestion last night and it seemed to work, although I had to put my buffer rate to about 560 for good viewing. Hopefully this will keep on working! :) Thanks very much!!!
mathurs
3 Posts
1
May 1st, 2011 17:00
I found a workaround for this problem.
On the netflix player, after the video starts press shift+Alt and left mouse click. A diagnostic window comes up.Click stream manager.
If you let the video play, you will find that buffer rate is less than playing rate.
To fix this, check the manual selection box and increase the buffer rate to 1750 or more and pause the video for a moment or slide the progress bar a little bit.
This worked for me. Hope it help you too !
DELL-Terry B
4 Operator
•
3.5K Posts
0
April 28th, 2011 11:00
Since the problem seems to be worse in Windows you may want to reinstall the audio and video drivers.
Here is the driver for Creative labs Audigy sound card
Here is a link to the driver if you have integrated Sigmatel sound
This is the link for the Intel integrated video
I hope that this helps.
TB
mathurs
3 Posts
0
April 29th, 2011 01:00
I have the exact same problem with watching netflix movies online. It started to occur about 2 weeks back.I have Dell E1405 which is 4 and half years old.
I called netflix customer service and they pointed me out that my CPU Usage is tanking up to 90% as soon as streaming starts. I am not sure if it is hardware issue at my end or some software issue with the player and new windows updates. In some other related recent post I read that CPU temperature was going high along with CPU Usage for someone with same issue. He tried a basic laptop cooler and it fixed the issue for him. So I guess CPU is not handling the netflix player properly.
Any solution to the problem will be highly appreciated.
Thanks
DELL-Terry B
4 Operator
•
3.5K Posts
0
April 29th, 2011 09:00
Mathurs
I am sorry to read that you as well are having problems with streaming video. Since this is a recent issue with the notebook have you tried system restore, restoring the notebook to a point saved before the problem started happening? The following link has more info on system restore.
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/detectos?type=force&lx=361058&lv=325300&l7=362029
Since you are concerned with possible heat issues, taking compressed air and cleaning up the vents on the notebook may help. I suggest running the fan and thermal extended diagnostics and see if there is a problem with the cooling fan. Once in the extended diagnostics, choose custom tests and then look for fan and if present thermal tests. The following link gives instructions on loading extended diagnostics.
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?&docid=DSN_155502&isLegacy=true
Since this is a fairly new occurrence, I suggest thinking back at what software may have been installed just prior to this started happening. Did Windows install any updates, was any drivers updated, have you installed any specific programs at the time? They may be clues on what is happening.
As I mentioned, if you already have not done so, try reinstalling the video and audio drivers and see if that helps.
TB
mathurs
3 Posts
0
April 30th, 2011 02:00
I installed a fresh copy of windows 7 on my laptop and updated the video driver but no luck.
The problem is only with Netflix streaming. All other streaming works perfectly fine. But other people in my area are not experiencing problems with Netflix.
No clue what to do next.
abaksh1
3 Posts
1
May 1st, 2011 19:00
Thank you for your suggestion. I will try that. I also noticed that if you leave your computer off for a few hours and then restart it and try to watch a movie, it seems to work for some movies but not for others.
abaksh1
3 Posts
0
May 4th, 2011 07:00
I tried your suggestion last night and it seemed to work, although I had to put my buffer rate to about 560 for good viewing. Hopefully this will keep on working! :) Thanks very much!!!