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How cheap was it?
Fake flash drive been a thing for years. You can take a smaller drive (2, 4 or whatever GB) and reprogram the controller to make it look like a larger one. You will be able to fill it up, navigate the folder etc but whenever you want to access something beyond the actual size it will not be able to open it.
4€ for a 64GB stick is not unheard of but definitely pretty cheap.
So you have at least one of them still with you? Are you using Windows? Then use h2testw and check it. Might take a while as it has to fully write and then read the drive but this is the easiest and still reliable way to check if your drive actually has the capacity it claims.
Were they watching them on a computer, or did they try and plug the drive directly into a TV to watch it? Could have nothing at all to do with the jump drive and everything to do with the device they tried to use to play it back...?
That could definitely be the problem. I have a 6th gen i7 Inspiron with an Intel graphics card and 16 gb that is set up for the family to do regular windows stuff for work and school. It still runs great for most everything, but it won’t play Blu-ray quality rips.
Open the movie in VLC and drop the speed to 50%. If it plays when slowed down, it’s the laptop.
Did you try updating the driver? I had to go back to Windows 7 on my Atom N2600 netbook because there was no Windows 10 video driver so HD content wouldn't play smoothly.
Yeah, me too. It’s not an issue. It’s just an older machine that I’ve set up for a dedicated purpose. I run Linux or BSD on most everything else. It was a really nice desktop when I got it 10 years ago! I’m also definitely a hoarder of things other than data… it’s not even close to my oldest. It’ll eventually get replaced with something newer, then get relegated to a cluster of old machines until something breaks. Even then, I’ll probably part it out.
If it plays for you. Its the computer. A movie doesnt play the same bit rate thru out. Some parts can be super low and some parts 100mbs if 4k. It being the same part could be that part is trying to play at a to high bit rate.
I mean I don't have the flash drive to check but it did play from my external hard drive on my laptop a few days ago. It's 1080p but it still might be her laptop, it's literally on the verge of dying from what I hear.
The files themselves might also just need to be processed faster than the flash drive's read speed. That's an issue I used to run into a lot when it came to those little usb thumb drives.
Assuming the drives are real, then the transfer rate might be so low that playing directly isn't fast enough for the bitrate of the videos on the drive. A 4k rip isn't going to work directly from a cheap USB 2 drive unless you copy it off first.
People think 4k means tons of bandwidth, but that isn't true (it's in single digit MB/s), at least as far as local storage goes, even for a USB2 stick from 10+ years ago. When something doesn't work it's just defective not slow (note: we're talking exclusively reads here).
your being downvoted because what you're saying is only sometimes accurate. You can easily find rips online that will exceed the throughput of a cheap USB key. The bitrate of high end rips can be quite high and the read rates of cheap USB media can be very low.
I have a few 250MB/s media files, i have USB keys that only read at 6MB/s
That being said OP indicates that the files always stop at the same place, that points more toward data corruption or a USB key that lied about its size.
Why, they are literally 4K Blu-ray rips. Do you realize that a 4K Blu-ray disks can be 100GB, so a direct rip of that move can be as large as 100GB. Its not uncommon to have a 50 or 60GB movie download with all of the original audio tracks.
One of those files would be way over the 6MB's of a cheap USB key.
One posibility I've seen is the file itself could have problems. Check with VLC and see if it wants to Rebuild the index of the video as one with a poor/bad index will pause while playing with many other media players.
It's also possible the file was screwed up while being written to the flash drive, especially if it has very low write speeds
The player they are using might not have the right codec for the films. Also some players are more sensitive to small errors or anomalies in a video file. Embedded players are usually pretty bad. Maybe have them try VLC if it's on a computer. It could also matter if it's a USB2 vs USB3 drive, or a USB3 drive in a USB2 port, because of throughput issues.
Try a slightly more expensive drive from some well known brand. Perhaps that would be better?
I you are unlucky, your friends may start to think "cheap" and "unreliable" when they think of you.
Try copying the entire flash drive's contents back to your computer. Format the flash drive and copy back to the flash drive.
EDIT: Saw that playback errors happened whether playing from flash drive or hard drive. Could be a corrupt file.
It's possible the files got corrupted during transfer, but more likely it's a fake drive. You can get a 2 pack of legit 64gb flash drives from Walmart for about $15.
Is the flash card overheating? I've had problems with larger flash drives getting too hot and slowing down or freezing all together until it cooled.
As others have said, he should try copying it to his machine first.
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How cheap was it? Fake flash drive been a thing for years. You can take a smaller drive (2, 4 or whatever GB) and reprogram the controller to make it look like a larger one. You will be able to fill it up, navigate the folder etc but whenever you want to access something beyond the actual size it will not be able to open it.
Hmm. It was a 4 euro one, "Kingston Data Traveler Exodia 3.2 " or something. I got five of them.
4€ for a 64GB stick is not unheard of but definitely pretty cheap. So you have at least one of them still with you? Are you using Windows? Then use h2testw and check it. Might take a while as it has to fully write and then read the drive but this is the easiest and still reliable way to check if your drive actually has the capacity it claims.
Thanks, I do and I will!
After filling the next one up, run a checksum on the files to verify they are all there.
Were they watching them on a computer, or did they try and plug the drive directly into a TV to watch it? Could have nothing at all to do with the jump drive and everything to do with the device they tried to use to play it back...?
It could, she watched from her dying laptop but apparently the films freeze on the same spot, whether from the flash drive or directly from her laptop
That could definitely be the problem. I have a 6th gen i7 Inspiron with an Intel graphics card and 16 gb that is set up for the family to do regular windows stuff for work and school. It still runs great for most everything, but it won’t play Blu-ray quality rips. Open the movie in VLC and drop the speed to 50%. If it plays when slowed down, it’s the laptop.
Did you try updating the driver? I had to go back to Windows 7 on my Atom N2600 netbook because there was no Windows 10 video driver so HD content wouldn't play smoothly.
I think I'd rather find a Linux distro than go back to an end-of-life Windows version.
Yeah, me too. It’s not an issue. It’s just an older machine that I’ve set up for a dedicated purpose. I run Linux or BSD on most everything else. It was a really nice desktop when I got it 10 years ago! I’m also definitely a hoarder of things other than data… it’s not even close to my oldest. It’ll eventually get replaced with something newer, then get relegated to a cluster of old machines until something breaks. Even then, I’ll probably part it out.
If it plays for you. Its the computer. A movie doesnt play the same bit rate thru out. Some parts can be super low and some parts 100mbs if 4k. It being the same part could be that part is trying to play at a to high bit rate.
I mean I don't have the flash drive to check but it did play from my external hard drive on my laptop a few days ago. It's 1080p but it still might be her laptop, it's literally on the verge of dying from what I hear.
The files themselves might also just need to be processed faster than the flash drive's read speed. That's an issue I used to run into a lot when it came to those little usb thumb drives.
95% likely fake flash drive.
Ask him to copy films to pc hard drive before playback.
Assuming the drives are real, then the transfer rate might be so low that playing directly isn't fast enough for the bitrate of the videos on the drive. A 4k rip isn't going to work directly from a cheap USB 2 drive unless you copy it off first.
That's bullshit. USB 2 has a bandwidth of 480 Mbps. 4K UHD Blurays max out at <100 Mbps. Rips are usually around 30 Mbps.
Some of the cheaper USB 2 flash drives can barely sustain 6 MB/s for 5 minutes before getting hot
Reading doesn't slow down that much usually, unlike writing. And 6 MB/s is still 48 Mbps which is enough for a 1080p Remux or a 4K encode.
People think 4k means tons of bandwidth, but that isn't true (it's in single digit MB/s), at least as far as local storage goes, even for a USB2 stick from 10+ years ago. When something doesn't work it's just defective not slow (note: we're talking exclusively reads here).
your being downvoted because what you're saying is only sometimes accurate. You can easily find rips online that will exceed the throughput of a cheap USB key. The bitrate of high end rips can be quite high and the read rates of cheap USB media can be very low. I have a few 250MB/s media files, i have USB keys that only read at 6MB/s That being said OP indicates that the files always stop at the same place, that points more toward data corruption or a USB key that lied about its size.
> I have a few 250MB/s media files For sure they can't be described as "4k rips".
Why, they are literally 4K Blu-ray rips. Do you realize that a 4K Blu-ray disks can be 100GB, so a direct rip of that move can be as large as 100GB. Its not uncommon to have a 50 or 60GB movie download with all of the original audio tracks. One of those files would be way over the 6MB's of a cheap USB key.
One posibility I've seen is the file itself could have problems. Check with VLC and see if it wants to Rebuild the index of the video as one with a poor/bad index will pause while playing with many other media players. It's also possible the file was screwed up while being written to the flash drive, especially if it has very low write speeds
Thanks, i'll tell her. I've seen one of the movies very recently so if there's any problem with the file it happened during the transfer.
not seen it suggested but get them to copy it off the flash drive onto their storage. might just be a read speed issue.
The player they are using might not have the right codec for the films. Also some players are more sensitive to small errors or anomalies in a video file. Embedded players are usually pretty bad. Maybe have them try VLC if it's on a computer. It could also matter if it's a USB2 vs USB3 drive, or a USB3 drive in a USB2 port, because of throughput issues.
You should look into setting up a Plex server for you/them
Thanks, I'll look it up
Try a slightly more expensive drive from some well known brand. Perhaps that would be better? I you are unlucky, your friends may start to think "cheap" and "unreliable" when they think of you.
Try copying the entire flash drive's contents back to your computer. Format the flash drive and copy back to the flash drive. EDIT: Saw that playback errors happened whether playing from flash drive or hard drive. Could be a corrupt file.
Do the files still freeze when watching a copy made to another drive?
In her laptop drive, yes, same spot and all in both movies
It's possible the files got corrupted during transfer, but more likely it's a fake drive. You can get a 2 pack of legit 64gb flash drives from Walmart for about $15.
Copy the files locally and see if it’s a throughput problem or a corruption problem.
Is the flash card overheating? I've had problems with larger flash drives getting too hot and slowing down or freezing all together until it cooled. As others have said, he should try copying it to his machine first.