Z9X Pro (v1.0.95) — Random 1-2 sec freezes over SMB, every 4K remux — LLDV/custom EDID

Issue:

Freezes for 1-2 seconds then continues playing perfectly fine, happening at least once and sometimes twice per movie. Timing is random — not at the same point in a given file on rewatch, and not tied to any particular scene complexity (happens in both high and low bitrate moments).

What I’ve ruled out:

• Not file-specific — happens across every movie, not just certain files

• Drive health — verified 100% good via DriveDx (SMART data clean)

• Not a spin-down issue — “put hard disks to sleep” is unchecked in macOS energy settings

• Not Time Machine or Spotlight contention — Time Machine backups are off

• Not USB hub contention — drive is directly connected to the Mac mini, no hub involved

Has anyone else had this issue and know of a fix. Let me know if I can provide any other relevant information to help troubleshoot.

Thank you

 

If it happens to every file you can pretty much rule out the box.

I'd try NFS.