Playback Problems

[RichieB]

TV-Server Version:
MediaPortal Version:
MediaPortal Skin:
Windows Version:
CPU Type:
HDD:
Memory:
Motherboard:
Video Card:
Video Card Driver:
Sound Card:
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card:
1. TV Card Type:
1. TV Card Driver:
2. TV Card:
2. TV Card Type:
2. TV Card Driver:
3. TV Card:
3. TV Card Type:
3. TV Card Driver:
4. TV Card:
4. TV Card Type:
4. TV Card Driver:
MPEG2 Video Codec:
MPEG2 Audio Codec:
h.264 Video Codec:
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case:
Cooling:
Power Supply:
Remote:
TV:
TV - HTPC Connection:

[RichieB]

Hi All, Please Help

I've been running MediaPortal (Single TVServer and Client) on a dedicated PC for about four months now without any major problems. Everything work(ed) great until about two weeks ago. At that stage I had v1.0 RC1 installed.

After recording a TV program, attempting to view it resulted in no playback (nothing crashed and MP still ran fine, navigation worked - no apparent fault) but it would not play-back the (any) recorded program. Same thing when trying to view other videos. Playing the files in Windows with WMP worked fine, proving that the recorded files are okay. Its only MP that didn't play them.

I then attempted to view live TV with the same result - no playback/viewing. I could find no hardware faults and everything else looked fine. MP has no problem recording, proving that the tuner card is okay.

Eventually, I re-installed just MP (downloaded v1.0 RC2) and everything was back to normal again. recording, playback, pictures, music, videos - ALL GOOD.

Last night (Thursday) it happened again - No playback of any video files through MP. Again, everything else still works normally (navigation, recording, etc). Nothing else has changed on the machine, so why has this happened after four months of perfect operation? I was very happy with MP while it lasted!!

TV-Server Version: 1.0 RC2 and RC1
MediaPortal Version: 1.0 RC2 and RC1
Windows Version: Windows XP Prof SP2
CPU Type: AMD
HDD: 80GB Boot & 500GB Storage
1. TV Card: Hauppage HVR-2200

Any ideas will be welcome.
Richard

[Paranoid Delusion]

Hi Richard

Is this machine connected to the internet, does it use windows update, including driver updates.

Also any new software may also have a influence.

These can be one of the major reasons on why a functional system suddenly stops working, if you rule both these out, let us know.

Regards

[RichieB]

Hi Ray,

No Windows updates were installed before the first occurrence of the problem (I have manual updates enabled). However, after re-installing MP the first time, nine windows updates were installed and everything was still fine with MP at that point. No further updates occurred prior to the second playback failure, so I don't think it had anything to do with that.

As far as any other software goes, I only use this PC as our media centre, so I have not installed any further apps prior to the problem occurring. MP was working fine with what was installed up until that point.

I also ran the "filmerit" application to check my installed codecs and although it found several problems, it did not solve the problem. I also disabled my firewall/anti-virus (ZoneAlarm), thinking something may have changed/updated there - again no joy. The only thing that worked was re-installing MP.

Now, I've just spent the last hour re-installing MP again (with the above-mentioned updates) and all is well again.

On that note, exactly which MP configuration files need to be backed-up to restore all my settings upon re-installation of MP? I backed-up all the *.XML files, but still had to configure several things (TV server name, file locations, etc). This is a pain if I need to re-install MP periodically.

Thanks for your time - I really do not want to abandon MP as its worked great so far.
Best Regards
Richard

[RichieB]

Okay, it did it again last night. The last time I re-installed MP, I disabled Windows updates completely and killed connection to the internet. This is getting frustrating - I'm going to look for other media software. Maybe a Linux-based package. I don't get much help here either.......

[geov]

Hi RichieB, the fact that your problem only happens sometime shows that it could be only one of two things....that I can think of...

1) Virus
2) Heat

I had huge problems with heat in the past, have you tried shutting your PC down for an hour, and then trying again.....

[RichieB]

Hi Geov,

I ran a virus scan and found nothing. Tonight I'll shut the machine off for a while as you suggest and see what happens.

Dankie (from an ex-SA'n) !!

[RichieB]

Hi Again,

Okay, I followed Geov's and Paranoid Delusions's advice and:

1) Rechecked for a virus - found nothing.
2) Turned the machine off for a few hours and even removed the side cover - no joy. Nothing was overly-warm to warrant concern.
3) Windows Updates are off.

Once again, the following points:
1) Everything (seems) to work fine. The PC boots fine and starts MP (TV Server and MP) without any problems.
2) MP runs fine - all navigation works, I can see TV channels and EPG, can see videos, recorded stuff, music and photos.
3) Recording two channels simultaneously works no problem. The files are present after recording and I can view them in Real Player, WMP, etc. Nothing wrong with the video and audio quality at all (TV Server is okay???).
4) Cannot playback any Videos or Recorded TV at all - the menu just stays where it is, no error messages (MP Client at fault???). Viewing Photos is fine, but Music also does not play.

Here are the log files before I re-install MP again for the third time. Maybe someone is able to pick something up from the logs.

I would really, really appreciate any help with this - I really do not want to use any other media software - MP has been absolutely brilliant up until now.

Best Regards
RichieB

[Paranoid Delusion]

Hi RichieB

Can you check in your mediaportal folder for base.dll (C:\Program Files\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal), yours is missing according to the logs, so something is deleting files, and it will not be MP doing it.

Regards

[RichieB]

Hi again Ray,

That did it !!!

By the way, didn't you mean "BASS.dll"? It was missing from the MP folder and I managed to get a copy from another PC that I'd previously loaded MP onto. Playback of TV, Recorded TV, Movies and Music is back.

Now I need to figure out what's stealing it from my media PC , which seems to be occurring on a weekly basis.

Thanks for your time and advice. I'll keep you posted on any further findings.



RichieB