Black screen after channel change... (1 Viewer)

[jhb]

Frenzy:
Here is a new log with the same problem using the MPV and MPA codecs. As I said I have tried almost all codec combinations...

Union:
Interesting that you noted that you couldn't play recorded TV either. That definitly points towards a bug in the TS reader. I tried this also and I couldn't see recorded TV either until the client was rebooted...

The only thing we seem to have in common is that we have the same generation of AMD CPUs...

 

[jhb]

By the way, can someone take away the "NoBug" icon. More and more is pointing towards a bug...

 

[argypak]

Could this be a problem with the video card
I have two clients using MP 1.0
One has an nvidia 8600GT and the other has an ATI 1650pro
The one with the Ati Card has this problem. I have tried all drivers from 8.10 to the latest to no avail.
Someone else mentioned that they are using a nvidia fx5200 with is not HD compatible.
I don't not but maybe there is something that??
I don't think its a driver issue. I know its not an FDSHOW issue as I did a clean install and it was happeing before FDSHOW was loaded.
Maybe the player has an issue with ATI cards and non HD compatible cards??

 

[jhb]

argypak: I don't think it is the videocard. Happens with two different ATI-cards and one Nvidia. And without HD-material.

As I write earlier, the only thing that I and Union have in common is that we both are running on the same generation AMD-processors and that both of us has a dedicated server in the network, with the client failing...

I still go for the TS reader. There are a lot of people having problem with that in other scenarios (HD material, together with FFD-show etc), which leads me to believe that the TS reader is the source for the problems...
...and all of the evidence that we have are pointing to that to (not working with recorded material in TS files after the error has occurred, but DVD, DIVX, x264 material is still working).

 

[argypak]

About the v/c. I don't think its the video card either.
Just pointing out that the in these forums there are many people with ATI cards who have this issue.
The link with the nvidia card is that it is the FX5500 or 5200, not sure, but both cards don't support direct x 9c.
I really think the issue is with the direct show player for media portal. Something about it does not agree with the non directx 9c cards and ATI cards in general.

These are just my observations..

The machine that I have having an issue with is a HP machine. D530.
It has onboard graphics which is disabled, but the driver still loads.
To me it seems that while the picture is blank on the ATI AGP card that is installed in it, somehow it may have been getting sent to the onboard intel graphics controller??


I think I read somewhere that the onboard intel graphics have caused a few people grief.

 

[jhb]

Well...
...overlay graphics (incliding the menues) are working for me, so it it only the TS-based video stream that is black.

 

[frenzy]

Frenzy:
Here is a new log with the same problem using the MPV and MPA codecs. As I said I have tried almost all codec combinations...

Union:
Interesting that you noted that you couldn't play recorded TV either. That definitly points towards a bug in the TS reader. I tried this also and I couldn't see recorded TV either until the client was rebooted...

The only thing we seem to have in common is that we have the same generation of AMD CPUs...

Well you can't really say what you have in common since Union hasn't posted any logs. I am certainly not able to pinpoint the problem but I would suggest that you disable all plugins and turn them on one by one to see whether one of them is creating the problem (especially scheduler). Also check your resolutions. Don't resize at all from the screen manager. Also don't use any post processing. Like this you will be able to see if something like that is causing the problem.

Last but not least: Disable everything in CatalystCC and put the rest to auto in 3D and Video settings.

 

[jhb]

And here is a new log with the same problem still occurring. In this case all plugins except TV-client and Home screen (that could not be disabled - another bug ;-) were disabled.

In this case I took the log after changing channel so that the screen went black and then I started a recorded program that then was not working either.

 

[frenzy]

Last idea since I see you are time-shifting to the default location: Try to run MP as administrator and try to time-shift to a different folder. But I 'm afraid I can't help you more than that.

As a last note I would suggest that we refrain from filing our problems as bugreports and instead post in the support section initially. False bug reports slow the process down and if it is a bug it will find its way to the devs from there. This section is for people who can reproduce the problem at will and who can describe the steps it takes to reproduce it to others.

 

[jhb]

Breakthrough!!!



I have tested and tested and now I think I have found the reason that the problem occurred more frequently under 1.0 than earlier.

I recently bought a new TV-card (leadtek 1000S) and with that one I changed the priority for my FloppyDTV (used to have highest priority).

I've done som extra testing now and it seems like it is much easier to trigger the problem when switching channels that are on different TV-cards. I now changed so that I am only using the channels from one TV-card and now I had to really push it to be able to trigger the black screen (managed to do it though by selecting some channels that I have no subscription for). However when changing channels (with subscription on all of them) randomly including switching MUXes all the time, I did not manage to trigger the problem even once.

The reason I am having two TV-cards is that I have three clients and on top of that recording in the server. I have used the Leadtek card with highest priority to be able to use the floppyDTV for the encrypted channels when watching unencrypted on another TV-set.

This also explains why it sometimes has been harder to trigger the problem - If I have two clients active it is almost impossible to trigger the problem, because then one card will be locked to one TV-set (as long as I am not watching channels on the same MUX on both TVs).

I have had preloading active. When I turned it off, every channel change I did that triggered a new TV-card to be selected gave black screen. And when I turned it back on and changed the priority of the TV-cards the problem was gone!

I am later going to set up a channel-group with only the free channels to try to see if it is possible to trigger the problem while only using the Leadtek card...

Conclusion:
Switcing channels on multiseat (separate client and server) with different TV-cards being used before and after the channel change is the easiest way to trigger the problem...


Previous post that got automerged...

I've tried to change the time-shift buffer...
...it was already a specific location, but now I tried with another without luck.

I tried changing recording format from TS to MPEG, but that didn't help when trying to play recorded TV (recorded in MPEG instead of TS format) after the black screen has occurred.

BTW, in my prevous post I forgot to mention that I haven't changed anything from default in Catalyst. I double-checked it and when I did I got straight into the "first time guide".

I now understand what you mean with how bug-reports are to be handled. It is however not crystal clear when entering the forum...

Regarding to be able to reproduce the problem:
- I have no problem doing that. The problem occurs when changing channel in every 1/1 to 1/50 times. For most of the time the problem occurs before 10 channel changes have been done, but once in a while the problem takes up to 50 times or more before happening. This makes it hard for me to say whether it is fixed or not...
...it might occur again after rather a long time. And then the next time I turn on the client it occurs immidiately and almost every time a channel change occurs.

Another thing that might be of interest is that I have rather poor TV reception (have already the biggest antenna with the best amplifier ;-). I have 80km to the transmitter and a few trees rather close. Could it be disturbancies in the signal while changing the channel that makes the reader/codec to take a leave? I know that the quality of my TV-reception varies a lot over time and with the wheater...