Calling all MP New Zealanders (Both of you!!) (5 Viewers)

[Bleazle]

Thanks for all the info! I was actually heading down that track anyway but your reply gave me a couple of pointers

Unfortunately (as I'm sure I have made very clear in my last few posts...) this codec thing is a bit beyond my self taught computer "skills" so while I could get Graphedit to play a file directly and see what filters were being used (not the MPC filter as it turns out ) I couldn't work out how to see what was being used if the same file was being played via MediaPortal.

Checked my codecs with Filmerit and they were fine - only 2 errors which were 2 Hauppauge codecs that I don't (as far as I know) make use of anyway. I couldn't change the merit of the MPC filter in Filmerit or Radlight either - both came up saying it couldn't be changed

So, long story short - I couldn't work out what was going wrong so I reinstalled my backup image, did the stuff covered in the previous few posts and now MKV, recorded TV, AVI etc are all playing fine again (time to do another backup!).

It would've been good to have actually worked out what had gone wrong (and how??) but it was taking up too much time (I am supposed to be working after all - getting stuck working on MediaPortal is one of the benefits/pitfalls of working from home..). I think I'll steer clear of letting Windows Media Player fire up because from when I tried updating my GPU's drivers I checked something using Media Player and ended up having to do a "rollback" because once again no video files would play - there's something wierd going on there...

Dave

 

[Pommedan]

Cool. Glad you got it sorted. Codecs can be a pain in the ass to sort out sometimes, ive spent literally 8 hours solid staring at the screen sorting out codec issues with MP... but there is quite a sense of achievement when you finally figure it out.. till it happens the next time anyway.

Cheers

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Bleazle

If you are concerned about ease of use codecs, then I could not recommend shark007's Vista codec pack enough, dead simple to setup and the codec you chose as default in its config, will be the only one available in MP, so no merit problems ever, it just works with both windows and MP.

 

[Bleazle]

Cool. Glad you got it sorted...

Not quite as it turns out...

.. Codecs can be a pain in the ass to sort out....

You got that right!

..but there is quite a sense of achievement when you finally figure it out....

I wouldn't know (yet..) ....

..I could not recommend shark007's Vista codec pack enough, dead simple to setup and the codec you chose as default in its config, will be the only one available in MP, so no merit problems ever, it just works with both windows and MP.

OK, another update - so as per my post above I got everything working again and made a backup image then went to play recorded TV later in the day and no video files would play again - faaaaaark! So I figured I'd give Sharkys Windows 7 pack a go (thanks for the pointer PD). I didn't really know what to do (read that as "I had no idea what to do") so I clicked "Sharkys recommended settings" went to MP and everything played again - yipeee! Made another backup image...

Tried to play a file after dinner (after watching several AVI files earlier) - same old story - no video files playing again (other than live TV which is fine - which seems weird to me because that's the first thing I would expect to have problems..) - this is getting boring.

Stuffed around for ages trying to see what was happening - no luck (WAF at new lows - sent her to bed) - restored the previous image, and STILL NO FILES WOULD PLAY - wtf? it was working when I made the backup!

The thought flashed through my head that maybe it was something to do with my graphics card, but that can't be the case because every file I try works fine (without exception) as long as MediaPortal isn't being used... ...

This is at a point where I should start a new thread and post some logs which I'll do next time it happens (after numerous restarts and fiddling I somehow managed to get it working again last night so I don't want to touch anything at the moment) - hopefully it'll turn out to be something really simple...

Can anyone tell me how to use Graphedit to see what is being used when I play a file through MP? Will it show anything when MP jams and I have to close it via the Task Manager?

Cheers

Bleazle

 

[kiwijunglist]

@Beazle

MP Config -> General
Disable always on top
Choose to start MP in windowed mode
Disable dynamic refresh rate changer
Save + Close

Run mediaportal, start playing a video.

Run graphedit
Choose "connect to remote graph"

... How come your not SAFing?

Also: try set pixel mode to Full RGB in ATI CCC

 

[Bleazle]

Thanks for that

... How come your not SAFing?....

... maybe the posts I've read are out of date or being posted by people with strange set-ups the cause conflicts (like mine? haha) but I get the impression that it's more hassle than it's worth? All I want MediaPortal to do is play Live TV, Recorded TV, AVI files and MKV (or MP4) files - I don't use Online Videos and YouTube fm etc so I want to keep this thing as "clean" as possible. But never say never, at this rate I might have to bite the bullet and give SAF a go! But will that help if (as it appears) MP is doing something which is stopping the files from playing? I'd still have the same problem wouldn't I?

 

[kiwijunglist]

SAF would be the same about of hassle as shark's codec pack, it's just 1 click installation. it sounds like your setup might be quite messy now as you had what ever codecs you originally installed, and then have shark's pack on top of that. I also like a clean setup, and originally i individually copied each codec to the system directory and regsvr32'd each one individually, but now just use SAF as you can see what's inside it. SAF wont be guaranteed to work unless you run it on a system with no other codecs installed.

 

[Pommedan]

@ Bleazle ok. Rather than flood your system with codecs. Lets try to break it down.

1. Run a video or recorded TV file which DOES NOT PLAY in MP in Graphedit. What is the list of items/codecs it brings up both for video and sound, and does it play in graphedit?.

 

[Bleazle]

Appreciate all the help here guys!

Right now MP is playing all of my video files so I figured I'd run Graphedit and take some captures so that "we" ( ) have got something to compare with when it turns to poo again. I've done everything kiwijunglist covered but when I click "connect to remote graph" a dialogue box comes up with some meaningless text in it, I click "connect" then nothing happens in Graphedit I'm using Monogram GraphStudio64 (Windows 7 x64). I can get Graphedit to render a file directly without a problem though...

EDIT: Actually it turns out that I can only render some files directly - others are coming up with "can't render file" -looks like only AVI files will render...

EDIT 2: I think I've found out why the remote graph isn't working - but have been told to eat dinner now.... better try to keep the wife happy...will get back to this later...

 

[TommySharp]

I feel for you Bleazle...... At least I'm not the only one who struggles with codecs.....