cannot play any .ts files (1 Viewer)

[ternerito]

MediaPortal Version: 1.0.2
MediaPortal Skin: StreamedMP 0.8.448
Windows Version: Windows 7 Ultimate x86 RTM
CPU Type: Athlon 7750
HDD: WD 640 black
Memory: 4GB
Motherboard: Asus M2A-VM
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD4850 passive
Video Card Driver: ATI 8.650.0.0
Sound Card: Creative X-Fi Extreme (PCI-E)
Sound Card AC3: Creative X-Fi Extreme (PCI-E)
Sound Card Driver: Creative 6.10.0.209
1. TV Card: n/a
1. TV Card Type: n/a
1. TV Card Driver: n/a
2. TV Card: n/a
2. TV Card Type: n/a
2. TV Card Driver: n/a
3. TV Card: n/a
3. TV Card Type: n/a
3. TV Card Driver: n/a
4. TV Card: n/a
4. TV Card Type: n/a
4. TV Card Driver: n/a
MPEG2 Video Codec: ffdshow
MPEG2 Audio Codec: ffdshow
h.264 Video Codec: MPC Video Dec
Satelite/CableTV Provider: n/a
HTPC Case: Antec NSK 2480
Cooling: stock
Power Supply: Antec 380W
Remote: Harmony 550
TV: Panasonic plasma 50"
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI

This is a fresh install of Windows 7 Ult. x86, fully patched. To install MP, I followed the AVS MP install guide here. There are no TV cards and no server installed: this box is just for watching media which is stored elsewhere.

I cannot play .ts files. I never get any video, MP just sits there for a few seconds and nothing happens. The video in these ts files is H264, audio ac3.

If I try Graphedit, I get a popup "some of the streams in this movie are in an unsupported format". My MP config / video / player has the MPC video decoder set for H264. I can watch any other H264 content as mkv, wmv or avi no problem. Also these same .ts files will work with VNC or MPC-HC. Any ideas?

Luca

 

[ternerito]

Anyone?

 

[Spragleknas]

Hi.
For .ts-files, codecs set in TV is used.
Btw: An easy "get you going" tip is to use SAF (pref. "unlocked", but this req. MP 1.1).

 

[ternerito]

Hi.
For .ts-files, codecs set in TV is used.
Btw: An easy "get you going" tip is to use SAF (pref. "unlocked", but this req. MP 1.1).

Thank you for replying. I am reading the SAF thread - though it may take me a while... This problem seems to be caused by TsReader.ax and the MPC codec for H264 content. There is a thread about it here.

The thread is about a year old, but it describes the same issue I am having. Also, if I rename the extension of these .ts files to .mkv, they play fine in MP (Haali takes care of it). I don't mind renaming my .ts files to .mkv as a quick fix, for the time being. Maybe this issue can be looked at in the future?

 

[Spragleknas]

It is not a bug ... its a feature!


Seriously, I think this is "by design", but I can do some digging. I doubt any changes will be done before 1.1 - maybe even not after.

(I might forget, so feel free to remind me ).

 

[ternerito]

It is not a bug ... its a feature!


Seriously, I think this is "by design", but I can do some digging. I doubt any changes will be done before 1.1 - maybe even not after.

(I might forget, so feel free to remind me ).

A feature uh? Where did I hear this one before... The relevant bit in the thread I linked is this:

The MPC-HC standalone codec has never worked with the tsReader for H.264 video. Simply because this type of video gets a GUID of {8D2D71CB-243F-45E3-B2D8-5FD7967EC09B} which the codec doesn't accept as an input.

I've asked Casimir (developer of MPC-HC) to add this GUID to the list so the file would be able to play. Today I tested a version of the coed which accepts this GUID. The file starts playing but at a very low framerate (in sw mode).
When I activated DXVA the file starts skipping frames like crazy and ultimately stops.

I hope that Casimir can find the problem and we can simply start using one codec (with HW accell) for all video files.
But I think that some properties of the video file are not correct in tsReader as well. For instance, the aspect ratio is incorrectly detected, The video pin out gives me values of dwAspectRatioX 10, dwAspectRatioY 9, but the file is 1280x720 (correctly detected), 16:9 ratio !

So, all in all I think the problem lies on both sides.

To be continued...

I have one more related question that perhaps you can (or someone else) can answer. If I open MP Configuration / Television, the H264 Video Decoder field is always grayed out, and cannot be changed. Could this have something to do with it, and is it because I don't have the TV server piece installed? OK, two questions...

 

[Spragleknas]

You're not using any TV functions of MP?
BTW, greyd out - w/o any codec showing - or "locked"? I guess that both FFDShow and MCP-HC are unsuited for TVE2 (old "built in" TV engine found in MP config), but it is some time since I abandoned it I can't say for sure.


Anyway, the post you quote is dated 2008-09-16. Stuff did happen after that .

In short: If you install SAF (which is even better if you were on 1.1) you can use MPC-HC codecs in "TV".

Hopefully 1.1RC will be out soon. I then recommend you to try SAF.

 

[ternerito]

You're not using any TV functions of MP?
BTW, greyd out - w/o any codec showing - or "locked"? I guess that both FFDShow and MCP-HC are unsuited for TVE2 (old "built in" TV engine found in MP config), but it is some time since I abandoned it I can't say for sure.


Anyway, the post you quote is dated 2008-09-16. Stuff did happen after that .

In short: If you install SAF (which is even better if you were on 1.1) you can use MPC-HC codecs in "TV".

Hopefully 1.1RC will be out soon. I then recommend you to try SAF.

Sorry, I was not clear. It is showing ffdshow as the codec, but the field is grayed out and cannot be changed.

I am not using any TV functions, and the server/client parts are not installed. I just chose "I will not use MP to watch TV" option during the install process. Basically I only use MP to access content which is stored on a separate file server. This is a fresh install of 1.0.2, so I don't think that old tv engine could be an issue.

Again, this is not a big deal, as I solved the problem just by renaming my ts files. I will try 1.1RC when it comes out.