Certain channels crash in MP but work in preview (1 Viewer)

[snarlyboy]

Hi All,

Hopefully someone can help me sort this out. I've been struggling with it for months now and watching the Analog versions of the channels, but now there are more digital channels that I'd like to watch and get working so I thought I'd post. But before my question I'd like to thank all the developers who make this software possible

I am in NZ and trying to get Freeview HD Terrestrial Digital via a Hauppauge HVR-2200 hybrid card. In TV server it scanned and finds the channels and says signal strength and quality is good (for both sets of tuners - 2 digital and 2 analog on this card which I have set up in 2 groups as per the installation instructions).

If I test the all channels in the TV Server Preview button - they display and sound good in the Preview window that opens up for all analog and digital channels.
However, in MP itself, all the Analog channels work, but only 2 digital channels work (and they work fine in HD) TV1 and TV2 here -- however other channels like TV3 and C4 either crash mediaportal hard so I have to use Task Manager to stop and restart it or they display what appears to be a stretched, blurry possibly interlaced version of the top left quarter or so of the picture only. Please see the attached picture.

I am told this is a codec issue, either audio or h264? I'm not sure.

I have on this system:

* the latest versions of the ATI driver,

* a bundled version of Cyberlink's Power DVD software (7.3 I think - that came with my blu ray drive - though I did try a trial of PowerDVD Ultra 9 and that seemed to make things far worse so I uninstalled it and reinstalled the bundled version),

* a purchased version of CoreAVC 1.9.5

* a purchased version of the Cyberlink ATI H264 driver (sold separately)

Attached are the pictures of the codecs that MP shows I have possible. I've tried most permutations and can't find one that works for all channels and well - none seem to make TV3 work. I'm pretty sure the ATI ones that I think came with the ATI driver make the HD digital channels that do work go out of sync audio... or that could have been the power dvd trial I'm not sure. I dont know which are hardware accelerated and which aren't. The guys who built this pc for me claimed the Hauppauge HVR-2200 and this on board ATI HD 3200 can do HW accel HD h264 video. I have core avc on here from an old pc which the core avc driver made playback video mkv files when previously it couldnt so I assumed it was a good driver to install. But I think the crashes occur in this driver and I dont think it is HW accelerated.

I should mention that all video playback in My Videos regular, xvid, h264 and mkv pretty much anything playsback perfectly there.

I also dont know if my problems are because this is Vista x64?? Although all the channels work fine in the preview button on the TV Server config. I have a few more MP questions, but I would be really happy if someone helped me fix this. Thanks for any help!


TV-Server Version: ?
MediaPortal Version: 1.0.2
MediaPortal Skin: Blue Wide
Windows Version: Vista x64 SP2
CPU Type: AMD Phenom 8750 triple-core 2.41GHz
HDD: WDC_WD10EACS-00D6B0 ATA Device & WDC_WD10EACS-00A7B2 ATA Device
Memory: 4GB
Motherboard: Asus M3A78 Pro
Video Card: onboard ATI Radeon HD 3200
Video Card Driver: 2D Driver 8.01.01.899
Sound Card: onboard Realtek HD Audio ATI Driver ATI791A
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card: Hauppauge HVR 2200
1. TV Card Type: analog & DVB-T
1. TV Card Driver:
2. TV Card:
2. TV Card Type:
2. TV Card Driver:
MPEG2 Video Codec:
MPEG2 Audio Codec:
h.264 Video Codec: COREAvc 1.9.5
Satelite/CableTV Provider: Freeview HD Terrestrial Digital & Analog VHF UHF
HTPC Case: Antec Fusion Max
Cooling:
Power Supply:
Remote: RM200 from Antec
TV: Samsung
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI

 

[snarlyboy]

I forgot the attachments...

here they are....

 

[snarlyboy]

(bump) any thoughts anyone? thanks

 

[PHansen]

I have a very similar problem myself. I can watch TV3 and C4 quite happily on preview, but they crash MP when attempting to be watched in MP itself. The signal quality of TV3 is worse than the other channels so i just assume that that is a prime contributor, but it's annoying that i can watch it in Preview but not any other way.

Does anyone know why this is the case?

 

[tourettes]

Please make a short recording (in .ts format) that can be used to trigger the crash.

 

[pilehave]

Video is rendered differently in preview, than inside MediaPortal. This is why you have crashes one place and semingly none in preview.

 

[snarlyboy]

After MANY months... I finally found the (or at least most of the) problem. For me in Auckland, NZ - I was getting crashes in MP 1.02 as above on the HD digital channels of TV3 C4 and a few others. All Analog channels worked fine. Only the digital channels of TV1 and TV2 worked fine in MP.

Everyone had me convinced that my codecs or drivers were to blame and I thought so too as no matter what Cyberlink or ATI driver I found something would go kablooey on just those channels and I found out they are being broadcast differently (in 1080i I think not 1080p) than the ones that worked. And I had NO reason to suspect my antenna as the TV Server app said all signals were strong and everything was ok.

Well, a really bad wind storm the other day knocked over our antenna (but was still connected and worked) and so we had it replaced with a new one and lo' and behold most all of the channels work now. TV3 works fine now in HD. So my advice is even if it looks and walks and quacks like a codec or driver issue folks - it may not be. Check your antenna and replace it if need be.