Left over MP Issues (1 Viewer)

[bcosta]

Hi all,

I have been looking at various HTPC systems on Windows + Linux and so far I feel that MP is one of the most intuitive to use of the frontends and really fits my use case very well. I currently have a *mostly* working system with a few plugins setup and working (comskip, also XMLTv using sheppard on a linux VM to produce the TV Guides).

I have a few outstanding issues that I am not sure how to solve (In order of priority of the pain they cause using MP):

1) Fast forward + rewind past 2x speed do not work as expected.

I read a few posts on this and it sounds like this is a problem that will not be fixed. It sounds like it is a codec issue in that the data is just pumped through the codec at 32x and it cant cope with it. Is anyone aware of a work-around for this? (For example are some codecs capable of doing this). If not why is it a wont-fix item? I feel that many other things get this right (Look at Video LAN Client for example), I dont see why MP cant even if it means shipping with drivers that may be based on the code from Video LAN CLient that can be used as an option.

2) Hitting the back button after a commercial skip returns to the start of the previous video segment not the place from which the last jump was made

For example, watching TV and it thinks a commercial exists and gets it wrong. It will jump somewhere in the future of the video incorrectly. I want to be able to hit the Replay button or something similar to return to where the previous jump was made from, instead it returns further back to eithre the start of the video or the start of the last video segment which followed the previous commercial.

3) Occasionally the video + audio for TV or recorded TV gets out of sync

This is up to a 3 sec sync difference. Last time i noticed that the video was leading the audio by a few seconds. This may not be a MP issue though. But if anyone else has experienced this and fixed it and has any pointers I would appreciate it.

 

[NickName]

Hi Bcosta,

Welcome to MP

Here are some answers or suggestions to your problems.
1) I don't bother using 2X, 4X, etc. etc. I just use jump forwards/backwards in increments of 15sec, 30 secs, 1 min, 3 min, 5 min, 15 min 30 min & 1 hour and combinations of the those, so for example I may push 3 min ahead to skip an ad block. If that is too far I'll go back 30 secs and if still not far enough, another 15 secs back, etc. It's a pretty simple system and as most ad blocks are 3 mins, works pretty well. You can adjust the increments to your own preferences in MP's Configuration.

2) As above.

3) I have seen this issue which isn't surprising as I've been using MP as my main TV (etc.) for 6 years. It's not an MP issue, rather a codec issue. The best way to configure MP is have a fresh Windows install with only required drivers installed. Install MP and set a System Restore Point. System Restore is a MUST!!!! If you have never used it, learn and love it. Now any changes you make that break MP can be fixed by rolling back to when it last worked with System Restore.

I used to run a dual boot system with 2 copies of XP and 2 copies of MP, so if something went wrong, I'd reboot into the other version and fix the broken version at my leisure. I have 4 young kids and a wife, so a broken TV is not an option... hahaha

Codecs are painful things and hard to fix, so I suggest if you install a new one, fully test playback of all mediatypes and if happy, continue else System Restore and try another codec. Do not install multiple diffferent things and then test, as it can be very hard to find and fix the bit that's broken. Just install one thing at a time and test. That is the simplest and quickest way to a reliable system.

Enjoy,

Nick Name

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