MP crashes on new 4K HTPC (4 Viewers)

[Lyfesaver74]

Here are the logs. No crash but I get the black screen with no movement in the time/playback. This is using the LAV 0.66 that MPC-HC uses.

 

[RoChess]

Might be an idea to provide the 4K samples to the LAV developers after you create a GitHub ticket with them first, as they might spot something 'off'. The fact things are different by just going from LAV 0.69 to 0.66 does appear to point out that LAV is the main culprit, but it could also be a combination with the way MediaPortal drives LAV.

 

[Lyfesaver74]

Added the GTX 960 and not only is my gaming like 10x better.... all my HTPC issues seem (at least for the moment as I am an hour into a UHD movie (most before was 28 minutes)) and no issues so far.

 

[Timberwolf99]

That sort of confirms my thoughts, I thought I was wrong though. I thought I read somewhere even though the chipset supports 4K at 60hz Skylake processors don't. Only at 29hz.

 

[Lyfesaver74]

No, I was full on gaming at 4K @ 60hz. I was running desktop at that resolution, I was watching all my videos at that res and refresh rate.... but only using MPC-HC/BE. Skylake is fully 4K@60hz

 

[RoChess]

@Timberwolf99 you are semi-right, the Intel ARK specifies indeed that the i5-6500 or any HD530+ based APU can only do 4096x2304@24Hz but this is for HDMI 1.4 as most mainboards will only be capable of this. However, in @Lyfesaver74 case he has a special mainboard with an extra chipset that converts the DisplayPort 1.2 output to HDMI 2.0a allowing for up to 4096x2304@60Hz, including coverage for UHD/4K-TV resolutions of 3840x2160 (4x 1080p).

The chipset that does this is the MegaChips MCDP2800 chip available on the higher end GigaByte Z170 mainboards, but it will be default on the Z270 chipset from Intel as well, although they might reserve it for the Kaby Lake APUs then.

Reference Intel ARK = http://ark.intel.com/products/88184/Intel-Core-i5-6500-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_60-GHz
MegaChips reference = http://www.megachips.us/products/MCDP28_Products.php

Of course Intel still sucks on drivers, especially on new stuff, with the exception of their Iris Pro range, because the company they assimilated for that had awesome driver experience from the CAD/3D world. In the end it all works out with the next beta/stable update, but we can not all be patient enough to wait

 

[Timberwolf99]

Thanx I may have to change my mbo spec then to take advantage.

 

[RoChess]

Thanx I may have to change my mbo spec then to take advantage.

Probably cheaper to add a videocard with HDMI 2.0a, which right now is being price gouged by NVidia, but AMD should release their range very soon to bring back competition. At least then you do not have to worry about sucky Intel drivers, although with all the AMD delays there might be enough time for Intel to release a driver that fixes the issue.

EVGA GTX 950 is cheapest HDMI 2.0a solution right now @ $125 -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...00&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=30

Still cheaper than GigaByte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 @ $199 -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128835

The AMD Zen platform that will be released around October 2016 should finally bring cheap options back, but AMD will most likely launch with the top-end models and around February 2017 introduce the cheap $100 combos for CPU + Mainboard that will support HEVC and HDMI 2.0a. I'm holding off upgrading my HTPC until then, unless Intel releases Skylake 4+4e this quarter.

PS: I am sure @Lyfesaver74 would not mind testing MediaPortal stability again once Intel releases a new driver version.

 

[Lyfesaver74]

Thanx I may have to change my mbo spec then to take advantage.

At this point, I would not worry about your mobo specs, as we can clearly see MP does not like the way Skylake talks with the drivers or codecs. While I believe that @mm1352000 is right, the problem is in the drivers/codec, it is clear that some programs are okay with it (MPC-HC/BE) while others are not (MP/VLC). Does this mean MP has to apply a work around? I would say no. At some point the drivers (the more likely culprit) or codec will get updates with a driver that fixes it. Plus it is not exactly fair to compare MP to VLC/MPC-HC/BE, as MP is a much more powerful tool.

So lets take a look at what I have learned that might help you:

At the start of this I was faced with two obvious choices (I say obvious as there may have been some I overlooked) to achieve 4K@60z on my HTPC/LGB-4K (LGB for me mean Light Gamer Box). I knew I wanted to play some games, but nothing too serious. The two choices were:
i5-6500 with a $70 Z170 mobo and a $139 GTX 950 (950 is the lowest/cheapest video card that offers HDMI 2.0), or
i5-6500 with a $209 Gigabyte GA-170X-Gaming 7 mobo that has HDMI 2.0 already on it.

The price was comparable and the benefits were thus: With the GTX I dont have to share RAM with VC and I take all that load off the chipset as well. With the Gaming 7 mobo I got a better NIC, better audio, better cooling options, USB-C 3.1 and Thunderbolt.

I chose to go with the mobo and I was wrong, so I spent another $180 for a GTX 960.

Why pay the extra for a 960 when a 950 would have done it? The 960 does full 10 bit HEVC and the 950 does 8 bit, plus I would see significant increase in gaming over the 950.

So, to sum up. Get a good cheap mobo and a GTX 950 and u will be happier!! @RoChess can back me up on this too.

 

[Lyfesaver74]

HA!!! @RoChess and posted basically the same thing at the same time