[Solved] Corrupted video on Mediaportal client (1 Viewer)

LionHe

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I am using an HTPC system with Mediaportal 1.5 on a Windows 7 64bit machine (more specs below) as a singleseat installation and it works fine, while I have severe video corruption when trying to use mediaportal on a laptop as a client
(I used two different laptops with the same trouble). The laptop client used to work in earlier version of mediaportal but I do not recall exactly which ones.

As I installed several other applications, I restored a system image taken right after a clean installation: at that time I had Mediaportal 1.3 installed and the video corruption on the laptop is exactly the same. I do not use laptops often, that's a why I did not notice the problem at that time.

I performed some tests in that installation (MePo 1.3 instead of 1.5) in order to try to figure out what's wrong. I have to mention that I also have MPextended (0.5.3) and homemedia server installed.

The corruption on the laptop video occurs both with live TV and with recorded TV while it does not occur when watching DIVx movies. In order to remove uncertainties due to wireless network, I connected the laptop with a wired connection to a Gbit switch connected to the HTPC. The same recorded TV file plays well with laptop mediaportal client when copied to the local drive. I would therefore exclude a problem with the codec or with the laptop hardware.

It seems to me that, for some reasons, the tv-server always produces a corrupted stream while mpextended (0.5.3) streaming is ok. But I do not understand why such a corrupted stream does not affect the client runinng on the singleseat installation. Maybe it is related to a recent 4.5 .NET framework update? (but it is installed only on the laptop, while I have not performed any windows update to the server)

I have run out of ideas on what's causing this problem, therefore I'm asking for some more expert advice here and I attach logs.
I collected logs on server and client side in the following way.
1) stop tv-service on server side. stop mpextended tray application. remove old logs. start tv-service again in order to have fresh logs
2) start mediaportal in debug mode on the client. try to watch a recorded tv program for a while then stop.

The HTPC client specs are
i3-3520 4Gb RAM + 4Gb RAM RAMdisk
windows 7 home premium64bit

The Laptop is a AMD Phenom II 830 with 4Gb RAM and windows 7 with ATI mobility radeon HD5470

Given the logs, can you give me some advice on how to proceed to solve the problem or to track down where the trouble is?
Thank you for your attention
LionHe
 
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mm1352000

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    Owlsroost

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    All of these errors in TsReader log (almost 2000 of them !):

    Code:
    04-01-2014 10:45:24.162 [17c4]Video Continuity error... 9 ( prev 2 )
    04-01-2014 10:45:24.163 [17c4]Audio Continuity error... 8 ( prev 6 )
    04-01-2014 10:45:24.252 [17c4]Video Continuity error... 7 ( prev 8 )
    04-01-2014 10:45:24.342 [17c4]Video Continuity error... 4 ( prev c )
    04-01-2014 10:45:24.402 [17c4]Video Continuity error... e ( prev 6 )

    ...indicate that the RTSP streaming has big problems.

    A few things to try/check:

    Make sure that any 'internet security'/anti-virus software isn't causing problems with the streaming data.

    Try the TsReader.ax from here - https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/threads/tsreader-for-mp-1-6-0.122083/#post-1031680

    Try using 'UNC paths' instead of RTSP - see http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...diaPortal_Configuration/22_TV/5_Debug_Options and https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/...rtsp-in-multiseat-mode-test-plz.36735/page-28
     
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    LionHe

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    Thank you for your prompt answer!I disabled firewalls both in the client and in the server PC, the same stutter occurs in VLC reading the rtsp stream. I am using wifi, but the stuttering is exactly the same as the wired connection.

    I tried the UNC setting: it completely solves playback for recorded TV but not for live TV. I also tried to disable Avast antivirus on the laptop, but with no success. It is true that I recently upgraded it so that's a difference (but the other laptop has a different antivirus that has not changed since last year).

    I removed completely AVAST antivirus and Microsoft security essential, and I kept the UNC setting. The live TV streams shows with audio for a few seconds, and then the screen goes completely black. On the server side I see that the signal is ok and there are no continuity error (manual control tab in tvserver setup).

    I attach the mediaportal logs on the laptop client: there are no continuity errors as far as I see, but still there are troubles.
    I will look at the different TsReader.Ax later.

    Thank you again for your suggestions, I will let you know about the progresses.
    LionHe
    EDIT: I tried also the version 3.0.76 of TsReader.Ax but there are a lot of continuity errors and video is sytuttering. I will try to restore the laptop to its initial Windows 7 image and try again.
     

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    LionHe

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    Let me update on this still unsolved issue.
    I have clean installed windows 7 in my HTPC and let windows update download and install all updates (and took a system image for future tests).
    I clean installed mediaportal 1.6 without extensions (no mpextended) and without restoring old settings but setting them from scratch.
    I connected the laptop to the same TPLink Gbit switch of the HTPC. The results are exactly the same: setting unc allows to watch recorded tv but not live tv. The rtsp stream gets corrupted somewhere in my network.
    Next step will be to revert to mediaportal 1.2 (the first one in which a fix for the rtsp stream was introduced) and test with my old d-link2740b router instead of the Gbit switch.

    LionHe
     

    Owlsroost

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    I removed completely AVAST antivirus and Microsoft security essential, and I kept the UNC setting. The live TV streams shows with audio for a few seconds, and then the screen goes completely black. On the server side I see that the signal is ok and there are no continuity error (manual control tab in tvserver setup).

    It looks like (from the TsReader.log) that for live TV using UNC paths the client is unable to read the timeshift buffer files quickly enough (the bandwidth/speed seems to be very low). Have you tried disabling anti-virus and firewall on the server ?

    If you start live TV and then pause it for a second or two, does it play OK ? (this allows data to build up in the buffers). Also try a skip back to the beginning.
     

    LionHe

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    Thank you for your answer. I have not tried to go back at the beginning of the stream nor stopping. I will try again.
    Let me add that mpextended with ampdroid doesn't stutter even in hd definition.
    Lionhe
     

    LionHe

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    I finally found that the trouble was caused by my new unmanaged Gbit switch (TPLink TL-SG1005D), or to the default settings of the ethernet driver of my HTPC. I connected the HTPC directly to my router (a Fritzbox 7360) and I was able to stream to 2 clients flawlessly even with wifi (with standard options not the unc). I do not understand why the switch is causing such a trouble: luckily I can rearrange my network so that I do not need it anymore.
    Thanks for the help you gave me in troubleshooting this issue.
    LionHe

    PS. the Gbit switch works pretty well when transferring datafiles (probably random errors are corrected during the transfer, while for live streams this is not possible)
     
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