[Solved] TsReader.ax is givin' me a hard time... (3 Viewers)

[Anthrax]

Hi Folks,

yet another nut I can't seem to crack on my own. This is bugging me for over a week now and it's a showstopper for my next MyPlexMedia plugin release :-(

The question is quite simple:

What is the difference between the two attached .ts files?!?

This is the GraphStudio output when using the TsReader.ax filter on both of these files:

(The Video Pin in the top pictures shows guid_null)

The source for both videos is the same original video which has been transcoded by Plex/FFmpeg with two different quality settings... (q1: low bandwidth, q3: higher bandwidth)
Inside MediaPortal playback fails for q1 and is fine (even while live buffering in the background) for the higher quality file.

I tried this with the TsReader version from 1.2.0. Beta and as well with the latest SVN version as of today.
Windows MediaPlayer and VLC have no problem whatsoever with these :-(


Anyone out there with a clue???


cheers
Anthrax

 

[Owlsroost]

Re: [Help needed] TsReader.ax is givin' me a hard time...

It looks like it's never finding the video data in the stream for the 'q1' file, but there's no clue in the logs as to why....I think you may have to build a version of TsReader.ax with extra logging in 'DeMultiplexer.cpp' - OnTsPacket() is the beginning of the packet processing.

Tony

 

[Anthrax]

AW: Re: [Help needed] TsReader.ax is givin' me a hard time...

Wow this forum is quick ;-)

Thank you Owlsroost for your input on this.
Problem is that as soon as I'm seeing .cpp file extensions I run! ;-)

So you think it's a problem with MediaPortal/TsReader then? Or could it be the file (or header) itself that is somehow misformed/defect?
Because if that seems to be the case I would contact the Plex forums with this issue and see if they can help me out on how to set the transcoding/ffmpeg correctly... or fix a bug on their behalf.

btw. when I try to open the q1 file with GraphStudio it takes ages to open compared to the q3 file. What is the TsReader trying to do in that time? I mean it's a 7 second video file with sub MB filesize...

Anyway, cheers and maybe I found something there that might need a helping hand from our C++ gurus...
Anthrax

 

[Owlsroost]

Re: AW: Re: [Help needed] TsReader.ax is givin' me a hard time...

So you think it's a problem with MediaPortal/TsReader then? Or could it be the file (or header) itself that is somehow misformed/defect?
Because if that seems to be the case I would contact the Plex forums with this issue and see if they can help me out on how to set the transcoding/ffmpeg correctly... or fix a bug on their behalf.

It could be either - TsReader is basically intended for DVB/ATSC transport streams, and it seems to be less tolerant than some other TS splitters with 'generic' TS files....

Tony

 

[Anthrax]

AW: Re: AW: Re: [Help needed] TsReader.ax is givin' me a hard time...

Oh dear,

I really hoped I wouldn't have to worry about stuff like that... would have been to easy - what was I thinking ;-)
Now I'm seriously thinking about going through all the hassle I tried to avoid and go for an external player then. sigh.

Some days are just sad in the developer's life ;-)


Cheers anyways,
Anthrax

 

[tourettes]

Re: AW: Re: AW: Re: [Help needed] TsReader.ax is givin' me a hard time...

Some days are just sad in the developer's life ;-)

Every day is a sad day for a developer

It is still worth to check if there is some underlying bug in TsReader that causes the specific .ts files to not work with it. My assumption would be that the file wont contain PMT data after remuxing it (in this case it would be the encoder's fault since Transport Stream should always have PMT according the DVB specification).

 

[Owlsroost]

Re: [Help needed] TsReader.ax is givin' me a hard time...

I'm not saying that TsReader couldn't be fixed to handle the file, it's just that we don't know what the problem is without more debug logging....

Do you *need* to use TsReader - if the file extension is not .ts then MP video player will use another TS splitter filter available in the system e.g. MS/Haali/LAVSplitter ?

Tony

 

[Anthrax]

AW: Re: [Help needed] TsReader.ax is givin' me a hard time...

Owlsroost, tourettes,

whilst I really, really appreciate your kind offerings - I have no clue what you guys are talking about - you lost as soon as you said PMT and specification, mate (well actually you lost me at .cpp) ;-)
Well my decision to use the TsReader stems from the fact that it's able to constantly read a buffering file (timeshifting) as i buffer a http-live-streaming stream from plex locally and then let Mediaportal read from it. That way I have all the benefits of mediaportal handling the file internally, constantly updating the gui progress bars automatically and I don't need to mess about with any external player and all the headaches this would cause (been there before...).

I already tried other file extensions and yes, then Haali kicks in and both files play fine, but mediaportal then reads the file with it's current length (buffering state) and then ends playback as soon as the original (initial) length is reached, meaning the file continouses to grow but MediaPortal just doesn't check the length anymore.

cheers
Anthrax

 

[Owlsroost]

Re: [Help needed] TsReader.ax is givin' me a hard time...

OK, so it sounds like you do need TsReader....

If I can find the time in the next few days I'll try and work out what the problem is with TsReader, but I can't promise....

In the meantime, this might help with the MPEG terminology - MPEG transport stream - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tony

 

[Anthrax]

AW: Re: [Help needed] TsReader.ax is givin' me a hard time...

So we have a deal then, don't we? ;-)

I promise to read some boring bits (awful stuff really, just checked the link) about MPEG and you'll look into this issue in return ;-)
Just kiddin' of course. Good times, good times indeed as always around these shores...

I would really appreciate your or anyone's help here. As you might have noticed by now, all the internals about video streaming and stuffs are a little over my head, to be honest.

cheers mate,
Anthrax