Imported DVDs not playing

[peacemakerpro]

Upgraded from v5 to 6 and all is well, maybe a little stall on opening recorded tv shows and changing live tv channels, like 5 seconds, but that's ok... unless someone has a fix on that... it's new for me, never happened before.

But today my wife and I got the kiddo to sleep and wanted to watch a movie and it wouldn't play. Click on watch dvd and it just sits there. In task manager it's eating up 98 percent cpu. Restarts result in the same thing. The weird thing is that some of the dvd's (few) work still... Help?!

[SHS]

what dvd decoder you have install
what video card do you have
what movie was it

[peacemakerpro]

Originally Posted by SHS

what dvd decoder you have install
what video card do you have
what movie was it

I have the Nvidia decoder, an Nvidia 5200 pro card and it's Taladega nights I was trying, but now even some of the ones that worked in v5 aren't working now. Like Dead like me tv series, Battlestar Galactica series... etc. I just copied my sage folder and have removed the software and am re-installing.

[starvoise]

I have the exact same problem. I have tried different decoders and several versions of the NVidia video drivers. It is the same with both 7900GS and a 6600GT. I believe it to be a problem with Sage v.6, for it was not an issue with v.5 on the exact same configuration. Sounds like a bug to me...

[stanger89]

There have been some reports that Talledega Nights is using a new form of copy protection, that may be what's causing you problems.

FWIW, I haven't run into a single DVD (ripped or disc) that doesn't work in V6. Did these DVDs you're having trouble with work in V5?

[Opus4]

An aside: As I recently mentioned here, this isn't the forum for dealing with how to break DVD copy protection, so such comments have been removed. Lately, I've tried to be lenient about discussions mentioning DVD rippers that can be used for non-encrypted disks and home made DVDs, based on the assumption that the disks being ripped aren't encrypted. But, once the discussion turns to specific commercial DVDs that have encryption and what software can be used to break that encryption, I'm not really allowed to leave such stuff on the forum... and such details are being posted here more and more lately.

I know that sort of information can be found on a lot of web sites, so it isn't a great big secret to anyone with an internet connection, but until certain U.S. laws get changed, please be considerate of SageTV's position as a developer of software that records TV shows and plays back non-encrypted hard drive based DVDs (as well as commercial DVD disks played from the DVD drive with a legal DVD decoder) and keep discussions that can be detrimental to SageTV out of this forum.

Thank you.

- Andy

[Mike]

I've had some similar problems, both in playing from the hard drive and the DVD drive. One symptom is that I push play and I get a letterboxed black screen. Usually stopping the playback and restarting will clear that, although I have had it lock up the box and had to stop the UI with task manager and restart, In fact I had to reboot once.

The other problem is that I will get an error message on HDD recordings. Something to the effect that the video could not be rendered. That has only happened a couple of times. The last time I checked several files and they all came up that way. I think I rebooted the computer without even trying to restart the UI.

I didn't start trying to play movies with Sage until V6.

Mbrew

[peacemakerpro]

Originally Posted by Opus4

please be considerate of SageTV's position as a developer of software that records TV shows and plays back non-encrypted hard drive based DVDs (as well as commercial DVD disks played from the DVD drive with a legal DVD decoder) and keep discussions that can be detrimental to SageTV out of this forum.

Thanks Andy, I agree that no one wants to do anything detrimental to Sage... I'd like to note that these are discs that I own.

That aside... still having issues. And I can't even play discs in my dvd drive. Stanger, to your question about whether these movies had worked before in v5, yes everything worked fine, discs and disc images (of movies I own but am too lazy to put in the drive in the middle of the night when I'm feeding my daughter) used to work just fine and now in v6 they don't. I opened v5 up again and it all works! But not in v6! Stanger, are you using a different interface, like 16x9 or meekel?

[stanger89]

If they worked in 5 and not in 6, and that's the only difference, then definitely, I'd report it to Sage and see if they can help you figure it out.

As for your question, no, I'm not using a special interface, just the stock STV with comskip support imported. nVidia decoders, 6800, 93.71 drivers, Java 6 (though Java 4 worked too).

Only DVD issue I have is the rather well-known problems with menus on some DVDs.

[peacemakerpro]

Thanks. I'm gonna report it and just use v5 for now. Bummer. My treo really likes the convert options.

[criccio]

Originally Posted by Opus4

please be considerate of SageTV's position as a developer of software that records TV shows and plays back non-encrypted hard drive based DVDs (as well as commercial DVD disks played from the DVD drive with a legal DVD decoder) and keep discussions that can be detrimental to SageTV out of this forum.

Many forum threads center around the setup/tweaking/troubleshooting of an existing SageTV feature that folks are having trouble getting to work. While i understand the policy surrounding the hard drive based DVD discussion, how is one supposed to figure out why this feature isn't working for them using ambigious references to thier experience?

There seems to be a wide spectrum of experiences out there with this feature. Many folks report it working successfully for them, and others are having trouble with it whether it's completely not working, or specific hiccups.

It seems like there is a need for more troubleshooting steps beyond making sure the right DVD decoder is set. In many cases that is set correctly, as the video/audio play, but stuttering occurs. How does one troubleshoot that further? are the steps different when using the MVP instead of SageClient?

I've had a thread with support directly that hasn't gone anywhere yet.

thanks for the help

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by criccio

Many forum threads center around the setup/tweaking/troubleshooting of an existing SageTV feature that folks are having trouble getting to work. While i understand the policy surrounding the hard drive based DVD discussion, how is one supposed to figure out why this feature isn't working for them using ambigious references to thier experience?

I'm not sure what you're getting at, discussion of playing HDD based DVDs is perfectly acceptable, discussion of playing DVDs (even retail, protected ones) is perfectly acceptable.

It seems like there is a need for more troubleshooting steps beyond making sure the right DVD decoder is set. In many cases that is set correctly, as the video/audio play, but stuttering occurs. How does one troubleshoot that further?

I don't see how discussion of this is prohibited.

are the steps different when using the MVP instead of SageClient?

Probably a bit.


What prompted Andy's comment was a pretty specific case, though I can see how his comment might be confusing since the "offending" comment was removed.

[Opus4]

Like Stanger said: there is no problem discussing DVD playback, whether played from the hard drive or from the DVD drive. It becomes a problem for this forum only when the discussion turns to a "how-to" and "what tools to use" to specifically break DVD encryption to enable ripping of commercial protected DVDs, due to some law that most people around here find to be ridiculous and a pain. This is regardless of your ownership of the DVD, though if you don't own it, that's even worse, in my opinion. If you've got DVD problems due to encryption issues, that isn't something that SageTV or this forum is going to provide support for. Normally, I would deal with this via PM, but such instructions are getting posted a lot lately, so I thought it was time to post a public reminder... though, like all the rest of you, I would rather not have to enforce it.

Why is hard drive based DVD playback even allowed? Not all DVDs are encrypted -- just consider the fact that you can author your own DVDs which can contain videos other than copyrighted TV shows/movies/etc. SageTV supports playback of non-encrypted DVDs from the hard drive. Playback from the DVD drive can be encrypted or not, with a proper DVD decoder. (MVP DVD playback is for non-encrypted DVDs only, whether on your hard drive or a DVD disk.)

Anyway... for something like what was mentioned above, where there are DVD playback issues in v6 that didn't occur in v5, then turn on debug logging & submit the issue to SageTV. (Make sure all the settings are the same, though... a DVD decoder was selected in the Detailed Setup -> DVD tab, right? Decoder config is the same for v5 & v6? If this is on a client, then you've given the client network access permission, etc? And remember: a placeshifter client can't play DVDs.)

- Andy

[criccio]

I guess i missed the offending post, and i guess i might be one of those on the fringe of getting too detailed How is someone to know though whether thier dvd issue is related to protection? There comes a point in troubleshooting that you want to be specific, but can't.

Take this for example:

I have a vob from an unencrypted DVD that plays fine on Sage Client, but doesn't in an MVP. There's a thread here

So far the tips offered up are around the issue of how the vob was created. I happen to think the more likely issue is how the 2 different clients handle the vob.

What's the proper direction that conversation should be going?

[PGPfan]

Just don't mention or recommend any specific ripping tools. We all 'know' how to find them, and this forum isn't that place.

It's easy to discuss how they are ripped without violating anything. They are usually ripped either in: iso format, or in a single folder with audio/video.ts subfolders and with or without 'extras'.

This is about all the info we need to determine how to solve like 90% of the trouble people have with DVD playback, whether from disk or hard drive. No discussion of ripping tools needed.

-PGPfan

[motobarsteward]

Has anybody worked out what happened when upgrading to V6? I'm finding the same thing, stuttering when I play back HDD backups of my own DVDs. The problem comes and goes, but the WAF is now taking a hammering because the upgrade to 6 has introduced this problem. I see this on my client. I don't know if it happens on my server as I don't currently have a monitor connected to it!

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by criccio

I guess i missed the offending post, and i guess i might be one of those on the fringe of getting too detailed How is someone to know though whether thier dvd issue is related to protection?

The problem is not the discussion of copy protection, or the diagnosing that copy protection is the problem (note that I mentioned new copy protection might be the problem). The problem comes with discussion/suggesting ways to "solve" the copy protection problem.

There comes a point in troubleshooting that you want to be specific, but can't.

It should be perfectly OK to troubleshoot and discuss the issue, up to the point of diagnosing an issue as due to CP. We just can't go beyond that (solutions).

[peacemakerpro]

Wow, didn't mean to start this debate! Whoops.

Haven't heard back from tech yet, but have reinstalled v6 again and still having playback issues. Sage locks up each time I try to watch a dvd from the dvd drive or the hdd. v5 is still working just fine with all of this and I've checked my settings a million times and done deccheck to make sure the decoder is working properly and preferred. This is on my main machine, the server where the issue is. I don't use a client.

I have had a problem with Windows xp lately, so I may just have to bite it and do a clean reinstall of everything and start over. I was really hoping to wait and do that when I get Vista. Oh well. Thanks Stanger and Andy.

[Opus4]

By any chance, do you have this property set: videoframe/skip_dvd_menus=true? If so, set it to false.

Have you tried starting with a fresh properties file? Make backup copies of your properties files & their autobackup versions (probably wiz.bin too), then delete the original properties files and restart SageTV. You'll have to reconfigure, though. Reinstalling SageTV would not remove those files, unless you manually deleted them. If you get the same results, you can easily revert back to your old properties files to restore all the old settings.

- Andy

[peacemakerpro]

Nope, no such luck. And now, for some reason my remote wonder isn't working in sage anymore either... for some reason sage isn't identifying itself as the program in focus (or windows isn't).