Online Videos - Codec Craziness and BSOD's

[skyeclad]

Ok, I upgraded my ATI x800xl to a 3650 and have been mostly pleased but one thing that definitely has been a problem is Online Videos. I was having problems with playback causing BSOD's so I checked the graph in Sagetv client and it showed that it was using Nero mp4 splitter and Arcsoft decoders. I decided to un-register the Nero splitter as I almost never see this being used.

Unfortunately, rather than help the situation, it prevents any video playback of online video.

I tried setting back to Sagetv player but I think that I have the always use Dshow set to true. Does this prevent the internal player from working because I still get a video error?

Second question, what splitter/codec combination do most people use if they use directshow? I'm thinking that I just need to reinstall whichever works as sometimes I note that XP seems to lose track of the correct codecs.

[Ryokurin]

Online video is kind of iffy period using just Directshow in SageTV. There just isn't a good splitter out that can handle it all properly yet. If its quicktime, then thats playable with Quicktime, or QT alternative installed, however MP4 and FLV is pretty much a no go. FLV splitter, while it allows the files to be played, only really works if the file is complete. Streaming the file, will result in SageTV player stopping at a random point in the file.

Personally, the FLV splitter issue is something I've been trying to find a fix for for years. SageTV player works as its based off of mplayer which handles the stream in its own way. Its not easy to implement in a splitter as the FLV standard isn't really well documented.

[skyeclad]

So I assume that means I need to use the Sage Internal player and take the "always use Dshow=true" out?

[gplasky]

Change it to false or make the change in Detailed Settings and pcik Sage Player instead of Directshow.

Gerry

[skyeclad]

I already changed it in detailed settings but I still received a playback error. This made me think that maybe the properties file setting was overriding that. If it doesn't then I have a bigger problem because Sagetv's internal player then is giving me the same error.

[Ryokurin]

You'll have to make the change in the properties file. The detailed settings option is really for h264 content.

[skyeclad]

Ok I changed the properties file and set the mp4 playback to Sagetv Player and online videos worked perfectly.

Then I went to play a blu-ray rip, compressed and encoded into a h.264 file in a mkv container and playback was unwatchable.

Ultimately, whether I choose SageTV Player or Directshow the client log reveals that Sage tries to build a graph using only FFH264 codec. If Sage were to use the graph that Graphedit uses, I would be fine but it seems unable to do so. I'm certain that the "always_use_dshow_player=false" forced Sage to use dshow but this conflicts with online videos so I have a puzzle here.

I guess this setting doesn't work unless the dshow setting is also set: "videoframe/h264_video_decoder_filter=Arcsoft Video Decoder"?

[skyeclad]

So guys, how do you ensure that Sage uses it's own player for online videos and directshow codecs for h.264 and vc-1 videos? That is without editing the properties file each time UI switch between the two.

[Wheemer]

The online videos section of sage is pretty much useless for me since none of the videos play properly. The either don't play at all or the will stop seconds into playback.

The online videos section should be hard coded to use sages player by default.

Everything else plays fine for me in sage, so I'm not about to change properties that will affect normal videos poorly.

Is there any solution to this?

[skyeclad]

This solution was recommended by Tech Support and worked for me. It essentially does force Sage to use it's player for online videos. Although this is a property file setting, they are implementing this as an option in the next version of sage.

if you set this in your
Sage.properties file located in the SageTV folder you should be OK:

media_player_plugin_class/flv=sage.LinuxMPlayerPlugin

Just make sure you close Sage and the service prior to doing this.

I put this in my client properties but it didn't work. I had to set in the main properties page. The downside is that my HD Extender doesn't play online videos anymore.

[Wheemer]

Thanks, I put this in my client properties and it seems to be working for me...

I had thought that some of the videos in the online section were actually not flv... Yet they all seem to be working now.

[skyeclad]

Originally Posted by Wheemer

Thanks, I put this in my client properties and it seems to be working for me...

I had thought that some of the videos in the online section were actually not flv... Yet they all seem to be working now.

Glad to help. I wasn't sure if this would help either but it works much better than when Directshow was trying to build a graph that crashed my system each time.

I wonder why it required me to put the setting in the main properties file. I want it to effect only the PC client not my Extender. I have a note in with Support to see what I can do. I would rather have this working on my Client so I'm mostly happy now.

[Wheemer]

I've tested this further and I was able to watch and play everything I tried... I really think this should be the default way sage comes stock.

[skyeclad]

I retried placing this line in the client file only and this time it actually worked and my Extender ignores it, so it works too.

I agree, there seems to be a problem with the MP4 setting, it doesn't actually work unless you force it with "Always use dshow" but when you do that it screws up the online videos which don't seem to work well with typical filters. It sounds like this is being addressed in the next version of Sage but for now I'm a happy camper.