MVP playback - VIDEO_TS

[tktplz]

Last week I completed an upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit on my server running 6.6.2.218 and ComSkip. I have 2 MVPs (1 Helius, 1 Hauppauge) that do not play DVD VIDEO_TS files well at all. I get stuttering, glitchy video and audio. It is only on DVD playback, not regular MPG recordings either off cable thru the nVidia Dual-TV tuners or the HDHR. Playback of these files thru server or client are perfect.

I don't know if it's a SageTv setting or my ethernet adaptors... So I've tried:
Numerous combinations:
Overlay, VMR-9 and EVR video renderers
nVidia video, and Sage MPEG decoder filters
MPEG-4 playback - DirectShow
I'd like to use the EVR Renderer as it really works well with my CRT-RPTV - No Tearing like VMR-9, and transparent menus.

On my MOBO I have dual-Gigabit nVidia nForce ethernet adapters on fixed IPs. In the configuration I don't know much about how these settings affect the network throughput, but as I searched the forums I've tried:
Jumbo Packet - Increased from 1514 to 4514
IP Checksum Offload - Disabled
Flow Control - Disabled

I have other settings like:
Checksums (TCP, Large Send, and UDP) for IPV4 and IPV6...All enabled still.
Interrupt Moderation - Enabled (default)
Low Power Idle Mode - Enabled (def)
Low Power State Link Speed - Enabled (def)
Receive Side Scaling - Enabled (def)

So, any ideas of what to do to get the VIDEO_TS files to play like they did when I was running XP-Pro 32-bit as my OS?

[davephan]

Is there a built-in Windows 7 firewall that is turned on? Some ports need to be open between the SageTV computer and the MVP, otherwise it work try to work, but it will stutter. Try turning off the Windows software firewall, and find out if that makes the stuttering go away.

Since you are not using a HD-200, the MVP can only playback mpeg2. The CPU will have to be powerful enough to transcode the video on the fly. I assume that your CPU has enough power. How much CPU is consumed as shown in the Windows Task Manager?

Dave

[tmiranda]

The MVP will play DVDs (including .VOBs in the VIDEO_TS folder) natively so the renderer and decoder you choose do not matter at all. There should also be no transcoding so your server CPU will have little effect.

My guess is you have a network problem. What's the toplogy of your network? If it's complicated, try simplyfying to narrow things down.

[bits]

I do not know if this is your problem but recently when I converted to W7 from Vista I started having plotchy lousy looking video when streamed to my HP x280. I tried everything and could not get it nailed down. It only happened when using W7 and did not happen when using Vista. What I ended up blaming it on was the new Fast Transcoding feature in W7. This feature was implemented in W7 in order to play more video file types in Media Center. The crazy thing is that there is no way to turn it off or change its behavior. For some reason my network media player, x280 (MediaSmart Connect) caused W7 to think it needed to transcode certain files and file types. If this is your issue then you are SOL.

Take a look at this link:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...03(VS.85).aspx

[tktplz]

Thanks for the ideas...

Davephan - The only time my CPU has to transcode is converting HD for playback on the MVP. And, this is no problem for my quad-core, and I have zero playback issues. If it were a CPU resource issue you'd think it would choke on the HD, not DVD... As an example, I've had the HDHR recording 2 HD shows, and ComSkip running 4 threads, while transcoding playback of another recorded HD show to the MVP...Zero problems.

Tmiranda - Topography of my network is very straight-forward. I have a D-Link DR-655 Gigabit router and a 24-port Gigabit Netgear switch. All hardwired. All static IPs from 192.168.1.10 to .28. Again, this topography did not change when I upgraded from XP, which leads me to believe it's some new setting in Win7.

My server adapters are static set to .11 and .12 respectively, which worked fine in XP. In Win 7 I get an error: Could this be my issue? Also, is it possible to "team" my adapters or should I just disable one and use only one to keep it simple?

[bits]

Originally Posted by tktplz

Thanks for the ideas...

Davephan - The only time my CPU has to transcode is converting HD for playback on the MVP. And, this is no problem for my quad-core, and I have zero playback issues. If it were a CPU resource issue you'd think it would choke on the HD, not DVD... As an example, I've had the HDHR recording 2 HD shows, and ComSkip running 4 threads, while transcoding playback of another recorded HD show to the MVP...Zero problems.

Tmiranda - Topography of my network is very straight-forward. I have a D-Link DR-655 Gigabit router and a 24-port Gigabit Netgear switch. All hardwired. All static IPs from 192.168.1.10 to .28. Again, this topography did not change when I upgraded from XP, which leads me to believe it's some new setting in Win7.

My server adapters are static set to .11 and .12 respectively, which worked fine in XP. In Win 7 I get an error: Could this be my issue? Also, is it possible to "team" my adapters or should I just disable one and use only one to keep it simple?

Not to be pushy but did you take a look a the link I provided regarding the NEW W7 transcoding feature? I have a Q9550 and a P4 2.53 PC that I streamed video to my MediaSmart Connect network media player. I used both Vista which was on the quad and XP which of course was on the P4. Never had any problems with video quality. The x280n natively decodes the video file types I stream which is mostly mpeg and video_ts. I upgraded to W7 on my quad and changed nothing else. The same videos that played well before now look like low bitrate poorly transcoded files. Switched back to Vista and the videos look fine.

One other note and that is I could stream these same videos smoothly and nicely to my Linplayer2 and Ziova network media players with W7 nice and smoothly with excellent quality. My conclusion is that something in the communication between W7 and my x280n caused the W7 to use the new and hidden fast transcoding feature and I think it is possible that the MVP may be doing the same thing. I ended up purchasing the HD200 and now all is well.

[Fuzzy]

Sage does not use the microsoft transcoding features. Transcoding for sage is done entirely with SageTVTranscoder.exe (a modified open source transcoder).

[bits]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Sage does not use the microsoft transcoding features. Transcoding for sage is done entirely with SageTVTranscoder.exe (a modified open source transcoder).

Does Sage Transcode everything or only certain file types? Can it be disabled? I am not a fan of any kind of transcoding.

[Fuzzy]

it is only used when needed (for playback of non-SD MPEG2 on MediaMVP, for playback of anything to Placeshifter or HD-200 in Placeshifer mode, or when using the built-in compression feature).

[tktplz]

Bits...I did look over the link you provided. But, as you said, if it cannot be disabled, then what's the point? So, I didn't look much further. But, thank you for the thought.

Fuzzy... Yes, I see the SageTVTranscoder.exe running each time I playback a HD show, but I have not noticed it running for DVD playback (I may be wrong). The MVP can natively handle the 480i or 480p off DVD, right? It shouldn't have to be transcoded...

I still think I have more of a network issue, but I am very much a noob when it comes to maximizing my home network settings. I guess I'll just have to keep tweaking and trying different network configurations until I find something stable.

[Fuzzy]

correct, as DVD is SD MPEG-2, the MVP can play it natively, and no transcoding is required.

[tktplz]

DavePhan - THANK YOU!!! This cleared up a problem I was having with my client: http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...439#post399439

I still have this MVP problem, though. I rip each DVD using AnyDVD, then Shrink with DVDShrink. These files playback fine on my server and A-Open client, either thru SageTV or VLC Media player or TheaterTek, but not thru either of my MVPs (Helius or Hauppauge).

I have each MVP "reserved" on my router DHCP table so everytime they boot up they get the same IP. I also did the sage.properties addition under mini-server-clients=MVP and added the Mac address and "reserved" IP.

Again, they work very well with every form of media except DVD VIDEO_TS files. I have MPEG-2 and AVI files I regularly play with no problems, and my Phenom processor transcodes HD very well.

Anyone else have any ideas?