Need help debugging Directshow playback problem?

[mtncrux]

I have had a pretty stable SageTV system for about 6 years. Recently it has been having trouble playing back recordd 1080i content, so I decided that a clean install (Windows 7 plus SageTV 7) might help.

After the re-install, the recorded playback seems to be working better (might have more to do with changing my comskip options so it doesn't run when the recording starts) but now I am having problems with the videos in my library.

When I try to use Directshow to play MP4 and MKV files all I get is a black screen. NO errors, no crashes, no audio, no video, time does not advance. Nothing.

If I use the default SageTV player, then the video plays, but is not as smooth as I would like. 1080p and 720p content has a lot of digital artifacts.

All of my videos play back fine in both VLC and Windows Media Player.

I am a long time user of SageTV, but I am a newbie when it comes to debugging problems with it. What steps should I take to debug the Directshow problem?

[jerryt]

In win 7 all you need to do is set "Microsoft video decoders" are the default decoders in Sage.

Done...

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by mtncrux

I have had a pretty stable SageTV system for about 6 years. Recently it has been having trouble playing back recordd 1080i content, so I decided that a clean install (Windows 7 plus SageTV 7) might help.

After the re-install, the recorded playback seems to be working better (might have more to do with changing my comskip options so it doesn't run when the recording starts) but now I am having problems with the videos in my library.

When I try to use Directshow to play MP4 and MKV files all I get is a black screen. NO errors, no crashes, no audio, no video, time does not advance. Nothing.

If I use the default SageTV player, then the video plays, but is not as smooth as I would like. 1080p and 720p content has a lot of digital artifacts.

All of my videos play back fine in both VLC and Windows Media Player.

I am a long time user of SageTV, but I am a newbie when it comes to debugging problems with it. What steps should I take to debug the Directshow problem?

That would be the built in mp4/mkv splitter that sage has. It doesn't like many decoders depending on what codec the video file is using. Certain video types will make sage freak out as well. The decoder has nothing to do with it. If you go into the registry and find the line enablestreamdemux=0 and make sure it is set to 0 it will use an external splitter. This is not without it's own issues. Generally it will break youtube playback, and depending on what splitters you have installed (if any) they can act funny with sage. I would download and install the LAV filters (which includes audio, video decoder as well as the splitter) or get the mpc-hc splitter (gabest) which works very well with sage.

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by panteragstk

... I would download and install the LAV filters (which includes audio, video decoder as well as the splitter) or get the mpc-hc splitter (gabest) which works very well with sage.

Which one would work best with high bit rate mpeg4 or VC-1 video in MKV containers?
(I don't do online video with SageTV)