Wierd Playback Problem

[NetworkGuy]

I have a weird playback problem. When I start the playback, I get the spinning circle and the system freezes. This sound similar to other problems, but it is very different in a few ways:

1. It is only occurring with one specific TV show: Rizzoli & Isles
2. The playback problem ONLY happens on extenders (both HD-200 and HD-300)
3. I can watch show show fine using PlaceShifter or Sage Client
4. This has occurred on multiple episodes of Rizzoli & Isles
5. Other TV shows on TNT record and playback correctly.
6. Since one of the PC’s are one the same LAN port, I have ruled out network issues
7. I moved the file to another drive and restart SageTV, so I have ruled our disk problems

Here is some information about my SageTV setup

Software Version: SageTV V7.1.9.256
Java Version: 1.6.0_30
Operating System: Windows 7 6.1
Global Alert Level: None
Current STV File: SageTV7.xml (Version 7.1.9.12 January 7, 2013, Name: SageTV7)
Current STV Theme: Standard
Current STV file set version: 2013010701, MD5 prefix: 7a308a
Online Videos version: 2013032101, MD5 prefix: c51c2f
Online Videos updates are Enabled
Weather plugin JAR version: 2.0.2
Cable provider: Comcast

Here is the information about the recording I am having a problem with:

Rizzoli & Isles
Episode: Killer in High Heels
Aired: Jul 16, 2013 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM 
Duration: 60 m
Channel: 825-TNTHD
Rated: TV14
Description: Maura becomes a murder suspect when her date is found dead and she can not remember their evening together; Jane struggles to protect her best friend while doing her job.
Category: Drama - First Run
Original Air Date: Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Season 4 Episode 4
Closed Captioned, HDTV
Show ID: EP012794650044
Starring: Angie Harmon [imdb], Sasha Alexander [imdb], Lorraine Bracco [imdb], Lee Thompson Young [imdb], Bruce McGill [imdb], Jordan Bridges [imdb], Brian Goodman [imdb] 
Encoded by: SageDCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 1311D58D-2 on 127.0.0.1:7018 TNTHD
File Format: MPEG2-TS[MPEG2-Video/20.0Mbps 16:9 1080i@60fps, Dolby Digital/448Kbps@48kHz 5.1, Dolby Digital/192Kbps@48kHz Stereo]
Files: 
\\Server\Recorded TV 3\RizzoliIsles-S04E04-KillerinHighHeels-7580703-0.ts 
File Playlists: [wvx] [m3u] [pls]
Size: 6.15GB 
Internal details: MediaFileID=7709018 , AiringID=7580703
TVDB ID:  161461

I have tried everything I can think. I am open to suggestions.

Thanks,
John

[NetworkGuy]

Just to add to the wierdness, I converted the files to MKV using the SageTV convert function. I imported it as a TV show and it PLAYS FINE!

But I still want to know why it will not play the original copy.

Thanks,
John

[nyplayer]

That sounds like the problem on some recordings that others have using SAGEDCT... have you tried the VLC option?

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

That sounds like the problem on some recordings that others have using SAGEDCT... have you tried the VLC option?

This recording was made using SAGEDCT. What is the VLC option?

Thanks,
John

[nyplayer]

You can check this thread and others.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...postcount=1486

[NetworkGuy]

I have been reading the thread (long read) and this definitely sounds like my problem.

It turns out that I am on SageDCT 2.2 and that is why I did not see the VLC option. I will upgrade this weekend and see how it works.

Thanks!!
John

[egeller]

I too use SageDCT and recognize the issue with TBS, TNT and a few other channels. From what I have observed, I think the common thread is the 20.0Mbps. I think SageTV or the extenders cannot handle that.

There's also an early adopters version of SageDCT, V2.7, that you can get if you donate $5 to BABGVANT. V2.7 has an FFMpeg option. That also avoids the 20.0Mbps, but I sometimes get recordings with no video when it cannot figure out where to find it in the stream.

All in all, the no-video issue happens less frequently than the unplayable recording issue did, so I choose to live with that. Most TBS shows affected are played multiple times, so I rarely lose a recording. When the no-video issue happened to a NBC Sports Network show (F1), I forced that network to record only on the HDPVR.

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by egeller

There's also an early adopters version of SageDCT, V2.7, that you can get if you donate $5 to BABGVANT. V2.7 has an FFMpeg option.

Do you have any idea how stable V2.7 is?

Thanks,
John

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

Do you have any idea how stable V2.7 is?

Thanks,
John

I could not use V2.7 keep getting FFMPEG overflow errors.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...postcount=1605

[egeller]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

Do you have any idea how stable V2.7 is?

Thanks,
John

It's better than earlier versions, except for the 1% -3% of recordings that end up audio only. That is a lower percentage than the corruption (unplayable) I saw in recordings from earlier SageDCT versions. As I say above, it's limited to certain channel only, like TBS, TNT and a few others. It's annoying, not a showstopper.

I never could get the VLC option working, but I think that may have been because I use a Ceton box, not the Prime.

[NetworkGuy]

One last question: When you upgraded from V2.2 to V2.6, did you have to repeat the installation with SageTV (i.e. generate and copy the tunners, etc.) or did you just reun the SageDCT installation program?

Thanks,
John