Xvid Problem

[ItIsHim]

I did a Search and nothing came up.

For the Life of me I cant get sagetv to play xvid files in my medial library, It shows up on the list, it even tells me the running time of the file, but when i chose "watch now" it just crashes the whole program.

I updated all codecs, i have a Wintv pvr usb 2, Sagetv v2.0

My system consists of:
windows 2000 pro with sp4
p4 3.0ghz with ht
mb is an abit is7-e
geforce fx 5600 ultra 128mb
786mb of ddr 333 ram
a few 7200rpm sata hds

xvid files play fine if i run them tru other programs.

can anyone help me out with some help?
ive tried all those render settings, overlay, vm9, etc etc

is it that i have todo something special in order to make it work?
tweek some files? thanks for any help.

[jaymann]

I have the very same problem - most xvid files and some divx files crash sage tv. Just hangs and i have to control-alt-delete to shut down sage and restart it.

I'm using the Nvidia NVDVD decoder which is excellent, but it appears that this decoder is not used for playing video files from the library (since the system tray icon for NVDVD doesn't show up, and video quality is no where near as good as using the NVDVD player directly). Since my NVDVD player handles all files flawlessly, is there any way to get Sage to use it for playing the library files? Sage certainly has no problem using it for MPEG2 playback and liveTV but seems to ignore it for imported videos.

Alternatively, are there updates for the decoder that Sage *does* use to play the video files so that it can support more formats? It is definitely not directshow compliant as it stands currently.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by jaymann

Since my NVDVD player handles all files flawlessly, is there any way to get Sage to use it for playing the library files?

No, that decoder is an MPEG-2 decoder, it doesn't work for Xvid/DivX/Etc.

Alternatively, are there updates for the decoder that Sage *does* use to play the video files so that it can support more formats? It is definitely not directshow compliant as it stands currently.

Actually AFAIK, Sage uses Dshow to build the filtergraphs for everything non-MPEG2/DVD. So Sage should be using the same codec, and probably the same graph as Windows Media Player.

[jaymann]

i see. i guess the nvdvd player must be using my divx or xvid decoders then because it and windows media player have no problem playing the xvid and divx files while sage chokes on them everytime. I've checked the files using Gspot and they seem fine (ie - there are correct codecs installed to play them). It would be ideal to be able to see which codecs Sage uses - could be that i have an errant codec installed that Sage is using that is causing the problems where NVDVD player and WMP use an alternate codec to play the files.

[stanger89]

You could try ffdshow, I haven't installed anything but it or MPEG decoders in a long time, and it plays my (very few) DivX/Xvids fine.

[nielm]

Latest XVID and DIVX decoders are in the Gordian Knot Codec Pack

I am using Koepi's XVID decoder to decode both XVID and DIVX with no problems...

And yes, any media player including NVDVD and Sage will use the same system default divx and xvid decoders -- The difference might be in the video *renderer* used (VMR9/overlay/Default) in Sage..

[jaymann]

that is something i will try and report back on - i'm using VMR9 currently, i will switch to overlay and see if that clears up the problem.

I must admit that in general Sage seems more stable in overlay than VMR9 - i get stuttering video playback on recorded files if i FF or RW and sometimes have to hit the FF and/or RW button a few times to get it to play smoothly again, but never have this problem if using overlay.

[jaymann]

no luck - using overlay sage still hangs on xvid files.

[gommer]

Any news on this, someone? Seems i'm not the only one, got exactly the same experience. (No crash, Sage just freezes)

[korben_dallas]

Play one of the files in Windows Media Player. While it is playing, go to File > Properties.

Post the file properties in this thread.

[m0ng00se30]

Have you tried GSpot @ http://www.headbands.com/gspot/ to render a file and actually see what codecs are being used and where things are going... might give you some idea where things are going wrong maybe....

All my xvid files have always played perfectly... I hardly watch DVDs anymore.. I rip them down to xvid first.

--Mike

[ToxMox]

Originally Posted by jaymann

no luck - using overlay sage still hangs on xvid files.

Could you post all of your settings that are in your Detailed Setup -Video and Audio sections?

[gommer]

Gspot gives
Video: (S) --> AVI Splitter --> ffdshow MPEG-4 Video Decoder --> (R)
Audio: (S) --> AVI Splitter --> Moonlight Odio Dekoda --> Morgan Stream Switcher --> (R)

WMP9 lists the same decoders (only the last one in case of audio).

This path is teh result of instaling elecard decoders and Gordian Knot decoder pack 1.8.

In Sage: all decoder and render settings at default (because i thought it would take the same path as WMP9 then).

Can we have any influence on the decoder path (without having to deinstall codecs, that is) ?

[gommer]

Never mind all these settings. Today i went in BIOS and switched hyperthreading OFF. All problems magically disappeared. Everything plays without a glitch.

[chrysek]

Originally Posted by gommer

Never mind all these settings. Today i went in BIOS and switched hyperthreading OFF. All problems magically disappeared. Everything plays without a glitch.

Do you have XP SP1 maybe?!? I heard that SP1 had that kind of problems with HT, SP2 did address that issue...

Chris

[gommer]

Originally Posted by chrysek

Do you have XP SP1 maybe?!? I heard that SP1 had that kind of problems with HT, SP2 did address that issue...

Nope Win2000 SP4 it is, in my opinion the most stable windows version that's available.