[zebraitis]

Hey folks!

Long time XBMC'er, with a large library... and a boggle:

It seems like everything I throw at XBMC plays great, but every once in a while I have something that seems to just not want to play.


In this case, it is a slice of americana: "MALLRATS"

This (and some other files) will begin to play the movie introduction clips (production company advert thingie), and they seem to "jerk" along. Then when it gets to the actual movie... Nothing.

If I use the skip forward feature, I will see frames / still of the film, but it will not play

I list all the following below, so that I am just not overlooking something that should tell me " Hey! it's THIS !!!"

Please review, and let me know if I need to provide a log file.

THX !

----------------------------------------


This SPECIFIC file is an MKV format. (I have many other MKV format files that play great)

According to the encoder, it is:

Video............. x264@ 6784 Kbps
Resolution........ 1280 x 692
FPS............... 23.976
Runtime........... 1h 35mn 1s
Size.............. 5.66 GB
Audio 1........... English DTS HD-MA 5.1 1576 Kbps
Subtitles......... English German Dutch French Turkish
Source ........... BluRay 1080p VC1 DTS-HD MA5.1-CHDBits

If anyone would like to test the actual file, it is at: http://tinyurl.com/7ezgylk
(listed ONLY for testing purposes, or for checking the encoding info)

HOWEVER... I have also had a problem playing this: http://tinyurl.com/7stvylc
"Black Sheep" in an MP4 format.



The system on which I am trying to run this is:

XBMC 12.0 Alpha 3 (minty fresh - alpha's support DTS HD-MA, right?)

Win7 Ultimate 64, Zotac MB with an Nvidia GeForce 9300 chip on the motherboard (512MB dedicated to graphics via bios), Screen resolution 1920x1080@24Hz

HDMI out to Onkyo TX-SR805 (which supports DTS HD-MA) connected to Panasonic 65"

------------------------------
XBMC Settings:

Render Method -- DXVA
Allow Hardwarte Acceleration (DXVA2) -- ON
Adjust display rate -- OFF
Sync Playback to display -- OFF

Resolution -- 1920x1080
Use Fullscreen Window rather than true fullscreen -- OFF
Blank other displays -- OFF
Vertical Blank Sync -- Always Enabled

------------------------------

Thoughts?

[MassIV]

A log file with debug level 1 (while playing) would be nice.
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Log_file

Also, i'm a little reluctant to download a whole film to check a bug.
You think maybe you could cut off the first 10 min and post that?
From a dropbox or a file hosting site.

[zebraitis]

Looks like you won't need to do that download...

I am able to play that file on two other platforms: a small self-contained intel box, and a larger intel based box, both running Win7.

The difference is no Onkyo in the middle.


The Onkyo "should" be able to do DTS-HD MA (as it's printed right on the front of the receiver as a supported format).

Under Settings / System / Audio Output -- If i de-select "DTS-HD capable receiver" , then the movie plays.


So: Either my XBMC application is borked, misconfigured, or my receiver is somehow challenged in receiving the data from XBMC.



If this should spark any ideas, please feel free to share.

[zebraitis]

SOLVED.


Damn...

When I built my main XBMC platform a few years ago, I chose the Zotac MB mini-itx (ZOTAC GF9300-G-E LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9300) because it had an Nvidia Graphics chip on the MB, and HDMI out.

MB info at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813500035


It could handle EVERYTHING that XBMC could throw at it.

Until now.

The graphics chip on that MB is an NVIDIA 9300.

And, accoring to http://www.anandtech.com/show/2642/7#4xB...3L5ekth.99 : " ... there is no support for bitstreaming Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD MA. "


So, it's not an Onkyo Issue, or a settings issue... It's a graphics / audio chip issue.


XBMC has gone and exceeded my systems capabilities in the new 12.0 alphas.


Damn you... you brilliant, unbelievelably talented unsung developers...


I'll have to see what cheap add-on cards are available... that will fit a zotac... that will support HDMI... That will support DTS HD-MA.


... grrrr.


In the mean time: "DTS-HD capable receiver" - OFF.

[zebraitis]

Looks like I found what I need...

My HTPC can only do a half-height card due to the small HTPC case


Zotac makes a card that fits, has an HDMI out, AND can do DTS HD-MA.

http://www.zotacusa.com/synergy-geforce-...4-10l.html


Newegg has it http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814500239

AND... for US residents, there is a $25.00 rebate, bringing the cost to about $30.00 including shipping.

For kicks, I'll let you know how the install went in about two weeks.

v.

[zebraitis]

OK... If anyone is giving this thread a read, then I would like to say that everything has worked out very well.

The card came from Newegg and has been installed.

The card is very slim and half-height, fitting the heat sink and fan in the space that takes up no more that one slot.

The box included additional card brackets, some install amd marketing "stuff", but it ALSO had a CD with Software and drivers...

... XBMC was included on the CD !!!

OK... on to the install...

My HTPC case was very small, with the power supply being right next to the Zotac MB. This means that my PS intake fan is right next to the video card's heat sink and fan.

So... this will either help cool the card, or overheat my power supply. Time will tell. I think all will be fine.

Installing and rebooting caused the HTPC BIOS to freak out, so BIOS settings had to be redone. Nothing a few reboots cant fix.

On the positive, I was robbing system memory to allow 512M to be allocated for the onboard HDMI NVIDIA graphics, now that goes back to the system (for a total of 4GB in my Win7 Ult 64 setup).

The Vid card has 1024M installed, so that addresses the on board need.

Additionally, this seems to have "turned off" the onboard graphics (does not show up in Computer / Properties / Device Manager), and everything now seems to point to theNVIDIA capable Zotac GeForce GT 520 as the graphics audio card.

On the slightly negative side, the card comes with both DVI and HDMI in a half-height card. The HDMI connection was higher than the slot opening on my case was, but the dremel tool and a grinding head "adjusted" the opening and allowed for connectivity.

So, connected to the Onkyo, I can do 1080p 24 Mhz for outstanding video, and the audio can handle DTS-HD MA without problems.

For a $30.00 upgrade, I am able to handle anything that XBMC thows at me.

This should be fine until XBMC does holographic video... or until I replace this with an Android box that has high-end HTPC capabilities.

I wish you all the best,

Vincent