[clipper99]

Most if not all of the issues in that thread have since been resolved - wouldn't worry too much about them. Similarily so, this issue of Bas's has all but been eradicated as well, from desktop cards at any rate. No comfort I know to Bas, but I think he is the first person to post issues, with a laptop with an ATI card

@ Bas - If you downloaded those builds from the sshcs site, I think you'll find in the comments that his Win32 builds are broken at the moment - though why he continues to post them is beyond me. Might just have to be a bit more patient, before you can test.

Steelman, thank you for your response and input.

[CrystalP]

Does this happen with the integrated screen? What about an external screen via hdmi, with the internal LCD disabled?

VGA wouldn't help much with the problem I'm thinking of, but it can't hurt trying.

[steelman1991]

Does this happen with the integrated screen? What about an external screen via hdmi, with the internal LCD disabled?

VGA wouldn't help much with the problem I'm thinking of, but it can't hurt trying.

CrystalP - will the existence of intel i5 have a bearing on this (check Clipper99 's link to the laptop spec) - seem to remember lots of issues with the i series and dxva compatibility in the past, or was I imagining things.

@Bas - does your laptop have intel i series as well?

[clipper99]

Does this happen with the integrated screen? What about an external screen via hdmi, with the internal LCD disabled?

VGA wouldn't help much with the problem I'm thinking of, but it can't hurt trying.

This happens with either external or internal displays enabled/disabled. I don't think his TV has an HD15 connector but I'll check and report back later.

cheers

[ag3nt]

Just registered to say that I'm experiencing very similar symptoms. However, I'm using a dedicated HTPC and not a laptop. My specs are:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H
Processor: AMD Athlon II X2 235E AM3 2.7GHZ
Video card: XFX Radeon HD 5450 650MHZ 512MB 1.0GHZ DDR2
Operating system: Windows 7 64 bit

My HTPC is hooked up to my TV via HDMI. Much like clipper99 and Bas_h78, all I get is a black screen when I turn on DXVA2 and try to play MKV files. AVI files, on the other hand, work just fine. I did notice that if I press Tab when an MKV is playing, the xbmc menu overlay appears and then I can see the movie playing in the background. If I press Tab again, the menu overlay disappears, as does the movie.

I'll definitely be keeping a close eye on this thread!

[clipper99]

So my neighbour does not have a VGA connector on his TV so I can't test that idea out.

Like ag3nt as well, if we press the Tab key the movie magically appears in the background but I suspect that is because DVXA gets turned off for the menu overlay feature.

Since ag3nt has an AMD processor I'm inclined to think the issue is not because of the problems I've been reading about with certain i3 or i5 processors.

I've got a bad feeling that if I had have recommended an Nvidia graphics notebook to my neighbour we wouldn't be in this boat! ARGH!

[Bas_h78]

CrystalP - will the existence of intel i5 have a bearing on this (check Clipper99 's link to the laptop spec) - seem to remember lots of issues with the i series and dxva compatibility in the past, or was I imagining things.

@Bas - does your laptop have intel i series as well?

Yep, I have a Studio 1749 : Intel i5-450M(2.4GHz) Mobile CPU

Does this happen with the integrated screen? What about an external screen via hdmi, with the internal LCD disabled?

VGA wouldn't help much with the problem I'm thinking of, but it can't hurt trying.

I will give it a go later today with a VGA connector on my TV

So my neighbour does not have a VGA connector on his TV so I can't test that idea out.

Like ag3nt as well, if we press the Tab key the movie magically appears in the background but I suspect that is because DVXA gets turned off for the menu overlay feature.

Since ag3nt has an AMD processor I'm inclined to think the issue is not because of the problems I've been reading about with certain i3 or i5 processors.

I've got a bad feeling that if I had have recommended an Nvidia graphics notebook to my neighbour we wouldn't be in this boat! ARGH!

Steelman I tried yesterday the vlc player with dxva, in the settings you can make the setting to use dxva (experimental). When I do this my whole system crashes (maybe it is vlc). Could you try this?

I am not any closer on making the dx and gl branches work. I tried it again on a totally clean freash machine [build it that is] and it still does it. So we must wait. At least dharma is rocking, and so are the Linux and OSX branches. seem really stable to me today, no video issues, no networking issues, seems like a pretty solid build. Xbox has been pretty solid for some time. So go get em boys.

They are trying to fix the dx and gl branches, still awaiting to test it

[sarcophage]

If it's any help whatsoever, I can confirm that i'm having similar issues, and I also have a Radeon HD5450. Maybe there's something specific with those cards?

XBMC Dharma beta 3
Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit
AMD 64-bit Phenom processor (slips my mind exactly which one)
onboard audio (typical Realtek drivers)
Jetway M26GT4+ motherboard
I am connecting to an HDTV via HDMI

I have been unable to play any HD content, save for a single rip of Akira which is one of the few WMV files I have. I'm not sure if that makes any difference. No mkv container movies (I believe they are all x264) will display video, though they all play audio, and show "ff-h264-dxva2" when i pull up the playback details.

regular log shows no issues -

[clipper99]

Well that makes at least 4 of us with varying processors but we're all running Dharma B3 and we all have ATI 5xxxx chipsets. Good enough for me! #$@% ATI! LOL
My neighbour has 11 days left to return this laptop so I'll make sure he keeps all his packaging in good condition!
Today (can't believe I haven't yet tried this ) I'll try to see if I can even get DXVA with MPC-HC or the latest VLC.

cheers

[steelman1991]

I feel your pain Clipper - particularly having recommended to a neighbour (ouch), but I and many others are running ATI hardware, without a glitch of any kind. I am currently running with an ATI 5450, CCC 10.9a (hotfix drivers) and an AMD Phenom 9650 processor.

In fact to put things into perspective, I purchased an Nvidia GTS450 last week, popped it into my system and had nothing but trouble with it - artefacting, pixelation, green screens, you name it, so playback issues are inherent with Nvidia as well.

This is like 'Groundhog Day', I'm almost certain that all these issues have at some point or another been problematic, but fixed, in much earlier builds. Its a pity we can't get access to an svn trunk build to see whether the changes made by CrystalP have remedied anything.

[clipper99]

Thanks Steelman,

Yes, to compound the pain sure to be felt by "neighbour" is the fact that I am also on an ATI (HD4870) on the desktop here and have no problems whatsoever! I'm sure we'll get it worked out somehow, even if it requires another trip to the store for a laptop swap.
I guess I can't really try those hotfix drivers as it appears to be for 10.9 (desktop) only and the latest HD Mobility drivers (official) are only at 10.8.

cheers

[clipper99]

Well this is interesting:

Like BAS, enabling DXVA (experimental) in VLC causes a hard system crash. Had to power off to do a reboot BUT....

MPC-HC plays DXVA just fine.

So to summarize, only MPC-HC will play DXVA, with XBMC displaying a black screen with audio and VLC just crashes.

Hmmmmmmmmmm

[CrystalP]

Unfortunately none of the devs have an ATI5xxx which makes it more difficult.

The change I made earlier will not help, that was confirmed by reports of working hdmi-connected screens.

This is not the first report that the video appears after hitting TAB. DXVA is not turned off when that happens, so there's a bit of hope.

There is a very simple change to try, for someone who can build xbmc. It's not as complicated as it sounds, the tools are free, there are detailed instructions on the Wiki.
Comment out lines 281-282 of WinRenderer.cpp and see what happens.

[clipper99]

Unfortunately none of the devs have an ATI5xxx which makes it more difficult.

What? You mean you guys aren't rolling around in and sleeping on huge piles of money?

CrystalP, I appreciate all the work you guys do. Building my own XBMC is not something I need to get into right now. Myself I've got so many irons in the fire right now I think adding one more might lead to divorce! Perhaps someone reading this may want to give it a go?

GO TEAM!

[robertr81]

Just registered to say that I'm experiencing very similar symptoms. However, I'm using a dedicated HTPC and not a laptop. My specs are:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H
Processor: AMD Athlon II X2 235E AM3 2.7GHZ
Video card: XFX Radeon HD 5450 650MHZ 512MB 1.0GHZ DDR2
Operating system: Windows 7 64 bit

My HTPC is hooked up to my TV via HDMI. Much like clipper99 and Bas_h78, all I get is a black screen when I turn on DXVA2 and try to play MKV files. AVI files, on the other hand, work just fine. I did notice that if I press Tab when an MKV is playing, the xbmc menu overlay appears and then I can see the movie playing in the background. If I press Tab again, the menu overlay disappears, as does the movie.

I'll definitely be keeping a close eye on this thread!

I have the EXACT same problem as you and same graphic card.
Please notify me with a PM or here if you get this problem solved.
I will do the same.