zprocess... to work or not to work...

[zehd]

Further clues: I uninstalled gbpvr 1.4.7 and reinstalled it and reinstalled zprocess. Zprocess did not ask to register itself with gbpvr (and yes, I do activate the removeallzprocess.reg file before opening zprocess). It only asked if I was PAL or NTSC. No luck, mvp still crashes on any avi and does not start up ztranscode. (on this attempt I forgot to see if the reinstalled gbpvr would transcode avi's with incorrect aspect ratios on its own. So then I unintstalled gbpvr 1.4.7 and installed 1.3.11. Before I did anything with zprocess, I confirmed that gbpvr 1.3.11 could transcode avi's on its own with the incorrect aspect ratios. I then installed zprocess, and this time it did ask to register itself with gbpvr (yay!). Then my MVP crashed with any avi and did not activate ztranscode on my computer (boo.). So then I activated removeallzprocess.reg again and then tried to re-install zprocess. This time it did not ask me to register itself with gbpvr. Is there something in my registry that is not being taken out by removeallzprocess.reg? Could there be something in my gbpvr config file that is messed up. If its the registry, I don't think that I have the skills; but maybe I'll delete my config file and re-install gbpvr with a fresh one. I don't think that there would be anything too special in there that I couldn't set up again with the config application.

No RemoveAllZProcess does not remove everything... It only gets rid of all ZProcess Registry entires. It does not remove itself from the config.xml

In order to be sure what the config.xml should look like, compare it to the config.xml.NoEdit file (I forget the exact name, but it's the master default file that ships with GB-PVR)

Yes, you could delete the config.xml, start GB-PVR config, close it, Start ZProcess (not ZTranscode) and then ZProcess shouldn't see itself in the config.xml and then it would reference itself.

But before ZProcess, if you have deleted the config.xml, to default GB-PVR, then try using default ffmpeg.

[bertros]

O.K. Here's where I am. I've uninstalled and reinstalled multiple versions of gbpvr. With each case, if I select an avi with my MVP before installing zprocess, it will transcode with ffmpeg (and bad aspect ratios), but it will transcode. If I delete my config file and build a new one with the config utility, and then reinstall zprocess it will register itself with gbpvr. I have also reinstalled the zprocess-friendly version of mencoder in the mplayer folder (default path). So once I have installed zprocess, I select an avi with my MVP, on the first attempt it timed out after the 12 seconds I had set in my config but returned to the gbpvr menu on the MVP. It also did create a zprocess2.log file in the MVP_cache folder in my recordings folders (I will attach). Then I noticed something strange last night and replicated it today. Under 'processes' in my task manager, mencoder was still running and using 99% of CPU. I have no idea what it was doing. Today I forced it to close with 'end task.' I tried again with an avi from the MVP. The second time it crashed the MVP and did not revert back to the 'videos' menu; however it did add to the zprocess2.log. Mencoder did not continue running, though. So I'll attach the logs, any help would be greatly appreciated.

[zehd]

O.K. Here's where I am. I've uninstalled and reinstalled multiple versions of gbpvr. With each case, if I select an avi with my MVP before installing zprocess, it will transcode with ffmpeg (and bad aspect ratios), but it will transcode. If I delete my config file and build a new one with the config utility, and then reinstall zprocess it will register itself with gbpvr. I have also reinstalled the zprocess-friendly version of mencoder in the mplayer folder (default path). So once I have installed zprocess, I select an avi with my MVP, on the first attempt it timed out after the 12 seconds I had set in my config but returned to the gbpvr menu on the MVP. It also did create a zprocess2.log file in the MVP_cache folder in my recordings folders (I will attach). Then I noticed something strange last night and replicated it today. Under 'processes' in my task manager, mencoder was still running and using 99% of CPU. I have no idea what it was doing. Today I forced it to close with 'end task.' I tried again with an avi from the MVP. The second time it crashed the MVP and did not revert back to the 'videos' menu; however it did add to the zprocess2.log. Mencoder did not continue running, though. So I'll attach the logs, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Do you have the GB-PVR Recording Service set to Interact with Desktop?

Each time you install GB-PVR, it will uncheck that option. It must be enabled after every install...

[bertros]

10/30/2009 7:16:34 PM : ***************************************
10/30/2009 7:16:34 PM : 'ZProcess starts'.
10/30/2009 7:16:34 PM : Trans2MVP "F:\My Videos\Big love\Big.Love.S01E01.HDTV.XviD-LOL.avi" "F:\GBPVR TV shows\MVP000DFE0B15142.mpg"
10/30/2009 7:16:34 PM : 0.671875 secs from last sub. This sub 'Extracted Filespecs from Command'.
10/30/2009 7:16:34 PM : 0.671875 secs from last sub. This sub 'Got Output filename'.
10/30/2009 7:16:34 PM : 0.703125 secs from last sub. This sub 'Killed old MEncoder, FFmpeg, ZTranscode windows'.
10/30/2009 7:16:34 PM : 0.703125 secs from last sub. This sub 'Automode, hidden forms'.
10/30/2009 7:16:34 PM : 0.703125 secs from last sub. This sub 'cmdStart_click'.
10/30/2009 7:16:34 PM : Sending to ZTranscode: "C:\Program Files\Devnz\GBPVR\Third Party\Ztools\ZTranscode.exe" "F:\My Videos\Big love\Big.Love.S01E01.HDTV.XviD-LOL.avi" "F:\GBPVR TV shows\MVP000DFE0B15142.mpg" ZProcess_hWnd131252
10/30/2009 7:16:34 PM : ZT: 1.03375000000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Purge Cache'.
10/30/2009 7:16:35 PM : ZT: 1.33062500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Loaded Settings'.
10/30/2009 7:16:35 PM : ZT: 1.33062500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Loaded frmConfig'.
10/30/2009 7:16:35 PM : ZT: 1.33062500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Set Normal Priority on ZTranscode'.
10/30/2009 7:16:35 PM : ZT: "F:\My Videos\Big love\Big.Love.S01E01.HDTV.XviD-LOL.avi" "F:\GBPVR TV shows\MVP000DFE0B15142.mpg" ZProcess_hWnd131252
10/30/2009 7:16:35 PM : ZT: 1.33062500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Extracted FilesPecs from Command'.
10/30/2009 7:16:35 PM : ZT: 1.33062500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Stop Toggle'.
10/30/2009 7:16:35 PM : ZT: 1.37750000000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'FindFirstLargeVOB'.
10/30/2009 7:16:35 PM : ZT: 1.37750000000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Got Output file'.
10/30/2009 7:16:35 PM : ZT: 1.42437500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'NewFile'.
10/30/2009 7:16:35 PM : ZT: 1.42437500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'GetFileInfo'.
10/30/2009 7:16:35 PM : ZT: 1.45562500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Written GetFileInfo batch'.
10/30/2009 7:16:37 PM : ZT: 3.76812500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Ran and waited for Batch: GetDimensions.bat'.
10/30/2009 7:16:37 PM : ZT: 3.76812500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'GetRect'.
10/30/2009 7:16:37 PM : ZT: 3.76812500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Read Dimensions.info'.
10/30/2009 7:16:37 PM : ZT: 3.76812500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'CalcNewRect'.
10/30/2009 7:16:37 PM : ZT: 3.90875000000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'CalcNewRect'.
10/30/2009 7:16:37 PM : ZT: 4.17437500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'CalcNewRect'.
10/30/2009 7:16:37 PM : ZT: 4.17437500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'cboProfile_click'.
10/30/2009 7:16:37 PM : ZT: 4.17437500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Automode, hidden forms'.
10/30/2009 7:16:38 PM : ZT: 4.75250000000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'cmdStart_click'.
10/30/2009 7:16:38 PM : ZT: 4.75250000000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Check for Cached file.'.
10/30/2009 7:16:38 PM : ZT: 4.84625000000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Wrote RunTranscode.cmd (including Doevents)'.
10/30/2009 7:16:38 PM : ZT: Transcoding: F:\My Videos\Big love\Big.Love.S01E01.HDTV.XviD-LOL.avi
10/30/2009 7:16:38 PM : ZT: 4.84625000000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'SetPriority to selected, ZTranscode'.
10/30/2009 7:16:38 PM : ZT: 4.86187500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Shelled Transcode'.
10/30/2009 7:16:38 PM : ZT: 4.86187500000233 seconds to start transcode
10/30/2009 7:16:38 PM : ZT: 4.86187500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Timer1 was enabled'.
10/30/2009 7:16:38 PM : ZT: 4.86187500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Hid Windows'.
10/30/2009 7:16:38 PM : ZT: 4.86187500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Set Priority to selected, MEncoder.exe'.
10/30/2009 7:16:38 PM : ZT: 4.86187500000233 secs from last sub. This sub 'Set Priority Normal, ZTranscode'.
10/30/2009 7:16:44 PM : ZT: *** 10.7837500000023 'First Frames from Transcoder'.
10/30/2009 7:16:47 PM : ZT: Auto ZProcess is dead. Kill Transcode and tell ZTranscode to close
10/30/2009 7:16:47 PM : ZT: 13.3306250000023 secs from last sub. This sub 'Stop Toggle'.
10/30/2009 7:16:47 PM : ZT: Closes properly
10/30/2009 7:16:47 PM : ZT: Closes properly

I did not have "interact with desktop" checked. I didn't remember that I had to redo that after an upgrade. However, I have since rectified that with multiple reboots and fresh zprocess install and still no luck. I feel like I'm closer. The MVP doesn't crash much anymore, but still not one frame of video appears when I select an avi. I keep getting the "auto zprocess is dead" message in the logs. Any ideas why? I can still transcode manually from ztranscode. In the ten seconds before the transcode aborts I now see the flashing lightning bolt icon in my task tray, but never the square/greenlight flashing ztranscode icon.

[bertros]

Alright. Here's something a bit odd. Avi's manually transcoded to mpg's with ztranscode (using either ffmpeg or mencoder) will play on my pc with windows media player, but they won't play over my MVP. Not only that, when I select these "mpg's" on my MVP, there is a 10 second delay, as if gbpvr thinks that they need to be transcoded. I downloaded some test mpg's from the web, and they play fine as a video selected over the MVP. So I'm thinking, no wonder I can't transcode on-the-fly if gbpvr through my MVP won't even play a video that was manually transcoded from avi to mpg. But I still can't figure out where the transcoding is going wrong, and why the output file will play on a media player on my pc, but doesn't seem to be recognized as an mpg by gbpvr over my MVP.

[zehd]

Alright. Here's something a bit odd. Avi's manually transcoded to mpg's with ztranscode (using either ffmpeg or mencoder) will play on my pc with windows media player, but they won't play over my MVP. Not only that, when I select these "mpg's" on my MVP, there is a 10 second delay, as if gbpvr thinks that they need to be transcoded. I downloaded some test mpg's from the web, and they play fine as a video selected over the MVP. So I'm thinking, no wonder I can't transcode on-the-fly if gbpvr through my MVP won't even play a video that was manually transcoded from avi to mpg. But I still can't figure out where the transcoding is going wrong, and why the output file will play on a media player on my pc, but doesn't seem to be recognized as an mpg by gbpvr over my MVP.

OK. We're getting somewhere.

The transcoded MPGs playback in WMP because the codecs in your somputer accept the codec requirements of the MPG. Your MVP has hardware codecs built in, and that means the hardware doesn't like the file format of the transcoded MPG

In other words, the MVP plays MPGs natively, but there are still different variations of the MPG type, that may be throwing off the MVP, while fit perfectly well with your WMP/software codecs...

The defaults the ZProcess/ZTranscode transcode to MPG should be fine, but apparently isn't.

It could be region specific. Where do you live? PAL or NTSC? I know that I haven't done that much testing with PAL

You might need to change the output FrameRate (fps) You might need to play with the output dimensions.

Sub's ffmpeg defaults are 352/240 for NTSC and 352/288 for PAL. That's a good starting point. But you should also confirm setting on board the MVP by using the Hauppauge software.

ZProcess defaults to 640x480 and 640x576, which normally work just fine, though these are not offical dimesnions for DVD style MPGs, which should be 720x480 and 720x576

So anyway, you're playing with output dimensions and fps

(Oh, and make sure you're output audio codec is MP2)

[zehd]

I've just confirmed that ZProcess and GB-PVR 1.4.7 work just fine.

I went with an entirely default setup, making only one change and that's because I have a Wide Screen TV, and ZProcess defaults to outputting in 4x3 Aspect Ratio

Although it said that it was locked to MVPScreenPosition settings, I do not have that currently installed, and there are no manual settings in the config.xml. Therefore, ZProcess doesn't care...

For those of you having troubles, I did forget one part of the RemoveSettings that could be causing some trouble.

After you RemoveAllZProcess.reg to clear the Registry settings, you should also remove all settings out of the config. xml

Open ZProcess2.exe (not ZTranscode) and click GB-PVR Settings. There you can Remove All Refs. Once you have done this you must restart the GB-PVR Recording Service.

Removing the Reg settings and config.xml refs effectively brings GB-PVR to defaults where it will call the default ffmpeg.

Assumptions:
GB-PVR Recording Service to 'Interact with Desktop'
MEncoder is the version outlined on the wiki page and installed in the default location

[bertros]

I guess I must have screwed things up when I upgraded gbpvr the first time and forgot to set to interact with desktop. But screwed things up I have. So by selecting an input mpg that my MVP still likes with ztranscode, it seems to indicate that it at least likes files with an fps of 29.970. Now here's my new problem. I've adjusted the output fps in zprocess settings and saved the profiles (both 2mpg and trans2mvp); however, it isn't actually changing the fps of the output file shown in ztranscode. These still seem to match the input fps of whatever avi I select to transcode, and I can't seem to get it to change. Any ideas? Oh, and I live in NTSC-land (Massachusetts, U.S.A.).

[bertros]

Oh, and as another note (I don't know if this is helpful, but it does seem confirmatory), I did confirm in some MVP-PVRX2 logs that the MVP is not recognizing output files from ztranscode as mpegs.

2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] MVP playback requested: F:\GBPVR TV shows\Big.Love.S01E03.HDTV.XviD-LOL.mpg (shortname)
2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] MVP playback requested: F:\GBPVR TV shows\Big.Love.S01E03.HDTV.XviD-LOL.mpg (longname)
2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] getValue cached value: /settings/MvpTranscodeFLAC : true
2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] getValue cached value: /settings/MvpTranscodeOGG : true
2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] Checking if transcode required
2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] getValue cached value: /settings/MvpTranscodeAllVideo : false
2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] About to check for MPEG system header
2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] Video resolution is 1248x816
2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] getValue cached value: /settings/MvpTranscodeTS : true
2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] getValue cached value: /settings/RecordingsDirectory : F:\GBPVR TV shows
2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] getValue cached value: /settings/MVPTranscodeUsingFFmpeg : true
2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] getValue cached value: /settings/MVPFFmpegTranscodeCmdLinePAL : Trans2MVP "{SOURCE_FILE}" "{DEST_FILE}"
2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] getValue cached value: /settings/MVPFFmpegTranscodeCmdLineNTSC : Trans2MVP "{SOURCE_FILE}" "{DEST_FILE}"
2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] Starting transcode with: C:\Program Files\Devnz\GBPVR\Third Party\Ztools\ZProcess2.exe Trans2MVP "F:\GBPVR TV shows\Big.Love.S01E03.HDTV.XviD-LOL.mpg" "F:\GBPVR TV shows\MVP000DFE0B15142.mpg"
2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] Waiting for transcoding to begin

In the above example, I tried to play a "mpg" that had been transcoded by ztranscode. It doesn't recognize it as an mpg and waits for a new transcode to begin.

2009-10-31 16:54:40.562 INFO [6] playFile(, F:\My Videos\Christmas Classics\Frosty the Snowman\Frosty the Snowman_20071207_20002030.mpg)
2009-10-31 16:54:40.562 VERBOSE [6] About to play file: F:\My Videos\Christmas Classics\Frosty the Snowman\Frosty the Snowman_20071207_20002030.mpg
2009-10-31 16:54:40.671 VERBOSE [6] Sending MVP Video Playback Request: F:\My Videos\Christmas Classics\Frosty the Snowman\Frosty the Snowman_20071207_20002030.mpg
2009-10-31 16:54:40.671 VERBOSE [6] getValue cached value: /settings/MVPUseShortFilenamesOnNMT : false
2009-10-31 16:54:40.671 VERBOSE [6] Asking MVP to hide OSD (send video play request)
2009-10-31 16:54:40.671 VERBOSE [6] Playback started: F:\My Videos\Christmas Classics\Frosty the Snowman\Frosty the Snowman_20071207_20002030.mpg
2009-10-31 16:54:40.718 VERBOSE [7] MVP playback requested: F:\My Videos\Christmas Classics\Frosty the Snowman\Frosty the Snowman_20071207_20002030.mpg (shortname)
2009-10-31 16:54:40.718 VERBOSE [7] MVP playback requested: F:\My Videos\Christmas Classics\Frosty the Snowman\Frosty the Snowman_20071207_20002030.mpg (longname)
2009-10-31 16:54:40.718 VERBOSE [7] getValue cached value: /settings/MvpTranscodeFLAC : true
2009-10-31 16:54:40.718 VERBOSE [7] getValue cached value: /settings/MvpTranscodeOGG : true
2009-10-31 16:54:40.718 VERBOSE [7] Checking if transcode required
2009-10-31 16:54:40.718 VERBOSE [7] getValue cached value: /settings/MvpTranscodeAllVideo : false
2009-10-31 16:54:40.718 VERBOSE [7] About to check for MPEG system header
2009-10-31 16:54:40.718 VERBOSE [7] Video resolution is 720x480
2009-10-31 16:54:40.718 VERBOSE [7] getValue cached value: /settings/MvpTranscodeTS : true
2009-10-31 16:54:40.718 VERBOSE [7] Opening media file: F:\My Videos\Christmas Classics\Frosty the Snowman\Frosty the Snowman_20071207_20002030.mpg
2009-10-31 16:54:40.718 VERBOSE [7] bitrate: 18002
2009-10-31 16:54:40.718 VERBOSE [7] File is an MPEG2 file
2009-10-31 16:54:40.765 VERBOSE [7] Received request to seek to pos:38
2009-10-31 16:54:40.796 VERBOSE [7] Request 200000 bytes (file size:1033357248 file location: 38)
2009-10-31 16:54:40.812 VERBOSE [7] Request completed. 200000 bytes sent
2009-10-31 16:54:40.875 VERBOSE [7] Request 200000 bytes (file size:1033357248 file location: 200038)
2009-10-31 16:54:40.890 VERBOSE [7] Request completed. 200000 bytes sent
2009-10-31 16:54:40.984 VERBOSE [7] Request 200000 bytes (file size:1033357248 file location: 400038)
2009-10-31 16:54:41.062 VERBOSE [7] Request completed. 200000 bytes sent
2009-10-31 16:54:41.125 VERBOSE [7] Request 200000 bytes (file size:1033357248 file location: 600038

In the above example, I selected an mpeg that plays on my mvp. It says "file is an MPEG2 file" which it doesn't in the first example, and then it plays.

Hopefully, if I can figure out how to change the output fps, I might get it to work.

[mvallevand]

One of those log lines shows that the mpeg is too high a res. for the MVP

2009-10-31 16:45:05.203 VERBOSE [7] Video resolution is 1248x816

Martin