Homeplugs & DivX Xvid on MVP

[tejon]

Hi all,

I'm trying to get DivX and Xvid files playing through the MVP over homeplugs.

(not trying any of the TV software - just wanted better video playback than the default MVP software as the higher compressed xvids/divx's tend to lose frames - so want to transcode on the computer to take the strain off the box )

I'm using the solwise 85mbps Homeplugs and connected at 84.3mbps.

I can load into GBPVR without any problems, play music, view pictures, net radio all works fine.

I've tried to play Xvid and DivX videos from the computer upstairs (AMD 4000, 2GB Ram, Nvidia Chipset) which I've set to transcode the video, which it appears to do.

My problem is I get no picture or sound, the screen goes black and stays black, if I press pause and bring up the OSD i can see the file length increase (my guess is due to the transcoding or reading the file ahead) which is flying ahead, however the play time doesnt seem to move even when i hit play (this could be unrelated/non essential information - just thought Id say what I see)

Ideally what I would ideally prefer is for someone with this working setup (ie with the homeplugs) to upload their config so I can see if theirs works for me.

Please find my config attached, Ive played around with all kinds of settings in there to no avail, no picture no music not once.

I just get that feeling Im doing something stupid but cannot work out what :confused:

Please find my config.xml here

Any help would be most helpful

Thanks

Ben

[HtV]

From these 2 settings:

<MVPTranscodeUseFFDSHOW>true</MVPTranscodeUseFFDSHOW>
<MVPTranscodeUsingFFmpeg>true</MVPTranscodeUsingFFmpeg>

I would try setting the ffdshow-setting to false:

<MVPTranscodeUseFFDSHOW>false</MVPTranscodeUseFFDSHOW>

[tejon]

From these 2 settings:

<MVPTranscodeUseFFDSHOW>true</MVPTranscodeUseFFDSHOW>
<MVPTranscodeUsingFFmpeg>true</MVPTranscodeUsingFFmpeg>

I would try setting the ffdshow-setting to false:

<MVPTranscodeUseFFDSHOW>false</MVPTranscodeUseFFDSHOW>

Thanks for the suggestion but I'm afraid it has made no difference. Still black, no video, no sound.

[jim08127]

Reinstall the Hauppauge software decoder that came with the MVP.

[HtV]

When you use gbpvr you should turn both hauppauge services off if they are still running.

[jim08127]

Just to clarify, in order to send mpeg4 video to the MVP with GB PVR you do need the Hauppauge MVP software installed, IIRC. But the Hauppauge services must be disabled like Htv says.

Start->Run-> services.msc

Then find the 2 Hauppauge services and set to disabled.

[tejon]

Reinstall the Hauppauge software decoder that came with the MVP.

I've installed the latest software from the Hauppauge website, which works fine. I will re-install when Im back from work later this evening and try again.

When you use gbpvr you should turn both hauppauge services off if they are still running.

Yes both MVPMedia and MVPMediaSvc are both disabled and stopped when I load GBPVR on the MVP.

Just to clarify, in order to send mpeg4 video to the MVP with GB PVR you do need the Hauppauge MVP software installed, IIRC. But the Hauppauge services must be disabled like Htv says.

Start->Run-> services.msc

Then find the 2 Hauppauge services and set to disabled.

Thanks alot guys for these suggestions, always good to double check everything, I should have mentioned I was disabling the services prior to launching the GB-PVR MediaMVP Server.

Keep them comming!

[HtV]

Have you tried watching the "growing transcoded avi-mpeg file" on your computer. Just to make sure it transcodes ok?
To rule out the homeplugs, you could try the mvp with a direct cable.

[sub]

Can you play an MPEG2 from you MVP?

Attempting to play a divx/xvid file will result in a intermediate step of producing an MPEG2 file. Its worth just cutting out this step and trying an MPEG2 file to see if the problem is the transcoding or something else.

BTW, if you're intending to use this device for primarily watching divx/xvid video file, then you've bought the wrong device. This device can only natively play MPEG1 and MPEG2 videos. I've add some very basic xvid/divx support to GB-PVR when using the MVP, but its got all sorts limitations - ok for the occasional dvix/xvid, but would suck if that was what you were primarily wanting to do. Sorry.

[tejon]

Hi guys,

I have resolved my problem and thought I best share.

There were two reasons my setup wasn't working:

1. I hadn't specified a recording directory for the ffmpeg to record to.

2. The interesting one - which goes against everything I have read but this only seems to work on my set up if i enable the MVPMedia service and disable the MVPMediaSVC.

I found this out by accident when i re-started my mvp services whilst powering up the mvp box (expecting to load the default hauppage software) Insted it loaded gbpvr software (I guess because the services hadnt restarted in time) and when i tested the videos they worked fine (due to the MVPMedia service was enabled)

Has anyone else found this to be the case? I need to do further tests to be 100% confident this is reason but everything I've tried so far seems to point to having MVPMedia service enabled for the decoding of xvid/divx files.

FYI: The ffmpeg conversion works fine, no frames dropped and good quality picture. My amd 4000 processor flies through the encode, and there is only a 2-3 second wait approx before the video plays.