H264 (Freeview HD) channels scanned but won't play

[sausageman]

I hope this is something obvious I've missed, but the HD channels that are found when I run a scan won't play in NPVR (black screen, no sound).

I assume it is something to do with codecs, but I've installed and selected DivX and CPPP, and they don't seem to change anything.

I'm running WHS2011, on and HP microserver, using a TBS 6280 tv card.

These channels also don't get populated in the EPG, or appear in XBMC.

[gEd]

Welcome to the forum!

before we get too involved, what graphics card does the microserver have? If it has a low-rent graphics chipset , it may well not be able to playback HD channels.

I use the SAF codec pack (from the forum) and it works perfectly for UK content. Send it's creator hoborg a message via the forum to request the unlocked version.

The EPG doesn't download over the air for the HD channels (pain in the butt eh?)
so you need to use XMLTV to download and assemble an xml file containing the EPG for all your chosen channels. (you then do this every day to downloaded and reload a new EPG).
The easiest way to do this is using Alan Birtles' really excellent XMLTVGUI application: http://www.birtles.org.uk/xmltv/

[sausageman]

Thanks gEd,

My graphics card is an Nvidia GT520, so I think it should be ok with HD channels.

So you think the SAF pack will solve this? I'll send a message now.

I have a digiguide subscription, which I've seen can be used to populate the EPG. Is there any major advantage over the default? Is this like the Alan Birtle one?

[psycik]

WHS generally doesn't include a bunch of multimedia components.

Are you sure it's actually creating valid media files? Tried playing them off another computer (VLC is a great test for this as it doesn't use directshow).

[gEd]

Thanks gEd,

My graphics card is an Nvidia GT520, so I think it should be ok with HD channels.

So you think the SAF pack will solve this? I'll send a message now.

I have a digiguide subscription, which I've seen can be used to populate the EPG. Is there any major advantage over the default? Is this like the Alan Birtle one?

A G520 should be fine (I guess?)

I can't say that SAF will fix it as I don't know for sure what your problem is. However I use the SAF codec pack without any problem to playback all UK HD content just fine.
The problem with Digiguide is that you need to extract the EPG to an xml so it can be loaded into nPVR. Last time I tried this, it was not trivial. I see XMLTVGUI helps to do this but the only advantage of doing this over downloading the EPG from the radio times site would be the quality of the EPG data. If you have a digiguide subscription already, it might be worth trying.

[edit]: And yes, search the forum for WHS2011 as there have been some issues with this platform. good advice from psycik there.

[sausageman]

Would I create a media file by recording the channel? I've had no problem with SD channels.

Then play it using VLC on another pc?

[psycik]

Would I create a media file by recording the channel? I've had no problem with SD channels.

Then play it using VLC on another pc?

Yes to both.

That verifies that it's been recorded and confirms it is a codec issue. Then you can decide if you need to fix it or not (being a whs I wouldn't have thought you'd watch on there).

[sausageman]

I tried to play the file on a windows 7 machine, but no video opened. It said it was a 90 second video, but wouldn't play.

I also noticed another issue, which is separate from this, so will probably have to start a new thread, but I had 500gig of files in my buffer folder. Is this a known issue, of tv i watch not being deleted.

[Graham]

Is this a known issue, of tv i watch not being deleted.

Yep. I'd point you at the thread but it's time for bed. Rest assured its a work in progress ... there may already be a patch in a thread somewhere.

[Graham]

Is there any major advantage over the default? Is this like the Alan Birtle one?

From memory, you can use the Alan Birtles one (XMLTVGUI) to get data from Digiguide or from Radio Times. Most here use Radio Times.