[jmichael99]

I hope the windows support forum is the right place to post this.
im running Dharma RC2

GPU nvidia ion
CPU intel atom 1.66ghz
2gb ram
streaming over LAN via ether net. no wireless
DXVA enabled

this only happens on HD movies. h.264 format. dvd rips run fine

the files i am having problems with run 100% fine outside of XBMC, i play them using media center its fine and just going to the file directly its fine as well as my ps3
.
i know XBMC has no buffer options or patches (that i can fine anyway) hopefully there is some sort of fix im over looking, i would just hook up my 2 drives to my htpc but im going to setup a 2nd XBMC when i get a 2nd tv in a few months so streaming is a must

if i need to post more info for support let me know

[jmichael99]

Here is my debug log

http://pastebin.com/GU4uSaNi

[Pure3picshot]

jmichael99,
I would try the following to see if it will help in playing h.264 codecs correctly. I can only get my Blu-Ray h.264 M2TS files to play correctly if DXVA2 is DISABLED. When I was using the DSPlayer r33619 I was able to use DXVA2, but can not under Dharma RC1 and RC2.

1. Turn off windows aero (if you are using Windows 7)
2. XBMC (Settings>Video>Playback) Turn DXVA2 OFF, Enable Sync Playback to Display and use Audio Clock for A/V Sync Method
3. XBMC (Settings>System>Video Output) Use a fullscreen window rather than true full screen (Toggle on and off to see if you see a change) Vertical Blank Sync (Always enabled)

[jmichael99]

jmichael99,
I would try the following to see if it will help in playing h.264 codecs correctly. I can only get my Blu-Ray h.264 M2TS files to play correctly if DXVA2 is DISABLED. When I was using the DSPlayer r33619 I was able to use DXVA2, but can not under Dharma RC1 and RC2.

1. Turn off windows aero (if you are using Windows 7)
2. XBMC (Settings>Video>Playback) Turn DXVA2 OFF, Enable Sync Playback to Display and use Audio Clock for A/V Sync Method
3. XBMC (Settings>System>Video Output) Use a fullscreen window rather than true full screen (Toggle on and off to see if you see a change) Vertical Blank Sync (Always enabled)

ill give it a shot and see what happens.. you play the m2ts files.. i do convert them using handbrake to save a little space


ill report back in a few mins

[Pure3picshot]

I use BDRebuilder and convert my originals to AVCHD format to DVD9, then take the compressed h.264 m2ts from the AVCHD structure and place it in my XBMC Movie Library. Keeping it at a DVD9 is perfect for compression and quality anything lower than that you can definately start to notice the compression in video.

[jmichael99]

jmichael99,
I would try the following to see if it will help in playing h.264 codecs correctly. I can only get my Blu-Ray h.264 M2TS files to play correctly if DXVA2 is DISABLED. When I was using the DSPlayer r33619 I was able to use DXVA2, but can not under Dharma RC1 and RC2.

1. Turn off windows aero (if you are using Windows 7)
2. XBMC (Settings>Video>Playback) Turn DXVA2 OFF, Enable Sync Playback to Display and use Audio Clock for A/V Sync Method
3. XBMC (Settings>System>Video Output) Use a fullscreen window rather than true full screen (Toggle on and off to see if you see a change) Vertical Blank Sync (Always enabled)

ok so i did everything you said.. turning off DXVA2 took my FPS down to 8 or 9. i turned it back on and im back to 24fps.. but still getting a buffer every 30secs-2 mins or so.. the other options you gave didnt have any affect

[Pure3picshot]

hmm.. might have to do a little research on this one. It almost sounds like a network bandwidth issue, but isn't the case due to you being able to stream it over the network using Windows Media Player. A little while ago I found an interesting article on h.264 encodes and how certain Hardware Acceleration Profiles will play the file as if it was corrupt with green blocks, choppiness, and verticle or horizontal pixelations due to the the version of h.264 you are using.

[jmichael99]

hmm.. might have to do a little research on this one. It almost sounds like a network bandwidth issue, but isn't the case due to you being able to stream it over the network using Windows Media Player. A little while ago I found an interesting article on h.264 encodes and how certain Hardware Acceleration Profiles will play the file as if it was corrupt with green blocks, choppiness, and verticle or horizontal pixelations due to the the version of h.264 you are using.

ok so i tried it in windows media player and it is buffering too.. so to trouble shoot my network i did the following, note my htpc is on the same switch as the server

i plued my laptop into the router.. played 5mins of the same video and its fine. pluged into the switch in the same port as the htpc and its fine. used the same cable as the htpc in the same port its fine. wrapped the ethernet cable up so its not close to the outlet, because it was and i didnt know it, but it still buffers...so i THINK this rules out the router, switch or anything with the network.. i think its the htpc but not sure what to do to fix it

Shuttle htpc with ION GPU and atom CPU. it only has 100mbps ethernet card. but even highdef should run fine over this...

what else can i check

ill also note on the HTPC i have nothing extra running except virus scanner and defrag and these run in the middle of the night so should have no affect on playback during the day..im almost temped to format the damn thing and start fresh

[Pure3picshot]

Well we can agree to the following below. It has to be hardware specific issues with the HTPC when rendering hidef h.264 content. I went from DSPlayer r33619 to Dharma RC1 then RC2 and cannot play h.264 content with DXVA2 enabled, but in DSPlayer r33619 I remember having it enabled and everything worked correctly. I changed due to Dharma RC1, RC2 having Hardware Acceleration, but it has not worked for me yet. I would try DSPlayer r33619 and see how it reacts. I know you probably have but are you using the latest ION GPU Drivers? Do you have torrents running in the background on another computer?

DSPlayer Builds:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=61355
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=70436

Troubleshooted:
NONE WORKED STILL BUFFERS
1. XBMC Settings (Enabled/Disabled DXVA2, Window Mode vs Full Screen, Vertical Blank, Sync Video to Display using Audio Clock)
2. Upgraded to latest Video Card Drivers
3. Verified no additional background applications are running (Antivirus, Defragment, Windows Updates, torrents on local HTPC or another Computer)
4. Globally disabled windows aero
5. Checked Network (Took a laptop plugged it into the same port on the router, same port on the switch with the same ethernet cable) NO problems

[jmichael99]

Well we can agree to the following below. It has to be hardware specific issues with the HTPC when rendering hidef h.264 content. I went from DSPlayer r33619 to Dharma RC1 then RC2 and cannot play h.264 content with DXVA2 enabled, but in DSPlayer r33619 I remember having it enabled and everything worked correctly. I changed due to Dharma RC1, RC2 having Hardware Acceleration, but it has not worked for me yet. I would try DSPlayer r33619 and see how it reacts. I know you probably have but are you using the latest ION GPU Drivers? Do you have torrents running in the background on another computer?

DSPlayer Builds:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=61355
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=70436

Troubleshooted:
NONE WORKED STILL BUFFERS
1. XBMC Settings (Enabled/Disabled DXVA2, Window Mode vs Full Screen, Vertical Blank, Sync Video to Display using Audio Clock)
2. Upgraded to latest Video Card Drivers
3. Verified no additional background applications are running (Antivirus, Defragment, Windows Updates, torrents on local HTPC or another Computer)
4. Globally disabled windows aero
5. Checked Network (Took a laptop plugged it into the same port on the router, same port on the switch with the same ethernet cable) NO problems

im running DSPlayer r33619 now and 6mins in and no buffering or pausing yet..24fps it dropped to 23.5 once for just a sec...

so what is the difference between Dharma RC2 and DSPlayer r33619?

my ultimate goal is to setup a sql server and stream to 2 HTPCs

also to get this to work now i have to right click on the movie choose play using and then select ds player. how can i make it default

[Pure3picshot]

I have the same goal as you, end up creating a sql backend to have multiple HTPC's access the same DB so you can keep the watched flags and everything in one database. You will have to make DSPlayer the default mediaplayer for XBMC. You want to create an advancedsettings.xml and place it in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\userdata..

Advancedsettings.xml (XBMC WIKI)
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Adv...ttings.xml

I use notepad++ as it has all the basic programming laguages for free and it is easy to manipulate xml, txt, etc files. I would recommend downloading it as it will be easier when creating your own files.

1. Open notepad++
2. Create new file
3. Past the following in your file

<advancedsettings>
<video>
<defaultplayer>dsplayer</defaultplayer>
</video>
</advancedsettings>

4. File, Save As, Select XML and name it advancedsettings.xml
5. Save it to the following location (C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\userdata)

Posting in the forums took out the tabs in step 3. Make sure to open the wiki and complete it in that format.

Make sure to restart XBMC for the advancedsettings.xml file to take effect. XBMC should now recognize DSPlayer as the default player for all of your movies, tvshows, etc. I really dont know what differs from the DSPlayer builds and Dharma, but I do know that DXVA2 ENABLED works on DSplayer r33619 and not Dharma RC1, RC2 when playing hidef h.264 bluray encodes. I also believe that DSPlayer builds allow the use of third party codecs and not the one stop shop for the installs ie. ffdshow. I have a powerhouse for a HTPC currently so running DXVA2 DISABLED really isn't hurting my system, so I decided to stick with Dharma RC2 for now. Just an FYI, the release cadidates for DSPlayer may not be as frequent as other nightly builds please make sure to keep that in mind when choosing skins that may only work with the newest nightly builds.

[jmichael99]

I have the same goal as you, end up creating a sql backend to have multiple HTPC's access the same DB so you can keep the watched flags and everything in one database. You will have to make DSPlayer the default mediaplayer for XBMC. You want to create an advancedsettings.xml and place it in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\userdata..

Advancedsettings.xml (XBMC WIKI)
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Adv...ttings.xml

I use notepad++ as it has all the basic programming laguages for free and it is easy to manipulate xml, txt, etc files. I would recommend downloading it as it will be easier when creating your own files.

1. Open notepad++
2. Create new file
3. Past the following in your file

<advancedsettings>
<video>
<defaultplayer>dsplayer</defaultplayer>
</video>
</advancedsettings>

4. File, Save As, Select XML and name it advancedsettings.xml
5. Save it to the following location (C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\userdata)

Posting in the forums took out the tabs in step 3. Make sure to open the wiki and complete it in that format.

Make sure to restart XBMC for the advancedsettings.xml file to take effect. XBMC should now recognize DSPlayer as the default player for all of your movies, tvshows, etc. I really dont know what differs from the DSPlayer builds and Dharma, but I do know that DXVA2 ENABLED works on DSplayer r33619 and not Dharma RC1, RC2 when playing hidef h.264 bluray encodes. I also believe that DSPlayer builds allow the use of third party codecs and not the one stop shop for the installs ie. ffdshow. I have a powerhouse for a HTPC currently so running DXVA2 DISABLED really isn't hurting my system, so I decided to stick with Dharma RC2 for now. Just an FYI, the release cadidates for DSPlayer may not be as frequent as other nightly builds please make sure to keep that in mind when choosing skins that may only work with the newest nightly builds.

wow... everthing seems like its working.. im going to work on a sql database another time.. i still have to change file names and stuff for over 200 movies first...

if you lived close id buy you a beer sir.. you are the man

[Pure3picshot]

I am glad to hear we got everything working, it is always exciting to finally get a working product. Unfortunately I dont think hardware acceleration DXVA2 is working on Dharma releases when playing hidef h.264 encodes. DSPlayer r33619 is an alternative for people with hardware limited HTPC's due to a working DXVA2 when playing hidef 1080p h.264 encodes.

[jmichael99]

maybe ill look into something more powerfull next time so i can use future releases. I just have the shuttle x35 which i great for its size i think