[fvtalon]

Just finished my new HTPC build and I have a few issues. Specs are as follows:

CPU: AMD A6-5400k
RAM: 8GB Kingston 1866-DDR3
MB: MSI FM2-A75MA-E35
SSD: Crucial M4 64GB
PSU: Seasonic S12II 430W
OS: Win7

Overall it works pretty good, everything is real snappy. I put on XBMC and Aeon Nox, menus and everything work great but when I play a video it plays in a few seconds then it's like it pauses and the video just hangs, 480p, 720p, 1080p doesn't seem to matter. It's something in XBMC because VLC will play a 1080P bluray rip just fine.

Any ideas where my problem is? I would like to get this off the bench and into the living room but not when it can't play a video.

[Solved:] Enabled XMP profile 1 for the RAM in bios. Along with the other 'proper' settings for and amd xbmc setup it's working great now.

[Malosar]

Can you tell us how you have it setup for AVR and TV? Could be audio related, what configuration do you have it on in XBMC for audio?

[Chimera2345]

I just built my HTPC using this exact CPU and mobo, only 4gb of ram and a 90gb Corsair SSD and it's working 100% perfectly now but I had this exact same problem. Check you've got DXVA2 turned on, and try changing the true fullscreen vs fullscreen window option.

[fvtalon]

It will be hooked via HDMI: PC->AVR->TV but for the time being it's sitting on my desk and hooked directly to a pc monitor via vga cable. No speakers are hooked up.

Render method: Auto detect
Allow DXVA2: on

Display mode: Full Screen #1
Use fullscreen window: on

Audio: HDMI

I've basically changed all the above settings in XBMC to no avail, seems to make no difference unless it just doesn't play at all.

I'm running XBMC 11.0 HD Audio but it did on the regular version of 11.0 also.

I should point out I'm not computer dumb but I've been using macs since win98/XP days so I'm not really up on everything windows. I do have a few other little issues like I get no temperature readout for the CPU/GPU in XBMC. I tried a few CPU temp programs too and they are all out to lunch, stuff like 0*F or 80*F while sitting mostly idle. The stock AMD heatsink registers about 27*C on my IR temp gun everytime I've checked. In bios autodetect set my RAM to 1333Mhz but I reset it to 1866 though I tried both settings and it doesn't change my video issues. Set to 1866 I get a WEI of 6.5 for CPU and 5.9 for graphics which is a fair bit under the number reported on newegg reviews. The gaming graphics score is 6.6. RAM: 7.4 and SSD: 7.9

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I spent some more time in VLC and it's not 100% either so it's not just an XBMC issue then. I get some stuttering most of the HD stuff I've tested both local via USB 3.0 external and over the wired network. In VLC the videos at least play though, in XBMC they pile up and stop about 10 seconds in while the progress bar keeps ticking away as if the movie was actually playing.

[Chimera2345]

You've got all of the latest AMD drivers installed (chipset, Catalyst)? I remember what my issue was - I didn't have any speakers plugged in (and was connected via DVI on my bench) and XBMC couldn't figure out what to do with the audio. Check your XBMC log and you'll probably see something isn't quite right. Which audio driver do you have selected in the system/audio settings page?

[Malosar]

If you have it connected via VGA then the HDMI won't be active. HDMI requires an active connection for EDID to pass relevant capability information to the PC and drivers. I don't think it will work otherwise.

[rip_king]

like Chimera said, make sure you have the latest Catalyst drivers installed. And also make sure DXVA2 is turned on. It's likely an audio issue. I had a similar issue (was using ASRock mobo and your same AMD APU), but installing catalyst and checking some audio settings cleared it up.

[fvtalon]

Well I had another chance to play around with it. No audio setting made any difference, but then I plugged in some headphones and now it will play a video thru, altho still not properly. Now it plays too fast with a strange clicking noise as the sound tries to keep up to the accelerated video speed.

I reinstalled the latest Catalyst drivers, DXVA2 is turned on, audio is set to analog with the headphones plugged in.

[Chimera2345]

If you hit O whie playing, are you seeing dxva working. If so are you seeing dropped frames or other issues? Post a screenshot.

[Joe K]

I do have a few other little issues like I get no temperature readout for the CPU/GPU in XBMC. I tried a few CPU temp programs too and they are all out to lunch, stuff like 0*F or 80*F while sitting mostly idle. The stock AMD heatsink registers about 27*C on my IR temp gun everytime I've checked.

I finally was able to type the correct keywords in google and got some useful information about the crazy temperatures a couple weeks ago.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1330946/amd-t...ture-guide

It seems that the newer AMD processors are using a different temperature scale based on TCTL. The fact that I'm getting 0 (using CoreTemp) just means that was the start of the scale that was put on my processor, and 70 (for the A10-5700) is the max using the same scale. Also note that HWMonitor does not show the tctl scale from what I have seen.

Publication # 42300 from the following link explains the tctl scale on page 133.

http://support.amd.com/us/psearch/Pages/...h&items=20

Assuming the TCTL_max is 70 for my processor, having a reading of 40 (CoreTemp readout at full load) on the TCTL scale means I am 30 below the max, which is definitely in the safe zone from what I've researched. Within 20 of the max is where it starts getting into questionable territory.

Remember, 20C readout from CoreTemp (and a few other programs) is NOT 20 degrees Celcius! Also, a reading of 20 for one processor on the tctl scale is not the same actual temperature as another processor on the tctl scale. E.g. your IR thermometer may read 35 on one and 31 on another, even with both tctl readouts being 20. *That was an arbitrary example that is likely inaccurate.

Sorry for if any part of this post is confusing, I'm copy pasting stuff from previous posts I have made elsewhere. Please share this info so more people know how these temps work!




As for your video playback issue, have you tried hooking it up via hdmi to your AVC TV setup? Just to rule out all possibilities... Aside from that you could try reinstalling Windows 7 and everything.

Afterthought: What quality audio output do you have set? 48000 (DVD), 96000 (studio), etc.?

[fvtalon]

With the headphones plugged in now it will actually play past the first 10 seconds of a video, but now the issue is that it's playing faster than it should. There's video and matching audio but it's almost like it's on 1.25X fast forward or maybe 1.5X. Everything plays too fast and it jerks and stutters some and there's some popping in the audio to go with it.

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Also still shows the RAM as DDR3-1333 instead of 1866 in the MSI control center. In the overclocking settings menu in the bios I set the RAM as 1866 but it doesn't seem to make any difference... not sure if it's related or not.

[Chimera2345]

Yeah you can clearly see in the screenshots the the FPS is running about 35 when it should be 23.976 (the last one is 25fps but still faster than it should be). Not sure what would cause that, do you have "sync playback to display" checked? About about adjust display refresh rate to match video??

[fvtalon]

That's reflected in the playback too. That third clip was playing at almost normal speed (tho still noticeably too fast) while the other ones were sped up like a low budget car chase scene. I've tried those settings, didn't seem to make a difference. I'll try them again tonight.

Do you remember what you all changed/enabled in the bios? Might it be that HD audio control or something?

I tried hooking it to the AVR via HDMI last night with no luck, it worked but had the same playback issues. It's getting frustrating, bootup and shut down are really quick, I've got Aeon Nox all set up and the menus and widgets and everything are real snappy but it won't play a video properly which is the whole reason it exists...

[fvtalon]

Chimera, what memory are you using? The ones I got are an XMP type and I'm starting to think that might be part of the issue. In doing some searching it sounds like you need to manually input the timing settings in BIOS. I'll look into that later tonight too when I get a chance.

[bluray]

Check to make sure that audio Exclusive mode is selected in Windows control panel and make sure that "Balanced" power option is selected in Windows control panel too...

If you are not bitstreaming HD audio, you need to un-tick all the receiver capability options...