Kodi Community Forum

Hey! So I've got a problem with some video files I'm trying to watch!

They are all MP4 files. XBMC can scrape the files fine, but shows no info about the video resolution/codec. They do show the audio codec. Upon playing I get a blank black screen with the audio playing fine in the background.

All files play fine with VLC.

Other MP4 files play fine in XBMC.

I think it could be something with the files themselves...but I'm not sure how to go about fixing them! Any suggestions?

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Here is the mediainfo for one of the affected files:

General
Complete name : XXXX (removed)
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42
File size : 546 MiB
Duration : 55mn 22s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 1 378 Kbps
Movie name : (removed)
Performer : (removed)
Genre : TV Shows
Recorded date : 2008-08-11
Encoded date : UTC 2008-08-14 02:09:14
Tagged date : UTC 2008-08-14 03:07:29
Comment : (removed)
stik : 10
tvsh : (removed)
tven : (removed)
tvnn : (removed)

Video
ID : 1
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Advanced Simple@L3
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263)
Codec ID : 20
Duration : 55mn 22s
Source duration : 55mn 22s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 243 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 1 330 Kbps
Width : 640 pixels
Height : 360 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : YUV
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.180
Stream size : 493 MiB (90%)
Source stream size : 493 MiB (90%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2008-08-14 02:09:14
Tagged date : UTC 2008-08-14 03:07:29

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 55mn 22s
Source duration : 55mn 22s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 49.6 MiB (9%)
Source stream size : 49.6 MiB (9%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2008-08-14 02:09:15
Tagged date : UTC 2008-08-14 03:07:29

Text #2
ID : 6
Format : Apple text
Codec ID : text
Duration : 55mn 22s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2008-08-14 03:07:29
Tagged date : UTC 2008-08-14 03:07:29

I've got a couple of these... I ran them through handbrake.. came up smelling like roses.

I have the same problem and have raised it elsewhere in this forum, as have others. In my case the problem has only recently started to occur, and only on one of three Dell computers I have with the same version of XBMC installed (Eden 11.0 with PVR add-on). The problem machine is a Studio XPS 7100 running Windows 7 x64. I have found other discussion about this problem that seems to indicate it might be a problem with the video hardware (this machine has an ATI Radeon HD 5450 - I notice other people have had problems with ATI video). I am using a LG HDTV as a monitor connected via HDMI, but even when I connect to the same computer via Remote Desktop the problem still occurs.

In my case the problem only occurs on some videos although I have had a great deal of trouble pinning down exactly which ones do work and which ones don't. It seems that I have particular problems with HD videos in MKV format, but others have also caused me problems. Like the thread above, all of my videos play fine on this computer in VLC Player and in MediaPortal. I have also noticed that if I bring a menu up while one of the problem videos is playing, the video then appears in the background, but as soon as I close the menu I get a blank screen again. This is a very frustrating problem and has made XBMC virtually unusable. Does anyone have any ideas at all what the problem might be?

I have attached and XBMC log of the session in which I played two videos - one in HD MKV and one SD AVI (episodes of Game of Thrones). The first one didn't display video, but the second one did:

http://pastebin.com/nc5AeSBt

Does turning off DXVA2 make any difference?

My problem on lenovo with Radeon HD 6450A is identical with DXVA2 off or on BUT interestingly it only happens to downloaded British TV show - swedish - american - french do not playback with this problem. Does this help any?