Where are settings for individual files stored?
I have managed to grey out the first two items 'Volume' and 'Volume Amplification' in the Audio and subtitle settings menu for one of my files. I think I must have hit another key by mistake because those two items are now greyed out and I can't adjust them.
This problem is only on the PC where I attempted to adjust the volume amplification - I can make adjustments to those settings when I play the file on the other PC I run XBMC on.
What's likely happened is you have audio passthrough enabled, which sends certain types of audio signals directly to audio receivers instead of having the computer handle the audio. When this happens XBMC no longer controls the volume output. Since it's only showing up for one of your files, that file is likely the only one that has an one of these digital audio tracks.
Go to
Settings/System/Audio output (wiki)
and disable all the settings that say something like "X capable receiver "
That should fix the issue.
It's one of a set of ten TV episodes. The other nine are fine - I can adjust volume amplification no problem. These setting must be stored somewhere per file because when I go back to the file my adjustments (volume amplification, zoom amount etc) are still there.
I tried deleting the file and re-ripping it again but the options were still greyed-out. Then I realised that the problem was unique to the one XBMC installation and the file (shared from an external drive on a third PC I use for storage) worked fine on the other PC.
I was just wondering if there was an entry in a config file or something relating to this one file somewhere I could look at and maybe edit.
The settings are stored in the MyVideos60.db database file. However, there is no setting to enable/disable those sliders. They should only be disabled if you are using digital audio passthrough, as I mentioned above.
How strange. Why on earth would only one file be affected when there are ten identical ones?
The weird thing is, the sliders were originally enabled. I adjusted the volume amplification a couple of times and then after about the fourth try they just greyed out. I think it coincided with inadvertently hitting another key on this little keyboard remote thing I use (big fingers, small keys).
I went back again and tried another of the ten files and I can still adjust those sliders no problem.
Thanks for the info and for taking the time to respond. I think I'll leave MyVideos60.db alone. I'm fine with editing .nfos and .xml files but the last time I did any database programming it was in Pascal (when dinosaurs still roamed the earth...).
Mind checking settings/system/audio output as suggested by nedscott though? Be sure all passthrough options are disabled and then try again that particular file.
OK - Disabling 'Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver' and 'DTS capable receiver' causes the offending menu items to become active. (Sorry Ned, I should have tried this).
Audio output is set to HDMI (I have a Dolby Digital/DTS capable Yamaha 7.1 receiver which handles the audio and passes the video through to my plasma screen). With those audio output settings turned off don't I lose those facilities in the receiver? Or doesn't it matter with an HDMI connection? Sorry, don't know much about digital audio and how HDMI handles it.