[ix400]

Smells like at time stamp issue, MOV's tend to have very well behaved time stamps. Like I've mentioned before, getting the time stamps ordered is critical to smooth playback. If I had one of these new MacMinis, first thing I would do is check the pts time stamps coming back from video decoder.

... so you still think it's a 10.6.4/.5 problem and it's not related to XBMC code?

Chris

[davilla]

... so you still think it's a 10.6.4/.5 problem and it's not related to XBMC code?

Chris

10.6.4/.5 problem under the new MacMini which uses the 320M GPU. Something is different with respect to VDA decoding and without one in hand, I can't find/fix it.

[Kris404]

Avatar is known to play fine and plex freaking out on it isn't necessarily an indication that VDA is in use.
Switching VDADecoder on/off in XBMC and and looking at CPU usage is a better way to compare.

Zignal, you are absolutely right. Avatar and The Dark Knight (VC1) m2ts play well.

Iron-Man m2ts chokes as does Prisoner Of Azkaban. I'll try to turn off VDA and get some readings.

[Zignal]

@davilla - If you were in Southern California I would drop one off.

Any kind of debug code you'd like me to run? Also wondering if remote access to a mini would be of any use.


@Kris404 - cool.. also turn on debugging to see the CPU usage onscreen.

VDADecode will only work with AVC / H264 MPEG4 formats. VC-1 hardware decoding isn't being supported by Apple as of yet.

I'm using this to get info on the media files: http://mediainfo.massanti.com/

Look at the "Video Codecs Used" or "Codec (Human Name)" for AVC.

[calev]

(Davilla) If your any where around the carolina's US i could lend you one also

[davilla]

(Davilla) If your any where around the carolina's US i could lend you one also

As in North Carolina Hillsborough, NC to be exact. I'll be off to devcon for the next few days, then a conference in NJ near end of the next week.

[Zignal]

BTW - 10.6.5 official is out.
Build is 10H574

The issue remains.

@davilla and calev - Well I hope you guys can get the logistics together for a loaner. That would be great.
If it falls through let me know.

[idioteque]

I have access to a new MBA running 10.6.5 as of this moment.

I have it running the earth mkv at the moment. Will post the debug log as soon as it has finished playing. So far no frames are dropping and all runs smooth. The alice 100Mb mkv give massive dropped frames

Stock XBMC install and all updates on the MBA are installed as of today



* * * MediaInfo Mac 0.7.36.0 file analysis report.
* * * MediaInfo Mac is ©2010 by Diego Massanti - http://mediainfo.massanti.com
* * * MediaInfoLib by Jerome Martinez - http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net
Created on: 11 nov 2010 09:30:10 GMT+01:00
Report for file: Earth 2007 1080p BluRay x264 [email protected]

General / Container Stream #1
Total Video Streams for this File.................1
Total Audio Streams for this File.................1
Total Subtitle Streams for this File..............1
Video Codecs Used.................................AVC
Audio Codecs Used.................................DTS
SubTitle Codecs Used..............................UTF-8
Available Sutbitle Languages......................English
File Format.......................................Matroska
Play Time.........................................1h 30mn
Total File Size...................................7.96 GiB
Total Stream BitRate..............................12.7 Mbps
Encoded with......................................mkvmerge v2.9.8 ('C'est le bon') built on Aug 13 2009 12:49:06
Encoding Library..................................libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1
Video Stream #1
Codec (Human Name)................................AVC
Codec (FourCC)....................................V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Codec [email protected]
Frame Width.......................................1 920 pixels
Frame Height......................................1 080 pixels
Frame Rate........................................23.976 fps
Total Frames......................................129504
Display Aspect Ratio..............................16:9
Scan Type.........................................Progressive
Color Space.......................................YUV
Codec Settings (Summary)..........................CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
QF (like Gordian Knot)............................0.239
Codec Settings (CABAC)............................Yes
Codec Settings (Reference Frames).................4
Video Stream Length...............................1h 30mn 1s 401ms
Video Stream BitRate..............................11.9 Mbps
Bit Depth.........................................8 bits
Video Stream Size.................................7.32 GiB (92%)
Video Encoder.....................................x264 - core 68 r1183M f21daff
Video Encoder (Settings)..........................cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:-2:-2 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=32 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=4 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / rc=2pass / bitrate=11900 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=50000 / vbv_bufsize=50000 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00
Video Stream Language.............................English
Audio Stream #1
Codec.............................................DTS
Codec (FourCC)....................................A_DTS
Audio Stream Length...............................1h 30mn 1s 398ms
Audio Stream BitRate..............................754 Kbps
Audio Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR
Number of Audio Channels..........................6
Audio Channel's Positions.........................Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling Rate.....................................48.0 KHz
Bit Depth.........................................24 bits
Audio Stream Size.................................486 MiB (6%)
Audio Stream Title................................English DTS
Audio Stream Language.............................English
Subtitle Stream #1
Language..........................................English
Format............................................UTF-8
Codec ID..........................................S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec Info........................................UTF-8 Plain Text

-------------------------------

* * * MediaInfo Mac 0.7.36.0 file analysis report.
* * * MediaInfo Mac is ©2010 by Diego Massanti - http://mediainfo.massanti.com
* * * MediaInfoLib by Jerome Martinez - http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net
Created on: 11 nov 2010 09:34:06 GMT+01:00
Report for file: alice-100m.mkv

General / Container Stream #1
Total Video Streams for this File.................1
Total Audio Streams for this File.................2
Total Subtitle Streams for this File..............2
Video Codecs Used.................................AVC
Audio Codecs Used.................................DTS / AC3
SubTitle Codecs Used..............................S_HDMV/PGS / S_HDMV/PGS
Available Sutbitle Languages......................English / English
File Format.......................................Matroska
Play Time.........................................1h 48mn
Total File Size...................................100 MiB
Total Stream BitRate..............................129 Kbps
Encoded with......................................MakeMKV v1.5.6 beta linux(x64-release)
Encoding Library..................................libmakemkv v1.5.6 beta (0.7.7/0.8.1) x86_64-linux-gnu
Video Stream #1
Codec (Human Name)................................AVC
Codec (FourCC)....................................V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Codec [email protected]
Frame Width.......................................1 920 pixels
Frame Height......................................1 080 pixels
Frame Rate........................................23.976 fps
Total Frames......................................156200
Display Aspect Ratio..............................16:9
Scan Type.........................................Progressive
Color Space.......................................YUV
Codec Settings (Summary)..........................CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Codec Settings (CABAC)............................Yes
Codec Settings (Reference Frames).................4
Video Stream Length...............................1h 48mn 34s 848ms
Video Stream BitRate Mode.........................VBR
Bit Depth.........................................8 bits
Video Stream Language.............................English
Color Primaries...................................BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4, SMPTE RP177
Transfer Characteristics..........................BT.709-5, BT.1361
Matrix Coefficients...............................BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4 709, SMPTE RP177
Audio Stream #1
Codec.............................................DTS
Codec (FourCC)....................................A_DTS
Audio Stream Length...............................1h 48mn 34s 841ms
Audio Stream BitRate..............................1 510 Kbps
Audio Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR
Number of Audio Channels..........................6
Audio Channel's Positions.........................Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling Rate.....................................48.0 KHz
Bit Depth.........................................24 bits
Audio Stream Size.................................1.15 GiB
Audio Stream Title................................3/2+1
Audio Stream Language.............................English
Audio Stream #2
Codec.............................................AC-3
Codec (FourCC)....................................A_AC3
Codec Profile.....................................Dolby Digital
Audio Stream Length...............................1h 48mn 34s 841ms
Audio Stream BitRate..............................320 Kbps
Audio Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR
Number of Audio Channels..........................2
Audio Channel's Positions.........................Front: L R
Sampling Rate.....................................48.0 KHz
Bit Depth.........................................16 bits
Audio Stream Size.................................249 MiB
Audio Stream Title................................2/0
Audio Stream Language.............................English
Subtitle Stream #1
Language..........................................English
Format............................................PGS
Codec ID..........................................S_HDMV/PGS
Codec Info........................................The same subtitle format used on BDs/HD-DVDs
Subtitle Stream #2
Language..........................................English
Format............................................PGS
Codec ID..........................................S_HDMV/PGS
Codec Info........................................The same subtitle format used on BDs/HD-DVDs
Menu / Chapters Stream #1

The results of the logs:

MBA 2010 alice MKV frames dropped http://pastebin.com/z9XJPFyM
MPB 2009 alice MKV smooth http://pastebin.com/CwbB5fTg

MBA 2010 Earth MKV smooth http://pastebin.com/gT1P2REP
MBP 2009 Earth MKV smooth http://pastebin.com/2X8YxUQm

[calev]

As in North Carolina Hillsborough, NC to be exact. I'll be off to devcon for the next few days, then a conference in NJ near end of the next week.

Ok well Thats about 3 and a half hours from where i live(south carolina), im a student And Christmas break is coming so i could drop it off for a day maybe 2 in early december. if thats enough time. Let me know what all you need,And a good time if you interested.

[ix400]

Well, there are reports that is has been fixed in 10.6.5. At least for Plex.

Doesn't make sense.

http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topi...ntry124202

:confused2:

Chris

[ix400]

Ok well Thats about 3 and a half hours from where i live(south carolina), im a student And Christmas break is coming so i could drop it off for a day maybe 2 in early december. if thats enough time. Let me know what all you need,And a good time if you interested.

... I hope you can manage it.

A big thanks in advance!

Chris

[Kris404]

Well, there are reports that is has been fixed in 10.6.5. At least for Plex.

Doesn't make sense.

http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topi...ntry124202

:confused2:

Chris

10.6.5 did not help.

I downgraded to 10.6.3 with all programs and settings intact. Every HD m2ts file plays fine now (even in Plex, expect DTS).

Now if only I could figure out how to bitstream DTS-WAV, they play in Stereo. (iTunes bitstreams them just fine over Optical)

Kris

[RckStr]

This seems to be a complicated matter. with both my 2010 unibody mac minis, Plex 9 has worked fine with hw acceleration on for both 10.6.4 and 10.6.5

The issue must not be affecting all users.

[Zignal]

Well, it's more complicated without some stats to work from.
The link to the Plex thread posted earlier was claiming 10.6.4 was broke for them but I'm not seeing any detailed info on the media they are trying.

a) What media are you playing - pastebin the output from mediainfo mac.
b) What is the CPU usage in both (with HW acceleration on / off in Plex and XBMC)

And yes, how ffmpeg and video acceleration in Plex vs. XBMC is implemented isn't the same.

[nianhbg]

I had some problems with 10.6.4 on mac mini midsummer 2010. Now when i updated to 10.6.5 it seems to be less problems