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Do .mpg with 5.1 AC3 play correctly in Media Center mode on the x280n? or is it only the h264 wrapped in avi that have the problem? Do the DIVX/XVID play correctly?
It sounds like you have an assortment of videos that are encoded in either XVID, DIVX or h264 and then wrapped in avi. From a trouble shooting standpoint it would be useful to know if the issue is specific and isolated to a particular video format.
Categories: Digital Media Receivers
So I ended up ripping all my movies with the .264 codec in an avi container with AC3 sound. Most of my TV shows are in a DIVX/XVID flavor. I use Media Browser in Windows 7 Media Center. Here is my problem. The movies will not have surround sound unless I have Transcode360 turned on. If I have Transcode360 turned on, then my TV shows will end early and never play all the way through on the first try (although play fine the 2nd time). With Transcode360 off, not only do the movies not have 5.1, but at some point a ffdshow popup will come on the screen and go away after about 5 seconds. Then the movie will stop. Any suggestions for these errors? I also use my XBOX360 as an extender and everything plays fine Transcode360 on or off. The only problem I have with using the XBOX is that it is painfully slow. So can someone either help me with the x280n or fix the speed on my XBOX?
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September 15, 2009 3:47 PM
updated: September 15, 2009 5:48 PM
September 15, 2009 9:44 PM
Well, I know XVID doesn't work right. I know most of one TV series is XVID and it plays for about 2-3 min and then quits. I also know XVID is not officially supported byt the x280n, so I wasn't griping about that one. I do not have any 5.1 mpg's, so I can not verify that and handbrake does not do mpg. If you recommend an encoder, I will make one and check unless you know of a 5.1 mpeg on the net I can download. Most of the TV series that I was having a problem with described in my first post are DIVX-avi. All the movies I have a problem with are h.264-avi.
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September 16, 2009 7:33 AM
updated: September 16, 2009 7:49 AM
How are you getting your video files?
All SD commercial DVDs are .mpg and usually have 5.1 AC3 audio.
If you are getting your video files from Torrent sites then you are pretty much as the mercy of whatever the person who re-encoded the video. I personally do not recommend getting video from Torrent sites.
You have probably already done this but the link below takes you to the x280n media specs. For avi it does not specifically say that h264 will work. I am assuming also that Dolby Digital is interchangeable with AC3.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01473471&lc=en&dlc=en&cc...
nmpcrazy
(Q9550 Quad/Vista Home Premium/PVR150/VMC), (P42.53/XP Pro/PVR250/ FusionHDTV5 USB/FusionHDTV7 USB/BTV)
Dell(P42.0,Linspire,2.5TB,used as server)
Linplayer2(2), Ziova CS615, MediaSmart Connect x280n
September 16, 2009 9:15 PM
I am ripping my DVD's with handbrake. The x280n will not play a mp4 with AC3/5.1. And yes, the AC3 is interchangeable with DD. I guess I will rip a movie again using mp4 and 5.1 just to verify.
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September 17, 2009 7:31 AM
updated: September 17, 2009 7:45 AM
Does Handbrake actually do the decrypting of your DVD? I was under the impression that Handbrake only converts decrypted video. I think you must be using something else to do the actual ripping(ripping is the act of decrypting and copying to HDD) and then you use Handbrake to re-encode the decrypted .mpg/AC3 5.1 to h264 in an avi wrapper.
So have you tried playing the as ripped video before you mess with it with Handbrake? The video in the video_ts folder is .mpg with AC3 5.1(the file extension is of course .vob but once you combine the vobs into an mpg you are set to go), provided you chose the 5.1 track when ripping the DVD.
According to the published specs for the x280n it will play .mp4 but the gotcha is probably that it will not play it if you are in media center mode. You may need to play it using the MediaSmart server software or possible using WMP11.
IMHO I think your best bet is to stop converting your video after ripping it from DVD. Combine the .vobs into an mpeg with the AC3 5.1. No PQ loss and no complications created by an uneccessary re-encoding of perfectly good video. If you want additional functionality then convert(no re-encoding) from .mpg to dvr-ms using VideoReDo. VideoReDo is also excellent for combining .vobs into a single mpeg file.
nmpcrazy
(Q9550 Quad/Vista Home Premium/PVR150/VMC), (P42.53/XP Pro/PVR250/ FusionHDTV5 USB/FusionHDTV7 USB/BTV)
Dell(P42.0,Linspire,2.5TB,used as server)
Linplayer2(2), Ziova CS615, MediaSmart Connect x280n
September 17, 2009 8:09 PM
You are are right of course about the ripping. I use DVD Decrypter with AnyDVD to rip.
I never did try playing the vobs, but the problem is space on the harddrive. I have about 700 DVD's. While I may not rip all of them, I want a good portion. With most movies taking about 3GBs or so, it will add up. I currently rip them into 1GB avi's. Perhaps it will be better to setup a HTPC instead of the x280n?
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September 18, 2009 6:48 AM
updated: September 18, 2009 12:42 PM
VanillaXtract said: You are are right of course about the ripping. I use DVD Decrypter with AnyDVD to rip. I never did try playing the vobs, but the problem is space on the harddrive. I have about 700 DVD's. While I may not rip all of them, I want a good portion. With most movies taking about 3GBs or so, it will add up. I currently rip them into 1GB avi's. Perhaps it will be better to setup a HTPC instead of the x280n?
If you want to stick with Microsoft Media Center, HTPC may be the most flexible route. I think the simplest route would be something like the SageTV HD Media extender. The Popcorn Hour 200HD also has extender capability.
I rarely use my x280n because of the limitations imposed by HP at the behest of Microsoft. However, I can play all of my DVDs in their full glory including AC3 5.1 using the x280n. VMC/WMC is pretty flashy combined with Media Browser but functionaly requires one workaround after another and ends up still being severely limited. My plan moving forward is to move as far away from Microsoft as possible. My servers will continue to be linux based and my network media players will be something like the SageTV or Popcorn hour, products that are trying to provide what customers really want as opposed to forcing them into a DRM entanglement.
As far as converting DVD to some other format....well my view is that I paid good money for the DVD quality so why should I lower that quality just so that I can say I have 700 DVDs on HDD. I have been buying (as opposed to pirating using the Netflix thing, Redbox or bitorrent sites) and collecting DVDs for years and just recently passed the 300 mark and all are in the original format and all are backed up on HDD. I estimate that I have around $4000 in DVDs so again why should I hack them up just so that I can cram more of them on a HDD given that HDDs are large and cheap.
To each his own.....
nmpcrazy
(Q9550 Quad/Vista Home Premium/PVR150/VMC), (P42.53/XP Pro/PVR250/ FusionHDTV5 USB/FusionHDTV7 USB/BTV)
Dell(P42.0,Linspire,2.5TB,used as server)
Linplayer2(2), Ziova CS615, MediaSmart Connect x280n
September 18, 2009 8:24 PM
nmpcrazy said:VanillaXtract said: You are are right of course about the ripping. I use DVD Decrypter with AnyDVD to rip. I never did try playing the vobs, but the problem is space on the harddrive. I have about 700 DVD's. While I may not rip all of them, I want a good portion. With most movies taking about 3GBs or so, it will add up. I currently rip them into 1GB avi's. Perhaps it will be better to setup a HTPC instead of the x280n?If you want to stick with Microsoft Media Center, HTPC may be the most flexible route. I think the simplest route would be something like the SageTV HD Media extender. The Popcorn Hour 200HD also has extender capability. I rarely use my x280n because of the limitations imposed by HP at the behest of Microsoft. However, I can play all of my DVDs in their full glory including AC3 5.1 using the x280n. VMC/WMC is pretty flashy combined with Media Browser but functionaly requires one workaround after another and ends up still being severely limited. My plan moving forward is to move as far away from Microsoft as possible. My servers will continue to be linux based and my network media players will be something like the SageTV or Popcorn hour, products that are trying to provide what customers really want as opposed to forcing them into a DRM entanglement. As far as converting DVD to some other format....well my view is that I paid good money for the DVD quality so why should I lower that quality just so that I can say I have 700 DVDs on HDD. I have been buying (as opposed to pirating using the Netflix thing, Redbox or bitorrent sites) and collecting DVDs for years and just recently passed the 300 mark and all are in the original format and all are backed up on HDD. I estimate that I have around $4000 in DVDs so again why should I hack them up just so that I can cram more of them on a HDD given that HDDs are large and cheap. To each his own.....
That is a good point about HDD's being large and cheap. So you just store them in directory format or iso and use what to play them?
The reason I was thinking about a HTPC is because the x280n is truly one workaround after another. I am truly getting frustrated. I got really upset when I used my 360 and found it to play everything no problem (albeit the MediaBrowser interface is slow as molasses). My wife's computer is in the living room already. I was going to sling a 50' HDMI cable to the TV and hook the TV up as a second monitor. That way I can use 7MC directly and have no problems. Either that or use XBMC which I really like.
I do buy every DVD I own and I was ripping them into movies instead of the whole disc due to the x280n limitations. Maybe XBMC will allow .iso or DaemonTools will have a driver out and I can use MediaBrowser.
Thanks for all the great help you have given me, even if it has helped me lean towards stopping the use of my x280n.
And again, how do you store your DVD's and what do you play them with.
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September 18, 2009 10:40 PM
I rip the DVD to HDD as a video_ts, combine the .vobs into a single .mpg. I play them using a long extinct Linkplayer2. If and when my Linkplayer2 dies I will probably go with either the SageTV HD Media Extender or something like the Popcorn Hour 200-HD. These players can play video_ts or iso or .mpg or mkv or h264 or .mp4 and so on. The one thing that my Linkplayer2 does not provide is extender capability and I desire that. This is the ability to schedule a recording from the TV guide while sitting on your couch.
Good luck with the HTPC!
nmpcrazy
(Q9550 Quad/Vista Home Premium/PVR150/VMC), (P42.53/XP Pro/PVR250/ FusionHDTV5 USB/FusionHDTV7 USB/BTV)
Dell(P42.0,Linspire,2.5TB,used as server)
Linplayer2(2), Ziova CS615, MediaSmart Connect x280n
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