my WMC is killing me!

[bob2207]

Hi! I am trying to play MKV using the following:

Old 2.7Ghz windows 7 32 bit laptop
Xbox 360
TV
wired network


I previously managed to play all kinds of videos (avi, MKV mostly) using WIndows Media Center using many different codecs.

I had some pc problems and needed to do a fresh install but unfortunately I forgot what codecs and settings I used before. I installed Shark 007 codecs and tested a bunch of videos. Here is what I found:
All videos play in WMP.
Only AVI play in WMC ( when MKV, it says I do not have the proper codecs installed).

I can see the thumbnails on my xbox but can only play one MKV, the other one starts, stutters and after 2-3 frames jut freezes.
I tried different shark settings all under administrator rights: recommended with or without DivX codecs, default with or without Divx. Everytime, I uninstalled and restarted.

I found that with default shark codecs only and some tweaks, I can play a file. I use the H264 ffdshow video codec, unchecked disable AC3 filter and use passthrough for AC3 and DTS.

While I can play some files on the extender, I still cannot play them on WMC. Could it be that my laptop lacks the horsepower?

Anyway here are the file analysis report of a MKV file I was able to play .

General
Format                           : Matroska
File size                        : 1.09 GiB
Duration                         : 42mn 21s
Overall bit rate                 : 3 693 Kbps
Encoded date                     : UTC 2010-02-22 21:41:29
Writing application              : no_variable_data
Writing library                  : no_variable_data
Video
ID                               : 2
Format                           : AVC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                   : [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
Format settings, CABAC           : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames        : 4 frames
Format settings, GOP             : M=2, N=11
Muxing mode                      : Container [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
Codec ID                         : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                         : 42mn 21s
Bit rate                         : 3 307 Kbps
Width                            : 1 280 pixels
Height                           : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio             : 16:9
Frame rate                       : 23.976 fps
Color space                      : YUV
Chroma subsampling               : 4:2:0
Bit depth                        : 8 bits
Scan type                        : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)               : 0.150
Stream size                      : 980 MiB (88%)
Writing library                  : x264 core 85 r1442tw
Encoding settings                : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=24 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / wpredp=0 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=3307 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language                         : English
Audio
ID                               : 1
Format                           : AC-3
Format/Info                      : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                   : CM (complete main)
Codec ID                         : A_AC3
Duration                         : 42mn 21s
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 384 Kbps
Channel(s)                       : 6 channels
Channel positions                : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                        : 16 bits
Stream size                      : 116 MiB (10%)
 
 
[B]here the report of the file I could not play[/B]
 
General
Format                           : Matroska
File size                        : 1.46 GiB
Duration                         : 1h 0mn
Overall bit rate                 : 3 431 Kbps
Writing application              : x264.exe
Writing library                  : mkv2rls x264-tv version built on 2010 jul 11
Video
ID                               : 1
Format                           : AVC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                   : [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
Format settings, CABAC           : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames        : 3 frames
Muxing mode                      : Container [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]
Codec ID                         : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                         : 1h 0mn
Bit rate                         : 3 043 Kbps
Width                            : 1 280 pixels
Height                           : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio             : 16:9
Frame rate                       : 23.976 fps
Color space                      : YUV
Chroma subsampling               : 4:2:0
Bit depth                        : 8 bits
Scan type                        : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)               : 0.138
Stream size                      : 1.27 GiB (87%)
Writing library                  : x264 core 88 r1471 1144615
Encoding settings                : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=20 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / wpredp=0 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=3043 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Audio
ID                               : 2
Format                           : AC-3
Format/Info                      : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                   : CM (complete main)
Codec ID                         : A_AC3
Duration                         : 1h 0mn
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 384 Kbps
Channel(s)                       : 2 channels
Channel positions                : Front: L R
Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                        : 16 bits
Stream size                      : 167 MiB (11%)
Title                            : English
Language                         : English
Text
ID                               : 3
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : English
Language                         : English

It is killing me !!! especially since I could do it before!

Thanks for your help!

 

[Shark007]

Being you have made the identical post on my forum, i answered you over there.

 

[Pusspa]

is wmc x64, and ur using 32bit codecs the problem? (or vice versa)