Video files playback in a loop

frigjam · **13th July 2008, 02:41 PM**

I have an odd one at the moment, just downgraded my new media pc from vista MCE, to my old trusty XP MCE which I much prefer (Vista MCE seems so damn slow)...

Ok so everything worked fine when it was Vista. I just finshed installing XP MCE from a clean format, installed all the XP drivers and codecs for video playback as normal. Works great playing video files in media player, everything is spot...

Now here's the wierd part, in media center, i go to my video files, and play any particular file and it plays for about 1 sec then says 'finished' then goes in a loop from the start, continually does this and you loose control of the PC as it chugs badly until ALT-F4 to close media center.

I've spent all day trying to fix this, just about to reinstall it again, any suggestions???

frigjam · **13th July 2008, 03:27 PM**

Also playback of DVDs in MC does not work, blank display... Doesnt make any difference if MC is fullscreen or in a window.

DVD's of course playback normal in media player, full screen or window.

Jaiidan · **13th July 2008, 04:26 PM**

Hey there

which decoder and codecs have you installed exactly?

Sounds like your problems may be related to one/both of these

J

frigjam · **13th July 2008, 07:54 PM**

I installed klite codec pack 3.9, and just the bare things I use, divx, xvid, ac3 etc.

I ended up doing a quick re-install and it does the same thing still.... And to top it off, just finished re-installing MCE2005 on the old machine for the spare room, exact same process, works sweetly on that machine. Wierd.

Has to be hardware / driver related... Ive tried the latest video drivers, and also older ones. My MCE 2005 has SP2 included already, have not tried SP3 yet.

Jaiidan · **13th July 2008, 10:55 PM**

The general opinion on here is to avoid putting on too many codec packs - the Klite is great but can play havoc with a MCE machine.

I would do one thing at a time - don`t install any extra codecs and get live tv working first. Then I would try putting ffdshow on with it only set to decode Xvid/divx and NOT mpeg 2

See how that goes - might also be worth using the deccheck utility to see which codec is in use on your system

Cheers

J

frigjam · **14th July 2008, 08:43 PM**

Uninstalled all k-lite stuff on the particular machine. DVD's still wont play in MCE, but work fine in media player.

Righto re-install time. Just finished it as we speak, DVD's still do not play in MCE (yet work perfectly in media player), its a bare fresh install nothing else even installed, only video drivers, yet have tried several different versions of the Nvidia drivers. I have managed to get MCE to now say something about no codecs installed when trying to play a DVD, wierd because it has its own codecs...

Looks about time to throw out the new media box and just go with the old machine as XP MCE works ace.

Vista MCE works sweet however

Jaiidan · **14th July 2008, 10:47 PM**

Hi

I`m a bit confused - it is an MCE machine you are using not the vista machine.

MCE does not have built in decoders like VMC - you need to install one.

Nvidia purevideo or powerdvd are the popular ones - can try them out first see which one gives you best quality.

J

frigjam · **15th July 2008, 08:40 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaiidan

Hi
I`m a bit confused - it is an MCE machine you are using not the vista machine.

MCE does not have built in decoders like VMC - you need to install one.

Im using XP MCE. I have now completely re-installed the system and installed nothing bar video drivers and some windows updates (has integrated SP2, yet to try SP3). DVD's play fine in windows media player.

So your telling me if DVD's play fine in windows media player, I have to install something 3rd party to get MCE to play them?

The whole problem is - Windows plays ALL media files, perfect no problem at all. MCE plays them blank screen, or in the best case I managed to get it to play about 1 second of divx/xvid files but it quits and restarts playing in a loop.

Vista MCE worked on the same machine. XP MCE works on a completely different machine.

Jaiidan · **15th July 2008, 09:14 AM**

download the deccheck utility from the download section and see which decoder it tells you are set as default, if any

ziggy · **19th July 2008, 11:14 AM**

Are you sure your not installing divx player?

if you are you need this reg patch

http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/193399.aspx

If your not I havnt a clue, but these symptoms are what I get If I use divx player and its stupid taskbar icon pops up when it launches

Deccheck will only tell you the mpeg decoder not avis

frigjam · **19th July 2008, 08:13 PM**

I've now re-installed for the 3rd time, it refuses play any video files whatsoever (wmv, divx, mpeg, xvid, dvds etc etc) in media center... ive tried indivual codecs, codec packs, many different vid card drivers.... of course they play sweet in media player.

I'm about to rip the video card out and swap it for one out of another machine... Its a Geforce 4 TI 256mb about to try an Geforce 3 TI 128mb and see how it goes. Its not the fastest machine but a 3.4 P4 is plenty enough to watch movies on!

vlad · **19th July 2008, 09:24 PM**

Stop reinstalling MCE, all you need is:
1. MCE 2005
2. MPEG2 codec - PowerDVD will do http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/products/main_1_ENU.html
3. ffdshow - http://www.free-codecs.com/FFDshow_download.htm

And please, don't install any other rubbish.

Jaiidan · **19th July 2008, 11:21 PM**

Quote:

Stop reinstalling MCE, all you need is:
1. MCE 2005
2. MPEG2 codec - PowerDVD will do http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/products/main_1_ENU.html
3. ffdshow - http://www.free-codecs.com/FFDshow_download.htm

And please, don't install any other rubbish.

I second that - thats what I`ve been trying to say throughout this thread

J

frigjam · **20th July 2008, 01:02 AM**

And it DOES NOT WORK is what im trying to say!

A fresh install with NOTHING installed, I have video files that play natively in windows media player, a few short avi files, wmv files and mpeg-1 files. THEY DO NOT PLAY IN MEDIA CENTER.

Have tried all the things suggested (already familar with all this info already and tried and tested long ago) it does not work!

And short of changing the motherboard and CPU everything else hardware wise has been eliminated.

For now Im contemplating Vista MCE again, works sweet, although slow... Or just using the old machine with XP MCE which works fine.

It does not even make sense how everything is perfect and works 101% but not in Media Center. MC is very cumbersome that there is very little in the way of customisation and playback options, there should be more to it.

frigjam · **20th July 2008, 01:24 AM**

Ok another way to put this more simply, so no one goes off on a tangent about what stuff to install and what not to.... So for now, im not interested in watching DVDs or other divx files etc.

FRESH install, nothing 3rd party, windows picks up all the default hardware ok. Media Center setup does not work when you get to the 'configure display' part and click 'watch video'. Flickers between blank screen and the MC screen, normal audio however. The 'test video' plays perfect in Media Player.

Tried different display drivers, different video cards, even tried the onboard video on this motherboard... XP MCE does not like this motherboard!