Can't stream movies

[mcfearless]

Ever since I got Mezzmo configured to work with my Popcorn Hour A-100 I cant seem to stream most of my movies. What can I send to try and troubleshoot this issue. They are XVID files for the most part. They play fine through Mezzmo on my Sony TV.

So not sure if it is an issue with the Popcorn hour, but they played fine on the Popcorn hour with the old software I used (MyiHome)

Any help would be appreciated. Just let me know what to send.

Thanks.

[Paul]

Since we don't have a PCH here, it would be great if we could get a Wireshark log of you playing one of those files using the old software - that'll allow us to see what's happening and make Mezzmo work properly. If you're interest in doing this and can help us, I can give you instructions on what to do (if you don't know Wireshark already).

Also, do you know if A-100 is the same as A-110?

[mcfearless]

Not sure what Wireshark is. But I guess I would be willing to try it. So there is no other fix? To install and configure that other software is kind of a pain but so that i can use Mezzmo for everything I would be glad to try.

Also I believe the A-100 and 110 are very similiar. Might just be some differences in the HDMI and other hardware specs but I believe they have the same chip.

Send me the instructions and I will get this going.

Thanks.

[Paul]

I think I saw a A-110 for sale on eBay or something, I'll check it out and if it's still there we'll grab one then (haven't seen A-100 for sale, ever). Let me check if we can get one first, as that would be the best way to resolve this.

[Paul]

We've got an A-110 in-house now and we'll be fixing it up, so soon an updated device profile will be ready (or actually, most likely, a new one and the current one will remain for the C-series mostly).

[mcfearless]

Ok great. Just let me know what I have to do. Appreciate it.

[Paul]

We've implemented support for the A-100/110 and it'll be available with the next minor update due out within the next 2-3 weeks.

[devildog]

Dennis,

I just installed the latest version of Mezzmo (2.2.0.0) and I still can't get it to work with my PCH A-110. All the playlists I create are viewable, but nothing outside of MP4 files will play. Whenever I try to play any other media type (avi, mkv, wmv, mpeg) the PCH will start to play the file then it stops and reverts back to the playlist. The PCH application myihome doesn't have any problems playing these file types, so I'm sure it's not the PCH unit. I also have a Seagate Freeagent Theater + that does not have any problems working with Mezzmo and playlists I've created.

Thanks

[Paul]

Sounds like Mezzmo is trying to transcode those files. Can you please post (or send to support) FFmpeg information on some of those files and we'll see how they fit within the device profile.

[devildog]

Here's a few that wouldn't play:

MKV
FFmpeg version git-c3897d7, Copyright (c) 2000-2011 the FFmpeg developers
built on Feb 28 2011 10:03:54 with gcc 4.4.2
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-ffprobe --disable-ffplay --prefix=/media/windows/ffmpeg --extra-cflags=-U__STRICT_ANSI__ --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect
libavutil 50. 39. 0 / 50. 39. 0
libavcodec 52.113. 2 / 52.113. 2
libavformat 52.102. 0 / 52.102. 0
libavdevice 52. 2. 3 / 52. 2. 3
libavfilter 1. 76. 0 / 1. 76. 0
libswscale 0. 12. 0 / 0. 12. 0
[matroska,webm @ 003de0e0] Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate

Seems stream 0 codec frame rate differs from container frame rate: 59.94 (10000000/166833) -> 25.00 (25/1)
Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'M:\Batman Begins.mkv':
Duration: 02:14:18.24, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 384 kb/s
Stream #0.0(eng): Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 1280x544, PAR 1:1 DAR 40:17, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 1k tbn, 59.94 tbc (default)
Stream #0.1(eng): Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1, s16, 384 kb/s (default)
Metadata:
title : Dolby Digital 5.1
At least one output file must be specified


WMV
FFmpeg version git-c3897d7, Copyright (c) 2000-2011 the FFmpeg developers
built on Feb 28 2011 10:03:54 with gcc 4.4.2
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-ffprobe --disable-ffplay --prefix=/media/windows/ffmpeg --extra-cflags=-U__STRICT_ANSI__ --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect
libavutil 50. 39. 0 / 50. 39. 0
libavcodec 52.113. 2 / 52.113. 2
libavformat 52.102. 0 / 52.102. 0
libavdevice 52. 2. 3 / 52. 2. 3
libavfilter 1. 76. 0 / 1. 76. 0
libswscale 0. 12. 0 / 0. 12. 0
[wmv3 @ 003dfc10] Extra data: 8 bits left, value: 0

Seems stream 1 codec frame rate differs from container frame rate: 1000.00 (1000/1) -> 59.92 (719/12)
Input #0, asf, from 'M:\Trailer - Brooklyn's Finest.wmv':
Metadata:
WMFSDKVersion : 11.0.5721.5145
WMFSDKNeeded : 0.0.0.0000
IsVBR : 0
Duration: 00:02:37.31, start: 3.000000, bitrate: 3125 kb/s
Stream #0.0(eng): Audio: wmav2, 48000 Hz, 2 channels, s16, 160 kb/s
Stream #0.1(eng): Video: wmv3, yuv420p, 640x270, 3500 kb/s, 59.92 tbr, 1k tbn, 1k tbc
At least one output file must be specified


---> DB Level Info: -99

WMV
FFmpeg version git-c3897d7, Copyright (c) 2000-2011 the FFmpeg developers
built on Feb 28 2011 10:03:54 with gcc 4.4.2
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-ffprobe --disable-ffplay --prefix=/media/windows/ffmpeg --extra-cflags=-U__STRICT_ANSI__ --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect
libavutil 50. 39. 0 / 50. 39. 0
libavcodec 52.113. 2 / 52.113. 2
libavformat 52.102. 0 / 52.102. 0
libavdevice 52. 2. 3 / 52. 2. 3
libavfilter 1. 76. 0 / 1. 76. 0
libswscale 0. 12. 0 / 0. 12. 0

Seems stream 1 codec frame rate differs from container frame rate: 1000.00 (1000/1) -> 29.97 (30000/1001)
Input #0, asf, from 'M:\Trailer - Underworld - Rise of the Lycans.wmv':
Metadata:
WMFSDKVersion : 10.00.00.3702
WMFSDKNeeded : 0.0.0.0000
IsVBR : 0
Duration: 00:02:17.81, start: 3.000000, bitrate: 2144 kb/s
Stream #0.0(eng): Audio: wmav2, 48000 Hz, 2 channels, s16, 128 kb/s
Stream #0.1(eng): Video: wmv3, yuv420p, 640x260, 3500 kb/s, 29.97 tbr, 1k tbn, 1k tbc
At least one output file must be specified


---> DB Level Info: -99

AVI
FFmpeg version git-c3897d7, Copyright (c) 2000-2011 the FFmpeg developers
built on Feb 28 2011 10:03:54 with gcc 4.4.2
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-ffprobe --disable-ffplay --prefix=/media/windows/ffmpeg --extra-cflags=-U__STRICT_ANSI__ --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect
libavutil 50. 39. 0 / 50. 39. 0
libavcodec 52.113. 2 / 52.113. 2
libavformat 52.102. 0 / 52.102. 0
libavdevice 52. 2. 3 / 52. 2. 3
libavfilter 1. 76. 0 / 1. 76. 0
libswscale 0. 12. 0 / 0. 12. 0

Seems stream 0 codec frame rate differs from container frame rate: 23.98 (65535/2733) -> 23.98 (2997/125)
Input #0, avi, from 'M:\Aladdin.avi':
Metadata:
encoder : VirtualDubMod 1.5.4.1 (build 2178/release)
IAS1 : English
Duration: 01:30:24.25, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 2309 kb/s
Stream #0.0: Video: mpeg4, yuv420p, 704x416 [PAR 1:1 DAR 22:13], 23.98 tbr, 23.98 tbn, 23.98 tbc
Stream #0.1: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1, s16, 448 kb/s
At least one output file must be specified


---> DB Level Info: -99

[Paul]

Thank you for FFmpeg info - can you please send a message to support (at) conceiva (dot) com and I'll send you an updated device profile to try.

[devildog]

Any luck figuring this out Dennis?

Thanks

[Paul]

It seems some of your files cannot be played natively on your Popcorn Hour, so Mezzmo is transcoding the files into a format that your Popcorn Hour can play. You mention that they start to play and then exit back to the playlist after a short time. This suggests that your computer may not have enough CPU/RAM to transcode the files on-the-fly. Ideally you should have a Quad core or better with 4GB RAM to transcode HD video.

To confirm this, try this: Start streaming a file on your Popcorn Hour from Mezzmo. When it stops and exits back to the playlist, wait for 5 minutes (don't choose any other file - just wait). After 5 minutes, try playing the same file again. Does play further this time? If it does, then is tell us that your computer cannot transcode fast enough - i.e. it cannot transcode and deliver the transcoded video quick enough for the Popcorn Hour to play. So when the Popcorn Hour has no more video to play, it will timeout and return to the playlist. Two ways to improve this: (i) tweak Mezzmo's Popcorn Hour device profile if we know that a certain format is missing from it that we know the Popcorn Hour supports natively (this will help stop Mezzmo transcoding files when it does not need to), and (ii) improve the computer's performance you have Mezzmo installed on.

[devildog]

That's strange because the files I'm trying to play through Mezzmo can be natively played by the PCH either through an SMB share or PCH's MyiHome software, they only fail when trying to play through Mezzmo. I tested my Seagate FAT+ through Mezzmo with no problems when trying to play the same files that don't work with PCH. I also disabled the transcoding option for Mezzmo to see if I could force the PCH to transcode the files itself, but it still fails. The Seagate however plays them with no problems with or without transcoding enabled.

I tried your recommendation for PCH but after waiting more than 5 minutes when I tried to play a video that failed, the PCH still won't play the file. I checked the system Mezzmo is installed on, but I didn't see any activity against ffmpeg during the wait time.

This looks like a direct problem between PCH and Mezzmo only. My 360 transcodes through Mezzmo just as easily as my Seagate, but PCH just can't do it.

Thanks

[Paul]

We'd like to test one of your problem files here. Can you upload the smallest problem file to a file sharing site like www.megaupload.com and then email us the download link to support [at] conceiva [dot] com (or if the video file is less than 10MB, then just email it directly to us).

[devildog]

I emailed one of the MP4 files that fails. It's just under 6MB.

Thanks

[Paul]

Thanks for the MP4 file. We'll test it and report back.

[devildog]

Looks like the email failed, I just received the mail-daemon alerts. I've uploaded the trailer here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Q7Y8MLOU

Let me know if anything else is needed.

Thanks

[Paul]

Thanks for the file - I've downloaded it from the site. We'll test it here and see what the problem is. Please send a message to support so that I could send you a patch to try once it's ready.