WD TV Live Streaming MP - Video formats not supported / won't play

[li21]

Hi all

I'm having no end of issues with Mezzmo and my WD TV Live streaming player..

There are so many videos that just won't play.. Some mp4 some avi
But not all but enough to drive me mad..

The error on the WD: Unable to play selected file..... Refer to manual for supported types.

I would have though transcoding makes any format play on any device ?

Funny thing is sometimes they play fine on Mezzmo via iPad.

Is there something about the WD Profile that makes it not play many files?

I'm using the latest version of Mezzmo.

Also got the latest firmware on my WD TV.

I find Serviio and PS3 media server plays everything no issues at all..

[Paul]

Please contact us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com for a patch that should get you up and running.

[li21]

Please contact us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com for a patch that should get you up and running.

Thanks!:)
I have emailed

[Paul]

Thanks - got your email and sent you the patch. Let us know how you go.

[li21]

Thanks - got your email and sent you the patch. Let us know how you go.


Just tried the new profile.. Seems the files that didn't play before and now just displaying a picture or screenshot or meta thumbnail for about 2 seconds now,
Any other ideas?

Thanks

[Paul]

Thanks for testing this for us. Please turn on logging (see http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread.php/419-FAQ-How-to-turn-on-diagnostic-logging) and restart your Mezzmo server. Connect to Mezzmo using your WD TV Live and browse some playlists and try to play some videos. When they display a picture as you mention (instead of playing the video), stop your Mezzmo server and exit Mezzmo. Zip up all the logs and send them to us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com.

[li21]

Done.. I have sent back the logs.

Strange thing about the 2.6.4.1 patch is when i applied it, my WD TV Live stopped seeing the Mezzmo server.

Have now tried uninstalling and reinstalling without any luck.

Mezzmo recognizes that the WD is trying to make a connection, but Mezzmo does not show up in WD's MEdia server list.

[Paul]

Got your logs - thanks. We'll analyze them and respond shortly.

[Kaiser2000]

I have a WDTV Live v3/streaming as well that seems to have similar issues with certain files - mainly stuttering after a few seconds.

Running latest version (2.6.4.0) and the latest firmware on the WDTV. It's connected directly too via GB CAT5E cable and defaults to the WDTV Live (Gen 1) profile.
Is that maybe the issue? This new WDTV has a lot more format support than the earlier versions.. maybe we need a newer profile?

Mezzmo itself is running on a virtualised Server 2008 R2 installation and otherwise works fine.

Also, I note that despite using Mezzmo to get all the content (covers and metadata), only the covers are showing on the WDTV. Any thoughts?

Happy to test any patch.... Thanks!

[Paul]

Hi Kaiser2000,

Please contact us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com for the patch.

[Kaiser2000]

Hi Kaiser2000,

Please contact us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com for the patch.

Thanks.. email just sent to you now :)

[li21]

Looks like we finally got somewhere.
Kudos to the Support team! First Class service!!

Now that Mezzmo is finally transcoding those problem files, seems like my CPU isn't coping..
Does anyone successfully transcode HD or high bit rate videos with less than Quad core CPU?

thanks

[Hashybot]

Thought I might try help a little people. I have both the live and live hub, for both profiles with Mezzmo use WDTV Live Gen 1. Also make sure to download and install the latest klite codec pack (full) and turn off transcoding to the wdtv. This has worked flawless for me with all mp4 and avi files, currently on 2.6.3 (at least until the next release has the alphabetical directory fix).

Hope it helps some of you. :)

[li21]

Thought I might try help a little people. I have both the live and live hub, for both profiles with Mezzmo use WDTV Live Gen 1. Also make sure to download and install the latest klite codec pack (full) and turn off transcoding to the wdtv. This has worked flawless for me with all mp4 and avi files, currently on 2.6.3 (at least until the next release has the alphabetical directory fix).

Hope it helps some of you. :)

Thanks for that!
I never though I could play on the WD TV Live without transcoding..

- when I play direct over SMB share it slows down to a stutter and I lose all audio on high bit rate content. (figured the WD unit could not process raw feeds very well on such a low powered processor)

- when I transcode everything plays fine but it is very very slow as my CPU is not up to the task.

- when I stream over Mezzmo and turn off transcoding as per your suggestion, seems to play fine !?

Thanks!

Any ideas what the difference is between SMB share playing and streaming over Mezzmo without transcoding?
Don't both just pass raw feed without conversation ?

[Paul]

Looks like we finally got somewhere.
Kudos to the Support team! First Class service!!

Now that Mezzmo is finally transcoding those problem files, seems like my CPU isn't coping..
Does anyone successfully transcode HD or high bit rate videos with less than Quad core CPU?

thanks

Great you are up and running now. Thanks for your kind words.

Transcoding HD 1080 video on-the-fly with less than a quad core CPU and 4GB RAM will typically result in stuttering when you are trying to play the file on your DLNA device. If you are stuck with your current computer configuration, then my suggestion is to pre-transcode the file before streaming it. To do this, right-click on the file in Mezzmo and click 'Pre-transcode Files'. This feature lets you transcode the file completely (see the Transcoding pane to know when the file has been fully transcoded), and then when you stream it to your DLNA device, it will be just streamed directly without any further transcoding or excessive CPU usage. This really helps with under-powered computers.

[Paul]

Looks like we finally got somewhere.
Kudos to the Support team! First Class service!!

Just an update - Mezzmo v2.6.5 has been released and this issue should fixed in this new release. Let us know how you go.

[Kaiser2000]

Just want to echo some of the comments above.. the Support guys have been working with me to get this solved and have been very responsive which is much appreciated and all too rare these days unfortunately. That alone is worth the price, never mind the quality of the product itself :)

To everyone else though: I have an issue where the WDTV only displays the cover pic but none of the other data for a file despite Mezzmo having pulled all that metadata in successfully. This is connecting the WDTV in media server mode rather than to a share. Anyone else seen this and if so, were you able to fix it?

[Paul]

Thanks for your kind words, Kaiser2000.

We'll investigate the metadata not being displayed issue on your WD TV Live. Mezzmo delivers all the metadata to your DLNA devices that is collected when you add files into your Mezzmo library or maintain your Mezzmo library. Mezzmo uses the standard DLNA/UPnP metadata tags, but perhaps the WD TV Live is using different tags. We'll check it out & report back if we discover anything.

[smitbret]

Thanks for your kind words, Kaiser2000.

We'll investigate the metadata not being displayed issue on your WD TV Live. Mezzmo delivers all the metadata to your DLNA devices that is collected when you add files into your Mezzmo library or maintain your Mezzmo library. Mezzmo uses the standard DLNA/UPnP metadata tags, but perhaps the WD TV Live is using different tags. We'll check it out & report back if we discover anything.

Unfortunately, I think it's a given at this point that the WD Live doesn't read metadata on video files through DLNA. I have tacked it up on the wishlist at http://community.wdc.com/t5/ideas/v1/ideaexchangepage/blog-id/hub_ideas/tab/most-recent. The WD staff reviews that forum thread and tries to implement frequently requested updates, but this one doesn't seem to be garnering much popularity. Too many hardcore geeks that like to tinker with SMB shares and don't care as much about the flexibility that good front-end DLNA software gives you. Oh well, maybe one day.

Gotta say thanks to the Mezzmo support staff, too. Version 2.6.4.0 just did not work well with the WD Live boxes. They were quick with solutions when I e-mailed them or posted about it. Then, less than 10 days later, a new release (v2.6.5.0) is out that fixes all of the bugs. Not only that, but my library refreshes instantly when I update file properties now. This is the best version of Mezzmo for WD Live, no questions.

Thanks again for getting it rolling, Mezzmo staff

[Paul]

Many thanks for the information about DLNA metadata on the WD TV Live, smitbret.