Xbox 360 - unplayable content

[wozza]

Hi

I recently got a new Xbox 360 and was hoping to be able to view my video collection via Mezzmo. However, I get an "unplayable content" error - it's saying the audio or video or using an unsupported codec.

All my videos are AVIs with h.264 & AC3 5.1 audio, so as far as I can tell, they should play natively. Or am I mistaken?

I'm using 2.1.12 BTW

EDIT: actually I also have a few MKVs on the server (same video/audio codecs) but they don't show up on the xbox at all.

Cheers

[Paul]

Hi,

Is transcoding turned on? Can you please also post FFmpeg information on one of those AVIs with h264/ac3, so that I could check the device profile. I assume you're using the XBox device profile, right?

[wozza]

Below is the FFMPEG info. The profile is set as Xbox 360. Transcoding is off as I was under the impression that avi with h.264/ac3 was natively compatible with the xbox.

FFmpeg version SVN-r26071, Copyright (c) 2000-2010 the FFmpeg developers
built on Dec 22 2010 10:30:32 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-share/ffmpeg --extra-cflags=-U__STRICT_ANSI__ --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect
libavutil 50.35. 0 / 50.35. 0
libavcore 0.16. 0 / 0.16. 0
libavcodec 52.100. 0 / 52.100. 0
libavformat 52.88. 0 / 52.88. 0
libavdevice 52. 2. 2 / 52. 2. 2
libavfilter 1.69. 0 / 1.69. 0
libswscale 0.12. 0 / 0.12. 0
[avi @ 0003e060] max_analyze_duration reached
Input #0, avi, from 'D:\shares\Videos\Action & Adventure\Back To The Future\Back To The Future.avi':
Metadata:
title : BACK_TO_THE_FUTURE.Title1.DVDRip
album : BACK_TO_THE_FUTURE
encoder : Lavf52.33.0
Duration: 01:51:15.20, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 2294 kb/s
Stream #0.0: Video: h264, yuv420p, 720x384 [PAR 1:1 DAR 15:8], 25 fps, 25 tbr, 25 tbn, 50 tbc
Stream #0.1: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1, s16, 384 kb/s
At least one output file must be specified


---> DB Level Info: 13

[Paul]

Thanks for this information. We will check it out.

If you turn transcoding on in Mezzmo, do the files play on your Xbox 360? If they do, then whilst you are waiting for a response from us, you may want to do this so you can watch your videos now.

[wozza]

Even with transcoding checked in the Xbox device settings dialog I get the same error. I seem to remember there being another place in Mezzmo to set the general transcoding on/off but I can't find it.

[Paul]

Even with transcoding checked in the Xbox device settings dialog I get the same error. I seem to remember there being another place in Mezzmo to set the general transcoding on/off but I can't find it.

Go to the Transcoding Settings dialog in Mezzmo and you will see a checkbox to turn transcoding off for all devices.

[wozza]

Oh right thanks. Tried that but the videos I've played become very stuttery via transcoding. Not sure my server (Acer Aspire h340) is that great for this method of streaming which is why I try to encode my videos into a format that's natively compatible with the media device.

[Paul]

I'm not sure that the XBox can play AC3 sound in an AVI stream - it should play MP3 though. I'll need to try this here, but does it mention support for h264/AC3 anywhere?

[wozza]

Thanks. Actually, I think it can play ac3 in avi (at least it seems it can according to this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/945416) but xbox doesn't support h.264 in AVIs, so that kind of buggers by setup

What format is video transcoded for the xbox via Mezzmo? As the xbox does support ac3, is there any chance that the transcoded audio can be output in 5.1 (its currently output as stereo)?

[Paul]

Video is transcoded to an ASF container with WMV2 and WMA2 streams - and because WMA2 in FFmpeg doesn't support 5.1, the sound is downmixed to stereo, unfortunately.