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Assassin's Simple/Beginner HTPC Buying Guide - Page 402

post #12031 of 15479
3/20/12 at 12:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by HFGuy View Post

Thanks ! I've been reading your blog and discovering I know even less than I thought.

That's why its there. I wish people would read/use it before buying as I guarantee it might save them money in the long run.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #12032 of 15479
3/20/12 at 1:09pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron32 View Post

I have a problem. I have W7 ultimate. I have media browser. I have make mkv. And I have media center master. The problem is when use make mkv and select what I want to copy it seem to put 2 copies in media center master and it's a short clip. Also when I try to open some of the copied blu rays in WMC it's say cannot open file, but it will open and play in powerdvd12. I'm using:
ASUS P8Z 68M Pro
Gigabyte 6850 video card
Intel i5 2500k
Corsair 8gb ram
Crucial 128 bg ssd
Seagate 3 tb hard drive. 3 of them
LG BD burner.
I'm a Member of Assassin Blog but have no idea how email on the site.

What movie? Makemkv is always trying to figure out ways around new DRM blocks. It could be if this is a brand new movie that you just need to wait on a new MakeMKV release.

Or try AnyDVDHD ($$$).

There, did I answer you question? Being polite goes a long way when you are asking for free help and a favor.
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post #12033 of 15479
3/20/12 at 1:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron32 View Post

I have a problem. I have W7 ultimate. I have media browser. I have make mkv. And I have media center master. The problem is when use make mkv and select what I want to copy it seem to put 2 copies in media center master and it's a short clip. Also when I try to open some of the copied blu rays in WMC it's say cannot open file, but it will open and play in powerdvd12. I'm using:

ASUS P8Z 68M Pro
Gigabyte 6850 video card
Intel i5 2500k
Corsair 8gb ram
Crucial 128 bg ssd
Seagate 3 tb hard drive. 3 of them
LG BD burner.
I'm a Member of Assassin Blog but have no idea how email on the site.

Okay, there's two issues here.

First, makeMKV doesn't put the mkv in mediamaster. It puts it in whatever folder you tell it to put it in and that folder needs to follow the right convention for mediamaster to read it and scrape the metadata.

Second, you haven't said what file type you are trying to play back in WMC. Is it an mkv or is it something else.

Properly phrasing a question will help us to help you.
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post #12034 of 15479
3/20/12 at 5:53pm
I came up with these components via Assasin's 1st post in this thread. Then I registered for all his guides as well.

Use will be for blu ray, streaming from my whs 2011, and light gaming.

questions:

-- Am I limited to a micro ATX with the case I selected??

-- will the psu be loud? I dont mind spending money and changing that out. I just got it sitting around.

-- will that Ram be comaptible??

-- If I buy a video card to avoid the 24 fps issue and improve gaming does the HDMI come out of the motherboard or the video card (to connect to the tv)?

-- More questions, if you dont mind as they come.

--- Is the processing power of the A8 equivalent to the intel chip I selected. If so what Motherboard/ram would you suggest that would work with my case? This may be the option I go with considering my mild gaming intentions and conern over 24 fps issue

Case will be SilverStone Micro ATX HTPC Computer Case GD05B

1 ASRock Z68M/USB3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

1 COOLER MASTER GX 450W RS450-ACAAD3-US 450W ATX12V v2.31 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

2 Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32100

1 Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

1 G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL

1 ASUS Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS

1 TP-LINK TL-WN722N USB 2.0 High Gain Wireless Adapter
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post #12035 of 15479
3/20/12 at 6:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by amcdoc View Post

I came up with these components via Assasin's 1st post in this thread. Then I registered for all his guides as well.

Use will be for blu ray, streaming from my whs 2011, and light gaming.

questions:

-- Am I limited to a micro ATX with the case I selected??

-- will the psu be loud? I dont mind spending money and changing that out. I just got it sitting around.

-- will that Ram be comaptible??

-- If I buy a video card to avoid the 24 fps issue and improve gaming does the HDMI come out of the motherboard or the video card (to connect to the tv)?

-- More questions, if you dont mind as they come.

--- Is the processing power of the A8 equivalent to the intel chip I selected. If so what Motherboard/ram would you suggest that would work with my case? This may be the option I go with considering my mild gaming intentions and conern over 24 fps issue

Case will be SilverStone Micro ATX HTPC Computer Case GD05B

1 ASRock Z68M/USB3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

1 COOLER MASTER GX 450W RS450-ACAAD3-US 450W ATX12V v2.31 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

2 Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32100

1 Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

1 G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL

1 ASUS Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS

1 TP-LINK TL-WN722N USB 2.0 High Gain Wireless Adapter

Looks like a good build. I am not crazy about Cooler Master PSUs (I have one as a backup and it sucks. Very loud but its a few years old) but it probably is fine for HTPC.

Yes, micro ATX is the largest that case will fit.

If you have that PSU just sitting around try to test it out to see how loud it is.

Yes, RAM should be compatible.

HDMI comes out of the graphics card if you have one.

The i3 is a beast. It will handle your gaming needs and by benchmarking is a better CPU than the A8.

The A8 is a 100 watt CPU and a power hog. Get the i3 and add a card if you want to game. You still will likely come out with less watts than the A8 but have a better GPU for gaming since you are adding a card.

If you are not really wanting to game (or game lightly) consider getting/trying an Intel CPU with the HD3000 graphics. If for any reason you don't like the HD3000 then add a card. You might save yourself some money, noise and heat.
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post #12036 of 15479
3/20/12 at 9:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Added Wilky13's awesome MCE Buddy guide today...

Guide 35B: Recorded TV: Transcode to a Smaller File Size, Remove Commercials, Download Artwork and Refresh Media Browser All Automatically

Wilky13 did a great job on this guide and its large and very thorough. It took me over 2 hours to add all the pics to the server and recompile them to the blog individually.

Enjoy!

Sorry, I got carried away on the screen shots!! I am working on a Shark007 codec guide next ;-)
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post #12037 of 15479
3/20/12 at 9:26pm
MCEBuddy 2.1.5 is out. Some good improvements. Change log here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/mce...20Release%205/
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post #12038 of 15479
3/20/12 at 9:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wilky13 View Post

Sorry, I got carried away on the screen shots!! I am working on a Shark007 codec guide next ;-)

Danka!
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post #12039 of 15479
3/21/12 at 3:51am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wilky13 View Post

Sorry, I got carried away on the screen shots!! I am working on a Shark007 codec guide next ;-)

No reason to be sorry. It is an awesome guide and you did a great job!

Cant wait to add your shark007 guide!
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post #12040 of 15479
3/21/12 at 6:52am
I've been having a problem lately with Media Browser being stuck in what appears to be 4:3 display when i turn everything on.

The HTPC outputs optical audio to the 5.1 receiver, and sends HDMI to the EPSON 8350.

When i am done watching something on the system, the Projector turns off, and the receiver turns off, but the HTPC stays on with no screen saver or power saving or anything that i am aware of. Native resolution is 1920x1080.

So when i turn everything back on, MB is stuck in 4:3 mode. The picture is not distorted, just have a black bar on each side of the picture running from top to bottom. When i exit out of MB and go back to just WMC the bars remain. When i close WMC and go back to the desktop everything returns to normal. There is no "resync" of the picture, it just immediately closes the 4:3 WMC and goes to a 16:9 desktop.

When i restart WMC it of course remains in 16:9 mode.

Is it MB that is causing the image size to be off, or WMC?

Any ideas what could be causing this?
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post #12041 of 15479
3/21/12 at 7:10am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpeisher View Post

I've been having a problem lately with Media Browser being stuck in what appears to be 4:3 display when i turn everything on.

The HTPC outputs optical audio to the 5.1 receiver, and sends HDMI to the EPSON 8350.

When i am done watching something on the system, the Projector turns off, and the receiver turns off, but the HTPC stays on with no screen saver or power saving or anything that i am aware of. Native resolution is 1920x1080.

So when i turn everything back on, MB is stuck in 4:3 mode. The picture is not distorted, just have a black bar on each side of the picture running from top to bottom. When i exit out of MB and go back to just WMC the bars remain. When i close WMC and go back to the desktop everything returns to normal. There is no "resync" of the picture, it just immediately closes the 4:3 WMC and goes to a 16:9 desktop.

When i restart WMC it of course remains in 16:9 mode.

Is it MB that is causing the image size to be off, or WMC?

Any ideas what could be causing this?

What are you using for a video card?

Sound like issues I used to have with my ATI 5450. Likely a HDMI handshake issue.
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post #12042 of 15479
3/21/12 at 7:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

What are you using for a video card?

Sound like issues I used to have with my ATI 5450. Likely a HDMI handshake issue.

I use the onboard graphics from the i3-2105.

If it were an HDMI handshake issue, why does the picture return to normal after going to the desktop?
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post #12043 of 15479
3/21/12 at 8:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

No reason to be sorry. It is an awesome guide and you did a great job!

Cant wait to add your shark007 guide!

I'm still having no luck with Media Center Buddy.

As per the tail of the log file below, at the very end it seems to fail on audio synch, and there may be an easy fix as I vaguely recall reading something on the buddy site about that but can't find right now (I spent a couple of hours reading that forum a week ago when my files were also failing to convert - however, my 2.1.4 failures were for different reasons). It is very perplexing that my first two files converted successfully (2 of 6 in the first run) and not a single one has converted since... my first run had six files in the folder and 2 converted no problem, the others created output files in the destination folder, but, they had no audio and/or video (grey screen). I can't recall the failure reasons.

I uninstalled 2.1.4 this morning, and, as per readme.txt went to delete C:\\ProgramFiles\\MCEBuddy (or, whatever the exact path was, I double checked). No mention of MCBuddy in the program files (I don't have much installed, even on a reduced screen the scroll bar isn't popping up). Anyway, installed as admin, all seemed to be fine. Ran a test on a folder with 2 half hour kids shows. Input file D:\\victorioustest, output D:\\kidsTV. Destination folder already had sub dirs for one of the two shows (Victorious, with no files) but not the other (Fairly Odd Parents). Both input files were copied from D:\\Recorded TV, I only have one mechanical drive so the E read/write option isn't possible. I did not put in either tweak for that matter (just want it to work first!).

Set up the run (hadn't seen Wilky's new guide yet, however, set up the same general settings, only differences were pathways). Executed, found the files, looked like the conversion was going fine. Checked back in an hour, appeared to have completed. No output files in the D:\\kidsTV folder.

Checked the log files (MCEBuddy\\log) had three files, mcebuddy.log and one for each episode. The short mcebuddy log file indicated no problem. The individual episode logs are huge (tail -25 posted below). The history file (different dir) indicates conversion failed.

The temp dir it appears to be writing to is on the C drive (I did not change any of the defaults by editing the config files in a text editor).

I subsequently kicked off a manual run, which is running right now; and then discovered Wilky's new guide (Thank you, because if I get this damn thing to work those little config tweaks will be key, I've read through pages of the Buddy forum).

I'm kinda pulling my hair out here, but, because of the 100% completes I'm thinking failure is due to some directory problem. I'm tempted to wipe out all the test directories (only two episodes have ever rendered correctly, out of about 12 tries)... I'm really thinking it is a bone head error on my part, like, can't find destination (its not)... but I can't figure out what it is. I'm going to play a little more this morning but out of town tomorrow and not sure how much time I'll have been now and Saturday to play.

Here are the last few lines of the Victorious episode file:
--> [libx264 @ 0000000002862B10] i4 v,h,dc,ddl,ddr,vr,hd,vl,hu: 47% 25% 13% 2% 2% 3% 3% 3% 3%
--> [libx264 @ 0000000002862B10] i8c dc,h,v,p: 66% 3% 31% 0%
--> [libx264 @ 0000000002862B10] Weighted P-Frames: Y:0.0% UV:0.0%
--> [libx264 @ 0000000002862B10] ref P L0: 78.7% 0.3% 1.5% 4.7% 3.7% 2.6% 5.6% 1.0% 1.9%
--> [libx264 @ 0000000002862B10] ref B L0: 74.9% 1.8% 9.8% 3.5% 3.4% 5.2% 1.4%
--> [libx264 @ 0000000002862B10] ref B L1: 99.5% 0.5%
--> [libx264 @ 0000000002862B10] kb/s:402.52
2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Conversion: Percentage Complete 100
2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Finished video conversion, file size [KB] 157,190.00
INFORMATION> 2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Checking EAC3 Audio conversion
2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> EAC3 conversion: Percentage Complete 100
INFORMATION> 2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Remuxing video if required
2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Conversion Remux: Percentage Complete 100
INFORMATION> 2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Correcting Audio Delay if required
INFORMATION> 2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Fixing Audio Delay, Detected : -0.453, Manual Adj : 0
2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Fixing -ve Audio Delay using FFMPEG with parameters: -threads 0 -y -ss 0.453 -i "C:\\Program Files\\MCEBuddy\\working0\\Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_ 00.mp4" -i "C:\\Program Files\\MCEBuddy\\working0\\Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_ 00.mp4" -map 1:0 -map 0:1 -acodec copy -vcodec copy "C:\\Program Files\\MCEBuddy\\working0\\Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_ 00_AVFIX.mp4"
2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.AppWrapper.FFmpeg --> Launching process C:\\Program Files\\MCEBuddy\\ffmpeg\\ffmpeg.exe
2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.AppWrapper.FFmpeg --> Process arguments -threads 0 -y -ss 0.453 -i "C:\\Program Files\\MCEBuddy\\working0\\Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_ 00.mp4" -i "C:\\Program Files\\MCEBuddy\\working0\\Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_ 00.mp4" -map 1:0 -map 0:1 -acodec copy -vcodec copy "C:\\Program Files\\MCEBuddy\\working0\\Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_ 00_AVFIX.mp4"
ERROR> 2012-03-21T09:32:36 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Fix AudioSync Failed for .mp4
2012-03-21T09:32:36 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Fix Audio Delay: Percentage Complete 0
ERROR> 2012-03-21T09:32:36 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Fix AudioSync failed
ERROR> 2012-03-21T09:32:36 MCEBuddy.Transcode.Convert --> FFMpeg did not convert successfully, using fallback if configured
ERROR> 2012-03-21T09:32:36 MCEBuddy.Transcode.Convert --> Unable to convert file Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_00.wtv using profile MP4 High Quality
ERROR> 2012-03-21T09:32:36 MCEBuddy.Engine.ConversionJob --> Conversion failed
INFORMATION> 2012-03-21T09:32:36 MCEBuddy.Engine.ConversionJob -->
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post #12044 of 15479
3/21/12 at 8:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpeisher View Post

I've been having a problem lately with Media Browser being stuck in what appears to be 4:3 display when i turn everything on.

The HTPC outputs optical audio to the 5.1 receiver, and sends HDMI to the EPSON 8350.

When i am done watching something on the system, the Projector turns off, and the receiver turns off, but the HTPC stays on with no screen saver or power saving or anything that i am aware of. Native resolution is 1920x1080.

So when i turn everything back on, MB is stuck in 4:3 mode. The picture is not distorted, just have a black bar on each side of the picture running from top to bottom. When i exit out of MB and go back to just WMC the bars remain. When i close WMC and go back to the desktop everything returns to normal. There is no "resync" of the picture, it just immediately closes the 4:3 WMC and goes to a 16:9 desktop.

When i restart WMC it of course remains in 16:9 mode.

Is it MB that is causing the image size to be off, or WMC?

Any ideas what could be causing this?

I was having the same problem and started using MCE Standby Tool which was recommended earlier in this thread. It took care of the 4:3 problem for me.
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post #12045 of 15479
3/21/12 at 10:40am
I should add, I am not running Graph Studio and at this point I don't want to get that sophisticated.

I re-ran the test (must delete records from history file) and both failed again, errors in log files are identical, same exact audio offset of 0.4xy seconds.

Re-ran using No recode highest quality and one of the two files appears to have comskipped (judging by file size). Will have kids test this weekend. The other:
--> Stream #0:0: Video: mpeg2video (mpg2 / 0x3267706D), yuv420p, 528x480 [SAR 40:33 DAR 4:3], q=2-31, 15000 kb/s, 25.41 fps, 59.94 tbn, 59.94 tbc
--> Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: ac3 ([0] [0][0] / 0x2000), 48000 Hz, stereo, 128 kb/s
--> Stream mapping:
--> Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (copy)
--> Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (copy)
--> Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
--> [avi @ 0000000001C6F930] Application provided invalid, non monotonically increasing dts to muxer in stream 1: 2085 >= 2085
--> av_interleaved_write_frame(): Invalid argument
ERROR> 2012-03-21T13:16:20 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> FFMpeg conversion failed
2012-03-21T13:16:20 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Conversion: Percentage Complete 0
ERROR> 2012-03-21T13:16:20 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Conversion of video failed
ERROR> 2012-03-21T13:16:20 MCEBuddy.Transcode.Convert --> FFMpeg did not convert successfully, using fallback if configured
ERROR> 2012-03-21T13:16:20 MCEBuddy.Transcode.Convert --> Unable to convert file Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_00.wtv using profile NoRecode Highest Quality
ERROR> 2012-03-21T13:16:20 MCEBuddy.Engine.ConversionJob --> Conversion failed
INFORMATION> 2012-03-21T13:16:20 MCEBuddy.Engine.ConversionJob -->


My media center speaker settings are set to stereo, however, I doubt that would cause failure of file transcoding.
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post #12046 of 15479
3/21/12 at 11:33am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mattiedread View Post

I should add, I am not running Graph Studio and at this point I don't want to get that sophisticated.

I re-ran the test (must delete records from history file) and both failed again, errors in log files are identical, same exact audio offset of 0.4xy seconds.

Re-ran using No recode highest quality and one of the two files appears to have comskipped (judging by file size). Will have kids test this weekend. The other:
--> Stream #0:0: Video: mpeg2video (mpg2 / 0x3267706D), yuv420p, 528x480 [SAR 40:33 DAR 4:3], q=2-31, 15000 kb/s, 25.41 fps, 59.94 tbn, 59.94 tbc
--> Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: ac3 ([0] [0][0] / 0x2000), 48000 Hz, stereo, 128 kb/s
--> Stream mapping:
--> Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (copy)
--> Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (copy)
--> Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
--> [avi @ 0000000001C6F930] Application provided invalid, non monotonically increasing dts to muxer in stream 1: 2085 >= 2085
--> av_interleaved_write_frame(): Invalid argument
ERROR> 2012-03-21T13:16:20 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> FFMpeg conversion failed
2012-03-21T13:16:20 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Conversion: Percentage Complete 0
ERROR> 2012-03-21T13:16:20 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Conversion of video failed
ERROR> 2012-03-21T13:16:20 MCEBuddy.Transcode.Convert --> FFMpeg did not convert successfully, using fallback if configured
ERROR> 2012-03-21T13:16:20 MCEBuddy.Transcode.Convert --> Unable to convert file Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_00.wtv using profile NoRecode Highest Quality
ERROR> 2012-03-21T13:16:20 MCEBuddy.Engine.ConversionJob --> Conversion failed
INFORMATION> 2012-03-21T13:16:20 MCEBuddy.Engine.ConversionJob -->


My media center speaker settings are set to stereo, however, I doubt that would cause failure of file transcoding.

Honestly I have no idea. You might want to start from scratch or post over at the MCEBuddy forum (if there is such a thing) to see if they can help you. Trying to find help in this thread - or even at AVS - on this subject is going to be tough.
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post #12047 of 15479
3/21/12 at 12:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Honestly I have no idea. You might want to start from scratch or post over at the MCEBuddy forum (if there is such a thing) to see if they can help you. Trying to find help in this thread - or even at AVS - on this subject is going to be tough.

The MCE Buddy forum (which I haven't posted on) isn't great, I might have luck but in all due respects because this forum has high level users I'll probably do better here.

I had problems with 2.1.4, uninstalled and re-installed 2.1.5, basically the problem persists with a slightly different error (I did not save the error log, uninstall deleted it).
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post #12048 of 15479
3/21/12 at 1:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpeisher View Post

I've been having a problem lately with Media Browser being stuck in what appears to be 4:3 display when i turn everything on.

The HTPC outputs optical audio to the 5.1 receiver, and sends HDMI to the EPSON 8350.

When i am done watching something on the system, the Projector turns off, and the receiver turns off, but the HTPC stays on with no screen saver or power saving or anything that i am aware of. Native resolution is 1920x1080.

So when i turn everything back on, MB is stuck in 4:3 mode. The picture is not distorted, just have a black bar on each side of the picture running from top to bottom. When i exit out of MB and go back to just WMC the bars remain. When i close WMC and go back to the desktop everything returns to normal. There is no "resync" of the picture, it just immediately closes the 4:3 WMC and goes to a 16:9 desktop.

When i restart WMC it of course remains in 16:9 mode.

Is it MB that is causing the image size to be off, or WMC?

Any ideas what could be causing this?

Same problem here. My HTPC was hooked to a video processor and then split to the TV (video) and the receiver (audio). I have a rear projection TV and am therefore using a custom resolution setting in the graphics display properties. This is necessary to minimize overscan. The problem is that this can be misinterpreted as 4:3 mode when the TV and Video Processor are turned on.

I tried altering the order in which devices are turned on etc, to no avail. The only thing that worked was to program my Universal Remote to signal my HTPC to go to the desktop when I shutdown the system, and on system turn on program my remote to wait 8 seconds before telling the HTPC to go to Media Center (green button). A pain, but it works. It seems to be necessary to wait until everything is up and running before going from the desktop to media center.
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post #12049 of 15479
3/21/12 at 2:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bomberjim View Post

Same problem here. My HTPC was hooked to a video processor and then split to the TV (video) and the receiver (audio). I have a rear projection TV and am therefore using a custom resolution setting in the graphics display properties. This is necessary to minimize overscan. The problem is that this can be misinterpreted as 4:3 mode when the TV and Video Processor are turned on.

I tried altering the order in which devices are turned on etc, to no avail. The only thing that worked was to program my Universal Remote to signal my HTPC to go to the desktop when I shutdown the system, and on system turn on program my remote to wait 8 seconds before telling the HTPC to go to Media Center (green button). A pain, but it works. It seems to be necessary to wait until everything is up and running before going from the desktop to media center.

Although I have MB installed I don't really use it and I have this identical problem, and, employ the identical solution (well, no AVR). I close Media Center prior to shutting down my TV. When I turn on my TV, as soon as I see 'HDMI' in the upper corner (a few seconds) I press 'start' on my $14 remote and media center opens to recorded TV (my preference, right now).
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post #12050 of 15479
3/21/12 at 3:29pm
Does anyone on here know how to build a list of movies to compress using handbrake where as soon as one movie is done, it will move on to the next until they are all complete?
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post #12051 of 15479
3/21/12 at 3:44pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by vidikron25 View Post

Does anyone on here know how to build a list of movies to compress using handbrake where as soon as one movie is done, it will move on to the next until they are all complete?

I thought it lets you build a queue.
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post #12052 of 15479
3/21/12 at 4:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by vidikron25 View Post

Does anyone on here know how to build a list of movies to compress using handbrake where as soon as one movie is done, it will move on to the next until they are all complete?

Put in all of your settings for the first encode, then instead of clicking "Start", click "add to Queue". Add another file and set it as you like, and repeat. When they are all queued up, then start the encode.
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post #12053 of 15479
3/21/12 at 5:13pm
You can also select a source, a la a folder, and then select Add All (Experimental) in the pulldown for Add to Que. That should que the entire folder.
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post #12054 of 15479
3/21/12 at 5:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mattiedread View Post


I'm still having no luck with Media Center Buddy.

As per the tail of the log file below, at the very end it seems to fail on audio synch, and there may be an easy fix as I vaguely recall reading something on the buddy site about that but can't find right now (I spent a couple of hours reading that forum a week ago when my files were also failing to convert - however, my 2.1.4 failures were for different reasons). It is very perplexing that my first two files converted successfully (2 of 6 in the first run) and not a single one has converted since... my first run had six files in the folder and 2 converted no problem, the others created output files in the destination folder, but, they had no audio and/or video (grey screen). I can't recall the failure reasons.

I uninstalled 2.1.4 this morning, and, as per readme.txt went to delete C:\\ProgramFiles\\MCEBuddy (or, whatever the exact path was, I double checked). No mention of MCBuddy in the program files (I don't have much installed, even on a reduced screen the scroll bar isn't popping up). Anyway, installed as admin, all seemed to be fine. Ran a test on a folder with 2 half hour kids shows. Input file D:\\victorioustest, output D:\\kidsTV. Destination folder already had sub dirs for one of the two shows (Victorious, with no files) but not the other (Fairly Odd Parents). Both input files were copied from D:\\Recorded TV, I only have one mechanical drive so the E read/write option isn't possible. I did not put in either tweak for that matter (just want it to work first!).

Set up the run (hadn't seen Wilky's new guide yet, however, set up the same general settings, only differences were pathways). Executed, found the files, looked like the conversion was going fine. Checked back in an hour, appeared to have completed. No output files in the D:\\kidsTV folder.

Checked the log files (MCEBuddy\\log) had three files, mcebuddy.log and one for each episode. The short mcebuddy log file indicated no problem. The individual episode logs are huge (tail -25 posted below). The history file (different dir) indicates conversion failed.

The temp dir it appears to be writing to is on the C drive (I did not change any of the defaults by editing the config files in a text editor).

I subsequently kicked off a manual run, which is running right now; and then discovered Wilky's new guide (Thank you, because if I get this damn thing to work those little config tweaks will be key, I've read through pages of the Buddy forum).

I'm kinda pulling my hair out here, but, because of the 100% completes I'm thinking failure is due to some directory problem. I'm tempted to wipe out all the test directories (only two episodes have ever rendered correctly, out of about 12 tries)... I'm really thinking it is a bone head error on my part, like, can't find destination (its not)... but I can't figure out what it is. I'm going to play a little more this morning but out of town tomorrow and not sure how much time I'll have been now and Saturday to play.

Here are the last few lines of the Victorious episode file:
--> [libx264 @ 0000000002862B10] i4 v,h,dc,ddl,ddr,vr,hd,vl,hu: 47% 25% 13% 2% 2% 3% 3% 3% 3%
--> [libx264 @ 0000000002862B10] i8c dc,h,v,p: 66% 3% 31% 0%
--> [libx264 @ 0000000002862B10] Weighted P-Frames: Y:0.0% UV:0.0%
--> [libx264 @ 0000000002862B10] ref P L0: 78.7% 0.3% 1.5% 4.7% 3.7% 2.6% 5.6% 1.0% 1.9%
--> [libx264 @ 0000000002862B10] ref B L0: 74.9% 1.8% 9.8% 3.5% 3.4% 5.2% 1.4%
--> [libx264 @ 0000000002862B10] ref B L1: 99.5% 0.5%
--> [libx264 @ 0000000002862B10] kb/s:402.52
2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Conversion: Percentage Complete 100
2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Finished video conversion, file size [KB] 157,190.00
INFORMATION> 2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Checking EAC3 Audio conversion
2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> EAC3 conversion: Percentage Complete 100
INFORMATION> 2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Remuxing video if required
2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Conversion Remux: Percentage Complete 100
INFORMATION> 2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Correcting Audio Delay if required
INFORMATION> 2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Fixing Audio Delay, Detected : -0.453, Manual Adj : 0
2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Fixing -ve Audio Delay using FFMPEG with parameters: -threads 0 -y -ss 0.453 -i "C:\\Program Files\\MCEBuddy\\working0\\Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_ 00.mp4" -i "C:\\Program Files\\MCEBuddy\\working0\\Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_ 00.mp4" -map 1:0 -map 0:1 -acodec copy -vcodec copy "C:\\Program Files\\MCEBuddy\\working0\\Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_ 00_AVFIX.mp4"
2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.AppWrapper.FFmpeg --> Launching process C:\\Program Files\\MCEBuddy\\ffmpeg\\ffmpeg.exe
2012-03-21T09:32:34 MCEBuddy.AppWrapper.FFmpeg --> Process arguments -threads 0 -y -ss 0.453 -i "C:\\Program Files\\MCEBuddy\\working0\\Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_ 00.mp4" -i "C:\\Program Files\\MCEBuddy\\working0\\Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_ 00.mp4" -map 1:0 -map 0:1 -acodec copy -vcodec copy "C:\\Program Files\\MCEBuddy\\working0\\Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_ 00_AVFIX.mp4"
ERROR> 2012-03-21T09:32:36 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Fix AudioSync Failed for .mp4
2012-03-21T09:32:36 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Fix Audio Delay: Percentage Complete 0
ERROR> 2012-03-21T09:32:36 MCEBuddy.Transcode.ConvertWithFfmpeg --> Fix AudioSync failed
ERROR> 2012-03-21T09:32:36 MCEBuddy.Transcode.Convert --> FFMpeg did not convert successfully, using fallback if configured
ERROR> 2012-03-21T09:32:36 MCEBuddy.Transcode.Convert --> Unable to convert file Victorious_TNCK_2012_03_09_07_58_00.wtv using profile MP4 High Quality
ERROR> 2012-03-21T09:32:36 MCEBuddy.Engine.ConversionJob --> Conversion failed
INFORMATION> 2012-03-21T09:32:36 MCEBuddy.Engine.ConversionJob -->

Is your C: drive a "smaller" SSD? People have had problems when the temporary location ( which if you don't designate one I believe is on the drive you install MCEBuddy on) doesn't have double the space of source files. Try designating a folder on your E: drive fir your temp working path.
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post #12055 of 15479
3/21/12 at 5:50pm
Mattiedread,

Post your log file on the surgeforce forum, not the Australian one. Ramit is really good about getting back to people on there within a day or 2. It does seen like there is some problem with the audio on ffmpeg. But it could be the drive space so try my post before also.

http://sourceforge.net/p/mcebuddy2x/discussion/
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post #12056 of 15479
3/21/12 at 5:59pm
I've been running MCEBuddy 2.1.4 on auto from 0001-1159 for about a week now. It usually gets through about 12 shows in that time period. They are all saving to season folders except "Castle" and "The Office". It is because thetvdb is returning multiple series for them. I think 2.1.5 is supposed to fix, or atleast improve this. Was hoping to upgrade today. But looks like might not be until Friday (work always gets in the way of hobbies!).
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post #12057 of 15479
3/21/12 at 6:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by vidikron25 View Post

Does anyone on here know how to build a list of movies to compress using handbrake where as soon as one movie is done, it will move on to the next until they are all complete?

if its a folder with all the movies you can click add all to queue and it will add and save with same name with a - at end.
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post #12058 of 15479
3/21/12 at 7:08pm
thanks for the responses, I tried after I hit start and it brought up something that didn't look right, so I will try to do it again before I hit start.
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post #12059 of 15479
3/22/12 at 2:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wilky13 View Post

Mattiedread,

Post your log file on the surgeforce forum, not the Australian one. Ramit is really good about getting back to people on there within a day or 2. It does seen like there is some problem with the audio on ffmpeg. But it could be the drive space so try my post before also.

http://sourceforge.net/p/mcebuddy2x/discussion/

I'm out of town, leaving in a few minutes, but, I will try switching drives... yes, my C (where the temp files are dumped) is a small ssd... I only have two drives (right now), the SSD and a 500GB (loud), but it spins at 7200 and for testing it should be fine (as should r/w same drive).

I've been through the forum (and the Australian one - agreed, not great and problems could be 'local'). I recall seeing mention of changing that variable which is changed at the very end of my log file. Apparently its default is 0 (or 1) and it needs to be changed to 1 (or 0). I need to revisit it as posting rules specifically say, "don't post a question already answered".

Hopefully this weekend. I'm going to start with two never touched files, clean out my old 'crap' (source and destination files, history) make a .bak of the config and history file and try switching drives, perhaps tweaking that variable which appears to be causing failures (although, it is populating with the audio shift - can't hurt to try).

Thanks for the advice - That's my plan, right now, could 'alter' slightly before execution as I read the Buddy forum and think about it. I'll keep you posted. I'm hoping I have some time in the upcoming days.
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post #12060 of 15479
3/22/12 at 7:43am
I finally got my htpc build working!

A little recap: After putting my parts together for my first build I wasn't getting any response from the monitor or any beeps, even though all the fans were spinning. You guys helped me narrow down on the issues, which were probably really simple in the end.

A combination of using VGA (not HDMI), realizing I had no PC speaker for my beeps, and resetting the CMOS did the trick. I finally got those little parts last night, and it started right up. Now, I'm going to pretend that it was resetting the CMOS that made the difference, even though it was probably the cable (we can never be sure)

Just a series of super small issues kept me confused when I was so close to having it working. Thanks again for talking me through it.

Windows is installed and I'll finish updating drivers tonight. I've had XBMC running from laptop to projector for a while, but I think I will give a few of these other programs a try as well on my HTPC.
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