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ATSC ABC HD viewable in Media Player but not Media Center

post #1 of 53
11/30/06 at 10:31pm
Thread Starter 
I can record ATSC HD programs from all my local networks(I have good antenna strength for all major broadcasters) and I can replay recordings of all of them in Media Center 2005 on my HP m7170n desktop or my XBOX 360 extender and stream them live in Media Center or on the XBOX 360 as well, EXCEPT for ABC WCHS-TV8 in HD. I can watch ABC in digital standard definition (SD) but as soon as they go to true widescreen High Def, after 5-10 seconds into replay or live HD feed, I receive stuttering and then a "video error files needed to display video are not installed. Please restart Media Center or...".

However, I can record the ABC HD programs(college football usually)from the program guide in Media Center and replay the file just fine in MS Windows Media Player 11 with out a single stutter on my HP XP SP2 MCE 2005 Rollup 2 desktop, but cannot get it to display properly in the Media Center with the HP or on the 360. I can also watch ABC HD just fine through my JVC TV's built in ATSC tuner. I can fiddle with the replay on the media center by backing out and restarting replay and get another few seconds of replay before it errors again and it will error in different areas of replay so it's not like just one area of the recording is causing the mess up. It will also fast forward or rewind fine, just not play regular speed.

I have a strong enough system I believe: Pentium D 830, 2GB Ram, Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick, ATI TV Wonder 650 PCI, 250 GB and 400GB HDD, ATI Radeon X1600 XT and ethernet connected XBOX 360.

I am using the newest NVIDIA PureVideo Decoder Platinum for my HP desktop and I when I watch its decoder properties on the fly, I have noticed while in Media Player it shows under the "Decoder Format" box as "Direct X VA Mode C (idct)" on the top with "Video Mixing" beneath that. But in MCE 2005, while it's actually playing stutter free, it shows "Direct X VA Mode C (idct)" on top with "Video Mixing (Direct X 9)" under it. However, in Media Center replay freeze ups with the "Video Error..." it only shows "Direct X VA Mode C (mc16)" on the top line with nothing underneath. It also shows "Deinterlace Mode" as "VMR default" in Media Player but shows "Best Available" in Media Center. I don't know if that matters or helps at all to figure out this error but I can't find any other differences.

I have used Windows Update and installed the latest video, tuner and audio drivers available. I just don't get why Fox 720p HD NFL is fine live or replayed in Media Center 2005 or on the 360, but ABC HD NCAA Football stutters and errors in Media Center or the 360, but is just fine if replayed in Media Player 11.

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any help.
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post #2 of 53
12/1/06 at 6:12am
What happens with ABC programs on your computer monitor? If they are fine then it appears that ABC programs are requiring more bandwidth and that your network is not handling the higher load.
Are both your MCE systems using a wired connection to your router?

Have you checked the local area subforum for your locatopm to see if other's are reporting problemw with ABC digital broadcasts?
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post #3 of 53
12/1/06 at 8:24am
Thread Starter 
Both the MCE Desktop and Xbox 360 are hardwired through the router.
I will try to see what displays on the monitor with live TV as I haven't tried that yet, but replay is stuttered and errors in Media Center but is fine in Media Player 11.
In fact I tried replaying the same recorded ABC HD program from the HP Desktop(theMedia Center Recorder PC) to my laptop which is just attached through wireless G and even it was fine and stutter free in MS W Media Player 11. So, I don't think it would be a bandwidth problem with the router because the recorded playback is fine, right? Also, it is just in Media Center that it stutters and locks up in live or replay of ABC HD whether on the Desktop or Xbox360.
It would seem that somehow Media Center is at fault, but how to fix it...wait for Vista?
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post #4 of 53
12/1/06 at 9:06am
When using your MCE moitor can you change the Decoder settings for MCE to be the same as they are for Media Player when playing a ABC HD program?
Is there any other activity on your router that could cause bandwidth issues between the MCE system and the 360?
Have you checked your event logs for possible network errors between the MCE system and the 360?
Do you have all of the updates to MCE 2005 RU2 installed including the 10/2006 update?
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post #5 of 53
12/1/06 at 2:18pm
Thread Starter 
I do not recieve the same menu drop down choices for MP11 vs MCE in the Nvidia Decoder Properties Window(although both show v.04.02-223
I have matched them as closely as possible but the MP11 has De-interlace mode set as "VMR Default"(other choices VMR Pixel Adaptive, VMR Vertical Stretch) while the MCE's De-Interlace mode is set as "Best Available"(the other choices are Display Fields Seperately or Combine Fields) Changing them doesn't seem to help. Everything else is set the same.
I have also tried the Cyberlink and Intervideo Decoder and they were worse.
My router shows no collisions and is updated to the latest firmware, the 360 network optimizer says it's good to go as well. I couldn't find anything hogging network resources. I even tried replay while logged out of Xbox Live on the 360 and it still did the same thing.
I do have MCE RU2 10/06 and the other updates as well.
Any other suggestions?
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post #6 of 53
12/1/06 at 7:36pm
I am pretty much out of ideas since you have not stated the problem appears to be not appear to be dependent on which HD tuner you are usiing,
If is possible that one of your HD tuners is sharing its IRQ with your graphics card or NIC card as this could cause a problem with Live TV but not with recorded TV for a high bandwidth signal.
Did you check the Local HDTV forum for your locatin to see if there were others haveing trouble with you local ABC broadcaster?
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post #7 of 53
1/11/07 at 11:10pm
has this issue been solved? i have the same problem on my pc with abc hd, recordings plays fine within windows media player, but in the media center app, constant video errors. argghhhh. It worked fine for me six months ago, no errors. i'm gonna try unistall various windows updates.
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post #8 of 53
1/12/07 at 6:52am
Thread Starter 
I still have the problem even had it flub up once on a Fox HD broadcast, I have decided to wait on Vista to be released and try the upgrade. Have you had any luck? are you recording WCHS-TV8 or another ABC affiliate. I have done everything short of reinstalling windows. I figure this close to the Vista release, I may as well wait and do a single reinstall then.
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post #9 of 53
1/12/07 at 8:29am
I have also been getting video errors with ABC HD on MCE within the last week. I usually just change channels and flip back to continue watching. This only occurs with ABC.
ABC-DT via OTA Los Angeles with VBox 150 and Purevideo 1.02-223.
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post #10 of 53
1/12/07 at 11:11am
ok glad to know i was not the only one, for me too abc in los angeles. I think i fix it but i'll have do more testing. what i did was keep unistalling media center updates via add/remove programs. So now the only thing listed as update under the /media center center edition 2005/update rollup 2. i had to unistall various updates, i think 3 times under media center center category and reset pc, because another update to unistall appears in add/remove programs that i have to unistall.

So hopefully this works, i think i kept updating media center during the summer, and did not see the problem till the new tv season started, because nothing was on tv.
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post #11 of 53
1/12/07 at 4:00pm
I have this same problem in Los Angeles (ABC HD and Fox HD). It will play fine then start to studder, then with the "Video Error....files..". I would only get this before on Fox HD when they were showing a non HD program. I now get this error on ABC HD all the time. I have 90+% signal quality on all my channels. I have a high end computer (Dual 7800gtx SLI, 2 gig ram, X2 4800, X-FI..bla bla bla), This shouldn't happen.

Do you think this is an issue with ABC and Fox or with the Media Center decoders (using Nvidia)? I don't have issues with OTA through my set top box.

Thanks.
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post #12 of 53
1/12/07 at 4:36pm
Thread Starter 
I have tried the Nvidia and Intervideo decoders and they resulted in the same lockup video error. However, they both recorded on the hard drive fine (although live showed lockups) and both would replay perfectly in Windows Media Player 9 or 10.
So I would guess it has to be a Media Center Problem. (also, live TV through ATI's Media center, that came with my TV wonder 650 card, is fine too)
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post #13 of 53
1/12/07 at 6:36pm
MCE use VMR9 rendering instead of Overlay which is normally used by Media Player and this requies a lot more graphics card power, However, if you have a X1600 PRO card that should have enough GPU power to handle 1080i programs.
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post #14 of 53
1/15/07 at 10:51am
Well no more blue screen video errors for me, not even a stutter. I just simply removes all windows media center updates via add/remove programs, viola problem is now gone. The only update i have under wmc2005 is update rollup 2. I had to remove misc wmc updates about 3 times and reset the pc 3 times, but now all is fine.
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post #15 of 53
1/16/07 at 7:48pm
I have same problem here with Los Angeles KABC and sometime Fox as well (are these the only channels broadcasting in 720p?). I can watch abc for a while then sudden stutter and video error shows.

I will keep an eye on this thread for sure. I thought it could be multipath issue, or signal too strong. However after some experiment I am still scratching my head. Hopefully someone else can shed some light.
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post #16 of 53
1/17/07 at 8:33am
I uninstalled microsoft .net 2.0 update and last night's American Idol ran perfectly. Fingers crossed.

I always have this problem on ABC, and sometime FOX and UPN. (funny these are all 720p stations)
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post #17 of 53
1/17/07 at 8:51pm
nope, problem still exists. I am going to try an in-line attenuator from partsexpress. I bought both 3db and 6 db.
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post #18 of 53
1/24/07 at 10:11pm
attenuator does not solve the problem either. Anyone know what the problem might be? It only happens for 720p signals.
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post #19 of 53
1/25/07 at 2:05pm
Bump
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post #20 of 53
1/25/07 at 5:01pm
try what i did uninstall all media center updates under add/remove programs except for Rollup 2, it worked for me, may have to reset a couple times and check for any new media center updates that appear after reboot. should only show rollup 2 as far as updates that occur under media center. For what the problem is/was, i don't know, all i know is it fixed the problem for me.
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post #21 of 53
1/26/07 at 7:57am
did you leave .net 1.1 and .net 2.0 along? or did you remove those as well?
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post #22 of 53
1/26/07 at 8:16am
Ditto to the ABC HD problem (LA). I have the exact same issues.
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post #23 of 53
1/26/07 at 12:09pm
only thing i removed were media center updates, all windows security updates and net 1.0/2.0 ,hotfixes were all kept
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post #24 of 53
1/26/07 at 3:47pm
hansol89, I'll try it tonight and let you guys know. Thanks.

I have narrow down the problems down to either MCE or my ATI650. Either some MCE files are corrupt or ATI650's driver is giving me trouble.

Funny thing is, I don't know how to clean ATI's driver properly. It doesn't show in contro panel, and driver cleaner pro doesn't support it either.
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post #25 of 53
1/26/07 at 10:22pm
This is what I have tried so far:

Re-install w/o rollup 1 and any update:
Tried 2 different graphic cards: 7600GT and x1650pro
Tried two sets of tuners: Fusion5 Lite/ATI650 and Fusion5 Lite/Hauppauge PVR150
Re-install with all latest updates
uninstall all MCE updates
Installed ULI southbridge driver
s
Problem still exists.

btw my hardware: 3800 X2, Asus A8R32-MVP, 1gig memory, 7600GT, 2 SATA harddrives. ATI650, Fusion5 Lite, Seasonic S12-380watt.
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post #26 of 53
1/27/07 at 10:20pm
i also have the same problem w/ KABC in LA. in my HTPC i am running 2 fusion 5 golds. Same problem.

I am able to watch live tv KABC. havent had those problems yet, but every recorded program from KABC crapps out with the video error.

i will try reversing/uninstalling the media center updates.
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post #27 of 53
1/27/07 at 11:35pm
I have solved the problem. However, I am unable to pin point what fixed it. This is what I did:

Complete c driver format.
Reinstalled MCE2005.
Installed latest Nvidia driver
Installed latest ATI650 and Fusion5 drivers
Installed audio driver

I tested after each step. No problem whatsoever. I am just going to leave it alone. Following the old saying: If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

I used to simply download every update from Microsoft, and this time I wanted to isolate and pin point the problem. I hope this helps you guys.
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post #28 of 53
1/28/07 at 1:09am
After taking the advice from hansol89 and uninstalling updates to MCE, after I removed updated KB925766, everything from KABC plays without the video error.

For those having the problem
1) control panel
2) add or remove programs- make sure check box at top "show updates" is checked
3) scroll down to MCE updates at bottom and uninstall update KB925766
4) reboot
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post #29 of 53
1/31/07 at 8:07am
Just installed Windows Vista Home Premium and both KABC and Fox work perfect. No errors like before. This alone was worth the upgrade for me. Yeah!
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post #30 of 53
2/9/07 at 10:47am
Thread Starter 
I upgraded to Vista Ultimate and had a few problems (see below) but now ABC and FOX HD works. (I think the biggest problems was my NIC driver, but I didn't find a new one until after the Vista upgrade, I wonder if a better MCE 2005 driver would have fixed it alone?)

Other new Vista Problems (So far):

I had a problem with slow MCE setup and the

http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scri...rsion&lang=eng

Intel NIC on board link for a new driver helped it work alot better (thanks).

I also had trouble with Win Live OneCare after my upgrade from XP to Vista. Seems you have to unistall, clean it out and reinstall to fix some firewall problems for web access. See http://forums.microsoft.com/windowso...eID=2&PageID=3 for that fix.

There is also an ATI TV Wonder 650 ATSC tuner setup problem, I am waiting on the hotfix still. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929011 and http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929011#appliesto and as referenced at the AMD ATI site as http://support.ati.com/ics/support/d...asp?deptID=894

Thanks to all who had suggestions and helped me out!
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