Hey all, I have just been reaching final stages of tweaking my media center so i can finally plug it in the living room for the family but as ironic as it sounds when i just inserted a normal dvd into the disc drive, media center seemed to not be able to handle it quite well. It takes media center (also media player) something like 40 seconds to load the dvd and when it does, there is no video picture coming up (only a blank screen) as well as choppy sound. I tried opening the vob file through the hard drive (maybe thinking it has something to do with the cd rom it self) but with no success, it was still giving the same results. I then tried to load up the same DVD on another machine with pretty much the same specs (in both Win 7 is used) and to my surprise the dvd playback was smooth and great! I then realized it must be something with the codecs i have installed. So i ran Graphstudio to see what comes up in each machine - the results are pretty similar with not quite, i was wondering if someone could help me analyze the results and help me from here. This screenshot is the result of the computer which the dvd playback is NOT working: This screen shot is the result of the computer which the dvdplayback was smooth and working: It seems as if there is no sound playing from the working machine but everything runs smooth and sound is coming out perfectly. Thanks for any help you can give me, i have ran through forums for a few days with no success!

most likey you have installed a codec pack that has broken windows foundation drivers.

 DVD playback is native in win7 through the windows foundation drivers, try removing all the codec packs and check the priorities of the foundation drivers with graphstudio

 also, are trying this through Media Center?  or Media Player?  they use different filters...

Hi.  OK to start with, why did you install Codecs and which ones did you install?

Can you uninstall them, use System Restore to go to a point prior to installing them etc?

For info, I have Shark codec pack installed on W7 x86 RTM with no DVD playback problems.

Lets start there.

Rich

 Codec packs are notoriously suspect and it does sound like a codec issue or maybe even a drive issue ( just a thought )

 defo i would uninstall all codec packs and try Sharks codecs which seems like a bit of a turn around in my thinking but after alot of years using Pc`s and Media Center and messing with and without codec packs , i have found Sharks to be the most reliable and if needed , easily removed 

I did install codec packs. I have the CCCP installed (ffdshow, haali media splitter, vobsub) i excluded mpeg 2 however and thats it. I did this because this is the only codec pack which managed to solve the issue of playing mkv files (i think i tried every other codec pack, standalone codecs available with no success - after this i did a fresh install of win 7 rtm and installed cccp) I also tried to use Shark with no success. Important to say that i have the Haappauge PVR 150 installed and working. Also, when thinking about it when trying to watch tv i also cannot see a picture - maybe this is related? Seems like a definte mpeg 2 codec problem but cant seem to point out the problem. The Mack - How do i check the priorities of the foundations drivers? also, from the graph doesnt it look like it actually plays fine? thanks for all the help! if i can only solve this issue i can plug my HTPC already :) although seems a bit ironic if i plug an htpc which cant do DVD's :( Update: Hey gues, i just ran Graphstudio again and noticed that it actually ran the exact same codecs as the machine which worked for me (the bottom screenshot). I dont know if there is anything related to something i did but still, the playback is extremely choppy (audio-wise) and no video picture.

co0kie

I did install codec packs. I have the CCCP installed (ffdshow, haali media splitter, vobsub) i excluded mpeg 2 however and thats it. I did this because this is the only codec pack which managed to solve the issue of playing mkv files (i think i tried every other codec pack, standalone codecs available with no success - after this i did a fresh install of win 7 rtm and installed cccp) I also tried to use Shark with no success. Important to say that i have the Haappauge PVR 150 installed and working. Also, when thinking about it when trying to watch tv i also cannot see a picture - maybe this is related? Seems like a definte mpeg 2 codec problem but cant seem to point out the problem. The Mack - How do i check the priorities of the foundations drivers? also, from the graph doesnt it look like it actually plays fine? thanks for all the help! if i can only solve this issue i can plug my HTPC already :) although seems a bit ironic if i plug an htpc which cant do DVD's :( Update: Hey gues, i just ran Graphstudio again and noticed that it actually ran the exact same codecs as the machine which worked for me (the bottom screenshot). I dont know if there is anything related to something i did but still, the playback is extremely choppy (audio-wise) and no video picture.

 

 

windows 7 will play h.264 content out of the box.  You just need a splitter (halii or divx) to pass the h.264 in your MKVs to the Windows Media Foundation codecs.

you shouldnt need a bunch of codecs for anything really

if you must use codecs, try this:

http://babgvant.com/blogs/andyvt/archive/2009/08/02/antipack-get-your-videos-working-without-destroying-your-pc.aspx

very minimally invasive and should get you 99% of the way there.

 

I listened to you guys advice and decided to go ahead with a fresh win 7 install and see if that solves the vob playback. Unfortunately, there are no happy news but interesting ones thats for sure. After installing win 7 i immediately inserted a dvd into the drive, media player popped and a i got a BSOD, after restart i launched windows update and got a video driver update for my ATI RADEON HD 4550. I updated and launched the dvd again, this time no video but smooth sound!, next i went to ATI website and downloaded the newest driver, then after install launched the dvd again and this got be back to where i started before the format. I got not video and choppy audio. Clearly, this isnt a codec issue but it is the graphic card. Anyone with any ideas? Update: I just unplugged the radeon 4550 and used the on-board graphics and everything works fine. Ill probably replace the card. Thanks for the help everyone!

 I had some problems with audio and even HDMI wtv programs crashing when using the ATI drivers on my HD5770 card.

I fixed it by going to Realtek (http://www.realtek.com.tw) and installing the "ATI HDMI Audio Device", and the "Vista, Windows 7 Driver only" drivers.