Mplayer on Mac Mini 2009

[lgf30022]

I am using the new Mac Mini with SageTV client for Mac 6.5.9.

The Mini has 4GB RAM and NVidia 9400M and a 2.6Ghz DUo 2 Core Processor.
My server uses the Hauppague HD-PVR, 6.5.9 version of MC. Everything plays fine on my PCs. Everything plays fine on my HD200.

When I try to play video on the Mac, it looses A/V sync or the video is very choppy. I see that mplayer is taking over 93% of the CPU on the Mini and spikes to 100%, it takes 15% on my PC laptop running XP. Network looks ok, about 10-14MBit/s sustained on a GE network.

The Mini has the latest updates for Java engine from Apple.

Is there something I am missing here? I put the HD200 on the same network connection, it works fine, as does my PC, so I know the Gigabit LAN is fine.

Is there a way to change the default player on Sagetv from mplayer to say, the latest version of VLC?

Looking for a solution, thanks!

[sandor]

to set Quicktime as the player:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38455

try one of the beta updates, i believe it was 6.5.9 that exposed an avsync bug in mplayer. it was then updated in subsequent beta versions of sage.

[GregT]

Use the 6.5.11 release. Releases prior to that had the AV sync issue with mplayer. Releases after that (12 and 13) seem to have a different mplayer bug, that Dev is aware of and apparently working on.

I pretty much only view live TV at this point, so that is the frame of reference that my recommendation comes from. I have not yet been able to get Quicktime working as a player for live content.

[sandor]

What issues are you having with the .12 and .13 bets? i haven't seen any here (yet)

[GregT]

This pertains to live TV viewing only. That's all I'm using it for at the moment.

With both .12 and .13, when I launch the viewer to watch live TV, it runs for only a short time. Maybe a minute, maybe 5. however long it makes it, mplayer crashes, leaving Sage in a tizzy. Sage won't quit. I can't kill the server process. Even a shut down requires a force, by pressing and holding the power button (apparently because the server process won't respond any more).

I had the same behavior with both .12 and .13, and in both cases, going back to .11 solved the issue. I put in a bug report, and they are investigating.

It seems to be an mplayer thing only, so if you're playing content with QT, I'd guess you wouldn't see it.

[lgf30022]

I tried the latest beta (6.5.13). I get audio but either no video or random frames. Sometimes I see the DVR timeline indicator going backwards. The software is very confused. Audio is fine but video is hosed.

Sometimes the mplayer is using 35-50% CPU other times it uses 100%+!

Still needs more work!

[GregT]

See my note above. Use the 6.5.11 release. I've had problems on the Mac with mplayer with all releases except that one. I'm able to use 6.5.11 on a daily basis. I do have to limit to 'Fair' quality, and watch in a window (i.e. not full screen).

[sandor]

I tried the latest beta (6.5.13). I get audio but either no video or random frames. Sometimes I see the DVR timeline indicator going backwards. The software is very confused. Audio is fine but video is hosed.

Sometimes the mplayer is using 35-50% CPU other times it uses 100%+!

Still needs more work!

do you have any samples of files? i am running the .12 beta here with OTA HD, and not seeing any problems... hmmm..

[GregT]

I'm currently only using the HD-PVR. No OTA yet.

[lgf30022]

Ok, well I tried the latest beta (6.5.14) on a new Mac Pro. The SageTV server is running off the same Gigabit switch as the Mac Pro. They both have confirmed GE connections.

I can run live TV using HD PVR in "Fair" quality mode in Windowed mode. Full screen is a joke, display breaks up, menus don't display correctly. Had to force a reboot to get back to my desktop....it was a mess!

Remember this is a Dual P4 Xeon box, 8GB RAM with a high end graphics adapter and it cannot play video from the server??

Something is seriously wrong here. Or I am doing something seriously wrong with the client.

All works fine with a PC or the SAGETV HD 200 box on the same network talking to the same server. So The server can handle it.

I saw the post about editting the plist file to change the player. Well, that plist file does not contain the items so there is no player defined in there.

Any ideas? I'd like to test playback of live video outside of the client to see if another player (Quicktime or VLC) can do a better job.