Mac Client playback of HD PVR files

[zaphodgjd]

Hi there. I just installed Sage and love it.

I have one Mac client though and it only plays the top left quarter of the video files recorded from a Hauppauge HD PVR (I've attached a picture) - the files play fine on the PC and on the HD Extender. I see other people have reported this problem in the beta forum, but I've not seen anything out there to fix it. :-)

Is there something I can do to see the other 3/4 of the screen?

Thanks.

Graeme.

[MCE-Refugee]

This looks like the same problem that I reported a month ago. It must be an MPEG4/H.264 playback problem.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35484

[zaphodgjd]

So does anyone have a workaround for this? I'd hate to have to bootcamp into XP just to watch TV on my Mac.

Graeme.

[karljayne]

Same issue, I plugged the HD PVR in, turned it on, set it up and started recording. I can playback on the server (PC) no problem. When I try to view the same recording on a Mac (Placeshifter or Client) I get a black screen playback. I got the same blackscreen last time I tried playback with SageTV Client in XP on VMware Fusion.

My solution: Share the recordings directory on the server, open up Network Connections and open that folder, open the [recording].ts in VLC. Not really an integrated media center solution, but I can watch recordings. In fact, you can start a show in Placeshifter or Client and watch while recording in VLC. This solution has a low wife approval rating.

I almost wanted to try replacing the mplayer app inside the Placeshifter Package (app) with VLC, something tells me this probably wont work though.

I asked support about this issue and they indicated this would be resolved, though it didn't sound prioritized, ie no one is saying when.

Anyone have another solution?

[zaphodgjd]

So VLC plays back all of your TS files?

It only plays back some of them for me, I think from channels that broadcast 1080i interlaced it's crashing (XBMC also crashes). SageTV plays back the file but I get that top left quarter screen (which makes it interesting I guess).

Graeme.

[GregT]

So this is universal? Anyone heard of reports of success playing back through the Mac client? No further comments from support?

I have the HD-PVR hooked up to a Vista virtual machine in Parallels on my Mac. It's fine for recording, but not strong enough performance to play back. If the Mac client played back correctly, there'd be no issue, but as-is, it's not a feasible setup.

Of course, if Mac drivers were released for the HD-PVR, that would also solve the problem.

I'm all Mac, and I don't relish the thought of dedicating a Windows machine for this.

[jriskin]

If you have an Intel based mac, VLC 0.9.6 seems to play back the files pretty well on my 1.83Ghz Intel C2D Mini. Unfortunately, they haven't optimized it for PPC. All of 0.9.x seem to have huge performance issues on G5/PPC. It's a 2Ghz G5 Dual and should perform fairly close (and does with quicktime 1080 H.264 content.) 0.8.x can't play back the HD-PVR files at all, in general it's actually much faster but isn't compatible with the HD-PVR .TS files.

I don't have SageTV client, so I'm not sure how well that works...I could try installing a demo and seeing if it works.

[GregT]

VLC is fine, if you're not interested in the live playback functionality. That is the whole reason I'm interested in it though.

FYI, this same behavior exists in the 6.5.2 beta.

I'm sure they've got a lot on their plates. I'll inquire with support again, and see if they have any better idea of when they might fix this basic functionality issue.

[HawgGuy]

Playback is fine on VLC (0.9.2) over the network but jerky/stuttering/unwatchable on placeshifter 6.5.1. The audio comes through fine. I tried to install the latest Mplayer from macports but it failed to compile.

Hackintosh Q6600, 10.5.5, all current updates.

[GregT]

Update:

I'm running the latest betas (6.5.3, server on Windows, client on Mac).

Good news! Playback through the Mac Client is now working with HD-PVR files. I've tested both recordings, as well as live TV, and I'm now getting the full picture. It was not working in 6.5.2, so they've tweaked something to get it going.

Unfortunately, I've only got wireless. No wired connections. That means I have to dial down the quality a bit to keep the picture from jumping. I'll have to string a temporary cable through the house to be able to do a full quality test.

[HawgGuy]

No soap with r5000 h.264 files either with Placeshifter or Client 6.5.3.

[caffcomm]

I have Beta 6.5.3 on my Vista 32bit Sage Server and Beta 6.5.3 Mac Client on my MacBook Pro (10.5.5 OS) and still no picture for either recorded file play back or Live TV.

The best I've be able to accomplish is 1 frame (the first) being displayed and I had to set the HD-PVR Recording quality down to Great to get that much.

[matterw]

When I try to play a HD show with the SageTV Client I get a blank screen. Nothing more or less. SD plays fine.

Any known issues?

Matt

[Overclockme]

MacBook Pro running Client beta 6.5.3 with Sagetv Server running on Windows XP 6.5.3b

I still get the black screen.

However, after uninstalling and reinstalling, the placeshifter beta 6.5.3 now is running fine.

[MCE-Refugee]

I am now using the 6.5.4 beta on the SageTV Windows server & the Mac 10.5.6 clients. The good news is that on HD channels I no longer just get one quarter of the video displayed. The bad news is that like others have noted there is now just a black screen. The audio is OK & SD channels work fine.

[aaronb]

Running the new client beta on my Mac Mini (1.83GHZ, 1GB RAM) and the HDPVR files are still unwatchable. Very jittery (maybe 10 fps at best, sometimes more like a slideshow). HD MPEG2 works fine, SD is fine. I can also playback the files just fine using Plex, connecting to the server with SMB.

[MCE-Refugee]

SageTV client beta 6.5.5 on Mac OS X 10.5.6 still gives a black screen i.e. no picture with BBC HD (MPEG4). The audio works OK. I suppose that I should bug this in the beta forum as this is supposed to be the Release Candidate.

[MCE-Refugee]

Originally Posted by MCE-Refugee

SageTV client beta 6.5.5 on Mac OS X 10.5.6 still gives a black screen i.e. no picture with BBC HD (MPEG4). The audio works OK. I suppose that I should bug this in the beta forum as this is supposed to be the Release Candidate.

OK, I bugged it & uploaded a sample recording from BBC HD. According to support they found the problem & will fix it but the fix may not make it into the V6.5 release as that is almost done.