Cannot play Bluray with placeshifter

[rdww60]

Hi, I'm a newbie at SageTV, so please bare with me.
I have Dell SC440 with Windows Home Server OS and with SageTV & SageTV Placeshifter installed. I [believe I] am using this as the server. I have my Sony VIO VPCF123FX laptop with SageTV Placeshifter installed. I can see photos, listen to music, watch DVD titles, all okay, both LAN and WAN. I cannot play any of the BD titles. I get the message: There was an error playing 10,000 BC: ERROR (-19): There is no MediaPlayer that can playback the selected file.

I have tried several ways to correct this with no luck. Everything I have read implies there is a codec needed. I have tried, but clearly have cockpit error or else I wouldn't be here writing this. Is there a procedure documented any where that I can reference that will, step-by-step, tell me how to install and verify a new codec to support BluRay format files?

I use MyMovies with SlySoft installed to backup my discs. I have settings such that the BDMV directory structure is created with stock settings for how the rip is performed. I have the most up to date versions of each component as far as I can tell.

I have no SageTV hardware, no capture devices, everything implemented is software. I have not implemented the TV receiver functions.

Again, I'm sure it is cockpit error on my part. Any help would be welcome.

Update: I also see that SageTV has a Audio/Video detailed setup where PlasceShifter doesn't.

[stanger89]

My first guess is that it's the same reason it can't play DVDs. BDs are made up of multiple files (ie .mpls and .m2ts files) and you can't stream that.

[rdww60]

So a little more detail....
I use MyMovies which has SlySoft's AnyDVD HD software installed to back up my discs, both DVD and BluRay.
For DVD I get MPG files. For DVD I can get either ISO or the BDMV directory structure. I use the add SageTV metadata option within AnyDVD HD. This is all running as a service on my WHS server w/o graphics.
When I use placeshifter, I can view/play the DVD movies no issue on LAN & WAN. I can view but NOT play the BluRay movies. Placeshifter shows the "HD" symbol, tries to play, and then comes back with the error (-19) for no mediaplayer.
I suppose I am confused, why is placeshifter recognizing the HD but not able to play it? I think I have the correct codecs on the server. Do you have to have a video card on the server for this to work properly?

[gplasky]

As a rule Placeshifter can't play ripped DVDs. The only reason you can play a DVD with Placeshifter is because you are ripping to mpg. So I suppose the same rule applies to BD. Placeshifter doesn't support streaming of ripped DVDs or BlueRays. The SageTV PC client can with the correct video decoders installed. (One of the major differences between Placeshifter and PC client software. See the FAQs)

Gerry

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by rdww60

I suppose I am confused, why is placeshifter recognizing the HD but not able to play it?

FWIW, it's not Placeshifter, it's the Server that recognizes the BD rip as HD, Placeshifter, just displays this info from the server's database.

I think I have the correct codecs on the server. Do you have to have a video card on the server for this to work properly?

At the very least you need the right codecs on the client/placeshifter, but since they're all built in there's nothing you can add. But more likely (IMO) is it's a limitation of Placeshifter, that the way it works it doesn't support multi-file formats like DVD or BDMV.

[rdww60]

Originally Posted by gplasky

As a rule Placeshifter can't play ripped DVDs. The only reason you can play a DVD with Placeshifter is because you are ripping to mpg. So I suppose the same rule applies to BD. Placeshifter doesn't support streaming of ripped DVDs or BlueRays. The SageTV PC client can with the correct video decoders installed. (One of the major differences between Placeshifter and PC client software. See the FAQs)

Gerry

I was thinking that with the BDMV directory structure, and .m2ts files (MPEG2 transport stream), that I had the DVd MPEG equivalent. I don't have SageTV client, only PlaceShifter because on the WAN capability. I did see that the Video/Audio menu is available on the server side and not on the Client side which is why I was wondering if there is an issue because I don't have a grpahics card in my server.

[rdww60]

I got SageTV and PlaceShifter as a result of my WHS install to complete my video collection backup. I may still be confused about the relationship between the server/client. I think, on WHS, it is the SageTV server that gets installed as a service and enabled to be a server to Placeshifter. As I metioned, I can play everything else. I think, that if SageTV server can recognize the HD content files and display them through PlaceShifter as available to play, then I should be able to play them. Otherwise this should be considered a bug. UNLESS somewhere there is literature on how to apply codecs for PlaceShifter via the SageTV server. I tried this through SageTV server Video/Audio detail menu setup but with no luck. I originally thought I just needed to get the correct codecs into PlaceShifter, but now I'm beggining to think there is a new extender on the horizon. PlaceShifter use for movie playing of backed up DVD & BluRay movies is useless soon unless this is addressed as most new movies come out in BluRay or HD now. I still open to the problem being cockpit error on my end if someone has more knowledge on this.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by rdww60

I was thinking that with the BDMV directory structure, and .m2ts files (MPEG2 transport stream), that I had the DVd MPEG equivalent.

It is sort roughly, but when you import the whole structure it's imported as a BD not individual media files.

I did see that the Video/Audio menu is available on the server side and not on the Client side which is why I was wondering if there is an issue because I don't have a grpahics card in my server.

The server audio/video settings and hardware don't have anything to do with playback on clients.

Originally Posted by rdww60

I got SageTV and PlaceShifter as a result of my WHS install to complete my video collection backup. I may still be confused about the relationship between the server/client. I think, on WHS, it is the SageTV server that gets installed as a service and enabled to be a server to Placeshifter. As I metioned, I can play everything else. I think, that if SageTV server can recognize the HD content files and display them through PlaceShifter as available to play, then I should be able to play them. Otherwise this should be considered a bug. UNLESS somewhere there is literature on how to apply codecs for PlaceShifter via the SageTV server.

The Audio Video settings on the server apply to local playback on the server only.

PlaceShifter use for movie playing of backed up DVD & BluRay movies is useless soon unless this is addressed as most new movies come out in BluRay or HD now. I still open to the problem being cockpit error on my end if someone has more knowledge on this.

Placeshifter has never played DVDs, and I assume the same is true of Blu-ray. Your "DVDs" work because you're not ripping them as DVDs, you're ripping them to standard MPG files. If you want to play "BDs" via placeshifter, you'll have to do something similar, ie rip to a single file, maybe M2TS or mkv.

[rdww60]

Originally Posted by stanger89

It is sort roughly, but when you import the whole structure it's imported as a BD not individual media files.

The server audio/video settings and hardware don't have anything to do with playback on clients.


The Audio Video settings on the server apply to local playback on the server only.

But the server has to read the files in order to stream them to the client no?

Originally Posted by stanger89

Placeshifter has never played DVDs, and I assume the same is true of Blu-ray. Your "DVDs" work because you're not ripping them as DVDs, you're ripping them to standard MPG files. If you want to play "BDs" via placeshifter, you'll have to do something similar, ie rip to a single file, maybe M2TS or mkv.

I thought that was what I was doing, there are M2TS files in the STREAM directory within the BDMV directory structure.
It still doesn't make sense that PlaceShifter shows the HD symbol next to the title and then won't play it - if you can't play it then don't display it. It still smells to me like a codec issue on the SageTV server side.

BTW, thanks to all for chiming in, keep 'em coming

[Fuzzy]

It isn't a codec issue. It's just the code for interpreting the BluRay playlists and such are not in the placeshifter server/client system. You can use the Browse Files option on the search menu to browse to a bluray folder, into BDMV/STREAM and play individual M2TS files, and they transcode/stream just fine. The problem is, that bluray's aren't played back by the M2TS file, but by the playlist files (which may be any combination of skips between different parts of different M2TS files, all transitioned silently in the background). You could actually have a bluray, with special features, previews, everything, and have it all in a single massive M2TS file, or in 5000 M2TS files, and you wouldn't know the different on playback. That's where the playlist features come in.

If you want to be able to watch those movies from placeshifter, you'll have to take them out of the BDMV structure. You can use something like DVDFab or MakeMKV to repackage individual playlists into playable containers (M2TS, MKV, whatever), and placeshifter will be able to handle it.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by rdww60

But the server has to read the files in order to stream them to the client no?

Read them yes, but it doesn't decode them at all, that's done on the client end. You simply can't stream raw, uncompressed HD over a network, not even GigE.

I thought that was what I was doing, there are M2TS files in the STREAM directory within the BDMV directory structure.

But the fact that you have a whole BDMV structure means that Sage imports the whole thing as a single "Blu-ray" entry, it doesn't import each M2TS file individually. And it tries to play the whole structure as a unit. Placeshifter doesn't support multi-file "objects".

It still doesn't make sense that PlaceShifter shows the HD symbol next to the title and then won't play it

The HD symbol is determined by the server not the placeshifter.