SageTV, Vista 64, & MKV

[blammo585]

Someone please tell me how to get this working. I have SageTV installed on Vista 64, and I would like to play mkv's stored on my server. I know that Haali Media Splitter doesn't have a 64-bit version. I installed Vista Codec Pack (Sharky's), and mkv's started to play in SageTV. But, the video has slight pauses and "jerks". The files play fine in Total Media Theater. But I want the convenience of playing in Sage. The Vista Codec Pack requires FFDShow, but the settings are very confusing, and I can't get anything to play correctly now after playing around with the settings. Is there some kind of simple way to get mkv's to play in Sage? Even more preferable would be to stop having to use this Vista Codec Pack and FFDshow.

[babgvant]

Sage is a x86 application so you don't need x64 filters to make things work.

Codec packs are bad, it's much better to opt-in to specific filters (AC3Filter for AC3 & DTS; MPC-HC for VC-1; etc). It's a bit more effort but you don't end up with random crap or malware that is sometimes bundled in the codec packs.

Make sure you have

always_use_dshow_player=true

set in the client properties file


Any file using DirectShow you need a splitter and decoders for MKV:

Splitter/Source filter:
MKV - Haali Splitter: when you install do not let it spilt TS/PS (you already have this)

Audio Decoder:
AC3/DTS - AC3Filter (installed with Sage, but you will probably want to uncheck PCM as a supported media type using ac3config.exe in the Sage install dir). Ffdshow will decode almost anything if you have a different type.
FLAC - madFlac

Video Decoder:
H264 - Since you have TMT installed you should be covered for h.264. Either uninstall ffdshow or disable x264/h264 decoding in the Codecs section of the config utility. Ffdshow is a sw decoder so for video, you almost never want it involved.
VC1 - If you have ATI HW, go get the MPC-HC video decoder then configure it to only support DXVA VC-1 decoding (disable everything else). If you're using Nvidia, just leave it along the WMV DMO Decoder installed w/ Windows will work (the benefit to the MPC-HC decoder is HWA w/ ATI).
DIVX/XVID - Get the XVID directshow decoder; ffdshow will work but has issues so like H264 disable xvid/divx or uninstall

[blammo585]

Thanks for the reply. Here's what I did. Normally when I'm setting up a PC, I will install Haali Media Splitter and mkv will work. I've also found, that with Sage, I have to go in and set "always use dshow player = true" just like you said. But, before I changed it to "true", the mkv would play in Sage, but it is in stereo sound, not 5.1. After I went in and changed it to true and tried playing in Sage, I got 5.1 sound, but no picture. The only thing I figured it could be was the Haali splitter being 32 bit. Although, I also understood Sage to be an x86 application and thought that it shouldn't need a 64 bit splitter. So then, if I've done those things, what else do I need to do? I'm still a little confused.

I have AC3 Filter installed and I am using a 2600xt video card. Haali Media Splitter is installed. If I don't need FFDShow, then I'm going to uninstall it.

[babgvant]

Download graphstudio and drag a mkv into it and see what happens.

[blammo585]

Originally Posted by babgvant

Download graphstudio and drag a mkv into it and see what happens.

OK...weird. I ran graphstudio and imported a mkv. It shows nothing for video. It shows Bedtime Stories.mkv; the audio goes to AC3 Filter to Default DirectSound Device. There is zero for the video.

Before that, I uninstalled the Vista Codec Pack and installed Haali Media Splitter. But this is the same thing that was happening before the installation of the codec pack, so I guess that's my problem (missing any kind of video renderer (is that the correct terminology?)).

So what now? How do I get an output for the video?

[babgvant]

What video codec is the file using?

[blammo585]

The file is created by Ripbot to mkv. Is that h.264 or x.264...one of those?

[Spectrum]

Can you play the file and get audio + video in Windows Media Player? I have been having issues where even though everything seems to be set up correctly some mkv's with x.264 will play audio only in sage but will play audio + video in wmp. I have been able to narrow it down to files muxed w/ mkvmerge don't work in Sage and files muxed with gdsmux work fine. Take a look at this post for more info and some test clips you could try. I have not had a chance to test with the cyberlink decoder yet (life keeps getting in the way) but I'll post results back to that thread once I do get a chance.

Our issues may not be related at all but worth a shot just on the off chance that they are

[babgvant]

Use mediainfo to find out what codec it uses.

[blammo585]

Mediainfo says that the video of all my mkv's are "AVC".

[babgvant]

Get the x86 version of the MPC HC video decoder

[blammo585]

OK, I've got it downloaded. How do I register the file? Or what do I do with it?

Also, now I've noticed after trying to view "Live Tv" in Sage that I'm getting a Sage "playback exception"...something about a problem with rendering the video. It probably has something to do with me uninstalling the Vista codec pack. But everything still looks OK according to graphstudio.

[babgvant]

open an elevated cmd prompt and type regsvr32 c:\pathto\filter.ax

if the playback exception keeps occuring it's possible that the codec pack uninstalled or messed up your sage filters; unistall/reinstall sage if it doesn't go away.

[blammo585]

I figured the registering out. It was a "no go" though. It registered, but afterward when I tried playing the mkv, it's still blank. Maybe I need a restart? I'll try it as soon as my recording is finished.

[blammo585]

Dang it! I just tried restoring my PC to before I uninstalled the codec pack and SageTV is still giving me the same error. I guess I will have to uninstall/reinstall. I hate doing that because I have to install SageTV 5 and then 6; it's a lengthy process...especially since my TV is 1080i. I have to pull my keys up on my laptop to read them.

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by blammo585

I figured the registering out. It was a "no go" though. It registered, but afterward when I tried playing the mkv, it's still blank. Maybe I need a restart? I'll try it as soon as my recording is finished.

does it playback in graphstudio?

[blammo585]

Originally Posted by babgvant

does it playback in graphstudio?

I will try to see if it plays in graphstudio.

I have a different problem now. Since none of my recordings or live TV was working as I said in my previous posts, I uninstalled and reinstalled SageTV as you suggested. At least that got my recordings and TV back to working. Now, however, when I try to play one of my mkv's, it closes SageTV entirely.

To answer another question that I was asked, no, the mkv has no video when played in Windows Media Player either.

[ghostlobster]

FWIW I was getting a very similar issue when I had the Haali splitter installed and always_use_dshow_player set to true. I removed the Haali splitter and installed the Gabest mkv splitter and everything worked perfectly, including 5.1 audio.

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by blammo585

I will try to see if it plays in graphstudio.

I have a different problem now. Since none of my recordings or live TV was working as I said in my previous posts, I uninstalled and reinstalled SageTV as you suggested. At least that got my recordings and TV back to working. Now, however, when I try to play one of my mkv's, it closes SageTV entirely.

If Sage is crashing when you try to playback a file some other [nasty] filter is trying to join the graph.

What version of Sage are you running?

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by ghostlobster

FWIW I was getting a very similar issue when I had the Haali splitter installed and always_use_dshow_player set to true. I removed the Haali splitter and installed the Gabest mkv splitter and everything worked perfectly, including 5.1 audio.

Wow, you might be the first person to get the Gabest splitter working correctly outside of MPC-HC