[mythtv-users] "Internal" player problems

[John Veness]

Josh White wrote:
> I hate to post a vague description of a problem, but I've had zero success
> working with the internal player in mythvideo or mythdvd.  I'll do my best
> to describe my problem below, but I do not have any command line output or
> any logs to post.  I'm not really sure how to generate such information in
> this case, so bear with me.  I am away from my machine for the next 10 hours
> or so, so if such information is required to solve this problem, it will
> take me some time to gather it.
> 
> I love the idea of using a player that is integrated with the rest of the
> system, but it seems I can't on any of my systems.  I'm running on three
> different machines, with two of them running Ubuntu and the latests version
> of mythtv from the repositories (this would include my backend/frontend, and
> a stand alone frontend), and I'm running a copy of mythbuntu on my main
> frontend/secondary backend .  None of these machines seem to be able to use
> the internal player for anything I try to use.
> 
> When I try to watch a DVD, it seems to quickly load every title it should
> load, like it will flash each preview for about a second, then the FBI
> warning for a second, and then finally flash he main menu screen for a
> second just before it closes.  If I switch the player to mplayer, it simply
> works, though it only plays the main title, and then only if it's title#1.
> 
> In mythvideo, when I use the internal player, all I get is a black screen,
> and the only thing I can do to solve that is switch users and kill
> mythfronend.  Again, switching the player to mplayer allows me to play the
> movie, but it's not what I want.
> 
> I've been searching the wiki for help, but the only mention I can find is to
> either setup some external player (mplayer, xine, etc) or to "simply" use
> the internal player.  I'd love to "simply" use the internal player, but I
> can't seem to make it work.  Has anyone else experienced similar problems?
> Am I doomed to using a different player for my files?
> 
> As I said, I'm running on three different machines.  The only common links
> between them all is they are all Ubuntu gutsy based, they all run Intel
> processors (2 P4's and a Pentium D) and they all have nVidia cards.  My
> various video cards include a Geforce 7900gt, a Geforce2 whatever, and a
> Geforce FX5200.   The two newer cards are running the latest Ubuntu
> supported proprietary drivers, and the Geforce2 is running the latest
> version of the "legacy" driver from the standard Ubuntu repositories.
> 
> I'd be happy to furnish anyone with any more details if I can.  Any hints
> would be appreciated.  I have been unable to find a way to change any
> settings or any configuration of any kind for the "Internal" player, and I'm
> unaware if such a thing even exists (short of tweaking the source
> code...something I am wholly unqualified to do).
> 
> Any and all tips/hints/pointers/etc. would be appreciated.

I haven't tried using the internal player for DVDs, but I use it for 
(downloaded/transcoded) videos. What video and audio format are the 
videos in, i.e. container and codecs? I believe the internal player can 
only play certain formats.

Cheers,

John

-- 
John Veness, MythTV user, UK, DVB-T