Greetings
I use a WDTV Live (WDTVL) to play back standard def recordings produced by a MythTV 0.24 backend machine (Athlon 3.1 GHz PC running Mythbuntu 10.10, Hauppauge PVR-150 MPEG capture card).
The MythTV backend shows up in the WDTVL interface under Video → Media servers → mythbackend1: MythTV AV Media Server. The standard def files that are recorded by the MythTV backend are multiplexed MPEG-1/2, and they have a file extension of .mpg.
These standard def .mpg files play just fine on the WDTVL - no problem at all.
I have just gotten an HDHomerun (HDHR), which I use to capture the local over the air digital stations and (I had hoped to) watch them on the WDTVL. I have set up the mythbackend to record shows with the HDHR, and the shows record fine and will play back fine in VLC on both my Mac and on the mythbackend machine.
Like the SD files, the files that the HDHR produces are multiplexed MPEG-1/2, and they have a file extension of .mpg. But they will *not* play on the WDTVL. I try to play them, and it fails with the error “Unable to play the selected file. Please see the user manual for a list of supported file formats.”
Huh?
The files are of a supported type: they’re mpeg files, and they’ll play just fine in VLC.
So, any idea what may be causing this?
Please post the MediaInfo for the files that won’t play.
RoofingGuy wrote:
Please post the MediaInfo for the files that won’t play.
Here’s the text MediaInfo output for an HDHR “Jeopardy” recording from earlier today.
It plays fine in VLC but gives the “Unable to play the selected file…” error on the WDTVL:
General
ID : 53
Complete name : 1311_20110505163000.mpg
Format : MPEG-TS
File size : 3.85 GiB
Duration : 29mn 57s
Overall bit rate : 18.4 Mbps
Video
ID : 49 (0x31)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@High
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Codec ID : 2
Duration : 29mn 56s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 17.2 Mbps
Nominal bit rate : 24.0 Mbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 59.940 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.312
Stream size : 3.60 GiB (94%)
Audio
ID : 52 (0x34)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Codec ID : 129
Duration : 29mn 57s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 256 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Stream size : 54.9 MiB (1%)
Language : English
Text #1
ID : 49 (0x31)608-1
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : EIA-608
Muxing mode : A/53 / DTVCC Transport
Muxing mode, more info : Muxed in Video #1
Duration : 29mn 56s
Stream size : 0.00 Byte (0%)
Text #2
ID : 49 (0x31)1
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : EIA-708
Muxing mode : A/53 / DTVCC Transport
Muxing mode, more info : Muxed in Video #1
Duration : 29mn 56s
Stream size : 0.00 Byte (0%)
Thank you! 
Hmmm… not seeing anything outwardly wrong… WD says that Main@High is supported, 1280x720p60, so you’re ok there.
The bitrate doesn’t seem beyond the device capabilities.
My guess would be that the subs are what’s confusing the WDTV… I don’t have anything to test with myself.
RoofingGuy wrote:
Hmmm… not seeing anything outwardly wrong… WD says that Main@High is supported, 1280x720p60, so you’re ok there.
The bitrate doesn’t seem beyond the device capabilities.
My guess would be that the subs are what’s confusing the WDTV… I don’t have anything to test with myself.
Well, hmmm…
I wonder how I might proceed.
This is evidently a failure of the WDTVL to play an mpeg video file that plays just fine in VLC on two different PCs.
Hmmm…
I’d love to get this working.
Well, unfortunately, playing in VLC isn’t all that telling. VLC was written to (and advertises itself that it will) play bad/damaged/broken encodes. So (not that I’m saying there’s a problem with your specific files) “playing in VLC” is almost meaningless as to whether the file’s good or not.
Usually when I’ve encountered a “will not play” issue, something in the video specs has jumped out at me as being something the Sigma chip will not support, but I’m not seeing that here. (But I could also be missing something, as well).
Perhaps another set of eyes, or several, might be able to get to the bottom of this, as more people have a look at this thread.
If you’re willing to tinker a bit, you could try TSMuxerGUI to create a test .ts file with that video stream and audio stream, but without the subtitles. If it plays, then we know that the subs are what is giving the WDTV fits, and if even that won’t play, then the answer must lie somewhere in the video stream itself. It would at least help narrow things down.
RoofingGuy wrote:
If you’re willing to tinker a bit, you could try TSMuxerGUI to create a test .ts file with that video stream and audio stream, but without the subtitles. If it plays, then we know that the subs are what is giving the WDTV fits, and if even that won’t play, then the answer must lie somewhere in the video stream itself. It would at least help narrow things down.
I took one of the .mpg files and opened it in tsmuxergui. It wasn’t recognized. So I made a dupe and changed the dupe’s extension to .ts. I opened that in tsmuxergui, and I only see two tracks: MPEG-2 video and AC3 audio. No subtitle tracks show up. (Either that or I don’t know how to use tsmuxergui.)
I did “Start muxing”, and that created a new .ts file. MediaInfo on the new .ts file shows those text tracks still in place. The WDTVL fails to play the new .ts file with the “Unable to play…” error. I changed the extension back to .mpg - same thing.
Oh - and I have verified that the files will play with the real MythTV frontend. So this is a WDTVL problem and not a MythTV problem.
Hmmm…
hootoot wrote:
So this is a WDTVL problem and not a MythTV problem.
Hmmm…
As a follow-up: I tried to play a standard def recording, and the WDTVL gave me the “Unablr to play…” error. Hmmm…
So I stuck a mechanical pencil in the little hole and did a hard reset of the WDTVL. And guess what? The high def recordings from the MythTV backend play just fine now. Go figure. All resolved (for now).
Thanks for the help
Sorry hoot… I should have suggested resetting the box _ first _, and then gone into full diagnostic mode.
Glad everything’s sorted for you, tho. 
