Force Software h.264 Decode

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › Force Software h.264 Decode

Kelpi

30 posts

Geek

#24599 28-Jul-2008 22:18

Hi Guys, Im literally tearing my hair out on this one.

I just upgraded from an Athlon XP to an Athlon 64x2 5200+ with ATI x1250 video. On my old machine everything but 1, 2 and 3 was fine but Im literally getting less than 1 fps on this new machine. I want to use software decode Cyberlink H.264 codec but no matter what I enable or disable it still seems to be trying to use the (crappy) videocard for H.264 decoding.

The picture looks fine and get bits of sound but CPU usage stays at less than 5% no matter what. Is there a way to force software decoding or can I use another codec that works with DVB-T but is software only?

Fossie

1240 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#152230 28-Jul-2008 22:34

Need a bit more info.
Software
OS

Kelpi

30 posts

Geek

#152234 28-Jul-2008 22:40

Windows XP Home SP2 with DVBViewer and the Cyberlink H.264 Codec

My ATI video drivers are 100% updated also

Kelpi

30 posts

Geek

#152246 28-Jul-2008 23:34

Ok I think Im on the wrong track here, even the radio shows are barely audible. DVBViewer shows tons of "discontinuities". I started suspecting reception problems but I stuck the card back into my old Athlon and the audio was fine.

Kelpi

30 posts

Geek

#152259 29-Jul-2008 01:24

Ok Im certain it has nothing to do with software decoding.

The motherboard is a brand new M2A-VM HDMI and the TV Tuner card is a Pinnacle 300i PCTV. Apart from lack of CPU grunt for decoding the HD channels it works fine on the same antenna in my old Athlon XP.

The problem can best be described as "severe stuttering", originally it was more like a slideshow but I moved the card to the second PCI Slot and it improved to merely unwatchable.

Even the radio stations stutter, its as if the card cannot supply data quickly enough or it is being interrupted by something else.

All drivers are up to date and CPU usage on both cores never gets above 10%. Im just about to give up for the night but if anyone has some ideas for later it would be greatly appreciated.

Nety

2584 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#152267 29-Jul-2008 06:22

I had the same issues when I first setup media centre however it looks like you have tried what fixed it for me.

Moving the cards around. I took everything but the video card out then one by one added the other cards moving them around so that high throughput cards were not on the same IRQ. Maybe just check in hardware manager to see what is sharing the same irq as the pinnacle and video cards.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#152269 29-Jul-2008 06:45

Firstly those Asus M2A boards are absolutely terrible (I know I have one myself). I wouldn't put it past the board causing some issues - what bios version are you using?

Secondly the X1250 doesn't do H.264 h/w acceleration so it's not that causing the issues - it only can support software decoding. Based upon my testing I also wouldn't expect you to get a perfect picture on TV3 using a 690G chipset and 5200+, you will still get some stuttering in the picture.

Do you have the latest audio and AMD motherboard drivers installed? What renderer are you attempting to use?

Kelpi

30 posts

Geek

#152278 29-Jul-2008 08:11

Hi Guys, thanks for the replies.

Im using the 1501 BIOS with my Asus M2A-VM HDMI. Motherboard, audio and chipset drivers are freshly dowopinloaded and Im using the latest Catalyst drivers for video. My decoder is the Cyberlink 7 H.264 one same as previous machine. Im heading towards a BIOS update if its possible.

When I say "Radio" is stuttering I mean the DVB-T Broadcast of National Radio which is what leads me to believe its a card problem rather than a decoding problem.

From past experience it seems like an IRQ issue but device manager is reporting "No Conflicts", could there still be something using the same IRQ but not "conflicting" that is causing the problems?

The X1250 is not a h.264 decoding card I know and my long term goal is to get a H.264 Decoding Video card but I was hoping to get some freeview action beforehand. :D

Should I just chuck my PCI card and get a USB one instead?

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#152282 29-Jul-2008 08:29

Try moving the card to another slot and see if that makes any difference.

Have you changed any BIOS settings at all?

Nety

2584 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#152283 29-Jul-2008 08:30

Kelpi: Hi Guys, thanks for the replies.
From past experience it seems like an IRQ issue but device manager is reporting "No Conflicts", could there still be something using the same IRQ but not "conflicting" that is causing the problems?

Windows XP users IRQ sharing as does Vista. This is necessary as there are simply not enough IRQ's available for all the devices in a modern PC.
However what you need to be careful of is that devices that are high bandwidth are not using the same IRQ. In device manager under view there is an option resources by type. That will allow you to see what is using each of the IRQ's.
The only way you can change an IRQ however is by moving the card to a different slot. Some onboard devices may allow you to change the address it is using but most don’t.

It is also a good idea to turn anything you are not using off in the bios ie printer ports.

66sayegh

31 posts

Geek

#152287 29-Jul-2008 08:40

Could it be audio related? I managed to kill the radio stations by setting the bit rate in AC3Filter at the max. When I decreased it from 640 to about 96 everything worked again.

Dingbatt

6756 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#152301 29-Jul-2008 09:13

Kelpi: Hi Guys, thanks for the replies......

.......The X1250 is not a h.264 decoding card I know and my long term goal is to get a H.264 Decoding Video card but I was hoping to get some freeview action beforehand. :D

Should I just chuck my PCI card and get a USB one instead?

When I added a video card to my M2A-VM HDMI I got interference between the videocard and tuner. I posted it at

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=84&TopicId=21214

It manifested as picture and audio breakup. Just a word of warning.

For my next project I'm going for a full ATX board and watching the location of the slots.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Kelpi

30 posts

Geek

#152518 29-Jul-2008 20:09

Ok, just an update.

I updated the BIOS to the latest version (1803), checked for any other devices that were using the same IRQ (none were), moved the card between my two PCI slots and fiddled with any BIOS setting that looked relevant and some that didnt. :D

No luck Im afraid. I had a talk to the place I got it from mentioning that I specifically brought the machine for freeview viewing. They were quite helpful and Im going to bring it in and try some different DVB-T Cards and see if we get any joy.

Even though we had no success I want to thank everyone that has tried to help me.

Kelpi

30 posts

Geek

#153801 3-Aug-2008 14:08

Final update: Have everything working, I needed to try out 2 more DVB cards before it decided to behave itself. I decided to get a 8500GT as well for hardware H.264 decoding and it seems fine.

Very occasional glitches on some channels but I think that can be traced back to the fairly poor quality antenna here and the gale force winds :D