No audio in some TivoDesktop files

[radams]

so here's the problem...

i have some a bunch of HD movies moved over to my PC (vista ultimate 32) via TivoDesktop. i make them mpegs with the Direct Show Dump utility. they worked fine until...

after installing ffdshow, i only get sound on about 2/3rds of the videos in WMP/Vista Media Center. in some videos, the sound is there but the video is missing. the videos work fine on VLC, but i need to use viste media center. i know these tivo files are a little glitchy, but they worked until i installed ffdshow. and even when i uninstall ffdshow, the problem remains. if i run GraphEdit, there's no audio stream coming from my MPEG-2 demultiplexer.

anyone have any ideas how to fix/correct the files/get rid of all traces of ffdshow?

[ggieseke]

Have you tried the codec manager program in the sticky at the top of this forum? It will help you test the codecs that WMP uses (VLC uses its own). Since you have an HD box you will need an audio codec that supports Dolby in addition to MPEG.

[radams]

Have you tried the codec manager program in the sticky at the top of this forum? It will help you test the codecs that WMP uses (VLC uses its own). Since you have an HD box you will need an audio codec that supports Dolby in addition to MPEG.



my codecs are fine. half of my dolby files play fine. i think directshow dump must have screwed up certain files.

...either way, i've pinpointed the problem to the demultiplexer. the mainconcept/elecard demuxers work with these files fine. it's the microsoft mpeg-2 demultiplexer that doesn't like them. but i don't know how to disable that demuxer in VMC/WMP

[ggieseke]

If you leave the files in their original .TiVo format the settings that TiVoDesktopCodecMgr adds to the registry will affect Vista Media Center and Windows Media Player. Once you decrypt them to standard MPEG-2 with DirectShow Dump the only real way to control things is by hacking the DirectShow "Merit" values. The free tool at http://www.softella.com/dsfm/index.en.htm will let you do this.

Normally the MainConcept demuxer has a much higher merit value than the one provided by Microsoft and VMC and WMP should be using it anyway, but you can use DSFM to lower the Microsoft demuxer to "Do not use" or even unregister it altogether. If you go that route, be sure to document any changes you make with DSFM and take a System Restore snapshot first - they affect the entire system and it's easy to mess up something else.

[radams]

If you leave the files in their original .TiVo format the settings that TiVoDesktopCodecMgr adds to the registry will affect Vista Media Center and Windows Media Player. Once you decrypt them to standard MPEG-2 with DirectShow Dump the only real way to control things is by hacking the DirectShow "Merit" values. The free tool at http://www.softella.com/dsfm/index.en.htm will let you do this.

Normally the MainConcept demuxer has a much higher merit value than the one provided by Microsoft and VMC and WMP should be using it anyway, but you can use DSFM to lower the Microsoft demuxer to "Do not use" or even unregister it altogether. If you go that route, be sure to document any changes you make with DSFM and take a System Restore snapshot first - they affect the entire system and it's easy to mess up something else.

thanks. this looks very helpful...

in retrospect, i should have just kept everything in .tivo and figured out how to play them in whatever interface i was using. but once i went down the DirectShow Dump road, there was no going back (I have 150 raw high def movies already converted to mpg).

ffdshow must have changed my PC's demuxer merits when i installed it. at this point i'm willing to risk totally getting rid of the MS demuxer since i was about 10 seconds from re-formatting that drive and re-installing Vista.

playing these raw Fios rips through VMC and OML is beyond amazing. now if only i could figure out a consistent, non-invasive way of getting SPDIF passthrough with VMC and my sound card.

[ggieseke]

I don't usually recommend changing DirectShow settings, but anything beats a complete system reinstall. If you ever need it back you should be able to reregister it by running "regsvr32 mpg2splt.ax" from your System32 directory.

BTW: If your audio codec has any internal config options regarding SPDIF passthrough, double-clicking it in TDCM will bring up the manufacturer's dialog box.

Happy hunting.

[radams]

I don't usually recommend changing DirectShow settings, but anything beats a complete system reinstall. If you ever need it back you should be able to reregister it by running "regsvr32 mpg2splt.ax" from your System32 directory.

BTW: If your audio codec has any internal config options regarding SPDIF passthrough, double-clicking it in TDCM will bring up the manufacturer's dialog box.

Happy hunting.

thanks man. i've spent so much time dealing with 5.1 audio problems... spdif... passthrough... ac3filter...ffdshow... codecs... demuxing... remuxing... HDCP... wattage/PSU concerns...over the last year. it's enough to drive you nuts. and i'm not exactly computer un-savvy. the HTPC market has a long way to go before the average joe is ready to roll with it.