Ceton Echo setup issues

[acsparky 0]

I am using MB classic and on my Ceton Echo when I enter MB it runs "windowed" with the wmc blue background framing on all sides. MB2 worked well but since upgrading I can't figure out how to fix this issue.

 

Anyone had success with this?

[ebr 14905]

Search out here for extender and overscan.

[acsparky 0]

I fixed the overscan issue with a regedit on the specific user (Ceton Echo), but some new issues showed up.

 

First the video is blank. The blue border is gone but now I only hear sound. I can see the overlay menu when pausing.

 

Second the overlay menu does not update. In other words I can hear the movie playing but the overlay progress bar does not progress. If starting from the beginning of a movie it shows 0:00:00 and doesn't update.

[acsparky 0]

I guess I showed add I am using lav but for video settings (tweak?) I have it set to "use merit"

[acsparky 0]

I probably should also add that I believe everything was working ok when it was windowed before the regedit

[ebr 14905]

That extender has very limited codec support.  What are you trying to play on it?

[acsparky 0]

MP4. It was a DVD rip in handbrake with Apple TV settings.

[acsparky 0]

I am by no means married to my codecs and pretty much all my files are this format. Is there a recommended setup on the Echo for MP4?

[ebr 14905]

mp4 is a container.  What was inside it?

 

I am not all that familiar with that extender I just know it was very limited in what it could play and has been discontinued for a while now.  I would Google what video formats it supports and be sure you're feeding it something it can handle.  The audio tracks and subtitle streams would have an effect too.

[acsparky 0]

H.264 is what is inside. So before I figured out how to get the 5.1 track playing it seemed to work. Are you suggesting that now that I have the 5.1 it may be causing the video issue?

 

Are there any recommended extenders out there other than the Xbox? Like most I am searching for the holy grail with everything in one system. My big limiting issue is the copy once protection from the cable provider coming from the hdhomerun prime thru wmc. Any thoughts or suggested setup are appreciated.

[aziz 10]

Hi,

 

I am using Linksys extenders and Samsung MediaLive extenders, and they both play all my file formats (MP4, AVI, MKV, WMV etc etc).  I have been using them since early days of win7 and have no complaints apart from the slow speed of the Samsung Medialive (compared to my main WMC, but it is still functional).

 

They don't do internet or youtube....

 

Copy protected material will not show on these devices due to Microsoft DRM built in to your WMC win 7. (you should google DRM under win7 to see if there is a workaround)

[acsparky 0]

The Echo seems to support copy protected material as an extender of wmc

[ebr 14905]

Yes, it is probably the audio track that is causing the issue.  Is it aac?

[acsparky 0]

Well the audio track for the stereo is AAC and that seemed to work. The audio track that is 5.1 is ac3. I hope that sounds right. I am a little new to this but the encode option I use is ac passthru.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ebr 14905]

Yep, I think the 5.1 track will have to be aac as well.

[acsparky 0]

So is it the 5.1 audio track breaking the video? Is there any way around this on the echo other than a re-encode?

 

I know, a lot of questions but is there an extender that would work with these files.

 

Thanks a lot for your patience.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[heatvent 0]

Hi, I am trying to get an echo working with MB3 and having similar issues
 

1. Widowed rather than full screen when I play a video
2. I get audio and no video
3. Same movies play fine in WMC so the Echo can play

Can someone help with the tweaks for full screen at least.  Also, is there something special with video playback with MB3 or if WMC can play it shouldn't MB3 be able to?

 

 

I am using the MB3 server on Ubuntu 14 LTS Server.  I have Haali spliter and ffdshow installed on the WMC W7 server.  My files are all MKV with mostly H.264 video and a mixture of AAC, DTS, AA3 audio.  Most files include 2.0 AAC audio with another audio stream of 5.1 or more channels (AC3 or DTS).  I have tried several files, all with the same result...audio and no video.  I really think the issue is the video is playing in the background and for some reason MB3 Classic on the echo is in the foreground.  Again, most of my files play fine in the Movie Library of MCE.

 

 

Thanks!

Edited December 27, 2014 by heatvent

[ebr 14905]

I think your third point is erroneous.  Just because WMC can play them doesn't mean the extender can and, IRC, that extender had pretty limited codec support.

[heatvent 0]

Sorry, when I said WMC I meant via the Echo extender that's what I meant by the Echo can actually play the file.  So, I can play the file on the extender through the native Media Library, I just couldn't get it to play via the MediaBrowser add-on.

[heatvent 0]

So I did some more testing and tried MB3 server on Ubuntu desktop...same result.  Then I tried on a Windows machine and things play fine, although in a windowed mode.  So it seems to have something to do with a linux setup for the playback issues.  Still, if someone could point me in the right direction on the window issue that would be fantastic.  Otherwise, I will keep poking around.

 

Thank you.

[ebr 14905]

I don't know about the windowed issue because I've never had one of those extenders but your other issue points to an access problem.  You probably need path substitutions set up properly or access rights adjusted so that the extender can access the files directly.

[heatvent 0]

Thanks, I did try path substitutions but maybe I didn't do it correctly.  I had to mount the server shares where my movies are at on the linux box by editing /etc/fstab.  As an example, I could mount \\192.168.1.100\Movies as /media/Movies so I could add the library in the MB3 server web interface.  Then I setup a path substitution for /media/Movies and \\192.168.1.100\Movies.  

 

Re: the overscan, I was able to correct by going into the Media Browser Classic configuration>Advanced Settings there is a spot to change over/underscan.  Had to set it to -45 on L/R and -20 T/B.  So I think that is now corrected.

[ebr 14905]

You have to also make sure that the Windows user on the extender has access to that share location.  Pretty much the only way to do that is give guest access to everyone because the extender is using a hidden account with a password.

[heatvent 0]

So I have my files on a WHS 2011 server.  I have setup a Guest account with access to my videos so I think all is working (i.e. my extenders can play things just fine and anyone can get into the directory with no password required).  On the linux box I also access the videos directory using guest access with no issues.

 

So running MB3 server on Windows is working fine.  I did try the linux box again and re-setup everything.  Some of the files are playing now and some not.  

 

Is it possible this is a codec issue or something on the server side? Is there any additional installs necessary for MB3 server to work properly in linux (Ubuntu 14)?

[ebr 14905]

No codecs should be required on the server side but it could be something else related to the server or OS.  If you are saying the exact same setup is working on a Windows server, then maybe that is it.  Check out the Linux server forum.