I've had a working KnoppMyth 5.5 backend/frontend box for a while now and I recently decided to install LinHES 6.03 (a name I still don't understand) as I installed a bigger drive and a different remote (a fresh install, not an upgrade). I can tell everyone has worked really hard on LinHES and I like some of the changes -- more hardware detected and supported out of the box, much smoother install process, MUCH faster boot sequence. Unfortunately, after screwing around with it for about a week, I had to go back to my old 5.5 installation.

Here're the dealbreakers: ripping DVDs doesn't work and video playback is terrible.

I rip DVDs at full quality, using a command like this:

However, under LinHES, I get a lot of output about trying to break CSS keys, then it stops after outputting only a few megs. No error messages, even with "-v". It just stops with its cutesy message about "core dumped".

Attempting to play videos back with the internal player seemed to work, but I got no audio at all, even though MythMusic worked (so I assume my soundcard was correctly configured). I reconfigured MythTV to use mplayer and it would play correctly for a few minutes, then dump tons of messages about "too many video frames in buffer". For about 30 seconds, the audio would beep and skip, the video would jump, then playback would resume with the audio about 30 seconds ahead of the video. Seeking any amount would bring them in sync, as long as I didn't go back to the point where the trouble began (it always occurred at the exact same points in the the files, every time). I tried lots of combinations of "-framedrop", "-hardframedrop", "-vc", "-vo", "-mc", etc with no success.

I don't think this is specifically LinHES' fault, since I also tried Mythbuntu and Mythdora, to see if they were any better, but had the same experience. My theory is that the problem lies in a new version of some library or package that all of the Myth distros use, but I don't know what it might be or where to start testing.

I don't use most of MythTV's abilities, I only use it for listening to my music collection (MythMusic) and watching video files (MythVideo). My hardware is not exotic: a Dell Poweredge SC440 server with a Pentium E2180, 2 GB RAM and (now) 2x 1 TB SATA drives. Video is a GeForce 5200 FX hooked to my HDTV with a DVI-HDMI cable. Audio is a Creative SB Live! 24bit External USB card, using SPDIF to connect to my receiver. My new remote is a Streamzap.

When I went back to 5.5, I can rip the DVDs that LinHES couldn't and I can play the files LinHES choked on.

Is this just a configuration problem or have some critical features been removed from codecs and libraries (maybe due to lawsuits)? I'd like to upgrade to LinHES if anyone can tell me what's wrong. I still have the LinHES partition and can boot to it, if some output messages or VOB files would help.

On initial inspection, it is obvious that you have not installed the CSS decryption library. Have you said you installed it and maybe I missed it?

Do you get audio when watching TV?

Mplayer's xv video driver option works with practically everything so it's the default, but if your CPU isn't strong enough it will give you a terrible playback experience. Since you have a 5200, try "mplayer -fs -xv xxmc <filename>". Your 5200 works with xvmc (driver for mplayer is called xxmc) acceleration but not with vdpau so you can't use the really good acceleration.

Mike

Thanks for replying!

No, I didn't do anything to specifically install a CSS library, but /usr/lib/lib dvd css.so.2.1.0 exists (I inserted spaces because the forum keeps translating the name to "pineapple"...?). If that's not right, what should I install?

Audio works in MythMusic and MythVideo (until the playback problem occurs). Those are the only two modules I use -- I don't watch TV or record anything with Myth.

For the mplayer command, I think you must have meant "-vo" instead of "-xv" and "xvmc" instead of "xxmc" -- without those corrections it just returns syntax errors. With those corrections, it won't play at all; it says:

You need to enable it. Use of the pineapple to watch your own media is illegal, but only in the most democratic countries (your irony detector should have just deafened you - sorry 'bout that) so it cannot (and should not) be available by default.
It is not illegal to download or install it, but it is illegal to use it. When you purchase DVDs, you haven't purchased the right to choose how you watch them.

Please search this forum, or Google, and you will easily find out all you need to. Your problems will be solved then.

Mike

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LinHES 7.4
Australian Dragon
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