Ok Endless, you get your way. I'm going to give this one more go. I'm the one that started the "So close yet so far away" thread:

http://www.rokulabs.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4887

I tried setting up a swap file and ran MPlay off my CF card rather than over the network (I was sure I'd setup the swap file but I hadn't).

I watched the first movie from start to finish last night without it skipping. However about 3 minutes into it the audio/video was totally out of sync so I had to skip back to fix it - then it was fine.

Gonna be watching all 6 Star Wars films over the next 2 days - will try all of them through the Roku (even though I have the DVD's) as a test...

Ross

That's easy. You need to use the -FixTS command line option.

Add it to your MPlay.roku file.

If you're not sure how to do it, check elsewhere in the forum, it's been discussed before.

Enjoy!

jinzora wrote:

Ok Endless, you get your way. I'm going to give this one more go. I'm the one that started the "So close yet so far away" thread:

http://www.rokulabs.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4887

I tried setting up a swap file and ran MPlay off my CF card rather than over the network (I was sure I'd setup the swap file but I hadn't).

I watched the first movie from start to finish last night without it skipping. However about 3 minutes into it the audio/video was totally out of sync so I had to skip back to fix it - then it was fine.

Gonna be watching all 6 Star Wars films over the next 2 days - will try all of them through the Roku (even though I have the DVD's) as a test...

Ross

I'm glad to hear it! I certainly hope your experience is more favorable than it has been in the past!

clovold wrote:

That's easy. You need to use the -FixTS command line option.

Add it to your MPlay.roku file.

If you're not sure how to do it, check elsewhere in the forum, it's been discussed before.

Enjoy!

I'm not sure if it helps with out of sync issues or not, but it can't hurt to try it. Here's an MPlay.roku file with the -FixTS command line option enabled: http://www.permanence.com/MPlay/files/M ... _FixTS.zip

TheEndless

Endless,

Thanks for that link - I will try that as my test has failed. We tried watching both Star Wars episodes I and II yesterday - within 2 minutes of it starting the audio dropped and started skipping - totally out of sync. I didn't play with it much as I just wanted to watch the movies so I switched to the DVD's right away.

So failed again. I'll try this TS fix next. Here's what I've done:

- Upgraded to latest 2.0 beta
- Running the latest MPlay (will use this version next)
- Have created a swap file per the Roku support pages (on my 256MB CF card)
- Ripped the DVD using DVDShrink - did NOT shrink it - just re-authored it to remove the menus, etc (just left the movie and the DD audio track)
- Roku connected to 100MB lan
- File shared on a Pentium 4, 3.2 GHZ box, 160 GB SATA HD (recently defraged)
- Connected to my HT via component and coax digital audio
- Audio set in the Roku for digial (so DD).

What else can I try? What else could I be missing? I REALLY want this to work - I really don't want to just sell this thing...

Ross

jinzora wrote:

Endless,

Thanks for that link - I will try that as my test has failed. We tried watching both Star Wars episodes I and II yesterday - within 2 minutes of it starting the audio dropped and started skipping - totally out of sync. I didn't play with it much as I just wanted to watch the movies so I switched to the DVD's right away.

So failed again. I'll try this TS fix next. Here's what I've done:

- Upgraded to latest 2.0 beta
- Running the latest MPlay (will use this version next)
- Have created a swap file per the Roku support pages (on my 256MB CF card)
- Ripped the DVD using DVDShrink - did NOT shrink it - just re-authored it to remove the menus, etc (just left the movie and the DD audio track)
- Roku connected to 100MB lan
- File shared on a Pentium 4, 3.2 GHZ box, 160 GB SATA HD (recently defraged)
- Connected to my HT via component and coax digital audio
- Audio set in the Roku for digial (so DD).

What else can I try? What else could I be missing? I REALLY want this to work - I really don't want to just sell this thing...

Ross

The -FixTS feature should fix you up. It was added specifically to deal with audio drop-outs. So just overwrite your current MPlay.roku file with the one linked above and give it another try. If you still have the problem, then there may be a few other things we can try.

TheEndless

Cool - I'll try that this afternoon when we watch Episode V - we're watching Episode IV right now and I don't want to stop...

BTW off topic - if you haven't seen Episode III yet it's AMAZING. Lucas did a great job joing it to Episode IV - it's great!

Ross

Ok, so, finally, for the first time, after 4 months of ownership I watched a DVD all the way through without a single problem.

Endless, that seems to have done it (so far anyway). I've got Episode VI to watch next, so I'll give more feedback after that. I also want to share some thoughts I have on MPlay, things it needs to really replace my DVD player...

Thanks again for your help, I at least feel closer...

Oh, and a big thanks to Roku for all their help getting me going. Oh, wait a minute, I've NEVER gotten help from them!!!

Ross

Well Endless, guess what...

IT WORKED!

I've now, finally, watched 2 movies in a row that worked perfectly - no skipping audio at all. We'll probably watch a movie tonight so that will be another test...

So if it really is working thanks for your help!

...now on to the next thread I'll start. As part of my *real* job I evaluate LOTS of things, from software to hardware. I have TONS of constructive comments about MPlay - ONLY designed to be helpful. Should I post them here? Email them to you? Post them somewhere on your site? If I'm going to really use this thing I want to be active in helping as much as I can with it (since I'm only a crappy web developer I don't think I can help much on the code but I'm great at identifying feature, etc).

Ross

jinzora wrote:

Well Endless, guess what...

IT WORKED!

I've now, finally, watched 2 movies in a row that worked perfectly - no skipping audio at all. We'll probably watch a movie tonight so that will be another test...

So if it really is working thanks for your help!

...now on to the next thread I'll start. As part of my *real* job I evaluate LOTS of things, from software to hardware. I have TONS of constructive comments about MPlay - ONLY designed to be helpful. Should I post them here? Email them to you? Post them somewhere on your site? If I'm going to really use this thing I want to be active in helping as much as I can with it (since I'm only a crappy web developer I don't think I can help much on the code but I'm great at identifying feature, etc).

Ross

Glad to hear it!

Go ahead and start a thread for it if you want. That way other users can comment on your suggestions as well.

TheEndless

Will do. And so far so good...

Thanks again for the amazing support Endless - it is appreciated...

Ross

Just to follow up - I just watched the third movie that worked perfectly. No drops, no issues, worked great!!!

So here's hoping it stays this way...

Ross

Any particular reason NOT to use "-FixTS" all the time? If not, how about making it the default in some new version later and making some flag to disable?

-FixTS makes stuff that I copy off my ReplayTV fairly unwatchable.

MIght be nice to make it a menu option, though.

I was thinking making it the default might still make sense when the most common use is DVD viewing.

But instead, maybe make the package with two 'executables,' even though the .roku files are merely wrapper scripts. Name one MplayDVD with the -fixTS flag implemented.

I had just put in the fix, but looking at the release notes it looks like they fixed this problem quite a while ago.

jor wrote:

I was thinking making it the default might still make sense when the most common use is DVD viewing.

But instead, maybe make the package with two 'executables,' even though the .roku files are merely wrapper scripts. Name one MplayDVD with the -fixTS flag implemented.

I had just put in the fix, but looking at the release notes it looks like they fixed this problem quite a while ago.

Ok, that is a good idea. Next package will have 2 .roku files. Thanks.
M.-