Topic: Unable to playback video on my i9000 with android 2.3.3 and Gizmo (Read 3919 times)

jologskyblues · « **on:** October 06, 2012, 10:01:42 am »

Audio streams fine to my android device but video does not start playback after "preparing" in Gizmo. The problem started after upgrading to version 18 coming from 17.

Matt · « **Reply #1 on:** October 06, 2012, 11:18:42 am »

Version 18 uses MP4 (h.264) for the video, and no Shockwave.

So make sure you have the latest Gizmo from the market if you're using MC18.

Most Androids we've tested play the new video format, but we have encountered one other device (unfortunately owned by Jim) that won't play the new format. We're still searching for a solution.

DMHolman · « **Reply #2 on:** October 06, 2012, 01:54:01 pm »

Ah, is that's what's going on? I figured I must have configured something wrong. Videos don't play on my Motorola Atrix 4G either. Shows "Preparing" and then just drops back out.

jologskyblues · « **Reply #3 on:** October 07, 2012, 03:07:37 am »

Quote from: Matt on October 06, 2012, 11:18:42 am

Version 18 uses MP4 (h.264) for the video, and no Shockwave.

So make sure you have the latest Gizmo from the market if you're using MC18.

Most Androids we've tested play the new video format, but we have encountered one other device (unfortunately owned by Jim) that won't play the new format. We're still searching for a solution.

I tried updating Gizmo from Google Play but alas, video playback still doesn't work.

lepa · « **Reply #4 on:** October 07, 2012, 03:21:25 am »

Doesn't work with my Galaxy S2 (4.0.4) either. Preparing... then less than a second of video shows and then nothing.. Also if i skip somewhere in the timeline I'll get picture again for a less than second. Server still seems to transit video even when picture isn't showing and on pc client plays 480p mp4ts just fine.

Edit: I tried to us DLNA with S2 and same results. Using mp4ts I get picture for a less than a second (server keeps converting the file so it's working).
Then if I set DLNA server to output MP4 (also avc video) everything works. This of course isn't available in Gizmo

Matt · « **Reply #5 on:** October 08, 2012, 03:37:55 pm »

We spent some time digging into this today.

Different Android devices behave quite differently with regards to m2ts video streaming. We think certain features of the Stagefright media platform built into Android may get disabled by certain carriers or manufacturers.

For devices that don't work, the device wants a content length and to read valid data from the end of the video file. However, this sort of defeats the purpose of m2ts streaming.

The unlocked Google developer phones (we have every generation) work fine, including the old phones. We say "I don't know the length yet" and they happily start decoding and playing from the beginning.

We might be able to trick the phones by reporting the video is huge (1 TB) and provide fake data when it reads the last 128KB. However, the fake data must align to m2ts frame sizes, so it's a pretty gross hack.

Does anyone having this problem have an unlocked phone? If so, it would be interesting to try editing build.props Stagefright settings like:
http://androidforums.com/sony-ericsson-xperia-mini/538098-tips-tricks-tweaks-power-boosting-your-android-phone.html

JimH · « **Reply #6 on:** October 08, 2012, 04:32:11 pm »

If it's not working, who was the carrier you bought your phone from? Mine doesn't work and it's AT&T.

Ghettorat · « **Reply #7 on:** October 08, 2012, 05:08:31 pm »

I also have issues on my galaxy s3 with gizmo and media center 18. Used the same phone etc with media center 17 and it worked flawlessly.

No matter the video type it plays for a split second then stops completely. Webgizmo remotely from the same server works fine.

Matt · « **Reply #8 on:** October 08, 2012, 05:09:08 pm »

Jim's Samsung Galaxy Note is the device we have that doesn't work.

It tries to load videos using three reads in sequence:
1) Read header for about 1-2MB
2) Read last 131260 bytes
3) Read starting from beginning

Devices that work do a single read (just #3).

I've tried faking the device out by giving it a real #1, then fake #2, then real #3. But there's something in the TS packets at the end of the file it wants to be valid. If I just recycle valid packets from some other conversion for #2, it leads to strange results.

I think if we could get clever enough about faking the #2 read, it might get Jim's phone working. But I don't know if other devices will follow the same model.

Ghettorat · « **Reply #9 on:** October 08, 2012, 07:23:20 pm »

Thanks for the info.
If you want me to test anything I'll be happy to do so.

DMHolman · « **Reply #10 on:** October 08, 2012, 07:45:42 pm »

Matt -

On my rooted Atrix 4G, I edited my build.prop file with the video specific configs from that site, rebooted and no change. Shows "Preparing" for a few seconds then drops back without playing video.

dtc · « **Reply #11 on:** October 08, 2012, 08:01:53 pm »

I see the same thing on my Samsung Galaxy S3 with Verizon. Preparing for a while, the video shows up very briefly then stops.

Matt · « **Reply #12 on:** October 08, 2012, 08:16:02 pm »

Quote from: DMHolman on October 08, 2012, 07:45:42 pm

Matt -

On my rooted Atrix 4G, I edited my build.prop file with the video specific configs from that site, rebooted and no change. Shows "Preparing" for a few seconds then drops back without playing video.

Thanks for testing that.

Would you be willing to set all the Stagefright stuff to false and test again?

I don't know if we're on the right trail here, but there's something clearly different between different cuts of Android.

DMHolman · « **Reply #13 on:** October 08, 2012, 08:45:33 pm »

Quote from: Matt on October 08, 2012, 08:16:02 pm

Thanks for testing that.

Would you be willing to set all the Stagefright stuff to false and test again?

I don't know if we're on the right trail here, but there's something clearly different between different cuts of Android.

With all the StageFright stuff set to False, it doesn't even show preparing. you click on a video, it shows "Loading" for half a second then drops right back out.

DMHolman · « **Reply #14 on:** October 08, 2012, 08:51:48 pm »

Had a second to go look and if you do a search for Atrix mt2s, you see a LOT of stuff about converting from mt2s to an "Atrix friendly" video format.

Looking at Galaxy S2 search links, it looks like its video formats are the same as the Atrix. And like Jim, I'm also AT&T.

How likely is it that they have hobbled the OS in some way that won't let mt2s play on them?

Matt · « **Reply #15 on:** October 08, 2012, 08:57:06 pm »

Quote from: DMHolman on October 08, 2012, 08:51:48 pm

How likely is it that they have hobbled the OS in some way that won't let mt2s play on them?

I don't want to jump to conclusions, but that's our best guess right now.

Like I said, even the old phones and $50 device-on-a-stick things work fine. So it doesn't seem like a hardware limitation.

We'll keep digging and share if we learn anything.

jmone · « **Reply #16 on:** October 09, 2012, 02:00:18 am »

FYI I too have a Galaxy Note 7 inch which is rooted and has a custom firmware flashed on it but it has the same issue. I'm travelling for a bit so can not teat for now.

jologskyblues · « **Reply #17 on:** October 10, 2012, 08:52:08 am »

My phone is the Samsung Galaxy S GT-i9000 open-network, international version

ROM is all stock and not rooted.

lepa · « **Reply #18 on:** December 10, 2012, 04:01:02 pm »

Please try to find solution for this. I mean Samsung is kind of big player in android world. I know that lot of development resources for MC18 are going to this platform independent thing but us non-apple users would also like something nice for christmas

JimH · « **Reply #19 on:** December 10, 2012, 04:04:05 pm »

It may not be something we can fix. I had a Galaxy Note on which video in Gizmo would not work at all. Bob and Matt tried a lot of things. When I bought the Note II, the problem was solved. It may just be a problem with the device you have.

jologskyblues · « **Reply #20 on:** December 10, 2012, 05:47:39 pm »

I think the problem might not be with the phone itself but rather an incompatibility with certain Android OS versions and/or kernels.

I was able to get Gizmo to playback video properly by flashing the CyanogenMod CM10 stable custom ROM on the very same Samsung GT-i9000 that didn't work with Gizmo earlier. As an added plus, running jellybean on this phone is really nice.

lepa · « **Reply #21 on:** February 12, 2013, 07:55:06 am »

Happy to report that my Galaxy S2 just got 4.1.2 update from the network and video playback started work.

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Author Topic: Unable to playback video on my i9000 with android 2.3.3 and Gizmo (Read 3919 times)