Topic: [Solved] Updated Intel graphics drivers, and now MC won't play ANY video (Read 3108 times)

fitbrit · « **on:** July 10, 2011, 03:37:26 pm »

I was seeing artifacts with my Intel video (Clarkdale i3), and so I updated the Intel HD graphics to the latest driver. Now MC won't play ANY video. I get an error that goes something like, "MC couldn't play any of the previous few files. Check their location." I get as far as the cover art before MC gives up with the error.

Since all my files are on an unRaid server, I tried to find the files from within MC. It had no problem locating each one. I tried to play the files, launching MPC-HC as the player from within MC. No problem. Now I'm completely perplexed. I think it's an HDMI issue somehow, because the HDMI indicator on my receiver flashes just as I try to play something within MC.

I've tried all the directshow combos including ROStd, ROHQ, merit based and the other advanced options. I even rolled back the drivers to one release before the latest and still the same problem.

Since MC has made such strides in video playback, I don't even want to use MPC-HC any more except for testing!
My two proposed courses of action are to see if rolling back the driver to an even older release will help. Failing that, I have an nVidia GT450 that I've been meaning to install somewhere; this HTPC seems like the best candidate as I'm hoping it'll eliminate the artifacts I've been seeing, and allow me to use LAVCUVID as a decoder, for some ROHQ goodness. I'll post a log in a little while.

fitbrit · « **Reply #1 on:** July 10, 2011, 04:05:30 pm »

Also, I should add that this is on Win7 X64. ANd the error meesage is the same as this guy's (marco_grage):
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=64446.new;topicseen#new

Matt · « **Reply #2 on:** July 11, 2011, 10:41:13 am »

Please test Red October Standard with no bitstreaming.

Also, make sure audio playback works. I'd recommend WASAPI - Event Style with a 50ms buffer.

fitbrit · « **Reply #3 on:** July 11, 2011, 02:15:33 pm »

Hi Matt.

Audio playback works fine - I've even tested it with DTS-wav files. I'll try it with bitstreaming turned off tonight.

fitbrit · « **Reply #4 on:** July 11, 2011, 07:28:00 pm »

I emailed you a log, Matt. I'll try to attach here too:

Matt · « **Reply #5 on:** July 11, 2011, 08:08:27 pm »

Thanks for the log. The renderer is failing to connect to the decoder. I wonder if EVR requires some color space we're not allowing?

Is there any chance things play with Windows Merit Based? And if so, could you post a log showing that?

I actually had problems with an Intel video driver this weekend causing EVR to paint half of a DVD incorrectly. It must be really hard to make good video drivers, because they sure cause a lot of problems!

fitbrit · « **Reply #6 on:** July 11, 2011, 09:35:03 pm »

I've tried as many combos as I could; EVR, Haali, MadVR and even VMR9. No luck. Somehow MPC-HC plays the videos fine. I've uninstalled and reinstalled MC16, restored a library etc. I wish I could roll back to the old drivers that worked, but I don't have access to them on Intel's website any more as they're too old compared to the current ones. Hmmm... maybe on Gigabyte's site... (Mobo is Gigabyte).

gtgray · « **Reply #7 on:** July 11, 2011, 10:18:16 pm »

64 bit win 7 drivers have been problematic from all I read. I have a Clarkesdale running 64 bit on the iGPU over here but I haven't put MC 16 on it. Seems to work fine with the stock WMC codecs or did till last weekend when it got a NVidia card....

One might need the main board's and the video bioses upgraded to properly handle the latest intel drivers. I think the 32 bit drivers have been faily robust other than the trouble folks have getting proper 24 FPS out of them. Turning on UAC seems to help some of these problems with that chipset and driver. May I suggest plugging an Nvidia Card....

fitbrit · « **Reply #8 on:** July 11, 2011, 11:56:49 pm »

Quote from: gtgray on July 11, 2011, 10:18:16 pm

64 bit win 7 drivers have been problematic from all I read. I have a Clarkesdale running 64 bit on the iGPU over here but I haven't put MC 16 on it. Seems to work fine with the stock WMC codecs or did till last weekend when it got a NVidia card....

One might need the main board's and the video bioses upgraded to properly handle the latest intel drivers. I think the 32 bit drivers have been faily robust other than the trouble folks have getting proper 24 FPS out of them. Turning on UAC seems to help some of these problems with that chipset and driver. May I suggest plugging an Nvidia Card....

Thanks for the info. I have an nvidia card at the ready. I'll try a couple of other things first though:
UAC is currently off, but that was supposed to help with the 24 fps issue on SandyBridge IIRC.
I'll see if a BIOS update can be done easily.

fitbrit · « **Reply #9 on:** July 12, 2011, 12:10:59 am »

I updated the BIOS - HTPC starts up even faster now.
Turned on UAC and restarted.
Same problem.

nVidia card first thing in the am, I think.... and then reformat and reinstall if that fails.

Blaine78 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 12, 2011, 12:23:42 am »

If any help, I'm using clarkdale i3 with windows 7 64, the latest intel 64bit graphic drivers for the igpu. using JR 16.01.128. RO HQ, video card set in JR as HQ, watch blu-ray and dvd, UAC off. no problems here. working perfectly.

glynor · « **Reply #11 on:** July 12, 2011, 12:37:39 am »

Just to check...

Have you tried just completely uninstalling the Intel graphics drivers? I'd do two steps: (1) uninstall from the Uninstall Programs Control Panel. Then, reboot. (2) Find the graphics adapter in the Device Manager, uninstall it there, making sure to check the "delete the driver software" checkbox. Reboot again. Then reinstall from scratch, after Windows finishes installing whatever it wants to install (which will probably require a third reboot before you start reinstalling the latest from Intel, if you're brave and tedious).

Assuming you may have tried such a shenanigan with no success...

Have you tried a few of the older versions Intel does have posted on their website? It might be a recent bug, and maybe rolling back to an only slightly older version would fix it. They do have versions from March 2011 on their site, so they go back a couple of versions. Of course, it could also be a relatively longstanding bug (something that MPC-HC already knows to work around because Intel's drivers have been broken a while already, but which we haven't seen yet here).

Either way, it should be working. You certainly shouldn't need to go to the discreet solution if you don't want to anyway. On the other hand, Intel's graphics drivers are not well regarded. I've honestly never used a system with Intel graphics long-term enough that I've had to deal with them seriously. On purpose. But I do, of course, have to help some friends with theirs every so often.

Lastly... I'm sure if you're determined enough with the Google, you could find those old versions floating about out there. There are all kinds of "old version" repositories out there (sometimes they don't rank high in Google search results though, edged out by link farmers and junk).

fitbrit · « **Reply #12 on:** July 12, 2011, 11:51:04 am »

Thanks everyone. I'm off to a meeting, but will address some of these points when I return.

Joe

Matt · « **Reply #13 on:** July 12, 2011, 11:56:51 am »

Since the video won't connect to the renderer, and you've tried a lot of renderers, I'm wondering if the decoder could be a problem?

You could try deleting this folder
C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Roaming\J River\Media Center 16\Plugins

This will cause internal filters to be redownloaded.

You could also erase FFDShow settings here:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\GNU

fitbrit · « **Reply #14 on:** July 12, 2011, 01:32:38 pm »

Thanks Matt. I'll try those things tonight too.
I was wondering whether the problem may be that the update was probably done while MC was running. Maybe that broke something.
Your idea could be an important lead, since other programs run fine... and they use the registered filters and not the MC specific ones, which takes me to a request for another topic.
I'll try this tonight.

fitbrit · « **Reply #15 on:** July 12, 2011, 01:42:44 pm »

Quote from: glynor on July 12, 2011, 12:37:39 am

Just to check...

Have you tried just completely uninstalling the Intel graphics drivers? I'd do two steps: (1) uninstall from the Uninstall Programs Control Panel. Then, reboot. (2) Find the graphics adapter in the Device Manager, uninstall it there, making sure to check the "delete the driver software" checkbox. Reboot again. Then reinstall from scratch, after Windows finishes installing whatever it wants to install (which will probably require a third reboot before you start reinstalling the latest from Intel, if you're brave and tedious).

Assuming you may have tried such a shenanigan with no success...

Have you tried a few of the older versions Intel does have posted on their website? It might be a recent bug, and maybe rolling back to an only slightly older version would fix it. They do have versions from March 2011 on their site, so they go back a couple of versions. Of course, it could also be a relatively longstanding bug (something that MPC-HC already knows to work around because Intel's drivers have been broken a while already, but which we haven't seen yet here).

Either way, it should be working. You certainly shouldn't need to go to the discreet solution if you don't want to anyway. On the other hand, Intel's graphics drivers are not well regarded. I've honestly never used a system with Intel graphics long-term enough that I've had to deal with them seriously. On purpose. But I do, of course, have to help some friends with theirs every so often.

Lastly... I'm sure if you're determined enough with the Google, you could find those old versions floating about out there. There are all kinds of "old version" repositories out there (sometimes they don't rank high in Google search results though, edged out by link farmers and junk).

Thanks so much for your time, glynor. I'm so impressed with your lengthy, on-topic responses in this and many other threads as well. Kudos for your tireless ability and willingness to help!

Among the many things I tried was to uninstall the drivers without installing over the top of them. I didn't however do what I should have done and restart between this and installing the next driver. I'll give it a go if Matt's suggestions don't work.

I did roll back the two sets of drivers that were available. I was kind of hesitant to go back two versions since that one was replaced just three weeks later, and it kind of suggested that there was an important bug fix. The intel site doesn't go back any further than that. I'm now not so convinced that it's a driver issue, so I'll try the other stuff before trawling through archived drivers on the internet.

Even if I get the problem solved with a discrete solution, I do want the Clarkdale video to work as a backup. On the positive side, I've had the motivation to update my BIOS, Intel drivers and carry out other maintenance.

CountryBumkin · « **Reply #16 on:** July 12, 2011, 01:57:18 pm »

I'm not an expert in this stuff by any means - but I'm an expert at screwing up computers. One thing I learned is that there is a point where it is just better/easier to format the drive and start over with a fresh Windows install. You may be at the point now.

fitbrit · « **Reply #17 on:** July 12, 2011, 02:04:07 pm »

Quote from: CountryBumkin on July 12, 2011, 01:57:18 pm

I'm not an expert in this stuff by any means - but I'm an expert at screwing up computers. One thing I learned is that there is a point where it is just better/easier to format the drive and start over with a fresh Windows install. You may be at the point now.

You make a good point, and this is definitely a last resort. I'm trying all the easy to implement stuff first, though. There could be a the possibility of identifying a rare situation that JRiver should be aware of... and hence prevent others from getting into this mess.
As soon as any one step becomes too tedious, I will definitely be starting from scratch!

Matt · « **Reply #18 on:** July 13, 2011, 09:18:46 am »

Did erasing the folder and/or settings help?

Thanks.

fitbrit · « **Reply #19 on:** July 13, 2011, 02:50:22 pm »

Hi Matt

It didn't help, but it led me to clues for a more drastic solution. All is well now, but it was quite a journey. I'm on a work deadline right now. I'll bump the post with what I discovered and how I fixed it tonight.

fitbrit · « **Reply #20 on:** July 14, 2011, 12:25:11 am »

Bottom line
So I'm not sure what happened exactly, except that a complete reinstall and manually removing residual MC16 folders fixed it.

Background
I have a desktop PC on which I do all my importing, and tagging. I usually make a library backup on a NAS device, and restore the backup (minus settings) on the HTPC that is giving me trouble.

What I did
So on the afflicted HTPC, I went to:

C:\Users\Joe\AppData\Roaming\J River\

and there was no Media Center 16 folder, only one for Media Center 15.

I found that the only location for MC16 plug-ins was:

C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 16\Plugins

I deleted the C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 16\Plugins folder in case this was the one to delete.

I used logmein to connect to the desktop PC. I found the (PC) C:\Users\Joe\AppData\Roaming\J River\Media Center 16\Plugins folder as expected. I opened it up and saw all the folders for the various filters. I copied these to (HTPC) C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 16\Plugins, in case they'd been deleted because they were not there.

This made no difference whatsoever. I also restored a copy of the desktop library with settings, in case that would help. It didn't.

Next I uninstalled MC16, including the library (I have plenty of backups). I also tracked down all the MC16 folders that were left behind and deleted them too. I'd already uninstalled+reinstalled MC16 before without doing this and it didn't help.

I reinstalled MC16 from scratch and made the bare minimum tweaks to the options to be in accord with my preferences. I restored the PC library without settings.
Voila all worked well!

I wanted to get my customised settings, so I restored from the HTPC library with settings. Total fail - the same error message. So I figured that the library was corrupt. I tried to restore the PC library with settings to overwrite the HTPC library's settings, with the aim of fixing these to work on the HTPC. That didn't work. And no amount of restoring new libraries would fix it.

So, I went back and reinstalled MC16 cleaniy, manually deleting the folders that were nto removed y Windows unistall. I restored the PC library, minus the settings. All worked perfectly. I just had to sacrifice my customised toolbars and maybe a view or two.

I'm guessing that this might have something to do with the bug with the settings being read before implementation, or that something happened to corrupt my library when I updated my Intel drivers. I should have closed MC when I did it. The installers for any program always recommend it, but I was thinking, hey, it's not 2002 any more.

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Author Topic: [Solved] Updated Intel graphics drivers, and now MC won't play ANY video (Read 3108 times)