Topic: Is my laptop too underpowered to play Blu-ray rips via MC? (Read 11683 times)

haggis999 · « **on:** May 11, 2013, 03:32:03 pm »

My primary computer is a Dell Precision Workstation T7500, which has plenty of horsepower and has no problem playing Blu-ray and DVD rips via MC 18. However, the same media files are unplayable on my Samsung Chronos 7 laptop. The video image appears in slow motion and out of sync with the audio. The key specs of this laptop are shown below. Is this machine too underpowered to play such files or might I have some inappropriate settings in MC?

David

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Processor
Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 2675QM (2.20GHz, 6 MB L3 Cache)

Memory
8GB DDR3 System Memory at 1333MHz (on BD 4GB + 4GB x 1)

Graphic
AMD Radeon™ HD6750M (PowerXpress)
1GB GDDR5 (Ext. Graphic)

Main Chipset
Intel HM65

JimH · « **Reply #1 on:** May 11, 2013, 03:48:52 pm »

Try setting Video to Red October Standard.

haggis999 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 11, 2013, 03:55:01 pm »

I'm already using that setting. I've also tried hardware acceleration both on and off.

David

EDIT: Cyberlink PowerDVD 10 plays my DVD files without any problem and Windows Media Player can handle my Blu-ray rips to MKV (though the FLAC audio doesn't work), so my laptop's graphics hardware is not the source of my problem. It's just MC 18 that's choking on these files.

haggis999 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 16, 2013, 10:42:07 am »

If Cyberlink PowerDVD 10 can play my DVD files without any problem and Windows Media Player can handle the video contained in an MKV rip of a Blu-ray disc, does that not mean MC 18 should also be able to play such files on the same machine?

The fact that MC plays these video files in slow motion and out of sync with the audio suggests to me that there must be some sort of MC configuration problem on my laptop. I would be very grateful for any advice on this topic.

David

glynor · « **Reply #4 on:** May 16, 2013, 12:27:19 pm »

When you are playing them, are you playing to an external monitor, or the laptop's screen?

Those specs should be fine for ROST, and might even be enough for HQ mode. I'm thinking it is a GPU driver issue...

haggis999 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 16, 2013, 12:45:35 pm »

The problem occurs on the laptop screen and it's just the same if I connect the laptop via HDMI to my HDTV.

David

EDIT: Given that the laptop works properly with other DVD/BD software, does that not indicate that the graphics driver is OK?

glynor · « **Reply #6 on:** May 16, 2013, 01:10:36 pm »

Quote from: haggis999 on May 16, 2013, 12:45:35 pm

EDIT: Given that the laptop works properly with other DVD/BD software, does that not indicate that the graphics driver is OK?

No. That means essentially nothing. Different software can use (and push) the GPU in different ways. Plus, they could have make-specific workarounds built in.

glynor · « **Reply #7 on:** May 16, 2013, 01:12:52 pm »

Are you playing directly from disc? Or rips to hard drive?

haggis999 · « **Reply #8 on:** May 16, 2013, 01:49:10 pm »

I tried rips of DVD and Blu-ray, plus one of the original DVDs. The problem affected all of them

David

glynor · « **Reply #9 on:** May 16, 2013, 01:51:05 pm »

Quote from: haggis999 on May 16, 2013, 01:49:10 pm

I tried rips of DVD and Blu-ray, plus one of the original DVDs. The problem affected all of them

Something else is certainly going on then.

What is Options > Audio set to?

glynor · « **Reply #10 on:** May 16, 2013, 01:53:03 pm »

I would also check the manufacturer's support page for Video card drivers and sound device drivers.

haggis999 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 16, 2013, 02:12:09 pm »

Options > Audio in MC 18 is set to use Direct Sound, no DSP and no bitstreaming. Are there any other settings that might affect performance?

I'll check on the Samsung site for any driver updates.

David

glynor · « **Reply #12 on:** May 16, 2013, 02:38:21 pm »

Quote from: haggis999 on May 16, 2013, 02:12:09 pm

Options > Audio in MC 18 is set to use Direct Sound

This won't impact performance, but it should probably be set to WASAPI unless your audio hardware is terribly brain-dead.

This doesn't sound like a performance problem to me, per say. It sounds like something is broken. A Sandy Bridge CPU should certainly handle video playback without issue in Red October Standard. A couple other things to check from inside MC:

1. Does it make any difference with Options > Video > VideoClock on or off?
2. Is Options > Video > Display Settings > Automatic Display Settings enabled?

I don't think it is likely to be either of those things, but they're worth checking.

Far more likely are:

1. Drivers (laptop GPU drivers are a steaming pile of fail).
2. Whatever on-the-fly DRM stripping daemon you are using is going sideways (AnyDVD or whatever).

haggis999 · « **Reply #13 on:** May 16, 2013, 02:50:30 pm »

All the drivers are up to date on my machine. The VideoClock setting makes no difference. The Auto display settings has been enabled.

You'll have to explain what you mean by an "on-the-fly DRM stripping daemon".

David

glynor · « **Reply #14 on:** May 16, 2013, 03:16:02 pm »

Quote from: haggis999 on May 16, 2013, 02:50:30 pm

All the drivers are up to date on my machine. The VideoClock setting makes no difference. The Auto display settings has been enabled.

The Auto Display function is an advanced setting. Try with it off.

Quote from: haggis999 on May 16, 2013, 02:50:30 pm

You'll have to explain what you mean by an "on-the-fly DRM stripping daemon".

MC cannot decrypt encrypted BluRay and DVD on its own. So, to play essentially any commercial DVD or BluRay, you need to have an application that decrypts the disc. The most common one is AnyDVD HD.

If that application is messed up, it'll break all disc-based playback (probably including rips).

JimH · « **Reply #15 on:** May 16, 2013, 03:32:07 pm »

Did you try both Red October Standard and HQ?

haggis999 · « **Reply #16 on:** May 16, 2013, 03:48:47 pm »

A while back, I was advised to install AnyDVD on my desktop PC in order to watch commercial Blu-ray discs but it didn't seem to be required when playing a BD rip done with MakeMKV. I never installed AnyDVD on my laptop, as it has a DVD drive rather than a BD drive. It's now been installed but has made no difference to my problem.

Turning off 'Options > Video > Display Settings > Enable Automatic Display Settings changing' also makes no difference.

So far, all testing on my laptop has been done using Red October Standard. I've just tried HQ and I get no video image at all.

David

glynor · « **Reply #17 on:** May 16, 2013, 04:21:23 pm »

Quote from: haggis999 on May 16, 2013, 03:48:47 pm

A while back, I was advised to install AnyDVD on my desktop PC in order to watch commercial Blu-ray discs but it didn't seem to be required when playing a BD rip done with MakeMKV. I never installed AnyDVD on my laptop, as it has a DVD drive rather than a BD drive. It's now been installed but has made no difference to my problem.

That's correct. MakeMKV uses VLC Player to strip out the DRM on the BluRay discs. Rips you make there aren't crapified, and AnyDVD isn't needed.

So, this applies to essentially all video, then...? If it is happening with MKV files ripped from BluRay or DVD.

haggis999 · « **Reply #18 on:** May 16, 2013, 04:25:06 pm »

Yes, I haven't yet found any flavour of video originating from a DVD or a BD that will play properly via MC on this laptop.

David

JimH · « **Reply #19 on:** May 16, 2013, 04:43:35 pm »

Do they play in WMP?

haggis999 · « **Reply #20 on:** May 16, 2013, 04:57:47 pm »

Quote from: JimH on May 16, 2013, 04:43:35 pm

Do they play in WMP?

As I mentioned a while back in this thread, Windows Media Player can handle my Blu-ray rips to MKV (though the FLAC audio doesn't work).

David

glynor · « **Reply #21 on:** May 16, 2013, 05:02:53 pm »

Quote from: haggis999 on May 16, 2013, 04:25:06 pm

Yes, I haven't yet found any flavour of video originating from a DVD or a BD that will play properly via MC on this laptop.

David

Gotta be a driver problem.

Probably the GPU.

JimH · « **Reply #22 on:** May 16, 2013, 05:04:08 pm »

So, in WMP, the video plays, but the audio doesn't?

Sorry if I'm asking you to repeat yourself. I don't read every post in every thread before I post.

haggis999 · « **Reply #23 on:** May 16, 2013, 05:11:23 pm »

Quote from: JimH on May 16, 2013, 05:04:08 pm

So, in WMP, the video plays, but the audio doesn't?

Sorry if I'm asking you to repeat yourself. I don't read every post in every thread before I post.

It's OK, I wasn't having a dig at you. I'm well aware you make a humongous number of forum posts (for which I am very grateful)

.

I did some Googling about the FLAC audio not playing and it appears to be a common issue with MKV files, unless you are using MC.

David

haggis999 · « **Reply #24 on:** May 16, 2013, 05:14:38 pm »

Quote from: glynor on May 16, 2013, 05:02:53 pm

Gotta be a driver problem.

Probably the GPU.

If you are correct then that's a bit of a pain, as I doubt if Samsung are going to create a new driver just for me!

Just out of interest, I plan to install MC 18 tomorrow on an older and less powerful laptop just to see if a different on-board graphics chip will play these files properly.

David

glynor · « **Reply #25 on:** May 16, 2013, 05:39:46 pm »

Quote from: haggis999 on May 16, 2013, 05:14:38 pm

If you are correct then that's a bit of a pain, as I doubt if Samsung are going to create a new driver just for me!

AMD now releases Radeon drivers directly for mobile GPUs. They don't work on all laptops, but you can try it.
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx

You could also try:

1. Uninstall the Sony provided GPU drivers completely.
2. Reboot. Let Windows install the default drivers.
3. Reboot again. (NOTE: DO NOT SKIP ANY OF THE REBOOT STEPS)
4. Try it out. Does it work? Is it different?
5. Install the Sony provided drivers again.
6. Reboot.
7. Try again.

I'm not sure that's the problem, but it isn't a widespread issue, and that machine should be plenty powerful enough for Red October Standard. It works on Atoms, much less Sandy Bridge Core i5s (even mobile ones). So, the core answer to your question is: No. It isn't too underpowered. There's something else wrong.

You could try uninstalling MC (choosing the option to remove all settings) and reinstalling, and start with default settings if you want to confirm you didn't mess something up. Make a Library Backup first (the Library Backup also contains all the settings, so you can always restore them later if it doesn't help).

Other potential problems could be:

1. Disk trouble (do CHKDSK for errors).
2. Incredibly slow disk access (is the stuff on a USB or Network drive that might be flaky)?
3. Failing hardware (a bad GPU could result in stuff like that). Does Theater View work right? Does the machine pass a test in 3DMark?
4. Some conflicting piece of software (maybe anti-virus or other security software)?

None of those are likely candidates (I think the GPU driver is much more likely), but they're possible.

haggis999 · « **Reply #26 on:** May 16, 2013, 05:51:43 pm »

Thanks for that. Those sound like some good suggestions. I will give them a try tomorrow as it's now approaching midnight here in the UK.

David

InflatableMouse · « **Reply #27 on:** May 17, 2013, 05:15:41 am »

I'm sorry for your trouble, but its an interesting problem

.

I searched for a few things myself, whether there are similar problems reported on other forums or whether this issue came out some of the reviews which was not the case.

I tried to find whether this laptop has a dual GPU setup and whether it could incorrectly be using the intel one, I don't tihnk is has so that's not the case either.

Things I can think of you could try,

- Rerun the Windows Experience Index: what scores are the graphics getting?
- Check Device Manager, whether there are yellow icons for unknown devices and check the version and manufacturer of the graphics driver.

What I don't quite get (but I didn't look into it either) is what Sony has to do with your GPU driver? Doesn't the AMD driver work?

glynor · « **Reply #28 on:** May 17, 2013, 05:57:34 am »

Laptop vendors typically provide all drivers for their systems. In the past, there were no chipset vendor provided drivers that worked (AMD and Nvidia's drivers were only for desktop cards).

This is slowly changing now, but it is still true for many notebook GPUs.

InflatableMouse · « **Reply #29 on:** May 17, 2013, 06:30:59 am »

That's right, but its a Samsung Chronos Series 7, I still don't get what Sony has to do with that ?

glynor · « **Reply #30 on:** May 17, 2013, 07:05:08 am »

Quote from: InflatableMouse on May 17, 2013, 06:30:59 am

That's right, but its a Samsung Chronos Series 7, I still don't get what Sony has to do with that ?

Read Samsung.
Remembered Sony.

InflatableMouse · « **Reply #31 on:** May 17, 2013, 07:19:08 am »

Bourbon taking its toll?

haggis999 · « **Reply #32 on:** May 17, 2013, 07:53:09 am »

I don't think it was bourbon. If I'm reading Glynor's photo correctly, there isn't enough cheese on his pizzas...

Haven't had time yet to fool around with drivers, but the Windows Experience Index results are:
Graphics - 5.9
Gaming Graphics - 6.2

David

glynor · « **Reply #33 on:** May 17, 2013, 09:11:13 am »

Quote from: InflatableMouse on May 17, 2013, 07:19:08 am

Bourbon taking its toll?

Stay thirsty, my friend.

Stay thirsty.

haggis999 · « **Reply #34 on:** May 17, 2013, 09:28:53 am »

Quote from: glynor on May 16, 2013, 05:39:46 pm

AMD now releases Radeon drivers directly for mobile GPUs. They don't work on all laptops, but you can try it.
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx

You could also try:

1. Uninstall the ~~Sony~~ Samsung provided GPU drivers completely.
2. Reboot. Let Windows install the default drivers.
3. Reboot again. (NOTE: DO NOT SKIP ANY OF THE REBOOT STEPS)
4. Try it out. Does it work? Is it different?
5. Install the ~~Sony~~ Samsung provided drivers again.
6. Reboot.
7. Try again.

I tried getting a driver direct from AMD but was told that it was incompatible with my machine and should get my driver from the notebook manufacturer instead.

With regard to your second option of deleting the current GPU driver and letting Windows find a suitable driver automatically, is there any risk that I end up with a blank display (which would make it slightly difficult to browse for the original Samsung driver)?

David

InflatableMouse · « **Reply #35 on:** May 17, 2013, 09:38:37 am »

Windows should in theory always display a deskop, in 640x480 if it has to, but a desktop nonetheless

.

I've not recently seen it, but I guess it can't be 100% guaranteed it will always display a desktop, but the risk is really low.

Your Windows Experience Index looks good to me, I'm not sure how fast that mobile GPU is but its faster than my work laptop which has a lower score (and played fine in RO Standard).

PS. That cheeseless pizza is actually a raw steak

.

haggis999 · « **Reply #36 on:** May 17, 2013, 09:54:49 am »

Quote from: InflatableMouse on May 17, 2013, 09:38:37 am

Windows should in theory always display a deskop, in 640x480 if it has to, but a desktop nonetheless .

I've not recently seen it, but I guess it can't be 100% guaranteed it will always display a desktop, but the risk is really low.

Your Windows Experience Index looks good to me, I'm not sure how fast that mobile GPU is but its faster than my work laptop which has a lower score (and played fine in RO Standard).

PS. That cheeseless pizza is actually a raw steak .

I guess that the worst case would be having to run Windows in Safe Mode, and I suspect that mode uses a basic Windows graphics driver rather than any dedicated driver for my GPU chip. I will give it a go...

Is raw steak the food of choice for American technophiles? Here in the UK, we apply a little heat before eating our steaks and a side of beef is considered slightly too large for a single mouthful. However, I guess Glynor gets very cold up there in Bar Harbor...

David

InflatableMouse · « **Reply #37 on:** May 17, 2013, 10:46:58 am »

This should give you a little background info into 'Glynor and his steak'.

haggis999 · « **Reply #38 on:** May 17, 2013, 11:59:21 am »

Thanks for that. All is now clear on the steak front!

I have just completed the following sequence:

Uninstalled and deleted the existing Samsung graphics driver for my Radeon HD6750M chip
Rebooted to let Windows install default drivers
Windows reported that driver installation had failed
Drank a cup of tea and stared at screen with a furrowed brow...
Gave up and re-downloaded the driver from Samsung
Installed new driver
Everything now back as it was (including my video problems with MC 18)

If I play an MKV file (with FLAC audio) via MC, both the video and audio are poor. Nothing is in synch. The picture is sometimes in slow motion and sometimes stutters. The audio works for part of the time but then degenerates into indecipherable static. DVDs are not nearly so bad. A VOB file taken straight off a commercial DVD suffers mainly from a lack of lip synch.

David

JimH · « **Reply #39 on:** May 17, 2013, 12:18:17 pm »

Confirm the version you're using. 18.0.187 is now current.

Use Red October Standard, not HQ, until it's working.

haggis999 · « **Reply #40 on:** May 17, 2013, 12:26:42 pm »

I'm on 18.0.175 and 'Check for updates' tells me I'm on the latest version...

David

EDIT: I've just found the later version. Will try it out asap.

glynor · « **Reply #41 on:** May 17, 2013, 12:34:43 pm »

Quote from: haggis999 on May 17, 2013, 12:26:42 pm

I'm on 18.0.175 and 'Check for updates' tells me I'm on the latest version...

David

Check for updates doesn't always pull the latest build (unless you enable this option), because they release new builds so often that it'd be annoying.

The latest build is always stickied to the top of the main board here on Interact.

The current one is 187, released today.

glynor · « **Reply #42 on:** May 17, 2013, 12:35:51 pm »

It failed to install the generic VGA driver?

Something is broke. That shouldn't happen. Ever.

haggis999 · « **Reply #43 on:** May 17, 2013, 12:36:21 pm »

I've just tried 187 and it seems to be just the same.

David

JimH · « **Reply #44 on:** May 17, 2013, 12:38:06 pm »

Have you tried Samsung support?

haggis999 · « **Reply #45 on:** May 17, 2013, 12:42:14 pm »

Quote from: glynor on May 17, 2013, 12:35:51 pm

It failed to install the generic VGA driver?

Something is broke. That shouldn't happen. Ever.

I might not have remembered the exact details correctly. I was in VGA mode but I definitely got a message that some flavour of driver had not been successfully installed automatically by Windows.

Samsung Support helped me find the normal driver after I had deleted it and I mentioned the problem with video playback via MC. However, it didn't generate any useful response.

Got to go out now for 2 hours. Will check back later.

David

JimH · « **Reply #46 on:** May 17, 2013, 12:43:07 pm »

I don't think you replied to glynor's comment about anti-virus causing a problem. Disabling may not be enough.

glynor · « **Reply #47 on:** May 17, 2013, 01:16:48 pm »

I should note... I still have one of those steaks squirreled away in the deep freezer.

The avatar will stay until it is gone.

JimH · « **Reply #48 on:** May 17, 2013, 01:31:50 pm »

I don't remember any squirrels as part of that transaction....

haggis999 · « **Reply #49 on:** May 17, 2013, 06:09:41 pm »

Quote from: JimH on May 17, 2013, 12:43:07 pm

I don't think you replied to glynor's comment about anti-virus causing a problem. Disabling may not be enough.

I'm currently working through glynor's checklist. Chkdsk found no problems. I've downloaded 3DMark and have selected the option to run all tests. Everything was running very smoothly until I got to Fire Strike, which is currently playing at only about 1.5 fps.

David

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Author Topic: Is my laptop too underpowered to play Blu-ray rips via MC? (Read 11683 times)