poor avi quality for TV series *ONLY* using xbox360

[ihayes916 0]

Greetings...my first post here and as many before have exclaimed, MB3 is amazing!

 

That having been said, here is my setup:

 

Clean install of windows 8.1, latest version of MB3 Server installed.

Using xbox 360 as client.

MB Classic installed, system level and plgin level updates : Beta

MB Classic Version 3.0.1.132.0 2-26.1

 

Here is the problem:

 

I have 10 different TV series, and no matter which file i choose to watch, the quality is horrible on the 360.  All my TV series video files are AVI's and prior to this clean install (got to finally build a new rig two weeks ago) these exact same files played fine.

 

And now the twist...

 

...​this behavior is only occurring w/ these TV series files....if i pick any of the movies i have that happen to be AVI files (200+) then those play in perfect quality on the 360.

 

Any clues?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Tikuf 663]

Most likely a codec issue. What codec pack are you using if any?

[ihayes916 0]

not currently using any codec pack...

 

i thought about that...but when i saw that avi movies worked and avi tv shows didn't, i figured it would (shouldn't ?) be codecs....

 

that said - i'm willing to give it a try.....suggestions?

[Tikuf 663]

Avi is a container not a codec so while one avi may play another may not.

 

Install lav 

 

https://code.google.com/p/lavfilters/downloads/list

[ihayes916 0]

thanks for that info!  I installed the linked LAV and quailty is still horrible - again, only with TV series avi's...

 

here are the log files...

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uo6m78oettvk1bp/f5vinfpbog

[Tikuf 663]

Ok the issue is that it is transcoding to the 360 (which is new and a bit experimental its good that you get a stream bad that is looks crappy. it looks crappy because it is only 200kb/s) due to the fact that you have not used unc paths in your set up.

 

If you change your setup to unc paths //server/blah  then it will direct play the files with no quality loss

Edited March 3, 2014 by Tikuf

[ihayes916 0]

man...i was really hoping that would be it!

 

i changed the 3 media libraries to use the UNC share path...still poor quality.

 

here are the new logs...

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/u4xzrnfzbxza3sk/ZH__k4CPii

[Tikuf 663]

Did you change the permissions on the folders to everyone mb needs read write access it should not transcode at all in mbc if the perms are right

[ebr 15487]

132 is Dev level of MBC and it has some experimental streaming logic.  Can I please see your MBC log from one of those sessions?

[ihayes916 0]

@@Tikuf - thanks for that tip...permissions were not as you mentioned, but they are now on that drive. (attached screen shot in link) - still poor quality.

 

@@ebr - thanks for taking a look....logs are in the below link.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3h5ih331jcfc6cu/Jq4C6E9e3R

[Tikuf 663]

Ya i know why the quality is poor but I don't know why it is trying to stream it at all.

 

Your mbs and mbc server are on the same lan ?

[ebr 15487]

It is streaming because it cannot directly access the folder containing the video.

 

When you run an extender session, you are running under a hidden windows user on the host wmc machine called something like mcx_1 and there is no way to know what the password for that user is so the only way to be sure it can access your network is to allow access to "Everyone".  You also have to be sure these access rights are propagated all the way down the directory tree.

[ihayes916 0]

THAT DID IT!!!!  

 

I was sharing my MediaDrive (F:) but the TV & MOVIE folders were not being shared.

 

As soon as i right clicked-> sharewith->home group & restarted 360 - all look well again.

 

Hope this help someone else!

 

Thanks for the help!