MB3 Server and Client On Same PC?

[dougdude9 0]

Hello,

I have an older Media Browser that runs inside of Media Center on a Windows 7 64 bit machine.  I'v been having some problems with some files playing correctly and occasionally I can get them to play when I mess around with the Shark Codec settings, but that usually just fixes one problem, but then creates a new problem with a different movie file. 

 

So I found out there is a new version of Media Browswer by accident and I understand that is works similar to Plex.  I tried Plex and it was worse than the older Media Browswer I currently have in that it would stutter on most of my movies.  So I just continued to use Media Browser. 

 

Now that this new version is out, I thought I would give it try.  I'm a little hesitant because again, it looks like the same sort of solution as Plex which didn't work well for me. 

 

My main question is that can the MB Service and Client be on the same machine, or does it have to be different machines?  All my movies are on an older D-Link NAS and I have a drive mapped. 

 

Thanks,

DD

[ebr 14959]

Yes, they can be on the same machine and we don't work exactly like Plex.  If you use MBC, it will be much more like what you are used to but better.

 

First, I would suggest un-installing all codecs and installing LAV Filters.

 

Then be sure you go through the guides in the Knowledge Base section out here to be sure you get it set up properly.

[dougdude9 0]

Thanks for the quick reply.  I'm definitely going to give it a try.  I'm a little confused though, because I thought Media Browser 3 was no longer inside of Windows Media Center.  I just looked at something in the kb and it looks like it is not a standalone player, but is still inside Windows Media Center. 

 

Also, can you tell me where to download the LAV Filters?  I know they are part of the Shark Codecs, but I would like to try your suggestion... Shark Codecs work somewhat for me, but like I said earlier... once I fix one thing, it breaks another.  I just want it all to work!... LOL!

 

Thanks,

DD

[DGMayor 88]

Media Browser Classic is currently the only released desktop client, which runs just as Media Browser 2 did in WMC, but it pulls it's information from the MB3 server.  Media Browser Theater is what you're thinking of, and it's currently in development.

[CWNashvegas 170]

Here is a great LAV guide that contains links to the downloads, from a trusted source. 

 

MB3 is a server-client system. The current Windows client is MBC, which does run in Media Center, but there is another client on the way, Media Browser Theater, that will be standalone. 

Edited October 10, 2013 by Knowledge Base

[ebr 14959]

Christa, I think you forgot the link...

[CWNashvegas 170]

Look again.

[CBers 6793]

Plus, you'll need the LAV filters for MBT

[dougdude9 0]

Thanks for clearing that up everyone.  I guess what I will do then is uninstall Plex, Uninstall my current Media Browswer, uninstall the Shark Codecs, and then make sure no codecs are left over such as ffdshow.  Then I will reboot and download MB Server and MB Classic (also known as the client?) and install them.  Then I will download these LAV codecs you speak of and follow the tutorial. 

 

All this makes me nervous because I have my current setup working fairly well with only a few problems here and there.  Again, the reason I'm trying differen things is because I'm tired of messing with the Shark Codecs program to make one thing work which almost always makes another not work. 

 

Thanks,

DD

[dougdude9 0]

Sorry... can you answer one more question for me?

 

I thought I saw on the homepage for media browswer3 that no codecs are needed.  Then why use the LAV codecs? 

 

Sorry, just trying to wrap my head around all of this. 

 

Thanks!

DD

[ebr 14959]

But, just so you are not further confused - Luke is talking about MB Theater which is not yet released.  You are going to use MB Classic which still uses WMC which will require codecs.

[dougdude9 0]

MBT?... meaning Media Browser Theater... thought that wasn't out yet.  Or you talking about the server or client install?

 

dd

[dougdude9 0]

Ah, thanks ebr!  sorry, I must of type my message before you responded.  Thanks for clearing that up.  I will get the LAV codecs and hope for the best!

 

dd

[dougdude9 0]

ALL,

Thank you so much for your help.  I have Media Browser 3 up and running with the LAV setup and a movie that was giving me fits now works!  That is a very good thing considering I used to have to mess with the Shark Codecs for awhile to make it work which would end up screwing something else up.  Anyway, thanks so much!

 

However, this is a slight problem.  I have one movie (Argo) that will no longer play at all.  It used to play fine.  Now when I select play from within Media Browser, it goes to a black screen and never loads.  So, I decided to render it in graph studio to see how it was setup and graph studio can't open it either.  I see the LAV splitter in the systray. 

 

Here are the details of the movie...

MKV, H.264, 720p, DTS, h.264 at 6492kbps and dts at 1536 kbps     WAIT!!!....

 

Ok, this is weird... all the sudden the movie started playing.  It literally stayed on a black screen doing nothing for a good 5 minutes... maybe more.  Seems to be playing fine... other than I have subtitles throughout the whole movie.  Not sure how to fix that, but I will get to that later. 

 

That is very strange.  I'm glad it played, but I don't understand why it took 5 minutes to start playing.  I mean I have a different 1080p mkv dts video that started immediately.  I wonder what is up with this one that it hangs forever before it plays.  I know it didn't used to do that, so maybe it is the LAV setup I'm using now?

 

Sorry, I know this probably doesn't belong in this thread anymore.  Should I start a new one somewhere?

 

Thanks,

dd

[Tikuf 663]

Hmm it may be an issue with the structure of the mkv grab a copy of mkvmerge GUI and run it through and see if the resulting file plays. Also are you using unc paths to your media?

[Luke 37251]

No separate installations are required. The MBT startup wizard will walk you through the process of installing LAV filters, so you don't really need to do it on your own.

[rmarcuse 4]

Yes, they can be on the same machine and we don't work exactly like Plex.  If you use MBC, it will be much more like what you are used to but better.

 

First, I would suggest un-installing all codecs and installing LAV Filters.

 

Then be sure you go through the guides in the Knowledge Base section out here to be sure you get it set up properly.

Believe the man...I struggled with codecs until I stopped using packs and installed LAV also has never been so easy.

[dougdude9 0]

Also are you using unc paths to your media?

 

 

Yes, I'm using UNC.  When I setup the MB Server, I selected network and went to the name of my NAS, then the volume share, then the folder that has the movies.  I'm pretty sure that is UNC.  I'm not using a drive letter.  However, my laptop that has both the media server and media client installed is mapped to my NAS using a drive letter.  Within Media Browser Server, I'm NOT using a drive letter.  I hope that answers your question. 

 

So other than Argo taking 5 minutes to start playing, all other movies start right way.  All is well, but all my AAC 5.1 files are coming across just stereo.  Back when I was using Shark Codecs, they would play 5.1. 

 

Any ideas as to why my AAC movies are now just stereo?  I see that they are going through the LAV audio. 

 

Also need to figure out subtitles.  I never really had them figured out, but now I'm getting subtitles on a hand few of movies where I don't need them. 

 

Thanks,

DD

 

Please let me know if I need to start a new thread for these issues. 

[dougdude9 0]

 

All is well, but all my AAC 5.1 files are coming across just stereo.  Back when I was using Shark Codecs, they would play 5.1. 

 

Any ideas as to why my AAC movies are now just stereo?  I see that they are going through the LAV audio.

I did some research and it seems the LAV codecs can't do aac 5.1.  So, I downloaded ffdshow 64 bit and installed it.   have it setup to only handle aac audio.  Everything else is strictly LAV as I stated above, all is well except for this AAC 5.1 audio, some subtitle problems and that one movie, Argo taking 5min to load. 

 

I used the tweak program to set aac to use ffdshow.  So I opened up one of my mkv aac 5.1 movies in graph studio 64 bit and it shows it renders correctly... meaning the video is FAV and the audio is ffdshow.  I played the file in graph studio 64 and it played as it now should... smooth video and finally the 5.1 audio. 

 

I play the same file in Media Browser (keep in mind this is in window media center so it should be 64 bit) and for some reason I'm getting 2.0 instead of 5.1.  I went back into graph studio 64 just to double check, and it plays 5.1 in there.  So I went back to Media Browser and played it in a window so I could see my system tray.  None of the icons for LAV or ffdshow appear.  However, in graph studio 64 they do appear. 

 

What am I doing wrong to get aac 5.1 to play.  I thought I was going about it correct to use ffdshow for aac audio. 

 

Thanks,

dd

[dougdude9 0]

Ok, fixed my aac 5.1 problem.  Hopefully I didn't break anything in doing so.  Usually that is what happens... I fix one thing, but break another.  Anyway it is bed time, so I will have to retry all my different formats that were previously working sometime tomorrow or over the weekend. 

 

Here are the settings I made to make AAC 5.1 work with ffdshow.  Again, I hope the only thing ffdshow is being used for is aac 5.1 as everything else was working pretty well. 

 

[steelman1991 19]

I did some research and it seems the LAV codecs can't do aac 5.1.  So, I downloaded ffdshow 64 bit and installed it.   have it setup to only handle aac audio.  Everything else is strictly LAV as I stated above, all is well except for this AAC 5.1 audio, some subtitle problems and that one movie, Argo taking 5min to load. 

 

I used the tweak program to set aac to use ffdshow.  So I opened up one of my mkv aac 5.1 movies in graph studio 64 bit and it shows it renders correctly... meaning the video is FAV and the audio is ffdshow.  I played the file in graph studio 64 and it played as it now should... smooth video and finally the 5.1 audio. 

 

I play the same file in Media Browser (keep in mind this is in window media center so it should be 64 bit) and for some reason I'm getting 2.0 instead of 5.1.  I went back into graph studio 64 just to double check, and it plays 5.1 in there.  So I went back to Media Browser and played it in a window so I could see my system tray.  None of the icons for LAV or ffdshow appear.  However, in graph studio 64 they do appear. 

 

What am I doing wrong to get aac 5.1 to play.  I thought I was going about it correct to use ffdshow for aac audio. 

 

Thanks,

dd

 

Go into Windows Sound Properties, choose the playback device, then configure making sure its set to 5.1. I think aac is being decoded and passed as lpcm to your receiver.

[steelman1991 19]

See you've been having subtitle issues. Try xy-VSFilter - here http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=168282. You don't say what your problems are - it may be that your subs have incorrect headers (which can be resolved using mkvmerge)

Edited October 11, 2013 by steelman1991

[CBers 6793]

Lav and xy-vsfilter setup guide, written by Jon, an MB3 contributor. 

[dougdude9 0]

 

Go into Windows Sound Properties, choose the playback device, then configure making sure its set to 5.1. I think aac is being decoded and passed as lpcm to your receiver.

I think I got it working by doing what I said a few posts ago with the tweak program.  Hopefully that is ok???  So anything that is AAC should be using ffdshow for audio only.  Other than that, everything else should alway be LAV. 

 

 

See you've been having subtitle issues. Try xy-VSFilter - here http://forum.doom9.o...ad.php?t=168282. You don't say what your problems are - it may be that your subs have incorrect headers (which can be resolved using mkvmerge)

I do have xy-VSFilter installed.  I just don't much about how subtitles work.  I'll have to do my own research so I have a better understanding.  My problem is that I'm getting subtitles through the entire that movie that I don't need.  THey didn't use to have subtitles and now they do.  It is just a handful of movies, so I'm not that worried.  For instance, Argo is one of them.  I have subtitles throughout the whole movie.  There are a couple other flicks that have english subtitles throughout the whole movie and I don't need them because the movie itself is all in english. 

 

Lav and xy-vsfilter setup guide, written by Jon, an MB3 contributor.

This is the same guide I used.  It is great guide.  Someone else put a link to it earlier in this thread, so that is what I used.  After I went through the guide, my biggest concern was AAC 5.1.  It is my understanding LAV doesn't do AAC 5.1, so that is why I installed ffdshow to handle AAC 5.1... I think it changes it on the fly to ac3. 

 

If anyone can tell me if what I did in the tweak program is ok, it would be appreciated.  I don't really understand what those settings I checked do.  I put a screenshot on my last post. 

 

Thanks,

dd

[Yogi 367]

I do have xy-VSFilter installed.  I just don't much about how subtitles work.  I'll have to do my own research so I have a better understanding.  My problem is that I'm getting subtitles through the entire that movie that I don't need.  THey didn't use to have subtitles and now they do.  It is just a handful of movies, so I'm not that worried.  For instance, Argo is one of them.  I have subtitles throughout the whole movie.  There are a couple other flicks that have english subtitles throughout the whole movie and I don't need them because the movie itself is all in english. 

 

To get rid of the subtitles when a movie starts playing put your main screen into a window and down in the taskbar you will see the xy-VS fileter icon.Right click on it and you can hide the subtitles.