OT: Video-codec problem, avi, mpg, etc, systemstop

Ragnarok-X · #1 November 13th, 2005, 06:59 PM

lo everyone,

major problem here. I reinstalled my system a day ago, now XP pro with SP2. Games and music run fine, but not a single videofile works.
Weither its avi, mpg, wmv, coded with divx, xvid, etc, it doesnt work.
If i try to play a moviefile, the system ressources increase to 100% while the player (used multiple ones) tries to load the file. I can then barely manually quit the player (using the task manager) before the system stops.
I tried using no codecs, some codecs, all codecs, nothing helps.
When using the "mini preview" folder layout, the start-screen of my movies is even shown, but thats about it. As mentioned, game intros work fine.
I cant imagine what could be the problem.
damn.

Any ideas ? Just a day before everything worked fine using the system hardware setup.

Atrocities · #2 November 13th, 2005, 07:25 PM

I had the same problem. It had to do with something XP SP2 / Media Player 6 / Internet Exploder most recent patch did. I have not been able to correct the problem either. If you figure it out please let me know. (It did not start until the recent IE / Media Player update for me.)

Ragnarok-X · #3 November 13th, 2005, 07:34 PM

*sigh*.

strange indeed. As mentioned, my current combo is xp pro, sp2, mediaplayer v9, im using firefox though.
Its definitly something about sp2 and codec, since all player reject to work properly. If i manually deinstall ALL video codecs, i can start most moviefiles without the lag i mentioned, though i get the visulation stuff and no proper image, the sound is at least working.
Weird.

Fyron · #4 November 13th, 2005, 09:22 PM

WiMP is not that great of an application.

What codecs specifically are you installing?

Ragnarok-X · #5 November 14th, 2005, 03:48 AM

Fyron, tried probably everything. From using no codec, to installing single ones (divx for example), to installing several codec pacs or only one single codec pac (free-codecs.net something). This is really weird, especially since the mini-preview works. Additionally, i tried divxplayer as well as the VLC player, and the same prob.

AgentZero · #6 November 14th, 2005, 04:31 AM

Hmmm... I've had similar problems before, but I can't really remember the precise steps that I used to get up and running again. If you haven't already re-installed a whole bunch of stuff, then I'd say do a format and reinstall Windows & SP2, but have a backup copy of all the codecs you've downloaded, plus a good third-party player. Media Player Classic is good, though I've had some issues when skipping around in bigger movies, but it should at least be enough to let you know if things are working again.

Once you do the reinstall, make sure to install the most recent/most stable version of your video drivers, then install all the codecs and run it through MPC. If it works, then great, if not, um, well I'm doing the same thing on Thursday or Friday so I'll let you know how it goes.

Fyron · #7 November 14th, 2005, 04:36 AM

Maybe SP 2 is broken? Try using SP 1 instead. SP 2 doesn't really add much necessary functionality and there are still a ton of critical security holes that are unpatched... Firefox is a better browser (popup blocker in IE 6 SP2), Kerio 2.1.5 is a better firewall, Spybot is a better anti-spyware program, etc.

dogscoff · #8 November 15th, 2005, 02:06 PM

I use jriver's media jukebox for all my movie/ music playing, and it never gives me any trouble. THere's a perfectly usable free version, it handles nearly all file formats thrown at it and it's very stable and user-friendly.

As for your mystery problem... stupid question, but have you tried going to view in windows explorer and switching off the preview mode? (ie switch it away from thumbnail)
Windows can use a lot of resorces as it tries to generate all those thumbnails, and if you try to run a video as well it probably will act up.

Ragnarok-X · #9 November 16th, 2005, 05:08 PM

Just wanted to let you guys know that it was probably a problem with my mainboard. I have Via KT400 chip. The Via homepage offers a patchbundle called "Via Hyperion 4in1". After i installed it, everything worked like it was supposed to be.
Just a minor problem, when playing F.E.A.R. i dont have sound anymore. Guess i will download patch 1.02 and some kind of audio-codec-pac.
Videos work fine though, as do all other games.

AC, try it out. "Hyperion 4in1", given you have a Via chipset.

Atrocities · #10 November 17th, 2005, 02:27 AM

Hey what is your opinion of F.E.A.R? Is it worth buying?