Here is what Plays and what does not

[cadbusca]

So hit the down arrow again.

[Matti-Koopa]

@jhb50 wrote:

So hit the down arrow again.

I tried that. Nothing happens….

I am curious as to why some files have no sound also.

[cadbusca]

Why not report it in the tracker as a bug. Some work has been done on ISO’s in the recent SVNs.

[Creo]

I’m resurrecting an old thread here, but I think this may be the most appropriate place to post about my experiences of getting WiiMc to do what I wanted it to do. Sorry for such a long post, but I hope the knowledge passed on is worth it.

I wish to use my Wii as a video jukebox with a networked disk drive as the filestore to reduce the handling damage to some of the DVDs that the children use regularly. I have waded through the various posts with what
works/doesn’t work and been left confused. Here’s what I’ve learned after spending a lot of time mucking around.

As a minimum I needed the Wii to operate correctly with 720×576 25/50Hz source material (I live in Europe) – it was hard to decide if some of the advice given in the forums was relevant because it was written for a different part of the world. My Wii is one of the newer ones so it does not have any internal support for playing DVDs. I have no wish to have a PC running in the background running VLC Shares (as many people appear to) because it would go
away from the simple system that I wanted to the point that the children could use it (ie turn on network disk drive. Turn on hub/router. Turn on Wii and go.)

I have a 1GB disk drive operating with a Linksys NSLU2 wired network filestore using stock Linksys firmware (There are a number of hacks available for NSLU2 because the firmware used is Linux based). It appears on the network as a SMB share. The NSLU2 can operate with disks formatted differently, however it operates fastest and most reliably using a disk formatted with it’s native E3FS (a linux) file format.

It is important to note that the file extension of a video file name is not a reliable way to work out which of many possible codecs have been used to make the file. To find out what codec has been used you need to try and play the
video file with PC based media player or use a software analayser such as ‘Mediainfo’. Unfortunately WiiMC currently provides no information about any files it is asked to play, so the only way to find out is the hard way!

In the first instance I transcoded a couple of DVDs to H264/AVC/Mpeg 4, part 10 using ‘Handbrake’ (which I’ve used successfully with ipods and hacked satnav’s) to try. This is a modern video file format (it’s the most popular file format used on bluray disks) and will generally reduce a dvd file size to about a third of the original whilst still retaining reasonable quality. The downside of this fromat is that it needs significant processing power to decode and play the video correctly, although this can be mitigated slightly by choosing the correct encoding options. In the first instance, using standard encoding options, the Wii crashed quickly on loading any video. I tried a lower resolution which was successful, but the picture quality was too poor to be watchable for long. I tried different encoding parameters to make the video file easier and quicker to decode (there are options you can set for this purpose) and the Wii performed well for several minutes before it froze. Jumping around the video using the scroll bar would cause the Wii to hang fairly quickly. I eventually gave up on trying to get this video format to work. It may work for you if you choose the encoding and display resolution options carefully.

I next tried H262/Mpeg 2, which is the native format that DVDs use and is now an elderly, not particularly efficient (by today’s standards) video format. It’s quick and easy to combine the relevant .vob files from the dvd and rename the combined file to something sensible. The Wii plays these files well, however the Wii spends a lot of time buffering because the built in wireless networking is simply not fast enough to keep going at the required rate. Improving the wireless signal at the Wii made little difference. I then used a usb to wired network adapter that works with the Wii (plenty of choice on ebay/amazon etc) and this is fast enough to produce DVD quality images with no pauses for buffering. Jumping forwards and backwards through the video worked without failure. Success! :-). The upside of this method is that there is little time spent transcoding video formats and it works well, quickly. The downside is that disk space is not used efficiently and wired networking is required to make it work.

Finally I tried transcoding a couple of DVDs to H263/Mpeg 4, part 2/Divx which sits between the above two standrads in terms of complexity. This is now generally considered an obsolescent standard since the widespread
adoption of H264 based encoding. I had really good results with this. File sizes were about half the DVD file size with no noticeable degradation of picture quality from the DVD original and the Wii was able to play them well without hanging or pausing for buffering. Jumping around the video file using the scroll bar worked well. The inbuilt wireless networking is sufficiently fast so there are no pauses for buffering, provided there is a reasonable signal available. There are a number of different transcoding software packages available online. Most of them are no longer maintained because everybody now wants to use H264. These older software packages for transcoding video to H263 are relatively slow because they do not make the best use of modern 64 bit operating systems and cpus. The transcoding software I used is called ‘AVI.Net’ and can be readily found by your favourite serch engine. This software will allow batch processing, so large numbers of DVDs can be transcoded with no manual intervention after setup. I’ve settled on this format and the children and I are now happy that it all works. The Wii was underused, but it now has a purpose in its life and is now earning its place by the telly.

Hope this helps and someone learns.

Regards,

Peter

[Anonymous]

I am having some problems playing self made iso files using “dvd shrink”
The video plays fine but the audio doesn’t work
I’ve tried getting rid of the 5.1 track and just using the stereo but it still doesn’t work.

I re-size the iso to just under 4GB to be compatible with the fat32 formatted drive and “reauthor” it so its just the movie and no menu or extras.
I’m sure I could convert them to a different format but I’ve got the HDD space and I like the quality of the video

Any advice? or should I just forget it and use avi format?

[krivoz]

seems .swf files in Navi aren’t workin

[ElricX]

You’re talking about streaming, but you will say that it is the same for direct playback from connected HD?

[littlegto]

I want to commend the developers/contributors, seems like a well polished product, I have had good results with the youtube feature. However, roughly after a minute of streaming an mkv file from a windows share wiimc reloads, i’m using version 1.2.9. Below is the media info if that is helpful, created from handbrake using the appletv profile.

Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42
File size : 268 MiB
Duration : 17mn 38s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 2 127 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2012-03-31 16:20:20
Tagged date : UTC 2012-03-31 16:39:21
Writing application : HandBrake 0.9.5 2011010300

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 17mn 38s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 1 513 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Minimum frame rate : 19.965 fps
Maximum frame rate : 59.920 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.183
Stream size : 191 MiB (71%)
Writing library : x264 core 112
Encoding settings : cabac=0 / ref=2 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=0 / open_gop=0 / weightp=0 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=20.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=3 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=9500 / vbv_bufsize=9500 / crf_max=0.0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00 / nal_hrd=none
Encoded date : UTC 2012-03-31 16:20:20
Tagged date : UTC 2012-03-31 16:39:21
Color primaries : BT.601-6 525, BT.1358 525, BT.1700 NTSC, SMPTE 170M
Transfer characteristics : BT.709-5, BT.1361
Matrix coefficients : BT.601-6 525, BT.1358 525, BT.1700 NTSC, SMPTE 170M

Audio #1
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 17mn 38s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 160 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 283 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : -50ms
Stream size : 20.2 MiB (8%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2012-03-31 16:20:20
Tagged date : UTC 2012-03-31 16:39:20

Audio #2
ID : 3
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : ac-3
Duration : 17mn 38s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 448 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : -50ms
Stream size : 56.5 MiB (21%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2012-03-31 16:20:20
Tagged date : UTC 2012-03-31 16:39:20

Text
ID : 4
Format : Apple text
Codec ID : text
Duration : 17mn 38s
Bit rate : 0 bps
Stream size : 23.0 Bytes (0%)
Encoded date : UTC 2012-03-31 16:20:20
Tagged date : UTC 2012-03-31 16:39:21

**edit**
As I posted below, I upgraded to 1.3 and switched to a standard remote and it is working perfectly with h.264 even from a share on a router with the tomatoe firmware.

[viper610]

I noticed that H.264-coded MP4 files will go out of sync (audio lags video), whereas the Xvid avi’s did not – they played right through without issue.

My evaluation/test was season 7 of Bones – the format changed from epi6 to 7

When watching H.264 files I could get audio to sync back…sort of… if I stopped watching ( returning to file list) and going back into same video.

S~

[cadbusca]

This has been explained many times. Any video over 640 wide and in particular h264 will start to demand more resource to decode than the wii can offer thereby slowing the video while the audio plays normally and the sync will get progressively worse. Some videos up to 854 wide will play OK but beyond that width they all seem to slow down.

[littlegto]

Working perfect now, may have been the remote I was using as I observed similar lock-ups with other apps. I also upgraded 1.3. Now I’m streaming from a share created in the tomatoe firewall.

[sonixax]

hi, i was able to set it up just fine… the only thing is that everything i try is oos…
and i also dont think that vlc is really transcoding, but just streaming… since i looked at the stream information and those were only the original ones video is avc audio is aac in a mp4 container.

anyone know if the vlc commandlines are different mayb for vlc version 2.02? or does vlc mayb first need to have the ffmpeg path info?

edit: sorry wanted to post in the vlc stream thread originally, but mayb you can help me after all 🙂

[jah619]

Attempt to my post:

General

Complete name                            : WWE.Raw.08.20.12.DSR.XviD-XWTWWE.Raw.08.20.12.DSR.XviD-XWT.avi

Format                                   : AVI

Format/Info                              : Audio Video Interleave

File size                                : 1.30 GiB

Duration                                 : 2h 18mn

Overall bit rate                         : 1 338 Kbps



Video

ID                                       : 0

Format                                   : MPEG-4 Visual

Format profile                           : Advanced Simple@L5

Format settings, BVOP                    : 2

Format settings, QPel                    : No

Format settings, GMC                     : No warppoints

Format settings, Matrix                  : Default (H.263)

Codec ID                                 : XVID

Codec ID/Hint                            : XviD

Duration                                 : 2h 18mn

Bit rate                                 : 1 198 Kbps

Width                                    : 640 pixels

Height                                   : 368 pixels

Display aspect ratio                     : 1.739

Frame rate                               : 25.000 fps

Color space                              : YUV

Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0

Bit depth                                : 8 bits

Scan type                                : Progressive

Compression mode                         : Lossy

Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.203

Stream size                              : 1.16 GiB (90%)

Writing library                          : XviD 1.1.2 (UTC 2006-11-01)



Audio

ID                                       : 1

Format                                   : MPEG Audio

Format version                           : Version 1

Format profile                           : Layer 3

Mode                                     : Joint stereo

Mode extension                           : MS Stereo

Codec ID                                 : 55

Codec ID/Hint                            : MP3

Duration                                 : 2h 18mn

Bit rate mode                            : Constant

Bit rate                                 : 128 Kbps

Channel(s)                               : 2 channels

Sampling rate                            : 44.1 KHz

Compression mode                         : Lossy

Stream size                              : 127 MiB (10%)

Alignment                                : Split accross interleaves

Interleave, duration                     : 26 ms (0.65 video frame)

Interleave, preload duration             : 500 ms

With 1.3.0 after 1 or 2 minutes the WII goes on STILL IMAGE and goes in CRASH!! After that i need to force the shutdown, i have try to read this file from a kingstone datatraveler 8Gb in FAT32 and from my hd in FAT32 connected on first USB1 port.

[davec]

Does WiiMC support Webm?

[cadbusca]

Why don’t you try it and see?

[Author]

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