Vob & Mpg not playing on ext. desktop

[KenKelley]

The Video is visible in the Singers Display when it is on the host laptop screen. When I move the Singers Display to the Singers Monitor (extended desktop) the video disappears completly and the music continues to play,

[Chad Slater]

As of yet, I still cannot get mine to play as have basically given up. What is strange is that when I have to hoster window that is on the ext desktop and drag it over to my main desktop and hit play I can get the .VOB files to play but when I move it over the ext. desktop it goes black.

[KenKelley]

Chad,

I have submitted a ticket regarding this issue we have and have not heard anything as of this evening.

After doing a GOOGLE search on the subject, I've discovered a lot of folks have had issues with playing videos in the extended desktop. The search led me to an economical yet very time consuming work around.

One of the forums I visited suggested "Saving" the .vob as a different video file type. It was suggested in earlier posts to either "RIP" and save as a different file type or just change the file name. Neither worked for me as Ripping caused the guide vocals to be embedded on both channels which renders the MUX button useless. Windows 7 doesn't seem to allow a forced file extension change ("rename" the file from *.vob to *.wmv).

The work around that I have stumbled upon is this:

1. Open "Windows Live Movie Maker"
2. On the large open area to the right, click to browse for videos and photos.
3. Search for your .vob files and select one and it will open in Windows Live Movie Maker, you can even play it there.
4. Close to the upper left hand corner of the window you will see a dropdown menue button, click on it and bring your mouse pointer down to "Save Movie", then to the right and up to "For High-Definition Display" and click.
5. Give the movie a name and click save. (I recommend you save your first one or two to a different folder and test them after you have saved)
6. Close Windows Live Movie Maker and start Hoster, click on the Video button and search for the one you just saved and select.
7. Play the file and keep your fingers crossed for the outcome that you are looking for. (It has worked for me on my first attempt)

With all that being said, here is the draw back to doing this procedure for all your .vob files. It takes about 10 minutes per video to load and save and be prepared for the saved file size..... my first was double the size of the .vob (.vob = 220,000kb - .wmv 469-000kb).

My .vob collection is about 750 files. I'll pull out the calculator later but 10 minutes a file roughly equates to a lot of patience.

I hope MTU discovers a code to insert to Hoster soon so that we can just play the .vob files.

Hope this helps you. It's going to be a busy few weeks for me unless I can find a batch converter that will treat the files I have as Windows Live Movie Maker did.

Any suggestions out there?

Thanks in advance!

[Chad Slater]

Kelly,

Try winavi video converter. It is what I use and its fast

[KenKelley]

Chad,

What type of files did you convert to.

Thanks!

[Chad Slater]

I converted to mp4 and avi

[admin]

Don't know if this applies, but one of our "Windows changes" on our web site page customized for your Win Version, addresses the MICROSOFT problem that you must make this change to play video files from an external drive.

While installing Hoster, you had to click a checkbox that you have visited the web page for your Win Version, and made the changes. Some don't do that and if you didn't re-install Hoster using Update,and when this page appears, copy the URL presented. Visit the page and make the Windows changes.

Post back here if that solves your problem.

[KenKelley]

All Windows changes were made and reviewed 2 times. I do not play the files from an external hard drive as I have 2 500gig drives on board. The problem only pertains to .VOB file type as all others play just fine.

A ticket has been submitted regarding this problem.
Ticket # 28096-6721011453

[Chad Slater]

I too have double checked and I have all the list checked off that MTU recommends for WIN 7

[KenKelley]

Greetings all! I do appreciate all the tips that everyone has offered here, “Thank You!”, now after searching many “Windows 7 codec problem” forums, a fix has been discovered.


It would seem that the “Filter Merit” for Raw Video (seems to be associated with “.VOB” files) has a default setting in Windows 7 of “Do Not Use”.

The below worked on my Dell XPS, Windows 7 Professional, 64bit, Nvidia Video card, with “ALL” current updates installed (for the system and video card) to include the Bios and with the K-Lite “Full” codec pack w/update and the K-Lite 64bit codec pack installed.

1 - Get and run GSPOT 2.70a (this is software that allows for really tweaking FFDSHOW). Just incase the above link doesn’t work http://www.headbands.com/gspot/.
2 – After the Software is installed and running, go to menu click on “SYSTEM” then click on “LIST CODECS AND OTHER FILTERS”.
2 – In the window that pops up look under the “Type” Column, then look for “DSH”.
3 – Scroll down until you see “YV12” in the “Format”.
4 – Right click on “FFDSHOW RAW VIDEO FILTER"
5 – In the menu that pops up, select “Set Filter Merit”
6 – Slide the slider all the way to the top (0xf00000) and click OK button.
7 – I repeated the steps for the “Subtitles Filter” and “Video Encoder” just in case.
8 - Close the program and open Hoster and try your .VOB files.

I cannot take all the credit as a variation of the above was posted in http://www.sevenforums.com/music-pictures-video/9659-problem-codec-ffdshow-doesnt-work.html (scroll to the bottom of the forum posts). It must have worked for the individual who stated the initial problem as there are no more posts after that.

If you should discover that your MUX button does not work (might happen if your .VOB files use AC3 for the audio), let me know. I discovered a fix for that one also.

I must say “Hoster” is great! Too bad that Microsoft tosses curve balls!

[KenKelley]

Just tested the fix on Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit and it works!

[ddouglass]

Kelley thanks for the information. This will really help those who have Windows 7.

[BEECEE]

Originally Posted by kelleykd01

If you should discover that your MUX button does not work (might happen if your .VOB files use AC3 for the audio), let me know. I discovered a fix for that one also.

Kelley, I'd appreciate your help on the MUX button please. I've finally got around to importing some old U-best VCDs into Hoster. The MUX button works flawlessly on my XP pc. However, no go with the same VCD files imported onto my laptop Hoster with Windows 7 Ultimate (32 bit). Based on the research here on the forum I've installed the various codecs but I'm struggling to make any headway with the mux annoyance. I'm currently running Hoster 4.22 on both. Thanks in advance - Brian.

[KenKelley]

To get the MUX button to work on my machine with .VOB files and K-Lide Codec Pack installed, I did the following:


All Programs
Select K-Lite Codec Pack
Then Select Configuration
Select ffdshow audio decoder
in the window that opens, under the Format column click on AC3
on that same line, under the the Decoder column click on the decoder and a drop down window should appear with the following selections liba52, disable, and libavcodec (select this one).
In the lower right hand corner of the open window click on Apply.

The above worked for me with .VOB files from DVD's that utilize the AC3 Audio Format. I cannot say with any certainty that this will work for your U-Best VCD's.

Let me know how it works.

[BEECEE]

Thanks for your prompt reply Kelley. I implemented your advice by changing and applying the ffdshow audio decoder AC3 setting but the MUX button problem has not been resolved on my laptop with Win7 os. I even installed the latest K-Lite Codec Pack update V6.95 and that didn't resolve the issue either.

It's almost as if the ffdshow audio decoder is failing to launch when I play the VCD files via Hoster on my laptop. The little ffdshow icon does not appear in the task bar

Yet, on my Win XP PC when I play the same files through Hoster the black FFdshow icon does appear in the task bar - hence no probs with MUX in XP.

Back to the drawing board ...

[KenKelley]

It could be something pequliar to your particular VCD files as the few I have work flawlessly.

It is possiable that the audio on those files are not AC3 and need to be played through a regular karaoke player.

Sorry my suggestion did not solve your problem.

[admin]

Originally Posted by kelleykd01

Greetings all! I do appreciate all the tips that everyone has offered here, “Thank You!”, now after searching many “Windows 7 codec problem” forums, a fix has been discovered.

It would seem that the “Filter Merit” for Raw Video (seems to be associated with “.VOB” files) has a default setting in Windows 7 of “Do Not Use”.

The below worked on my Dell XPS, Windows 7 Professional, 64bit, Nvidia Video card, with “ALL” current updates installed (for the system and video card) to include the Bios and with the K-Lite “Full” codec pack w/update and the K-Lite 64bit codec pack installed.

[see original post for details]

If you should discover that your MUX button does not work (might happen if your .VOB files use AC3 for the audio), let me know. I discovered a fix for that one also.

I must say “Hoster” is great! Too bad that Microsoft tosses curve balls!

Kelly, this was an incredible piece of research. I truly thank you for doing this and posting it here. We're up to our eyeballs in Alligators with Hoster 5.00 and this video problem has been weighing heavily on my mind. Now I can relax a bit with this problem solved

MTUSUPPORT will write this up as a FAQ for others so he and Dale and others can reference it.

PS: I noted that BEECEE tried this and it didn't solve his problem. We'll need to try and work with him/her to solve the problem on their system.

Again... THANK YOU!

[KenKelley]

MTU Admin:

Your Welcome!

New discovery, some of my U-Best .VOB files still will not function properly, even with the fix. They will start, Hoster will count down for about 6 seconds then it is as if the song finished and it auto deletes from the playlist. I'm scratching my head on that one as all the Pioneer DVD Library files (also .VOB) play flawlessly. (I have even tried to rerip the files using IMTOO DVD Ripper.) Until I figure that one out, I have converted the files to .WMV. However the multiplexed tracks did not convert properly (When the Mux button is pressed the music track is no longer audiable and the only thing that is audible is the melody being represented by a midi instrument.).

BEECEE's problem was with the Mux button not functioning properly.

BEECEE keeps referenceing U-Best, VCD files.

I am not aware of any U-Best VCD type files other than .VOB.

I need a little more info on the U-Best VCD type files.

Hope BEECEE excaped the earth quake in New Zeland!

BEECEE:

Are the U-Best Disks, DVD or VCD?

What are the File Type Properties of the files while they are on your DVD/VCD?

What are the File Type Properties of the files now that they are on your hard drive?

How did you move the video files from the U-Best disks to your hard drive?
Did you just copy the files using Windows Explorer?
Or Did you rip the files using a DVD Ripper program?
If so, then what was the program?

Have you attempted to load a song directly from the disk?
If so, did the Mux Button work?

Please start one of the Videos in hoster as you normally would (from your hard drive) then explain exactally what happens when the Mux button is activated.

After doing the above try loading one of the videos directly from the DVD/VCD, start it and attempt to use the Mux botton and explain exactally what happened.

(*NOTE* Sometimes it takes my computer up to 5-6 seconds for the vocals to stop or to start on multiplexed disks. I do have a few files, about 75, that if the Mux button is pressed.... the music track is no longer audiable and the only thing that is audible is the melody being represented by a midi instrument. These are the tracks that I have converted from .VOB to .WMV)

[Roy Dennis]

Originally Posted by kelleykd01

MTU Admin:

Your Welcome!

New discovery, some of my U-Best .VOB files still will not function properly, even with the fix. They will start, Hoster will count down for about 6 seconds then it is as if the song finished and it auto deletes from the playlist. I'm scratching my head on that one as all the Pioneer DVD Library files (also .VOB) play flawlessly. (I have even tried to rerip the files using IMTOO DVD Ripper.) Until I figure that one out, I have converted the files to .WMV. However the multiplexed tracks did not convert properly (When the Mux button is pressed the music track is no longer audiable and the only thing that is audible is the melody being represented by a midi instrument.).

BEECEE's problem was with the Mux button not functioning properly.

BEECEE keeps referenceing U-Best, VCD files.

I am not aware of any U-Best VCD type files other than .VOB.

I need a little more info on the U-Best VCD type files.

Hope BEECEE excaped the earth quake in New Zeland!

BEECEE:

Are the U-Best Disks, DVD or VCD?

What are the File Type Properties of the files while they are on your DVD/VCD?

What are the File Type Properties of the files now that they are on your hard drive?

How did you move the video files from the U-Best disks to your hard drive?
Did you just copy the files using Windows Explorer?
Or Did you rip the files using a DVD Ripper program?
If so, then what was the program?

Have you attempted to load a song directly from the disk?
If so, did the Mux Button work?

Please start one of the Videos in hoster as you normally would (from your hard drive) then explain exactally what happens when the Mux button is activated.

After doing the above try loading one of the videos directly from the DVD/VCD, start it and attempt to use the Mux botton and explain exactally what happened.

(*NOTE* Sometimes it takes my computer up to 5-6 seconds for the vocals to stop or to start on multiplexed disks. I do have a few files, about 75, that if the Mux button is pressed.... the music track is no longer audiable and the only thing that is audible is the melody being represented by a midi instrument. These are the tracks that I have converted from .VOB to .WMV)

I just found a U Best VCD in my collection. When I open it in Windows Explorer There are 7 folders, 1 is named MPEGAV when this is opened there are all the files with a .Dat extension, I have tried just a couple of these files copied to the hard drive and loaded them into Hoster playlist and they played fine including the Mux control. I then tried playing them directly of the VCD they still played fine.

Regarding the DVDs, I have some DVDs that I also ripped with IMTOO DVD ripper. The problem with some DVDs they were not originally designed to play in Karaoke players, they do not always record the Lyric on one track. If you were to play them in a DVD player you get a menu at the start giving you an option to play the full song or just as Karaoke. Now they don't always record the lyrics on a single track as with CD+G, but put two versions on the disk both recorded in stereo one with lyrics one without. Hence on mine I just ripped the ones without lyrics so the mux button has no effect.
I don't know if this is the case with the UBest DVDs
Now on the ones I Ripped ( Not UBEST) when you open IMTOO DVD Ripper there is an Audio window to the top left with a drop down arrow. If you click the drop down arrow it may show more than one choice of audio to choose. On mine it gave two choices and if I RIP with the first one it is the full stereo and the other choice is without lyrics.

After double checking my VCD it is not "UBest" but "Best of the Best" so could be different to what you were asking.

[KenKelley]

Roy,

Thanks for the input!

I too have no problems with the Mux button while playing Pioneer DVD (.VOB) files as well as VCD (.DAT) files copied straight from the DVD/CD through Windows Explorer. If I rip the same files using IMTOO Ripper then the Mux button becomes useless as the ripper does not rip all the audio tracks.

The U-Best DVD files I have do not want to copy over the same as the Pioneer and I want to find out what is a little different. They do rip and convert to MP4 and play ok except one of the tracks is missing rendering the Mux button useless (I do get the music and video tracks but no guide vocals) which doesn't bother me.

I suspect the problem BEECEE is having is due to Ripping VCD (.DAT) files with a Ripper Program rather than copying them with Windows Explorer. Doing so will more than likely drop one of the audio tracks thus rendering the Mux button useless.

Hopefully BEECEE wasn't affected by the earth quake but I can see on the news that a protion of New Zeland is a mess.