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Author Topic:   Computer Help Please?
Dr Adequate
Member (Idle past 275 days)
Posts: 16113
Joined: 07-20-2006


Message 1 of 25 (724529)
04-17-2014 11:07 PM


After behaving strangely for a while, my computer went back to normal ... except that it won't play .wmv or .mp4 videos. It has no trouble with videos in general, it'll play .avi, for example, it just has trouble with those formats, which it never used to.
Any ideas what I should do? Thanks.

Replies to this message:
 Message 2 by hooah212002, posted 04-17-2014 11:30 PM Dr Adequate has not replied
 Message 3 by NosyNed, posted 04-17-2014 11:31 PM Dr Adequate has not replied

  
hooah212002
Member (Idle past 792 days)
Posts: 3193
Joined: 08-12-2009


Message 2 of 25 (724530)
04-17-2014 11:30 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Dr Adequate
04-17-2014 11:07 PM


What program do you use to watch those files? I suggest switching to VLC if you don't already use it. You won't have problems with any format ever. Plus it's open source (and free).

Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal, the pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Dr Adequate, posted 04-17-2014 11:07 PM Dr Adequate has not replied

  
NosyNed
Member
Posts: 8996
From: Canada
Joined: 04-04-2003


Message 3 of 25 (724531)
04-17-2014 11:31 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Dr Adequate
04-17-2014 11:07 PM


Guessing
I wonder if the codecs for those particular formats have been screwed up? You could try googling and getting a new copy.
I'm just guessing though.
abe: I use VLC for everything too. It works very well.
Edited by NosyNed, : No reason given.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Dr Adequate, posted 04-17-2014 11:07 PM Dr Adequate has not replied

  
Dr Adequate
Member (Idle past 275 days)
Posts: 16113
Joined: 07-20-2006


Message 4 of 25 (724532)
04-17-2014 11:46 PM


I too use VLC.

  
hooah212002
Member (Idle past 792 days)
Posts: 3193
Joined: 08-12-2009


Message 5 of 25 (724533)
04-17-2014 11:50 PM


What error do you get? What happens when you try to open those files?
install this: http://www.cccp-project.net/ (the CCCP one, not insurgent)
Edited by hooah212002, : No reason given.

Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal, the pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything.

Replies to this message:
 Message 6 by Dr Adequate, posted 04-18-2014 3:21 AM hooah212002 has replied

  
Dr Adequate
Member (Idle past 275 days)
Posts: 16113
Joined: 07-20-2006


Message 6 of 25 (724558)
04-18-2014 3:21 AM
Reply to: Message 5 by hooah212002
04-17-2014 11:50 PM


What error do you get? What happens when you try to open those files?
They play ... kind of. Sometimes the screen is all gray, sometimes its grey overlying the movie, sometimes there are some blocks which are gray and some blocks which are the true color of the movie ... and when I say "sometimes" I mean it varies from one to the other every half second or so. It looks, in fact, like the .wmv or .mp4 file is fucked, but it isn't, the same file plays fine on other computers.
install this: http://www.cccp-project.net/ (the CCCP one, not insurgent)
Their player "terminates unexpectedly" whenever I try to open anything, including files in a format I can play.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 5 by hooah212002, posted 04-17-2014 11:50 PM hooah212002 has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 7 by hooah212002, posted 04-18-2014 3:51 AM Dr Adequate has replied
 Message 8 by NoNukes, posted 04-18-2014 5:53 AM Dr Adequate has not replied
 Message 10 by NoNukes, posted 04-18-2014 11:11 AM Dr Adequate has not replied

  
hooah212002
Member (Idle past 792 days)
Posts: 3193
Joined: 08-12-2009


Message 7 of 25 (724559)
04-18-2014 3:51 AM
Reply to: Message 6 by Dr Adequate
04-18-2014 3:21 AM


They play ... kind of. Sometimes the screen is all gray, sometimes its grey overlying the movie, sometimes there are some blocks which are gray and some blocks which are the true color of the movie ... and when I say "sometimes" I mean it varies from one to the other every half second or so. It looks, in fact, like the .wmv or .mp4 file is fucked, but it isn't, the same file plays fine on other computers.
Have you tried a difference media player (Windows Media Player, MediaMonkey, XBMC, Quicktime (yuck))?
Their player "terminates unexpectedly" whenever I try to open anything, including files in a format I can play.
CCCP is "Combined Community Codec Pack: it is not a player, it is a pack of codecs for you to install. You are running Windows, right?
Edited by hooah212002, : No reason given.

Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal, the pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 6 by Dr Adequate, posted 04-18-2014 3:21 AM Dr Adequate has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 11 by Dr Adequate, posted 04-18-2014 12:04 PM hooah212002 has replied
 Message 18 by xongsmith, posted 04-18-2014 2:53 PM hooah212002 has seen this message but not replied

  
NoNukes
Inactive Member


Message 8 of 25 (724561)
04-18-2014 5:53 AM
Reply to: Message 6 by Dr Adequate
04-18-2014 3:21 AM


It looks, in fact, like the .wmv or .mp4 file is fucked, but it isn't, the same file plays fine on other computers.
I have an older, less capable computer, and the symptoms you describe are things I see when there are not enough CPU cycles available to render things properly.
Lots of things can cause that, including malware chewing up cycles and not having enough swap space available because your hard drive is full.
Take a look at your task manager and see if you are near 100% utilization. Installing a codec pack is not going to help.
Also the VLC video player plays just about everything without having to install codecs.
Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.
Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also in prison. Thoreau: Civil Disobedience (1846)
I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him. Galileo Galilei
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. Frederick Douglass

This message is a reply to:
 Message 6 by Dr Adequate, posted 04-18-2014 3:21 AM Dr Adequate has not replied

  
JonF
Member (Idle past 158 days)
Posts: 6174
Joined: 06-23-2003


Message 9 of 25 (724587)
04-18-2014 10:27 AM


I'm seeing VLC not playing wmv in Windows 8.1, but it's doing mp4 just fine. Try Process Explorer. Drag the graphs at the top into a separate window, and hovering the cursor over peaks will tell you what program is causing the peak. Also scan with Malwarebytes (at the end of the installation be sure to uncheck "Activate trial...").

  
NoNukes
Inactive Member


Message 10 of 25 (724592)
04-18-2014 11:11 AM
Reply to: Message 6 by Dr Adequate
04-18-2014 3:21 AM


It looks, in fact, like the .wmv or .mp4 file is fucked, but it isn't, the same file plays fine on other computers.
Now that I think about it, I have run into the occasional wmv file that VLC does not handle. Usually when I encounter that, I go find another version of whatever the video, or re-encode it using something like WinFF or other free stuff.
mp4 files do take require a bit more CPU to play than do avi files. VLC may be transcoding them on the fly. I'd definitely check the utilization. That process manager JonF mentioned sounds like a good idea.
Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also in prison. Thoreau: Civil Disobedience (1846)
I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him. Galileo Galilei
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. Frederick Douglass

This message is a reply to:
 Message 6 by Dr Adequate, posted 04-18-2014 3:21 AM Dr Adequate has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 12 by JonF, posted 04-18-2014 12:17 PM NoNukes has replied

  
Dr Adequate
Member (Idle past 275 days)
Posts: 16113
Joined: 07-20-2006


Message 11 of 25 (724595)
04-18-2014 12:04 PM
Reply to: Message 7 by hooah212002
04-18-2014 3:51 AM


Have you tried a difference media player (Windows Media Player, MediaMonkey, XBMC, Quicktime (yuck))?
Yes.
CCCP is "Combined Community Codec Pack: it is not a player, it is a pack of codecs for you to install. You are running Windows, right?
Well it comes with a thing called Media Player Classic Home Cinema, so I tried using that. Will it have put the codecs where other media players can see them?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 7 by hooah212002, posted 04-18-2014 3:51 AM hooah212002 has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 13 by hooah212002, posted 04-18-2014 12:34 PM Dr Adequate has replied

  
JonF
Member (Idle past 158 days)
Posts: 6174
Joined: 06-23-2003


Message 12 of 25 (724596)
04-18-2014 12:17 PM
Reply to: Message 10 by NoNukes
04-18-2014 11:11 AM


NoNukes: check out AVanti. You might have to run it in XP compatibility mode, but it does much more than WinFF, which I often require, and allows writing simple AVISynth scripts in it rather than using an avs as a source. Context sensitive help and a few hidden gems.
Incredibly there are people in this world who can create command lines FFMpeg. Far beyond my capabilities.
Edited by JonF, : No reason given.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 10 by NoNukes, posted 04-18-2014 11:11 AM NoNukes has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 17 by NoNukes, posted 04-18-2014 2:41 PM JonF has not replied

  
hooah212002
Member (Idle past 792 days)
Posts: 3193
Joined: 08-12-2009


Message 13 of 25 (724598)
04-18-2014 12:34 PM
Reply to: Message 11 by Dr Adequate
04-18-2014 12:04 PM


Try some of what is suggested here: https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=20887. Namely the following:
quote:
Assuming that you have tried to reset the defaults or better yet erase the preferences directory. C:\Documents and Settings\Owner (this is you)\Application Data\VLC Erase VLC, Application Data is a hidden directory so you will need to make it visible. Reset can be accomplished external to VLC by going to Start Menu. Programs, VideoLAN and selecting the reset icon or internal to VLC through Miscellaneous, Preferences, reset. Then you must restart VLC.
You can try the following:
1. Open VLC, Be sure you are in the wxWidgets (this is the default) mode, from the "Settings" pull down check "Extend GUI", on the video tab check "enable" and then "restore defaults". Now try calling a file into VLC. If you have just reset VLC I would not suspect this one.
2. Some games store information by changing settings on your video card so it would be smart to reset your video card to its defaults for 3D, OpenGL and Overlay
3. change resolutions of your video card. If you are at 1024x768 for example go to 800x600.
4. Change color depths of your video card. If you are at 32 bit color try 24 bit or 16 bit.
5. Try shutting off the video acceleration inside VLC. Settings, Preferences, Video, untick the "Overlay video output" box and save. Now close VLC and restart. Then try to call a file, within VLC.
6. As a last resort, try opening VLC Settings, Preferences, Video, Output Modules and using the pull down to select "Windows GDI video output". Then save, restart VLC and try to call a file.
Most of these things are tests to try to expose your problem. So it is suggested to put things back the way it was if it had no change to your problem. Also always call a file into VLC to rule out a possible Windows interface problem.
Please note that if 5 or 6 works, it is probably time to update your video drivers and or DirectX. The last runtime version (I believe) was Feb. 06 and is not automatic nor is the version changed from 9c.
I am hesitant to send you on a troubleshooting goosechase, but a google search of "VLC grey screen/video WMV" brings up just that: a bunch of different shit to try. My abilities are sorely lacking when I cannot replicate the problem or if the problem is somewhat unique.
When you said you did try other media players, did they work with those and it is just VLC that does not? Or is it all of your installed media players that sometimes have issues?
Well it comes with a thing called Media Player Classic Home Cinema, so I tried using that. Will it have put the codecs where other media players can see them?
Hmm, I did not know it also installed a media player. CCCP is the de facto codec pack for people that aquire media from less than legit sources (.mkv's are a troublesome container, but widely popular for DVD/bluray rips), but the media player not so much.
Lastly, is VLC up to date? Can you compare your version (on the toolbar of VLC, help>about OR help>check for updates) with the latest version here: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html (2.1.3 Rincewind is the latest).
Edited by hooah212002, : No reason given.

Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal, the pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 11 by Dr Adequate, posted 04-18-2014 12:04 PM Dr Adequate has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 14 by Dr Adequate, posted 04-18-2014 1:43 PM hooah212002 has replied

  
Dr Adequate
Member (Idle past 275 days)
Posts: 16113
Joined: 07-20-2006


Message 14 of 25 (724602)
04-18-2014 1:43 PM
Reply to: Message 13 by hooah212002
04-18-2014 12:34 PM


Lastly, is VLC up to date?
Ah, no. That's fixed it.
As I said, my computer was behaving oddly for a while, and then it stopped. When it stopped, it spontaneously reverted to an earlier state; it left my data files alone, but some programs disappeared and even my background wallpaper went back a few years.
Well, apparently VLC reverted to version 0.8. Now I've updated to the latest version, it works fine.
Thanks.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 13 by hooah212002, posted 04-18-2014 12:34 PM hooah212002 has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 20 by hooah212002, posted 04-18-2014 3:31 PM Dr Adequate has not replied

  
Dr Adequate
Member (Idle past 275 days)
Posts: 16113
Joined: 07-20-2006


Message 15 of 25 (724603)
04-18-2014 1:45 PM


Second Question
How do I get rid of adware? Sites I don't want to open keep hijacking my browser.

Replies to this message:
 Message 16 by NoNukes, posted 04-18-2014 2:38 PM Dr Adequate has replied
 Message 19 by JonF, posted 04-18-2014 2:56 PM Dr Adequate has not replied
 Message 21 by hooah212002, posted 04-18-2014 3:35 PM Dr Adequate has replied

  
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