Q. What configuration changes do I need to make to my firewall or router to enable live TV/streaming?
A.
The live TV/streaming functions on a seperate port from the main WebGuide site. This is necessary for the streaming to be served to your media player (usually Windows Media Player), and the rest of the website to be served on the other port.
These ports are configured in the WebGuide configuration tool. Once set, you need to set your router to forward requests for the configure port to WebGuide. If available and enabled, the WebGuide configuration tool will attempt to configure your Windows firewall exceptions and your UPnP enabled router automatically.
More information on setting up routers and configuring port-forwarding can be found at the following sites:
- http://www.portforward.com
- http://lifehacker.com
Microsoft has a useful tool to test your router:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/using/tools/igd
|
Q. Streaming works well inside my LAN, but not outside. I just see a black screan and then it disconnects. What is wrong?
A.
This is usually caused by the video port being blocked by your router. The live TV/streaming functions on a seperate port from the main WebGuide site. This is necessary for the streaming to be served to your media player (usually Windows Media Player), and the rest of the website to be served on the other port.
These ports are configured in the WebGuide configuration tool. Once set, you need to set your router to forward requests for the configure port to WebGuide. If available and enabled, the WebGuide configuration tool will attempt to configure your Windows firewall exceptions and your UPnP enabled router automatically.
More information on setting up routers and configuring port-forwarding can be found at the following sites:
- http://www.portforward.com
- http://lifehacker.com
Microsoft has a useful tool to test your router:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/using/tools/igd
|
Q. When I launch the live TV window, the video window is black and the counter ticks for 15-20 seconds and then stops. How do I fix this?
A.
This is usually caused by a port configuration problem. If Windows Media Player cannot reach the streaming server (thus showing all black), the server will assume there are no connections and will stop streaming the program. Verify that your ports are configured correctly.
More information on setting up routers and configuring port-forwarding can be found at the following sites:
- http://www.portforward.com
- http://lifehacker.com
|
Q. When I launch the live TV window, the video is black, but the progress bar keeps playing for more than 15 seconds. How do I fix this?
A.
This is usually caused by an issue with the MPEG2 decoder having difficulties converting the program. Many users have reported this issue with PAL recordings and the NVidia Purevideo decoder. Here are a few things to try:
- Select a transcoder in the configuration tool. If you select "default" directshow will try to do all of the work selecting the "best" decoder.
- If you select a different transcoder, WG will preload directshow with that decoder, thus giving it a hint, and will try to use it if possible. In testing, I have found the CyberLink PowerDVD decoder to work the most consistently.
- The last choice is to use an "override.grf" file. This is an advanced solution for those users who want to "tinker" with things in a more detailed manner. This is a filter-graph that will specifiy any filters you want directshow to use. WebGuide will then preload this file before starting the stream, and direcshow will try to use any of these filters possible. To create an "override.grf" file, download the "GraphEdit" tool from the download page. Run the program and add any filters you want to force. This is usually just a single filter (the mpeg decoder), but can also include any other filters you want it to use (such as audio filters).
When running, WebGuide will save log data to the "app_data" folder. This data can be helpful when trying to identify the cause of the problem. Additionally, it will save the full Filtergraph file (.grf) that it used for transcoding. Again, this may be helpful for debugging purposes.
|
Q. When I launch the live TV window, I immediately get an error displayed noting a problem with connecting the filters; such as "No combination of filters could be found". How do I fix this?
A.
This is usually caused by an issue with the MPEG2 decoder having difficulties converting the program and finding the correct filters to decode the program. Here are a few things to try:
- Select a transcoder in the configuration tool. If you select "default," directshow will try to select the "best" decoder.
- If you select a different transcoder, WG will preload directshow with that decoder, thus giving it a hint, and will try to use it if possible. In testing, I have found the CyberLink PowerDVD decoder to work the most consistently.
- The last choice is to use an "override.grf" file. This is an advanced solution for those users who want to "tinker" with things in a more detailed manner. This is a filter-graph that will specifiy any filters you want directshow to use. WebGuide will then preload this file before starting the stream, and direcshow will try to use any of the possible filters. To create an "override.grf" file, download the "GraphEdit" tool from the download page. Run the program and add any filters you want to force. This is usually just a single filter (the mpeg decoder), but can also include any other filters you want it to use (such as audio filters).
When running, WebGuide will save log data to the "app_data" folder. This data can be helpful when trying to identify the cause of the problem. Additionally, it will save the full Filtergraph file (.grf) that it used for transcoding. Again, this may be helpful for debugging purposes.
|
Q. I am able to watch live TV, but after a little while the video begins stuttering or doesn't refresh the video very often. How do I fix this?
A.
This could be caused by two things, both related:
- Transcoding is a CPU intensive task. As such, if your CPU isn't poweful enough, it may not be able to convert the video fast enough for the video player.
- There may have been network congestion or a brief time of high CPU usage on the PC, which caused the issue.
Normally, this can be fixed by pressing the "skip-back" button or right-clicking on the Media Player window and clicking stop/play in quick succession. This will cause the media player to pause and refill the buffer. If this contiues to happen, you should select a lower transcoding profile to ease some of the burden on the CPU. In testing, a 2.4 GHz P4 machine was able to transcode a program at medium quaility using about 70% of the CPU. Another dual-core 2.2 GHz AMD machine transcoded the same file at about 30-40% of the CPU. Different MPEG2 decoders and transcoding profiles will use differing amounts of resources.
|
Q. Why is there a delay when I push a button to pause/skip?
A.
Since WebGuide is converting the program for streaming over the internet, there will be a "buffer" added so that the media player has a few seconds of video stored in memory (usually between 5 and 10 seconds). This helps overcome issues with network congestion and other slowdowns.
|
Q. I use Freeview in the UK with a DVB-T tuner and I can't stream live TV. How do I fix this?
A.
Through experimentation, we've found that the following is needed to view this signal. It appears that the Dobly Digital audio format is causing problems.
To fix this, grab "AC3Filter". It is a free filter that will decode Dolby Digital (AC3) audio. http://ac3filter.net/index.php?name=Sections&req=viewarticle&artid=1
Use the WebGuide configuration tool to select the new decoder.
|
Q. My TV format is PAL, and I just see a black screen when I stream. How do I fix this?
A.
There is a known compatibility issue between PAL recordings and most MPEG2 decoders (including the one included in Vista). As a fix, simply install the trial version of CyberLink PowerDVD decoder and select it from the "decoder" list in the WebGuide configuration tool (in your Start menu).
Most users have reported that this fixes their streaming problem, and supposedly the decoder keeps working after the trial period is over.
|
Q. Why can't I stream OTA (over the air) HD TV?
A.
If the content isn't protected (which most OTA HD is not), WebGuide should be able to stream the file. Most likely it is failing due to one of the default codecs not working correctly with streaming.
Try the following steps:
First, try installing the open-source AC3 Filter here:
http://ac3filter.net/index.php?name=Sections&req=viewarticle&artid=1
This will install a filter to be used when encoding the Dolby Digital audio.
They may fix the issue, but probably not. If not, then try installing the Cyberlink Power DVD trial version here:
http://www.download.com/CyberLink-PowerDVD/3000-2139_4-10533000.html
Then go into the WebGuide configuration tool and open the “streaming TV” configuration popup, and choose “Cyberlink…” as your MPEG2 decoder. This will force WebGuide to use the new decoder if possible. Word has it that the decoder still works after the trial period has expired. Just the DVD application stops working.
|
Q. I can stream live TV, but I'm not able to stream recorded TV. Windows Media Player launches and I get an error. How for I gix this?
A.
If WebGuide finds a pre-existing WMV or AVI in your Recorded TV folder with the same name as the DVR-MS file, it will stream that file instead of streaming "on-the-fly". If you would like to stream on-the-fly, you should turn off automatic batch conversions and remove the WMV's from the Recorded TV folder.
|
Q. What is the difference between the "Play" button and the "Stream" button?
A.
The "play" button attempts to play the original DVR-MS file via shared folders on your network without transcoding. This is great for a LAN because there is no performance hit and you get the original quality. However, you can't stream this file across the internet (due to size and format), and mobile devices don't have decoders, so that is where the "streaming" comes in. WebGuide can convert the DVR-MS file to WMV on the fly to allow other devices to access it in an easier format.
|
Q. On my mobile device, I can hear audio, but no video. What is wrong?
A.
By default, the Media Player in Windows Mobile is setup for low bandwidth - thus it is disabling the video. Open the settings and change the network setting for connection speed to match the correct setting. This should allow both audio and video to work correctly.
|
Q. How do I create my own 'filtergraph' for WebGuide to use when streaming?
A.
First, download GraphEdit from the download page and extract it to a workign folder.
- Open Graphedit.
- Drag a DVR-MS file into the window. It will popuplate all of the filters needed to play a DVR-MS file. Note however, that just because it plays the MPEG in this configuration, it doesn't necessarily mean that it will be able to stream the file with this configuration. So it may take experimentation.
- Delete all of the filters except for the middle ones (usually the MPEG2 video and audio decoder). This should usually leave 2 filters, but there may be an extra audio filter in there if you have a special configuration.
- If you have any "connected" filters (lines between them), click on the connection and delete it. WebGuide will do this later.
- If it didn't add the filter you want, press the "blue" box in the tool-bar to manually add filters. Then expand the "Directshow" tree and find/add the filters you want.
- Save this filtergraph as "override.grf" into your WebGuide "app_data" folder.
- Open the WebGuide config tool and choose "override.grf" for the MPEG2 decoder.
The next time you stream, WebGuide will preload your graph - which in turn gives DirectShow a "hint" of where to start when connecting the filters. It will try to use these filters before it goes searching for other matches.
As mentioned, this isn't a guarentee. You may still need to try different combinations of audio/video filters by manually adding them to the graph.
When WebGuide runs, it will create a "filtergraph.grf" file of the filters it used (or partially used in case of failure). This can be handy at helping you create a new override graph.
Here is an example override.grf file that loads the Cyberlink audio and video decoders.
|