[Maemo 5] Video playback problems in PR1.1
 

If this is posted elsewhere on these forums please link me, I did a search but couldn't find anything relevant.....

I have about 200 movies that I've converted into h.264/avc over the years when I had my iPhone, I've always had problems playing them on my N900, they play beautifully on iPhones (2G, 3G, 3GS)/iPod Touch's (1G)/Archos Box's/Blackberry Storms, yes I've tested all these devices over the years, these are the basic settings

I use Handbrake for mac

Size: 640x272 or 640x320 depending on the aspect ratio of the film
Encoder: x264
Quaitly: 53-60% constant depending on 'my opinion' the quailty of the film, I generally do action/sci-fi films at 60%, cartoons and dramas at 53%
FPS: same as source
Audio: AAC (Core Audio)

I've been using these settings for years and have worked over numerous devices...

When I first got my N900 the movies playback was very choppy with skipped frames, the minor update last week improved the playback slightly but skipped frames were still noticeable in fast moving scenes and now PR 1.1 refuses to play any of my media..

I have installed the extra decoders pack from devel but still no luck, as I do not have a Windows PC re-flashing my N900 is a problem, I know there is a flasher tool for mac's but to be honest I don't really wan't to risk 3rd Party Software fubar'ing my phone.

Any one got any ideas????

PS If anyone suggests re-encoding over 200 DVD's I will put a HEX on you..... :D

Re: Getting tired of Maemo/N900 movie playback
 

if the built-in player (gstreamer) fails then try mplayer from devel repository. if you want to have a gui install SiB as well. ;)

there is a discussion on videos on the n900 too -> http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...256#post473256

but i have to say that your settings seem really low. in this discussion the videos that have been tried had much higher settings and played nearly smooth.

Re: Getting tired of Maemo/N900 movie playback
 

Well this is interesting :(

I installed mplayer and SiB, but SiB does not even list these movies files but does list other files I have on there, some DivX stuff etc.. weird!!!

I really want to get this sorted, I watch a lot of movies on my phone (well did on my iPhone) when the wife watches crap like Big Brother.. :)

Re: Getting tired of Maemo/N900 movie playback
 

this is mentioned in this thread:
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=40315

if your videos are in the .video folder you have to add this folder manually. in the folder choosing window click long on the screen then you should be able to enable viewing of hidden folders and select the folder where your videos are placed in. ;)

Re: Getting tired of Maemo/N900 movie playback
 

I haven't had a problem with downloaded content or converted videos.

I don't think you need to rip every dvd again, but you may need to run each video file through handbrake again (ie your vids that play choppy). Look for the wiki article on n900 video conversion.

A few movie trailers for the n900, ignore my instructions they are for apple movie trailer conversion.
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=449583&postcount=1

Re: Getting tired of Maemo/N900 movie playback
 

Okie Dokie....

the .video folder was already added to SiB, so I copied an offending movie file to my memory card and removed the folder paths to video and .video but added the link to the folder housing the movie...

I restarted SiB but it is still not showing the video on the memory card...... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I also tried navigating the file manager and selecting the movie directly for playback but it refuses to play

my head hurts :(

Re: Getting tired of Maemo/N900 movie playback
 

what container are you using?
mkv? <- isn't well supported right now
mp4? <- this should work

Re: Getting tired of Maemo/N900 movie playback
 

Dude firstly Mucho Kudos to your continued help..

All the files on my N900 are m4v.

I tried using mplayer in the command line and got it to play the file but it crashes after 3 or 4 seconds.....

Re: Getting tired of Maemo/N900 movie playback
 

mhm... m4v is similar to mp4... just with additional DRM..
m4v isn't recognized by gstreamer (the built-in player)
mplayer seems to have trouble with this container.

you only have to change the container from m4v to mp4.
if it has DRM information in it remove it with requiem like stated in this wiki-entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4V

changing the container format should be done very quickly.

Re: Getting tired of Maemo/N900 movie playback
 

I believe I have some similarly ripped movies, if not I can recreate your settings and test it out. Not a lot of mac users on this forum :-D

I'll give it a look in the morning (not now, the real morning, like noon, hehe).

EDIT: b666 is probably right about the container. Since the files aren't DRM'd you can probably even get away with changing the extension. You can make an automator script to batch change them (test one first!)