VLC 0.85 doesnt play video files with AC3 anymore since ....

[Omen]

hi.

i have some AVI videos with AC3 sound.
SPDIF is setup for output in VLC.
it always worked fine.

now i have a problem on my media center. MCE uses powerDVD.
some days ago i accidently opened an MP3 with powerDVD.

since this day VLC cant open videos with AC3 sound anymore.
well actually it does open the video, but there is no picture and no sound ... just the position indicator moving way too fast.

as far as i know VLC uses only his own codecs .. so i wonder what powerDVD could have done ... but searching the internet i found a lot of people with the same problem.

i also tried other players ... but none of them was able to open these videos anymore.

wth has powerDVD done to my mediacenter and how to repair this ?
somebody got a clue ?

thanks.

PS: i also uninstalled VLC and installed it again .. still same problem

[Omen]

has no one an answer to this ?

[VLC_help]

Have you restarted the computer?

[DJ]

You are correct, VLC uses its own libraries to play media files. It seems unlikely that another program would interfere with this unless something has changed at the system level. You could try resetting VLC's preferences, but if other players are having a problem then it is unlikely this will make a difference. Try running a DirectX diagnostic and one of the tests should point to the problem.

Of coarse rebooting the machine won't hurt if the current session in Windows is screwed up somehow.

[Omen]

hi again.

meanwhile i even did a system restore to a date where it was working.
but still the same problem.
no videos with AC3 sound are played.

what do i have to look for in dxdiag ?

[DJ]

That there aren't any problems encountered and acceleration is on ???

[Omen]

dxdiag shows no problems and acceleration is on max level.

[DJ]

OK! Considering all players are affected, about the only thing left is the audio card's drivers and the audio card itself. I would start with the drivers.

[Omen]

i uninstalled the old drivers and installed brand new drivers. (3 days old)
but its still the same. no video with AC3 will open.
(well actually they do open .. but there is no image and no sound .. just the position indicator moving way too fast.)

what else could it be ?

[Trax]

try Waveout for audio instead of DirectX, that is known to "fix" the issue with SPDIF. You can find it in the Preferences, Audio, (select Advanced) Output Modules. Then save & restart.

[Omen]

thisis already setup .... i did this because at the beginning there was no AC3 sound and i have the solution to change this setting.

but since i accidently opened an mp3 file with PowerDVD its not working anymore. it simply cant play any movie with AC3 sound.

today i uninstalled PowerDVD and deleted everything from the registry where "powerdvd" was written.

but its still not working.
also not after installing PowerDVD again.

and the soundcard is not broken, because PowerDVD itself is still playing DVDs with 6 chanel sound.

this is realy starting to suck .. i want to watch my videos.

[DJ]

There are a few things that are unclear about this post.

1. The version of VLC in use? The version can be found in the Help, About box.

2. If you are trying to use S/PDIF or local speakers attached to the card?
If S/PDIF, is the option turned on and the DirectX off (using Win32 wavOut extension output)? This is the older method of addressing the audio card and if it doesn't work here, does point to the drivers not supporting it. However, most (not all) programs link the S/PDIF port to shutting off DirectX.

If you are not using S/PDIF try updating DirectX runtime. Microsoft updates this every few months. Then erasing VLC's preferences folder will leave you with the defaults and this should work (DirectX is on).

3. Have you tried erasing VLC's preferences folder? I know you mentioned doing a restore and reinstalling the program. But this depends on the type of restore and or the options when reinstalling the program.

[Omen]

the latest version 0.85. i am waiting for th next version all the time in the hope this might help .. but is no new version coming.

i use SPDIF and Win32 wavOut extension output because this was only way it worked. and i have the latest directx.

i just deleted all folder with VLC in its name but the program folder.
after that a started VLC again .. adjusted the settings again and started an AVI with AC3 sound ... still the same problem.

[DJ]

What is the sound card or chip set?

[Omen]

its working again .. but please dont laugh

after reinstalling the hole system it was still not working ..

so one thing came into my mind ... what if all the videofiles with AC3 sound on this machine were damaged somehow.

i took one file from my other computer and it was working ..........