Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/07 12:25Total newbie here, so let me apologize in advance if my question is already answered in some FAQ somewhere that I have been unable to locate..
Having had nothing but problems with MyiHome since I upgraded my PC to Windows 7, I decided to take Swisscenter for a spin. Downloaded "Simese_SwissCenter-2.5.10.exe" and got it up & running without any issues whatsoever.
Only problem so far is having my Popcorn A100 displaying subtitles - embedded subtitles (MKV) work fine, but I have a large number of BD rips in .TS format with accompanying .SRT subtitles on the side, and those are never picked up by the Popcorn.
If I look in the console log, it appears that the subs are in fact located correctly by Swisscenter, so I am at a loss as to where in the process it fails.
All subtitles are in ANSI format, contains no "funny" characters and were perfectly fine when using MyiHome as server...
Any hints would be greatly appreciated.
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Pernod
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/07 12:44I don't have any .ts files to test with but they are handled in the same way as other video files. I have many .srt subtitles with .avi and they definitely work with the A100.
The subtitle file must have exactly the same filename as the video file, ie. movie.ts and movie.srt. We don't support multiple subtitle files with different language suffixes.
This is an obvious question but do you have subtitles enabled on the A100?
Also, the installation you have is the last stable release of 1.22 which is now quite old. For all the latest features you should update to the latest development release (from the Configuration menu).Players : Netgear EVA700 | Popcorn A-100 (091202) | Popcorn A-200 (100208) Webserver : Simese v2.6.4 | Apache 2.2.14 | PHP v5.2.12 | MySQL v5.1.32 Server : Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit Spec : Intel C2Q Q6600 - 4GB RAM - 3TB HDD AV : Pioneer VSX-915 | Samsung LE40C650
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81RED
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/07 13:26Wow, that was quick!
And unfortunately I have to answer yes, I do have subtitles enabled on the A100. Have not changed anything on the Popcorn except adding the needed IP and portnumber for Swisscenter as a webservice.
Whereas I do not have a single .AVI to test with, I did have a couple of MKVs where there was no embedded subtitles, and the separate .SRT gets displayed just fine - So I guess it's just .TS that's a problem.
Would it help any if I remuxed one of them into a .M2TS to see if that made any difference? (Not a solution as there's Terabytes of the damn things, but just for testing...)
EDIT: .M2TS does not work either. Got hold of an AVI with external SRT and a WMV now I was at it - both displays the subtitles perfectly.
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Pernod
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/07 13:49What do you see in the console log?
SwissCenter doesn't actually send the subtitles to the player, it's upto the player to request them and Simese should pass them through.
Could be a Simese issue but cannot confirm until I have a ts file to test with.Players : Netgear EVA700 | Popcorn A-100 (091202) | Popcorn A-200 (100208) Webserver : Simese v2.6.4 | Apache 2.2.14 | PHP v5.2.12 | MySQL v5.1.32 Server : Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit Spec : Intel C2Q Q6600 - 4GB RAM - 3TB HDD AV : Pioneer VSX-915 | Samsung LE40C650
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81RED
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/07 13:59The log seems to be no different when playing a problematic file than it is when playing one that works - but it's kind of difficult to document as the console log does not support copy & paste, and I cannot seem to locate it on disk anywhere..
Am sure I can find you a .TS sample file to play with somewhere if you need it?
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Pernod
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/07 14:09A sample file (with subtitle) would help. Can you upload somewhere?
If it definitely works with myiHome then there is no reason for it not to work with SwissCenter.Players : Netgear EVA700 | Popcorn A-100 (091202) | Popcorn A-200 (100208) Webserver : Simese v2.6.4 | Apache 2.2.14 | PHP v5.2.12 | MySQL v5.1.32 Server : Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit Spec : Intel C2Q Q6600 - 4GB RAM - 3TB HDD AV : Pioneer VSX-915 | Samsung LE40C650
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81RED
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/07 14:47Sure: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/67544/ts.zip It's just a little snippet. Please note that the subtitles start at 5,76 seconds into the clip, and bears absolutely NO resemblance to what is actually being said.
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Pernod
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/07 14:59Thanks, got it and will test later.Players : Netgear EVA700 | Popcorn A-100 (091202) | Popcorn A-200 (100208) Webserver : Simese v2.6.4 | Apache 2.2.14 | PHP v5.2.12 | MySQL v5.1.32 Server : Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit Spec : Intel C2Q Q6600 - 4GB RAM - 3TB HDD AV : Pioneer VSX-915 | Samsung LE40C650
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81RED
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/07 15:03Now this is VERY interesting. Just wanted to make sure the clip I sent you would actually play on the Popcorn, and guess what? Subtitles are displayed. The mind boggles... Could it possibly have *anything* to do with the filesize of the original media itself? All my TS files are somewhat on the large side (original that the clip came from is 13,6G
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Pernod
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/07 15:32We had a filesize issue with previous versions of Simese which was fixed in 2.5.10. I guess there could be another issue with subtitles, will need some large files to prove though.Players : Netgear EVA700 | Popcorn A-100 (091202) | Popcorn A-200 (100208) Webserver : Simese v2.6.4 | Apache 2.2.14 | PHP v5.2.12 | MySQL v5.1.32 Server : Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit Spec : Intel C2Q Q6600 - 4GB RAM - 3TB HDD AV : Pioneer VSX-915 | Samsung LE40C650
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81RED
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/07 16:43Attempt #2: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/67544/ts2.zip 200MB lump this time. Am not entirely sure that my theory of filesize is all that correct after all, it seems somewhat random whether it works or not - but the new file I have yet to see working via Swisscenter...
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Pernod
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/07 17:33I've just tested both files and both show the subtitles as expected Players : Netgear EVA700 | Popcorn A-100 (091202) | Popcorn A-200 (100208) Webserver : Simese v2.6.4 | Apache 2.2.14 | PHP v5.2.12 | MySQL v5.1.32 Server : Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit Spec : Intel C2Q Q6600 - 4GB RAM - 3TB HDD AV : Pioneer VSX-915 | Samsung LE40C650
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81RED
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/07 17:49It's very odd indeed. Can now say with 100% certainty that filesize has nothing to do with the problem as I just successfully played a few minutes of a 28GB .TS. I then selected another - played without subs - back to the one I played a minute earlier - still no subs, even though it played fine before...
As mentioned earlier it seems totally random but it would certainly be a good thing if I could pinpoint exactly what makes it work and what breaks it.
But then again, if it works every single time on your setup, it must be something on my end - but what? My list of problems with MyiHome is a mile long, but none of them includes any subtitles issues whatsoever..
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81RED
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/07 18:10This really isn't my day. Somehow I managed to completely overlook the bit where you told me to update. Just did via the Popcorn under configuration and selected development build. After a few minutes I got a "no update available" (or something along those lines) followed by a "request cannot be processed". All attempts to contact the server has failed from then on, both from the popcorn and when browsing locally to port 8080 on the server.. Restarting the server makes no difference. Any ideas?
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81RED
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/08 15:51I'll just keep on talking to myself...
Finally got updated to SVN Revision [1311] after seeing the automatic update fail on three separate PC's. It turned out to be database patch [0039] that was the culprit (something about unknown table for flickr_whatever) - deleted the corresponding .sql file and then all was good.
Still no subtitles when playing .TS or .M2TS though...
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Pernod
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/08 16:31I wish other users would provide some support/feedback around here, it takes alot of time for one person. Especially this issue as there must be other users with large files and subtitles to help with this.
Thanks for finding the issue with patch_0039, only affects new users that try to update without first using the flickr feature. You should've removed the DROP TABLE line as you still need the other table created in there. I'll get it fixed.
Unfortunately no news on the subtitle issue though. I moved it to the Simese forum so that the Simese author would notice it and maybe have an idea. We really need some confirmation from other users since I don't have any ~20GB bluray rips.
Only suggestion I have is to try SwissCenter with Apache instead of Simese. Not an easy installation procedure though as you have to install PHP and Apache separately and configure each manually. Plenty of tips and guides in the forum but each installation is usually different depending on OS. media locations, etc.Players : Netgear EVA700 | Popcorn A-100 (091202) | Popcorn A-200 (100208) Webserver : Simese v2.6.4 | Apache 2.2.14 | PHP v5.2.12 | MySQL v5.1.32 Server : Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit Spec : Intel C2Q Q6600 - 4GB RAM - 3TB HDD AV : Pioneer VSX-915 | Samsung LE40C650
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81RED
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/08 16:52Appreciate the feedback, make no mistake.
I knew full well that unceremoniously deleting a .sql file was probably not a very good idea, but it got it up & running and at least we now know that the latest version still has issues at my end..
Another little bit of info, just for the record: After updating to the SVN, something that has to do with the startup of simese.exe caused my Windows 7 to hang a boot - I had to revert to "last known good configuration" in order to get my desktop back. The resulted in simese.exe not being run at boot, but that got fixed with a small .CMD file.
Regarding .TS files to test with - you don't happen to have a large-ish .MKV floating about? If so, and if it contains either AVC, VC-1 or MPEG2, you can remux into .TS yourself via Tsmuxer GUI in about two minutes flat.
Trying out Apache sounds like an interesting idea, will read up on it..
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Pernod
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/08 17:43I haven't tried Windows 7 but will probably upgrade next month when it goes retail. Wouldn't surprise me if there are issues though as we had to make changes for Vista in the past.
I have a 4.5GB mkv containing AVC/DTS so I'll try remuxing that.Players : Netgear EVA700 | Popcorn A-100 (091202) | Popcorn A-200 (100208) Webserver : Simese v2.6.4 | Apache 2.2.14 | PHP v5.2.12 | MySQL v5.1.32 Server : Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit Spec : Intel C2Q Q6600 - 4GB RAM - 3TB HDD AV : Pioneer VSX-915 | Samsung LE40C650
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Pernod
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/08 18:17Remuxed my mkv to a 4.8GB ts and played your srt file with no issues.Players : Netgear EVA700 | Popcorn A-100 (091202) | Popcorn A-200 (100208) Webserver : Simese v2.6.4 | Apache 2.2.14 | PHP v5.2.12 | MySQL v5.1.32 Server : Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit Spec : Intel C2Q Q6600 - 4GB RAM - 3TB HDD AV : Pioneer VSX-915 | Samsung LE40C650
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81RED
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/09 01:40Bloody hell. I was afraid you were going to say exactly that... Will keep experimenting - have found one movie in particular that never ever seems to display any subs no matter how many times I try, will focus on that after work today.
Regarding using Apache instead of Simese - is the "Installing SwissCenter on Windows" PDF instructions on the download page still more or less valid, even though it's dated in 2004?
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Pernod
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/12 09:16I see in the PCH forum that other users are having similar issues with subs and ts/m2ts files (not SwissCenter). The cause seems to be the encoding of the subtitle file. Can you post the complete srt file that is causing problems?Players : Netgear EVA700 | Popcorn A-100 (091202) | Popcorn A-200 (100208) Webserver : Simese v2.6.4 | Apache 2.2.14 | PHP v5.2.12 | MySQL v5.1.32 Server : Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit Spec : Intel C2Q Q6600 - 4GB RAM - 3TB HDD AV : Pioneer VSX-915 | Samsung LE40C650
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81RED
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/12 14:24I always make sure that the .srt is ANSI encoded since the Popcorn has issues with just about all other methods. Only problem I've ever had with subtitles pre-Swisscenter, was due to a bug in the Popcorn firmware that prevented subtitles from ever playing with .m2ts files - and that bug has been fixed for ages. In fact, I'm 100% sure that the subtitle in itself is not the problem as it always plays in conjunction with anything except ts/m2ts.
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Pernod
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/09/12 16:44I hope to get a 26GB BR rip in the next few days so will try again when/if I get it.Players : Netgear EVA700 | Popcorn A-100 (091202) | Popcorn A-200 (100208) Webserver : Simese v2.6.4 | Apache 2.2.14 | PHP v5.2.12 | MySQL v5.1.32 Server : Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit Spec : Intel C2Q Q6600 - 4GB RAM - 3TB HDD AV : Pioneer VSX-915 | Samsung LE40C650
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cave35
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/12/09 02:15Any updates on this issue? I am having the same issue. Mine is on a A110 though.Server: Windows Home Server (Acer EasyStore H340) Player: Popcorn Hours A-110 Software: Simese 2.5.10 PHP: 5.2.9-2 MySQL: 5.1.34-community SwissCenter: Latest SVN
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Pernod
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Re: Subtitle issue - Popcorn A100 - 2009/12/09 06:02No update since I have never been able to duplicate the issue Players : Netgear EVA700 | Popcorn A-100 (091202) | Popcorn A-200 (100208) Webserver : Simese v2.6.4 | Apache 2.2.14 | PHP v5.2.12 | MySQL v5.1.32 Server : Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit Spec : Intel C2Q Q6600 - 4GB RAM - 3TB HDD AV : Pioneer VSX-915 | Samsung LE40C650
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