[dannyv45]

I was having audio output problems (No audio) with 5.1 AC-3 audio HD media as well as video freezing soon after starting the movie with snow leopard. I believe this to be a buffering problem because I have buffering set for 3 seconds and thats about the time it takes to freeze.

I found a work around that works perfectly. I've now sampled about 40 HD movies and have not had another audio or video lockup problem.

From OSX's application menu go into "utilities/audio midi setup" and in the left pane set the default output to "aggregate device" (If Aggregate device does not exist click the "+" sign to create it) open the drop down menu under aggregate device and highlight "built in output" then set the "Built in output" source located to the right to "digital output" and set "Format" to 48,000 2ch-24bit then exit audio midi setup.

Note: I know your thinking why set it to "48000 2ch-24bit" and not "encoded digital audio". This is because setting it to "encoded digital audio" crashes plex. This setting will still pass the 5.1 digital audio and will also pass films that are 2 channel stereo.

then

Go into plex and in system/audio setup set output device to "aggregate device" then set "Digital output support" To "force digital" then Shut off "normilize film volume". Thats it your done.


Now what happens is the movie will start and there will be no sound for about 3 seconds (could be longer if you are buffering at a higher rate). after the movie buffers then the audio will start to play in 5.1 digital (or 2 channel stereo if encoded that way).

Here are some of my own observations that helped me resolved the problem:

I have a yamaha 7.1 receiver that has status lights for audio mode that show either stereo (2 speaker lamps that light up) or 5.1 (5 speaker lamps that light up). When you have this problem theres no audio and no speaker lamps light up when the movie starts to play and the video plays slowly and studders (Because its buffering) then about 3-5 seconds later the movie will freeze.

When you apply the work around you will then notice when playing a 5.1 audio movie that the receiver status lights will first light up stereo (2 speaker lights lit) then after 3 -5 seconds (of buffering) it will light 5.1 (5 speaker lights lit) and you will here the audio.

I'm pretty sure this problem has something to do with a buffering issue within plex.

Hope this helps.

[dannyv45]

I'm bumping this because I made some changes to the original post to make it clearer and a bit more understandable.

Please comment if this helped or did not help.

[damon5334]

dannyv45, on Sep 1 2009, 07:06 PM, said:

I'm bumping this because I made some changes to the original post to make it clearer and a bit more understandable.

Please comment if this helped or did not help.

Wow, awesome! Not sure exactly how you figured that out, but it did fix my issues. It seems like the first video I would watch, no matter what it was, would work without an issue, but the second video I tried to play would lock after about 5 seconds. This seems to have fixed that problem.

I'm just debating now if I want to edit the remote control settings or wait for the next release. I can always remote to my Mini in the meantime.

[redbone]

I've not tried it yet.... but it sounds like a good "work around" for the time being. I hope this doesn't become a "standard" though and I hope that the problem in plex gets resolved.

[Paul808]

damon5334, on Sep 2 2009, 03:49 PM, said:

Wow, awesome! Not sure exactly how you figured that out, but it did fix my issues.

Just confirming that my issues seem solved! Thanks for that. Hope there will be an official bugfix as well so we can revert back to normal and wont suffer the 3 second delay anymore. Again, many thanks.

[synackle]

+1 solved it for me

[hsl]

Toobad,... I can't change Digital output support,.. it's locked on auto.
And in the midiaudio app it's automatically changed back to 16bit all the time,...

Anyonelse got the same?

[gibbo]

hsl - I have the exact same problem as you - cant get aggregrate device at all....any help appreciated!

[gibbo]

Think I have solved my own question. In the instructions it was not included that you need to click the + symbol in audio midi in order to create aggregrate device. Once you do that then you can follow the rest of the instructions.

So far seems to have solved my problem, and you can see the first few secs of a show/movie dont have audio which is no biggie.

I have noticed that when trying to play/buffer a file, Plex crashes more often now. Hopefully a new version will be out soon. The joys of being ahead of the curve with SL!

Attached File(s)

•  Screen_shot_2009_09_03_at_10.40.49.png (137.46K)
  Number of downloads: 60

[dannyv45]

gibbo, on Sep 3 2009, 05:47 AM, said:

Think I have solved my own question. In the instructions it was not included that you need to click the + symbol in audio midi in order to create aggregrate device. Once you do that then you can follow the rest of the instructions.

Thanks for pointing that out. I've corrected it in my original post.

gibbo, on Sep 3 2009, 05:47 AM, said:

I have noticed that when trying to play/buffer a file, Plex crashes more often now. Hopefully a new version will be out soon. The joys of being ahead of the curve with SL!

Try lowering your buffer to 3 seconds. This seems to play HD fine without crashing. Unless your playing over a very slow wired network or wireless network theres no real reason to raise it above 3 seconds.

[dannyv45]

hsl, on Sep 3 2009, 02:57 AM, said:

Toobad,... I can't change Digital output support,.. it's locked on auto.
And in the midiaudio app it's automatically changed back to 16bit all the time,...

Anyonelse got the same?

Are you set to aggregate device in audio midi setup? If it don't exist press the "+" just below the left pane to create it. (see the diagram from gibbo's post above)

[highstreet]

Thanks for the fix: I can also confirm it is working. But because I had a recent 10.5 backup on my timemachine, I decided to restore it, and wait a bit longer until Plex is completely 10.6 compatible...

[Sean]

+1 Working fix for me - THANKS!

I never had the Digital audio bug (play Digital Audio once, then have to close Plex and restart to play again) until I upgraded to Snow Leopard.

This fix as well as disabling Front Row almost have Plex working as well as it did back in 10.5.8 ...

[MILE]

Sean, on Sep 5 2009, 04:59 PM, said:

+1 Working fix for me - THANKS!

I never had the Digital audio bug (play Digital Audio once, then have to close Plex and restart to play again) until I upgraded to Snow Leopard.

This fix as well as disabling Front Row almost have Plex working as well as it did back in 10.5.8 ...

Why would you need to disable FrontRow…?! What's the trouble with that…?

:: M ::

[fletch33]

Sean, on Sep 5 2009, 11:59 AM, said:

This fix as well as disabling Front Row almost have Plex working as well as it did back in 10.5.8 ...

i would be interested in how you disabled Front Row? i have no need for it either but didnt want to delete as i read it can cause some problems?

thanks for any help

[cyantist]

Sean, on Sep 5 2009, 08:59 AM, said:

+1 Working fix for me - THANKS!

I never had the Digital audio bug (play Digital Audio once, then have to close Plex and restart to play again) until I upgraded to Snow Leopard.

This fix as well as disabling Front Row almost have Plex working as well as it did back in 10.5.8 ...

What method did you use to disable FrontRow? I've never had issues with it until I upgraded to Snow Leopard. I never use it and would rather just be rid of it...

[Sean]

cyantist, on Sep 7 2009, 02:15 AM, said:

What method did you use to disable FrontRow? I've never had issues with it until I upgraded to Snow Leopard. I never use it and would rather just be rid of it...

go to /System/Library/CoreServices/ and rename “Front Row.app” to “Front Row.app-backup”

It's a kludge, but it works - this is for my Mac Mini, and all I use it for is for Plex.

[tmchow]

I've tried the Aggregate Audio fix described by the OP but it hasn't solved my problem.

Periodically when I'm watching any type of video content (SD or HD), it will randomly lockup and stutter both video and audio. After abotu 10-15 seconds, it will resume. Needless to say it's annoying as hell.

Any other ideas?

[dannyv45]

tmchow, on Sep 8 2009, 08:18 PM, said:

I've tried the Aggregate Audio fix described by the OP but it hasn't solved my problem.

Periodically when I'm watching any type of video content (SD or HD), it will randomly lockup and stutter both video and audio. After abotu 10-15 seconds, it will resume. Needless to say it's annoying as hell.

Any other ideas?

I've been battleing that demond myself for a long time. I never got a lockup that wasn't the fault of the file I was playing but I get plenty of video studdering. In your case I don't think the problem is caused entirely by snow leopard (If thats what your using you never said). If your not using Snow Leopard then you posted in the wrong forum and should post your question in the general forum. Its also impossible to help you when you give so little detail about your setup.

There are so many posts on this subject and many different ways to attempt to fix this problem such as changing resolution 1080p/i 24/30/60 HZ, Shutting off upscaling, increasing/decreasing buffer size, shutoff error logging, which works better HDMI/DVI/VGA, Properly encoding materal, MKV is worse then AVI, Etc...

Do a search on shuttering and try some of the suggestions you will find. It may not solve the issue entirely but may improve it.

[tmchow]

dannyv45, on Sep 9 2009, 07:52 AM, said:

I've been battleing that demond myself for a long time. I never got a lockup that wasn't the fault of the file I was playing but I get plenty of video studdering. In your case I don't think the problem is caused entirely by snow leopard (If thats what your using you never said). If your not using Snow Leopard then you posted in the wrong forum and should post your question in the general forum. Its also impossible to help you when you give so little detail about your setup.

There are so many posts on this subject and many different ways to attempt to fix this problem such as changing resolution 1080p/i 24/30/60 HZ, Shutting off upscaling, increasing/decreasing buffer size, shutoff error logging, which works better HDMI/DVI/VGA, Properly encoding materal, MKV is worse then AVI, Etc...

Do a search on shuttering and try some of the suggestions you will find. It may not solve the issue entirely but may improve it.

Sorry for the lack of info.

I have an mac mini with the Intel GMA950 video, now running Snow Leopard, but this occured on 10.5 as well. I have my mac mini connected to my NEC 50" plasma through DVI (using a miniDVI-to-DVI converter). Most of my content is either MKV or AVI but the stuttering happens on both.

It didn't always do this, and for the life of me I can't figure out what caused it, but it certainly wasn't upgrading to Snow Leopard.

I will do some searching and see what else I can find.