Anyone successfully using XBMC for MKV files on SP2?

[SOB-17]

I've installed XBMC but only one MKV is playing correctly so far. The other 4 I've created are all stuttering terribly (maybe 15 FPS) if I turn off video acceleration, which I had to do to eliminate a pulsing macroblocking.

I transferred a couple to my 2TB external drive and plugged it into my 4 year old i3 laptop and they're playing flawlessly. I'm really hoping someone out there has been successfully with this on their SP2 as I've spent way too much time researching this issue and trying to find a solution... to no avail.

I have a 512GB unit, which should be more than capable of doing this. I understand (based on my research) that the Intel graphics card can be iffy, but all the works-around have failed for me, too.

Please help!

 

[beman39]

sounds like you might have a CODEC problem, what I would do is install k-light codec pack and then try again, OR perhaps try another media player like VLC... vlc is an amazing player and plays just about everything I throw at it... good luck

 

[reach]

Sorry, I have no clue, but I'm very interested in the topic! I was thinking about purchasing an SP1 and use it as HTPC. Maybe with XBMC. I'd just take the smallest one since all the videos are on the server.

Fact is, you can't possibly have a performance problem, the Haswell graphics should play whatever movies for breakfast.
I'd rather look in the XBMC forum than here.

 

[LuckyL]

I am not using my Surface as HTPC but I have a dedicated Windows 8 MCE with lesser specs and found that I get the best results with the codec pack from Shark007's FREE Codec solutions - Windows 7 codecs - Windows 8 codecs

 

[bluegrass]

Boy, I thought I was a video nut, having been shooting my own live video concerts for 9 years now but I never heard of XBMC so I looked it up on Wikipedia and found it to be an open source media player. It must do something pretty special, that all the media players that are available and work can't do. VLC is one of the ones you can though just about anything at. To be honest I watch a lot of HD videos from SD Memory or an external hard disk with the video player that came installed on the Surface and have never seen a glitch. I think beman39 is right, you're not likely to find much help here. Tell us a little more about how great XBMC is and what some great things it can do that other media players can't and you'll probably find some of us jump in and try and figure something out. I take it, you can download it free, correct?

 

[reach]

Boy, I thought I was a video nut, having been shooting my own live video concerts for 9 years now but I never heard of XBMC so I looked it up on Wikipedia and found it to be an open source media player. It must do something pretty special, that all the media players that are available and work can't do. VLC is one of the ones you can though just about anything at. To be honest I watch a lot of HD videos from SD Memory or an external hard disk with the video player that came installed on the Surface and have never seen a glitch. I think beman39 is right, you're not likely to find much help here. Tell us a little more about how great XBMC is and what some great things it can do that other media players can't and you'll probably find some of us jump in and try and figure something out. I take it, you can download it free, correct?

XBMC isn't a just video player as VLC, it's a a complete media center. You can run it on almost any OS or even stand alone without any (visible) OS. Once it runs, you don't see Windows any more, just the remote-control friendly XBMC presentation of your content. Check the screenshots on the XBMC site and you'll see what I mean.

If you just need a video player you are of course right, VLC is the only thing you need (and mplayer, for the remaining 2% which VLC has issues with)

 

[slvrdrgn123]

I'm running it on my SP1 perfectly fine so I'm sure you can too on the SP2. What causes the lag are most likely your audio out functions. Check your setup to make sure it's outputting correctly.

This is my setup:

SP to HDMI switch to TV and TOSLINK out from HDMI switch to sound bar for Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound. Sound bar only has 1 TOSLINK input and my TV doesn't output 5.1 from HDMI sources so I have to run through the switch so the SP and PS3 both get surround sound.

In XBMC go to settings > system > audio output. (I have confluence theme, yours might be different)
From there, you need to change your settings depending on your setup.
Audio output is set to HDMI for me, you might have to use analog
Make sure speaker configuration is set up to 2.0 if you only have stereo or it will stutter. Only set to what your output device can do otherwise it will stutter.
Output device is where it took me a long time to get it working. Make sure it's set to the right output device and that it is active in Windows sound settings. I have the output device set to local speakers. But it's also set to pass through to HDMI when connected and not use the Surface speakers.

Good luck with getting it up and running. It makes an awesome XBMC machine. I'm trying to get a PVT3000 so I can run it wirelessly and not need to plug in the mini dp cable every time. The only thing I'm worried about is lag, sync, and quality issues since widi isn't that advanced yet. Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[PaulC2K]

Boy, I thought I was a video nut, having been shooting my own live video concerts for 9 years now but I never heard of XBMC so I looked it up on Wikipedia and found it to be an open source media player. It must do something pretty special, that all the media players that are available and work can't do. VLC is one of the ones you can though just about anything at. To be honest I watch a lot of HD videos from SD Memory or an external hard disk with the video player that came installed on the Surface and have never seen a glitch. I think beman39 is right, you're not likely to find much help here. Tell us a little more about how great XBMC is and what some great things it can do that other media players can't and you'll probably find some of us jump in and try and figure something out. I take it, you can download it free, correct?

As Reach says, XBMC is basically a professional grade media center, for free. I dont think ive ever had codec issues, and i run a copy of it on a £40 Raspberry Pi which is the same size as a credit card, no codec packs or even an OS to install codecs.

It basically helps catalogue your media, downloads the artwork and information, and presents it in a very stylish, professional and yet simple manner that its very easy to use. To be fair, its the community built skins which make it look more stylish, and theres plenty of add-ins to make your life easier. Being able to view recently added films or tv episodes, listing watched, unwatched or both. Search by genre, year, director, actor etc
There music support too, pictures/photos, i seem to recall comics being in there and you can launch regular games from it too i believe. Theres PVR support, full 3D implementation in the current alpha (it played 3D, but the menus werent, so you'd get half a screen in one eye, the other half in the other eye - horrible!) and tons of things implemented with each new build because enthusiast need and want it.

Its basically the software that takes your vast media collection and gives you an amazing HTPC, and its completely free.

If im sat at a computer then i'll watch stuff using VLC, nothing else. Its perfect for that. But i have XBMC hooked up to all my TVs because i want that home theatre experience, the comfort of sitting back with a remote and flicking through films and tv episodes and finding what i want to watch. You cant do that with VLC, nor does it try to.

Its a fantastic piece of software if you hold a decent collection of media.