Issues With CBS

[uncle hammy]

I have put a bug report in at Jira...no responses yet. Anyways, I thought I would check in here to see if anyone else is having this issue. Actually I am having 2 issues, but the jerky playback I suspect is being worked out with the newer builds, so I'll leave it alone for now.

The real bug that is plaguing me (to the point of abandoning Beta for Alpha again) is this. CBS shows consistently stop playing the video when transitioning to commercial breaks. The show fades out, the "Loading" screen fades in, and that's it...that's where it stays. Boxee does not freeze, I can still navigate around it, bring up the OSD, etc, however my show is finished...all I can do is hit stop. It does not happen at the same break every time, but it does happen at *a* break almost every time (I have had one show successfully make it to the end). I only watch 90210 and MacGyver, so I can't comment on all shows. It is especially sucky, because without the ability to skip forward, if my show stops at the 3rd break, 45 minutes in, the thought of starting over is...well unappealing.

Anyone else experiencing this, or have any thoughts?

I am running r10066 for Karmic 64bit.

[uncle hammy]

I should also add. The machine has plenty of juice. 85400GS w/ vdpau, AMD 64X2 4600+, 5GB Ram

[cogadh]

I don't think its a Boxee issue, that happens when watching CBS videos directly through their website, too. Their method of video delivery just seems much less stable than other sources like Hulu. You might try reporting the issue directly to CBS.com, they do seem interested in improving their online services.

[uncle hammy]

There's one flaw in that logic. I have never, ever, ever, ever (you get the idea) had it happen whilst using Alpha...ever :), and I am through 3 seasons of 90210 and 5 seasons of MacGyver. That tells me that it is, in fact an issue with Boxee...specifically Beta.

That's why in my post, I indicated I have had to abandon Beta for Alpha, because I can watch my shows with Alpha.

I have done the removal of Alpha as instructed. There were no traces of Alpha before I installed Beta. Also, I switched back and forth several times to make sure...Beta, can't watch a show to completion -> Alpha good to go -> Beta, can't watch a show to completion -> Alpha good to go...and I stayed there.

[cogadh]

All I can tell you is I had this same exact thing happen a couple hours ago while watching last night's NCIS on the website through Firefox. The only way I could get it to work was to re-start Firefox, re-load the video, then drag the position slider for the video past the point where it locked up/faded out and it worked. It's definitely not the first time it has happened either. It has never really happened consistently (i.e. never seems to affect the same show or at a particular time of day), but it does happen fairly often. Maybe what I have experienced is not the same thing that you have, but if we are talking about a coincidence here, this one is a doozy.

[uncle hammy]

Well, you sure make a good argument :D Now I don't know what to say about the issue, other than I had never experienced it until Beta, and never experience it with anything other than Beta.

FWIW, I have never actually watched CBS on a browser, only Boxee.

[uncle hammy]

I am now convinced it's Beta. I watched SEVERAL shows yesterday on Alpha, with not even a glitch. Today I haven't been able to make it through a single one out of 4 attempts with Beta.