Some of my video files are not playable

[ksmith36]

I just built a HTPC and installed the latest Boxee for windows on it. A good number of the videos in my collection will not play in Boxee, but play fine on a PS3 (using PS3 Media Server or directly on the PS3) or on regular PC or Mac.

My HTPC specs:
AsRock H67M-ITX/HT
Intel Core i3-2100T Sandy Bridge 2.5GHz
Crucial Ballistix sport 4GB (2 x 2GB)
Intel 80GB G2 SSD
External 6TB eSata RAID 5

Here is the output from MediaInfo for an Mkv that will play the first few frames of video, and then all I get is audo. Boxee stops responding to interaction from remotes or keyboard and mouse. I usually just VNC in so boxee crashes fully and I can re-launch.

General
Unique ID : 243410025782960361264849993682162702569 (0xB71F10D476D96951A33579485D6258E9)
Complete name : D:\Media\Videos\Movies\Saving Private Ryan.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 1
File size : 7.91 GiB
Duration : 2h 42mn
Overall bit rate : 6 970 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2007-01-23 02:00:17
Writing application : mkvmerge v1.8.1 ('Little By Little') built on Nov 25 2006 16:14:30
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.0

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L5.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 8 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 2h 42mn
Bit rate : 6 212 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.281
Stream size : 6.90 GiB (87%)
Writing library : x264 core 54 svn-618
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:-2:-3 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=7 / brdo=1 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=2 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=2 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / bime=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=6212 / ratetol=1.0 / rceq='blurCplx^(1-qComp)' / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30
Language : English

Audio
ID : 2
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 2h 42mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 755 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 24 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 877 MiB (11%)
Language : English

Also, I have a set of videos that displays no video and only plays audio. Same situation as before, boxee is unresponsive. Below is the media info output for an example video:

General
Complete name : D:\Media\Videos\Movies\Wedding Crashers.m4v
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42
File size : 1.19 GiB
Duration : 2h 6mn
Overall bit rate : 1 347 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2011-02-14 17:01:38
Tagged date : UTC 2011-02-14 17:39:55
Writing application : HandBrake 0.9.5 2011010300

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L3.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 2h 6mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 989 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 368 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.35:1
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Minimum frame rate : 6.645 fps
Maximum frame rate : 47.720 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.156
Stream size : 898 MiB (73%)
Writing library : x264 core 112
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=20.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=3 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date : UTC 2011-02-14 17:01:38
Tagged date : UTC 2011-02-14 17:39:55
Material_Duration : 7619905
Material_StreamSize : 941501412
Material_FrameCount : 182663
Color primaries : BT.601-6 525, BT.1358 525, BT.1700 NTSC, SMPTE 170M
Transfer characteristics : BT.709-5, BT.1361
Matrix coefficients : BT.601-6 525, BT.1358 525, BT.1700 NTSC, SMPTE 170M

Audio #1
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 2h 6mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 160 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 301 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 145 MiB (12%)
Encoded date : UTC 2011-02-14 17:01:38
Tagged date : UTC 2011-02-14 17:39:55
Material_Duration : 7619798
Material_StreamSize : 152277915

Audio #2
ID : 3
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Format profile : Dolby Digital
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Codec ID : ac-3
Duration : 2h 6mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 174 MiB (14%)
Encoded date : UTC 2011-02-14 17:01:38
Tagged date : UTC 2011-02-14 17:39:55
Material_Duration : 7619776
Material_StreamSize : 182874624

It is worth noting that both of these videos play fine on this HTPC outside of Boxee. I understand that Boxee for windows is a beta, I just wanted to post my experience and see if others could offer any help.

[Prospero424]

Sounds like a decoding issue related to the video driver. Are you just using the built-in video on the Sandy Bridge CPU? If so, make sure you've gotten the latest drivers directly from Intel.

If that doesn't work, try disabling hardware-assisted decoding in the Boxee settings. That system is fast enough not to need GPU acceleration, anyway.

[ksmith36]

I had a slightly outdated drivers, so I grabbed the newest from Intel's website. Still a no go.

Disabling hardware acceleration did the trick. Thanks for your help!