WMC window is black if first program played is 1080i

[nickl0]

Hi guys,

Just registered as I also have encountered this issue with my htpc.

I confirm all of the above, including the DMA2100 part, however, I have rolled back to 13.1 as it's the smoothest in operation for my setup.

Tested the latest beta and there's still no change.

The reason I ended up here is because I intended to get an AMD R9 270 graphics card for my HTPC so I can disable the onboard graphics in the APU (6530D) and my PC can pull dual duty as my HTPC and a midrange gaming PC (only need basic 1080p gaming so my requirements are lower than 'hardcore' PC gamers, therefore my 2 year old 3ghz quad core will be fine with a little overclock and a fast-ish gpu).

Anyway, I was researching in case there'd be any driver or Media Center issues as I'd need to use the latest CCC for gaming, and I'm glad I looked into it before buying the graphics card!

With my upgrade in mind, I am now thinking that an AMD graphics card is not the way forward for me...

Does anyone know if the Nvidia cards/drivers have any similar issues? The AMD drivers have been a pain with things being broken in different ways over the last few years (HDMI audio issues, Macroblocking and now this black screen issue), finding one that works can be a pain!

If anyone can confirm that Nvidia cards don't have these issues I'd be really grateful.

Cheers,

Nick

[barnabas1969]

I kind of ignored this thread at first, but I finally got around to reading the (long) first post... and the 2nd one too.

You folks DO know that ffdshow IS a codec, right?

And... that the video adapter (and the associated video drivers) have absolutely nothing to do with extenders, right?

And... that codec problems can/will affect both the PC and the extenders, right?

Maybe try removing ffdshow completely? I'm not a codec expert by any means, but I've read that many codec packs are impossible to remove completely without reinstalling the operating system. Maybe you could try that too (without installing any codecs such as shark007 or ffdshow).

[joecrow]

I kind of ignored this thread at first, but I finally got around to reading the (long) first post... and the 2nd one too.

Maybe you should have read on further and you would have seen that the issue is most certainly related to the AMD drivers and nothing to do with codecs or ffdshow! I have never installed a codec pack or ffdshow on the HTPC where I am seeing this problem, nor do I use an extender.

[barnabas1969]

I can believe that a graphics driver could cause this on the TV that is connected to the PC's graphics adapter. I do not believe that the graphics driver could cause the extender to hang or freeze. The graphics driver is not used on the extenders.

I would be interested to know if the OP uses an InfiniTV tuner. The "spinning circle" is a common problem when using those tuners. If he does have an InfiniTV tuner, did he change anything with the tuner drivers or firmware since the last time he tested the problem on his DMA2100?

[joecrow]

I can believe that a graphics driver could cause this on the TV that is connected to the PC's graphics adapter. I do not believe that the graphics driver could cause the extender to hang or freeze. The graphics driver is not used on the extenders.

Agreed, I understood the extender problem in OP to be a side issue, "seemingly related" being the key words used, rather than the main thrust of the thread.

[barnabas1969]

Agreed, I understood the extender problem in OP to be a side issue, "seemingly related" being the key words used, rather than the main thrust of the thread.

Yes, but in a later post he said that the problem on the extender went away when he installed an older graphics driver. I suspect that something else changed to fix that problem.

[joecrow]

Yes, but in a later post he said that the problem on the extender went away when he installed an older graphics driver. I suspect that something else changed to fix that problem.

Just some thoughts: A difference between the AMD driver package 13.4 and 13.9+ is the requirement and automatic installation of Net Framework 4.5, I don't pretend to understand what Net Framework does but could such a change fundamentally effect WMC functions beyond those you would normally expect with a video driver change, i.e the output from the graphics card, and thus explain the symptoms noted on the OPs extender? I also noted that the 13.12 driver package includes 3 Transcoders, not sure if they have anything to do with extenders beyond me associating transcoding with extenders!

For the record despite my initial success with 13.12 (see previous posts) I was seeing some intermittent and random problems including WMC hanging which have disappeared since I went back to 13.4 on my HTPC. I still have 13.12 on my desktop and I have not noted any problems but it is rarely used with WMC.

[DSperber]

Just a status update...

The problem still exists in recently released v14.4_WHQL version of Catalyst driver.

[barnabas1969]

Yes, but in a later post he said that the problem on the extender went away when he installed an older graphics driver. I suspect that something else changed to fix that problem.

Just some thoughts: A difference between the AMD driver package 13.4 and 13.9+ is the requirement and automatic installation of Net Framework 4.5, I don't pretend to understand what Net Framework does but could such a change fundamentally effect WMC functions beyond those you would normally expect with a video driver change, i.e the output from the graphics card, and thus explain the symptoms noted on the OPs extender? I also noted that the 13.12 driver package includes 3 Transcoders, not sure if they have anything to do with extenders beyond me associating transcoding with extenders!

For the record despite my initial success with 13.12 (see previous posts) I was seeing some intermittent and random problems including WMC hanging which have disappeared since I went back to 13.4 on my HTPC. I still have 13.12 on my desktop and I have not noted any problems but it is rarely used with WMC.

Sorry, I didn't notice your questions before today. Media Center does not run on .Net. A change to .Net framework would not affect Media Center. It could affect plugins that rely on background services though. But only if the user un-installed previous versions of .Net, erroneously thinking that the new version replaces the older versions.

[barnabas1969]

I should add that (if your PC is a dedicated HTPC) there is no reason to update your drivers to a newer version. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Dplus12]

I wanted to try using the new Steam in-home streaming option... guess what... the old drivers that work for WMC don't work for Steam in-home streaming... go figure...

[joecrow]

Just a status update...

The problem still exists in recently released v14.4_WHQL version of Catalyst driver.

I am surprised by this, so far I have had none of the problems with 14.4 that I noted with 13.9/12 and was reasonably hopefull that we had a fix finally.

[DSperber]

New news on this issue...

I decided to change the video card in my HTPC, with a lower-powered card that would consume significantly less electricity with reduced heat generated and resulting slower required fan speeds and less overall noise. I'm not a gamer, and the two-slot Sapphire HD5870 Vapor-X I had in this machine was really overkill and required TWO 4-pin additional PCIe power connections.

So I just yesterday swapped it for a new low-profile Sapphire R7 250 (i.e. equivalent to the old Sapphire low-profile HD7750), which requires ZERO additional PCIe power connections. While the HD5870 was dual-DVI going to my two monitors with DVI cables, the R7 250 has one DVI connector and a miniDP connector (which I've connected to the second monitor with a miniDP->DVI cable). Yes, the R7 card has less than half the "horsepower" of the HD5870, but also consumes SIGNIFICANTLY less electricity while still being quite adequate for my non-gaming HTPC needs.

Anyway, as part of the hardware swap, I had an unexpected complaint from CCC about the old installed drivers with the new hardware. So I decided to just use Driver Fusion to clean house and fully uninstall my previously installed Catalyst 14.4 drivers, and then reinstall the identical 14.4 drivers again. This solved the CCC complaint and the new card is now working perfectly with Catalyst 14.4 (again, same driver as I had with the HD5870).

Well, much to my surprise, the "window is black if first program played is 1080i" symptom is GONE!!! Same Catalyst 14.4 drivers as before, but running with different/newer more modern hardware to be controlled by those same drivers.

I suspect whatever was causing the "black screen if first program played is 1080i" with my older video card hardware simply doesn't do that with the newer video card hardware I now have in the machine. This also might explain why AMD may not really be able to (or may not be interested in) solving this problem which we know has been around since 12.4 (but perhaps only with older video cards).

So while I really don't have much else to speculate on other than my own personal experience replacing an older HD5870 with a newer R7 250 (aka HD7750). the fact is that the problem has now disappeared.

Go figure.

[billbillw]

It seems that AMD has FINALLY fixed this issue with the 14.8 drivers, or at least with my Richland and Kaveri APUs.

The problem actually went away with the 14.7 Betas, but I had several issues with audio dropouts and choppy video with those drivers.
14.8 seems pretty solid though. I used it over the weekend with two of my systems and both seem markedly improved. I think it is the best set of AMD drivers since 13.4 (which unfortunately doesn't support Richland APUs).