Basic Question - Vizio E241I-A1 & Transcoding

I'm new to Serviio. I am trying to stream some MP4 video files to a Vizio E241I-A1 TV's DLNA mdeia player and so far nothing has worked. The server and files appear but I always get VIDEO/AUDIO CODE NOT SUPPORTED when I attempt toplay them. The same files will play fine on the TV from a USB device but I'm unsure if USB media access goes through the DLNA client. Since I know the TV is capable of playing the files as they are, turning off the Serviio ENABLE TRANSCODING option should send them exactly as they are, correct? If the TV's DLNA client still can't play the files, that would suggest the video format, even though supported by the TV via USB access is not supported by the TV's embedded DLNA client....right?

I've downloaded Device Spy tool and also see there are lists of sample files of different format. I thought I'd see what the tool tells me and also try streaming the sample files with transcoding off. DLNA.org doesn't seem to know Vizio exists so I guess their clients are not certified.

Any suggestions on determining how to stream to this TV would be greatly appreciated.

[DenyAll]

If the TV's DLNA client still can't play the files, that would suggest the video format, even though supported by the TV via USB access is not supported by the TV's embedded DLNA client....right?

Yep. Not uncommon for devices to have limited support over DLNA.

Have you assigned the Vizio profile to the TV in Serviio Console? If so, enable transcoding as that will transcode pretty much everything (I haven't got the TV, but based on the profile it doesn't look like it supports many formats at all).

You can also post your DeviceSpy output (see viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19) which will give a view to what is actually supported.

The first thing I tried was to assign the VIZIOTV profile to the device but it only adds .MPG to each file and the DLNA client won't even try to play the files, I suppose since they can't be found by that name. What do the colored dots next to the devices in Serviio mean?

I've sent a question to Vizio support asking to let me know or direct me to a doc that at least lists the formats it can play (not in the manual at all and no place I've found online to this point). I'll run the DeviceSpy tool and post the results.

Device Spy doesn't see the Vizio but Device Sniffer sees packets from it.

[DenyAll]

I haven't got a Vizio TV but my understanding is you must transcode to mpeg format to play files over DLNA for this TV. By assigning the Vizio profile in Serviio Console, you will be telling Serviio to transcode all these files automatically - it doesn't simply putting .mpg on the end of each file, but rather (if working correctly) will convert the file to mpeg format on the fly.

So, set the profile to Vizio TV then lets try to work thru why it isn't playing. Enable detailed logging (click on the link) and try and play one of the videos. Post the Serviio log file back to the forum and lets see if that sheds any light.

ps. what OS are you using.

Looks like it tries to stream then gets the following error:

2014-01-07 22:48:23,493 DEBUG [WebServer] I/O error: Software caused connection abort: socket write error

OS is Win 7 x64. Both TV and laptop w/serviio are on a Wireless G LAN. I'll try a cable connection for the server.

EDIT: Not a bandwidth issue as a cable connection to the router makes no difference. I did get an AVI source file to play using the Phillips (2009) profile but MP4 files in the lib don't even show up on the TV.

Hmmm, actually the AVI files plays via DLNA w/o transcoding. Info says codec name: MPEG-4 Part 2 ID: XVID 624x352, Audio MP3, 128kbps.

[DenyAll]

First things first - update Java to the latest version.

Installed Java SE 1.7.0_4-b18 from Oracle site.... no change in Serviio issues.

With the VizioTV profile, when I try to play a video from the TV, I see ffmpeg *32 process start on thr laptop and consume quite a but of CPU but nothing at all happens on the TV, no video is played but no error messages are displayed either. The DLNA client is still responsive for browsing but play seems to be ignored. Tailing the serviio log, if I cancel the ffmpeg progess, I see "transcoding finished. success=false" so it I guess servio is transcoding but teh client never plays anything.

[DenyAll]

Installed Java SE 1.7.0_4-b18 from Oracle site.... no change in Serviio issues

Hopefully you mean 1.7.0_45-b18.

From a command prompt can you run the command:

"C:\Program Files\Serviio\lib\ffmpeg.exe" -threads auto -i C:\data\Firefly\FireflySeason-1--Episode-3---ENG-.mp4 -y -threads auto -c:v mpeg2video -pix_fmt yuv420p -qscale:v 1 -r 25 -g 15 -c:a ac3 -b:a 128k -ac 2 -map 0:0 -map 0:1 -sn -f vob C:\data\Firefly\FireflySeason-1--Episode-3---ENG-.mpg

This should create a mpg file of the same name. Note any errors during the process. Do a library refresh and try and play the resultant mpg file. All of the above is trying to simulate the transcode process, and may shed some light on what is going wrong. ps. does your C: drive have plenty of space?

Also, do all your file names have hyphens in them. I wonder if this is effecting the ffmpeg process? A long shot, but can you rename a file to have no hyphens and see if it plays?

Yes, Java is at the latest release. My previous post had (at least one...lol) typo I missed.

File name change had no effect.

I installed the latest Java & serviio on a more powerful i7 quad core mini tower (used as a DAW) with an ethernet connection to the router. The Vizio still will not play anything transcoded on-the-fly from Serviio.

I also have a SeaGate GoFlex Home NAS running miniDLNA server. It doesn't transcode. DVDs ripped to VOB/MPEG w/o further compression play fine from the miniDLNA stream on all the embedded DLNA players I have (Samsung BD, Sony N100, & the Vizio). Those files also play fine on the Vizio from Serviio with transcoding off.

I transcoded the MP4 to MPEG using the command you specified. With transcoding off, that file plays fine from Serviio to the Vizio. Some .WMV files I created a while back also played fine with transcoding off.

Whenever I try to play the MP4 file with real-time transcoding on, I see "connect reset" errors in the serviio log. I am using an unmodified profile.xml. Since the off-line transcoded file played, is the VizioTV profile doing the same thing as the command you sent me? I suspect it isn't...

BTW, I appreciate your help....

I am having the same issue. Just bought a 24" Vizio TV and downloaded Serviio exclusively to use with this TV. In the generic DLNA setup the Vizio can at least "see" all of the files, and load dates and durations. It can't play most of the files and the TV states there are invalid video and audio codecs (some movies -AVIs will play). When I switch to the "Vizio TV" selection in Serviio, the TV can only see the file names. It no longer adds the date and duration - its like it cannot even read the files. When you click to load a movie the TV does NOTHING. It does not load a preview pane or anything. It seems that Serviio and its transcoding in DLNA are not compatible with Vizio TVs. This is disappointing.

[DenyAll]

Since the off-line transcoded file played, is the VizioTV profile doing the same thing as the command you sent me? I suspect it isn't...

It is... that command is what is being invoked by Serviio (other than I changed the end filename and the file extension from .stf to .mpg).

This is weird - perhaps the Vizio is timing out before the server has a chance to transcode and stream the file. Did we try this:

• turn on detailed logging so we can monitor what Serviio is doing
• Attempt to play the file (it will fail) and then monitor your PC for the completion of the ffmpeg task - you will need to look at processes from all users in the Task Manager to see this. Even after failing ffmpeg should continue to transcode.
• Once ffmpeg has finished play the file again on your TV. A new transcode session will not commence - Serviio will use the previously (now fully transcoded file).

If this works it would suggest it is a timing issue (what to do about it though....). Perhaps try other profiles and see if any work better?

This is the exact problem I am having. I recently purchased a vizio 32" E320. I originally had windows media center running on a win7 64 bit machine. Through wireless connection I was able to play avi files perfectly. However, since I have a lot of mp4 files the vizio tv would not play them. I get the dreaded audio/video codec not supported.

Then I installed the latest version of serviio thinking the on the fly transcoding would be the magic bullet. Last night I tested things and no luck. With transcoding turned on, I'm able to view my library, but each file has a .mpg extension appended to it. When I hit play nothing happens. No preview, no error message, nothing. It sounds like I'm not the only one with this problem. I was hoping to figure out a work around. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! I'm hoping I don't have to end up returning the tv.

[DenyAll]

Try some other profiles - for example, the DirectTV profile is very similar to the Vizio profile but limits the bit rate of the video.

I tried a bunch of profiles, nothing works. If the Vizio can play the file natively and transcoding is disabled in Serviio, it will stream. Any attempt to play a dynamically-transcoded stream fails.

Another member here pointed me to KooRaRoo media server and their free server works just fine with the Vizio using the "Vizio - MPEG2" profile. Whether or not the DLNA client in this Vizio TV is sub-par, the fact that KRR can seem to transcode and stream to it while Serviio can't seems to indicate at least part of the problem is with Serviio.

At this point, I've pretty much given up on Serviio. Thanks for your help.

[DenyAll]

Which format is KooRaRoo media server transcoding to?

It seems Vizio and Serviio just don't well together. Last night I installed KooRaRoo and it works with my Vizio e320. Still testing things but all looks good. Try it if you have a Vizio smart tv.

Which format is KooRaRoo media server transcoding to?

I assume MPEG-2.

I'm an experienced IT professional, mostly retired semi-pro musician, and audio recording enthusiast but I'm still learning the basics of DV containers and encoding. Is there a free tool that will clearly list the vital attributes of a video file?

[DenyAll]

MediaInfo: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4510
In KooRaRoo there should be a section that allows you to change the transcode output for the TV - see what it has there already for the Vizio profile.