If the files are MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 XBMC doesn't do them without a licence now as far as i'm aware.

format support from their support page

I have files with various codecs... inluding MPEG-1 and MPEG-2... x264, Quicktime MOV... AVI etc

Container formats: AVI, MPEG, WMV, ASF, FLV, MKV/MKA (Matroska), QuickTime, MP4, M4A, AAC, NUT, Ogg, OGM, RealMedia RAM/RM/RV/RA/RMVB, 3gp, VIVO, PVA, NUV, NSV, NSA, FLI, FLC, DVR-MS and WTV
Video formats: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, H.263, MPEG-4 SP and ASP, MPEG-4 AVC (H.264), HuffYUV, Indeo, MJPEG, RealVideo, RMVB, Sorenson, WMV, Cinepak.
Audio formats: MIDI, AIFF, WAV/WAVE, AIFF, MP2, MP3, AAC, AACplus (AAC+), Vorbis, AC3, DTS, ALAC, AMR, FLAC, Monkey's Audio (APE), RealAudio, SHN, WavPack, MPC/Musepack/Mpeg+, Shorten, Speex, WMA, IT, S3M, MOD (Amiga Module), XM, NSF (NES Sound Format), SPC (SNES), GYM (Genesis), SID (Commodore 64), Adlib, YM (Atari ST), ADPCM (Nintendo GameCube), and CDDA.

In reality, XBMC should playback anything that you have an installed codec for.

Maybe it's just the Pi then, I haven't use any other XBMC since XBOX 1

(December 29, 2013 at 4:20 pm)wolf39us Wrote:

Quote:those files would not play with XBMC if it doesn't do on-the-fly transcoding.

You are loading XBMC onto a computer correct?

Why won't the files play in XBMC?

You're not understanding the problem. I already explained this and am not going to do so again.

So you want to build a hosting server rather than an HTPC? I've gone back and re-read what you've said a few times... transcoding on the fly to devices with that processor is probably not going to get the job done.

Your first step really would be to find out what formats each of the devices have in common (for native playback). Converting the files to a common codec will in the end provide smoother playback on all devices as well much faster seek time (since the computer doesn't have to transcode).

Plex Media server is ok, PS3 Media server is considerably more lightweight, not sure if that's any help.

I've used both of those.. I'd vote for PS3 Media server personally

(December 29, 2013 at 4:54 pm)wolf39us Wrote: Your first step really would be to find out what formats each of the devices have in common (for native playback). Converting the files to a common codec will in the end provide smoother playback on all devices as well much faster seek time (since the computer doesn't have to transcode).

My sister has neither the time nor the technical proficiency to do this, and I'm not going to do it for her. Once again you've suggested a non-solution by ignoring relevant details already given. As regards the PS3 server, I'd be delighted if you'd buy her a PS3. Thanks a million. (Or however much a PS3 costs.)

PS3 Media Server is just the name of some free software that does DLNA media serving, you don't need a PS3 to use it.

(December 29, 2013 at 5:43 pm)StuW Wrote: PS3 Media Server is just the name of some free software that does DLNA media serving, you don't need a PS3 to use it.

I stand corrected. I'll add that back into the mix.

I already agreed to buy her a Playon+Playlater license, and they're on sale for $50 right now, so that much is almost a forgone conclusion. Since it requires computing horsepower to transcode, the better hardware platform is also then pretty much settled. And since Playon / Playlater handles the bulk of tasks needing to be handled, the rest is probably details, additions, and fine tuning. Sadly, the E7400 doesn't have the virtualization bit, so the only oses efficient enough to run inside "whatever" would need to be paravirtualized. That ultimately probably means, if I use virtualization, it would be linux on top of, or inside, Windows, rather than the other way around.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, StuW, Wolf, and Moros Syn. I've just got a lot of reading and figuring stuff out ahead of me. The only real big question remaining is whether replacing the video card has resulted in a stable system; the hard resets were intermittent, so I have no way of reproducing conditions which would be expected to cause a reset.