All video files I play are black but with sound

Bobber0001Bobber0001
edited September 2008 in Internet & Media
Whenever I play a video file, be it AVI, MPEG or something else, My player goes completely black. I still have sound though.

I have tried to play many different files in WMP11, MP Classic and VLC Player.

Here's what I have already done:

Updated Windows
Updated Graphics drivers
Updated DirectX
Updated codecs
Deleted codecs and tried new codecs
Tried many other different codecs
Deleted bad codecs with Codec Sniper
Searched for and fixed bad registry entries with CCleaner
Deactivated Windows Live Mesh remote display drivers
Pulled out hair in anger
Restored graphics driver settings to defaults
Played many different files and file formats

The files I have tried all work as they should, when played on my laptop.

These only changes made to my system that I can remember off the top of my head between video files working and not working, are the following three:

I messed around with my Anti-aliasing and Anisotropic filtering settings. More precisely, I turned them both all the way up, and bypassed application settings. However, I reverted these settings a few minutes later, as even Diablo II ran with 4 fps.

I overclocked my graphics card further, from 825 to 840 mhz GPU. Factory default: 800 mhz. My temperatures are low though.

I updated Windows Live Mesh yesterday, a program which features a remote support function with its own weird drivers. I deactivated those trivers, though, but it didn't work. I updated Live Mesh again today, which is weird, since updates for this program usually comes out every month or so.

I have a ATI Radeon HD2600XT with the latest drivers as of July 21st 2008. I'm running WinXP 32-bit.
I can post a dxdiag if necessary.

If you need any more information, just request it.

Comments

  • Your-Amish-DaddyYour-Amish-Daddy The heart of Texas
    edited August 2008
    I don't see "Ran system restore to the point before they stopped working" which would've been the first thing I would've done.
  • Bobber0001Bobber0001
    edited August 2008
    Your Amish Daddy wrote:
    I don't see "Ran system restore to the point before they stopped working" which would've been the first thing I would've done.

    It actually worked. Wow.
    I don't know why I didn't think of that. I feel so silly.
    Thanks man. Seriously! :smiles:
  • Your-Amish-DaddyYour-Amish-Daddy The heart of Texas
    edited August 2008
    No problem.
  • Bobber0001Bobber0001
    edited September 2008
    Well, here I am again.

    This problem has been reoccuring and reoccuring over the past month, and it's driving me crazy.

    I can watch a movie, go make me a sandwich, come back, and my computer won't play anything.
    Same problem as last time - only sound, the movie is completely black.

    The only think that temporarily solves my problem, is using system restore to go back before 5.06 PM, August 18th 2008, where my computer apparently installed "Software Distribution Service 3.0".

    I have been searching around, and apparently this is some kind og sneaky ninja-update that Microsoft enforces on your computer, even if you have automatic updates turned off.

    There seems to be no way of preventing Windows from installing this.

    Many people have problems with this update. Something will work, then mess up when this update is installed.

    What do I do?
    How can I prevent this update from being installed?
    How can I remove this update completely?
    Am I the wrong track here?
    Do I need to update the err, update?

    Help!
  • Your-Amish-DaddyYour-Amish-Daddy The heart of Texas
    edited September 2008
    Well, I think that software distribution system thing they're pushing is an anti-piracy thing to be honest. Don't know what to tell you other than file a bug report with microsoft, and I got no idea how to do that.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    Software Distribution Service 3.0 is Windows Update. It's what makes Windows update work.

    My usual advice for a system that persists in being borked through a state restore is to reformat it. Only sure-fire way to guarantee success. Sure, it's drastic, but you've already tried everything else.
  • Bobber0001Bobber0001
    edited September 2008
    Yeah, I guess you're right.
    It's just that I have an amazing amount of files that I want backed up, and so little space on my tiny laptop harddrive.

    Reformatting is almost always a solution, but I can't imagine it impossible to solve this problem without doing so.

    I again want to direct the attention towards Windows Live Mesh, and I am very interested in whether anybody else have experienced similar problems with this program.

    I mean, it does install some weird video devices, so I guess that there is some kind of link.

    The reason that I thought that Software Distribution Service 3.0 had something to do with my problem is, that if I system restore to ANY point before installing that update, my video works. But if I system restore to ANY point after installing it, video doesn't work.

    See why I made the connection? :D
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    Buying an external USB drive for backups is something you should have anyway, and it'll let you save everything to reformat. Really, I think a reformat will take less time than getting to the bottom of your problem. You've reached a level of obscurity that will make it really hard to track down a viable solution, it seems to me.
  • Bobber0001Bobber0001
    edited September 2008
    Keebler wrote:
    Buying an external USB drive for backups is something you should have anyway, and it'll let you save everything to reformat. Really, I think a reformat will take less time than getting to the bottom of your problem. You've reached a level of obscurity that will make it really hard to track down a viable solution, it seems to me.


    Wow, alrighty.
    I will definitely consider that as a solution, although I might post my problem on a few other forums first (Microsofts maybe) and see if they can be of any help.

    I don't expect much though, and I'll probably end up reformatting anyway.
  • flashygirlflashygirl
    edited September 2008
    I'm having the exact same problem with my computer! I should really know better than to install Service Packs by now.

    I tried using a restore point from pre-service pack, but no luck. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!
  • Bobber0001Bobber0001
    edited September 2008
    flashygirl wrote:
    I'm having the exact same problem with my computer! I should really know better than to install Service Packs by now.

    I tried using a restore point from pre-service pack, but no luck. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!


    You should always download servicepacks.

    When they're all new, you might wait a couple of days to check out if there are any major bugs, but in general service packs just supply you with a large about of bug fixes, performance improvements and much more.

    There were some problems with SP2, but these problems were mostly related to the producers of other software and games, not Microsoft.




    ... I think.
  • flashygirlflashygirl
    edited September 2008
    I do usually use Windows update a couple of times a month just to keep my computer up-to-date. Unfortunately, I've had trouble with SP2 and now SP3. I guess I just have bad luck!

    P.S. I tried updating my DivX codec and now I can get media files to play using the player that came with the install... but not with any of my other players like VLC or MediaPlayer. Does that mean I shoudl be updating all these players as well?
  • flashygirlflashygirl
    edited September 2008
    Just an update: I managed to fix my problem after a couple hours of tinkering. It turns out that the problem was a graphics card driver update I had installed pervious to the service pack. It's still curious that the system restore didn't work though.

    There's also a setting in VLC that fixed the problem specific to that player. All I had to do was uncheck the "overlay video output" box in my VLC settings.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    Flashygirl, thanks for you input and welcome to Icrontic! You too, Bobber!
  • _k_k P-Town, Texas Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    If you want to keep overlaying to try and fix the issue there is the K-lite codec pack, comes with WM classic as well. If the issue is not codecs being borked, or something along those lines, it won't have any effect. However, its quick and its easy and it just cuts out that possibility.
  • Bobber0001Bobber0001
    edited September 2008
    _k_ wrote:
    If you want to keep overlaying to try and fix the issue there is the K-lite codec pack, comes with WM classic as well. If the issue is not codecs being borked, or something along those lines, it won't have any effect. However, its quick and its easy and it just cuts out that possibility.


    Thanks for the suggestion, but K-Lite - including the player - was actually one of the first things I tried.
    Same issue.
  • Your-Amish-DaddyYour-Amish-Daddy The heart of Texas
    edited September 2008
    Go into Media Player Classic's options, and go to output, and set your overlay to either VMR9 or overlay. Try both.
  • Bobber0001Bobber0001
    edited September 2008
    Alright, the problem's fixed.

    The new problem is, that I don't know what fixed it.

    I upgraded to .Net Framework 3.5 SP1 (had 3.5 SP1 Beta before).
    This might've fixed is, seeing as WMP11 does run on .net, and betas can be buggy.


    I opened Windows Media Player 11, which is the main player I watch videos in, went to the "performance" tab, clicked "advanced", unticked "use overlay" and ticked "enable DirectX video acceleration".

    Lastly, which is the most unlikely solution, I've restarted quite a few times, and updated Windows XP. However, the only updates were for windows desktop search and silverlight 2.0.

    So my best bets would be the framework update or the overlay untick, with the latter as the most likely, due to flashygirl's experiences.

    Thank you everybody, and rest assured that this was not my last visit to these forums!
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