Living With Apple's MacBook: Various Video Travails

Continued from ‘Living With Apple’s MacBook: Partition Corruption (and Resurrection) And Other Updates‘…

Next, I’ll elaborate on my earlier ‘many Windows programs I installed over that 24-hour timeframe’ comment. I’d previously put the free version of TiVo Desktop v2.5 on the system, but I noticed that I wasn’t able to subsequently play in Windows Media Player 11 any of the .TIVO (encrypted MPEG-2) files that I transferred from the TiVo to the computer, due to an unspecified codec error. I already knew that Windows XP doesn’t ship with an MPEG-2 decoder, and I didn’t want to pay TiVo $24.95 just to get one (I don’t envision having a compelling need to subsequently play the content on a handheld device) so my first step was to try VLC Media Player. I was surprised to find that VLC didn’t have built-in support for the .TIVO format, and it also didn’t install a WMP11-compatible MPEG-2 DirectShow filter.

Next, I installed Nero 7 Premium, which I was planning on doing anyway for CD- and DVD-burning purposes. Its built-in ShowTime application played DVDs just fine, but WMP11 didn’t like its MPEG-2 DirectShow filters (which also refused to play the .TIVO content). Initially, I thought that the problem might be with the graphics drivers that Apple bundles with Boot Camp, but as it turns out they’re WHQL-certified and pretty up-to-date (version 6.14.10.4833, dated May 25, 2007) although not the latest-and-greatest.

Running the Windows XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility confirmed that Nero’s DirectShow filters were the root cause of the WMP11 DVD and TiVo playback problems. At this point, I could have installed the K-Lite Codec Pack, but I’m not a fan of (claimed) IP-infringing software, so…

…although I’d earlier stated that I wasn’t planning on installing a DVD playback software package on the Windows partition, since OS X already has a built-in DVD Player application, I broke down and put CyberLink’s PowerDVD Ultra on the system. WMP11 was much happier with CyberLink’s DirectShow filters; I was able to play both DVDs and (as you see above, showcasing some memorable content) TiVo material. PowerDVD Ultra would also let me play Blu-ray and HD DVD discs via USB- and FireWire-tethered optical drives (OS 10.4 doesn’t support playback of either high definition format), so I tried that next, using my Xbox 360 HD DVD drive.

After connecting the drive via USB for the first time, the ‘Add New Hardware’ wizard predictably popped up. Instead of installing dubious-sourced drivers as I’d done in my prior experiment, I instead let Windows go online and search for drivers for the Toshiba HD DVD drive, which it promptly found. The resultant drive E: didn’t let me browse the HD DVD disc contents, as I was previously able to do, but PowerDVD Ultra auto-launched…

…and immediately aborted playback with an error message.

PowerDVD Ultra prompted me to install the BD/HD Advisor utility, which provided additional information. Apparently, at least for the moment, PowerDVD Ultra only supports AMD (ATI) and Nvidia graphics subsystems for Blu-ray and HD DVD playback. I’ll contact CyberLink and report back on their Intel graphics support plans; this issue affects not only the MacBook’s Mobile Intel 945 Express Chipset, but also the G965 Express Chipset-based Intel µATX motherboard that I plan to use as the hardware foundation for an upcoming Windows XP (or Vista) Media Center Edition system build.

Continue reading with ‘Living With Apple’s MacBook: Sleep Stumbles And Other Stuff‘…