XBMC Won't Play AVI Files

A while back, I converted an original XBox to something new – an XBOXMEDIACENTER. It actually was a whole lot easier than I expected. I didn’t even have to open it up, because through the judicious use of eBay, I managed to find a copy of the original Mech Assault (not the Platinum Hits version, that’s just what comes up at xbox.com), which allowed the loading of a softmod.

Once I did, it’s like a whole new world opened up. The people who have developed XBMC have done a bang-up job, by packaging a nice interface along with a great platform for playing all sorts of videos and even being able to load games – both those developed for the XBox and ROMs of all sorts. But I was frustrated because I couldn’t get some AVI files to play. They would act like they were going to start, but after a second or so, they would just stop. I was pulling out what little hair I had left. Luckily, I finally appear to have found the solution.

Up until I managed to find it, however, I was having to convert all these AVI files over to MPG files, which was a pain. It was reasonably automatic, using a tool like the Videora TiVo Converter, but it was still something I had to do, because the files would then (usually) work. The only problem is that sometimes there were other problem – out-of-sync audio being the most prevalent. So I still wanted to find the solution to the problem.

Converting from AVI back to MPG also means a certain loss of quality, and though I have plenty of space on the network, thanks to my Infrant ReadyNas NV+, it would mean a certain amount of space would be saved as well. But I just couldn’t figure out the problem.

Then I stumbled across this comment at the XBMC forum and it seemed to hold the answer (actually the next comment explained the answer, but the first one had it). The problem seems to have something to do with the stream type of the file being something called an OpenDML. I don’t know what it is, I’m just passing it along.

How do you know if your videos have this OpenDML problem? Luckily, you can find out if your videos have it by looking with a tool called GSpot. Just load up the program and look over on the left under Stream Type and A/V Interleave. If it says OpenDML AVI, that seems to be the problem and you’ll need to take care of it, which takes a bit of work but luckily it’s not a lot.

What you need is a tool called VirtualDubMod. While the software can be a bit intimidating, you don’t need to do much with it. Just load it, and open the problematic video. You may get a message or two in the process. If you do, you probably want to ignore them – especially if it comes to rewriting the header due to audio mismatches. You can do that, but it’s a lot more complex – and you might still have audio problems!

Instead, just proceed with opening the video, and once it’s open you are already almost done. Just click on Video, then Direct Stream Copy. Then you’re ready to save your video, so click File and Save As. Make sure that you check the box labeled Save AVI in old 1.0 (VfW 1.1e) format (Compatibility Mode). You’ll also want to double-check your video mode here – make sure it is set to Direct Stream Copy (you can also set it on this screen, rather than from the video menu).

Give your file a new name (just to make sure, in case anything goes wrong), click Save, and you’re done. Actually you’ll have to wait for a couple of minutes and you’re done (depending on your computer speed, of course). Note that although the time remaining at first glance may look like it’s going to run for a very long time (as much as 2-3 hours) – it will actually only take about 2-3 minutes. So make sure you look at the right value – unlike me.

Once the process finishes, you can re-check your file in GSpot, where it should now simply say AVI. That means you’re good to go, and you can watch the video on your XBox!

Update: I have found a couple of instances where an AVI will say just AVI there in Stream Type and A/V Interleave. However, by following the same steps and re-encoding the file, it still seems to clear up the problem. Since it only takes 2-3 minutes, rather than the rather lengthy time it takes to re-encode as an MPG (and you don’t lose audio sync to boot), I’d say it’s well worth the time to give it a try, regardless – I’ve just been processing every movie that comes through.