Two video streams to two extenders will not play

[bsilvertab]

I have one Win 7 HTPC setup with a Ceton tuner. In two other rooms I have Xbox 360's setup as extenders. For some reason I can only use one extender at a time. Both will load up successfully but only one will stream video, either recorded or live TV. Example, XBOX 1 is started up and I start playing a recorded show. XBOX 2 is started up and another recording is selected for playback. When hitting play I just get the spinning wheel that sits there forever. Same result when it comes to live TV, and tuners are available. I tried removing and readding the Windows Media Center software from the HTPC. Same results. I also removed and readded the extenders, same results.

What could be effecting the playback from the PC to the extenders? I have a gigabit network so I know it is not a network issue.

[lithium630]

The Xbox 360 does not support gigabit so it can be more problems than good. Have you adjusted your nic settings? There are a few threads on it already. What are you playing the video from, a single drive, nas box?

[staknhalo]

Shot in the dark...something amiss with the HDD on the HTPC could cause this, no? I would think something network related, but if those are all fine check the HDD.

[foxwood]

Do you have another Win7 machine on the network that you could try pairing the XBoxes to, just to verify that it's not a networking problem?

[bsilvertab]

I'm 100% sure it is not a network problem and I'm 99% sure the hard drives are fine. Everything works great except playback from the second extender. What service actually does the streaming?

[foxwood]

I'm 100% sure it is not a network problem and I'm 99% sure the hard drives are fine. Everything works great except playback from the second extender. What service actually does the streaming?

Did you ever head the old saying "measure twice, cut once"? I'm suggesting you should expand your testing before you screw up your PC. But go ahead - you're 100% sure.

[lithium630]

I'm 100% sure it is not a network problem and I'm 99% sure the hard drives are fine. Everything works great except playback from the second extender. What service actually does the streaming?

A cheap gigabit switch can cause all kinds of headaches. I had constant network problems until I got my HP Procurve. It sure sounds like a hardware problem of some sort. You could try to update your nic driver. If you really think the issue is Media Center, you can repair the system files. Open a command prompt as administrator and run:

sfc /scannow

Thank can fix a lot of issues. The only down side I have seen is you might have to fix the Media Center menu if you previously customized it.

[bsilvertab]

I know what you are saying...

I have tried using different switches, network cables, all with the same results. The network test from the XBox shows great connectivity. If I had a drive issue I would be getting jumpy video, blue screens, errors in the event viewer. Things like that. None of that is occurring. It happens from two different Xboxs, it doesn't matter which one is started first. Very odd indeed.

I did run this command and the issue persists, sfc /scannow.

[barnabas1969]

Sounds like a network problem to me.

[blueiedgod]

What kind of CPU is in your HTPC? Windows needs 1 CPU core per TV connected, so in your case, you need a 3 core CPU to run all 3 TV's at once.

[foxwood]

What kind of CPU is in your HTPC? Windows needs 1 CPU core per TV connected, so in your case, you need a 3 core CPU to run all 3 TV's at once.

No, Windows doesn't NEED 1CPU core per TV - Microsoft has been recommending one core per extender for years, but the system will still work (harder) if you don't have one core per Extender.

[masonstorm1979]

If you are happy your media center system plays back content without issue especially Live TV then I would be looking at the common factors, network card and switch / router. I would simplify the setup by using one switch / router for your network, possibly disable the firewall on the media PC to rule this out also. I would test DLNA connectivity also to isolate the issue to media center only. If you use media player to set-up sharing and then try running some video via the xbox 360 dashboard system video player. If this streams without issue you can rule out network issues and tick off the network card, switch / router, cabling etc. This is a good test. Media center uses RDP terminal services to stream content to the xbox using local accounts MCX-User1 etc etc. It could be RDP issues only!!!! This would screw up performance to an extender.

Let me know you get on with the tests.