Video files won't play. No Errors. Processor 100%

[Drexl]

Preface:
I did a search for this issue, but it consistently told me my search terms were too simple. I tried 5 different queries. I apologize if this has been addressed already.

System Info:
SS version - 4.8 (build 3434) – April 17, 2013
Subclient version - 0.10.2
Java versions - Java 7u21 and Java 6u45 (both 32 and 64bit)
OS - Win 7 XP Ultimate SP1
Browser - Chrome 27.0.1453.110 m

Issue:
Through either the web interface or Subclient I am unable to play video. No error is received the video simply does not play. Shorly afterward all 8 cores of my processor shoot to 100% and I have to stop the SS service to bring everything back to normal. I do not think the Java version is the problem because I tried uninstalling 7 to force 6 to be used and it did not change anything. Does anyone have an idea what could be causing this? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Edit (06/15): The video types I've tried playing are .avi and .mkv (with multiple audio and subtitle tracks).

Secondary question: Is there a way to force SS to use a specific Java installation rather than the latest?

[Drexl]

<bump>
Added additional information to OP.
</bump>

[Drexl]

I'm not going to endlessly bump my post so this is my last one. I'll be sure to post when this issue is resolved if I manage to figure it out. Until then if anyone happens across this post and knows something that might help, please post. If I've not indicated it resolved or cancelled then I'm still seeking a solution regardless of how much time has passed.

Thanks for reading.

[GJ51]

Try upgrading to the latest ffmpeg release.

http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/build

Download the static build. Extract the ffmpeg.exe file and replace the original in the C:Subsonic\transcode directory

[Drexl]

Hmm strange. I had manually installed FFMPEG and set the path in my environment variables. I thought it would just look for it there. Updating FFMPEG and placing it directly in that directory seems to have done the trick.. for the browser at least. That's only with the JW player though. Using the latest VLC (2.0.7) it doesn't play the m3u downloaded, and subclient still just displays a black screen. In both cases I still hear my processor's fan going crazy until I stop the subsonic service.

[GJ51]

I've never had much luck using VLC as the external player with Subsonic. External players generally are a bit of an issue in my experience and the best setup I found wad to use Windows Media Player as the system default player, especially if you use IE. Not the best option, but that's what I found to work the best with Subsonic on Windows.

I've long been an advocate of just embedding VLC into Subsonic as the integrated player and then all the transcoding would be offloaded from the server to the client and there wouldn't be any need to tweak strings and all the other stuff we have to do to get Subsonic to work right. If not, I'd like to see at least better integration with VLC as an external player. It seems that VLC can handle just about anything you throw at it without having to tweak it.

Unfortunately, my suggestion falls on deaf ears.

HTH, let me know if you find better solutions.

[Drexl]

@GJ51
Thanks for the help. It looks like I'll be setting up another web server. That always works at least. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on subsonic's growth though. Even though setting up a web-server isn't particularly difficult, I'd still rather use a service like this if I can rely on it.