Vista - MediaElement shows black screen when playing video

Our application needs to render a small video player inside a WinFX
window. MediaElement is the natural choice, but we've found that
different computers have different behaviors. For example, I have a
Dell, purchased a few months ago, that is unable to play any video or
sound rendered with MediaElement - for video, the MediaElement
rectangle is all black, and no sound plays either. This is true even
for an extremely simple XAML sample like this:

<StackPanel>
<MediaElement Source="C:\temp\halo.wmv">
</MediaElement>
<Canvas>
<MediaElement Source="C:\temp\Lit Up.mp3"/>
</Canvas>
</StackPanel>


1) I have the latest Intel graphics driver (dated 6/05)
2) I have the latest DirectX (dated 12/05)
3) Any WMV or AVI file I play works fine in Windows Media Player v10
4) The media files are not marked as "Blocked" in the Properties
tab

There are numerous reports on the newsgroups with people having video
card problems with WinFX, but to my knowledge no video card
requirements have yet been published by Microsoft. In my case I have
very recent hardware so that shouldn't be the problem in any case.

Has anybody else seen this behavior? If so how did you solve it?
-Jack


P.S. For further information, a snippet of my DXDiag output is below:

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 1/18/2006, 15:43:56
Machine name: LOKI
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service
Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
System Model: Dimension 2400
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A05
Processor: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 2.40GHz
Memory: 1022MB RAM
Page File: 423MB used, 885MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
DirectX Files Tab: The file d3d9d.dll is a debug version, which will
run slower than the retail version.
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
Music Tab: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.
Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Chip type: Intel(R) 82845G Graphics Controller
DAC type: Internal
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2562&SUBSYS_01601028&REV_01
Display Memory: 64.0 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Default Monitor
Monitor Max Res:
Driver Name: ialmrnt5.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.4342 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 6/21/2005 17:04:48, 38016 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: ialmnt5.sys
Mini VDD Date: 6/21/2005 17:12:34, 807998 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B78E66-6622-11CF-6E63-6A21A0C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x8086
Device ID: 0x2562
SubSys ID: 0x01601028
Revision ID: 0x0001
Revision ID: 0x0001
Video Accel:
Deinterlace Caps: n/a
Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Not Available
DDraw Test Result: Not run
D3D7 Test Result: Not run
D3D8 Test Result: Not run
D3D9 Test Result: Not run

Thanks for your post. We have been doing a lot of work in the MediaElement
code recently; namely, bug fixing for cases like the ones you describe below
(ie. black frames, transparent frames, glitching, etc) and also the ability
to run video in software. The latter is very important because it allows you
to have a pay-for-play experience even on low-end hardware. I can't give you
an exact date or build number when the MediaElement bug fixes will come in --
but they are coming. Thanks for your patience.

"saucyjack" wrote:

> Our application needs to render a small video player inside a WinFX
> window. MediaElement is the natural choice, but we've found that
> different computers have different behaviors. For example, I have a
> Dell, purchased a few months ago, that is unable to play any video or
> sound rendered with MediaElement - for video, the MediaElement
> rectangle is all black, and no sound plays either. This is true even
> for an extremely simple XAML sample like this:
>
> <StackPanel>
> <MediaElement Source="C:\temp\halo.wmv">
> </MediaElement>
> <Canvas>
> <MediaElement Source="C:\temp\Lit Up.mp3"/>
> </Canvas>
> </StackPanel>
>
>
> 1) I have the latest Intel graphics driver (dated 6/05)
> 2) I have the latest DirectX (dated 12/05)
> 3) Any WMV or AVI file I play works fine in Windows Media Player v10
> 4) The media files are not marked as "Blocked" in the Properties
> tab
>
> There are numerous reports on the newsgroups with people having video
> card problems with WinFX, but to my knowledge no video card
> requirements have yet been published by Microsoft. In my case I have
> very recent hardware so that shouldn't be the problem in any case.
>
> Has anybody else seen this behavior? If so how did you solve it?
> -Jack
>
>
> P.S. For further information, a snippet of my DXDiag output is below:
>
> ------------------
> System Information
> ------------------
> Time of this report: 1/18/2006, 15:43:56
> Machine name: LOKI
> Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service
> Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
> Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
> System Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
> System Model: Dimension 2400
> BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A05
> Processor: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 2.40GHz
> Memory: 1022MB RAM
> Page File: 423MB used, 885MB available
> Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
> DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
> DX Setup Parameters: Not found
> DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode
>
> ------------
> DxDiag Notes
> ------------
> DirectX Files Tab: The file d3d9d.dll is a debug version, which will
> run slower than the retail version.
> Display Tab 1: No problems found.
> Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
> Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
> Music Tab: No problems found.
> Input Tab: No problems found.
> Network Tab: No problems found.
>
> --------------------
> DirectX Debug Levels
> --------------------
> Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
> DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
> DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
> DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
> DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
> DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
> DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)
>
> ---------------
> Display Devices
> ---------------
> Card name: Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller
> Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
> Chip type: Intel(R) 82845G Graphics Controller
> DAC type: Internal
> Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2562&SUBSYS_01601028&REV_01
> Display Memory: 64.0 MB
> Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
> Monitor: Default Monitor
> Monitor Max Res:
> Driver Name: ialmrnt5.dll
> Driver Version: 6.14.0010.4342 (English)
> DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
> Driver Attributes: Final Retail
> Driver Date/Size: 6/21/2005 17:04:48, 38016 bytes
> WHQL Logo'd: Yes
> WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
> VDD: n/a
> Mini VDD: ialmnt5.sys
> Mini VDD Date: 6/21/2005 17:12:34, 807998 bytes
> Device Identifier: {D7B78E66-6622-11CF-6E63-6A21A0C2CB35}
> Vendor ID: 0x8086
> Device ID: 0x2562
> SubSys ID: 0x01601028
> Revision ID: 0x0001
> Revision ID: 0x0001
> Video Accel:
> Deinterlace Caps: n/a
> Registry: OK
> DDraw Status: Enabled
> D3D Status: Enabled
> AGP Status: Not Available
> DDraw Test Result: Not run
> D3D7 Test Result: Not run
> D3D8 Test Result: Not run
> D3D9 Test Result: Not run
>
>