Jump to content

MBC and mkv files


BillW

Recommended Posts

BillW

I have been using MBT since February and I'm pretty satisfied with it. I know it's a work in progress which is absent quite a bit of functionality. No big deal for me. What I use on a daily basis works just fine for now.

 

I got curious about the added functionality and eye candy of MBC so I installed it on the same machine as MBS and MBT yesterday. It looks pretty sweet but it won't play any of my MKV files. I read somewhere I would have to install additional codecs but not sure which ones. Also will installing another set of codecs interfere with the operation of MBT? That's my main system. I don't want to break MBT just because I'm curious about MBC. 

 

Can I get MBC to play my mkv files on the same system with MBT? and if so, how? Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

aspdend

You can - it works perfectly fine for me and I have only installed madvr and the lav filters as part of the MBT installation. Not sure what encoding you have used in your mkv containers...

Edited by aspdend
Link to comment
Share on other sites

christoph86

The lav filters you get with MBT is all you need to play mkv on MBC. You don't want to install any other codecs because that can really screw things up. Not sure why you are unable to play mkv. Do you get errors or does it just not do anything when you hit play?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BillW

Thanks for the quick responses.

 

It doesn't play and I get a message something like Windows Media Center does not recognize this file type. I'm at work so I can't try it out to give the exact error message.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

aspdend

I was going to suggest you look at Mediainfo and see what codecs are used in your mkv containers, but it seems the latest versions of mediainfo have malware in the installer. I always used GSpot - but as this is too old now, have a look at http://www.kcsoftwares.com/?vtb Video Inspector. Maybe if you can post the details of one of you rmkv's someone may be able to help

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also just look at the file in your MB Server. One of the tabs there will give you all of the video and audio info, no need to install anything for that.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

BillW
This is the mediainfo for a typical movie on my system. Plays well with MBT but not with MBC. I'm not real sure what half of thiis info means. 

 

General

Unique ID                                : 146739575315384305119747041231717643812 (0x6E6503A370CEBA8A46C911D29535B624)

Complete name                            : E:\COMEDY\GRUDGE MATCH (2013)\Grudge_Match_t00.mkv

Format                                   : Matroska

Format version                           : Version 2

File size                                : 21.7 GiB

Duration                                 : 1h 53mn

Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable

Overall bit rate                         : 27.4 Mbps

Movie name                               : Grudge Match

Encoded date                             : UTC 2014-04-18 21:03:46

Writing application                      : MakeMKV v1.8.9 win(x64-release)

Writing library                          : libmakemkv v1.8.9 (1.3.0/1.4.1) win(x64-release)

 

Video

ID                                       : 1

Format                                   : AVC

Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec

Format profile                           : High@L4.1

Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes

Format settings, ReFrames                : 2 frames

Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC

Duration                                 : 1h 53mn

Bit rate mode                            : Variable

Bit rate                                 : 25.3 Mbps

Width                                    : 1 920 pixels

Height                                   : 1 080 pixels

Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9

Frame rate mode                          : Constant

Frame rate                               : 23.976 fps

Color space                              : YUV

Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0

Bit depth                                : 8 bits

Scan type                                : Progressive

Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.509

Stream size                              : 20.0 GiB (92%)

Language                                 : English

Default                                  : No

Forced                                   : No

 

Audio

ID                                       : 2

Format                                   : DTS

Format/Info                              : Digital Theater Systems

Mode                                     : 16

Format settings, Endianness              : Big

Codec ID                                 : A_DTS

Duration                                 : 1h 53mn

Bit rate mode                            : Constant

Bit rate                                 : 1 509 Kbps

Channel(s)                               : 6 channels

Channel positions                        : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE

Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz

Bit depth                                : 24 bits

Compression mode                         : Lossy

Stream size                              : 1.19 GiB (6%)

Title                                    : Surround 5.1

Language                                 : English

Default                                  : Yes

Forced                                   : No

 

Text

ID                                       : 3

Format                                   : PGS

Codec ID                                 : S_HDMV/PGS

Codec ID/Info                            : The same subtitle format used on BDs/HD-DVDs

Language                                 : English

Default                                  : No

Forced                                   : No

 

Menu

00:00:00.000                             : en:Chapter 01

00:10:07.189                             : en:Chapter 02

00:19:20.742                             : en:Chapter 03

00:29:24.929                             : en:Chapter 04

00:39:11.807                             : en:Chapter 05

00:50:05.961                             : en:Chapter 06

00:59:08.962                             : en:Chapter 07

01:09:21.490                             : en:Chapter 08

01:20:02.422                             : en:Chapter 09

01:29:20.563                             : en:Chapter 10

01:39:52.736                             : en:Chapter 11

01:45:15.934                             : en:Chapter 12

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

aspdend

Well as far as I know, LAV filters can work with mpeg-4/AVC.

 

I presume you did install them as part of the MBT installation?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marc_G

To me it sounds like the LAV splitter isn't being invoked. I suggest using a utility like GraphEdit / GraphStudio and render the sample mkv file you described. IT will show the various splitter / audio / video / sub components that windows will use to try to play the file, and may suggest where the problem is.

 

Most likely the LAV splitter just isn't set to be used for MKV files by windows.

 

Alternatively, it's easy to set up Media Player Classic Home Cinema as an external player... it's what I use.

 

Marc

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BillW

Hi @@BillW, not sure if you've 'told' WMC that it should play MKV via the registry?

 

Paragraphs 4+5 here may help you: http://www.hack7mc.com/2009/01/playing-mkvs-in-media-center.html

 

Cheers

Well I never did anything with the registry. I set up the paths to my media in WMC but that was all. Can't wait to get home tonight to give this a try. Does MBT and MBC use different methods or players for playback? MBT works flawlessly on my system.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Latchmor

Well I never did anything with the registry. I set up the paths to my media in WMC but that was all. Can't wait to get home tonight to give this a try. Does MBT and MBC use different methods or players for playback? MBT works flawlessly on my system.

 

Yeah MBT is designed and built by the devs here to playback almost anything using the LAV Filters. WMC (MBC) by default does not see/play MKV but the registry entry changes that. This may not be your problem of course and it's been so long since I set mine up but I definitely made the registry change.

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

CBers

@@BillW - if you have MBT installed, you must have LAV filters installed as well.

 

Have you followed this guide on how to configure them?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BillW

@@BillW - if you have MBT installed, you must have LAV filters installed as well.

 

Have you followed this guide on how to configure them?

Didn't try this either. Initially I installed the server, set up my library and installed MBT. Everything worked fine so I didn't do anything else. Thank you. Now I have a few things to try tonight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Latchmor

If MBT is flawless, don't touch LAV just yet in case you end up with MBT failing too, try the registry bit first as your message below points to this I think...

 

...something like Windows Media Center does not recognize this file type...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

CBers

Didn't try this either. Initially I installed the server, set up my library and installed MBT. Everything worked fine so I didn't do anything else. Thank you. Now I have a few things to try tonight.

 

If MBT is flawless, don't touch LAV just yet in case you end up with MBT failing too, try the registry bit first as your message below points to this I think...

 

If changing the LAV filters configuration causes MBT to stop working, then the devs will either need to fix it, or put out a statement that MBT and MBC CANNOT CO-EXIST ON THE SAME PC !!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Latchmor

If changing the LAV filters configuration causes MBT to stop working, then the devs will either need to fix it, or put out a statement that MBT and MBC CANNOT CO-EXIST ON THE SAME PC !!

 

Eh? I never said it would stop working but I didn't think he should dive into tweaking LAV settings before checking the reg edit first. My MBC and MBT coexist fine. However, I had MKV recognised in WMC ages before I installed MBT and I needed the simple reg file imported to do so. It would appear that breezytm was the same.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

CBers

You don't need to manually edit the registry to get MKV videos to playback in MBC if you follow the guide I posted.

 

If you manually edit the registry, for whatever reason, you could seriously screw things up.

 

I have LAV filters installed on my HTPC with MBC and followed the above guide.

 

I don't use MBT so don't know if changing LAV settings would cause it problems, but if it does then my comment above stands.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Latchmor

Ok, fair enough. All I know is the reg file merge (not actually typing in the registry) has worked on 4 PCs for me so far but I do know how dangerous the registry can be. It's a 10 second fix that may work, that is all. I don't know how the thread ended up with devs needing to fix stuff and put out statements all of a sudden, the tone just surprised me a bit.

 

Bye  ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

CBers

I don't know how the thread ended up with devs needing to fix stuff and put out statements all of a sudden, the tone just surprised me a bit.

 

Bye ;)

LOL :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...