ROKU 3: MKV from BD works, MKV from DVD Does Not!!

[ProRokurator]

This is very strange. Just got my Roku 3, plugged in my USB drive, and added the USB Player to my channels. MKVs that I made from BD using MakeMKV play fine. Great, actually. Those made from DVDs all give the same error message:

Code: Select all

File Not Playable
The codec used to compress the video is not supported.

Now, this is hard for me to figure. MKV files made using the same version of MakeMKV play or don't, respectively, depending on whether or not the source is BD or DVD. Were I to guess which would fail, it would have been the enormous files generated from the BD. But not so.

Any idea what's going on here? I used the same settings for both, though I know MakeMKV must do things differently at some level to handle BD. But I'd think the output encoding wouldn't change. How can I examine two different MKV files (one which plays on Roku, one which doesn't) and see what the differences are?

I've done a search of this forum, and didn't see this issue addressed. Point me to it, if I missed it, please. Yes, I've also posted in the Roku forum.

Many thanks.

[crowfax]

Roku's have always had poor local format support. The Roku simply isn't expecting to see MPEG2 data inside an MKV file, so it doesn't know what to do with it.

Add to that MPEG2 has some heavy licencing fee's attached to it because it's a broadcast standard and Roku probably won't pay them.

You can try a tool like MKV2VOB which will quickly repackage the data from the MKV file into a VOB file and see if the Roku will play that, but you're honestly much better off buying a player that is made with local media in mind like the WD TV Live boxes.

[paulster]

You could also use something like Handbrake to convert the MPEG2 stream inside the MKV file into something like H.264. It'll still be an MKV but it'll use a codec that the Roku can play.

You will get a generational loss through the conversion though.

[ProRokurator]

You could also use something like Handbrake to convert the MPEG2 stream inside the MKV file into something like H.264. It'll still be an MKV but it'll use a codec that the Roku can play.

You will get a generational loss through the conversion though.

Thanks. OK. That explains things. I didn't realize that DVDs used MPEG2, whereas I now gather most BDs use H.264, but I figured there must be a difference in the SOURCES since the conversion options chosen in MakeMKV weren't different. I've ALREADY converted my MKVs to MP4 for use on my Android, so the work's done, but I'd imagined that I could use a lossless conversion since size is not an issue from the USB HD. IS there any lossless way to convert my DVDs to a Roku playable format? My Roku is primarily for Netflix, so use with actual local files is a secondary, but still desirable feature.

[crowfax]

IS there any lossless way to convert my DVDs to a Roku playable format?

Did you try MKV2VOB as I suggested above?

[ProRokurator]

IS there any lossless way to convert my DVDs to a Roku playable format?

Did you try MKV2VOB as I suggested above?

Looking at it. Can't tell from my phone's browser g not enough real estate for my eyes...) if this would be a lossless conversion. I'll research that later from a desktop, unless you know the answer.

[crowfax]

if this would be a lossless conversion.

Yes, that's why I suggested it.

[ProRokurator]

if this would be a lossless conversion.

Yes, that's why I suggested it.

Doesn't work with my MakeMKV-generated .mkv files from my DVDs. Under Status, it states "Unsupported video codec: MPEG2." No trouble with MKV2VOB reading the BD .mkv files, but there's of course no need for that.

[crowfax]

That's weird, I thought I'd used it for converting MKV's from DVD's before.

Apologies for sending you down a dead end.

My only other suggestion is TSmuxer, if you google it you can find people hosting it, perhaps the Roku will look more favorably on a .ts or .m2ts file with MPEG2 data in it.

[ProRokurator]

That's weird, I thought I'd used it for converting MKV's from DVD's before.

Apologies for sending you down a dead end.

My only other suggestion is TSmuxer, if you google it you can find people hosting it, perhaps the Roku will look more favorably on a .ts or .m2ts file with MPEG2 data in it.

Te Absolvo.

It was certainly worth trying. All of this tends to entail a lot of experimentation. I just learned that a couple of things don't work. What I think makes the most sense now is something what will simply write the VOB file to disk directly from the DVD. Roku (supposedly) plays VOB w/o issues. I shouldn't need to convert it that way. I can already play M4V files, which I already have for use on my Android, but these are compressed as I'd rather use a lossless transfer. Not sure what's the best way to get VOB files directly from my DVDs...

[Chetwood]

You could use DVD Shrink and tell it not to split into 1 GB chunks, which will yield you one huge VOB. It may not be able to bypass current copy protections though.

[ProRokurator]

You could use DVD Shrink and tell it not to split into 1 GB chunks, which will yield you one huge VOB. It may not be able to bypass current copy protections though.

Well, I just found an OS X app that creates a single VOB file. While that file played fine on my PC with VLC, the Roku didn't even see it. I renamed it to .mkv, and it saw it, but chocked while loading it with no error message. Just locked up the Roku and had to restart it. So...not looking great for USB play of my DVDs without a lot of intermediate steps.

[crowfax]

Chances are the Roku doesn't have an MPEG2 decoder then.

[paulster]

Handbrake then. You can choose a quality profile that will have no (effective) generational loss as you can give it enough bandwidth to be able to encode the MPEG2 blockiness that is already inherent in the files.

It's not the ideal solution but it's a relatively straightforward way to be able to get your DVD content onto the Roku.

[ProRokurator]

Handbrake then. You can choose a quality profile that will have no (effective) generational loss...

Thanks. I'll have to explore the Handbrake settings. I used it to convert .mkv to .m4v for my Android, but that resulted in a 75% shrinkage, which I assume was through compression and loss of at least some definition. Are there presets for lossless conversion? I'm not at my pc to look right now.