MKV and Windows 7 Media Center not working

[stavarotti]

Thank you for creating such an easy to use application. However, after several attempts, I am unable to play MKV's created using makemkv in Windows 7 Media Center. Initially I thought that the sound, using AC3 instead of AAC was the problem. So to recitfy the problem I decided to do the following:

- create an mkv without any audio tracks, just the video (did not work)
- download and install Haali Media Splitter and ffddshow (did not work)
- download and install divX preview (did not work in WMC or the divX player)

However, interestingly enough, the files play just fine using VLC. Am I missing something here? I am not sure why the MKV would play just fine (including subtitles and multiple audio tracks) using VLC but not play at all in Windows Media Player, Media Player, or divX player.

FYI, I am currrently creating MKV's from VIDEO_TS folders ripped using DVDFab. These are full copies without anything removed except for css.

Thanks for your help.

[Marc_G]

PResuming you've got a reasonably modern computer with reasonably modern graphics capabilities, and making an exception for some specific types of VC1-encoded content (<1% of what's out there), all you should need to do is:
1. Basic install of W7 Home Premium.
2. Install Haali Media Splitter (using either x32 or x64 version to match with your version of Windows).
3. Either hack Windows to recognize MKVs natively in WMC, or better, use somethng like Media Browser to launch them in WMC. I use Media Browser.

You shouldn't need any special codecs or anything other than the Haali splitter. In fact installing them can really screw things up in certain cases.

What I recommend is that you get a copy of GraphStudio which will let you "render a media file" which is a fancy way of saying it will draw a nice graph showing how the file will be split into audio/video/subtitle streams and what codecs etc. would be invoked by it if played by Windows. Check www.hack7mc.com for location of Graphstudio; I don't have it handy.

Good luck. I recommend the www.thegreenbutton.com forum for problems like this. Very good population of helpful folks there, specifically focused on issues including yours.

Marc

[stavarotti]

Thanks for the quick reply. I will download the apps you mentioned and try them out. However I have tried te splitter and this did not work for me. The divX preview works wonderfully with mkv's not created with makemkv. For example, using dvdfab the mkv works in bot media center and and windows media player. The advantage of using the divx preview is that I can play the mkv's on the xbox 360 media center extender with ability to fast forward and rewind smoothly. One other notion, someone else on the forum had suggested using mkvtoolnix to remux the mkv created using makemkv. Do you see this as a viable option?

Thanks again.

[setarip_old]

@stavarotti

Hi!

FYI, I am currrently creating MKV's from VIDEO_TS folders ripped using DVDFab.

Save some time and effort (and narrow down the possible source of your problem) and simply use MakeMKV to, in one step, rip/decrypt the movie-only of your DVD and create an .MKV file.

In addition to being a faster solution, it will help determine whether the cause of your problem may be DVDFab...

[Marc_G]

One other notion, someone else on the forum had suggested using mkvtoolnix to remux the mkv created using makemkv. Do you see this as a viable option?

It's funny actually. A week or two ago, I told someone who was having problems with a couple MakeMKV-created files that I had never had an unplayable file made by MakeMKV. Within a day or so I got one that wouldn't play in Media Center (but would play in other playsers such as MPCHC. It was "The Fourth Kind" (freaky movie, by the way!). I remuxed it in MKVMerge GUI and it then played fine in WMC. The guys here were able to reproduce the trouble and will look into the cause.

That said, I've done hundreds of files (includes TV series disks with lots of files) and found such problems to be very rare.

Give MKVMerge GUI a shot.

Marc

[stavarotti]

PResuming you've got a reasonably modern computer with reasonably modern graphics capabilities, and making an exception for some specific types of VC1-encoded content (<1% of what's out there), all you should need to do is:
1. Basic install of W7 Home Premium.
2. Install Haali Media Splitter (using either x32 or x64 version to match with your version of Windows).
3. Either hack Windows to recognize MKVs natively in WMC, or better, use somethng like Media Browser to launch them in WMC. I use Media Browser.

You shouldn't need any special codecs or anything other than the Haali splitter. In fact installing them can really screw things up in certain cases.

What I recommend is that you get a copy of GraphStudio which will let you "render a media file" which is a fancy way of saying it will draw a nice graph showing how the file will be split into audio/video/subtitle streams and what codecs etc. would be invoked by it if played by Windows. Check http://www.hack7mc.com for location of Graphstudio; I don't have it handy.

Good luck. I recommend the http://www.thegreenbutton.com forum for problems like this. Very good population of helpful folks there, specifically focused on issues including yours.

Marc

I ended up removing all nefarious installations and started (save for reinstalling windows ) from scratch. I did as you suggested:
1) Install Install Haali Media Splitter. Although I have a 64bit machine, I installed the 32bit version due to the fact that the 64 bit of the latest release is nowhere to be found.
2) Installed a registry hack for recognizing MKV's in media center

Using the techniques above, I am now able to rip my DVD's as MKV's using MakMKV and play them in windows media center no problem. However, because I do not have the divX preview installed, I can no longer fast forward or rewind MKV's on media center extenders. Small price to pay i guess Anyone have insight on this?

Thanks again for all your help.

[Marc_G]

Congratulations on getting things playing. As for the rewind/ff thing, that bugged me when I moved from "Vista+FFDSHOW" to "Windows 7 without codecs." But, Windows 7 gives a draggable slider which does the trick for me for "gross changes in position" and there's the 30 second skip forward/5 second back which I actually prefer. I decided to let FF/RW go and now I sleep well at night.

Alternatively, I'm looking into following dBone's blog about how to integrate MPC-HC player into Media Browser. It has all the fancy controls I believe. Added benefit: it supports forced subtitles ripped out of BD disks (though, not the way MakeMKV does it, yet), which was really bugging me. I believe one of the subtitle threads here gives a good explanation as to how to convert the initial MakeMKV output with PGS subtitles into the kind of subtitles MPC-HC will play.

Some potentially interesting links:
dbone's blog:
http://dbone1026.blogspot.com/
dbone's write-up on using MPC-HC in Media Center via Media Browser:
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2010/01 ... a-browser/

And here's one for you: Finding Haali's x64 Splitter:
http://www.hack7mc.com/2009/05/finding- ... -beta.html

I'm not sure what the consequences of using the x32 splitter are when you are on a x64 system...might rip open a hole in the time space continuum, or cause random crashes or something. I use the x64 one referenced above on my x64 destop and it works fine. My HTPC is x32 though.

Good luck!
Marc

[setarip_old]

I'm not sure what the consequences of using the x32 splitter are when you are on a x64 system

None...