MKV Header Editing / Haali Problem

[matrg]

Hi,

I'm converting a few BR to MKV with MakeMKV and in case I upgrade my amp/speakers at some point I want to keep the lossless TrueHD/DTS-MA audio as well as the standard lossy 3-channel DTS. Trouble is there is currently no option to order or set a default for the audio tracks in MakeMKV so the lossless track is always first (i.e. Track 1 - Video, Track 2 - Lossless, Track 3 - Lossy, +/- Track 4 Subs). When it comes to playing them via Win 7 media centre I have to come out of MC and click the Haali icon to change audio track each time.

My understanding is this should be easy to overcome by chaning the MKV header settings. I've tried editing the headers with MKVmerge and Haali does not seem to respect changing the 'Default' flag to 'Yes' on the lossy audio, or even changing the 'Enabled' flag for the lossless audio to 'No'. I have managed to get the lossy audio to play as default by changing the track numbers around but during playback when you click on the Haali icon in the taskbar it still has the tracks ordered as they were originally and the lossless track is selected (but the lossy is playing).

Is it a known issue with Haali that it does not recocgnise the 'default' and 'enable' audio track flags - it seems to just work on the track order or number? I would prefer if there was a way of changing the header so that the information displayed by Haali is correct?

Thanks in advance

[Icanseestars]

Have you tried using a different MKV splitters like the LAV splitter or DivX one ?

Windows media center does not support mkv files natively is the root problem, have you considered trying other software like XBMC, MediaPortal, Boxee, QVIVO or GBPVR who natively support mkv.

[matrg]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I did wonder whether I should try the Gabest splitter again, though as I recall it doesn't give you the taskbar control that Haali does over chapters etc..

The only reason for sticking with 7MC is that I haven't come across any other media software that integrates live DVB TV PVR functions together with streaming music/movies. Because broadband speeds in my area are not great I can't rely on internet TV/streaming, though it is a pain that there aren't any decent plugins for iPlayer etc for 7MC.

If you can point me to any software that integrates live TV, iPlayer/4oD etc, local MKV playback, and a user friendly GUI then I would be very grateful! The answer may be an internet TV a la the newer Sony or Samsung models, but these rarely have good PVR functions.

[robpdotcom]

Haali does not seem to respect changing the 'Default' flag to 'Yes' on the lossy audio, or even changing the 'Enabled' flag for the lossless audio to 'No'.

Did you also change the lossless default flag to "no"?

[matrg]

Yes. Initially the lossless track doesn't have the default flag set to either Yes or No, though once I set the lossy track default to Yes the flag on the lossless track seems to auto change to Yes. However, even if I then change the lossless default flag to No it doesn't work (I've checked the flag change is correctly saved).

Thanks

[robpdotcom]

Make sure you set both of them (the one you want to "yes", and the other to "no") and it should work.

I've been setting the flags for ages now, and Haali always respects them. Are you sure you have the latest Haali? You could also try LAVSplitter - it respects the forced and default flags.

EDIT: Make sure you check the box "Add Element".

[matrg]

Thanks for the further reply.

Not sure what I'm doing wrong. I've reinstalled the latest Haali version. I've changed the default flags in the respective tracks to Yes and No as I want them but it still doesn't work (on any of my MKVs). Saving and then reopening the header editor shows the flags are being saved appropriately. As I said before changing the enabled or forced flags on their own or in combination doesn't work either. The only way I can get the 3-channel lossy track selected as default is to change the track numbers, though Haali still tells me it is playing the lossless track.

Is this a bug or am I missing a setting in Haali or the MKV?

Cheers

[robpdotcom]

It's hard for me to come up with anything else, because I've never had any problems with Haali loading the default streams....

Some more info might help: media player, codecs, decoders, etc

Are you sure you're using Haali? And are you sure it's the latest version (not part of a codec pack)? If you're using MPC-HC, you have to uncheck the internal Matroska filter - just installing Haali doesn't guarantee it's being used.