I'll try to help. It might be a relatively simple fix. You probably just need to uninstall a few things and get a better set of filters on your system. There are good free filters you can use, but a bunch of crappy ones that break stuff out there too.
Most importantly: You almost certainly want to keep the playback settings in MC set to the defaults if you can, and fix the problem itself in Windows. You generally want to keep the
Playback Method set to
Automatic in MC's Tools -> Options -> File Types, unless you really know what you are doing.
Instead, can you try these few things for me?
Go here, and download the program called CCCP Insurgent. This is a tester tool for DirectShow filters. Run it. It doesn't need an installer or anything, it'll just run as it is. So, after you download the program, just double click on it to open it up.
1. In the dialog window that appears, I'd like you to list
anything that shows up in the left-hand Codec/Filter Packs box for me.
2. Then, go to the Tools menu and choose Test Render. Then, in the browser window that appears, find one of your MKV files and open it. Then, copy the results and paste them here. It should look something remotely like this:
File: M:\Video\TV Show\Dexter\4\Dexter - 4e01.mkv
Filter 0: Default DirectSound Device
Filename: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\quartz.dll
Filter CRC: 2239FB6E
Date: 2009-12-19 | 05:02:48
Filter 1: Video Renderer
Filename: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\quartz.dll
Filter CRC: 2239FB6E
Date: 2009-12-19 | 05:02:48
Filter 2: AC3Filter
Filename: C:\Program Files (x86)\SageTV\SageTV\ac3filter.ax
Filter CRC: E098BB39
Date: 2007-08-29 | 11:12:08
Filter 3: CoreAVC Video Decoder
Filename: C:\Program Files (x86)\CoreCodec\CoreAVC Professional Edition\CoreAVCDecoder.ax
Filter CRC: 8F352812
Date: 2009-12-18 | 14:26:36
Filter 4: ffdshow Audio Decoder
Filename: C:\Program Files (x86)\Combined Community Codec Pack\Filters\FFDShow\ffdshow.ax
Filter CRC: 68ED0969
Date: 2010-05-09 | 20:23:28
Filter 5: M:\Video\TV Show\Dexter\4\Dexter - 4e01.mkv
Filename: C:\Program Files (x86)\Combined Community Codec Pack\Filters\Haali\splitter.ax
Filter CRC: B87FE393
Date: 2010-05-19 | 13:59:52
Note: For File CRC, use CRC Check from the Tools Menu!
Then, do this for me in MC:
3. Open MC and go to Help -> System Info. As soon as the dialog opens, you can just click exit. It automatically copies the text to the clipboard for you. Then come here and paste that new stuff into the forum. It should look like this:
Media Center 15.0.107 Registered -- C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 15\
Workstation 6.1 (Build 7600)
Intel Core 3996 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 4189 MB, Free - 1298 MB
Internet Explorer: 8.0.7600.16385 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82.7600 / Shlwapi.dll: 6.1.7600 / Shell32.dll: 6.1.7600 / wnaspi32.dll: N/A
Ripping / Drive D: Mode:ModeSecure Type:Auto Speed:Max
Digital playback: Yes / Get cover art: Yes / Calc replay gain: Yes / Copy volume: 100
Eject after ripping: Yes / Play sound after ripping: No
Burning / Drive D: _NEC DVD_RW ND-3500AG Addr: 3:0:0 Speed:17 MaxSpeed:17 BurnProof:Yes
Test mode: No / Eject after writing: Yes / Direct decoding: Yes / Write CD-Text: Yes
Use playback settings: Yes /
Portable Device Info
Removed devices:
Interface Plugins:
TiVo Server (Active)
4. Lastly, inside MC go to Tools -> Options -> Video. Then make sure that the
Default video renderer is set to
Automatic. It should be, unless you messed with it. If not, fix it.
Note: When you paste BOTH of those pieces of text into the forum, you should then select the pasted text with your mouse and click the # button in the forum toolbar. This will wrap that pasted text in CODE tags, which will put it in a grey box like mine and make it easier to read.