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[townsma]

I have just upgraded to MC 20 in the hope it might has resolved this issue, but it seems not.  I have MC 20 installed on my desktop computer, then on the LAN is a WD TV Live HD player.  For the vast majority of my files this setup works exceptionally well. But I have a whole bunch of mkv files that cannot be played.  Many mkv files will play but an equal number wont.

If I play them directly on the MC computer, I can play them all, but if I play them to my WD TV Live HD player, it looks like they will play, but then just drops back to the menu, without any message.

I don't know enough about differences in mkv files, I would have though if one mkv played, providing the files are not corrupt, they should all play.  But the facts that they a) play on the MC computer correctly, and b) it affects a number of files leads me to the assumption that the files are fine.

Is there some codec I need to install to improve the playback of mkv files? Or is it some limitation of DLNA?

[RoderickGI]

Sort of a limitation of DLNA, plus the WD TV Live HD Player, I believe.

A limitation of DLNA because the only way to send the media to the WD is via DLNA.

A limitation of the WD as it is acting as the DLNA Renderer, and it can't render HD Audio files, and possibly some Video files. Certainly last time I looked the WD couldn't render DTS-HD MA or Dolby TrueHD.

Get yourself a copy of MediaInfo and check out what is in the files that won't play, versus what the WD specs say it will play, when working as a DLNA Renderer.

[townsma]

Thanks for the feedback. 

I was under the impression that MC should convert videos on the fly to match the capabilities of the device we are sending to.  Is that not the case?

Thanks

Mark

[townsma]

I used the MediaInfo program you suggested and opened a mkv file that worked, and one that didn't  and compared the figures, they were absolutely identical except the duration of the program, and the not working one had a slightly higher overall bit rate 965 K bps to 1119 Kbps.

I checked both files playing them directly in MC on my desktop, both played correctly.  So it is not a corruption problem.  And besides it is many files that won't play.

This whole DLNA thing seems very flaky.

[BartMan01]

I used the MediaInfo program you suggested and opened a mkv file that worked, and one that didn't  and compared the figures, they were absolutely identical except the duration of the program, and the not working one had a slightly higher overall bit rate 965 K bps to 1119 Kbps.

I checked both files playing them directly in MC on my desktop, both played correctly.  So it is not a corruption problem.  And besides it is many files that won't play.

This whole DLNA thing seems very flaky.

Can you post the text dump of the file info for both?  It may not be a DLNA thing, it may be that one of the parameters on one of the files is outside of what WTV will handle.  I gave my WTV to a family member for Netflix use because I could never get it to be 100% reliable with everything I needed it for.

[townsma]

What is the best media player, maybe I will just replace them.  I have a Live HD and a Live Hub, and both are having the same problems with DLNA from MC

[townsma]

This is from one that doesn't work.  But to be honest I understand very little about it.  I simple compared to text files to find the differences.

General
Unique ID                                : 218857692699085076809461348574959732401 (0xA4A675593C237C9195228512A79F86B1)
Complete name                            : H:\Video\House of Cards Season 1 Complete.720p.BRrip.sujaidr (pimprg)\house.of.cards.2013.s01e04.720p.bluray.sujaidr.mkv
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 2
File size                                : 386 MiB
Duration                                 : 48mn 16s
Overall bit rate                         : 1 119 Kbps
Encoded date                             : UTC 2013-05-31 01:09:26
Writing application                      : mkvmerge v6.1.0 ('Old Devil') built on Mar  2 2013 14:32:37
Writing library                          : libebml v1.3.0 + libmatroska v1.4.0

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 5 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 48mn 16s
Nominal bit rate                         : 1 068 Kbps
Width                                    : 1 280 pixels
Height                                   : 640 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 2.000
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)                       : 0.054
Writing library                          : x264 core 130 r2273 b3065e6
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.15 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=1068 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile                           : HE-AAC / LC
Codec ID                                 : A_AAC
Duration                                 : 48mn 16s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz / 24.0 KHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Delay relative to video                  : 31ms
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Text #1
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : ASS
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Compression mode                         : Lossless
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Text #2
ID                                       : 4
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Menu
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[RoderickGI]

I was under the impression that MC should convert videos on the fly to match the capabilities of the device we are sending to.  Is that not the case?

Well it does, if all the DLNA settings are set correctly. I'm not sure if the DLNA capabilities discovery process always gets it right though. Most MC DLNA conversion settings can be marked as "convert if necessary", rather than "always convert". Maybe you should try forcing the output to a known format and see if that makes a difference.

BTW, while I looked at the WD products a while back, I don't have one nor am I using DLNA right at the moment, so I am working from specs and theory rather than recent practice.

What is the best media player, maybe I will just replace them. 

That is a million dollar question, which I'm afraid I don't have an answer to, particularly if HD video and audio is involved. There are lots of threads on the forum about it though, and lots talking about various versions of Intel NUCs. But I have yet to see a good answer, particularly when using DLNA. (NUCs can run Windows and so act as a standard MC client, rather than use DLNA.)

I have a Live HD and a Live Hub, and both are having the same problems with DLNA from MC

Both the WD Live HD and Hub are supposed to support Matroska AVC video and of course AAC audio, as shown in your sample file. I'm not sure about the specific Codec ID and Format Profiles though.

Before throwing them out though, I would check they have the latest firmware with all updates. Then, as both have a USB 2.0 input port, I would copy some working and failing mkv videos on to a memory stick and see if they will play on the WDs using the WD interface, and not MC.

If they play from the USB sticks directly on the WDs, then your DLNA setup may be the issue, or a limitation of DLNA itself.

If they don't play, and it is consistent with MC as to which ones play and which ones don't, then it is probably the WDs at fault.

Post up a MediaInfo result for a working MKV file as well please. The devil is in the detail.

[townsma]

I have two sample files, mkv files, the one as I sent the mediainfo  before, will send the other in a moment.
Both MKV files on USB do NOT run on Live HD, but do run on the Live Hub.
Via DLNA from MC20, one file runs on Live HB and one does not.  and both do not on Live HUB.

Very weird  set of results.

[townsma]

Other file MediaInfo

General
Unique ID                                : 242605906739455667935598385746471085540 (0xB68432B33D3DA4FB9833DE51492CE5E4)
Complete name                            : H:\Video\House of Cards Season 1 Complete.720p.BRrip.sujaidr (pimprg)\house.of.cards.2013.s01e03.720p.bluray.sujaidr.mkv
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 2
File size                                : 386 MiB
Duration                                 : 50mn 43s
Overall bit rate                         : 1 064 Kbps
Encoded date                             : UTC 2013-05-30 20:43:43
Writing application                      : mkvmerge v6.1.0 ('Old Devil') built on Mar  2 2013 14:32:37
Writing library                          : libebml v1.3.0 + libmatroska v1.4.0

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 5 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 50mn 43s
Nominal bit rate                         : 1 013 Kbps
Width                                    : 1 280 pixels
Height                                   : 640 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 2.000
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)                       : 0.052
Writing library                          : x264 core 130 r2273 b3065e6
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.15 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=1013 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile                           : HE-AAC / LC
Codec ID                                 : A_AAC
Duration                                 : 50mn 43s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz / 24.0 KHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Delay relative to video                  : 31ms
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Text #1
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : ASS
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Compression mode                         : Lossless
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Text #2
ID                                       : 4
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Menu
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[RoderickGI]

I have two sample files, mkv files, the one as I sent the mediainfo  before, will send the other in a moment.
Both MKV files on USB do NOT run on Live HD, but do run on the Live Hub.
Via DLNA from MC20, one file runs on Live HB and one does not.  and both do not on Live HUB.

Very weird  set of results.

As you said before, the files are almost identical, made by identical software, varying only in Bits/(Pixel*Frame) and Overall Bit Rate.

It looks like there are differences between not only what they will run natively, but how DLNA has been implemented on them.

I think the next thing to try is a firmware updates, if any are available.

I know there were reports of differences in internal hardware used in these machines though, and hence capabilities, even for identical models, so even with the latest firmware you may not get the same result on the two machines, or the result you want. Also, if you look at the brochures or manuals for these two machines, there are quite specific things they will play, in terms of fps interlaced or not, and the standards used. You may have to get onto the WD forums and see if anyone can shed any light, or research the standards WD say they will play.

You could try forcing MC DLNA to send 720p24fps and see if that fixes the issue, but I'm not hopeful of that, as that is what the files already are, more or less. They are both 1280x640 instead of 1280x720, so MC may convert them to 1280x720 and that may make them work.

Otherwise, if you can get someone from JRiver interested, and send them one good and one bad file, like the two you used here, they may be able to shed some light on the problem.

[townsma]

Many thanks for the advice.

I had already looked at the firmware, they are both already on the latest version.  In fact for Live HD, I also tried the custom firmware, but no luck there.

As this seems so random, and confusing. I am considering investing in a program that will let me batch convert all my problem files, to a known good format.  Although at this stage I am not sure what that format will be. ;-)

Many thanks for your advice.

[mdal]

I had an issue playing some MKVs back on my WDTV - the only thing I could see that was different between files that did play and those that didn't was the subtitles.

Seems when I converted some files, the library (I assume) that was accessed to write the subs caused an issue when the file was played back - it would get to the point where a subtitle would be accessed and simply stop the video.

When I deleted the subtitle track, the files played perfectly.

May be worth a try.