VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 6 of 6
Thread
  1. I've got a large backup of my high def media in mkv format and recently got a laptop for work (Windows, boo) that should be more than capable of playing 1080p mkv files.

    I've watched all of my films successfully with no hiccups on my Mac Pro desktop OS 10.5.8, but every one of them will stop playing (no error messages) approx. 3/4 of the way through (varies film to film) if I attempt to watch them in Windows (bootcamp Win7 x64 on my Mac Pro desktop machine; friend's Dell - XP x86).

    If I attempt to skip past this point, vlc acts as though it finished playing and returns to beginning. I've tried tons of media players (vlc, smplayer, media player classic) all with the same result.

    Here's the crazy part: if I stay on the mac side and load up Parallels using my 'bootcamped' drive, all play through with no problems! WTF!!

    I'd read mkv's are very finicky at times and ordered chapters & compressed headers can cause issues, so I tried:

    Under vlc's demuxers section, I unticked Preload Directory, Ordered Chapters & Chapter Codecs. Still no go. Ordered Chapters & Chapter Codecs are ticked on the OS X (mac) version of vlc.

    Using a variety of different video conversion tools I tried:

    1. Using mkvtools on both the mac side and again on the PC side, I extracted the video stream (tried using the 'Remove compressed headers' option) and remuxed it back with the audio - unsuccessfully, still stops
    2. I converted it to an avi (still stops at the same point), mp4 (made it farther than before but still stops).

    I'm running a Mac Pro 2.94 GHz Nehalem Quad, 12 GB DDR3, nVidia 285 GTX 1GB.
    (mkvs were all highprofile 4 with DTS and made with mkvmerge)

    This makes no sense! I'm going crazy trying to figure this out!

    If anyone has any insight, I'd appreciate it!
    Quote Quote  
  2. I'm a MEGA Super Moderator Baldrick's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2000
    Location
    Sweden
    Search Comp PM
    Have you made all the mkvs? Or do you have any mkv that anyone else have created, if so does it work any better?
    Are they stored on a external hdd? Maybe something with it that causes it stop after some time in Windows.
    Quote Quote  
  3. Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Twin Peaks
    Search Comp PM
    If you don't already have it, install divx player on your PC and try that. Else try compressing one with handbrake and see if the issue persists. I have seen uncompressed MKV files made from makemkv that would do odd things like that, or not play at all before being compressed a little.
    Quote Quote  
  4. Originally Posted by Baldrick View Post
    Have you made all the mkvs? Or do you have any mkv that anyone else have created, if so does it work any better?
    Are they stored on a external hdd? Maybe something with it that causes it stop after some time in Windows.
    I've also got a bunch someone else created (all of which I own blu-rays of) and all are stored on an internal hard drive.

    If that's true then why does no one else have any issues with the ones I grabbed (again, I already own blu-rays of) off of the nzb site I used?

    Originally Posted by lowellriggsiam View Post
    If you don't already have it, install divx player on your PC and try that. Else try compressing one with handbrake and see if the issue persists. I have seen uncompressed MKV files made from makemkv that would do odd things like that, or not play at all before being compressed a little.
    Hmm... I can install it when I get home but if all those other players didn't work... I just don't get why OS X is fine with them but Windows chokes. Usually it's the opposite with games... And why would Parallels run them just fine??
    I can run it through Handbrake when I get home (also planning on trying ffmpeg).

    Again, if that's the case then why is no one else complaining of similar issues on the nzb site?

    Oh, I also downloaded Meteorite but it freezes as soon as I drop an mkv on it.

    Is there a chance this has to do with DirectX?
    Quote Quote  
  5. Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Twin Peaks
    Search Comp PM
    I don't suspect it's a direct x issue, graphics accelerator possibly, but unlikely.
    Quote Quote  
  6. Originally Posted by lowellriggsiam View Post
    I don't suspect it's a direct x issue, graphics accelerator possibly, but unlikely.
    I have a feeling that to fix/get around my problem with mkv's, I'm going to need to know why the problem is happening.

    I'll try these suggestions when I get home today and report back - a few internet searches have found a few reports of the same problem but no solutions or reasons as to why it seems to randomly affect one system and not an identical one elsewhere.
    Quote Quote  



Similar Threads

Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!