Need to add English AC3 to MKV - MKVToolnix Crashing

[kardashian]

Hey Guys,

*Total* newb here. I've done my fair share of using Handbrake and MTR, but nothing to do with MKVs.

I have an MKV which has an audio file, however its in the wrong language.

I also have a separate AC3 audio file with the correct language.

All Google is bringing back is that I can use MKVMerge or MKVToolnix to either remove one language and add another, or separate the video and compile it into a file with the "new" language.

The problem I'm having is that the above mentioned apps won't even open on my Mac.

I have a brand new Unibody MacBook Pro - so it can't be that my hardware can't cope. Someone said I need to compile my own version of the app - no idea what this means.

What can I do to make the apps work, or, is there a different, simpler solution?

Thank You

PS: Treat me as a *total* newb as though I know nothing

[guns1inger]

http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/downloads.html#macosx links to several pre-compiled Mac binaries. Download one of the Leopard ready versions. Note : the first one appears to be command line only, but is more recent. The second is an older version, but appears to have a gui.

[kardashian]

The moment I open it, I see the window MKVMerge GUI v2.3.0 Freak U - and then a message pops up:

The Application MKVMerge quit unexpectedly - eventhough the window is still open.

Then, when I try and add a MKV file I get:

File Identification Failed

*file location and name*

Return code: -1

[guns1inger]

I have asked a Mod to shift this to the Mac forum, int he hope that someone there can offer you more help. Perhaps you need to skip the GUI and use the command line tools instead.

[kardashian]

OK.. Thank you :'(

[terryj]

What if you tried a different tatic?

With Perian 1.13 installed, and Quicktime Pro,
you opened the MKV file, went to Movie Properties,
and disabled the language track you do not want?
And then, with QT Pro still open, opened the AC3 file,
and first copy the video, and then selected the audio
track, and then went Edit-->Add To Movie?

This should put the Video and the AC3 audio into one container,
and from there, you could then
Save AS-->Quicktime Movie-->Self Contained, and with no re-encoding,
it will put both audio and video
into a new QT .mov container.

The only Downside I see is that (a) you'll need QT Pro,
and (b) the following Codecs installed:
1. Perian 1.1.3
2. QT AC3 codec v0.4b1 or higher

and it will take a while for the whole mkv to load in QT Pro, but this should work.

[kardashian]

For some reason, a build from September 2008 works.

Or at least it has through one restart, and done about 3 movies.

If I have trouble again, I'll definitely try it your way.

Thank you