MkvToolnix (MKVMerge 6.1.0) on Mac OS X 10.8.2 - Merging Multiple MKVs

[tedallen]

I have used MakeMKV to convert ISO images of my Eagles Live at Melbourne DVDs into MKV files. Using MakeMKV to convert the second disc into MKV format results in the creation of two separate mkv files (title00.mkv and title01.mkv), presumably because there is an "extras" section at the end of the second disc with interviews of the band members after the concert.

I was trying to use MKVMerge to "merge" the two mkv files for disc 2 into a single mkv file having the second mkv file appended to the end of the first.

If I use the "add" option in MKVMerge and select both mkv files, I can generate a single output mkv file, however, the conversion results in a warning about UID 2 not being able to be preserved because it is being used in the output file. Depending on the version of VLC I use to test playback of the "merged" output file, I can either step from the first title to the second or I can't (the chapter list shows chapters 1-12 of the first title and another chapter 1 for the second title), however, I can't access any chapters in between.

If I use the "append" option in MKVMerge, I receive an error when I click "Start muxing" that states the following:

Error: The track number 1 from the file '/Users/tmp/Movies/THE_EAGLES_DISC_2/title01.mkv' cannot be appended to the track number 1 from the file '/Users/tmp/Movies/THE_EAGLES_DISC_2/title00.mkv'. The formats do not match.

All I did prior to attempting to "Start muxing" in the first scenario was click the "add" button on the "Input" tab and select both the title00.mkv and title01.mkv files. In the second scenario, I clicked the "add" button on the "Input" tab and selected title00.mkv. I then clicked the "append" button and selected title01.mkv and then clicked "Start muxing". It may be that I need to individually select entries in the "Tracks, chapters and tags" section and then adjust settings in the "General track options", "Format specific options" and "Extra options" tabs to get things to work, but I can't seem to figure out what to change (and a lot of the options are greyed out and non-selectable).

I'm sure there is something simple I am missing here. I had another issue with using MKVMerge to create an MKV from VIDEO_TS folder VOB files and contacted the developer. I supplied him with the input files I was using and he was able to provide a fix for the Windows version, however, he does not provide the Mac OS X build so I am waiting on a new build of it to resolve that issue. From what I can tell, MKVToolnix 6.1.0 is still the most recent version available for my platform.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Best Regards,

Ted

[Baldrick]

Your mkv files must have same video and audio properties or you can't join/append. When you use the add you are making a mkv with several video tracks.

Check the properties with mediainfo. You can also post them here, in mediainfo change to view->text and copy everything.

[tedallen]

Thanks Baldrick,

Please find below the MediaInfo output. It looks like the difference in audio tracks must be causing the issue (title00.mkv is DTS and title01.mkv is PCM). I don't really want to lose the 5.1 audio for the main title so I guess I'll just leave the interviews as a separate file. I don't know if I can get Plex to deal with it being a separate file or not. I originally ripped the two DVDs to mpeg-2 (MP2 stereo) and this created a single mpg file for the second DVD. However, I was hoping to be able to preserve DTS 5.1 by ripping them to an MKV container. It looks like that will lose the ability to maintain the two titles on the second disk as a single entity:

General
Unique ID : 73653742053341243312018889568422819618 (0x376931DA10D9810635E267E7B08D7722)
Complete name : /Users/tmp/Movies/BURN/THE_EAGLES_DISC_2/title00.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 3.22 GiB
Duration : 1h 5mn
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 7 061 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2013-03-20 10:50:59
Writing application : MakeMKV v1.8.0 darwin(x86-release)
Writing library : libmakemkv v1.8.0 (1.2.0/1.1.0) darwin(x86-release)

Video
ID : 1
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : No
Format settings, Matrix : Custom
Codec ID : V_MPEG2
Codec ID/Info : MPEG 1 or 2 Video
Duration : 1h 5mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 5 411 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 6 500 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.522
Stream size : 2.47 GiB (77%)
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No

Audio
ID : 2
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Mode : 16
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 1h 5mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 510 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 705 MiB (21%)
Title : 3/2+1
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Menu
00:00:00.000 : en:Chapter 01
00:00:22.489 : en:Chapter 02
00:08:11.057 : en:Chapter 03
00:14:28.133 : en:Chapter 04
00:20:28.293 : en:Chapter 05
00:24:49.154 : en:Chapter 06
00:31:15.139 : en:Chapter 07
00:40:16.580 : en:Chapter 08
00:46:07.731 : en:Chapter 09
00:52:33.116 : en:Chapter 10
00:56:24.047 : en:Chapter 11
01:00:57.120 : en:Chapter 12


General
Unique ID : 152336211027089676763629012587594014119 (0x729AE31542A353F6F8FAE74D99565DA7)
Complete name : /Users/tmp/Movies/BURN/THE_EAGLES_DISC_2/title01.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 552 MiB
Duration : 11mn 14s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 6 869 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2013-03-20 10:55:25
Writing application : MakeMKV v1.8.0 darwin(x86-release)
Writing library : libmakemkv v1.8.0 (1.2.0/1.1.0) darwin(x86-release)

Video
ID : 1
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : No
Format settings, Matrix : Custom
Codec ID : V_MPEG2
Codec ID/Info : MPEG 1 or 2 Video
Duration : 11mn 14s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Maximum bit rate : 6 500 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No

Audio
ID : 2
Format : PCM
Codec ID : A_PCM/INT/LIT
Duration : 11mn 14s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Title : 2/0
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Menu
00:00:00.000 : en:Chapter 01