MKVtoolNix adds audio default duration to MKV files that don't have it

[cal_tony]

MMG in MKVToolNIX adds an audio default duration to files that originally did not have them in the header. If I put the original MKV into the header editor the audio duration is blank. If I remux the file with MMG, ToolNix fills in the blank with a duration in the new file.

These files will not play in VLC or my Media players so I have to remember to insert the new remux into the header editor and remove the default audio setting.

It's not hard to do but I was wondering if there was a way to not have MMG fill in the audio duration in the header.

Tony

[El Heggunte]

That's very weird.
Does that happen with the latest "official" build, with one of the pre-release builds,
or with an older version
If that's a real bug in the most recent MMG, you'd better inform Moritz Bunkus himself IMHO.

[hello_hello]

I just checked a bunch of MKVs. Most I muxed myself, some I didn't. I couldn't find one without a value in the audio default duration field. The MKVs play as they always have (TV media player, Bluray player, MPC-HC etc).

[cal_tony]

I'm not sure if it's a recent problem. I have 3 of the latest versions installed and all of them do the same thing. I first noticed it about a year ago ago. None of the conversion programs that I use to convert DVDs or BRs to MKV usually fill in the audio default duration box in the header.

I first noticed that some of my converted to MKV files had problems playing correctly in my media players. It took quite a bit of time to isolate the cause of the problem. I assume either ToolNix uses the wrong numbers to assign the duration or that the programs that manipulate the original data (vidcoder and the like) make some errors in reconverting the audio. None of my programs seem to care if the box is empty. But, they don't like it if the numbers are something they don't expect.

Anyway, I'm sure I have much older Toolnix zips in my download folder so I guess I'll see if even the older versions cause the same problem.

Just thought I would ask here to see if maybe it was just me or if there was actually an option to not have the audio default duration listed in the header.

Tony

[cal_tony]

@hello_hello

I did go back and look at some of the MKV generated by Make MKV. They do have the time codes. As I mentioned above, the same 1080 MKV converted to 720 by Vidcoder has nothing in the box. If I run that same 720 thru MMG it fills in the box. Sometimes the # it assigns works. Sometimes it doesn't. As I was typing this It came to me that I still have that 720 as well as the original 1920x1080 with the time code. Guess I'll run the 720 thru MMg and see if the time code it issues is the same as the original 1080.

Tony

[Selur]

1st try the option mentioned here: https://trac.bunkus.org/wiki/FAQ%3AImprovingPlaybackCompatibilityWithPlayers (might be related to the cue duration option)
2nd if you really found a problem that isn't fixed by one of these options, please report to Moritz.

[cal_tony]

@ Selur

Thanks for the pointer. Seems like that's exactly what I was looking for.

Tony