MP4 files not recognized using old PC and Windows XP. What it depends on?

[pippoismaele]

Hi, I can't open some .mp4 files downloaded from the internet using an old Notebook with Windows XP Service Pack 3.
This happens only with a few files recently downloaded, before I hadn't any problem with any kind of video files...
I tried different players (VLC, KMplayer,...), downloaded current Codecs, but without any result.

On a different, more recent, PC with Windows 7 VLC can open these files correctly.

Which could be the reason? Hardware too old, video drivers not upadated?

Can you help me in finding the cause ? Thank you very much in advance and sorry for my bad english!

[El Heggunte]

Probably you need to update the software players, because of D.A.S.H. :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Adaptive_Streaming_over_HTTP

[pippoismaele]

Thank you, but i dont't think it depends on software players. I am using the newest version of VLC, KMPlayer an others, and with the same players I can open the files on a different PC....

[Baldrick]

Can you post the video details from one of the mp4s that wont work in vlc. Use mediainfo(view->text) or mediainfoxp.

[pippoismaele]

These are the details of oneo of such files:

Generale
Complete name : D:\Profili\u084357\Documents\Collection\Chielaltro .mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 444MiB
Duration : 1o 36min
Overall bit rate mode : Variabile
Overall bit rate : 645 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 1970-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 1970-01-01 00:00:00
Writing application : Lavf52.94.0

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : Si
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frame
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1o 36min
Bit rate : 511 Kbps
Width : 720 pixel
Height : 544 pixel
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate mode : Costante
Frame rate : 29,970 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bit
Scan type : Progressivo
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.044
Stream size : 352MiB (79%)
Writing library : x264 core 112 r1834 a51816a
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=1 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0 / me=dia / subme=2 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=0 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=abr / mbtree=1 / bitrate=511 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.41 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date : UTC 1970-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 1970-01-01 00:00:00

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 1o 36min
Bit rate mode : Variabile
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 canali
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44,1 KHz
Compression mode : Con perdita
Stream size : 88,1MiB (20%)
Encoded date : UTC 1970-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 1970-01-01 00:00:00

[Baldrick]

It should work in VLC.

What happens in vlc? What is the error message?

And some mp4s or other videos works?

[pippoismaele]

With VLC 2.1.1 release I got the message "VLC does not support the audio or video format "undf". Unfortunately there is no way for you to fix this", after the upgrade to 2.1.5 VLC just doesn't open the file (the screen remains black).

These are details of a file working (in red the main differences)

General
Complete name : D:\Profili\u084357\Documents\Collection\chielaltro _BIS.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 599 MiB
Duration : 1h 36mn
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 871 Kbps
Writing application : Lavf55.50.100

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Baseline@L3.0
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1h 36mn
Bit rate : 802 Kbps
Width : 476 pixels
Height : 360 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.187
Stream size : 552 MiB (92%)
Writing library : x264 core 142 r24 ea0ca51
Encoding settings : cabac=0 / ref=1 / deblock=0:0:0 / analyse=0:0 / me=dia / subme=0 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / weightp=0 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=0 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=0 / rc=crf / mbtree=0 / crf=25.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=2500 / vbv_bufsize=5000 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=0

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 1h 36mn
Duration_LastFrame : -10ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 63.8 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 2 500 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 43.9 MiB (7%)