MKV Incompatability

[Bagger]

First off thanks for a great program, about the only one that will take the files from my blademedia BM7000s

I can do the usual stuff  crop edit out ads etc no problem.
Avidemux 2.6.1 re-encodes to MKV almost perfectly.

Here is the BUT
The MKV file that is created is not very compatible. It will not play on any of the windows PC's on my network, Some will play the sound but all just show a black screen. however it plays fine on both of the XBMC media PC's.

If I demux the mkv file and remux it with mkvmerge the file will play perfectly fine on all the systems on the network.

Just thought I'd let you know.
Thanks again for a great program.

[Bagger]

After digging around and experimenting with my system I think I'm right in saying that, the version of mkvmerge that I was using uses version 1 of the mkv container which played fine.
Where as the output mkv from avidemux is using version 2 and required additional codecs for them to play.
Strange why this happens as they both have the same files within them.

Sorted now

[styrol]

Format version 1 or 2 seem to be a terminology of Mediainfo. I didn't find any further information. My version of mkvtoolnix always outputs version 2 files.

So based on your description, some container format settings are the problem, not the encoding of the video or audio tracks (which remain untouched). The only problematic thing (mainly for hardware players) I remember is "header compression" in MKV file format. I've disabled this feature by default.

[Bagger]

Thats correct. I got the format version 1 or 2 from media info. Which seem to be the only differences between the 2
But after what you said, I looked into it a little further. I also have alot of other MKV's which are format version 2 that play perfectly fine without having to put the extra codec in. So ...yeah thats not the problem

The version of MKVMerge that created working files was 2.2.0 ('Turn It On Again') and all I do with that is state the AR, frame rate and audio delay.

None of the players on the network are hardware players. There is mine and the kids PC's that are all running windows 7 and using Media Player Classic - Home Cinema, which will usually play anything. Never had any trouble with other MKV's either. The ones created by AVIDemux are the only ones Ive had greif with.

[styrol]

The version of MKVMerge that created working files was 2.2.0 ('Turn It On Again') and all I do with that is state the AR, frame rate and audio delay.

Frame rate could be crucial for standalone devices, but actually not for software player (e.g. MPC HC). And I have now found some info pointing in this direction.

BTW, MKVMerge 2.2.0 is rather old (5.9.0 is the actual version). Maybe MPC HC is also outdated and an update solve the problem.

Have you ever tried to play your files with VLC?
I use the lastest version of Avidemux 2.6r8339, no problem encoding files wit Avidemux and playing them with VLC, MPlayer and QuickTime Player.

[Bagger]

MKVmerge old as it is (2008) , worked fine. No problems playing files muxed with this.
The  version of MPC HC was up to date though, Saying that I had problems with the latest version of mpc working with the DIVX plus codec which is needed to play the mkv files produced by AVIdemux.
So that needed to be taken back a few revisions to get things working.

As you said earlier, the problem almost probably lies with some settings in the mkv container used by avidemux, unfortunatly, other than forcing a resolution there are no other options.

[mean]

If you create a mkv with a recent version of the mkvtool*** (Format version=2) , can you read them ?
you can just process/copy a working file, it will be very fast

[Bagger]

Ive just installed MKVMerge 5.9.0 ('on the loose')
According to mediainfo this creates a file with version 2 / version 4, and yes this works fine in MPC-HC compared to the one created in AVIDemux without the addition of the external decoder.

I can up both files in the other thread if you like.