M4V Problem, Cant play movies in M4V Options

[Desert Guy]

Sorry to repeat a topic but I didn't want to hijack the other threads and being so old...not sure if anyone would see them anymore.

I can play M4V videos but cannot play M4V movies. I get "Unable to play the selected file. Please refer to the user manual for a list of supported file formats."

I think this is strange because I was able to play a music video I copied from my Mac to the WDTV with no problems watching it. So, I tried to copy a movie from my Mac and got this message. I thought it may be due to the fact that it has subtitles or was 2.02GB so I tried another movie that is only 1.54GB and no subtitles and it gets the same error. In searching through other posts, I saw the suggestion of renaming them to the MP4 in the file extension. This only produced the same error. I have tried streaming it over the network straight from my Mac and copying it to a drive and then plugging that into the WDTV. Same error.

I'm not familiar with converting files and the the whole encoding systems so this may be tough.

Firmware: 1.02.21
Part: WDAAN0000NBK
Serial: WNV100207560

Thanks for any help,

Desert Guy

[WDUser]

The model number should be WDBAAN0000NBK-NESN. That, and the FW version tells me you have a Live and not a Gen. 1, so I'm moving this post to the appropriate section, where you should post henceforth.

Once thing you can try is to use Quicktime Pro (with Perian) on the Mac and export the M4V to MP4, choosing the pass-through option for both the video and audio. This should repackage the file as a standard MP4, which you can then test on your Live.

If the converted MP4 doesn't work, run MediaInfo on it and copy-paste the text format report here, so we can take a look. We may or may not be able to figure out what the exact problem is though, since the report may seem ok but the file may be violating some audio/video specification we do not know about (since the manual is very limited in the info. it contains).

P.S. It is better IMO to stick to an existing topic for the same issue, since it keeps the discussion all in one place for people looking for help. Also, any new post automatically bumps the thread, so it's sure to be read, though receiving a reply is of course not guaranteed since no one may have anything useful to contribute.

[Desert Guy]

Good to know and thank you for your help. Hate to be a dud...but where do I find the MediaInfo tool?

[WDUser]

First link here. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Desert Guy]

Ok...here is the MediaInfo:

CODE

Created on: Jul 25, 2010 9:22:00 PM MDT
Report for file: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish with English Subtitles).m4v

General / Container Stream #1
    Total Video Streams for this File.................2
    Total Audio Streams for this File.................2
    Total Subtitle Streams for this File..............1
    Video Codecs Used.................................AVC / M-JPEG
    Audio Codecs Used.................................AAC LC / drms
    SubTitle Codecs Used..............................Timed
    Available Sutbitle Languages......................Swedish
    File Format.......................................MPEG-4
    Play Time.........................................2h 32mn
    Total File Size...................................2.02 GiB
    Total Stream BitRate..............................1 894 Kbps
    Title (Tag).......................................The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish with English Subtitles)
    Copyright (Tag)................................... 2010 Music Box Films, LLC

Video Stream #1
    Codec (Human Name)................................AVC
    Codec (FourCC)....................................drmi
    Codec Profile.....................................Baseline@L3.0
    Frame Width.......................................640 pixels
    Frame Height......................................356 pixels
    Frame Rate........................................23.976 fps
    Total Frames......................................219775
    Display Aspect Ratio..............................2.35:1
    Scan Type.........................................Progressive
    Color Space.......................................YUV
    Codec Settings (Summary)..........................1 Ref Frames
    QF (like Gordian Knot)............................0.252
    Codec Settings (CABAC)............................No
    Codec Settings (Reference Frames).................1
    Video Stream Length...............................2h 32mn 46s 458ms
    Video Stream BitRate..............................1 378 Kbps
    Video Stream BitRate Mode.........................VBR
    Bit Depth.........................................8 bits
    Video Stream Size.................................1.47 GiB (73%)
    Video Stream Language.............................English
    Date of Original Encoding.........................UTC 2010-07-03 09:58:47
    Color Primaries...................................BT.601-6 525, BT.1358 525, BT.1700 NTSC, SMPTE 170M
    Transfer Characteristics..........................BT.709-5, BT.1361
    Matrix Coefficients...............................BT.601-6 525, BT.1358 525, BT.1700 NTSC, SMPTE 170M

Video Stream #2
    Codec (Human Name)................................M-JPEG
    Codec (FourCC)....................................jpeg
    Frame Width.......................................640 pixels
    Frame Height......................................269 pixels
    Frame Rate........................................0.002 fps
    Total Frames......................................16
    Display Aspect Ratio..............................2.35:1
    QF (like Gordian Knot)............................7.720
    Video Stream Length...............................2h 32mn 46s 458ms
    Video Stream BitRate..............................2 658 bps
    Video Stream BitRate Mode.........................VBR
    Video Stream Size.................................2.53 MiB (0%)
    Video Stream Language.............................English
    Date of Original Encoding.........................UTC 2010-07-03 09:58:48

Audio Stream #1
    Codec.............................................AAC
    Codec (FourCC)....................................40
    Audio Stream Length...............................2h 32mn 46s 448ms
    Audio Stream BitRate..............................128 Kbps
    Audio Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR
    Number of Audio Channels..........................2
    Audio Channel's Positions.........................Front: L R
    Sampling Rate.....................................44.1 KHz
    Audio Stream Size.................................136 MiB (7%)
    Audio Stream Language.............................Swedish
    Date of Original Encoding.........................UTC 2010-07-03 09:58:48

Audio Stream #2
    Codec.............................................drms
    Codec (FourCC)....................................drms
    Audio Stream Length...............................2h 32mn 46s 464ms
    Audio Stream BitRate..............................384 Kbps
    Audio Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR
    Sampling Rate.....................................48.0 KHz
    Bit Depth.........................................16 bits
    Audio Stream Size.................................420 MiB (20%)
    Audio Stream Language.............................Swedish
    Date of Original Encoding.........................UTC 2010-07-03 09:58:48

Subtitle Stream #1
    Language..........................................Swedish
    Format............................................Timed text
    Codec ID..........................................tx3g

 The_Girl_With_the_Dragon_Tattoo__Swedish_with_English_Subtitles_.txt ( 5.02K ) Number of downloads: 1

[WDUser]

This is the first time I have ever come across a file with multiple video streams, though multiple audio streams are common. You can select between audio channels while playing, but how does one switch between video streams? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

As I mentioned above, try converting this file to a standard MP4 with only AVC video and AAC LC audio and see. You can also try YAMB to do the same, as mentioned in the MP4 Demultiplexing/Extracting section (the "extract to MP4" option) on this page. Ensure with MediaInfo that you've actually ended up with an AVC/AAC MP4 file.

[artemis_prime]

I'm also having a problem viewing a movie with .M4V extension. I also have a WD TV Live. The weird part about my issue is that a friend also has the same .M4V movie and he's able to watch it on his WD TV Live. I'm thinking the file is ok and something is wrong with my unit. I'm not sure what firmware I have or what my friend has. Could it be a firmware issue? Any suggestions will be helpful.

[WDUser]

You can check the About screen under Settings to see what FW versions you and your friend's players have. If you're 100% sure the file is exactly the same (not even 1 bit change), then it should play on both units with same FW installed, unless there's an issue with the unit or with some other hardware such as the cables used, the TV, receiver, HDD etc.

[artemis_prime]

It's the exact same file since I borrowed the copy from him. Another thing I noticed is that the timer at the bottom of the screen when you fast forward is missing. It just started doing this a few weeks ago. The unit still plays most media but it's not acting the same from when I just got it. Any suggestions on what I can do?

[WDUser]

Did you check the FW versions? Also, try updating to the latest versions available, but be sure to do a hard reset both before and after updating the FW.

[GaPony]

You could try changing the file extension from .m4v to .mp4. Sometimes that will allow the file to play, but it won't fix the timestamp. That's a problem with the encoding.