Why cant i play MP4/MKV videos? (pls help) Options

[alexbayne]

i just bought the Mini player and it says it will play mp4 and mkv files but it doesnt just says refer to the manual but thats no help.

Is there anything i can install? Cud it be because i only can conect it with the red yellow and white cords?
thnx alot for any help

[WDUser]

A composite connection's fine and has nothing to do with the inability to play the files. Does the player even display the files in the list? What does it say exactly on attempting to play them?

BTW, the WD site mentions these supported formats for the Mini:

Video -AVI (Xvid, MPEG1/2/4), MPG/MPEG, VOB, MP4/MOV (MPEG4), RM or RMVB 8/9/10
Photo - JPEG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, PNG
Audio - MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC, MKA, OGG, APE
Subtitle -SRT, SSA, SUB, SMI
Note:
- RMVB supports up to 1024x576x24, 1024x576x30, or 800x600x30 compressed video resolution
- MPEG1/2/4 supports up to D1 resolution (720x480 in NTSC, 720x576 in PAL)
- MPEG2 ML/MP conforming to ISO-13818
- MPEG1 ML/MP conforming to ISO-11172
- An audio receiver is required for multi-channel surround sound via the digital optical output

Apparently it lacks MKV support, or is that a stupid oversight? Does the manual specifically mention MKV anywhere?

[alexbayne]

A composite connection's fine and has nothing to do with the inability to play the files. Does the player even display the files in the list? What does it say exactly on attempting to play them?

BTW, the WD site mentions these supported formats for the Mini:


Apparently it lacks MKV support, or is that a stupid oversight? Does the manual specifically mention MKV anywhere?

thnx for responing.
it either says "refer to the user manual on how to change the file to supported format." or "the videos resolution exceeds the supported video reolution".
But to get to the manual i have to sign up for an account and i cant because i dont know what a rma number is...

[WDUser]

But to get to the manual i have to sign up for an account and i cant because i dont know what a rma number is...

Huh? Who told you that? Here you go - http://support.wdc.com/product/install.asp...002&lang=en

BTW, I think WD itself is confused, or at least its technical/manual writers are. Just checked out the Mini's manual and here's what it says under "Supported Video Formats":

The following video file formats are supported.
• AVI (Xvid, MPEG4)
• MPG/MPEG
• VOB
• MP4/MOV (MPEG4)
• RM or RMVB 8/9/10

See how there's no mention of MKV? However, further down in the Appendix, there's a table titled "Media File Formats - Video" and it states:

(IMG:http://i45.tinypic.com/2qs6utk.gif)

Now which part do we believe? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

IMO if MKVs are indeed supported by the Mini (I'm not really sure at this point), then the problem might well be the file's video resolution exceeding the supported video reolution.

[alexbayne]

Huh? Who told you that? Here you go - http://support.wdc.com/product/install.asp...002&lang=en

BTW, I think WD itself is confused, or at least its technical/manual writers are. Just checked out the Mini's manual and here's what it says under "Supported Video Formats":

See how there's no mention of MKV? However, further down in the Appendix, there's a table titled "Media File Formats - Video" and it states:

Now which part do we believe? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

IMO if MKVs are indeed supported by the Mini (I'm not really sure at this point), then the problem might well be the file's video resolution exceeding the supported video reolution.

hmmm so any idea what i shud do lol

[WDUser]

Ask WD Support to clarify once and for all whether the Mini supports MKV or not, and then tell them to accordingly fix the darn manual. As for the MP4 files, look at the limits specified in your manual and see if the file exceeds them (use MediaInfo to check). If you want to watch unsupported formats, you'll have to transcode to a supported one, which obviously implies quality loss (unless you have the original sources and can encode once more).

[Friction]

This is the problem. It DOES support mkv files, but but only if they are encoded with the mp4 codec, hence why it says it supports MP4. The problem here is that 99% of the mkv files that are available these days are encoded with the H.264 codec, which the Mini DOESN'T support. So in actuality, it DOES NOT support mkv files at all.

WD are working on a firmware update to support H.264 but they do not know of an eta for it.

[WDUser]

There's no such thing as an "MP4 codec". Both MP4 and MKV are container formats, that can contain audio/video etc. streams encoded with a variety of supported codecs. Bot MP4 and MKV containers support the H.264 video codec. Please get your facts straight before posting.

[bramkaandorp]

There's no such thing as an "MP4 codec". Both MP4 and MKV are container formats, that can contain audio/video etc. streams encoded with a variety of supported codecs. Bot MP4 and MKV containers support the H.264 video codec. Please get your facts straight before posting.

Problem is, the facts in the post you replied to are from the manual, so you can't blame him/her for posting them.

[WDUser]

Actually, the manual is technically correct in mentioning support for an MPEG-4 video codec in an MKV container file (see table above). Note that an MPEG-4 video codec is not the same as an MP4 container file, which is what had the poster above confused (to be fair, the whole MPEG-4 'standard' is a confusing mess).

However, the Mini's manual sucks (as mentioned above) since it is quite confusing and leaves out many important bits of information. For example, which MPEG-4 video codec is supported for MKVs?

Let's see, there's MPEG-4 Part 2, which includes the Advanced Simple Profile used by codecs such as DivX, Xvid, Nero Digital, 3ivx and Quicktime 6. Then there's MPEG-4 Part 10 i.e. MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 or Advanced Video Coding, used by Nero Digital AVC, Quicktime 7 and by high-definition video media like Blu-ray Discs. Also, the MP4 container file format is itself defined as MPEG-4 Part 14. Confused yet? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

What we normally come across are MP4 or MKV container files with the MPEG-4 part 10 H.264 video codec. Of course, it's not so simple, 'cos each MPEG-4 part can define many profiles, and each profile in turn can define many levels. So for example you may run MediaInfo on a file and find out it uses a format profile/level of "High@L4.1", whereas another file may use "High@L3.0" and so on. Again, the manual for the Mini fails to state which profiles and levels are supported exactly for which MPEG-4 parts. In fact, I think none of the manuals for the other models goes into such detail as well, which is why we see so many queries here about why a certain MKV/MP4 etc. file is not playing when others play fine.

Anyway, this is just the tip of the iceberg (there are other issues like number of reframes supported etc.) and there's no use really discussing it with 90-95% of the folks who have no idea, couldn't care less and just want their media "to work". To them, often all we can say is, ask WD 'cos we just don't know due to lack of specifications, since one file, be it AVI/MKV/MP4/whatever, is not the same as another, especially when you also have a zillion different encoders thrown into the arena, many of which aren't standards-compliant at all (that is, when the 'standards' can be understood properly in the first place).

[bramkaandorp]

First of all, thanks for taking the time. It really helped to get an idea of the problems involved.

I guess I expected the manual to be more or less complete, but I could have known better.

The weird part is that it also has trouble with files it says it can handle, even those with "supported codecs". So not only is it incomplete in what it can't do, it is also lying about what it can do.

In short, It is either a long wait for a firmware update (make that "a bloody long time"), or an even longer time waiting for suitable custom firmware.

Cheers

[WDUser]

FYI, custom FW will not help with file format or codec support (unfortunately), since all the intensive audio/video decoding is carried out by the Amlogic chip inside.

Also, like I stated above, the problem is that when they say a codec is supported, they don't mention for example in the case of MPEG-4 video what profile, level, no. of reframes etc. are exactly supported. So yes, keeping audio codecs aside for the moment, you can say that they have mislead people into thinking any MKV with an MPEG-4 video codec will work (without even specifying which codec), whereas it's not so as seen in real life.

As for waiting for "a bloody long time", for all you know WD could even have decided not to release any more FW updates for the Mini. Apparently they've stopped supporting the 1st Gen., but haven't bothered to make an official announcement about it. So why should we think they'll treat Mini owners with any more courtesy?

[lawrenceWD]

i just bought the Mini player and it says it will play mp4 and mkv files but it doesnt just says refer to the manual but thats no help.

Is there anything i can install? Cud it be because i only can conect it with the red yellow and white cords?
thnx alot for any help

Hello

Yo should check the codecs if they are meeting the requirments for the player

Then use a 3rd party coverter

Reason for edit: Corrected capitalisation (do NOT post in ALL CAPS again)

[ComLogical]

I know this got bumped. Here is what I found in a PDF on newegg...

MPEG2 MP@HL up to 1920x1080p24, 1920x1080i30 or 1280x720p60 resolution.
RMVB supports up to 1024x576x24, 1024x576x30 or 800x600x30 compressed video resolution.
MPEG4.2 ASP@L5 up to 1280x720p30 resolution and no support for global motion compensation.
WMV9/VC-1 MP@HL up to 1280x720p60 or 1920x1080p24 resolution.
VC-1 AP@L3 up to 1920x1080i30, 1920x1080p24 or 1280x720p60 resolution.
An audio receiver is required for multi-channel surround sound digital output.
Compressed RGB JPEG formats only and progressive JPEG up to 2048x2048.
Single layer TIFF files only.
Uncompressed BMP only.
Specific details, please refer to the user manual.

[killer123]

VC-1 AP@L3 up to 1920x1080i30, 1920x1080p24 or 1280x720p60 resolution.

so original Video directly from some Blu-Rays? Dont think so...but need to test it!

[WDUser]

so original Video directly from some Blu-Rays? Dont think so...but need to test it!

I agree. AFAIK this thing can only handle 720p video due to its low-end CPU.