Can't Fast forward or rewind MKV - MPEG2 files

[Pelican]

I can't fast forward or rewind MPEG2 TS files saved as MPEG2 - MKV files on my Samsung HT-C5500 home theatre system on any version after Version 637g. I get a message "not available" every time I try. On all versions up to and including 637g this feature worked OK. I have tried with both Windows 7 and Windows 8
Cheers Brian

 

[Dan203]

Do your files have multiple audio streams? Yu may want to click the Options button in the save dialog and uncheck the "Allow multiple audio streams" option. Other then that I'm not sure what would effect this. We did upgrade FFmpeg somewhere along the line, which is what we use for MKV muxing, but I remember looking at the source code once because of a user complaining about another issue and nothing significant had really changed in the MKV muxer that should cause a problem like that.

Dan

 

[Pelican]

Hi Dan
The files do not have multiple audio streams, audio stream is mpeg layer 2 256kbps 48000khz as recorded from Australian digital TV.
I tried unchecking "allow multiple audio streams" anyway but same result.
Cheers Brian

 

[Dan203]

Are you sure older versions still work? And that this was not something caused by an update to the firmware in your TV?

Dan

 

[Pelican]

Older versions definitely still work.
I am back to using version 637 now for that reason.
Cheers Brian

 

[Dan203]

Do any other containers work? TS, MPG?

Dan

 

[Pelican]

will check and let you know

 

[Dan203]

OK just want to know if it's a MKV problem or a stream problem. There have been a LOT of changes since 637 so we need to narrow it down.

Dan

 

[Pelican]

TS and MPG files are OK
H264 saved as MKV files don't work either.
Is there some other option in the settings I can try. eg something that is on by default in the later versions but off in 637 and previous. I've had a look but nothing jumps out at me.
Cheers Brian

 

[Dan203]

Maybe. There is an option in the hidden area that might have an effect. Hold Shift and click Tools->Options. Near the bottom of the list is one called "Leave SPS/PPS in Mp4/MKV H.264 header". (or something along those lines) Try turning it off and see if that helps at all.

If not then it's likely some change in FFMpeg. I sort of remember some other having a problem that I traced back to a flag being set incorrectly in FFMpeg. But I could have sworn I fixed that.

Dan

 

[Pelican]

Changing that setting from true to false had no effect on either MPEG2 - MKV or H264 - MKV files

 

[Dan203]

Yeah that setting only effects H.264 so if this applies to MPEG2 then it wouldn't have an effect. I'll double check the FFmpeg code and see if that setting I was referring to was actually fixed.

Dan

 

[MrVideo]

MKV files that I download do not appear to allow using the FF or REW button on my Samsung BD player as well. But, two programs that I packaged with mkvmerge do allow FF and REW. They are H.264 x264 encodings, though I doubt that the video format has anything to do with it. When I get a chance, I'll repackage one of the files that doesn't work and see what happens.

Obviously a flag issue. Not an IDR frame issue either, as these x264 encodings do not have IDR frames.

 

[MrVideo]

Interesting. It does have something to do with the x264 encoder's output. Just repackaging the offending video did not fix it. Using media info on the file, it was not encoded with x264. The encoder name, and the options, were not embedded into the video. So, I don't know what was used for it.

So, that leads me to believe that it is not a packaging issue, but an encoder issue.

 

[Dan203]

The original poster claims to have a problem with both H.264 and MPEG-2 video. He also says older version of VRD work OK so I'm pretty sure that in his case it's something with the MKV mux itself.

Dan

 

[MrVideo]

The same version of mkvmerge was used for the repackaging and well as packaging files that I encode with x264. Because the common item in the test was the mkvmerge program, with the same options, that leaves the video itself as the reason. The mkv file that was produced by another used a different h.264 encoder, but was wrapped by mkvmerge.

I do not have any MPEG-2 files wrapped within MKV. I do not encode MPEG-2 for archiving, wrapped with MKV. Any, and all, MPEG-2 files that I have are TS files. I suppose I could do a test MPEG-2 encode and wrap it with MKV, but I'm not sure what it will prove, since the encoder is different. Still, might be worth a try.

I could also try letting VRD encode a short piece of video to H.264 and manually wrap it with mkvmerge and see what happens. Same goes for MPEG-2, depending on the results of the H.264 test.

 

[Dan203]

You know I just bought a new Samsung smart TV. I haven't tried playing any local videos through it though. How do you do it? Direct input via USB key/drive or via the network? If via the network do you have something special running on your PC to make it work? If I can reproduce the problem I might be able to fix it easier.

Dan

 

[tonys]

I don't know about the Samsung range but on my Panasonic I sometimes have to try both network and USB to achieve playback. I record H.264 AC3 and H.264 AAC programs and use VRD to edit and put them into MKV files. Make sure you don't have header compression on because that will probably noy play back on your tv. MKV files with no header compression will usually playback fine on my Panasonic tv from my Synology NAS using DLNA.

I often have problems with MP4 format files downloaded from the internet and these will commonly only replay by copying them to a USB key and playing them from there.

Good luck!

 

[MrVideo]

Samsung is not following spec, in that compressed headers are part of the spec. As pointed out, header compression can't be used. Right now I just put stuff on a 32 GB flash drive, which should be formated for NTFS, so that files > 2 GB can be played. Setting up a DLNA server would be another way to go. I just never bought the license for the software that I installed. And yes, you can put files on an external HDD and connect it by USB.

 

[Floobydust]

You know I just bought a new Samsung smart TV. I haven't tried playing any local videos through it though. How do you do it? Direct input via USB key/drive or via the network? If via the network do you have something special running on your PC to make it work? If I can reproduce the problem I might be able to fix it easier.

Dan

You should be able to use an external HD with USB. Also you could try to setup a shared folder on your computer and have the TV try to find--if it is smart enough or maybe you may have to point the TV to the shared folder.

Mike...