Exploitee.rs

I've been having trouble with a couple .mkv files that won't play correctly on the Revue using the GTVBox player. The player opens the files and plays the sound track, but I get a black screen instead of video. The files work fine with WMP and VLC in my laptop. I wonder if the issue is related to the rip having chapters or with some other characteristic of the files. Below are the details of one the .mkv files.

General
Unique ID : 257586069271394663795682310835044343388 (0xC1C945BC71AEDB6850A8D3BDEB23DE5C)
Complete name : D:\1 - Movies\Moviename\Moviename.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 1.50 GiB
Duration : 1h 36mn
Overall bit rate : 2 231 Kbps
Writing application : HandBrake 0.9.6
Writing library : libmkv 0.6.5

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 36mn
Bit rate : 1 800 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 560 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 1.85:1
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) : 0.179
Stream size : 1.17 GiB (78%)
Writing library : x264 core 120
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=abr / mbtree=1 / bitrate=1800 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=3 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Color primaries : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.601

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1h 36mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 448 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 308 MiB (20%)
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Text
ID : 3
Format : VobSub
Codec ID : S_VOBSUB
Codec ID/Info : The same subtitle format used on DVDs
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No

Menu
00:00:00.000 : Chapter 1
00:04:13.200 : Chapter 2
00:10:09.600 : Chapter 3
00:16:11.240 : Chapter 4
00:19:37.840 : Chapter 5
00:22:26.760 : Chapter 6
00:28:02.080 : Chapter 7
00:31:47.520 : Chapter 8
00:34:43.560 : Chapter 9
00:39:13.440 : Chapter 10
00:42:55.720 : Chapter 11
00:49:11.160 : Chapter 12
00:54:22.560 : Chapter 13
00:59:30.360 : Chapter 14
01:04:42.480 : Chapter 15
01:08:33.040 : Chapter 16
01:10:44.200 : Chapter 17
01:15:23.200 : Chapter 18
01:22:38.600 : Chapter 19
01:25:21.400 : Chapter 20
01:30:05.600 : Chapter 21
01:36:01.680 : Chapter 22

proximous wrote: I can provide a chapter file if needed...I think they are just XML.

Hmm.. I thought we were talking about chapters embedded into MKV containers...

tamanaco wrote:I've been having trouble with a couple .mkv files that won't play correctly on the Revue using the GTVBox player. The player opens the files and plays the sound track, but I get a black screen instead of video. The files work fine with WMP and VLC in my laptop. I wonder if the issue is related to the rip having chapters or with some other characteristic of the files. Below are the details of one the .mkv files.

I think if the chapters were the problem, it would fail to play at all...

mcd2000 wrote:

proximous wrote: I can provide a chapter file if needed...I think they are just XML.

Hmm.. I thought we were talking about chapters embedded into MKV containers...

I do mean chapters embedded in the MKV containers. Aren't they just XML in the container? I don't know. I use MKVMergeGUI and it handles it like XML (imports/exports). So I assumed it was XML in the container. But yes, I do me what's in the container...however it's in there

mcd2000 wrote: I think if the chapters were the problem, it would fail to play at all...

Do you see any other characteristic in the file that would cause it to play the sound, but not the video?

tamanaco wrote:

mcd2000 wrote: I think if the chapters were the problem, it would fail to play at all...

Do you see any other characteristic in the file that would cause it to play the sound, but not the video?

Nope. Video stream seems to be compatible.

proximous wrote:

mcd2000 wrote:

proximous wrote: I can provide a chapter file if needed...I think they are just XML.

Hmm.. I thought we were talking about chapters embedded into MKV containers...

I do mean chapters embedded in the MKV containers. Aren't they just XML in the container? I don't know. I use MKVMergeGUI and it handles it like XML (imports/exports). So I assumed it was XML in the container. But yes, I do me what's in the container...however it's in there

No. It is completely binary format. http://matroska.org/technical/specs/chapters/index.html

mcd2000 wrote:

proximous wrote: ...I assumed it was XML in the container. But yes, I do me what's in the container...however it's in there

No. It is completely binary format. http://matroska.org/technical/specs/chapters/index.html

Ahh...thanks for the link. The XML matches what's there so I guess MKVmerge just uses XML as a simple way to import/export. Would be great to see the embedded binary supported!

Unrelated...I know the Google folks seem to hate you offering config options, but...I'd really like to request a option to default to showing subtitles. I only have subtitles for forced foreign language translations. Currently I find that I'll watch something, people will be speaking in a foriegn language, I'll remember I have subtitles, turn them on, and then rewind to read them. It would be nice if they could be on by default.

I'm fine with tweaking MKV files to flag the embedded SRT as forced, or to have an external SRT with "forced" in the name if that is the better way to handle this. I'd just really like them to be on by default, so even a simple option in an Advanced Settings area would be great.

Thanks again for being so open to suggestions from everyone! This is a great app even without these improvements!

proximous wrote: I'm fine with tweaking MKV files to flag the embedded SRT as forced, or to have an external SRT with "forced" in the name if that is the better way to handle this.

Surprise. It should work if you name an MKV embedded sub track "Forced" (first letter capitalized). Actually, MKV files have a special flag for that but I was not able to utilize it for some reason in my parser (maybe it even works)....

mcd2000 wrote:Surprise. It should work if you name an MKV embedded sub track "Forced" (first letter capitalized). Actually, MKV files have a special flag for that but I was not able to utilize it for some reason in my parser (maybe it even works)....

Nice surprise!
Remuxed a video, tested, works! Very nice. Do you have a list of other hidden/secret features?

I use MKVmergeGUI to remux my MKVs. It gives two relavent "General Track Options". (1) Default track flag (2) Forced track flag. I can verify that I previously had both set to YES and it did NOT play the embedded SRT. However naming it "Forced" like you said works.

Is there a similar trick for SRT files? I'm happy to remux my MKVs, but renaming files would be quicker so I thought I'd check first.