No sound with .mkv

New to this . . .  so please forgive my ignorance.

When I play a certain movie on a PC I have sound.  On the media player however, no sound. 

I thought maybe I needed the digital sound cable (the one that uses the red light), but no change. 

Please post a mediainfo output log so we can take a look at what audio codec your file has…

http://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo

After installing on your PC … (On your video file right click and open with Mediainfo select View > Tree then File > Export >Text > Save then open the *.txt file and copy and paste the info here)

also, how is your WDTV setup ? 

  1. HDMI or Composite to TV  (on WDTV select Setup > Audio/Video Output > Audio Output > Stereo)

  2. HDMI or Composite to TV and Optical (Toslink) to Surround Sound Reciever  (on WDTV select Setup > Audio/Video Output > Audio Output > Pass Through for Optical)

  3. HDMI to Input AV Reciever and Output to TV (on WDTV select Setup > Audio/Video Output > Audio Output > Pass Through for HDMI)

from the wdtv i have a hdmi to my onkyo “head unit”.  I also have the digital cord set to digital in, with the wdtv source named as the digital in channel for audio. 

my tv is nothing more than the display unit.  it makes no sound.  The onkyo has several hdmi in, and i can control the source. 

I am in the process of gathering the other information you requested as well as updating the wdtv device.

so the firmware is 1.1.02

I have downloaded the 8-14 update to flash drive at the root level. there are 5 files total.  and only those files.  I put the flash drive into wdtv and the results are nothing . . . 

eneral
Complete name                            :
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media
Codec ID                                 : isom
File size                                : 1.51 GiB
Duration                                 : 1h 40mn
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 2 152 Kbps
Encoded date                             : UTC 2014-09-11 00:37:24
Tagged date                              : UTC 2014-09-11 00:37:24
Writing application                      : MP4Box 0.6.0.6

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 9 frames
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 1h 40mn
Bit rate                                 : 1 889 Kbps
Maximum bit rate                         : 11.3 Mbps
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 800 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.051
Stream size                              : 1.33 GiB (88%)
Title                                    :
Encoded date                             : UTC 2014-09-10 22:36:19
Tagged date                              : UTC 2014-09-11 00:37:42

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile                           : LC
Codec ID                                 : 40
Duration                                 : 1h 40mn
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 259 Kbps
Maximum bit rate                         : 398 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel(s)_Original                      : 6 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz

First, about your PLAYER:

The iniital release for the WD TV Media Player is 1.01.30.  So if your has 1.01.02, I don’t know what model you actually have.  What’s the model number reported by the “About” section of the settings menu?

If you’re connected to your AVR via HDMI, then you need to make sure the AUDIO setting for the WD TV is “Digital Passthrough via HDMI”, and you need to make sure your AVR is set to receive audio via the same HDMI and not the TOSLINK or S/PDIF inputs.

Now, about your File / Audio problem:

  1.  You say in the subject line that you have “no sound with .mkv”,  but your media info reports the file as MP4, not MKV.

  2.  The info reports 9 ReFrames, which is illegal for the High@L4.1 profile when the resolution is 1920x800…  WIth that resolution at High@L4.1, a maximum of 5 reframes is allowed.

  3.  Under AUDIO, there’s two differing lines:

Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel(s)_Original                      : 6 channels

That means that the CONTAINER (the MPEG-4 metadata) is reporting 2 channels, but the actual STREAM (the AAC stream) contains 6.  

  1.  Finally, Multi-channel AAC is not supported in most video files.   So even though your video has 5.1ch AAC, it will likely only be output as stereo.

1 through 3 all indicate signs of a really bad encode / muxing – any of which can cause bizarre behavior.

1 Like

I called WD today.  It turns out the wd player I have is generation 1.  No longer manufactured or supported.  the generic information I got today was the codec = isom is not recognized by this player. 

After the conversation, I am just going to buy a newer version of this device (that has wifi) and stop buying **bleep** on ebay

WD P/N - WDAVN00BN