Ok so i got my dad to buy me and him the WD TV Live http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330 and then find out that none of the MKV files i have work on the system. Not only this but i need to now need to email my farther and tell him that WD’s site actually lied when they said “The WD TV Live streaming media player supports a wide variety of the most popular files including MKV, MP4, XVID, AVI, WMV, and MOV video formats. Get the freedom to enjoy your media now, in virtually any file format.” i fail to see the enjoyment in not being able to play my files as your site first suggests.
I now need to know what limitations the system has and how much time and effort i am going to have to make to convert the files thanks to the false advertising. Infact i need to figure out if its worth me converting them or not, maybe i should just use the pc for the streamer… AGAIN -.-
Edit: Should of said ty for making me waste my time making an mkv file!!!
MKV is just a container that can have a million parameters in codecs inside; just because it’s an “MKV” file doesn’t mean that is automatically supported.
Check your user manual, it clearly lists what combination of codecs are supported inside MKV files.
Based on your earlier post from two days ago, you are using a ROUTER as a MEDIA SERVER.
It is *FAR* more likely that your ROUTER does not support MKV files.
MKV is, by far, the most reliable format the WD’s play.
So, mind your manners, and let’s see if we can figure out what’s going wrong.
As I indicate above, if you are using a MEDIA SERVER (as opposed to a NETWORK SHARE) then your SERVER must support the format as well. This is NOT an issue with a network share or USB-attached media.
If #1 isn’t the reason, then lease post the full TEXT output of MEDIAINFO for such a file.
Tony im unable to check the router because i am now back at home i use a WD NAS unit unlike my dad who is using a router and a usb portable drive on readyshare. Unfortunatly i fail to see what that has to do with the whole thing as well because if the codec is on the machine the file should be seen and be able to be played. Here are four files that are all compatable yet do not show in the movie list.
… i fail to see what that has to do with the whole thing as well because if the codec is on the machine the file should be seen and be able to be played.
That’s where you are wrong. If you’re using a Media Server, the SERVER must support the media as WELL as the PLAYER. If the Media Server doesn’t support it, it will not get added to the server’s index. You and I already discussed the whole indexing thing, so you are aware that the server indexes the media.
If the server doesn’t index the media, then it’s not going to be OFFERED to the WD as a candidate to play. If it DID, it would play it.
Twonky Media Server, for example, DOES support MKV, and every WD Live product made will play those MKVs. You said in your posting history that you have a MBW NAS. It’s unclear which model of MBW you have, but if you go read the firmware release notes for the MBW, you’ll see that they fixed “MKV Compatibility.” Why would they need to do that? Because what I’m telling you is correct. The SERVER must support it as well.
Since you’re using a NAS, you should just access your data through a NETWORK SHARE instead, and all your problems will go away (assuming, of course, that the MKV format is compatible with WD’s published specs.)
I’ve been googling non-stop since the last post, and I cannot see any evidence that ReadShare (which uses the MiniDLNA software) supports MKV.
But unfortunately, NetGear’s docs for the ReadySHARE component are completely mute on media compatibility.
Ok thanks Tony and sorry for losing my cool just had a movie i wanted to watch i’ll do some googling myself tomorrow as its now 12am i wasn’t aware that types were also dependant on the sever/router and im sure i could see them on another device using the same machine will research all this alot more myself and try and understand it all better thanks again Tony!
Edit: Gave tony 2 kudos in this post because i forgot to give it in last posts.
