WD TV Live can't play MKV videos on streaming server, but they work if on local USB drive

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live Streaming
1

I have a WD TV Live and a 1TB USB hard drive that has several MKV videos on them.  When I attach the drive directly to the WD TV Live’s USB port, everything works fine.

However, if I attach the drive to my TP-Link router, which has a built-in media server, the WD TV Live refuses to play the videos.  It can see the drive and navigate through the folders, but I can’t play any of the actual video files.

Some files, like MP4s, play the audio only.  That is, they’re treated like MP3s songs.

Is there some special restriction on streamed files that is not documented anywhere?

2

What model is the TP Link?

3

TL-WDR360 (a.k.a. N600)

So according to http://www.tp-link.com/en/FAQ-506.html, apparently MP4 files are treated as audio files, so that explains one thing.

However, MKV files are supposed to be supported as video files, so they should work.

I guess the problem is with my router, not the WD TV Live.

4

When you say the TP Link has a built-in media server is that server attempting to transcode the mkv files? If there is an option to disable transcoding then try that.

5

I seriously doubt that the router has the horsepower to transcode 1080p video in real time.  Regardless, the router’s web page has no options for configuring the media server itself, other than the location of files.

6

We weren’t talking about 1080p before now. The difference between playing files on a hard drive hooked directly to the WDTV and not playing those same files when fed through your router means you are right - your router is the suspect.

I was trying to narrow down the point where the router might be screwing with how the WDTV sees the file. I asked about transcoding because lots of media servers that transcode can have configuration issues between the server and the WDTV which can cause the WDTV to see the file as unplayable. That’s regardless of the file size or quality or what’s in the mkv container. I used to have that problem with an older media server until it evolved a bit.

So what does the router’s media server actually do? How is it different from simply navigating to the folder via a straight network share?

7

So what does the router’s media server actually do? How is it different from simply navigating to the folder via a straight network share?

I don’t know.  I didn’t think it was possible for a media server to screw things up so much, but apparently TP-LINK figured out a way.  I didn’t have this problem with my previous router.