.mkv files fail to open at all

[jimpeel]

Matroska! Wave off the future!

BS!

I have yet to have a single .mkv file EVER open with VLC. In fact, I have yet to have ANY program open a .mkv file. VLC says .mkv it is supported. VLC says there is a codec for .mkv files. Then why can't I get the things to open?

Is there a secret mantra one needs to chant? "You f---ing piece of s---!" has yet to work for me and I say it a lot when I am trying to open one of these files. Hasn't worked yet.

Any help out there?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Share the broken files.

[VLC_help]

Or tell us exactly what is the problem. (e.g. no video, no audio, slow playback etc.)

[jimpeel]

In a classic WTF!!!!! moment, I find that the 4.3GB file is mysteriously truncated to 122MB. Might explain why this one doesn't play. I still don't hold out much hope that it will play when it completes which is underway as this is written.

However ...

I have tried other Matroska files and what happens is the files simply never open at all. There is nothing at all.

I try to open the file.

VLC shows the file is correct and it is in the playlist.

The clock shows 0.00/0.00 for about 10-12 seconds and then goes back to -.--/-.--. There is not so much as a blink. No audio, no video, nothing.

This has been consistent with every Matroska file I have ever tried to open. Yes, we know why this one s---s the bed but that doesn't explain others which have also failed to load and play which were complete files.

I will check back after the file is loaded COMPLETELY (duh!) and let you know what happens. It could take a couple of days to download completely from Bittorrent.

[VLC_help]

Easier to test with
http://matroska.free.fr/samples/matrix/ ... titled.mkv

[jimpeel]

Okay, that worked ... somewhat.

The video would stall while the audio continued unabated. This stalling -- showing a still picture without motion -- would last for 5-10 seconds and occurred several times during the presentation.

The movie I was downloading has now finished and while the audio is perfect, the video is nonexistent. All that appears is a black screen. The movie has been running for five minutes without any recovery of the video whatsoever.

If I click on the progress bar farther into the movie all I am presented with is a still of the frame where I clicked. The time counts off perfectly second by second as though the movie was playing perfectly.

When I click on the progress bar there is a momentary, ~.1-.2 sec, stutter of motion before the picture goes to still.

By the by ...

HP 504n 2gHz Intel Celeron w/ 1gB RAM,
500GB hard drive @35% used,
XP sp3 Home,
VLC Media Player 1.0.2 Goldeneye

[VLC_help]

You downloaded videos are HD H.264 (x264) files? In that case you cannot play them with your Celeron if you use VLC (not enough CPU power for that).

[NetRunner]

Even with my Core Duo T2500 (2.0 GHz), both CPU cores used by vlc, with dedicated graphics, I can't run 1080p H264 .mkv container files smoothly.

[jimpeel]

You downloaded videos are HD H.264 (x264) files? In that case you cannot play them with your Celeron if you use VLC (not enough CPU power for that).

How do I interrogate the files to find that out?

[jimpeel]

Even with my Core Duo T2500 (2.0 GHz), both CPU cores used by vlc, with dedicated graphics, I can't run 1080p H264 .mkv container files smoothly.

Perhaps if I had a Cray ...

[NetRunner]

A Cray in the early '90s had similar power of a Pentium 4 with 2,4 GHz

[VLC_help]

How do I interrogate the files to find that out?

Tool called Mediainfo will tell you more about media files.

[jimpeel]

Thanks, found it.

http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en