Starting with mkvmerge v4.1.0 a feature known as “header removal compression” has been implemented for muxed audio tracks including AC3, DTS and MP3. It seems to have broken playback for several set-top players, including the popular WDTV Live and many others, as well as effected software conversion programs. As to how hardware/software vendors will correct this issue remains to be seen. As of now I have yet to see Western Digital make any effort to address this problem on their official web site.
Does anybody have any information on when wdc will fix this issue?
I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Best advice now is to uncheck this mark in that version of mkvmerge (IOW, do NOT use the header compression).
Its very sad and annoying, I got happy when I seen the firmware update wdtvlive_1.03.22, but I installed it and sadly realized and wasnt one of the issues fixed/added.
I really hope wdc fixes this as soon as possible and includes it in the next firmware update.
As I said, it’s not likely. I would NOT be encoding any files using this parm with the hope that the Live/Plus will someday support it.
Just download the old working edition 4.0.0
http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/win32/mkvtoolnix-unicode-4.0.0-setup.exe
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I purchased my WD player just a couple of days ago and have also been having these problems, but only with a few files and far from all.
I don’t rip the BDs myself so sources obviously vary and I couldn’t find a common denominator.
I knew it wasn’t my amplifier so I came looking for a solution and I found that here!
I just downloaded the above version of mkvmerge and ran the file through that and the dts track was readable by the WD player!!!
It only took about 3 mins for an 8GB file too so for me this is really a result.
Cheers!
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I hope your mistaken mkelley, because if this is the way Western Digital plans to support consumers who purchase their hardware, they should NOT expect to see many of those consumers become repeat purchasers.
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THanks woodspring ran through mkverge 4.0 and now I have sound !!! 
Cant fast forward now but I’ll figure that out later :smileyvery-happy:
KroZpOz wrote:
I hope your mistaken mkelley, because if this is the way Western Digital plans to support consumers who purchase their hardware, they should NOT expect to see many of those consumers become repeat purchasers.
just download the last edition that worked. (4.0.0). MKVmerge is a freeware program and you can’t expect that the unit will always work with all the programs that are available on the net.
Further justification for the necessity of incorporating support for the “header removal compression” feature of the latest version of mkvmerge (v4.1.0) is provided by a post in the News section of the official matroska.org website. It reads as follows:
"We just released new versions of our tools with support for the Compressed Header feature of Matroska. mkvtoolnix version 4.1.0 (Changelog) can now read and create such files by default and mkclean 0.4.0 can read those files and create them with the --optimize command-line parameter.
Such files are totally valid and this feature has been in the specs for a long time (at least since 2005). It is supported in players like VLC (even versions older than 1.x), with Haali’s splitter and even in some hardware players like the Popcorn Hour. If you encounter problems with such files don’t hesitate to contact the people who make the software to tell them they don’t support a key feature of Matroska."
If WDC is unwilling and/or unable to update its hardware to come into compliance with this specification then it would be wise for them to remove the claim of .mkv playback from the spec sheet of the WDTV Live device, as it no longer fully meets that standard.
Those comments, while technically true, are humorous non sequitur.
If it’s been in the Matroska specs since 2005, then why is MKVTools just now supporting it?
If you insist on bringing that to bear, then WD can use same reasoning MKVTools folks have used for the last five years… It just isn’t supported yet.
>> If WDC is unwilling and/or unable to update its hardware to come into compliance with this specification then it would be wise for them to remove the claim of .mkv playback from the spec sheet of the WDTV Live device, as it no longer fully meets that standard.
Then the MKVTools folks shouldn’t even be allowed to use “MKV” in their name for the last 5 years. Yes, I’d like to see the WDTV support it, but SHEESH. Give some slack, will ya? Have patience.
Anyone know why 1.03.22 was pulled?
Because it was a limited Beta-test. They’ve done it a few times now, and they close the beta a month or so before release of the new code based on that beta.
KroZpOz wrote:
Further justification for the necessity of incorporating support for the “header removal compression” feature of the latest version of mkvmerge (v4.1.0) is provided by a post in the News section of the official matroska.org website. It reads as follows:
"We just released new versions of our tools with support for the Compressed Header feature of Matroska. mkvtoolnix version 4.1.0 (Changelog) can now read and create such files by default and mkclean 0.4.0 can read those files and create them with the --optimize command-line parameter.
Such files are totally valid and this feature has been in the specs for a long time (at least since 2005). It is supported in players like VLC (even versions older than 1.x), with Haali’s splitter and even in some hardware players like the Popcorn Hour. If you encounter problems with such files don’t hesitate to contact the people who make the software to tell them they don’t support a key feature of Matroska."
If WDC is unwilling and/or unable to update its hardware to come into compliance with this specification then it would be wise for them to remove the claim of .mkv playback from the spec sheet of the WDTV Live device, as it no longer fully meets that standard.
Maybe the MKVmerge developer has not implemented the compression correctly and thats why it does not work. If it was such a key feature of MKV since 2005 why was it not implemented until now? Perhaps you should ask questions elsewhere instead of banging on about something that can easily be rectified by downloading the ver 4.0.0
Does this fix the audio sync issue, or is it just a fix for mkv files that have no sound at all?
KroZpOz wrote:
(…) the “header removal compression” feature of the latest version of mkvmerge (v4.1.0) is provided by a post in the News section of the official matroska.org website. It reads as follows:
“(…) Such files are totally valid and this feature has been in the specs for a long time (at least since 2005). It is supported in players like VLC (even versions older than 1.x), with Haali’s splitter and even in some hardware players like the Popcorn Hour. If you encounter problems with such files don’t hesitate to contact the people who make the software to tell them they don’t support a key feature of Matroska.” (…)
I really believe that WD should implement this (regardless if this is an older or newer spec).
My reason is that this is just a container format, and this is in the firmware (not in the H264 decoder which is implemented in “hardware” by the Sigma chipset).
In my standpoint WD already let me down with the launch of the WDTV Live Plus. If they are not willing to continue improving the WDTV Live firmware, then the above article already contains a very good tip about what brand I will choose next time I go shopping for a new media player (i.e. I will buy a PCH if the WD support to the WDTV Live firmware continue as bad as it is being so far).
drs
regardless of how new/old this header compression is, WD should implement this into the newer firmware for its customers. sure it can be fixed by users, but most people arent going to go to that much trouble…they just want something THAT WORKS and if it doesnt work they are going to be shopping for a new brand. i just bought my Live Plus yesterday, and when reading the specs before purchase i saw it had .mkv support which played a big part in my decision to purchase. you can imagine how i felt when i got home and realized that i had to remux over half of my .mkv movies which are located on my NAS. if i would have known this before purchase, i seriously doubt i would have bought the unit and there is a good chance that i will return it. at the least WD should include in the device specs that it doesnt support mkv with header compression so people will know before they purchase it.
twopumpchump wrote:
regardless of how new/old this header compression is, WD should implement this into the newer firmware for its customers. sure it can be fixed by users, but most people arent going to go to that much trouble…they just want something THAT WORKS and if it doesnt work they are going to be shopping for a new brand. i just bought my Live Plus yesterday, and when reading the specs before purchase i saw it had .mkv support which played a big part in my decision to purchase. you can imagine how i felt when i got home and realized that i had to remux over half of my .mkv movies which are located on my NAS. if i would have known this before purchase, i seriously doubt i would have bought the unit and there is a good chance that i will return it. at the least WD should include in the device specs that it doesnt support mkv with header compression so people will know before they purchase it.
So what were you using to produce MKV with header compression?
i dont do the encoding, i just download movies that are in .mkv format and alot of them now have header compression. the header compression is done with mkvmerge v4.1.1, and it can be fixed by remuxing the mkv file with the header compression option disabled. im sure that in the near future almost all of mkv movies will have this compression, which will make it a real pita to have to move them from my server to pc—remux—move back to server. when i purchased this device i thought since it was the latest model and said in the specs it supported mkv i wouldnt have any problems like this…guess i was wrong lol. i am hopefull that WD will include a fix for this in the next firmware update, if they have no plans to do this i would hope they at least tell us so we can explore other options.
