For a while my WD HD TV ( first gen) has stopped working whan I try to play mkv-files. I can start the files and play them for a short wile and then it turns into green, the sound is still OK- If I press FF and then PLAY again it wiorks for a few seconds before goes wrong again. I Updated to the latest firmware and I think that that was when the problems started-
As I said I have the first version of the player but it has been working OK for a year or more.
I Have also gone back to the older version of the firmware 1.07.02 but it did not help.
Unfortunately, WD has stopped development on the Gen1. If you can’t get a file to play yourself, there won’t be any update to fix the issue from WD’s end.
Having said that, .mkv is just a container for audio and video. You can put any kind of audio and any kind of video into the container. All WDTV devices can only handle a few audio and video formats within a .mkv container. WD chose the most common ones. On a PC, you have virtually infinite options, and things like VLC can play just about anything you throw at it, so just because the file will play on a PC doesn’t mean it should/will play on a HDTV. (Years ago, it seemed like pretty much every .avi had a different kind of video stream in it, and every clip you tried to watch with Windows Media Player had to first download a new codec for that kind of video stream.)
In all likelihood, the files that you’re having issues with have been encoded with header compression turned on. If you use MediaInfo, you will probably see that the problem files have been encoded with version 4.x of mkvmerge.
If it is a header compression issue, you will need to re-mux the files either with an earlier version of mkvmerge, or by turning compression “off” for both the audio and video streams with mkvmerge 4.x.
If it is not a header compression issue, then you will have to re-encode the files so that they contain audio and video streams that the WDTV will handle.
I have a Gen1, and until I encountered the compressed-header issue last month when I upgraded mkvtoolnix to 4.x, my box had no issues with any of the Matroska files I played. The compressed-header bug did send my WDTV HD into conniptions, but once I finally managed to reset it, and re-muxed the few recent files that I’d inadvertently created with compressed headers, it’s back playing everything I throw at it.
When I check the file in Media Info I can see that mkvmerge v2.9.8 has been used.
The problem is that I have problems with all my mkv-files, even thouse that I haved played Ok before. I tried the mkv-files on an eXtreamer Pro, and they seems to world fin on that one.
How do I re-encode them ( is that the same as re-mux them)?
Ok, that seems weird. I updated the firmware back in November when it came out, and I never encountered a problem like this.
My suggestions are:
Re-download the latest firmware so that you have a fresh copy.
Put the firmware on a USB device in the root folder.
Disconnect/shut down all devices. Leave the WDTV off (and unplugged) for at least an hour.
Turn on the WDTV HD with no USB storage attached, and go to “Settings” and under “System”, choose “System Reset”
After the Reset, with the WDTV still on, get a paper clip (or other small object) and push the reset button next to the side USB Port. (If you hold it for 10-15 seconds, the device will switch between NTSC and PAL, so either don’t hold the button in for too long, or else do it twice).
Turn The WDTV back off. Attach the USB Device. Turn everything back on. The WDTV should do the Update automatically. Once it has finished updating, let us know if you’re still unable to play Matroska files properly.
And, no… re-encoding wouldn’t be the same as re-muxing.
Re-muxing would be taking something like mkvmerge and making a new .mkv file with existing audio/video streams.
Re-encoding would be taking something like Handbrake and making a new .mkv file by creating new audio/video streams.
Depending on the file and the settings, re-muxing would take a minute or two… depending on the file and the settings, re-encoding can take many hours.
