Specific video crashes my HD300

[les_bloom]

I have a specific mkv file that crashes my HD300 whenever I try to play it.

It happens on multiple different HD300s, so I doubt it is bad hardware or anything.

The video in question is Lord of the Rings. Actually is all 3 of the lord of the rings mkvs that cause the problem.

The only thing unique about these 3 videos is that I used mkvmerge to combine the 2 disks into a single mkv. So I have 3 mkv files for the trilogy instead of 6.

The odd thing is that the mkv files play in VLC just fine.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks
Les

[Biggen]

I have no idea about that. I, too, have all three of the LOTR movies. I ripped them to Video_TS and then used Handbrake to transcode them into .mkv files. My HD-300's play them with no problems.

I would say it probably has something to do with mkvmerge or it was a bad transcode/rip. If you still have the discs I would rip/transcode them again.

[MattHelm]

I used a program called DVD2One. It merged them at the DVD level, then I ran them thru handbrake. They playback fine here, but I don't have a HD300 to test with.

http://www.dvd2one.com/

[les_bloom]

The movies all play fine in VLC though. So it seems doubtful that it's a bad rip right?

[Biggen]

Its been my expierence that VLC will play rocks if you throw them at it. That damn player is the "jack-of-all-trades". Maybe the HD-300's are a bit more "picky"?

[MattHelm]

One test I have in VLC. Load the video, and then use the "time bar" to move (in this case past 1/2 way) to various parts of the file. If the "time bar" doesn't stay were it should, something is wrong with the video.

[les_bloom]

So it seems like the problem is mkvmerge. The files play fine if they are in their seperate disk rips. But when I try to play the single merged mkv it crashes the hardware.

I found this from a google search:

Using the latest Haali Media Splitter any mkv created with MKVMerge that has a DTS(MA) audio track stutters like crazy to the point where it is completely unplayable. However, any mkv created with MakeMKV that has a DTS(MA) audio track plays flawless. I have confirmed this behavior using MPC HC, WMP, and SageTV. Others have also noted the same behavior. Unfortunately, since my mkv collection is made up of a mix of MKVMerge and MakeMKV created mkvs, Haali is unusable and instead I have to use the MPC Matroska Splitter. It is not clear whether this is a Haali issue or a MKVMerge issue (although MKVMerge created mkvs with DTS-MA play flawless using a splitter other then Haali)

This sounds like my issue too maybe. The lord of the rings movies have DTS audio tracks in them.

My question is what is this splitter business they are talking about? Is there a way for me to change my splitter like this person did? Because maybe that will fix things.

Thank you
Les

[gplasky]

The extenders do everything in hardware. There are no splitters, codecs, etc. used by the extenders. You'll need to fix the issue in the rip or the container.

Gerry

[starfire]

Originally Posted by les_bloom

I have a specific mkv file that crashes my HD300 whenever I try to play it.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks
Les

Depends what you mean by "crashes" but if it causes the HD300 to completely reset it may be worth logging a bug report for it and advising how you generate the file that makes it crash, maybe the Sage devs. can do something to make it have a little less impact

[les_bloom]

Yeah, it turns the HD300 off. And even after I turn it back on, then no videos will play at all. I have to physically disconnect the HD300 from the power for a minute or two before it can be used again.

[starfire]

http://sagetv.com/request.html or beta

[panteragstk]

try repackaging the mkv with mkvtoolnix 4.1.1 and no later. Later versions cause huge issues for me.

[les_bloom]

Originally Posted by panteragstk

try repackaging the mkv with mkvtoolnix 4.1.1 and no later. Later versions cause huge issues for me.

I know it's been a while, but I was trying to tackle larger bugs with my Sage setup =/

Anyways, I reverted to 4.1.1 and re-ripped and re-merged. Unfortunately, I get the same results as before.

Are there any other programs to merge the 2 mkv files?

Thanks again
Les