It isn’t just extreme bitrate MKVs; this also happens with DVD rips.
Well I will point out that this happened while I was watching Batman v Superman…which has Atmos. Also, San Andreas has Atmos. I don’t know how that would influence, but maybe it’s helpful? Apparently seems to be stemming from DVD MKV’s also per simonberube, so I dunno. I myself haven’t tested any other MKV’s that I own yet.
My server showed Nearby and not Remote, so I hope if it’s an issue with the UWP settings it will be updated/fixed. For now I guess I transcode but that option kind of sucks considering the network can definitely handle the direct stream/play functions.
Also: will this then affect the Plex app on Windows 10? I use the PMP on all devices on my network, but I can’t imagine if the issue is so wide-reaching that it won’t be fixed in the UWP?
@jmckee Thanks for the info. Strange issue indeed. I’m interested to see if the problems continue on the Xbox One X. Probably, especially if it’s a decoder issue.
@prange Hmmm, interesting. I’ll have to try some others without Atmos and see if the issue occurs. Pretty sure I had the issue on Trolls too, and that doesn’t have Atmos.
@Moussa said:
If anyone has issues connecting to their local servers then please private message me with your Xbox Live account email so I can get you a test build that fixes the issue.
So my issue doesn’t seem to be connecting to the server as it shows up as a local nearby server, it’s just playing the MKVs at the highest quality. I can connect and everything plays fine, including MKVs on a slightly lower quality, just not the highest quality as mentioned in my previous post.
Any ideas of settings I can tweak to test this?
Yes, it’s high quality with me, but not atmos (ac3 5.1)
Individually, other HQ mkv will play with other sound, and LQ with ac3.
I think it’s a Microsoft problem, as I get an ‘incompatible media’ error message when I try to play them on Xbox one using the built in Film and TV app, so will also report on One Voice.
@NINiki said:
I think it’s a Microsoft problem, as I get an ‘incompatible media’ error message when I try to play them on Xbox one using the built in Film and TV app, so will also report on One Voice.
Do you have media XML for the file that gives you the incompatible media message? We might be able to parse what the difference is and hopefully get a profile to separate those types from the working types.
Shouldn’t these issues have come up in a beta test?
Is there a way for people to use the old version? We were watching shows via Plex daily, but now we don’t open Plex at all. I will just have to put files on a drive and use a player that actually plays MKVs.
@simonberube said:
Shouldn’t these issues have come up in a beta test?
It would hopefully come up during the beta test but it did not. During the beta was before the updates for the fall update. This meant that while there was no problems starting playback, videos instead would crash the entire program. This was tracked down to be a memory leak and the fix was slated for the fall update. But since this included changes around the decoders, and the app was already slated for release after the fall update launched.
And as you can see even in this forum, not everyone is experiencing the issues and no one that is experiencing the issue is giving sample files, logs, or even the metadata for a known file, we cant replicate the problem and issue a bug report to Microsoft.
Is there a way for people to use the old version?
No. The app was updated to the new UWP framework (which was the only way to submit an update to the old app). But because the old app was on the original framework it cannot pass certification to be submitted as a standalone legacy version of the app.
@jmckee said:
@simonberube said:
Shouldn’t these issues have come up in a beta test?
It would hopefully come up during the beta test but it did not. During the beta was before the updates for the fall update. This meant that while there was no problems starting playback, videos instead would crash the entire program. This was tracked down to be a memory leak and the fix was slated for the fall update. But since this included changes around the decoders, and the app was already slated for release after the fall update launched.And as you can see even in this forum, not everyone is experiencing the issues and no one that is experiencing the issue is giving sample files, logs, or even the metadata for a known file, we cant replicate the problem and issue a bug report to Microsoft.
I’ll provide files. The movie that is an issue for me is San Andreas, but it’s 25 GB. How can I get that to you?
@mbarylski said:
I’ll provide files. The movie that is an issue for me is San Andreas, but it’s 25 GB. How can I get that to you?
The best way is to use a tool to or command line to cut the file down to a 5 minute increment and then test the file to make sure it reproduces the issue and then upload it to a shared drive.
You can also report the issue to Microsoft directly. The reason why this is important is because all the Plex developers can do is mitigate the problem by forcing problem videos to transcode. The only way to get the improper audio/video message fixed is to have Microsoft fix the decoder.
@jmckee said:
@mbarylski said:
I’ll provide files. The movie that is an issue for me is San Andreas, but it’s 25 GB. How can I get that to you?The best way is to use a tool to or command line to cut the file down to a 5 minute increment and then test the file to make sure it reproduces the issue and then upload it to a shared drive.
You can also report the issue to Microsoft directly. The reason why this is important is because all the Plex developers can do is mitigate the problem by forcing problem videos to transcode. The only way to get the improper audio/video message fixed is to have Microsoft fix the decoder.
Ok, I created the sample file and send you a private message with a link to the file.
@jmckee Any update on this? Did the sample file I posted help diagnose the issue at all?
@mbarylski said:
@jmckee Any update on this? Did the sample file I posted help diagnose the issue at all?
Sorry, I downloaded the sample file then got swamped in school work. It was bigger then I expected so when it finished downloading I had to switch over from volunteer time to homework time. I have time slotted a little later to try and see if I can poke around in it.
I was having this issue earlier (I think) and it would only play once I selected a subtitle track.
@mdonnison said:
I was having this issue earlier (I think) and it would only play once I selected a subtitle track.
Is the subtitle track set to always burn in or an image based sub (PGS/VobSUB)?
Some users have reported that disabling direct play allows the server to repackage the MKV in a format that the Xbox likes. They’re still trying to figure out what in the MKV header is causing the issue, but this might be a good workaround until it can be tracked down.
@mbarylski said:
Tagging you in this as well since I did speak with Moussa about this today and he mentioned that some users seeing the non-playing behavior were able to get playback by simply turning off the direct play.
@jmckee said:
@NINiki said:
I think it’s a Microsoft problem, as I get an ‘incompatible media’ error message when I try to play them on Xbox one using the built in Film and TV app, so will also report on One Voice.Do you have media XML for the file that gives you the incompatible media message? We might be able to parse what the difference is and hopefully get a profile to separate those types from the working types.
Sorry to be dumb, but how do i get that for you?
I’d hoped the new Xbox update would rectify the problem (since it’s also affecting their film and tv app), but no such luck!
Happy to help if you talk me through it in baby steps 
Hanks!
Niki
@NINiki said:
Sorry to be dumb, but how do i get that for you?
On the web manager if you navigate to a problem movie/episode page (The one where you see the movie/episode description) you can hit the ‘i’ on your keyboard to bring up the information of the media file. In the popup there is a link on the bottom that says view xml.
I’d hoped the new Xbox update would rectify the problem (since it’s also affecting their film and tv app), but no such luck!
So far the conclusion has been that there is something inside of the MKV header causing the media player to reject the file. The reason we believe it i sin the header of the container is that a remux of the file (moving it to a MP4 or HLS stream) allows the file to play without problems (In all the cases we have found that reproduces the problem). With that being said I have no idea what the specific setting is that is triggering this problem and as far as I know narrowing it down is still being investigated.
@jmckee said:
So far the conclusion has been that there is something inside of the MKV header causing the media player to reject the file. The reason we believe it i sin the header of the container is that a remux of the file (moving it to a MP4 or HLS stream) allows the file to play without problems (In all the cases we have found that reproduces the problem). With that being said I have no idea what the specific setting is that is triggering this problem and as far as I know narrowing it down is still being investigated.
Is there any conclusion for the San Andreas file I posted?
I’ve also got TS files from the Plex DVR that take forever to skip forward and back. I dropped a sample TS file in the OneDrive location from my private message. Can you take a look at that as well?
@mbarylski said:
Is there any conclusion for the San Andreas file I posted?
There’s was a couple different problems going on in this situation. One issue is some MKV’s have definitely started exhibiting bigger problems. The other issue (and the one that inadvertently) was affecting this issue was audio stream selection. I believe what was happening was that even though the app knew it couldn’t play the Atmos audio track, the media player framework was still selecting the unplayable track causing the ‘media unsupported’ issue. This should also be the case with the built in DLNA player on the Xbox One (Although, I am not 100% sure if you can even select a different audio stream before it starts trying to playback the file in that case)
So, in the case of the San Andreas file it should work after the audio stream selection behavior is fixed. (and also a lot of situations where the issue is the wrong audio stream being played)
I’ve also got TS files from the Plex DVR that take forever to skip forward and back. I dropped a sample TS file in the OneDrive location from my private message. Can you take a look at that as well?
Will do.
Tell me if this is related or if I should open a different thread:
- On Friday we were without Internet Access. The Plex App on the XBO wouldn’t work because I wasn’t signed in. I tried to use the built in Media App to play an MKV from my server and it failed with three or four different files. I was surprised as I’m positive I’ve played at least one of them before.
- On Sunday, with access restored, I signed into the new app and fired up an MKV. The movie played for one hour and thirty minutes and then paused once or twice and eventually stopped playing. I couldn’t get another file to play.
I noticed that files have DCA/DTS, which isn’t listed as supported in the XBOX One MKV page. I assumed it would skip DTS and jump to AC3 instead. What jmckee describes, the audio stream selection might be an issue for problem one (not a Plex issue but an MSFT issue) but could it result in issue 2?
