MKV files not working

General Discussions
1

Hi,
I have just bought a new TV, Hisense 58k700uwd, which came with installed Plex app.
Since I have heard a lot about Plex, I decided to connect all my data through it and payed subscription for my phone and Plex pass.
I’ve installed it on my laptop and use it on my phone and TV.
Now the issue is that I have around 2TB of video’s, all in mkv. Plex works fine on my phone but it doesn’t want to load files on TV. I know this is an issue only with mkv files because I have two mp4 files that work fine.
I also know this is not a tv issue since it loads and plays MKV files directly from plugged in hard drive.

I cannot change all files to mp4 because this would require transcoding (which is out of the question because of the large number of files)

I tried to contact support but their reply is that they dont have a support team (!?!) which is ridiculous for paid service and to try my luck here.
Please if anyone can help or otherwise I see no use of the app that I bought.

Thanks

2

Plex is a server/client model.

Probably the best solution for you is to use the Plex Server to transcode on the fly to the playback device that cannot handle mkv (sorry I don’t know your TV). Or you can use the server to create optimised versions to sync to your devices.

You need to identify a “device” e.g. desktop PC that will be powerful enough to run the server (very low requirements) and transcode (higher requirements).

It’s all in the guides/FAQ’s… https://www.plex.tv/how-it-works/

SO…I’ll try to help if I can but need some info:

“I’ve installed it on my laptop and use it on my phone and TV.”

  • what have you installed? Please provide app name and version

"Now the issue is that I have around 2TB of video’s, all in mkv. Plex works fine on my phone "

  • does this mean the mkv files play on the phone ‘fine’?

“but it doesn’t want to load files on TV. I know this is an issue only with mkv files because I have two mp4 files that work fine.”

  • do the mp4 AND mkv files show as available or just the mp4 files?
  • when you say “doesn’t want to load”, do you get an error message?
3

Thank you for your assistance.
I just can’t figure out what could be the problem since the TV plays mkv files from hard drive and not from plex.
It is also stated in the manual that it supports mkv.
Is there any option on the app that I might be missing? (tried most of them)

4

What type of CPU do you have in your laptop?
It may not be capable of transcoding.

Ref: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201774043-What-kind-of-CPU-do-I-need-for-my-Server-

5

There is a free program called Shanacoder.

It will “copy” all your mkv to mp4.
I say copy not convert. It just changes the wrapper.

Movies take about 5 minutes to “copy”

Before you get Shanacoder try renaming one movie from example.mkv to example.mp4
And see if it works!

6

Ok, thank you for all your help but I figured it out.

I have just unticked the AC3 and DTS from the TV app and it works now.
If anyone that has a Hisense TV come up with the same problem, this is a solution.

I do have now another problem and that is that the picture is stretched vertically but I think I’ve seen that problem with others on the forum

7

I Have the same problem with the TIVO, it works on AC3 videos but if I have AC3 checked for non AC3 videos, it freezes, worked fine on the older versions of OMS