Streaming a .mkv file to an Xbox 360 via Windows Media Center
8 replies, posted
So I can play pretty much all the movies on my computer through my XBox using Windows Media Center except for .mkvs. I've been researching for the past hour or so and I know that naturally it can't play them, but there are a bunch of different ways and codecs that supposedly make it work. The first one I found was a program/codec pack/whatever from someone called Shark007, and after I installed it all my .mkv files showed up in Media Center on my Xbox, but when trying to play them I get "Cannot play video file, codec not installed or corrupt etc". It works perfectly fine on my computer, I can play it in WMC perfectly fine, as well as in any other media program. When I play it in WMC on my PC then try it on my Xbox, it will even have the option to resume, but still won't work.
I've been trying a bunch of different shit and I realize that codecs can conflict with eachother(?) so what I'm going to do is uninstall everything I've found in the last hour and hopefully someone else here has something for me. Basically, I'm asking how I can play a .mkv file on my Xbox through Windows Media Center.
You can use [URL="http://www.ps3mediaserver.org"]PS3 Media Server[/URL] or [URL="http://www.plexapp.com"]Plex[/URL]. Either will transcode in the background.
What usually do though is remux MKVs into MP4 with [URL="http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds"]ffmpeg[/URL], like so:[CODE]ffmpeg.exe -i input.mkv -acodec copy -vcodec copy output.mp4[/CODE]
Okay, I had to reinstall the Shark007 thing but Plex seemingly lets me play the movie I originally wanted to, but when I tried playing another it only played for 5-10 seconds before telling me the codec wasn't supported. I watched the first movie maybe a minute in without problems so I think that specific one is fine, but the sound quality is terrible. I figure I'll have to play around with Shark for that but any suggestions?
I don't know what to do about the audio quality in Plex, but the remuxing method I mentioned is lossless. It usually works for me, but without knowing what codecs your MKVs use, I can't guarantee it.
Okay, so, the movie stopped playing a few more minutes in. I used FFMPEG to remux it into an mp4, and now WMC is giving me a video error, saying that files needed to display the video are not installed or are not working correctly, and that I should restart WMC or my computer. I haven't restarted my computer, which I guess I may as well try now, but I doubt it'll work.
WMC on the xbox or PC? When I remux MKVs Windows Media Player (and I assume WMC, haven't used it in a while) will play the video only, but it'll play fine on xbox and PS3.
Have you tried the Xbox's default video app? Perhaps try the video on a flash drive to see if the xbox will play it at all?
[QUOTE=missionfloyd;40969065]WMC on the xbox or PC? When I remux MKVs Windows Media Player (and I assume WMC, haven't used it in a while) will play the video only, but it'll play fine on xbox and PS3.
Have you tried the Xbox's default video app? Perhaps try the video on a flash drive to see if the xbox will play it at all?[/QUOTE]
Uhg, why didn't I think of putting it on a flash drive? I'll try that tomorrow. And yeah I meant it wouldn't play on the XBox.
I would like a better solution, though, if the flash drive thing does work. If I can figure out what's wrong with the mp4, then I could simply do the same to other mkv files without having to use a flash drive. But, if nothing else works then oh well, the flash drive will have to suffice.
I personally use [URL="http://sourceforge.net/projects/xenonmkv/files/xenonmkv/39/xenonmkv_20110301_39.zip/download"]XenonMKV[/URL], it splits files into 4GB parts and converts it to 2 channel audio, because xbox 360s can't play them otherwise.
You can then play them from your computer or flash drive
Well Remuxing any mkv with ffmpeg into an mp4 works if I use a flashdrive and the system video player. That'll have to do. Thanks for the help, guys, I appreciate it.
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