MKV Madness - "0 Seconds"

[InsertHere]

My apologies for starting yet another MKV related thread, but I promise I looked all over the place for a solution before doing so.

Every MKV I import to Sage ends up showing a time of "0 Seconds", and there are no details available other than "MATROSKA" in the Info section.

Any attempts to seek (FF/REW) result in the video starting over from the beginning. The time scroll bar just sits at the end and doesn't move. And the videos do not remember my position when I close them.

I've tried just about everything I could find in the forums. I'm running the latest beta, tried the mkvmerge commands found in the FAQ, tried reencoding (still to MKV). The files are all 720p.

Reencoding to MP4 or other formats works fine, but playback is choppy on the HD200 so I am really trying to avoid that.

I understand seeking is difficult with MKVs and not always possible, but anything is better than what I'm getting now. If I could even just get Sage to show me the proper length, details re resolution and remember the position I would be very happy.

Any suggestions you might have would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!

[evilpenguin]

This usually happens when Sage scans the video file while it is in the middle of copying/downloading/creating. The easy fix is to pull the files out of the import folder, scan the import folder, rename the files, put them back into the import folder, and do another scan.

Also, please submit a bug to Sage so they can fix it, I answer this question at least once a month.

[InsertHere]

Sorry, I forgot to mention this is not because of the import/directory scanning issue we've all been dealing with for so long.

These files are moved into the directory immediately, with no time for Sage to scan during a creation or copy process.

Thanks for the quick reply though!

[evilpenguin]

Hmm, then this is weird, I've always had very good luck with things I encoded into mkv. You might want to make a small test clip that this is repeatable on and send it on to Sage support.

[jm9843]

I see this problem as well with some, but not all, mkv's. It shouldn't be an import scan problem either because the scan happened long after the video was copied. If I can find a small clip that exhibits the problem, I'll submit a bug report too.

Just adding my voice to the chorus.

[Taddeusz]

What program did you use to create these videos? The old version of Handbrake did not create proper MKV's. Regardless all you should need to do is run your MKV's through MKVMerge. Drag the file into the MKVMerge GUI and then re-mux it. If they are anamorphic add the following option to the command-line:

--engage keep_bitstream_ar_info

Otherwise MKVMerge strips the bitstream AR data out and it won't look correct in SageTV.

[InsertHere]

I didn't create these videos. They are all 720p movies. Same as with jm9843, this happens with some but not all.

I tried the remuxing with MKVMerge both with and without the anamorphic setting. No luck.

[Taddeusz]

Strange, what version of SageTV are you using?

[InsertHere]

6.5.3 beta

[Taddeusz]

Hmm... I haven't actually had that problem in quite some time. Basically shortly after SageTV began supporting MKV which has been several versions ago.

What type of video and audio are in these files?

[InsertHere]

According to MKVMerge:
V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC (ID 1, type: video)
A_AC3 (ID 2, type: audio)

[Taddeusz]

Just curious but are you using the latest version of MKVMerge?

This might be a problem for support. I think I've probably covered about everything I can think of.

[InsertHere]

Yes, using the latest version. I will see if Sage support can provide any clues.

I really appreciate the time you took to help me. Thanks!

[jm9843]

Thanks for the suggestion, but remuxing with MKVMerge didn't work for me either.

From the .nfo file of the mkv:

___________________________ViDeo__________________________
~~~~~~~~> SouRCe ......... Blu-Ray <~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~> ENCoDeR ........... x264 <~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~> ReSoLuTioN .... 1920x796 <~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~> FRaMeRaTe ... 23,976 FPS <~~~~~~~~

___________________________AuDio__________________________
~~~~~~~~> LaNGuaGe TRaCK oNe ... English <~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~> SouRCe ............... Blu-Ray <~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~> CoDeC ....... DTS 5.1 1.5 mbps <~~~-12~~

_________________________SuBTiTLeS________________________
~~~~~~~~> LaNGuaGe TRaCK oNe ......Dutch (default) <~~
~~~~~~~~> FoRMaT ................... SRT <~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~> LaNGuaGe TRaCK TWo ......English foreign <~~
~~~~~~~~> FoRMaT ................... SRT <~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~> LaNGuaGe TRaCK Tre ......English All <~~
~~~~~~~~> FoRMaT ................... SRT <~~~~~~~~

[lobosrul]

I'm having this same problem with a few of my MKV's as well, maybe 3-5%. I didn't notice until after I installed the latest beta (6.5.3). I even did a full reinstall last night (meaning I backed up my wiz.bin and deleted the SageTV folder). When I get home from work tonight I'll revert to 6.5.2 after a deletion, and see if this is indeed a bug with the new beta.

BTW I cannot find any common traits with the problem mkv's, some are 480p anamorphic, some 720p, most are AC3, 1 is DTS.

[JREkiwi]

This appears to be a bug that was introduced in 6.5.2 and only affects files scanned by SageTV since then. I suggest doing a bug submission, so that your particular file format is checked when a fix is tested.

John

[InsertHere]

Interesting. Thanks for that.

I submitted a bug report and will try downgrading to 6.5.1 to see what happens.

[lobosrul]

Downgrading to the official version worked for me.

[InsertHere]

Downgrading to 6.5.1 solved it for me.

[jm9843]

Originally Posted by InsertHere

Downgrading to 6.5.1 solved it for me.

Good to know. Although I'll probably hold off for a week or so in anticipation of the final release of 6.5.3. Sage is aware of the problem and I assume that it'll be fixed.