No playback for MKV, no display of AVIs in list

Following two problems with streaming to a Sony KDL-40V5800:
- Most MKVs won't play, in the sense that I only see a black screen with some purple artifacts in the lower right corner, however, I do hear the soundtrack. There is the rare MKV which does actually play like it's supposed to.
- When searching through the list of available movies on the TV, I'm seeing only MKV files. Every folder which should contain an AVI is empty.

Streaming to a different device (Windows Media Player on a tablet) works just fine and I can see all files.

Sounds like the device profile is not set correctly. Check the device profile that is being used for your TV in Mezzmo. Go to the Media Devices dialog in Mezzmo to see this. Make sure it is one of the 'Sony Bravia' device profiles (I'd recommend starting with the Sony Bravia KDL (2010 models) device profile). Restart your Mezzmo server and try streaming now. If no better, then please post the FFmpeg information on a few of the MKV files that do not play. To do this, right-click on the file in Mezzmo and click 'Get FFmpeg Information'.

The TV was recognized as a Bravia (2012 models) automatically. Tried 2010 and 2011, made no difference.

Here's the ffmpeg info for one of the MKV:

ffmpeg version N-40693-gc457a29 Copyright (c) 2000-2012 the FFmpeg developers
built on May 15 2012 12:57:14 with gcc 4.6.2
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-w64-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-postproc --prefix=/home/peter/ffmpeg/build/gpl --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect --extra-cflags=-I/home/peter/cc/include --extra-ldflags=-L/home/peter/cc/lib --pkg-config=pkg-config --disable-w32threads
libavutil 51. 51.100 / 51. 51.100
libavcodec 54. 21.101 / 54. 21.101
libavformat 54. 5.100 / 54. 5.100
libavdevice 53. 4.100 / 53. 4.100
libavfilter 2. 73.100 / 2. 73.100
libswscale 2. 1.100 / 2. 1.100
libswresample 0. 11.100 / 0. 11.100
Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'D:\Movies\test.mkv':
Duration: 02:11:14.83, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 5962 kb/s
Chapter #0.0: start 0.000000, end 564.105000
Metadata:
title : 00:00:00.000
Chapter #0.1: start 564.105000, end 904.320000
Metadata:
title : 00:09:24.105
Chapter #0.2: start 904.320000, end 1388.679000
Metadata:
title : 00:15:04.320
Chapter #0.3: start 1388.679000, end 1784.032000
Metadata:
title : 00:23:08.679
Chapter #0.4: start 1784.032000, end 2186.810000
Metadata:
title : 00:29:44.032
Chapter #0.5: start 2186.810000, end 2521.269000
Metadata:
title : 00:36:26.810
Chapter #0.6: start 2521.269000, end 2949.655000
Metadata:
title : 00:42:01.269
Chapter #0.7: start 2949.655000, end 3368.323000
Metadata:
title : 00:49:09.655
Chapter #0.8: start 3368.323000, end 3602.224000
Metadata:
title : 00:56:08.323
Chapter #0.9: start 3602.224000, end 4190.520000
Metadata:
title : 01:00:02.224
Chapter #0.10: start 4190.520000, end 4526.731000
Metadata:
title : 01:09:50.520
Chapter #0.11: start 4526.731000, end 4856.935000
Metadata:
title : 01:15:26.731
Chapter #0.12: start 4856.935000, end 5387.424000
Metadata:
title : 01:20:56.935
Chapter #0.13: start 5387.424000, end 5834.412000
Metadata:
title : 01:29:47.424
Chapter #0.14: start 5834.412000, end 6212.248000
Metadata:
title : 01:37:14.412
Chapter #0.15: start 6212.248000, end 6578.572000
Metadata:
title : 01:43:32.248
Chapter #0.16: start 6578.572000, end 6980.682000
Metadata:
title : 01:49:38.572
Chapter #0.17: start 6980.682000, end 7241.359000
Metadata:
title : 01:56:20.682
Chapter #0.18: start 7241.359000, end 7773.975000
Metadata:
title : 02:00:41.359
Chapter #0.19: start 7773.975000, end 7874.838000
Metadata:
title : 02:09:33.975
Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 1280x536, SAR 1:1 DAR 160:67, 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn, 47.95 tbc (default)
Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: dts (DTS), 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), s16, 1536 kb/s (default)
At least one output file must be specified

---> DB Level Info: 41, 100
---> Frame rate: 23,98
---> Aspect ratio: 160:67


Though I have to ask: What about the AVIs not showing up at all?

We'd better get a set of logs from you to see what is happening. Please turn on logging (see http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread...nostic-logging) and restart your Mezzmo server. Connect to Mezzmo from your TV and browse to playlists or folders containing your AVIs & MKVs. Next, try playing an MKV and, when it does not play, stop your Mezzmo server and exit Mezzmo. Zip up all the logs and send them to us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com.

E-Mail is en route.

Thanks - got your logs. We'll analyze them and respond shortly.

We have sent you an updated device profile to try that should resolve the problem with the avi files not being listed on the device. For the issue with the MKV files not displaying video correctly on the device, this could be an issue with the video codec, Mezzmo will remux the video to an mpegts container but if there is a problem with the video the device will not be able to decode it correctly. Pre-transcoding to force a full transcode should resolve this.

AVIs are now displayed in the list and work.

Pre-transcoding one of the problematic MKVs, however, did not work. Same issue as before - black screen, sound is playing.

I also tried, just in case it was a botched encoding, to re-encode the MKV with Handbrake. Chose high-profile h.264, left the default values where they were and re-encoded the first minute of the movie.

No dice either. Black screen, audio plays. Whether I pre-transcode or not.

Try this: Right-click on the MKV file in Mezzmo and click 'Properties'. Go to the Transcoding tab in the Properties dialog and delete all your transcoded files for this MKV file. Next, right-click on the file in Mezzmo and click 'Pre-transcode Files'. Choose your TV from the device list in the Pre-transcode Files dialog and click 'Choose Formats'. Choose 'mpegts' in the Pre-transcode Formats dialog and select the 'Force full transcode' checkbox (this will stop any remuxing - which we think may be the cause of the black video). Click OK to start your pre-transcoding. Go to the Transcoding pane to monitor progress. When transcoding has completed, try streaming the file to your TV.

If no better, then please send us a sample MKV file that does not work. The smaller the MKV file in file size, the better. If it is under 10MB, then send it to us via email at support [at] conceiva [dot] com. Otherwise, upload it to a filesharing site like dropbox or rapidshare and email us the download link to support [at] conceiva [dot] com. Let us know how you go.