How does one play MKV files in Echo? Or do you?

[allensbad]

My media center is configures to play mkv files and does so nicely.
Currently I have 20 BR movies ripped with makeMKV, each in a separate folder with the name of the movie as the folder name, each folder has the art and metadata files included.

Under settings I select the root of the drive where the movies are as a library path for movies. Now when I go to Movies in media center I get a nice list of movies including the poster art, if I select a movie I get the poster art, the synopsis and the option to play the file. Pressing play launches the movie in the player and all is good.

The issue I’m having is when I go to the Echo try to add the same folder path echo tells me there are no items in this library yet.

I do have media browser installed and it does show up on the echo and lets me browse the movies but when I hit play it just goes to a black screen and I get no video or audio.

So my question is do mkv files play in Echo?

regards
Al

[Sammy2]

That is the $179 question.

BTW, if you are using mapped network drives in MB you need to use actual drive paths to get them to show on an extender.

[fiteclub]

My Echo plays mkvs after loading the Shark007 codec pack.

[allensbad]

Ok so an update….

I installed the Shark007 pack and for the most part I am now able to see and play my mkv movies.

Out of the 20 movies I have on the media center pc (all br rips using makeMKV) not one of them played correctly.
For the most part they were jerky and would not play smooth at all, in several cases the picture would just freeze and cause a reboot of the echo.

So in my opinion, the answer to the $179 question “will the echo play mkv files” is no, at least not br rips that are not recoded.

I guess the media center extender option is just not for me.....

[fiteclub]

I should have qualified my response; I do not have experience with HBR MKV files (i.e. BR rips) and have read that the Echo has issues with them. Standard bit rate MKVs work fine for me.

[allensbad]

Ceton is just so vague about what the echo will play, For the most part the FAQ says

"if If your Windows Media Center PC has been configured to handle the MKV container, and the codecs within the container are also supported by the Echo, it should be possible to play that content back on the Echo."

Our current supported Specifications are as follows:

Tech Specs: http://cetoncorp.com/products/echo/#tab3
•Size: 3.9" x 0.8" x 4.3"
•Power Consumption: less than 5 watts
•Outputs: HDMI, Optical Digital Audio (TOSLINK)
•Other Connectors: USB 2.0, Mini USB (for power)
•Network: Ethernet (10/100/1000)
•Audio formats supported: Dolby Digital AC-3, MP3, PCM, WMA, WMA Pro
•Photo formats supported: BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, TIF
•Video formats supported: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, H.264, WMV9

They say nothing about bitrate, so how are you to know.

So now I guess the big question is who will step up first, Ceton with getting higher quality video to play on the echo or Western Digital getting the WDTV live to work with a cablecard tuner.

For now the Echo was a waste of my time and resources.

Well thanks for the help anyway.