Kodi Community Forum

Hello all,

Do R-Pis support .mkv files because I have an R-Pi 1 and 2 and neither will play .mkv files. I did look in the sticky in this section and it doesn't mention .mkv files in 'Video and audio formats the Raspberry Pi can playback '.

Thanks,
Nick.

MKV isn't an audio or video format, it's a container format. MKV files can contain any video or audio format. The RPi supports a wide range of video and audio formats, and the MKV container is most definitely supported.

Upload a debug log (wiki) while playing one of your MKV files that doesn't play - it's likely a file access or permission problem.

Hello Milhouse,

Thank you - please excuse my ignorance, obviously I have no idea here what I'm on about :O Ok, I am following the wiki but I don't see Kodi Logfile Uploader as an install option, the nearest I have is Log Viewer for KODI.

Thanks for your patience,
Nick.

(2016-09-17, 21:45)Nick0 Wrote: [ -> ]I am following the wiki but I don't see Kodi Logfile Uploader as an install option, the nearest I have is Log Viewer for KODI.

It should be there if you search for "Uploader", but without knowing what version of Kodi - or what distribution (OSMC, LibreELEC etc.) - you are using it's a little hard to give you any specific help.

If you were using LibreELEC I'd suggest you installed PuTTY and used ssh to login (username: root, password: libreelec), then upload the log with "cat /storage/.kodi/temp/kodi.log | pastebinit", and then paste the URL.

Hello again,

I'm using OpenELEC. I will look into the search or PuTTY.

Thanks,
Nick.

Sorry, I should have said the Pis will play .mkv files by there is a lot of stuttering and pixellation. Sorry, I should have said this at the beginning.

(2016-09-18, 00:23)Nick0 Wrote: [ -> ]Sorry, I should have said the Pis will play .mkv files by there is a lot of stuttering and pixellation. Sorry, I should have said this at the beginning.

I vaguely remember encountering a similar issue some time back when I first installed kodi. It was due to the 'wrong' audio setting, or something to do with the audio. 146911 (thread) (I don't know whether that issue persists in whatever version you are running, but it may be worth fiddling with to see if it is causing the problem)

(2016-09-18, 01:47)bilgepump Wrote: [ -> ]

(2016-09-18, 00:23)Nick0 Wrote: [ -> ]Sorry, I should have said the Pis will play .mkv files by there is a lot of stuttering and pixellation. Sorry, I should have said this at the beginning.

I vaguely remember encountering a similar issue some time back when I first installed kodi. It was due to the 'wrong' audio setting, or something to do with the audio. 146911 (thread) (I don't know whether that issue persists in whatever version you are running, but it may be worth fiddling with to see if it is causing the problem)

Thank you and I will give that a go and let you know how I get on.

I would provide the output of mediainfo on an offending file, and a debug log (wiki) if you want help.

(2016-09-18, 00:23)Nick0 Wrote: [ -> ]Sorry, I should have said the Pis will play .mkv files by there is a lot of stuttering and pixellation. Sorry, I should have said this at the beginning.

stuttering and pixellation sounds like the mkv's could be HEVC / H.265

Which the Raspberry Pi has limited support for ..

as nickr said ... provide a mediainfo output.

https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo

and then we can see how the file is encoded

Hello all,

Thank you for your comments and sorry that I've not been around!

First, some info on my system:
OpenELEC (official) - Version 6.0.3 (kernel: Linux 4.1.18) Kodi version 15.2

I have tried to install the Kodi Log Uploader using these instructions, but I can only get to step 5, which just lists Kodi Audio Mixer and Kodi File Cleaner. I have also tried a search which fails to return any results.

I have managed to enable debugging (which isn't much good for me at the moment!)

So, I have run MediaInfo on the file, here are the results. Perhaps you'll find something here but if not then I will need to look into somehow getting the logfile for you guys.

Thanks,
Nick.

Sorry no support for 10-bit HEVC (aka H.265) on Pi.
There is some support for 8-bit HEVC, but without hardware decode there are limitations on resolution/bitrate.

You'll need to convert this is to a supported format (e.g. H.264) and you should avoid HEVC/H.265 in the future.

Thank you, popcornmix, at least I know what it is now! Much appreciated.

Do you have any suggestions for conversion? I can use Linux or Windows.

Many thanks again,
Nick.

ffmpeg is the standard solution if you are happy with the command line.
Handbrake may be an easier to use option.

Many thanks and i looked at them both. I did download ffmpeg, and, doubtless its better than Handbrake; it's too hard. I'd love to learn it but I don't have the time, I just don't know where to start.

So, Handbrake is doing its thing now, so we'll see

Thanks again for your help here.
Nick.