Help [Solved]Having Issues With Playing .mkv videos

cavefishes · Nov 17, 2011

So I recently decided to put some videos on my new Rezound. Most of the videos I want on it are 720p .mkv files in H264 codec. So, I downloaded a few video player apps to test them out. I downloaded MX Video Player, mVideoPlayer, and MoboPlayer. Lo and behold, when I tried to play my videos on them, they would all blackscreen, freeze, and crash the player. The only way I could get them to work was with the "soft decoding" option in MoboPlayer, and even then, they were stuttery and had inconsistent FPS. They were barely even watchable.
My question is: what can I do to get these videos to work properly on my device? I'm sure it has the hardware necessary to play them, but they just don't work. I'm also sure the videos themselves are in a working condition.
Help me out, please.

Edit: Figured out how to make my videos work beautifully.

Basically, you have to get "MX Video Player". On its own, it doesn't work that well and frequently crashes when attempting to play .mkv files.

What you have to do is install "MX Video Player CODEC (ARMv7)".

Once you have that downloaded, you're going to want to open up MX Video Player.

Press your menu button and select "Preferences" in the menu that pops up. From there, find the option "S/W Decoder" and make sure it is checked. Uncheck "Fast Mode" if you feel the need (it should work just fine in non-fast mode on the Rezound). Both of these options are under the header "Decoding".

That's it! Enjoy your .mkv files to their fullest on your gorgeous 720p screen. With the codec installed, software decoding works beautifully with no stuttering.

Blackthanos · Nov 17, 2011

Not to over simplify your problem but is there any particular reason why you want to use that format? I mean have you tried importing them in a more widely used format?

cavefishes · Nov 17, 2011

Well, I'm not exactly enthused about the prospect of converting my 25 GB of .mkv videos. I'd like for them to just work how they are, they are awesome quality as-is.

kishin14 · Nov 17, 2011

I don't know of any android phone that natively supports hardware decoding of mkv files (probably because it is a very popular format for pirated media). If MX Player or Moboplayer are not playing the mkv files well, it is most likely a codec issue not a hardware issue. Both of those players offer additional codec apps specifically for arm7 processors like the one found in the rezound. I'd try to install one of those to see if it fixes the problem with the stuttering. If not, then you need to convert them to mp4 format.

NightAngel79 · Nov 17, 2011

Rock player... only media player i ever needed on phone. has played everything i ever threw at it

cavefishes · Nov 18, 2011

I ended up getting everything to work. I tried Rock Player plus the correct codec, but that was still fairly slow and stuttery when playing.
What did work, however, was getting the Arm A7 codec for MX Player. The software decoding in it is wonderful and smooth. My .mkv files play beautifully. If a mod could put "solved" in the title, that would be fantastic.

rushmore · Nov 18, 2011

Flyer has the single core S3 and plays most 720p mkv fine using Mobo or Mx in accelerated mode, but codec variation is an odd beast.

Also could be I lucked out with what works.

kishin14 · Nov 18, 2011

cavefishes said:
I ended up getting everything to work. I tried Rock Player plus the correct codec, but that was still fairly slow and stuttery when playing.
What did work, however, was getting the Arm A7 codec for MX Player. The software decoding in it is wonderful and smooth. My .mkv files play beautifully. If a mod could put "solved" in the title, that would be fantastic.

Yeah, MX Player is my video player of choice. Rock player was the first one I used when I got my DX and it played everything well except mkv files, even low res ones. Then I discovered mobo player (was part of their beta test pool) and loved it. Even now, there's really nothing wrong with Mobo player (beware there is a real mobo player and a poser app called mobo video player in the market, which is not nearly as good).

However, I find MX Player to be the best of the bunch at handling multiple formats, especially with the right codec installed. It is also updated much more frequently and allows users so many more options like switching between hardware/software decode on the fly, watching a vid with hardware acceleration but switching the audio to software decode (which is great if you're playing a file that has no video issues but for some reason the audio lags, cuts in and out, or has noise), switching color depth from 16 bit to 32 bit, and adding deinterlacing to software decode (really helps with older divx encodes).

I've heard Dice Player is the bees knees right now. It even touts being able to hardware accelerate every file format, which should in theory help battery life, and also makes it the best player for CM roms. But that's a paid app. Maybe when the rezound gets cm9 I'll make the switch (I can dream, right?)

NightAngel79 · Nov 18, 2011

cavefishes said:
I ended up getting everything to work. I tried Rock Player plus the correct codec, but that was still fairly slow and stuttery when playing.
What did work, however, was getting the Arm A7 codec for MX Player. The software decoding in it is wonderful and smooth. My .mkv files play beautifully. If a mod could put "solved" in the title, that would be fantastic.

you mind editing the OP with the solution? I will put solved in title and also change prefix to 'Tips'

When you have please post here or pm me or trophynuts

to change it to a 'tip'

Thanks!

cavefishes · Nov 18, 2011

Done.

zend · Jan 12, 2012

@kishin:

THank you so much for the tip. I have an Asus Transformer 16 GB tablet with Android 3.0, and I have a series of videos in mkv 720p format, which had been stuttering with any and all movie players (which work absolutely fine with other formats btw).

As recommended, I downloaded Dice Player, and expected it to perform. It did not right away, as it prompted dowloading a HW accellerator for Tegra 2 (the processor on my tablet). With that installed, the mkv finally works well.

PS - all software downloads were absolutely free

Best,
M

kishin14 said:
Yeah, MX Player is my video player of choice. Rock player was the first one I used when I got my DX and it played everything well except mkv files, even low res ones. Then I discovered mobo player (was part of their beta test pool) and loved it. Even now, there's really nothing wrong with Mobo player (beware there is a real mobo player and a poser app called mobo video player in the market, which is not nearly as good).

However, I find MX Player to be the best of the bunch at handling multiple formats, especially with the right codec installed. It is also updated much more frequently and allows users so many more options like switching between hardware/software decode on the fly, watching a vid with hardware acceleration but switching the audio to software decode (which is great if you're playing a file that has no video issues but for some reason the audio lags, cuts in and out, or has noise), switching color depth from 16 bit to 32 bit, and adding deinterlacing to software decode (really helps with older divx encodes).

I've heard Dice Player is the bees knees right now. It even touts being able to hardware accelerate every file format, which should in theory help battery life, and also makes it the best player for CM roms. But that's a paid app. Maybe when the rezound gets cm9 I'll make the switch (I can dream, right?)

Kane5581 · Jan 12, 2012

Cool now all I need is a torrent client that works worth a Schmidt.

daffy113 · Jan 13, 2012

Kane5581 said:
Cool now all I need is a torrent client that works worth a Schmidt.

Whats that a "New Girl" reference so because if so that is awesome.

dsstrainer · Feb 3, 2012

Thanks for this post.. works perfectly now on my HTC Evo View

zodder · Feb 26, 2012

Thanks. Works perfectly on the TouchPad too

Johndog · Jun 11, 2015

I was having audio codec issues with mkv files as well on my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. VLC Beta was in the App Store.... PROBLEM SOLVED. Supports Subtitle files and works well for me.

pseakins · Feb 10, 2016

Blackthanos said:
Not to over simplify your problem but is there any particular reason why you want to use that format? I mean have you tried importing them in a more widely used format?

Downloaders often have no choice. The issue is that MKVs don't play well on android devices. Many will not play at all. Others may play but cannot be resumed in mid-stream and cannot be back or forward stepped. MP4's for example have no such issue. I'm talking about "MX Player". Also, not that it's an issue for me, but MKV is unknown on PS3 and Xbox.

anbarasanmbbs · Jan 31, 2017

I used Archos player it plays mkv videos better than Mx player and VLC player in my Asus Zenfone Max

Help [Solved]Having Issues With Playing .mkv videos

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