Serviio

Serviio has recently stopped play files that are mkv. I'm using the Sharp profile (attached below).
I'm also attaching the file details for the video that will not play. The TV lists the show via Serviio DLNA, when I play it the TV just flickers and comes back to the file listing (attempt fails).
Is there a way to update the profile to support this file type? I was able to play MKV's before no problem. Just recently I've been having issues.?

General
UniqueID/String : 207790439149892450244410401680232834678 (0x9C52FB9EC8EEA8FFA6A8DE2402106676)
CompleteName : D:\MediaLibrary\<removed name>\Season 02\<removed> - S02E09 - <removed name> HDTV-720p.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format_Version : Version 4 / Version 2
FileSize/String : 876 MiB
Duration/String : 57 min 40 s
OverallBitRate/String : 2 125 kb/s
Encoded_Date : UTC 2017-04-17 02:05:02
Encoded_Application/String : FastLE v3.0.0 - AVS
Encoded_Library/String : libx264 + libebml + libmatroska + libfastrar

Video
ID/String : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format_Profile : High@L4.1
Format_Settings_CABAC/String : Yes
Format_Settings_RefFrames/String : 5 frames
CodecID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration/String : 57 min 40 s
BitRate/String : 1 698 kb/s
Width/String : 1 280 pixels
Height/String : 718 pixels
DisplayAspectRatio/String : 16:9
FrameRate_Mode/String : Constant
FrameRate/String : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
ColorSpace : YUV
ChromaSubsampling/String : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String : 8 bits
ScanType/String : Progressive
Bits-(Pixel*Frame) : 0.077
StreamSize/String : 700 MiB (80%)
Encoded_Library/String : x264 core 148 r2762 90a61ec
Encoded_Library_Settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=22 / lookahead_threads=3 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=18.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Default/String : Yes
Forced/String : No
colour_range : Limited
matrix_coefficients : BT.709

Audio
ID/String : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Format_Settings_Endianness : Big
CodecID : A_AC3
Duration/String : 57 min 40 s
BitRate_Mode/String : Constant
BitRate/String : 384 kb/s
Channel(s)/String : 6 channels
ChannelPositions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
SamplingRate/String : 48.0 kHz
FrameRate/String : 31.250 FPS (1536 spf)
BitDepth/String : 16 bits
Compression_Mode/String : Lossy
StreamSize/String : 158 MiB (18%)
ServiceKind/String : Complete Main
Default/String : Yes
Forced/String : No



<Profile id="18" name="Sharp Aquos" extendsProfileId="1">
<Detection>
<HttpHeaders>
<User-Agent>.*SHARP-AQUOS.*</User-Agent>
</HttpHeaders>
</Detection>
<MediaFormatProfiles>
<MediaFormatProfile mime-type="video/mpeg" name="MPEG_TS_SD_EU_ISO">AVC_TS_MP_HD_AC3_ISO</MediaFormatProfile>
<MediaFormatProfile mime-type="video/avi" name="">AVI</MediaFormatProfile>
<MediaFormatProfile mime-type="video/mp4">MPEG4_P2_3GPP_SP_L0B_AAC</MediaFormatProfile>
<MediaFormatProfile mime-type="video/mp4">MPEG4_P2_3GPP_SP_L0B_AMR</MediaFormatProfile>
<MediaFormatProfile mime-type="video/mp4">AVC_3GPP_BL_QCIF15_AAC</MediaFormatProfile>
</MediaFormatProfiles>
<Transcoding>
<Video targetContainer="mpegts" targetACodec="ac3" aBitrate="384">
<Matches container="matroska" vCodec="h264"/>
<Matches container="flv" vCodec="h264"/>
</Video>
<Video targetContainer="mpeg" targetVCodec="mpeg2video" targetACodec="ac3" aBitrate="384">
<Matches container="matroska" />
<Matches container="flv" />
<Matches container="wtv" />
<Matches container="mp4" aCodec="ac3" />
<Matches container="asf" />
<Matches container="rm" />
</Video>
<Audio targetContainer="lpcm">
<Matches container="asf" />
<Matches container="flac" />
<Matches container="ogg" />
<Matches container="wv" />
<Matches container="mpc" />
<Matches container="ape" />
<Matches container="dsf" />
<Matches container="wav" />
<Matches container="mp4" codec="alac" />
</Audio>
</Transcoding>
<OnlineTranscoding>
<Video targetContainer="mpeg" targetVCodec="mpeg2video" targetACodec="ac3" aBitrate="384">
<Matches container="mp4" />
</Video>
</OnlineTranscoding>
<AudioTrackRemux>
<Video targetContainer="mpegts" targetACodec="ac3" aBitrate="384">
<Matches container="*" vCodec="h264" />
<Matches container="*" vCodec="mpeg2video" />
<Matches container="*" vCodec="mpeg1video" />
<Matches container="*" vCodec="mpeg4" />
<Matches container="*" vCodec="msmpeg4" />
</Video>
</AudioTrackRemux>
<AutomaticImageRotation>true</AutomaticImageRotation>
<LimitImageResolution>false</LimitImageResolution>
<MultipleAudioTrackAware>false</MultipleAudioTrackAware>
</Profile>

Probably something in the H264 codec of your file the TV doesn't like.

You could try to remove this line from the profile:

<Matches container="matroska" vCodec="h264"/>

Hi Zip,

Thanks very much for the suggestion. I've implemented and tested and the video now plays!
Do you mind explaining what that line did, and how removing resolved the issue? I'm assuming it forces a transcode or something?

Thanks so much.

Yep, that's precisely what that line does. Basically, it is saying IF the container is matroska (MKV) and IF the video codec is H.264, THEN transcode this file with the specified settings (which is the line directly above it). For whatever reason, your TV is playing the file without transcoding, but for some reason it won't play the transcoded file.

Remember that any time you install a Serviio update, the profile file is overwritten with the one from the update. For that reason, make sure you save a copy of any profile changes you make, so you can reapply them after an update.

From that it looks like my TV is playing MPEG-TS.
I read MPEG-TS isn't good for streaming files, because it doesn't provide info about the duration of the movie or song, as well as the points you can seek to. The one problem I've always had with my Sharp TV is that I cannot skip forwards in a video. Is there a way to modify the profile and have all files play in mp4 vs. MPEG-TS? would this get the duration info to the TV to allow it ff, rw, etc?

Thanks!

No, MP4 is not a permitted target container. I don't remember precisely the reason, but I recall it's because when streaming on the fly the file doesn't know it's end state, but MP4 requires that information. To my knowledge, the one on the fly container that works with that is applehttp (HLS), which I believe is the same as or similar to MOV. I have no idea if your Sony supports that. One way to quickly test that is to use the Chaneru profile, as it uses HLS as the target. If they play using it, then you should be able to FF and rewind. However, that profile probably isn't the best for day to day playback, as it has a video bitstream restriction which your TV may not need, and it will transcode files that your TV most likely supports (such as MPEG2 video). Also, HLS does not support multi-channel audio. It is limited to two channel stereo only.

MPEG-TS is a great container for streaming, but it does have the one limitation that you noted.

I just got a Sharp Aquos TV which also won't play MKV files (tried a few different ones). I have tried removing this line from the Profiles.xml file, but it doesn't seem to make a difference and the TV still won't play the file. I am restarting the server after making the profile change, and have it applied to the TV correctly etc. Any ideas? Thanks!

How did you restart the server? Using the button on the console? That doesn't control the service, which is actually what needs to be restarted. There are two ways to restart the service: use the service control applet in the Windows control panel (assuming you are using Windows) or reboot the computer.

I am running on centos and i restarted the whole serviio service, and even the entire server for good measure.