How do I make Ripped DVD's in ".mkv" format viewable

I appreciate this is not strictly a Serviio problem, but I'm struggling and would appreciate some help from those here who are cleverer than me!
...and believe me,... it don't take much!

I have a 36 disk collection but no DVD player!
I've been told I can rip the disks to my HDD Using "MakeMKV" and then view them on my TV using Serviio.
As a trial, I've ripped the first disk and the file has retained all the options, Sound track, Subtitles etc. it plays better using VLC than the actual disk!
problem is it can't be "Seen" by Serviio...I tried changing the File Type from ".mkv" to ".ts", and whilst both play in VLC, neither are "Seen" by Serviio.

how can I make them playable via Serviio...please?

Edit:
Some Hardware clues! TV:- KDL-40NX803 firmware ver:-PKG4.118EUH-0108
PC:- O.S. Vista

[atc98092]

Make sure the file is in the folder that Serviio looks at for media. There's no issue with it being MKV, TS, or any other recognized video container. The Library tab shows the folders that Serviio monitors for media. Make sure your file location is there, and the checkbox for Video (first column) is checked.

Next question is about your player. I am assuming your TV has a DLNA player built in, since you don't have any other player listed. I'm not familiar with the KDL at all. What profile is Serviio using for this set? Look at the Status tab on the Serviio console, and find your TV in the list. It could be the profile selected isn't the best fit for your TV. Without the right profile, many players won't show a video that it thinks it can't play. My Roku is that way.

Hi atc98092, I'm having trouble !
FileBot "might" eventually be helpful in naming the 264 episodes but I need to coax Serviio to "see" and then to play tem, and I'm a long way from that it seems!

I have been using Serviio on this machine for some years now, so I had assumed that I had it set up correctly.
The Video files (.mkv and .ts) are in a shared folder which Serviio can "see" ...acording to my TV interface, however it declares "There are no items to view"!

File location on the Library tab of the console shows the correct path and "Video" is ticked.
I also looked on the "Status" tab, out of dispair and find that although the TV has been recognised correctly as KDL-40NX803, the "third column" lists it (Ithink correctly) as 2010, but just having a look-see, I notice there are three "year options"....2009/2010/2011....although I think the set is correctly identified as 2010, I'll just try the other two...."to be sure to be sure", as the Irish would say!
Just another "straw" to clutch on to!
Edit:
Sadly without foundation!

Oh! God! am I confused!!
I have one eposode od M*A*S*H ripped to "mkv".
For one reason or another, Serviio couldn't see any contents in the (supposedly) shared folder.
I thought that was because it didn't like the "mkv", so I copied it and renamed it ".ts".....Serviio still thought the folder was empty.
I converted the file to MPEG4 saving it back to the same folder, (can't remember if I used the ".ts" or the ".mkv" file)...Serviio again reported the folder was empty.
I know Serviio can play MPEG4, so my suspicions fell on the "Sharing qualities" of the folder!

I copied all of these different file types to another folder into which Serviio can see and forced a "Refresh" which "found" all the additional files.

1) I've now established that my TV can see the shared Video folder, including these additional files via Serviio, because the thumbnails are visible.
2) Attempting to play each file type in turn gives varying results:

Both "mkv" and "ts", when highlighted, show the time in Hrs and Mins and "MPEG2" and when either is invited to "play" promptly displays the message "Temporarily cannot access server, try again later"!

The "converted "mp4" file, when highlighted also shows the time, but also "AVC" and this is the only file which will play

Leaving aside the technicalities of the various file types which I don't understand, the only difference between the mp4 file and both the "ts" and "mkv"files is that the mp4 file, when converted asked me to choose the prefered sound track, and the required subtitles.
The other two have information for at least three Audio tracks and several Subtitle languages.

Could this be why Serviio spits out it's dummy when asked to play either of these two files?

I think I recall a statement from the past that Sonys do not support MPEG2 video in an MKV container. BTW, just renaming an MKV to TS does not necessarily make it a valid TS and vice versa.

If you don't want to convert MakeMKV's MKV/MPEG2/AC3 output to MKV/AVC/AC3 (and save a lot of storage space on the way), you could use a tool like Tsmuxer to remux your MKV/MPEG2/AC3 to a proper TS/MPEG2/AC3, which is perfectly within Sony spec.

Hi Lowlander,
Thanks for your advice.
First, I had no idea "MakeMKV" output was essentially MPEG2...not that this would have imparted anything even if i were aware of it!

Because I don't know anything about Video file types and containers, I have no clue what Sony will or won't play!
Also, it means that your last statement needs explaining to me...I'd be gratefull to be able to understand.

Which option that you mention would be the best?
Because I need the Subtitles, and I prefer the optional sound track without the "Canned Laughter", would one of your suggestions accomodate that, as the MKV -> mp4 conversion currently does?
Is there any benefit to the alternatives?

On the TV, I can't turn subtitles on or off, they have to be there by default...as with the soundtrack.
The choice, it seems must be made at the time the file is created.
Luckily I was prompted to chose them both when I converted the mkv to mp4.

Just looking at the "videohelp" site and the screen shot of the software GUI, it looks a bit daunting
...the kind of thing that I would typically mess up!
Any advice?

Back in the olden days there used to be an application called DVD Decrypter. Which cloud do pretty much the same as MakeMKV does now, but was restricted to DVD as an input, but was able to output valid TS right away.

MakeMKV doesn't do any conversion at all, it just offers what it finds on the disk. Therefore, if you rip a DVD, you'll end up with an MKV container, carrying DVD spec MPEG2 video, DVD spec audio (mostly ac3 or mp2) and maybe chapters and/or subtitles. BTW, by time you create the MKV, you must decide which streams to keep. If you keep more than one audio, you can always remux your MKV later and change their order to make a different one play.

Your cleanest/fastest option is to remux this MKV to a proper TS using TsMuxer. You'll have to check wheter TsMuxer will carry over all streams. Chapters I think wil be lost. With a DVD compliant TS, I think Sonys even allow to change audio tracks during playback.

I can't give too much advice on subtitles, though, because I don't want subtitles enough to go through the pain of making them work - via DLNA - on my 2011 Bravia. I noticed though that my new 2014 W8 Bravia in fact does play subs from MKV.

My last statement was that (IIRC) Sonys can't play MKVs with MPEG2 videos in them, but are prefectly fine with MPEG2 videos in a TS container.

Back in the olden days there used to be an application called DVD Decrypter. Which cloud do pretty much the same as MakeMKV does now, but was restricted to DVD as an input, but was able to output valid TS right away.

I had a copy of that on my old XP Machine around 2003!
I think I still have a copy on an old back up CD, would that still work using my current Vista PC?

MakeMKV doesn't do any conversion at all, it just offers what it finds on the disk. Therefore, if you rip a DVD, you'll end up with an MKV container, carrying DVD spec MPEG2 video, DVD spec audio (mostly ac3 or mp2) and maybe chapters and/or subtitles.

Yes, that is what I've got, it retained the optional soundtrack and about 4 Subtitle languages. however it stripped out the DVD's navigation and Root menu's, all you get from a DVD is 8 seperate files each containing one episode.
Quite disconcerting when Ripping since I didn't know what I was doing.
To get messages like "Title track 00 26 seconds, minimum 120 seconds..ignored!"
And "Title 06 found to be empty!"
reduce your expectations to below floor level, so you are delighted that after 40 minutes, you actually have something that "Plays"...albeit not on the TV!!

BTW, by time you create the MKV, you must decide which streams to keep. If you keep more than one audio, you can always remux your MKV later and change their order to make a different one play.

I must have missed those options when I ripped my DVD.
It was only a trial and I was advised to use FileBot to re-name the individual files...I selected only one episode to try and understand how to use FileBot, it was quite a palaver, but would be worth it when you consider that this collection is 264 episodes across 11 seasons!

Your cleanest/fastest option is to remux this MKV to a proper TS using TsMuxer. You'll have to check wheter TsMuxer will carry over all streams. Chapters I think wil be lost. With a DVD compliant TS, I think Sonys even allow to change audio tracks during playback.

I'll have to give that a try!
The mkv files which play in VLC seem to show Chapter marks on the scroll bar at the bottom, but the "< and >" controls just ignore them and return to the start!
To progress, you have to drag the pointer along the scroll bar, not a problem!
If I could get VLC to stream to my Sony, that would tick most of my boxes!

I can't give too much advice on subtitles, though, because I don't want subtitles enough to go through the pain of making them work - via DLNA - on my 2011 Bravia. I noticed though that my new 2014 W8 Bravia in fact does play subs from MKV.

I can't imagine how to select any "Options" for the Serviio file being played....my TV just slides in the usual menu if I press "Options" on the RC.

My last statement was that (IIRC) Sonys can't play MKVs with MPEG2 videos in them, but are prefectly fine with MPEG2 videos in a TS container.

My experience seems to bear that out!

EDIT!
By the way, on the original disks... copies of TV shows from 1972, the picture is naturally in "4:3" format.
The mp4 conversion of the ripped mkv file, when played with VLC also outputs in "4:3".....but when that is streamed to my TV by Serviio, it seems to be upscaled to 16:9 somewhere along the line.
I'm not sure where this is happening.
The picture is a little bit stretched, but it doesn't appear as if it's being acted by a troup of Snow White's friends, as is so often the case with upscaling!
How did that happen?

[atc98092]

My last statement was that (IIRC) Sonys can't play MKVs with MPEG2 videos in them, but are prefectly fine with MPEG2 videos in a TS container.

I can't speak to the Sony TVs, but my Sony players (the BD players, not the older SMP-N200) will play native MKV with MPEG2 video. The older players had the ability to play MKVs, but there was something in the USA firmware that didn't like to play nice with them. As you noted, MakeMKV only copies what the DVD has. For Blu-Ray discs, it copies that video as well, which is of course not MPEG2 .

I can't find anything that rips a disc as well or as fast as MakeMKV, but it would sure be nice to have some output options. It would be great if the video could be remuxed into AVC. Then the Roku players could play them natively. It's crazy, but they added DLNA and MKV support to the Roku, but it doesn't support MPEG2 video, so every ripped DVD has to be transcoded. Sheesh!

[atc98092]

EDIT!
By the way, on the original disks... copies of TV shows from 1972, the picture is naturally in "4:3" format.
The mp4 conversion of the ripped mkv file, when played with VLC also outputs in "4:3".....but when that is streamed to my TV by Serviio, it seems to be upscaled to 16:9 somewhere along the line.
I'm not sure where this is happening.
The picture is a little bit stretched, but it doesn't appear as if it's being acted by a troup of Snow White's friends, as is so often the case with upscaling!
How did that happen?

I wonder if that has something to do with the padding command that some profiles contain? I see some instances of the DAR="16:9" command under the Sony profiles. Since my player doesn't need anything transcoded, I haven't seen this particular issue. We'll need to see if DenyAll can offer some insight. Just for clarification, which Sony profile are you using?

You can probably install the DVD Decrypter copy you have, but I have a feeling it won't work on the newest DVDs, as they continue to modify the encryption keys and the program requires updates to keep up.

In MakeMKV, when you load a DVD, but before you begin the rip, look at the left box. It lists all the separate videos on the disc, and you will notice that each video has an arrow to the left. Click this arrow and you open everything about that video, including multiple audio and caption tracks if available. You can check and uncheck each line to include or exclude that piece from the completed file rip.

Under MakeMKV preferences, you can set a minimum length for the program to include in the file list. This way all those little video snippets (like previews) are not shown. I have mine set at 600 seconds (10 minutes), so I only end up with the main video (or multiple TV episodes) and sometimes some of the extras included on a disc. Just makes it simpler to go through and make my choices. The message about ignored tracks just tell you about how many you don't have to wade through!

By the way, I'm out of town for a few days, so if I haven't answered you for a bit, I'm not ignoring ya!

Thanks for your post I'll chew on that in the morning. ..just got into bed and checking my phone.
You're very kind to take the time to sort out my problems!
Talk on your return.

I can't imagine how to select any "Options" for the Serviio file being played....my TV just slides in the usual menu if I press "Options" on the RC.

I did not check for your exact model, but a Bravia RC should have extra buttons for audio and subs. It's not in the options menu.

If I could get VLC to stream to my Sony, that would tick most of my boxes!

Please bear with us and Serviio a little longer, so far it's just a learning curve you're experiencing here, no substancial problems with the software.

this collection is 264 episodes across 11 seasons!

I haven't used Filebot myself, does it have means to actually identify individual ripped episodes? In the past I experienced that not all episodes on a DVD are necessarily stored on the disc in the right order. I think it's the DVD's playback menu only that decides for which episode to jump to which track on the disc.

By the way, on the original disks... copies of TV shows from 1972, the picture is naturally in "4:3" format. [...] but when that is streamed to my TV by Serviio, it seems to be upscaled to 16:9 somewhere along the line.

What's happening here is that Bravias don't always get aspect ratios from MKVs correctly over DLNA. Whether the picture is zoomed, squeezed or anything can (and has to) be set on the TV side for each individual playback of a 4:3 MKV. Exception: If you "skip" to the next MKV without returning to the list, the Bravia retains the previously set aspect ratio. 4:3 detection works correctly with 4:3 from a TS, by the way. For 4:3 MKVs, you might fiddle around with Serviio's device profiles. You might do that in the future. When you got the basics straight.

Hi Lowlander, you're right! there are dedicated "Subs" and "Audio" buttons on the RC I don't think I've ever had any video files with any available subtitle files or soundtrack options, any attempt I've made in the past to use these buttons whilst playing streamed content has been me with that awful discordant noise and the message "Feature not available with current input mode" so I had not tried again!
They don't work with the current mp4 file that's "visible" to Serviio, but if I can ever get one of these MKV files to play, then I suspect these buttons will have the desired effect!

When I commented about VLC, I had no idea that it could also "stream"!
Your comment made me Google for more info, but it looks to be a very complex set-up I doubt I would be successful!
I'm very happy with the performance of Serviio, and the excellent help and advice from forum members like yourself!

Concerning FileBot, I found the GUI very confusing and the video tutorials rather amaturish, the guy is constantly waving his mouse pointer all over the screen, it's hard to follow it and his heavily Taiwanese accented English is totally unintelligible to me!
I eventually managed to achieve the desired result, which depends on you giving the file a "reasonably relevant" name.....I just couldn't find out how in hell to physically type a name for my file!
Once I stumbled on that secret, The programme asks you which data base it should search...I chose "TheTVDB", and bear in mind I only had the first file from my first DVD (of36) which was the "Pilot" episode of M*A*S*H and instantly, Filebot listed everyone of the 264 episodes in order of the date first broadcast!
A bit over the top to name just one episode, but a powerful tool if you are going to rip the whole collection!

Regarding the picture format, I think you are right, the tweaking of the picture is the least of my problems at the moment!
I will be quite happy with it, if I can ever get these MKV Files "Seen" by Serviio.
It gives a more acceptable viewing experience that I would expect from just a "stretched" 4:3

Did you try TsMuxer to get a valid TS (containing MPEG2 video and whatever the audio is) from MakeMKV's output? Does TsMuxer let you preserve the subs?

Hi Lowlander, Yes, I have tried it.
I must say, I was surprised to find two ".exe" files in the download.
Not knowing what to do since the Release Notes included no instructions what so ever, I "Ran" both files...one was evidently a command line interface which just disappeared almost as soon as it appeared!
Thankfully the GUI was more lasting!
It seems that this software doesn't "Install", it just "runs" when required which I suppose is good! (I don't know why I think that!)
The first MKV File I attempted was met with this response:-
"Error: Bitstream exception Unknown exception. It does not have to be! Please contact application support team for more information"
I then tried the second MKV file which also generated an exception message, but I ignored it and it Muxed the file.
The output was playable by Serviio, but when played on the TV using Serviio or on my PC using VLC there were no subtitle files in the package but there were several audio tracks selectable using the "Audio" button on the remote as you thought!
The sound quality is also quite muffled and quiet.
I haven't tried contacting the "Application Support Team" yet regarding the rejection of the first file, I suspect that I will not understand any response or instructions they might give me!

So, a little progress has been made!

Just tried to find the "tsMuxeR application support team" but they seem to be hiding!
Looking at the file sizes, I'm surprised to see that the output file using tsMuxeR is infact LARGER than the original MKV File:-
Original MKV = 891MB.....tsMuxeR output file = 937MB
I had expected that it would have been a lot smaller, the previous file that I had "converted" from an 890MB MKV file using "Wondershare Video Converter" resulted in an mp4 file of 374MB

I THINK the errors you are getting when opening your ripped MKVs indicate that TsMuxer can't cope with at least one of the streams it contains, maybe it's the subtitles.

Could we please reconcile briefly what we are trying to achieve here?

a) We could rip those DVDs with MakeMKV, remux them to a proper TS, have selectable audio tracks and might lose the subs on the way. You might drag your remuxed TS into TsMuxer to see which streams it contains.

b) We could still rip them with MakeMKV, but convert those to another MKV (Vidcoder does a good job here), containing space saving but possibly quality degraded AVC/MPEG4 video, several audio tracks and subs, which the Sony might not let us select. This is what I normally do.

c) We could try and rip the DVDs straight to TS with DVD Decrypter, throw those at the Sony and see what it makes of them.

And those paths are just what comes to my mind first. Video handling is not exactly rocket science, but there are decisions to be made. Even more so if we are going to process 264 episodes.

Can't say anything about the sound quality, though. Just that TsMuxer doesn't alter video or audio in any way.

MakeMKV is supposed to work for creating MKV from DVD or Blu-ray, but since it is not working correctly, mayeb you could gve ByteCopy a shot. I used to use ByteCopy to convert all my Blu-ray collection to MKV. The saved MKV movie is quality lossless and all subtitles/language tracks are saved, so I can freely change language during movie watching.

Thanks Emma, I'll give that a try... when I get back!
Second thoughts, it's outa my price range!

[atc98092]

I don't think Byte Copy does anything that MakeMKV doesn't. I think I tried their demo once, but it may have been a much older version.

Sorry I haven't jumped in here for a while. FileBot is actually quite simple to use. Your file has to have some sort of basic name that gives FileBot a clue about what to look for. Here's a couple of examples.

For a TV episode of Wings (a US TV show from the 90s): I name the file "wings s1e1.mkv". I load it into the left window of FileBot (usually drag and drop) and click the Match button, then select TheTVDB to query the online TV database. It returns "Wings S01E01 - Legacy.mkv". I then click the Rename button and the file is named correctly for Serviio.

For a movie: I can usually leave the generic name that MakeMKV names the file. For example Jaws: MakeMKV will name it jaws_title01.mkv. I then load it into FileBot the same as above, then click the Match button and select "TheMovieDB" to query the online database. IMDB is also available, but slower. For movies, you often are giving a number of titles to choose from. Just pick the one that is correct (for Jaws, it was the 1975 title) and then rename.

You can load a number of files in the left window at one time. The only requirement is that they are all movies or all TV episodes, since you can only query one of the online databases. I have all twelve seasons of Murder She Wrote, so that's 264 episodes. Serviio handles them all fine as long as they are named correctly.

Also, some insight on using MakeMKV. When you first load the disc in, you see on the left everything contained on the disc that is longer than the default setting. I have 600 seconds (10 minutes) as my baseline. This removes all those little snippets of video that you don't care about. If you have loaded a movie, you should be left with the main feature, and potentially one or more extras. You should be able to tell which is which by the playing time. Under the movie name (which sometimes is quite cryptic) you find the video, caption and audio sections. You have to expand each section to see the options available. Some movies may only have a single audio track, while others may have 6 or more in different languages. Check the box for each one you want. On a Blu-Ray, the HD audio is never selected by default: you have to choose it yourself. You can also select one or more captions tracks. Be aware that some "cheap" DVDs might have the language mislabeled on the audio and/or caption tracks. I have some Dragnet (1954) TV episodes that had the audio labeled as Spanish, even though the discs only contained English. I couldn't figure out why there was no audio after I ripped them, because I had my defaults set to only select the English language track! Whoops!

And as you discussed above, MakeMKV just copies what the disc contains as far as video and audio codecs. For a DVD, that will always mean MPEG2 video and usually AC3 audio. Blu-Ray discs can have a multitude of both video and audio codecs used.

What remains puzzling is why these videos are not appearing in your player via Serviio. In your Serviio settings, under Presentation, make sure Folders are displayed (if they are set to Disabled, then change it to Display Category). Remember to hit the save button when you change anything here. When you browse the folders (from your player) do the videos now appear? I believe that Serviio will show all media under Folders view, regardless of its opinion of playability.

Hello again atc98092, I had rather let this thread die as I was (and still do) struggle to understand both the technicalities of trans-coding video; the setting-up of Serviio;... and the black art that is "file sharing" under Vista!

It was revitalised just the other day by Emma's suggestion of "ByteCopy". but I must admit to having "shelved" the project since August, so I've kinda lost track of which files were produced by what software and what options were included, sound tracks/subtitles!

Thanks for your guidance on FileBot, I stumbled around trying to get some meaningful output from it when suddenly, there it was, the entire bibliography of all the episodes of each series of MASH...impressive, but I couldn't say how I accomplished it I'll have to re-visit it later!
Similarly, I stumbled around the GUI for MakeMKV before achieving useful output. Your detail rings some bells from the attempts I made and will be a useful guide for me when I get time to try again, thankfully my options will be few as my disks are not Blu-Ray.

The state of play at the moment is this.
I have created a folder Named "MKV Output Files" which contains eleven files.
The first eight are ".mkv" files generically named "title00.mkv to title07.mkv:
Two further files are transcriptions of "title00" and "title01" named "MASH - The Pilot.ts" and "To Market, To Market.ts" respectively.
There is one more file in this folder named "MASH - The Pilot.mp4" which I suspect was trans-coded using "WinX Mobile Video Converter"

I have entered the filepath to the folder on the library tab of Serviio, and it shows up on my Sony TV under the folder name "MKV Output Files"; however, when selected I'm told "There are no items to display" despite the above files being in residence!
I have established (I think) that this seems to be a "sharing" problem, as I have copied and pasted into the folder, some files which Serviio can "see" elsewhere in the library, but the copies placed in this folder are not detected.

I have also copied ".ts" and ".mkv" files from the "MKV Output Files" folder, and pasted them into folders who's content is accessible to serviio, and though they can be seen (actual thumbnails are shown rather that generic placeholders) neither file will play, I just get the "Temporarily cannot access server" message... there is however another ".ts" file in the same folder which plays just fine, though I can't say what software created it!

Since the folder was already "Shared" with "Admin" as "Owner", I have now extended that to include "Everyone as Co-Owner", so the folder is now shared with the World and it's dog... but apparently still not with Serviio! Grrr!

The other odd thing is the fact that no matter how long I wait after clicking on "Force refresh" and "Show status"...the "checking for new files" indicator remains green, ad-infinitum with no notification of any found items!

Your suggestion to check that Folders are "Displayed" led me to a tab that I've never viewed before, but all the items listed have the "Displayed" status already.

Now 3am here so I need to get to bed!

You have re awakened my interest in this project, and I'll try to devote some time to it over the Christmas holidays, I'm grateful to you for taking the time to help me.
You have also brought back memories of my childhood watching "Joe Friday" in Dragnet!