I am using the new Handbrake 0.9.4 to make mkv files of my DVDs.   While Handbrake always let me have AC3 passthrough and chapter marks, the new one let's me add soft subtitles (WOOHOO!)

Anywho... is it possible to get old MCE 2005 to play these files?  Man that would be sweet!  I tried to get XBMC (that's a profanity 'round these parts, huh?) running on an XP machine.  What a disaster!

 Also, if it is possible, would you mind posting specific instructions.  I'm very new to all this.

 Thanks an assheap in advance!

No reason why it shouldn't be possible. I used to have MCE2005 playing .mp4 files quite happily, didn't try with .mkv but they are still just h.264 video.

I used Haali splitter and ffdshow-tryouts, cannot remember any non-default options used and don't run XP anymore to rerun the process.

 

 Thanks!  Did you just load Haali splitter and ffdshow and you were good to go, or is there a registry tweak?

 

You need to also add the reg setting so MCE recognizes mkv as a video file type. I have MCE setup to play 1080p mkv's with DTS or AC3 bit-perfect passthrough.

 Can you tell me how to do that?  What to type and where to put it?

Google is your friend:

 Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.mkv]
"PerceivedType"="video"
"Content Type"="video/x-matroska"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Multimedia\WMPlayer\Extensions\.mkv]
"Runtime"=dword:00000007
"Permissions"=dword:0000000f
"UserApprovedOwning"="yes"

You can import the registry key. All it does is tell Windows that the MKV extension is a video file. Media Center uses this to determine what files to show in the different areas.

http://mikinho.com/wmc/fix/mkv.reg

@Coloroado

 First of all, THANK YOU!

 I saw something like that on The Google, but I do not know how to edit a registry.  How do I get that into Windows?  This is for MCE2005, yes?

 

@mikinho

THANK YOU as well!

Is that the same code as Colorado posted?  I downloaded it.  What do I have to do with it?

 

For either of these, is there a software that has to be run in conjunction with the reg edit?  What do you use? 

 

Yes it is the same registry data. Just save the file and run it to import it into your registry. On XP you will still need a MKV splitter (i.e. Haali Media Spliter) and a H264 decoder (FFDShow-Tryouts).

 HOT DAMN, IT WORKED!!

 

I can NOT thank you folks enough!  I ran the registry like you said.  I installed Haali 1.9.42.1 and ffdshow rev 3014 (from 6.20.2009).

 

At first, all I had picture and Dolby Pro Logic II.  I knew something was a miss because I mad the mkv with ONLY AC3 5.2... so I figured it must be downmixing.  I found the AC3 passthrough setting in ffdshow and, voila!

 

A couple final questions:

1.) MC does not recognize the chapter marks in my mkv, instead it FFs 30 seconds at a time.  Is that normal? Can it be changed to see the chapter marks in the mkv?

2.) My mkv contains subtitles.  How do I turn them on and off in MC2005

3.) How is the ffdshow I installed different than "tryouts".  I am not sure what "tryouts" is.

4.) Will this same trick work if/when I upgrade to Win 7?  Or that a completely different monster.

 

And, again, THANK YOU!!!

wisenheimer:

1.) how is the ffdshow I installed different than "tryouts".  I am not sure what "tryouts

It is a fork of ffdshow that was created when development on the original ffdshow was abandoned. It was the first fork to have Vista compatibility. If what you have works, I'd leave it alone. If you do upgrade to the latest then make sure to uninstall any previous versions, their install process does not work reliably for removing older versions first

wisenheimer:

2.) will this same trick work if/when I upgrade to Win 7?  Or that a completely different monster.

Most of that is no longer needed. A MKV splitter is still needed but that is it. W7 has a native H264 decoder so no additional codecs are required. Some people still prefer ffdshow or DivX but it isn't needed

wisenheimer:

3.) MC does not recognize the capter marks in my mkv, instead it FF 30 seconds at a time.  Is that normal? Can it be changed to see the chapter marks in the m

This is normal. Chapter marks are not recognized. In Vista\W7 there is a plugin to change the behavior but I don't believe it is compatible w/ XP

 Got it, thanks!

 

I updated my post to add a question about subtitles.  Are the subtitles in my mkv viewable through MCE2005?