WMP can't play avi

[Anttix]

Right, this is doing my nut in.

Some background:

I'm on Win7 HomePrem 64bit.

I'm fearing that I'm going to have to end up doing a clean install to fix this, but I REALLY don't want to do it due to the amount of tweaking I've had to do to get it stable and working (mostly) as I want it.

I have a satellite card installed that I access through WMC which is a 64bit app, so I have installed FFDShow 64 (Actually, the Klite 64 bit codec pack). The amount of messing about I had to do to get it working and to get WMC to play HD satellite feeds & the EPG was unreal.

So, as the WMC codecs were 64bit, I had to change the default WMP to the 64bit version, which again is a right PITA, not helped by the 32 and 64 bit versions having the same process name. Why on earth does 64 bit win7 default to 32bit WMP? Lord only knows. For the most part it all works well, although sometimes the FFDshow/Matroska splitter fails to load but I can live with that if needs be.

One of the main reasons I use FFDSHow is because it can output surround sound - this is really key for me.

The problem itself:

I can't play .avi files through WMP64 or WMC. I therefore download the Divx codec... No dice. Uninstalled & downloaded codec & player. Again, no dice, although I can play .avi files in the Divx Player.

Somewhere I need to tick/untick a box, but blowed if I know where!

Do any of you have any suggestions as to where I should start?

 

[dsperber]

The problem itself:

I can't play .avi files through WMP64 or WMC.

Do any of you have any suggestions as to where I should start?

(1) My own recommendation (e.g. if you do a clean reinstall)... do NOT install any outside codec packs (e.g. Shark, KLite, etc.) into Win7. The Microsoft foundation in Win7 pretty much supports almost everything there is out there.

I'd UNINSTALL whatever external codec packs you've installed.

You do NOT need to install external Divx product. Both Win7 and FFDSHOW provide perfectly adequate Divx codec support built into them. I'd uninstall the external Divx.

(2) You can install FFDShow x64 without fear. You want to UN-CHECK support for a number of the pre-checked decoder formats, so that the existing standard built-in Win7 capabilities for these codecs are left undisturbed. (See video configuration list below)

(3) You can install Haali Media Splitter (Matroska) without fear.

(4) You should install the GSpot Codec Information Appliance, and then open your problem AVI files in it. The GSPot program will tell you exactly what audio/video codecs are internal to the AVI files, and whether or not you have them properly installed on your Win7 system.

You can also use GSpot to attempt to render the AVI (inside its own audio/video window) to confirm or deny that you do or do not have proper audio/video codecs installed to play your AVIs.

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Here's what I have checked and unchecked in my own FFDSHOW video configuration (I have yet to run into an AVI or MPG that would not play in Windows Media Player):

 

[Anttix]

Thanks for your response dsperber.

avi files used to play, then they just... stopped.

Anyway, I've followed your instructions to the letter and it has solved the .avi issue, so thank you! I now also get surround sound audio from some .mkv files that previously came out silent. Another thank you.

Of course there has to be a 'but'... I've now lost sound on some other .mkv files. These files previously gave me surround sound. Also the icon for .mkv has changed from being a WMP logo to a Matroska logo - not an issue, but it's a change. You posted up your ffdshow video settings, would you be able to do the same for audio? A key thing for me is the surround sound working properly; at the moment it seems to be all or nothing.

What steps do you think I should take next?

 

[dsperber]

You posted up your ffdshow video settings, would you be able to do the same for audio?

Sure. Note that I've also disabled audio codecs where either Win7 has built-in support, or where I use a 3rd-party media player for audio (e.g. Winamp) which does not require that codecs be installed (e.g. for FLAC).

A key thing for me is the surround sound working properly; at the moment it seems to be all or nothing.

I myself do not use surround-sound, so I don't know if my audio configuration will make a difference for you or not in regards to this mystery.

I also do not have any MKV files of my own, so I honestly have no firsthand experience with playing them. I only have the Haali splitter installed because it's required (along with ffdshow and AVISynth) for multiAVCHD (a program I use to produce authored BluRay versions of recorded HDTV program clips MPEG-2 streams with no re-compression).

What steps do you think I should take next?

Did you install GSpot?

If so, did you use it to analyze your clips that you're having trouble with, to show the underlying audio/video codecs used in the clip? I actually don't know if it supports MKV, again because I don't have any. I know it supports AVI and MPG.

Have you tried playing the problem clips using VideoLAN VLC (which I know supports MKV)? Do you get surround sound using it?