some troubles playing iso/mkv files

[GOS]

I'm going to throw this out there and see if anyone has any thoughts about what is causing this. As most know, all my physical media is ripped to my NAS, which is connected to my PC, which is connected to my AVR.

Any music that is on my NAS, whether it be flac, iso or mkv, I have zero issues with. They all play as they should. The issue is if I happen to have an mkv or iso file on my desktop. I generally rip these files to a folder on my desktop and from there I decide how I want to name the folder and the files within. If I want to check out a new title first, I always want to play it from my desktop folder. Here in a nutshell is what happens.

I right click on the mkv/iso, scroll down to "open with", then select a media player from what I have. Media player opens normally, the still shot of the music I can see. But, there is no audio. The speaker icons on my Denon are not illuminated. I know exactly what is going on, I just don't know why. This is happening when my NAS is "sleeping". If my NAS is already awake and active from a previous listening session, then those same mke/iso files will play correctly from my desktop.

My question is, why do my audio files on my PC desktop seem to "need" the NAS to be awake and active to work? It makes zero sense to me and it surely must be a setting somehow, but I'd be the last guy to know what it is.

 

[jimfisheye]

Maybe one of the apps involved is set to look for a config or preference file on the NAS?

Thinking of this: Waves plugins will wake up my USB connected backup drives if connected. These sleep by commend of their firmware regardless of system energy settings. So... not even intentionally looking for an expected file... more like programmed to investigate any drives connected!

So maybe your media player app is not even looking for a file it expects but programmed to scan any connected storage. And then instead of giving you a spinning pinwheel alert, that app soft crashes and plays silence. (The wait is unexpected and not programmed for.)

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

I right click on the mkv/iso, scroll down to "open with", then select a media player from what I have. Media player opens normally, the still shot of the music I can see. But, there is no audio. The speaker icons on my Denon are not illuminated. I know exactly what is going on, I just don't know why. This is happening when my NAS is "sleeping". If my NAS is already awake and active from a previous listening session, then those same mke/iso files will play correctly from my desktop.

Which software 'media player' are you using and how have you configured it to pass audio to your AVR/TV? In the past I have used Media Player Classic BE which provides an option to pass audio (and video) via HDMI to a AVR/TV...

 

[pat bateman]

Weird problem. I’m in agreement that a config file needed for an audio output preference must be stored on the NAS somewhere. When your NAS is asleep, is the entire unit asleep, or do the disks just spin down? How do you wake it up? Does the NAS support WOL? I don’t often use Windows, so my next question is rusty, but when the NAS is asleep and you are trying to play something from the desktop, what is the audio output device windows says its trying to use, and is it the same output device when things are working normally?

 

[GOS]

Which software 'media player' are you using and how have you configured it to pass audio to your AVR/TV? In the past I have used Media Player Classic BE which provides an option to pass audio (and video) via HDMI to a AVR/TV...

I use several because I find that not 1 single player can handle every iso I throw at it.

• VLC
• Media Player Classic Home Cinema, MPC-HC64

I don't recall changing any settings as normally I don't understand most of them anyway.

 

[GOS]

Weird problem. I’m in agreement that a config file needed for an audio output preference must be stored on the NAS somewhere. When your NAS is asleep, is the entire unit asleep, or do the disks just spin down? How do you wake it up? Does the NAS support WOL? I don’t often use Windows, so my next question is rusty, but when the NAS is asleep and you are trying to play something from the desktop, what is the audio output device windows says its trying to use, and is it the same output device when things are working normally?

According to the 4 green lights on the front, I believe it to be totally asleep as they are not illuminated. I wake it up by trying to access a music folder. Once I do that, it takes about 15-20 seconds to wake up, then it lets me access the flac files, for example. I don't know what WOL is.

I'm probably getting hung up on terminology, so I'm not completely clear on what you mean by "what audio output device is windows trying to use". But, my default audio is always going to be my AVR, whether accessing files from desktop or NAS.

 

[Marplot]

Wake On LAN .. can it be nudged awake remotely

 

[LuvMyQuad]

According to the 4 green lights on the front, I believe it to be totally asleep as they are not illuminated. I wake it up by trying to access a music folder. Once I do that, it takes about 15-20 seconds to wake up, then it lets me access the flac files, for example. I don't know what WOL is.

I'm probably getting hung up on terminology, so I'm not completely clear on what you mean by "what audio output device is windows trying to use". But, my default audio is always going to be my AVR, whether accessing files from desktop or NAS.

WOL = Wake On Lan. It's a feature that wakes a device up when called for by the network

The PC has a default audio device for playing audio. It could be HDMI, it could be the internal device on the motherboard that uses PC speakers. You will find it in the audio settings.

In my system the audio output device sometimes gets reset with a Windows update.

 

[GOS]

Not sure if this is what is being talked about.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Not sure if this is what is being talked about.

View attachment 107094

Yes. I assume after the three dots it specifies HDMI. I also assume that's a windows screen you posted.

Check for the same thing on the software player.

If it seems correct, you can focus more on the data transfer from the NAS.

 

[GOS]

Yes. I assume after the three dots it specifies HDMI.

It actually just says Display Audio. No reference to HDMI, at least there.

 

[GOS]

My NAS does have the WOL feature, though it wasn't selected. I went ahead and activated it, not sure what it will really do differently considering my NAS wakes up anyway when it's being called on from a media player or whatever.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

It actually just says Display Audio. No reference to HDMI, at least there.

I'm pretty sure it's the HDMI. That's how the AVR is connected, right.

 

[GOS]

I'm pretty sure it's the HDMI. That's how the AVR is connected, right.

yes

 

[GOS]

My NAS does have the WOL feature, though it wasn't selected. I went ahead and activated it, not sure what it will really do differently considering my NAS wakes up anyway when it's being called on from a media player or whatever.

Well, it eventually wakes up. It does take some time.

 

[jhw59]

OK, I have an ISO file that I'm trying to play on my Oppo 205 but no luck. I used IMG to convert the files but still not playing. Do I have to burn it to a DVD?

 

[LuvMyQuad]

OK, I have an ISO file that I'm trying to play on my Oppo 205 but no luck. I used IMG to convert the files but still not playing. Do I have to burn it to a DVD?

I thought they removed ISO playback capability on those players

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Well, it eventually wakes up. It does take some time.

So it eventually wakes when you play from the PC?

 

[GOS]

So it eventually wakes when you play from the PC?

Yes, but it takes about twice as long to wake up that way as opposed to if I'm accessing the NAS directly. But, it seems if the file isn't playing right away, even when the NAS finally kicks on...it's not going to play. I have to close all the windows/programs and start over. Ridiculous.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Yes, but it takes about twice as long to wake up that way as opposed to if I'm accessing the NAS directly. But, it seems if the file isn't playing right away, even when the NAS finally kicks on...it's not going to play. I have to close all the windows/programs and start over. Ridiculous.

Has it always done this? I wonder if it's a NAS setting. Mine wakes pretty quickly. Sometimes if I open file explorer and it takes a minute to rebuild directories. Do you use a mapped drive for the NAS multimedia?