VLC Crash when playing MKV files in Windows 7

Question

I'm not sure if the mkv file is corrupted, but when it is opened with VLC player, VLC loads up and displays nothing. Can't even close VLC after that. And also, VLC is running with 50% of the CPU. I have to use End Process to kill it.

How do I know if the file is corrupted? How do I solve this?

info from mediainfo

Format : Matroska 
File size : 69.4 MiB 
Duration : 21mn 48s 
Overall bit rate : 445 Kbps 
Encoded date : UTC 2009-11-20 18:33:49 
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.9.7 ('Tenderness') built on Jul 1 2009 18:43:35 
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1 

Video 
ID : 1 
Format : AVC 
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec 
Format profile : [email protected] 
Format settings, CABAC : Yes 
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames 
Format settings, GOP : N=1 
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC 
Duration : 21mn 48s 
Width : 640 pixels 
Height : 352 pixels 
Display aspect ratio : 16:9 
Frame rate : 23.976 fps 
Color space : YUV 
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0 
Bit depth : 8 bits 
Scan type : Progressive 

Audio 
ID : 2 
Format : AAC 
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec 
Format profile : HE-AAC / LC 
Codec ID : A_AAC 
Duration : 21mn 48s 
Channel(s) : 2 channels 
Channel positions : Front: L R 
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz / 24.0 KHz 
Compression mode : Lossy 

Solution 1

A file not playing might be due to wrong information in the file itself. Looking at the content with MediaInfo might reveal some issues.

There might be a common problem with other MKV files in the same directory. If you've tried the steps in the VLC FAQ and it still doesn't work, it might be a codec issue.

You should also try to install the K-Lite Codecs. They add support for many file types and video codecs to Windows.

Solution 2

Try this in VLC main menu:

Tools -> Preferences -> (click on "All" in the lower left corner) -> Input/Codecs -> Demuxers -> Matroska

Uncheck the option Preload directory. This may cause problems if there are bad mkv files in the same directory in which the file you're trying to open is.

Comments

[slhck]

Can you use MediaInfo and show us what it says about the file?

[Sufendy]

@slhck sure, downloading MediaInfo :) update soon.. thx

[slhck]

Looks fine to me. Are you running the latest VLC? Are there any other MKV files in the same directory as suggested by the VLC FAQ? Have you been able to play other MKVs before? You could install K-Lite Codecs and see if it works with another player.

[Sufendy]

yes, there are other MKV files that I can play... Just updated the VLC.. Installed K-Lite codec and now it's playing... thanks for your help @slhck!!

[Sufendy]

K-Lite works!! :)

[Dzung Nguyen]

it's good to know this. Last time I test, VLC is the most lightweight one it works pretty fine on my aunt's computer which is quite old. The others didn't work.