Mka files - not playing last track

Help and Support Vero 4K / Vero 4K +
1

I recently noticed that my mka files have stopped playing properly. The final track is listed first and has no time associated with it and is unplayable. All other tracks play ok.

There is a better description on the kodi forum (I’m not sure if I’m allowed to link) I had hoped the final update would fix this as it had been working fine until a recent update but it’s still the same.

Does this mean my only option to listen to the last track on my mka files is to buy the Vero V?

2

Please add the link here

3

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=378468&pid=3220590#pid3220590

I should have mentioned it appears to have been fixed on kodi.

Thanks for looking

4

It is reported that the fix made it to 21.2 Omega.
Unfortunately Kodi v21.1 was the last release for Vero 4K / 4K+

5

Is there no chance of a patch? It was fine until very recently.

6

Do you know when this stopped working?
The problem is that a patch will be hard to implement if we don’t know when this went wrong…

And then we just end up maintaining the device again and there will always be one more fix

7

Yes, I understand. The problem wasn’t on my vero4k+ in April 2024 but was there the end of December. I usually keep it fairly up to date.

8

April 2024 would still be Kodi v20, so it is possible the issue was introduced in Kodi v21.

9

I guess I’m alone in using the Vero4k+ for MKA. Can anyone suggest a workaround I can do? I’ve got Purple Rain coming soon and the last track is quite good! :wink:

10

Try playing your MKAs as videos, rather than audio files.

Add the file: playercorefactory.xml into folder ...\osmc\.kodi\userdata

This version also works for M4As (Dolby Atmos)

<playercorefactory>
    <players>
        <player name="VideoPlayer" audio="true" video="false">
        <hidexbmc>false</hidexbmc>
        </player>
    </players>
    <rules action="prepend">
        <rule filetypes="mka" player="VideoPlayer"/>
        <rule filetypes="m4a" player="VideoPlayer"/>
    </rules>
</playercorefactory>

Also, its better to rip blu-rays (incl Dolby ATMOS) as MKVs, (not MKAs) and play them as videos. The chapter index should remain entact and correct.

1 Like
11

Thanks, I have a vague memory of doing the first thing, when I could remember my password!
As for the second, I had never had any problems with the tracks - I just had to add the titles.

Have you confirmed that these both work in the past 6 months or so?

12

No, why don’t you try ?

I am currently using the playercorefactory.xml without any problems, and I don’t use MKA files.

13

Thanks.
So I now have my Hi-Res music as MKV files playing via the Music Videos menu. It’s not the solution I wanted but it does at least play the last track. Unfortunately if the video doesn’t include the track names then I have to guess, with MKAs I had the track names in the MKA file which osmc displayed as tracks.

I’m not sure what the playercorefactory file does as these now just play like any Blu-ray.

14

The example playercorefactory.xml file will cause both .m4a and .mka audio files to played using the Videoplayer, as opposed to the PAPlayer of Kodi, normally used to play audio files.

Having your audio tracks as MKV or MKA files should invoke the Videoplayer in both cases.

Its the PAPlayer of Kodi that is not indexing the the last of your MKA audio tracks, which I assume were in a single folder.

With your audio tracks in a single MKV file, it is possible to add chapter names using MKVToolnix. You can use a text file with a specific format to define the chapter timestamps and names, then use MKVToolnix to merge it into your MKV file.

Alternatively, you can use Handbreak (HandBrake Documentation — Chapter Markers) to automatically generate chapter markers and rename them, or import/export chapter lists from CSV files.

It’s the PAPlayer of Kodi that is at fault.

Have a look at Dolby Atmos for music - #33 by thechrisgregory for even more analysis/explanation.

15

My MKAs were each a single file. The chapter/track info had been created in MKVToolnix. I recognise the thread you linked so must have used that previously. I had thought the short delay to the start of a ‘seeked’ track was due to my amplifier so glad that’s now better.

It’s kodi that’s showing the last track as ‘not a music track’ and placing it before track 1 even before I try to play it. This has now been fixed in kodi but not on the Vero4k+.

16

So I’ve copied the track names from the old mka files onto the mkv files and cannot find how to display them. The Vero 4k+ interface just shows the single mkv file and I have to use the up arrow to blindly search through the album when it’s playing. With my mka files, instead of showing the single mka file it listed all of the tracks so I can select which one to play (except the last one) Any suggestions?

17

This might help

https://kodi.wiki/view/Bookmarks_and_chapters

Kodi will also display chapters in the bookmarks window, accessible from the on-screen-display controls during playback.

Also probably related to this Kodi 21.x bug …