Wav file problem

Vista Home Premium SP2, fully updated. K-Lite Basic version 10.0.2. Windows Media Player 11.0.6002.18311.

I can't get any .wav files to play in Windows Media Player. I have tried encoding using a-law, u-law, PCM uncompressed, Microsoft ADPCM, IMA ACPCM, and GSM 6.10 codecs, and none work. (The audio editor I use is WavePad, and wav files do play in it.)

I've checked my settings -- in LAV Audio Properties, Formats tab, mspcm (Microsoft PCM) is checked as is pcm (Raw PCM Types). In LAV Splitter Properties, Input Formats tab, alaw, mulaw, and wav is checked.

This problem also existed for me in K-Lite version 10.0.0. I don't know how far back this problem goes as I haven't tried to play a wav file for a while until recently.

NOTE:
Before I posted this, I tried the solution found in the FAQs, even though the question and the answer didn't fully apply to my situation (i.e., change .wav to .dts) and the files now play in WMP. However, I don't really want to go through every .wav file I have and rename them to .dts. Is there any way to fix this without the hassle? Or is there some kind of shortcut in renaming a bunch of files (in different folders)?

WMP should be able to play WAV files without the help of extra codecs. Something might be wrong with the standard filters from Windows.
Codec Tweak Tool > Fixes > Re-register base DirectShow filters

Renaming to .dts will result in LAV Splitter being used, because that is set as a forced splitter for that file extension. You should be able to make WMP use LAV Splitter for .wav by selecting LAV for "MPEG-PS" in the codec pack installer. Then LAV Splitter will be registered with a higher merit and it will then be used instead of other splitters for more formats.

Admin wrote:Something might be wrong with the standard filters from Windows.
Codec Tweak Tool > Fixes > Re-register base DirectShow filters

I didn't install the tweak tool; can this somehow be done via the command prompt?

Admin wrote:You should be able to make WMP use LAV Splitter for .wav by selecting LAV for "MPEG-PS" in the codec pack installer.

I see it is already checked in the Properties >> Input Formats tab. Do you mean selecting this during the installation of K-Lite?

ADDED:
I found out how to manually re-register the DirectShow filters and did so, but that did not fix the problem. Do I need to reinstall K-Lite and make sure that LAV is selected for MPEG-PS during the installation? [But why would I need to re-install when it is already checked in the Input Formats tab?]

The settings in LAV Splitter only have effect when an application attempts to use it. DirectShow filters are selected based on a merit system. If multiple filters are available for handling a certain format, then the filter with the highest merit is tried first.

By default LAV Splitter is installed with a relatively low merit. If you select MPEG-PS during installation, then the merit will be increased so it take precedence over the MPEG-PS splitter from Microsoft. As a side-effect, the higher merit will also result in LAV Splitter being used for a few other formats that Windows supports natively, such as MP3 and WAV.

You can just run the installer again to change the option. You don't need to uninstall first. Only thing you need to do is uncheck "Quick Upgrade" when running the installer. Otherwise it will re-use the existing settings.

I also advice to install the Codec Tweak Tool. It is very small and has some useful functionality. For example the fix I mentioned before. That will probably re-register a bit more than what you already did manually.

Well I'm stumped. I uninstalled, then re-installed the codec pack, selected LAV for everything, but I still have the same problem. Any other ideas what could be wrong?

Here is a Registry tweak to force the use of LAV Splitter for .wav

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Media Type\Extensions\.wav]
"Source Filter"="{B98D13E7-55DB-4385-A33D-09FD1BA26338}"

Or if you have a 64-bit version of Windows:

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\Media Type\Extensions\.wav]
"Source Filter"="{B98D13E7-55DB-4385-A33D-09FD1BA26338}"

Have you tried the CTT fix?

The registry tweak worked. Thanks for the help.

Good. I am still curious what the cause of the problem is. Knowing that would make it possible to automatically detect and fix it.

During one of the "trial runs" of re-installing the codec pack, I did install the tweak tool. I did everything that could be done through the tool (re-registering DirectShow filters, detect broken codecs, etc.) but nothing fixed the problem. So in a nutshell, I don't have a clue what caused the problem, and I don't know how, if possible, I could find out.

ADDED:
Not sure if this is related, but I think it is. I just tried to play a video file that came off of my camera. I got sound, but no video (actually, I got a still-frame, the exact one used for the thumbnail). While the file was “playing,” I noticed the Haali Media splitter icon in the tray. I did not install it in K-Lite. I did a search and found that it is installed with a video conversion program I use called “Video to Video.” [It is installed in C:\Program Files\Video to Video\Haali] I’ve had this program on for a while, so I don’t know why all of a sudden it (apparently) is interfering like this. I know for a fact that I used to be able to play videos from my camera, while at the same time having this program installed.

What can be done to fix this? I do not want to uninstall Video to Video as it is currently my favorite video conversion program. Will the registry tweak that worked for wav files work also for avi?

If you need to know this, here are the specs my camera uses for video files. You will notice the audio part is a wav file, which is why I suspect this new problem is related to the old problem.

General
Format                         : AVI
Format/Info                  : Audio Video Interleave
Writing application         : EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK EASYSHARE Camera, C1550

Video
ID                               : 0
Format                         : JPEG
Codec ID                       : MJPG
Bit rate                         : 11.8 Mbps
Width                           : 640 pixels
Height                          : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio        : 4:3
Frame rate                    : 25.000 fps
Color space                   : YUV
Chroma subsampling        : 4:2:0
Bit depth                      : 8 bits
Scan type                     : Progressive
Compression mode          : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)          : 1.536

Audio
ID                               : 1
Format                         : ADPCM
Format profile                : U-Law
Codec ID                      : 7
Codec ID/Hint                : CCITT
Bit rate mode                 : Constant
Bit rate                         : 256 Kbps
Channel(s)                     : 2 channels
Sampling rate                 : 16.0 KHz
Bit depth                       : 8 bits
Interleave, duration         : 40 ms (1.00 video frame)

You can change the preferred AVI splitter with the Codec Tweak Tool. Using the same registry trick as for .wav will also work. You could even disable Haali splitter with the Codec Tweak Tool if you want. Your converter will probably continue to work fine without it, as long as another splitter is available, such as LAV splitter.

Your video file does not contain a wav file as audio part. WAV is a container format, just like AVI is. They both can contain a large variety of different audio formats.

Regarding the original problem. You could test playback with GraphStudioNext:
http://code.google.com/p/graph-studio-next/downloads/detail?name=graphstudionext_0_6_1_265.zip
This tool can show you how it constructs the DirectShow graph, showing all filters it uses.
It requires no installation. Just unzip and run. Simply delete it when no longer needed.
Temporarily remove the .wav registry key, to get the old behavior back, and open a .wav file with this tool. The interesting information should be available in "View > Graph Construction Report".

Okay, I deleted the wav and avi registry tweaks. Then I downloaded and tested with GraphStudioNext. Here's what happened. The wav file didn't load. I got the error message:

VFW_E_UNKNOWN_FILE_TYPE (0x80040240)

When opening the graph construction report, it was blank.

It was able to open the avi file. When I clicked play, I heard sound, but there was no video (does GraphStudioNext show video?). Here is the graph construction report for the avi file:

0.156 sec Filter Selected : Video Renderer
1.435 sec Created filter Video Mixing Renderer
CLSID {B87BEB7B-8D29-423F-AE4D-6582C10175AC}
Object Name Video Mixing Renderer
1.451 sec Filter Selected : AVI Decompressor
1.466 sec Created filter AVI Decompressor
CLSID {CF49D4E0-1115-11CE-B03A-0020AF0BA770}
Object Name AVI Decompressor
Merit 0x00600000
Version 0x00000002
1.498 sec Filter Selected : Video Renderer
1.498 sec Created filter Video Renderer
CLSID {70E102B0-5556-11CE-97C0-00AA0055595A}
Object Name Video Renderer
Merit 0x00400000
Version 0x00000002
1.498 sec Failed to render pin Video on filter Haali Media Splitter
CLSID {55DA30FC-F16B-49FC-BAA5-AE59FC65F82D}
Object Name Haali Media Splitter
Merit 0x00800001
Version 0x00000002
File Name splitter.ax
File Path C:\Program Files\Video to Video\Haali\
Created 20/Aug/2013 19:44:01
Modified 03/Mar/2011 12:40:46
File Size 552960
File Version 1.11.96.14
Product Version 1.11.96.14
1.498 sec Filter Selected : LAV Audio Decoder
1.778 sec Created filter LAV Audio Decoder
CLSID {E8E73B6B-4CB3-44A4-BE99-4F7BCB96E491}
Object Name LAV Audio Decoder
Merit 0x00800003
Version 0x00000002
File Name LAVAudio.ax
File Path C:\Program Files\K-Lite Codec Pack\Filters\LAV\
Created 02/Sep/2013 19:45:38
Modified 06/Sep/2013 12:00:00
File Size 410624
File Version 0.58.2.0
Product Version 0.58.2.0
1.794 sec Filter Selected : ACM Wrapper
1.794 sec Created filter ACM Wrapper
CLSID {6A08CF80-0E18-11CF-A24D-0020AFD79767}
Object Name ACM Wrapper
Merit 0x00600000
Version 0x00000002
1.810 sec Filter Selected : Default DirectSound Device
1.810 sec Created filter DirectSound Audio Renderer
CLSID {79376820-07D0-11CF-A24D-0020AFD79767}
Object Name DirectSound Audio Renderer

So what does all this mean (for both the wav & avi file types)?

The log for the AVI for is normal. Haali splitter simply does not like the files from your camera.

Here is another registry tweak that you could try for the .wav issue:

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Media Type\{E436EB83-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}\{E436EB8B-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}]
"0"="0,4,,52494646,8,4,,57415645"
"Source Filter"="{E436EBB5-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\Media Type\{E436EB83-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}\{E436EB8B-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}]
"0"="0,4,,52494646,8,4,,57415645"
"Source Filter"="{E436EBB5-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}"

I already added back the previous registry tweaks for wav and avi files. Is there any advantage to this new tweak? Is this new tweak to use the Windows DirectShow filters?

Concerning Haali issue: I wonder why my system is trying to use that splitter first over LAV. It never did this before. The only thing I did recently is re-install Vista. Do you think it is possible that the order I installed K-Lite and the conversion program would make a difference? Should I uninstall both, then re-install them again, doing K-Lite first (since before I reformatted I already had K-Lite on my computer, then put on that conversion program)?

Concerning wav issue: What could possibly be causing the unknown file type error? It sounds like something maybe got corrupted? I know I haven't deleted anything I shouldn't have.


ADDED:
Now I've come across another problem. The avi tweak fixed playing files from my camera, but now when I try to play avi files that contain raw video, I get a message saying that WMP stopped working. I tried loading the same file into GraphStudioNext, and it did load, and everything seems to look okay in the Graph Construct Report, but when I click "Play" in that program, then I also get a message that GraphStudioNext has stopped working. When I delete the avi registry tweak, WMP & GSN will play the avi with raw video.

Graph Construction Report with avi tweak
0.405 sec Filter Selected : LAV Video Decoder
0.577 sec Created filter LAV Video Decoder
CLSID {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
Object Name LAV Video Decoder
Merit 0x00800003
Version 0x00000002
File Name LAVVideo.ax
File Path C:\Program Files\K-Lite Codec Pack\Filters\LAV\
Created 02/Sep/2013 19:45:38
Modified 06/Sep/2013 12:00:00
File Size 1672192
File Version 0.58.2.0
Product Version 0.58.2.0
0.577 sec Filter Selected : LAV Video Decoder
0.577 sec Created filter LAV Video Decoder
CLSID {EE30215D-164F-4A92-A4EB-9D4C13390F9F}
Object Name LAV Video Decoder
Merit 0x00800003
Version 0x00000002
File Name LAVVideo.ax
File Path C:\Program Files\K-Lite Codec Pack\Filters\LAV\
Created 02/Sep/2013 19:45:38
Modified 06/Sep/2013 12:00:00
File Size 1672192
File Version 0.58.2.0
Product Version 0.58.2.0
0.577 sec Filter Selected : Video Renderer
1.529 sec Created filter Video Mixing Renderer
CLSID {B87BEB7B-8D29-423F-AE4D-6582C10175AC}
Object Name Video Mixing Renderer
1.607 sec Filter Selected : LAV Audio Decoder
1.653 sec Created filter LAV Audio Decoder
CLSID {E8E73B6B-4CB3-44A4-BE99-4F7BCB96E491}
Object Name LAV Audio Decoder
Merit 0x00800003
Version 0x00000002
File Name LAVAudio.ax
File Path C:\Program Files\K-Lite Codec Pack\Filters\LAV\
Created 02/Sep/2013 19:45:38
Modified 06/Sep/2013 12:00:00
File Size 410624
File Version 0.58.2.0
Product Version 0.58.2.0
1.653 sec Filter Selected : Default DirectSound Device
1.653 sec Created filter DirectSound Audio Renderer
CLSID {79376820-07D0-11CF-A24D-0020AFD79767}
Object Name DirectSound Audio Renderer


Graph Construction Report with avi tweak deleted
0.125 sec Filter Selected : Video Renderer
1.279 sec Created filter Video Mixing Renderer
CLSID {B87BEB7B-8D29-423F-AE4D-6582C10175AC}
Object Name Video Mixing Renderer
1.295 sec Filter Selected : AVI Decompressor
1.295 sec Created filter AVI Decompressor
CLSID {CF49D4E0-1115-11CE-B03A-0020AF0BA770}
Object Name AVI Decompressor
Merit 0x00600000
Version 0x00000002
1.295 sec Filter Selected : AVI Decompressor
1.295 sec Created filter AVI Decompressor
CLSID {CF49D4E0-1115-11CE-B03A-0020AF0BA770}
Object Name AVI Decompressor
Merit 0x00600000
Version 0x00000002
1.295 sec Filter Selected : Color Space Converter
1.295 sec Created filter Color Space Converter
CLSID {1643E180-90F5-11CE-97D5-00AA0055595A}
Object Name Color Space Converter
Merit 0x00400001
Version 0x00000002
1.326 sec Filter Selected : Default DirectSound Device
1.326 sec Created filter DirectSound Audio Renderer
CLSID {79376820-07D0-11CF-A24D-0020AFD79767}
Object Name DirectSound Audio Renderer

That latest registry tweak I posted for wav is a standard value from Windows. If it is current missing it could be the reason for the error. Otherwise I don't know what might be the cause.

Which splitter gets used depends on several factors. Don't worry too much about it. Simply use the Codec Tweak Tool and choose your preferred one.

The crash with raw video is a bug in LAV Video decoder. You should try 10.0.3 if you are still using 10.0.2, as this bug may have already been fixed. If not, it would be helpful if you could supply a small sample file. Then the developer of LAV can fix it for next version. You can upload a sample file here:
http://www.sendspace.com

Meanwhile, you could try selecting the standard Microsoft AVI splitter as preferred one.

Okay, thanks for all your help.