PowerDVD and WinDVD won't play after K-Lite installed

I've been using K-lite for many years, without any difficulties. At the beginning of September I updated K-lite at the same time that I installed an a/v splitter. When the update and installation were completed, the audio in MP4 & m2ts video files no longer played in either PowerDVD or WinDVD.

I assumed it was a hardware breakdown associated with a new a/v splitter I had installed so, along with the manufacturer of the splitter, over the next few weeks, we attempted to make some setting adjustments and even replaced the device. Nothing we did corrected the problem - and, according to the manufacturer of this device, there shouldn't have been any problems.

I then turned to the software and updated both of the above noted programs. No improvement.

Then a light bulb came on. Maybe I should try to play these file types using Media Player Classic and VLC Media Player and Windows Media Player - - - I did, and all 3 programs were able to play these files and all other formats - which, if nothing else, confirmed that the splitter was/is working properly and wasn't causing my problems (yes, I did by-pass the splitter, without any success)...

I've now concluded that the change to my system must have happened the last time I updated my K-Lite files, so today I downloaded and installed version 13.0 (mega pack), without any success in getting these files to play using either of these two players.

Is there something I can adjust within K-lite which will help me to overcome this problem??

Thank you.

First test if the same problem also occurs after uninstalling the K-Lite Codec Pack. PowerDVD uses its own codecs by default, so it is most likely a problem with the settings of PowerDVD itself.

Admin wrote:First test if the same problem also occurs after uninstalling the K-Lite Codec Pack. PowerDVD uses its own codecs by default, so it is most likely a problem with the settings of PowerDVD itself.

I've followed your suggestion and removed (temporarily ), K-Lite from my system. The audio portion of the files still won't play in PowerDVD, but they will now play in WinDVD.

Earlier today I updated all the drivers and codec for PowerDVD - but this did nothing. I guess the only solution will be to remove PowerDVD and just use WinDVD (or one of the free players).

Thanks for you quick help.

Is there any specific reason why you are using these two players?

Can you make a codec log for me? Then I can see what those players have installed.
Codec Tweak Tool > Generate Log

You can get standalone version of CTT here:
http://codecguide.com/download_other.htm

Admin wrote:Is there any specific reason why you are using these two players?

Can you make a codec log for me? Then I can see what those players have installed.
Codec Tweak Tool > Generate Log

You can get standalone version of CTT here:
http://codecguide.com/download_other.htm

I do a lot of video editing so I keep 2 different players (actually, I've also got 3 free ones too), so if one fails I've got the other as a back-up, and I find that for some video one player is sometimes better than another for play-back.

In regards to your request for a log - - I've generated one but can't find how to attach it to this reply... As soon as I find out how to do this (or you tell me how to do it), I'll send it off to you.

You can just open the .txt file and copy/paste the content here.

Admin wrote:You can just open the .txt file and copy/paste the content here.

As you will see, below, it doesn't list these programs - and most of the file are hidden..

Codec Tweak Tool | Log file | Generated at 2017-11-02 19:04:37

##### System Information #####

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate (6.01.7601) (x64)
DirectX: 9.0c + 10 + 10.1 + 11
CPU name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770K CPU @ 3.50GHz
CPU speed: 3499 MHz (8t)
Memory: 32736 MB
Screen size: 1920x1080 (32bits) (30Hz) (125%), 1920x1080 (32bits) (60Hz) (125%), 1920x1080 (32bits) (60Hz) (125%)
Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti
VendorID: 10de, DeviceID: 1183
Video mem: 2048 MB
Video driver: nvd3dumx.dll (Version 22.21.13.8233) (5-17-2017)
Audio device: Realtek High Definition Audio
VendorID: 10ec, DeviceID: 0900
Audio driver: RTKVHD64.sys (Version 6.0.1.7560) (7-15-2015)

##### K-Lite Codec Pack #####

KLCP version: 13.6.0
KLCP type: mega

Speaker conf: as is

MPC renderer: EVR CP
MPC subs: VSFilter

##### Decoder Settings #####

LAV Video:
H264=1 HEVC=1 VP9=1 VC1=1 MPEG2=1 MPEG4=1 WMV3=0

LAV Audio:
MP3=1 AAC=1 Vorbis=1 AC3=1 DTS=1 LPCM=1 WMA=0

ffdshow (x86):
H264=0 VC1=0 MPEG2=0 XVID=0 DX50=0 DIV3=0 FLV1=0 RAW=0
MP3=0 AAC=0 AC3=0 DTS=0 TrueHD=0 Vorbis=0 Mace=1 RAW=0

ffdshow (x64):
H264=0 VC1=0 MPEG2=0 XVID=0 DX50=0 DIV3=0 FLV1=0 RAW=0
MP3=0 AAC=0 AC3=0 DTS=0 TrueHD=0 Vorbis=0 Mace=1 RAW=0


##### DirectShow Filters (64-bit) #####

(A total of 91 filters, 0 shown, 91 hidden)

##### ICM Class Manager (64-bit) #####

Nothing interesting in the log.

PowerDVD and WinDVD are not really good general purpose players. Media Player Classic and VLC should be better.

Admin wrote:Nothing interesting in the log.

Whew. I thought I was showing my ignorance when I came to the same conclusion )

PowerDVD and WinDVD are not really good general purpose players. Media Player Classic and VLC should be better.

Well, they both cost a lot more money than Media Player Classic and VLC, so one would think they should be better...

A couple of observations in regards to these two programs:
1) VLC won't play-back 3D video files, so I'm restricted as to when I can use it.
2) Neither of them, as far as I can see, offer an option to randomize audio playback.

Perhaps you could pass on these two observations to the team that develop and work on these 2 programs for their consideration the next time they do upgrades??

In the meantime, please accept my thanks for your efforts to help me overcome the audio problem with PowerDVD and WinDVD (which, strange as it sounds (pardon the pun), only effects the playback for multi-channel files). Your help has been very much appreciated.

3D playback is possible with MPC-HC. You need:
1) The Intel Media SDK 3D plugin: http://codecguide.com/download_other.htm#libmfxsw
2) Use MadVR as the video renderer in MPC-HC
3) Windows 8 or 10

And to randomize with MPC-HC:
1) Menu > View > Playlist
(tip: you can drag playlist outside of player window by dragging it, with you mouse on it left border)
2) Right-click on playlist > Shuffle

But for audio I would recommend a specialized audio player, like for example Winamp. All the players that you are using right now are mostly designed for video playback.

Admin wrote:3D playback is possible with MPC-HC. You need:
1) The Intel Media SDK 3D plugin: http://codecguide.com/download_other.htm#libmfxsw
2) Use MadVR as the video renderer in MPC-HC
3) Windows 8 or 10

And to randomize with MPC-HC:
1) Menu > View > Playlist
(tip: you can drag playlist outside of player window by dragging it, with you mouse on it left border)
2) Right-click on playlist > Shuffle

But for audio I would recommend a specialized audio player, like for example Winamp. All the players that you are using right now are mostly designed for video playback.

Once again I thank you for your insightful information.

I agree with you about using a specialized audio player - in fact I've been using Winamp since it was first released in 1997.

As for the other two pieces of A/V software, I find it interesting to see that MPC requires either Windows 8 or 10 for 3D (and maybe even some other special functions??), to work - - especially since, as of October 15, 2017, statistical research shows that 46.63% of PC users, world-wide, still use Windows 7 - - - and won't update until "forced to" (I count myself amongst this group).

Of related interest is the fact that only 7.37% of PC owners use Windows 8 and 29.26% use Windows 10 (and many of these only use it because it was forced on them because they purchased a new computer - - and, because a high percentage of these folk are removing W-10 and re-installing W-7, the figures I just quoted could be out in that W-7 users should be higher and W-10 users lower). Even W-XP is still used by 6.47% of the world's PC users.

These facts open up a new question - if so few people are convinced that they should upgrade from Windows 7 (or other versions) to Windows 10, why are some developers catering to the minority instead of improving things for the majority??

If you're interested in this research you can look it up at www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0

Thanks again for opening the door for a most interesting expansion of our original discussion.

I think 3D also works on Windows 7 if you have a NVIDIA graphics card. This functionality depends on the capabilities of the driver. In newer versions of Windows it is part of the standard feature set.

Admin wrote:I think 3D also works on Windows 7 if you have a NVIDIA graphics card. This functionality depends on the capabilities of the driver. In newer versions of Windows it is part of the standard feature set.

I have a NVidia graphics card so will give it a try.

Too bad "someone" couldn't come up with some of these "standard feature sets" that windows put into W-10, but as an update for Windows 7. I'm sure it would put a huge smile on the faces of millions of people around the world )