Media Player Malfunction

Dragon Drop said:

Something's gone wrong with my "Media Player" app. Whenever I try to play any "mp4" file, it says the file can't be opened because it uses "unsupported encoding settings". And it shows the error code "0x80070057". The files still work with other apps such as "Movies and TV" or "Windows Media Player Legacy", so there's nothing wrong with the files. But I want to use the "Media Player" app. I recall that the same thing happened once before, a few years ago, and I either found a way to fix it, or else the problem just went away by itself. I just now tried the app's "repair" option, and it didn't help. It also has a "reset" option, but that would delete all the files! And rebooting the computer didn't help, either. Does anybody know a fix for this?

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I have just had EXACTLY the same. And firstly using Repair, which didn't work, I used RESET, which did.

It doesn't appear to have deleted any files though (not so far as I've seen so far anyway)

Dragon Drop said:

They're videos downloaded from YouTube, using the "4K Video Downloader Plus" software, and saved in mp4 format. I tried saving one in "MKV" format and the same thing happens.

I can't find anything about encoding settings or metadata. Should that be on their "properties" tabs, or should I look somewhere else?

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It's possible that it's the downloader that's causing the problem.

I don't think so. I've been using that downloader for a few years now. But anyway, I've given up on Media Player. I'm now using the "Movies and TV" app, which works just as well. Thanks, everyone, for your concern.

Previous MP , version 1203, works very good and can handle all extensions !
If you update to latest , 1209, you will notice not playing mp4,etc...............

I have two theories:

1) The .mp4 file cannot play because it is not .mp4 and is .webm or .mkv or whatever else. MPC-HC has no problem playing the file, even if the extension is not corresponding to the format (saved with wrong extension) because it also reads the metadata, it doesn't rely solely on extension. Microsoft Media Player tries to open the file as if it was an .mp4 file and fails, without examining the meta data. Installing all codecs from K-Lite increases the compatibility and it might eventually play with Microsoft Media Player, but like I said MPC-HC is much better.

2) Alternatively, updating Microsoft Media Player did not keep the old codecs but removed them, probably due to loyalties or other reasons. Installing K-Lite codecs gives you alternative decoder to play the file.

In both cases, just install K-Lite codec pack. Probably all you need is LAV filters, but the Developers did not make an easy installer, you have to run three scripts to register, one for LAV video, one for LAV audio and one for LAV splitter. For Goodness shake! Installing K-Lite is much easier, it installs LAV filters and also a lot useful utilities like MPC-HC, Media Info and others. To make sure I am not missing anything, I always install the Mega version that is the maximum package.

Alternatively, if you only want to install an AVC codec to play the files, you can install x264vfw and for HEVC you can install x265vfw. Don't forget av1vfw to also play AV1 videos.



av1vfw download

"2) Alternatively, updating Microsoft Media Player did not keep the old codecs but removed them, probably due to loyalties or other reasons. Installing K-Lite codecs gives you alternative decoder to play the file."

Lets hope they (MS) will wake up , and fix next MP-player.............
Untill then will keep using version 1203 , together with latest MPC.........

Ghot said:

It's possible that it's the downloader that's causing the problem.

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That is a possibility, if it wasn't muxed properly!

You can use Avidemux to convert from .mp4 to .mkv or .avi without re-encoding and affecting quality. Also you can import the file in MKVtoolnix and convert to .mkv without re-encoding. Or use MP4BOX if you prefer to get an .mp4 file. If you want to convert to another format, one very good utility is Handbrake. Shame it cannot edit videos. If you want to edit the video, one free application is OpenShot Video Editor. If you prefer old school VFW (Video For Windows) editor with a lot of filters, use VirtualDub2.

I have this same problem which has just started with Media Player 11.2604.9.0

It's not an issue with the file - any mp4 or ts file containing MPEG-4 Part 10 H.264 AVC video gives the error and does not play.

Thankfully just doing a Reset fixes it. Settings > Add or Remove programs > Media Player > Advanced > Reset = no more problems.

Glad I found this thread. Thanks!

Version 2604.10 works awsome..............!!
MS finally fixed the extensions-problem