Win 10 April 2018 Update & MKV with tags

[dolynick]

Hello all,

I realise that I may be on my own here, but I thought I'd ask anyways.  This is not a problem with Shark007 itself, but rather an issue with the latest WMP itself that I'm trying to find a solution to.

The problem:
Prior to the April 2018 Update, Windows 10 WMP 12 would (once you added the extension to library support) properly split a modern mkv container and successfully read at least basic tags embedded within the container for genre and title.  (I say "modern" because I've seen many older MKVs that do not work but running them through a more recent version of muxing utilities gets them working fine).  After the April 2018 Update, basic MKVs will split and show length and read the base name property but anything that contains a metadata file for tag title, genre, etc will fail to even add to the library at all.  If tags were just broken but the files at least showed up it would be annoying but still functional.  This is much worse though as now anything that has been tagged is essentially unreadable to the library.

Does anyone have any ideas on how that might be fixed?  I realise that there are likely very few who take the time to actually embed a metadata file in their MKVs for library purposes but I'm at a bit of a loss so far.  I can rename files to .avi (and they will at least display in the most basic fashion) but that's a poor solution and I'd prefer not to rename a bunch of files for such a poor reason.

Any help or insight would be appreciated.  This is the only forum I know of that deals with issues revolving around media files, info retrieval and display.  If you can think of another place to bring this up even, feel free to suggest it.

[dolynick]

An update to this...

So I re-ran the registry changes to display MKVs in WMP's library but only made partial progress.  They show up now, but under the Music section if they have metadata in them.  The MKVs without any metadata in them do go into videos as they should (but of course with no genre data, etc). There's also another catch though... They do not automatically scan into the library on a library rebuild. If I manually drag and drop to add the metadata containing MKVs then go into the erroneous music area.

What is even weirder is that MP4 is also affected but doesn't have as clear a pattern.  I have some older MP4s with metadata that go into videos as they should.  I can even update that metadata using current tools and it continues to work.  But then I also have some more recent MP4 files that go into Other Media instead of videos.  The older one is AVC, the newer one is HEVC and both use AAC.

So at least they're not going completely unregistered... but it's a real hodgepodge of locations now.

[Shark007]

I cannot account for your issues at all.
As far as I can see. they are completely self inflicted.

Checking my WMP Library and all is well, but then, I do not use any external registry files and such nonsense.

If cleanly installing Windows is an option for you, I suggest only installing my Standard Codec release, and nothing else.
There are no issues here as you describe.

[dolynick]

I cannot account for your issues at all.
As far as I can see. they are completely self inflicted.

Checking my WMP Library and all is well, but then, I do not use any external registry files and such nonsense.

If cleanly installing Windows is an option for you, I suggest only installing my Standard Codec release, and nothing else.
There are no issues here as you describe.

This is happening on three different PCs that I have checked so far that have been updated with the April 2018 Update.  They all exhibit the exact same issues.  This is not a problem with Shark007 either, as I have said.  Playback and behavior of the files is stellar with the default settings of the latest Shark007 (best it has ever been in my experience.  Nice job).  One of them doesn't have any codecs installed at all and still shows the same behavior in the library.  Secondly, they all displayed MKV in the WMP perfectly before the April update.  Lastly they all display MKV without global tags built-in in the proper library sections, so this is obviously metadata related and not all files of the type.

[Shark007]

I have a variety of MKV test files, 75 in all. Admittedly, nothing recent though.
I have no issues with this entire collection.

Please upload a sample for me test with somewhere (sendspace.com). and PM the download link to me.
(files received - with thanks!)

[Shark007]

I added the tagged video into my folder with 75 other files.
I opened WMP and the video mark as 'tagged' was in my Video Library.

Upon receiving the untagged video, I also added it in with my other 75 mkv files collection.
When I open WMP, I see both files in the video library and neither in my music library.

Attached is the result of running winver on my test system

[dolynick]

I added the tagged video into my folder with 75 other files.
I opened WMP and the video mark as 'tagged' was in my Video Library.

Upon receiving the untagged video, I also added it in with my other 75 mkv files collection.
When I open WMP, I see both files in the video library and neither in my music library.

Attached is the result of running winver on my test system

Did the tags display correctly for the "tagged" copy of the sample?

Also, do you have Icaros enabled on your test system?  I'm assuming you do and are using the "suggested settings" for Shark007 on it.

I'm confused now because I decided to go back and enable Icaros on my one HTPC and reboot (I generally disable it as I don't need extended info in explorer or thumbnails).  That didn't seem to change anything.  So I then went in and adjusted a few codec settings, one of which was re-enabling mkv > Media Foundation for MKV.  I have to disable this on my HTPC in order to get the LAV processes to activate (IE display icons in the systray) and VoBSub to activate for subtitle.  Then the tagged MKVs started going to video unknown genre when I dragged them in to test.  They're failing to read the metadata (this has happened before) but they are at least recognized as video files now.  I was unable to get playback to work correctly without disabling Media Foundation for MKV, so I ended up back at the same configuration as I started with.  I also went back and disabled Icaros again. Strangely, tagged MKVs continue to go into the video > unknown section still.

No changes in MP4 files, but so far that's only been with one set of MP4 files, where others do work properly.

[Shark007]

I'm not sure where I'd see these tags.  Within the Library? can you give me a screenshot?

[dolynick]

I'm not sure where I'd see these tags.  Within the Library? can you give me a screenshot?

Yes, within the library.  Genre is a default column in details view.  You wouldn't see it if you are in a tile or icon view. The tagged sample should be genre "720p" & "High Definition" if the metadata is been read and used properly.

Also, if you go a PC that does not have Shard007 installed and drag the tagged sample into the library, it will show up under musing in "720p" and "High Definition" genres. Something has changed in the base way Win 10/WMP handles things, which is probably the root cause of all the issues.

[Shark007]

OK, I had issues but do have some results to share.

At one point, I had difficulty even adding the tagged video to the Library.
The untagged video added always without issue.

I decided to rename it to avi
Once added with the avi extension, the filename changed from  'SampleVideo_Tagged' to 'SampleVideo (720p)'
Then I changed it back to MKV and it added to the Library with the same filename change occuring.
This filename change is only in the Library, not the actual filename itself.

I don't know if any of this information is helpful to you but it is what I have so far.