Ps4 media player keeps saying cannot play media

Darrenj69

I have a NAS with loads of movies on it. They are mainly avi or mp4 (some are mkv and j know it won't play them)

My PS4 certainly played things fine before but now almost every file fails and says "cannot play media" .  Bizarrely some play and I haven't checked which format they are.   But certainly most don't play

We have a ps3 upstairs which successfully plays  the files the ps4 won't.....

As such I don't think it's the files themselves.  What could the cause on PS4 and how do i fix?

Darrenj69

Bump

Aid931

Try playing via a media server such as Serviio or that other one cannot remember, google ps3/ps4 media server. Some or all will 'transcode on the fly'. By the way I have a load of .mkv files and they all play fine.

flyinmunky1

I switch between Plex App and media player. Normally one will play my file.

Aid931

I think Plex is supposed to transcode files as you play them, don't use Plex though as I dislike it.
You could try program: Universal Media Server or Download
Is your computer 'powerful'?
Might seem pointless, but have you tried deleting the media player app, or temporarily removing the Ps4 from your server?

DarkEntity

MKV isn't a video file type its a container, MKV can hold any number or variations of audio, video and subtitle files, it will be the content within the MKV will be the issue.  If the files play without issue on your PC then it'll be the format.  PS4 and Xbox for that matter can only play a limited number of video and audio formats.  If your MKV has something that's not compatible this will be the issue.

As mentioned, if you want to play these you will need to find something to transcode on the fly to a format that's compatible, or convert them to a container with audio and video formats that the PS4 can recognise.