Need some help please.

I have a Samsung lcd tv with 3 HDMI inputs but no USB inputs. I have some movies on an external Western Digital hard drive that are in mkv format.

When I hook up my hard drive to my external media player using usb cable movies will not work despite instruction booklet for media player that says it will play mkv files. Media player uses hdmi cables direct to television.

I can hook up hard drive to laptop via usb and movies play fine through VLC media player but if possible I would like to watch movies on the television as it is a bigger screen.

Can anyone please give me some advice on this?

I have the same problem with my media player sometimes it will not even play some AVI. There must be some slight differences with the various files that stops them playing in the Media player, they play just fine on the Computer.

One solution (sort of) is to convert them to AVI, or whatever your player is happy with.

I even run the AVI that that won't play through the converter to convert them to AVI (AVI to AVI) and that usually lets them play.

There are many free converters out there. I use The free Format Factory Just be carefull not to click on the ASK toolbar freebie while installing

I would update the firmware on the external media player that you are using first , if you have not already done that .

Also some of the new bluray players support MKV , you can put the mkv file on a dvd and play it in the bluray player , or you can plug your external hard drive into the bluray thru the usb and play them that way .

This might be an option if you cannot get the external media player that you are using now to support the mkv .

If you do decide to go the bluray player route make sure that you get one that has mkv support , bring the external hard drive that you own to the dealer loaded with some mkv's and make sure that will play . I know that the newer samsung's will play mkvs as well as some newer lg bluray players as well .

Good luck

You don't mention what your "external media player" is?

The new popular ones (WD TV Live, Playon!HD & Xtreamer) all plays mkv files no problems.

You don't mention what your "external media player" is?

The new popular ones (WD TV Live, Playon!HD & Xtreamer) all plays mkv files no problems.

Thanks everyone for your help. Media player is a no name brand from China but works very very well(except for mkv files) lol.

Will take your suggestions on board and let you know what happens.

Thanks again.

If u have a PS3 try 'PS3 Media Sever' to stream from your PC to the PS3 n then onto the TV... It works very well

I had a generic player I picked up in Hong Kong that played avi. I then learned that not all avi files are created equal. Luckily it came with a win program to convert it to the kind of avi it liked. I never really put any work in to understanding the fine details, but I eventually picked up things like xvid, aimersoft converter, and AVS editor.