MKVToolNix v7.9.0 released

Hey,

I’ve released MKVToolNix v7.9.0.

First of all a note to all Windows users: I’ve renamed the downloads slightly. They’re now named e.g. mkvtoolnix-32bit-7.9.0-setup.exe etc. The difference is that 64bit builds use …-64bit-… instead of …-amd64-… and that the 32bit builds include their architecture (-32bit-) in their name for the first time. This was done in order to reduce the confusion sown by the term »amd64« which denotes the processor architecture but not the manufacturer. Many people weren’t aware of that differentiation.

As for the changes in this release: A couple of important bugs have been fixed, e.g. a very old bug in handling MPEG-1/2 video preventing the detection of such tracks; if --sync was used at the same time as --default-duration then --sync was ignored; mkvinfo’s exit codes were wrong (this may trip up frontends using mkvinfo!); handling of E-AC3 in MPEG transport stream in certain situations etc. See below for all the details.

Since the previous release a serious amount of work has gone into the new GUI, MKVToolNix GUI. It has reached a state in which I consider it fit for wider use. I’ve therefore removed the preview warning and included it in all the packages that I provide (both Windows and Linux).

If everything goes according to plan then the next release, 8.0.0, will see the old GUI (mmg, mkvmerge GUI) be marked as being deprecated – meaning there will be a popup message warning you about this fact when you start mmg. Two releases later, with 8.2.0, the old GUI will finally be removed among with all support for the wxWidgets toolkit.

Of course all of this depends on the number and seriousness of bugs found in the new GUI ;) Therefore these plans are not set in stone.

Changes for package maintainers: configure will now detect the presence of the Qt libraries version 5.2.0 or later by default and use them if they’re found. This means that at the moment both GUIs (mmg and MKVToolNix GUI) will be built unless you tell configure otherwise. There are several switches that deal with the various toolkits:

  1. --disable-gui – don’t build any GUI support, neither wxWidgets nor Qt based (same as for the previous releases)
  2. --disable-wxwidgets – don’t build wxWidgets-based GUIs (mkvinfo’s wxWidgets frontend, mmg)
  3. --disable-qt – don’t build Qt-based GUIs (mkvinfo’s Qt frontend, MKVToolNix GUI)
  4. --without-mkvtoolnix-gui – build mkvinfo’s Qt-based frontend but not MKVToolNix GUI

The two different frontends for mkvinfo are mutually exclusive with the Qt-based version taking precedence over the wxWidgets-based version.

You can download the source code or one of the binaries.

Here’s the full ChangeLog since the previous release:

  • 2015-05-10 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • Released v7.9.0.
    • build system: configure will now check for Qt by default. If at least v5.2.0 is found then the Qt versions of mkvinfo’s GUI and the new mkvtoolnix-gui will be enabled. You can affect this detection with the options --disable-gui (turns off all GUIs; works the same as before), --disable-qt (will compile the wxWidgets GUI for mkvinfo and mmg) and --without-mkvtoolnix-gui (will compile the Qt version of mkvinfo’s GUI but no mkvtoolnix-gui).
  • 2015-05-07 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • mkvinfo: bug fix: mkvinfo would exit with the wrong return code (0 instead of 2) if a non-existing file name had been given. Fixes #1182.
  • 2015-05-05 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • mkvmerge: Two more characters are now escaped in the container and track properties output in verbose identification mode: [ is replaced with \b and ] with \B. This is needed for reliable parsing by other programs, e.g. GUIs.
  • 2015-05-04 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • MKVToolNix GUI: new feature: added context menu entries for tracks: »select all«, »enable all« and »disable all«.
  • 2015-05-02 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • MKVToolNix GUI: new feature: implemented aborting the currently running job.
  • 2015-04-28 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • all: fix compilation on Mac OS in common/command_line.cpp due to boost::range::filtered requiring a copyable functor. Fixes #1175.
    • all: fix compilation on Mac OS in common/version.cpp due to wrong usage of std::stringstream and ostream operators. Fixes #1176.
  • 2015-04-27 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • MKVToolNix GUI: new feature: implemented the »additional command line options« dialog.
  • 2015-04-25 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • MKVToolNix GUI: new feature in the chapter editor: added features »set the language/country of the selected chapter and its sub-chapters«.
  • 2015-04-24 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • all: bug fix: fixed compilation with Boost 1.58.0. Fixes #1172.
    • mkvmerge: bug fix: Fixed a segmentation fault during cleanup after Ctrl+C was pressed. Fixes #1173.
  • 2015-04-23 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • MKVToolNix GUI: new feature in the chapter editor: added features »clamping time stamps of sub-chapters to their parent’s time stamps«, »expanding time stamps of chapters to encompass their sub-chapters’ time stamps« and »shifting start and end time stamps by an offset«.
  • 2015-04-22 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • all: permanently removed the build times tamp from the version information and the corresponding configure option.
  • 2015-04-18 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • MKVToolNix GUI: new feature: the main window’s size, position and state (maximized/minimized) is saved on exit and restored on startup.
    • MKVToolNix GUI: new feature: the GUI is now fully translatable. The German translation has been completed for the GUI, too.
  • 2015-04-17 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • mkvmerge: bug fix: fixed --sync not doing anything if --default-duration is used for the same track, too.
  • 2015-04-16 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • mkvmerge: bug fix: fixed aborting file identification with an error message about »aac_error_protection_specific_config« that happened for some files. Fixes #1166.
  • 2015-04-15 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • MKVToolNix GUI: new feature: implemented changing the interface language.
  • 2015-04-13 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • MKVToolNix GUI: enhancement: implemented often used subtitle character sets.
    • MKVToolNix GUI: enhancement: implemented setting a user configurable subtitle character set by default.
    • MKVToolNix GUI: enhancement: implemented the automatic removal of jobs configurable by the user.
    • mkvmerge: bug fix: fixed specifying track properties like language or name for AC3 cores embedded in TrueHD tracks when they’re read from raw thd+ac3 files. Fixes #1158.
    • mkvmerge: enhancement for MPEG program stream handling: mkvmerge will only look for additional files automatically if the source file begins with »VTS_…« and just if it ends in a number. E.g. when reading »video_1.mpg« another file called »video_2.mpg« will no longer be read automatically. Implements #1164.
  • 2015-04-12 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • MKVToolNix GUI: enhancement: display country names in addition to country codes.
    • MKVToolNix GUI: enhancement: implemented often used languages and country codes.
    • MKVToolNix GUI: chapter editor enhancement: implemented defaults for the language and country settings for newly created chapter names.
    • MKVToolNix GUI: merge tool enhancement: added controls for mkvmerge’s »reduce audio to its core« and »force NALU size length« features.
    • MKVToolNix GUI: new feature: implemented the »Preferences« dialog (not all of the functionality the options refer to has been implemented yet, though).
  • 2015-04-11 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • mkvmerge: bug fix: MPEG-1/2 parser: fixed a long-standing issue that prevented mkvmerge from recognizing certain MPEG-1/2 video tracks and files if the frame’s sequence numbers didn’t follow a certain expected pattern. Fixes #1162 and probably others like #1145 or #1099.
    • MKVToolNix GUI: merge tool enhancement: Implemented adding and append files and adding files as additional parts via drag & drop from external applications.
    • MKVToolNix GUI: merge tool bug fix: fixed the column headers on the »attachments« tab.
  • 2015-04-10 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • MKVToolNix GUI: chapter editor enhancement: implemented opening files via drag & drop from external applications.
    • MKVToolNix GUI: enhancement: The portable Windows version will store its settings in a file in the same folder instead of the registry.
    • MKVToolNix GUI: enhancement: Qt’s »Windows Vista« style is now used on Windows instead of the old, Windows 98-like »Windows« style.
    • MKVToolNix GUI: merge tool enhancement: The merge tool has been re-written to be tabbed like the header and chapter editors allowing for multiple merge job settings to be open at the same time.
  • 2015-04-08 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • MKVToolNix GUI: chapter editor enhancement: implemented re-ordering chapters and editions with drag & drop.
  • 2015-04-06 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • MKVToolNix GUI: new feature: implemented the chapter editor.
  • 2015-04-04 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • MKVToolNix GUI: merge tool enhancement: implemented adding attachments via drag & drop from external applications.
    • MKVToolNix GUI: new feature: implemented the header editor.
  • 2015-04-03 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • mkvmerge: enhancement: Implemented proper type output during identification for DTS-ES (extended surround) tracks. Implements #1157.
  • 2015-03-31 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • MKVToolNix GUI: new feature: implemented the online update check.
  • 2015-03-29 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • mkvmerge: bug fix: The calculation of the width and height of h.265/HEVC video tracks did not take the conformance window (cropping) into account. Fixes #1152.
    • mkvmerge: bug fix: Fixed the value of the DocTypeVersion header field if any of the Matroska elements CodecDelay, DiscardPadding or SeekPreRoll is used. This is the case for Opus tracks.
    • mkvmerge: bug fix: Fixed the handling of E-AC3 tracks in M2TS files if the AC3 core and the extension are stored in separate packets.
    • mkvmerge: new feature: Implemented support for the DTS-HD container format.
  • 2015-03-28 Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
    • mkvmerge: new feature: Implemented support for core-less DTS streams consisting solely of XLL extension sub-streams.
    • mkvmerge: new feature: track selection can be done by language codes as well. Affects the options --audio-tracks, --button-tracks, --subtitle-tracks and --video-tracks. Works only for containers that actually provide a language tag. Implements #1108.
    • source code: bug fix: Accidental uses of the »long double« type have been converted to normal »double«s. This fixes compilation on platforms which don’t support the »long double« type in combination with Boost::Math. Fixes #1150.

Have fun.

21 thoughts on “MKVToolNix v7.9.0 released”

    1. mosu Post author

      Windows versions prior to Windows Vista are not supported anymore.

      1. Kevin Skinner

        Then don’t tell me there is a new version online when it won’t work. Help>Check for updates

        Confusing…..there is an update but it won’t work. DUH

  2. tophf

    The new GUI is very nice, but UX-wise I see a regression: it’s easier now to forget to set the output file and mux in the wrong place. It’d be nice to have this control always visible on the bottom or the top.

    Oh, and when there are no jobs and a file is dropped onto the GUI it’d be useful to create a new one automatically with this file.

    1. mosu Post author

      I’m not sure about the output issue. The tab’s title is already set from the output file name, and I don’t want to break up the clean separation between the three tabs input, output and attachments. I’ll await more feedback on this before adjusting it.

      The other point you’ve mentioned is on my TODO list.

      Thanks for the feedback.

  3. Daniel

    Hi Moritz

    Thank you for the new release

    Btw, do you know if mkv is still developed?

    If is not for the lack of ideas, I have some and probably others too
    We can gather and make a list with most important features

    Thanks

    1. mosu Post author

      Matroska is still being developed, albeit slowly. Currently there is an effort ongoing turning the EBML and Matroska specifications into IETF standards.

      Apart from that new features are introduced from time to time. What we’re really lacking, though, is people willing to work on implementations, both on muxers (e.g. ffmpeg, gstreamer, MKVToolNix) as well as on demuxers (ffmpeg, VLC…). Ideas are nice, sure, but not worth a lot if there’s no one implementing them.

  4. Brilliant

    Hi, I’m trying to install 7.9.0 on my Fedora21 box. I’ve followed the directions found in Fedora21 chapter in ‘Downloads’ page, but am receiving this message: Package mkvtoolnix-7.9.0-1.x86_64.rpm is not signed. Currently have 7.8.0 running, AFAIR its install went smoothly. Am I missing something? TIA

    1. mosu Post author

      I’ve had problems with my automatic build process regarding the signing of the packages. Maybe the packages for Fedora 21 are affected, too. As I’m out of town for a couple of days I won’t be able to look into it before early next week, though.

      1. mosu Post author

        I’ve re-checked and the packages of v7.9.0 for Fedora 21 are all signed properly. Not sure what the issue is.

        1. Brilliant

          Well, it seems like you have not simply re-checked, you definitely DID something because I am now an happy ‘Birds’ user on Fedora21, no more ‘not signed’ message. Thank you for what you did, whatever it was. :)

          1. mosu Post author

            Well, the packages were indeed unsigned at one point due to the aforementioned problems with the automatic build process, but I had that fixed already by the time your first comment was posted. Since then I haven’t touched the packages for 7.9.0 anymore. That’s why I said »I haven’t done anything«.

            It’s quite possible that you’ve downloaded the package when it was still unsigned, of course.

  5. jay

    I have been using mkv merge for ages, i just updated to latest version and have to say this new gui that i have read about above which is giong to replace the older design is very unworkable put beside the old 1 have used and have been using to for such a long time

    the design of mkvmerge is simple clean and fast the new gui is plain and simple not auywhere close to that is seems clunky and hard to work and seem more time consuming

    i dont like how there no option in it to disable tags i dont want added like –disable-track-statistics-tags which really needed to be disabled as a defualt atliest you can disable them the new gui has no such option that i can find.

    ”8.2.0, the old GUI will finally be removed among with all support for the wxWidgets toolkit.”

    iam sorry to say when released,i will not updating to it as just cannot get used to the new gui, iam mmg guy and so used to easy and simple design i dont think i get used to new design of this updated design, if you could keep the old mmg and give use users a choice atleast on what we use i will allways keep my version updated but if this is new design is forced iam done will stick to last version leting the user use simple and fast old mmg design that we all have know for so long and love : )

    may i ask how does 1 disable the install of the new designed gui as i now have 2 icons added to my desktop, i woulod like to only install older gui.

    1. mosu Post author

      There is an option to disable the statistics tags. Go to the “output” tab, click on the button next to the “custom options” input box. In the dialog shown you can select the option for disabling the statistics – and you can even set that to be the default for new muxing jobs.

      There is no option for disabling the installation of the new GUI.

      The old GUI will definitely go away. Sorry.

  6. full_hd fan

    Hi, it’s me again !
    The version 7.9.0. recognizes the MPEG2 tracks in my .ts
    recordings. I could remux the files successfully.

    Many thanks!

  7. desi indian

    hey i got error while appending two hevc streams, it says Error code 2 and error field message is: match.
    can you please help out?

    1. mosu Post author

      This pretty much means that those tracks cannot be appended without re-encoding them to have their codec parameters match. I cannot help you with that, though.

    1. Tom

      Let me be more clear. h.265 output. The documentation I only read output using h.264.

      1. mosu Post author

        h.265 is supported, but I don’t know what you mean by »h.265 output«. mkvmerge is not a video encoder. It cannot re-encode video from one codec to another. That’s not its purpose.

        If you want to convert video from e.g. XviD, VC-1 or h.264 to h.265 then this is not the right tool for you.

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