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Topic: Problem playing m4a files (Read 4228 times) previous topic - next topic
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Problem playing m4a files

I am running foobar2000 v1.4.1 on Windows 8 and cannot play m4a files with the program.
I get the following error:

  Unable to open item for playback (Unsupported format or corrupted file (invalid or incomplete data)):

I know that the file itself is fine as I can play it in another media player.  Do I need to install some component
in order to play m4a files?

Re: Problem playing m4a files

Reply #1 –
Make a clean foobar installation on different computer / virtual machine (or install as portable to different folder) and try to play the file on it. If the playback starts, selectively add extensions from your existing location. If not, upload the .M4A file somewhere.

Re: Problem playing m4a files

Reply #2 –
You could try and analyze the file with MediaInfo

Maybe it is indeed corrupted or maybe not even an m4a at all.

Re: Problem playing m4a files

Reply #3 –
Your issue may apply to reported problem with .m4a files playback: https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,117058.0.html
Had also problem playing flac files using foo_input_dts, the problem vanished after removing the component. Try to do it and wait till full resolution.

At the same time upgrade foobar to 1.4.2 beta 2 which claims to address the mp4 payback problem

http://www.foobar2000.org/changelog

Re: Problem playing m4a files

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Anakunda on
Make a clean foobar installation on different computer / virtual machine (or install as portable to different folder) and try to play the file on it. If the playback starts, selectively add extensions from your existing location. If not, upload the .M4A file somewhere.

Thank you for the suggestions.  I already tried a clean foobar installation and came up with the same problem even when I chose to delete my settings in User/AppData/Roaming/foobar2000 (I think that was the path of the folder.  I'm typing it from memory).  My computer came preinstalled with Windows 8 which I updated to Windows 8.1.  I don't have original installation CDs, so not sure how to set up a virtual machine as you suggest.

I also tried doing a clean installation of 1.4.2 beta 2 which also did not solve the problem.

Re: Problem playing m4a files

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Maggi on
You could try and analyze the file with MediaInfo

Maybe it is indeed corrupted or maybe not even an m4a at all.

Thank you for suggesting I check out MediaInfo.  Very useful program.  It ended up solving some similar "unsupported format" errors I was seeing with foobar2000 on Windows 10.  It gave me that error when I tried playing .opus and .ogg files.  Then I checked them in MediaInfo which cleared up the mystery.

It showed FileExtension_Invalid: webm but also confirmed that the audio stream was Vorbis.  So, I changed the file extension from .ogg to .webm, and then foobar2000 played it just fine.  I did the same thing replacing .opus on a file that foobar2000 wouldn't play with .webm, and then it played just fine.

I will see when I get back home tonight if a similar renaming might fix my .m4a file not playing correctly on Win8 problem.  I have a feeling it won't be that easy though because the exact same .m4a file that doesn't play in Win8 plays fine in Win10.