<p>Legacy media players like Windows Media Player may be finicky about the files they will accept. In this case, it looks like the audio channel count of 6 is too high.</p>
<p>Add the CLI option <code>-ac 2</code> and check.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-21T05:54:04.517Z
To be clear, the "Movies & TV" app, which was added in Windows 10, also was not able to play the video with 6 audio channels. Either way, thanks a lot for the help :)
Bob Smith
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-19T13:04:27.903Z
2022-10-19T13:04:27.903Z
Gyan
<p>I am using <a href="https://kkroening.github.io/ffmpeg-python/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ffmpeg-python</a> to convert an hevc mkv file to an h264 mp4. This is the relevant code:</p>
<pre><code>ffmpeg.input(video_file).output(out_name, vcodec='libx264', **{'pix_fmt': 'yuv420p'}).run()
</code></pre>
<p>Yet after converting the file, the resulting mp4 will only play in certain media players. Here is the result of running ffprobe on the mp4:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/FHJt1.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/FHJt1.png" alt="ffprobe output" /></a></p>
<p>I know this should be possible, so does anyone have an idea of why it isn't playing in older/more standard media players?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-18T11:57:03.260Z
Possibly, the 6 channels in the audio. Add the CLI option `-ac 2` and check.
Gyan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-19T10:12:58.990Z
@Gyan Wow, this worked! I never would have even thought to try this! If you want to give this as an answer then I'll accept it. Thank you so much!
Bob Smith
<ffmpeg><mp4><conversion><h.264><windows>
ffmpeg-converted video file won't play in Windows Media Player or Movies & TV
Bob Smith
# ffmpeg-converted video file won't play in Windows Media Player or Movies & TV

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-10-18)

I am using ffmpeg-python to convert an hevc mkv file to an h264 mp4. This is the relevant code:
ffmpeg.input(video_file).output(out_name, vcodec='libx264', **{'pix_fmt': 'yuv420p'}).run()

Yet after converting the file, the resulting mp4 will only play in certain media players. Here is the result of running ffprobe on the mp4:

I know this should be possible, so does anyone have an idea of why it isn't playing in older/more standard media players?

**Tags:** ffmpeg, mp4, conversion, h.264, windows

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Possibly, the 6 channels in the audio. Add the CLI option `-ac 2` and check.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Wow, this worked! I never would have even thought to try this! If you want to give this as an answer then I'll accept it. Thank you so much!  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-10-19. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Legacy media players like Windows Media Player may be finicky about the files they will accept. In this case, it looks like the audio channel count of 6 is too high.

Add the CLI option `-ac 2` and check.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: To be clear, the "Movies & TV" app, which was added in Windows 10, also was not able to play the video with 6 audio channels. Either way, thanks a lot for the help :)  

---

