Comments on: Can’t play MP4 files on your XBox 360?

By: harry

harry — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:06:49 +0000

i have a windows 7 so those directions u gave above isn’t really helping. i love my xbox360, but this is more than a gaming system i want to enjoy entertainment on this. but it stops me from playing almost any codecs files. only avi works and sometimes avi won’t work wtf.. ps3 will play almost anything. anyways can u help me out

By: John

John — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:14:25 +0000

This actually works on Vista too!! All I had to do was change my .mp4 to .avi and it immediately started working on my 360. You do have to change the folder options to show file extensions first, but once you have that done, it’s as simple as changing the file extension!!!

Thanks a lot!!!

By: Nathan

Nathan — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 16:25:34 +0000

I to have this problem however I have not used media player on my pc I have simply right clicked on each folder or drive hit select -shareand then select share with whole network for the desired media my main problem however is my 360 plays mpeg4 movies of flash drive but will not recognize via home network I require them in this format to work on I phone will changing file name to .avi stop I phone compatibility or do I need to copy all files and then change it this is not desirable as I have a tbyte of movies in this format

By: Silentt-tart

Silentt-tart — Mon, 31 May 2010 07:08:49 +0000

I agree with the last poster, what am I doing wrong? Xbox says its not supported… wat tha! any help out there??!?!?!

By: Freak Engineer

Freak Engineer — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 17:22:52 +0000

I have Vista32 Home Edition.

I think I have tried everything now – I did every step (even if some say they aren’t needed) described in this tip. Stopped media sharing, deleted my .WMDB files, renamed my .MP4 files to .AVI, recreated the video library, restarted the network sharing.

Now my .MP4 files do show up in my XBOX360′s Video Library (earlier they did not even show up in the video list), but still, when I try to open any .MP4 files, I get

“Can’t play this content because it may not be supported.
For more info, go to http://www.xbox.com/support.
Status code: 69-80004005″

My MP4 videos do play OK in every imaginable video viewing SW on my Vista PC, though – WMP, Media Player Classic, Windows Media Center – so the right codecs must be on my PC.

What oh what am I missing?

By: ps3 fan

ps3 fan — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 23:36:18 +0000

just get a PS3 and plug n play. Way easier than XBox.

By: Ailfawka

Ailfawka — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 17:56:26 +0000

yep when i first got my xbox and set up the networking, and file sharing crap, i had this problem with none avi extension files…i figured this out on my own, but it is very traumatic for the dear old xbox 360 which farts about and pretends sometimes nothing exists lol…its worser then a woman !!!

By: Will

Will — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 01:09:21 +0000

BTW this is only on Windows.

.MP4 files play just fine from Linux using uShare or miniDLNA. Same with .mov files.

Yet some how I did have my xbox 360 seeing .mov files but not anymore.

So lame how WMP shows them in the library but xbox does not see them.

So I have to rename all .mov files to .avi too for them to play form my windows machine. But again on linux xbox will see and play just fine .mp4 and .mov.

So it seems like some stupid bug on Microsofts part in Windows itself. Happens with xp through 7.

I just cant figure out how I had .mov showing up and not anymore. Odd!

By: iCey540

iCey540 — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:52:56 +0000

Hey Alan, I tried that before and it didn’t work for me.

Usually, I don’t have to go through my 3 steps unless I add in a video file that I want recognized immediately. If I can wait an hour or so then the file usually shows up on its own.

By: Alan

Alan — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:29:19 +0000

That was a lot of steps that you dont need. All you have to do is move your MPEG4 files out of your stored folder, rename the extension to .avi, then move them back into the folder again. Done

By: Todd

Todd — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 08:45:57 +0000

Thank you so much for this tip I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out why my Xbox (which plays mp4′s) wouldn’t play them remotely. You have my utmost gratitude my friend.

By: iCey540

iCey540 — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:31:06 +0000

I play new AVI or MP4 videos for my kids all the time under Windows 7. This is what I do for the Xbox 360 to recognize the new files from my PC.

1. On my Windows 7 PC, I add the avi or mp4 files to a folder in my Video libary. Open Explorer, then on the left hand side, select Videos. It will show your Video Library. Select a folder and add your files to it.

2. This is the key. I START my Windows Media Player on my pc. Then select Videos on the left-hand side. WMP will then update your Video Library. It will take a few minutes depending on the speed of your PC. I have a slow PC so it takes about 5 minutes for my files to be updated to the WMP database.

3. I then go over to my XBOX 360 (no reboot necessary) and go to the Video Library section. I select my PC that has the WMP network sharing running and my videos then select the folder where my files should be located. It works for me every time!!

By: PAT

PAT — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 07:42:33 +0000

i did all that but somehow i cant get the mp4 file to show up in window media player folder to even change from mp4 to avi?

By: Sai

Sai — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:58:27 +0000

I am still having trouble playing MP4 files on my XBox! What am I doing wrong?

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:02:32 +0000

Good job. Thought I was stuck there. MP4 files are playing fine now. Stupid XBox 360!

Steve