Windows 8 app - MediaElement not playing “.wmv” files

Question

I have an issue with MediaElement in my Win8 app - when I try to play some \".wmv\" files from local library it very often (not always) throws MediaFailed

Answer 1

The problem is likely that you are closing the stream prior to playing it. Therefore this code:

if (file != null)
{
    using (IRandomAccessStream ras = await file.OpenAsync(FileAccessMode.Read))
    {
        me.SetSource(ras, file.ContentType);
    }
    // The stream is now closed! How can it be played!?
}

should be changed to not have the using block:

if (file != null)
{
    IRandomAccessStream ras = await file.OpenAsync(FileAccessMode.Read);
    me.SetSource(ras, file.ContentType);
}

I did try the second block of code above on some channel 9 videos (both mid and high quality wmv files) and my app played them successfully.