Weird problem I've never encountered and can't explain

[Redphin]

I've got a strange problem and wanted to see if anyone else has encountered anything similar. I have several .mkv files that when played from another computer over my home network or even from an external HD connected by USB to my laptop play just fine. If I copy those same files over to the internal HD on my laptop and play them the opening theme song gets skipped completely and the episodes go from the prolugue to the episode. I'm using VLC version 2.2.4. They are part of two different series that I downloaded through torrents through two different torrent sites (one from the Coalgirls site and the other from nyaa.se). I've re-installed Windows (I'm running Windows 7 64-bit) and the same issue is there even after a fresh install. The same issue also shows up on my other Win 64-bit laptop. I've worked in the IT field most of my life and know computers. I've built and repaired computers and laptops and set up networks but for the life of me can't explain this. When I extracted the chapter information and looked at the resulting .xml file I did notice some strange timing and don't know if it's related to the problem or not. I can post the entire file if someone wants to see it but here's the gist of it:

 

      <ChapterTimeStart>00:00:00.000000000</ChapterTimeStart>
      <ChapterTimeEnd>00:00:22.022000000</ChapterTimeEnd>
      <ChapterDisplay>
        <ChapterString>Prologue</ChapterString>

 

      <ChapterTimeStart>00:00:00.000000000</ChapterTimeStart>
      <ChapterTimeEnd>00:01:30.048291666</ChapterTimeEnd>
      <ChapterUID>2980304426349699223</ChapterUID>
      <ChapterDisplay>
        <ChapterString>Opening</ChapterString>

 

      <ChapterTimeStart>00:00:22.022000000</ChapterTimeStart>
      <ChapterTimeEnd>00:10:01.017083333</ChapterTimeEnd>
      <ChapterDisplay>
        <ChapterString>Part A</ChapterString>

 

      <ChapterTimeStart>00:10:01.017083333</ChapterTimeStart>
      <ChapterTimeEnd>00:20:24.973750000</ChapterTimeEnd>
      <ChapterDisplay>
        <ChapterString>Part B</ChapterString>

 

      <ChapterTimeStart>00:00:00.000000000</ChapterTimeStart>
      <ChapterTimeEnd>00:01:30.006583333</ChapterTimeEnd>
      <ChapterUID>17668440840157651845</ChapterUID>
      <ChapterDisplay>
        <ChapterString>Ending</ChapterString>

 

      <ChapterTimeStart>00:20:24.973750000</ChapterTimeStart>
      <ChapterTimeEnd>00:20:39.988750000</ChapterTimeEnd>
      <ChapterDisplay>
        <ChapterString>Preview</ChapterString>

 

Does that timing seem strange or is it just me? Shouldn't the starting time of the one chapter be the same as the ending time of the previous chapter? Is the chapter timing causing the problem or is  the timing normal and have nothing to do with it?

[Koby]

They are "Ordered Chapter" encodes. Which means the OP & ED are in separate files and in order to be played as part of the episode, they must be copied to the same folder. So when you move them to your laptop, be sure to take the OP & ED with you.

[Redphin]

Worked like a charm. Thanks a whole bunch. I just started getting into anime about 2 years ago. I might know computer hardware and software but video and audio encoding, subtitling, segment IDs, .xml files and all the other stuff that goes with them are things I knew nothing about. It makes complete sense now but when the problem (or what I thought was a problem) was present on multiple laptops and after a fresh install and the files were from different sources I was at a loss to explain it. Thanks again for the help.

[Redphin]

I tried to send this in a message to you but it wouldn't let me send it (I can understand why). I wanted to say thanks again for the info I've gotten from you lately. The issue I was having with those .mkv files that had the "ordered chapters" is something I never would have figured out myself. I did notice the segment ID numbers in the .xml file I extracted but if I did manage to figure it out on my own it would have been quite a while since I'm just starting to learn about encoding, subtitling, and all that. Also thanks for the response to my forum post about nyaa. I've been around long enough to know that NOTHING you read on the internet is factual and it's all speculation unless it's straight from the source, i.e. nyaa's site owner, but thanks for the quick response anyway. Fortunately, I've got enough anime downloaded already to keep me busy for a while but considering I might sit down with the intention of watching 2-3 episodes and wind up watching about 8 I'm going to have to budget myself now .