That screen that you saw is the low-level firmware update (as I said you can get there by pluging in the unit with the button pressed).
You need to plug in the USB stick after you see that screen (if it was in, just unplug it and plug it back again).

That screen comes up now whether I hold the power button down or not when I plug it in. Also, I have tried putting the USB stick in after that screen appears. What I haven't tried is waiting 10+ minutes for something to happen. Right now, when I plug the USB stick in, nothing happens (no progress bar, no "Please Wait", nothing). When I get home tonight I will try the steps you outlined earlier exactly.

When you plug in the USB stick from that screen, does anything happen? or does it take 10+ minutes before you see anything at all?

The stick start to flash it's own LED light (means it is accessed) after I plug it in and I did see a screen with a big progress bar.
BUT - I am connected to TV via component cables - I don't know what happens if you are connected via HDMI - maybe HDMI is not active till the end, don't know, I didn't try.

I have the latest FW but can't figure out where to enable file sharing on the CT.
What version do you have? The one that have NAS ends with C292. The File sharing it is under networking tab. To access the CT you need to type in explorer (attention not IE) the network address like this: \\192.168.xxx.xxx - replace the numbers with your CT IP address. Do not ommit the back slashes.

I cannot connect my WIFI to Cinematube. Yes, I have the Dongle and am trying to connect to a Netgear WGT640v3 router. In the router settings is says DHCP connected as a standard setting. All the Brite-View unit says is "DHCP Not Ready".
I am running XP Professional with Service Pack 3
Please help, I am excited about having this media player and do not wish to return it.
Mike Loftus

Which wi-fi dongle are you using ? Is it purchased from Brite View ?

Not all 3rd party USB dongles work with the unit. So far, other than the one from Brite View or Airlink101 are known to work with CinemaTube

...........
I mean, USB connection should be a very simple thing to work
...........


Just trying to be fair here - USB is a complicated standard. There could be complications depends on hardware or driver (OHCI, EHIC or even UHCI). I suggest you try putting a USB 2.0 hub in between the CT device and your hard drive. This will force the Linux kernel to use EHCI driver instead of the OHCI driver. It might fix your problem.

Hey guys,

Sorry for all this mess - our original intention was to make this new firmware with the 720p GUI a beta release before we can fix the UPnP streaming issue, and we decided to take it off our server so that it'll not automatically update the firmware any more.

However, when we took the new firmware off the server, the older version pops up, and hence the "reverse". We're NOT taking it away. In fact, our updated website with the new firmware should be live tonight (US time), and if you visit the support page afterwards, the new firmware will be available for download with a "beta" mark.

So people who like the new firmware will be able to get it soon, and people who prefer the previous version for UPnP streaming can have that too.

Sorry for all the trouble.

Best,
brite-View

http://www.brite-view.com/support.php

The beta firmware is added! We promise to do a better job in the future letting people know what's going to happen in the future. Thanks so much for your patience with us.

brite-View

Here's a question.

I've not done any updates on my unit. It's not networked, still has 500510099161. Do I need to do the earlier releases before I can do the newest beta with the 720P UI? I see that IPB1009B051 upgrades both the bootcode and the SDK to versions newer than what is in the code as shipped with my unit. Do I need that to do the newest beta, or do the most recent releases include all the earlier fixes?

That screen comes up now whether I hold the power button down or not when I plug it in. Also, I have tried putting the USB stick in after that screen appears. What I haven't tried is waiting 10+ minutes for something to happen. Right now, when I plug the USB stick in, nothing happens (no progress bar, no "Please Wait", nothing). When I get home tonight I will try the steps you outlined earlier exactly.

When you plug in the USB stick from that screen, does anything happen? or does it take 10+ minutes before you see anything at all?

What exactly is the full file names you have on the root of your usb drive?

You should have 2 files on the root of the usb drives and they are as follow:

1. install.img (initially when you download the file it defaults to saving as INSTALL.TAR, just change the file extension to install.img)

2. install.img-sig.txt

What version do you have? The one that have NAS ends with C292. The File sharing it is under networking tab. To access the CT you need to type in explorer (attention not IE) the network address like this: \\192.168.xxx.xxx - replace the numbers with your CT IP address. Do not ommit the back slashes.

Wait a min, the last version I have and even see ends in C241 (1PB1009C241) where did you get the C292?

http://www.brite-view.com/support.php

The beta firmware is added! We promise to do a better job in the future letting people know what's going to happen in the future. Thanks so much for your patience with us.

brite-View

I tried downloading and updating the new firmware. I am getting a "Can't get image version" error. The files are saved as install.img and install.img-sig. There is also an onscreen note that states "NOTE: Image Damage". Is anybody else having trouble manually downloading and updating the firmware via USB? I have downloaded the files many times and I am getting the same error. My USB stick is formatted as NTFS. Is that a problem as well? I also noticed that the website firmware version is C241 and yet people have gotten version C291 (thanks for the download).

Hi brite-view is it possible to add the option to stop playing after the movie ends in the next firmware?. I've got kids and I every movie plays after the other ones ends instead of going back to the menu.
Thanks

Just push the Stop button when the Credit rolls at the end of the Movies, I'm pretty sure people don't watch the full Credits of a movie

I am also getting the "NOTE: Image Damage" error... has someone confirmed that the firmware on the website "Version: IPB1009C241 (beta)" works?

Just push the Stop button when the Credit rolls at the end of the Movies, I'm pretty sure people don't watch the full Credits of a movie
Wow :eek: how come I never thought that!!!! ;)
I'm asking because my kid turns off the TV but no the CT player, so it keeps playing and playing..

I don't see you mention that in your last post..lol
Another alternative would be, separate each movie into different folders and it should stop when the movie ends

By the way, on the new gui firmware, CT still power ON itself, but less often than before.

I tried downloading and updating the new firmware. I am getting a "Can't get image version" error. The files are saved as install.img and install.img-sig. There is also an onscreen note that states "NOTE: Image Damage". Is anybody else having trouble manually downloading and updating the firmware via USB? I have downloaded the files many times and I am getting the same error. My USB stick is formatted as NTFS. Is that a problem as well? I also noticed that the website firmware version is C241 and yet people have gotten version C291 (thanks for the download).

Try going into Setup/System menu then select software update and select USB update. I tried it this way and it worked for me. Make sure u got the 2 files on the root.

1. install.img
2. install.img-sig.txt

I am now back to firmware IPB1009C241 which is the new GUI firmware "beta" version.

Is there a way to control Cinematube from my PC ?!!?
Or any other way beside the remote control !!?

I've forgot my remote at my beach house, far away from where I live and now I cant watch anything...

Also, I do not have any other kind of Universal Remote Control.

Tks.

Maybe it is just me but I would like it if when you are watching the preview window and decide that is the movie you want to watch that it continues instead of starting over

The file install.img-sig.txt needs to remain as a .txt file! That's the signature needed for validation of the main install.img file.

I've previously upgraded to IPB1009C241 via internet and everything was gravy with the new UI. I was very happy with the new system since all I watch are from the external HDD connected to the USB port. Last night as I turn on my TV, Receiver and CT, I accidently press "OK" on the remote which accidently kicked off a downgrade to IPB1009B051. The process started and I could not get out of until CT rebooted and I am back to the old UI.

Just this morning, I attempted to upgrade to the IPB1009C241 version via USB. Everything seems fine and CT rebooted and now all thats there is the brite-view CinemaTube 1080p HD Screen Saver. CT does not respond to the remote anymore and all I get is the Screen Saver. I've unplugged the power cord and let it sit and turned it back on but still the same result.

Brite-View - what can I do to fix this issue?

I've previously upgraded to IPB1009C241 via internet and everything was gravy with the new UI. I was very happy with the new system since all I watch are from the external HDD connected to the USB port. Last night as I turn on my TV, Receiver and CT, I accidently press "OK" on the remote which accidently kicked off a downgrade to IPB1009B051. The process started and I could not get out of until CT rebooted and I am back to the old UI.

Just this morning, I attempted to upgrade to the IPB1009C241 version via USB. Everything seems fine and CT rebooted and now all thats there is the brite-view CinemaTube 1080p HD Screen Saver. CT does not respond to the remote anymore and all I get is the Screen Saver. I've unplugged the power cord and let it sit and turned it back on but still the same result.

Brite-View - what can I do to fix this issue?

You need to download the firmware from the website and stick it on the root of a usb stick. Unplug the cinematube and plug the usb stick into the cinematube and unplug any other usb devices (this may not be necessary). Then hold the power button and plug the cinematube back in while holding the power button. You should get a recovery mode screen. This screen takes a couple of minutes then it will go to a progress screen.

Hope this helps.

I would reflash it.
Redownload the file from US site (or from .ro site) and rewrite it on the stick. Unplug the CT, press the button on the front (keep pressed) and plug it on again. Plug in the stick.

You need to download the firmware from the website and stick it on the root of a usb stick. Unplug the cinematube and plug the usb stick into the cinematube and unplug any other usb devices (this may not be necessary). Then hold the power button and plug the cinematube back in while holding the power button. You should get a recovery mode screen. This screen takes a couple of minutes then it will go to a progress screen.

Hope this helps.
Posh - That worked, now I am back to the new UI. Thank you for the quick response.

Which wi-fi dongle are you using ? Is it purchased from Brite View ?

Not all 3rd party USB dongles work with the unit. So far, other than the one from Brite View or Airlink101 are known to work with CinemaTube

Yes I purchased the Dongle from Brite-View. I am hoping to get it too work properly. At this time it still is not connecting. By default my Netgear router has DHCP SERVER on.

What exactly is the full file names you have on the root of your usb drive?

You should have 2 files on the root of the usb drives and they are as follow:

1. install.img (initially when you download the file it defaults to saving as INSTALL.TAR, just change the file extension to install.img)

2. install.img-sig.txt

Those are exactly the files I have on the root of my USB drive. I noticed it comes down as a TAR when you use IE, but it comes down as an IMG if you use Firefox (which I do). But just to be safe, I downloaded it with IE and renamed it on the save to INSTALL.IMG.

Tried several more times last night with different versions of the update and no success. Like I mentioned, the update screen shows up immediately without having to hold the power button when I plug it in. When I plug in the USB stick, nothing happens. I left it for several hours - nothing. I do notice that the light on my USB stick flickers once every 25 seconds or so, almost like it's polling the drive.

Try going into Setup/System menu then select software update and select USB update. I tried it this way and it worked for me. Make sure u got the 2 files on the root.

1. install.img
2. install.img-sig.txt

I am now back to firmware IPB1009C241 which is the new GUI firmware "beta" version.

The file install.img-sig.txt needs to remain as a .txt file! That's the signature needed for validation of the main install.img file.

Thank you gentlemen/ladies. Update worked nicely. Is it possible to REW or FF a flash file greater than 2X?

I do notice that the light on my USB stick flickers once every 25 seconds or so, almost like it's polling the drive.
My Flash drive for flashing was formatted FAT... Is yours FAT?

My Flash drive for flashing was formatted FAT... Is yours FAT?

Yes - FAT32

I hope this is not thread highjacking, but if it is please forgive me.

I have a Brite-View BV-5005HD connected to my router but I'm having trouble logging to my pc in order to view movies on its hard drive. When I select my pc it asks for a Network ID and password. I know my Network ID an password but cannot type letters and numbers with the remote. The OS on my pc is Win7. I have no problem watching movies on the same pc using the UPnP feature as it doesn't ask for an ID or password; but this is not an option as my root drive isn't big enough for the amount of movies I have and it's too tedious to delete movies already watched to add new movies.

I can get into my wife's laptop without any problems at all, however again the file are not there and her OS is WinXP Pro.

Please advise.

Thanks,

The OS on my pc is Win7. I have no problem watching movies on the same pc using the UPnP feature as it doesn't ask for an ID or password...
That was my problem too... Windows 7 is not supported (at lest not x64), even if some people reported that it is working for them.
brite-view should put a warning on their site about this, at least till it is fixed.

Yes - FAT32

My USB drive for flashing was NTFS.

That was my problem too... Windows 7 is not supported (at lest not x64), even if some people reported that it is working for them.
brite-view should put a warning on their site about this, at least till it is fixed.

Damn!!

Thanks anyways

I already owned a WDTV when I purchased my Cinematube in November. I only did so because of the purported 12/20/09 firmware update for Bluray ISO support.

I was finally able to download the firmware today 1/9/10 and update the Cinematube. I have to ask, what the point of Bluray ISO support is if I can't get audio on many of my movies such as The Hangover, Revolutionary Road and the Friday The 13th remake to name a few? There’s no menu and the Tube just plays the largest m2ts file which will start after the beginning on some movies such as Terminator Salvation and Funny People. I can rip the Bluray to a hard disk folder and grab the m2ts file myself. The WDTV plays Blurays fine that way and so did the Cinematube prior to this firmware update. I guess there will never be a substitute for a good HTPC running Cyberlink Power DVD Ultra where I get menu support, chapter skip, downmix HD audio to DTS or DD and play my HD-DVD ISO files in addition to Blurays.

The Cinematube does have the WDTV beat in that it has menu support for DVD ISO files, but so does my old Galaxy TVISTO. So, I’m not going to praise the Cinematube simply because their primary competition in the WDTV ridiculously lacks this feature. The only reason to own either the WDTV or Cinematube is if you own an HD Camcorder and a USB card reader. Either is an awesome way to watch the video you shoot, but neither is a viable substitute for a HTPC.

not working still have the same issued i turning off firewall settings on win 7 to test

Do you still have some in stock brite-view? I ordered a unit yesterday with the network dongle. Just wondering if I will have to wait for a restock or if you are shipping currently.

Thanks,

Orlando

I need some help. I can't get the cinematube to recognize the update/firmware files. These are the things I have tried.

1. Copied 2 files to usb root (H:\install.tar & H:\install.img-sig.txt)
2. Same as step one but extracted "install.tar" files to the root.
3. Copied all files from #1  into a (H:\ROOT\..)

What the heck am I doing wrong? How do you update this??

Thanks in advance

Oh, all three steps were tried separately and together...but still not working.

I need some help. I can't get the cinematube to recognize the update/firmware files. These are the things I have tried.

1. Copied 2 files to usb root (H:\install.tar & H:\install.img-sig.txt)
2. Same as step one but extracted "install.tar" files to the root.
3. Copied all files from #1  into a (H:\ROOT\..)

What the heck am I doing wrong? How do you update this??

Thanks in advance

You should copy both files to usb root (H:\install.img & H:\install.img-sig.txt)
ie. change file extension from install.tar to install.img

Do you still have some in stock brite-view? I ordered a unit yesterday with the network dongle. Just wondering if I will have to wait for a restock or if you are shipping currently.

Thanks,

Orlando

Hey Orlando, I pre-ordered my unit on Jan. 1st. I was hoping that it would ship last week, but nothing yet. The website says all items will ship Jan 18th.

brite-View,

Can you look into why some TS files are played at very low resolution like 326 x 192 that are supposed to be HD?

Regards,

Hey guys,

Sorry for all this mess - our original intention was to make this new firmware with the 720p GUI a beta release before we can fix the UPnP streaming issue, and we decided to take it off our server so that it'll not automatically update the firmware any more.

However, when we took the new firmware off the server, the older version pops up, and hence the "reverse". We're NOT taking it away. In fact, our updated website with the new firmware should be live tonight (US time), and if you visit the support page afterwards, the new firmware will be available for download with a "beta" mark.

So people who like the new firmware will be able to get it soon, and people who prefer the previous version for UPnP streaming can have that too.

Sorry for all the trouble.

Best,
brite-View
Hi Brite-view
Your new firmware with the new interface, fixes many of the problems that I had, the following problems have been improved or fixed
1- The subtitles are on by default
2- The videos from my digital camera now can be played (befor the mono audio ould not be heard).
3- Off - on issue seems to be fixed.
4- File browsing in the new interface seems to be better than the older one.
5- The ID3 tags works for the mp3 files

Thanks for fixing my issues
However I can see the following issue
1- The Wi-fi connection does not work properly, before the upgrade it was working for me.
2- What is the new file sharing feature that you have added. I don't know how to use it.

It looks like my software upgraded to the new version and then downgraded all by itself. I am now running ....9C021. I think the other one was 9C221 or 9C0241. Anyway, I store my movies on an external USB drive hooked to my PC. I have a hardwired Ethernet cable connecting the CT to a switch.

I can easily see both my PC and wireless laptop in the CT's file browser with all the shared drives and folders. For some reason, when I select the USB drive I get a logon dialog box that I have not seen before. It is asking for a Net User ID and PW. By default it is filling these in as Realtek_guest with a PW that is ***** - something hidden. The dialog box offers to save the ID and PW to MyShortcuts, or just OK, or Cancel.

I have no idea what this is. I took a look at the Sharing properties for the USB drive, but nothing has changed there. I simply have it as a shared drive with no PW or anything. What is really odd is that my shared assets on the PC's C drive like My Documents, SharedDocs etc, are all visible.

Suggestions?

Never mind. Rebooted my PC. Solved problem.

@JWishbone: I do not have information to say that yours is an defective one. But please keep in mind if the next fw still does not "cure" this problem, you can always return the unit to us. If you want to be safe, you can send me a PM telling me your order information and I'll let me team know that I had advised you to wait for the fw update (in case you have had the unit for longer than 30 days). I am sorry that the sound quality is not there for you - I listend to your clip and I would be bothered by the hissing sound, too.

Briteview,

I downloaded and installed the new Beta firmware and I am still getting some hiss/sound distortion. Please tell me what is my best method of making it go away (wait for another firmware update or exchange defective unit? for another one).

It looks like my software upgraded to the new version and then downgraded all by itself. I am now running ....9C021. I think the other one was 9C221 or 9C0241. Anyway, I store my movies on an external USB drive hooked to my PC. I have a hardwired Ethernet cable connecting the CT to a switch.

I can easily see both my PC and wireless laptop in the CT's file browser with all the shared drives and folders. For some reason, when I select the USB drive I get a logon dialog box that I have not seen before. It is asking for a Net User ID and PW. By default it is filling these in as Realtek_guest with a PW that is ***** - something hidden. The dialog box offers to save the ID and PW to MyShortcuts, or just OK, or Cancel.

I have no idea what this is. I took a look at the Sharing properties for the USB drive, but nothing has changed there. I simply have it as a shared drive with no PW or anything. What is really odd is that my shared assets on the PC's C drive like My Documents, SharedDocs etc, are all visible.

Suggestions?

i think britewiew developers roll back to previous firmware i personallly like the new firmware i gives support to my multi hdmi selector now the old one not.
i hope they release the new firmware again was sooo nice the gui and resolve many avi problems that i had before.

It wasn't an automatic update for me to rollback to the prior version. I got a message when I turned on my CT and asked me whether or not I wanted to go ahead and run the UPDATE and I chose "NO".

FYI, I never turned off my CT after I intalled my new update since like 2 weeks ago until yesterday and saw the UPDATE messge which I chose "NO".




i think britewiew developers roll back to previous firmware i personallly like the new firmware i gives support to my multi hdmi selector now the old one not.
i hope they release the new firmware again was sooo nice the gui and resolve many avi problems that i had before.

any one knows if they resolve the win 7 issue on pc media accres to you pc and sharing issue?

I hope this is not thread highjacking, but if it is please forgive me.

I have a Brite-View BV-5005HD connected to my router but I'm having trouble logging to my pc in order to view movies on its hard drive. When I select my pc it asks for a Network ID and password. I know my Network ID an password but cannot type letters and numbers with the remote. The OS on my pc is Win7. I have no problem watching movies on the same pc using the UPnP feature as it doesn't ask for an ID or password; but this is not an option as my root drive isn't big enough for the amount of movies I have and it's too tedious to delete movies already watched to add new movies.

I can get into my wife's laptop without any problems at all, however again the file are not there and her OS is WinXP Pro.

Please advise.

Thanks,

Hello,
You should be able to type in letters of numbers if you navigate to the box following the Network ID and Password and then press OK. Which version of Windows 7 do you have?

I am also getting the "NOTE: Image Damage" error... has someone confirmed that the firmware on the website "Version: IPB1009C241 (beta)" works?

Please check the downloaded file name. If one of the files appears to be "install.tar" instead of "install.img", please rename your file to "install.img".

Thanks!

I have the latest FW but can't figure out where to enable file sharing on the CT.

I will explain in detail shortly and post it on the brite-View blog - it's not complicated. Sorry that I had not have a chance to do that.

Do you still have some in stock brite-view? I ordered a unit yesterday with the network dongle. Just wondering if I will have to wait for a restock or if you are shipping currently.

Thanks,

Orlando

We have them in stock again, and we should be able to ship within 2 business days. A friendly reminder - as we have received requests from people requesting to change their shipping address after we have sent out the units, please make sure the shipping address is correct when you place the order. Many thanks!

Thanks for fixing my issues
However I can see the following issue
1- The Wi-fi connection does not work properly, before the upgrade it was working for me.
2- What is the new file sharing feature that you have added. I don't know how to use it.

1. Could you let me know more details of how the Wi-Fi is not working properly? Is it not connecting, or is it connected but working slowly, or not working at all?
2. I will post the details on the brite-View blog shortly; it is not complicated at all.

Thanks!

brite-View,

Thanks for "completely ignoring" any support for my bricked unit problems from your firmware downgrade. I understand you were at a convention but you're answering support questions while ignoring bricked unit questions. You're also ignoring one simple question. Can a bricked unit be reset at home to accept a new Firmware update or are we forced to send the unit in for service? Many products can be unbricked by the enduser like the Iphone. Can your unit be unbricked at home if the fault was a bad firmware update? If so please let us know the sequence of events needed to do so.

Clearly Brite-View has avoided any open disclosure about the ease of bricking a unit so people should be extremely careful with firmware downgrades as many "non user" or "end user errors" could make your box a Brick. I know of three users in this Thread alone that have bricked their unit counting other forums that's at least 7 bricked units.

The Automated software Downgrade should give people the hint that the new firmware was a first attempt of re-writing the software from scratch and was Pre-Beta and should never have been released so soon.

I'm just letting people know the Downside.

****************************************************
Now for the Good Side:

Overall the Box is a great value for all the features. Nothing else for $99 can touch it in respect to the Picture quality, menu speed and amount of formats it can play. Sure you can build a $700-$1000 PC based media Player that draws 150-250 watts running 24/7 but the electric bill on that in one year might cost $150-$400 per year in electricity alone. The bright-views energy usage is inconsequential in comparison. Not to mention the giant footprint and maintenance a PC based media streamer would take up.

Out of 250+ DVD's and Blue Rays it played them all on the old firmware. I can't say on the new firmware as mine is still bricked. The only format it couldn't play in my collection was Mac .IMG files. That was an easy fix simply be converting those .IMG over to .ISO with Macs built in disk utility software. It took about 3 minutes per movie to do.

Amazon Has the 5005HD in stock again.

http://www.amazon.com/Brite-View-BV-5005HD-CinemaTube-Multimedia-Downloader/dp/B002CNOYRS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1263239969&sr=8-1

So bricking a unit is not a big deal for the first 30 days now that units are back in stock. Amazon will send out a free replacement with zero shipping charges and they even pay return shipping. Before they even get the one unit back. I have two units that should be at my doorstep tomorrow.

As for the Firmware I think within a few months Brite-view will have it down and the product will just be getting better and better. I would guess that the Firmware bricking issue will not go away. But I would need to open the box and see how what type of eprom or memory it uses.

PS: Anyone have a link with a 5005HD opened up showing the insides and what chips are inside?

Metasearch,

I want to pre-state I don't have a unit, nor have never done this. I have read that if you unplug the unit, then put in your "good" firmware USB, then hold down the power button and plug it in (keep holding the button) the unit should go into recovery mode. I am almost sure I read it in this thread.

Good luck,

Orlando

@metasearch: you are right; I did miss that part (although not intentional - people on this thread should know I never avoid answering difficult questions or find it difficult to apologize if it is our fault). I would like to let all know that, if you have tried to "force" the update on the CinemaTube and still could not get it to work, the only solution is to have CT exchanged or returned.

I would also like to remind all that, because the file size of the beta firmware is much larger, it will take longer than the firmware updates you have experienced before this one. Also, if for any reason the unit is powered off or if the internet connection is lost before the firmware update procedure is completed, you might find the box "bricked", as some have mentioned here.

If you bought from us directly from the website or from our store-in-store on Amazon, we will do the exchange. If you bought the unit from Amazon, as metasearch has mentioned, you should be able to receive the replacement sooner without having to pay for return shipping.

If I still miss anything, please do not hesitate to let me know. We have heard from a few people who actually got the Windows 7 sharing to work with the "beta" firmware (I believe one of the is a MS certified professioanl), and I will post more details when I find out exactly how they got it to work.

Thanks.
brite-View

@brite-View Thanks for answering those questions.

Amazon Has the 5005HD in stock again.

http://www.amazon.com/Brite-View-BV-5005HD-CinemaTube-Multimedia-Downloader/dp/B002CNOYRS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1263239969&sr=8-1



I ordered on Jan 1st and it still has not shipped. Now I wish I would have waited and ordered from Amazon, as it would have shipped today.

Sure you can build a $700-$1000 PC based media Player that draws 150-250 watts running 24/7 but the electric bill on that in one year might cost $150-$400 per year in electricity alone.

Let me preface this by saying, I love my CT, and while it isn't perfect, I think it is great, especially for the price.

However, you are WAY over budget if you are building a $700 HTPC. I just Spec'd myself a quality buold for $250. However, I am going to purchase this one for $300...

Zotac MAG HD-ND01 NVIDIA ION NVIDIA ION graphics processor Mini / Booksize Barebone System - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856173001)

I ordered on Jan 1st and it still has not shipped. Now I wish I would have waited and ordered from Amazon, as it would have shipped today.

We're starting to ship today, too. We did not want to over promise so we mentioned that we would ship at a later date. Also, the order from Amazon does not include the HDMI cable. But I agree, Amazon is fast and their customer service is just great.

Hafta say thanks all for your input and reviews and even your bug reporting. Thanks also to brite-View for all his quick feedback.

That said, I am seriously leaning towards purchasing one of these but if I do, it would be for a present that I wouldn't need to give until February at the earliest.

So I have a couple of questions.

First is there going to be any changes to the hardware between now and then (not firmware changes but actual changes to the processing chip, etc?) that I should wait for? What about any new or similar models coming around that time that I should wait for?

Also, if I happen to have 3 different TV's but realistically now can only afford one, is it recommended or easy to just buy 2 extra power supplies and 2 extra set of connections, etc. so that I could easily take it from one TV and easily hook it to another leaving 3 different sets of fixed wires at the 3 TV sets?

Also I did see this get reported earlier in the thread and on external review sites but I haven't seen a resolution posted: Are there still bugs/problems when streaming HD content or BD content through the network vs. from the USB? I mean like stuttering, drops, freezes, etc? If not, what are the known bugs/issues with HD content/BD content?

Thanks in advance!

OK, no disrespect, but am I the only one that thinks this is a gift for himself? BTW, it would be a good gift!

Let me preface this by saying, I love my CT, and while it isn't perfect, I think it is great, especially for the price.

However, you are WAY over budget if you are building a $700 HTPC. I just Spec'd myself a quality buold for $250. However, I am going to purchase this one for $300...

Zotac MAG HD-ND01 NVIDIA ION NVIDIA ION graphics processor Mini / Booksize Barebone System - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856173001)

I guess if $300 is your budget then you could pull it off. A 1.6 GHz Atom Processor and a 160Gb drive but it would be limiting for me. Don't forget an operating system, Keyboard, mouse, remote, Remote detector and monitor unless you use you're using your TV as a monitor. I also doubt it will handle 1080P blu-ray without getting choppy especially if you're simultaneously decompressing and transferring files.

I guess if $300 is your budget then you could pull it off. A 1.6 GHz Atom Processor and a 160Gb drive but it would be limiting for me. Don't forget an operating system, Keyboard, mouse, remote, Remote detector and monitor unless you use you're using your TV as a monitor. I also doubt it will handle 1080P blu-ray without getting choppy especially if you're simultaneously decompressing and transferring files.

What I read about it is Blu-Ray runs fine on it. I have a 1.6 Dual core Laptop that runs Blu-Ray without a hitch. There are plenty of free OS's out there. And I get my MS software for free anyway.

I have plenty of mice and keyboards lying around here, and I only need it for the initial set up anyway. I spend $25 on a remote (only need a receiver, my Harmony will do the rest) and I am in business.

As I said before though, I do stand by the CT. I think it is great product. I need something to run my Blu-Ray images though, and the CT doesn't do that reliably... yet! Hopefully it will before I buy the HD TV for the upstairs.

Just like the title says anyone have a screen shot of the new GUI? I could not find it on CT site.

Thanks in advance
AJ

Please advise how can I access my USB flash/hard drive connected to CT through the computer on the same network. My PC is running Windows 7 Enterprise. When I type the CT IP address in browser it opens some strange web page wit the embedded calculator

Thanks,
Ondigo

Please advise how can I access my USB flash/hard drive connected to CT through the computer on the same network. My PC is running Windows 7 Enterprise. When I type the CT IP address in browser it opens some strange web page wit the embedded calculator

Thanks,
Ondigo

I wouldn't type it into your browser, it needs to be in "file Explorer"

Also, make sure your CT has file sharing enabled.

make sure you have the 2 backslashes in front of your IP. should look like this:
"\\192.168.XXX.XXX"

If it still takes you to a webpage, you either have something resolving that IP address to a host name, or you changed your routers Gateway IP to be something other than a local subnet address (ala the 192.168.XXX.1)

Also, make sure your CT has file sharing enabled.

make sure you have the 2 backslashes in front of your IP. should look like this:
"\\192.168.XXX.XXX"

If it still takes you to a webpage, you either, or you changed your routers Gateway IP to be something other than a local subnet address (ala the 192.168.XXX.1)

I also tried this last night:
1. Checked to be sure file sharing was enabled. It was
2. Made sure the usb attached hard drive was on and recognized by CT
3. Typed "\\192.168.2.4" in to file explorer
Got the embeded calculator.

I tried leading zeros: "\\192.168.002.004", too.

What does it mean to "have something resolving that IP address to a host name". I haven't doen anything like that intentionally.

Thanks

I wouldn't type it into your browser, it needs to be in "file Explorer"

Also, make sure your CT has file sharing enabled.

make sure you have the 2 backslashes in front of your IP. should look like this:
"\\192.168.XXX.XXX"

If it still takes you to a webpage, you either have something resolving that IP address to a host name, or you changed your routers Gateway IP to be something other than a local subnet address (ala the 192.168.XXX.1)

Where can I ensure that the file sharing is enabled in CT? I also typed the IP address in file explorer and it does not work. I am using the firmware IPB1009C241 (beta).

I have had issues with using my USB JBOD external hard drive. IT is a Sans Digital 4 drive encloser. I am getting repeated restarts when attempting to use two 2 TB drives and one 1.5 TB drive. (~5.1TB usable space less than 3TB of which is currently filled. These are all larger video files, mostly ISOs, so there should be less than 1000 files on all 3 discs.) The external disc would not be detected for several seconds to minutes, and then the Cinema tube would detect the drive and freeze for about a minute after which it will restart. This is repeatable and occurs over and over again. Occasionally the cinema tube will not restart and successfully picks up the enclose drives and play files from all 3 drives perfectly. I've tested with both the current and beta firmware with the same results. It detects the enclose and both drives every time with only the two 2TB drives installed once I remove the 1.5 TB drive. There is a similar 45-60 sec pause/freeze while the drives are being recognized, but rather than restarting the unit responds again and the drives are available.
I don't think it is a problem with the encloser as it worked fine with 4 smaller hard drives and it also works reliably (with no restarts) after a 45-60 sec pause/freeze when I only use the two 2TB drives. I’ve also tested with various combinations of drives so I’m fairly confident a particular drive is not causing the issue. My problem appears to be volume based; does anyone else have experience using the cinema tube with extremely large collections of media?
1) Does the Cinema Tube officially support JBOD external drives using the new or beta firmware? If not is this addition planned anytime soon?
2) If this is supported do you have any ideas what could be causing my issue? I realize I'm using large discs, but why does the detect time take so long for so few (although large) files.
3) Does anyone have experience using one vs both of the Cinema tube’s usb cables? Does it make a difference if you plug a 2 Hard Drive JBOD into one and a 2 Hard Drive JBOD into the other versus a 4 Hard Drive JBOD using only one usb?

Briteview,

I downloaded and installed the new Beta firmware and I am still getting some hiss/sound distortion. Please tell me what is my best method of making it go away (wait for another firmware update or exchange defective unit? for another one).

Sorry for the wait. Because we can not reproduce the problem here, I suggest that we replace the unit for you. Please email us your name and transaction ID to service5@zinnetusa.com (if you purchased the unit from us). We have units in stock for exchange.

Thanks!

Hi, I have a HDPrimo (BV-6000P) and I was wondering if there were any new firmware updates on the way? Here are a few feature suggestions:

-Option to turn off autoplay (where it automatically plays the next file in the folder). I rarely need to watch movies in alphabetical order, and I'll often fall asleep watching a movie then wake up and the box had been playing nonstop all night, which can't be very good on the hardware.

-If video preview is turned off, expand the filename window to fill that empty space. I've found that very few of my filenames fit in the normal window.

Some problems I've had, wondering if there are common fixes for these:

-With many video files, there is an occasional audio crackle/pop and sometimes a half-second audio skip every few minutes (very minor but definitely noticeable and re-occurring). I've adjusted the HDMI cable and USB connection, but don't see any improvement. The files play fine without the audio problems on my computer and Xbox 360. My hard drive is split into FAT32 and NTFS partitions and I've had the problem with files on both sides.

-The universal remote that came with my cable box, the "ok" button (by far the most frequently used) causes the HDPrimo to power on. It doesn't make it turn off, and it doesn't do anything with the menus or video though. The only solution I've found is to just leave the HDPrimo turned on instead of constantly turning it off and on. Is there any risk involved with just leaving it turned on but not playing anything?

The universal remote that came with my cable box, the "ok" button (by far the most frequently used) causes the HDPrimo to power on. It doesn't make it turn off, and it doesn't do anything with the menus or video though. The only solution I've found is to just leave the HDPrimo turned on instead of constantly turning it off and on. Is there any risk involved with just leaving it turned on but not playing anything?

I have a CinemaTube and it does the exact same thing with my Comcast DVR remote. The OK button (and others on that remote) will turn the unit on. Even with the latest (beta) firmware update, this is still a problem.

@Hail2Victors: Thanks for your answer.

@Ondigo, melucci: Please see the details of the File Copy/File Sharing feature here and see if this helps:

http://briteview.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/how-do-i-use-the-file-copy-feature-new/

@CBdelta: I read your post. I will confirm with my team to see if JBOD is officially supported and the max. hard drive space supported.

@ajgoyt: screen shots added to our Facebook page album.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=149141&id=94172822342&ref=mf

Any news on PGS subtitle support? I made mkv's of several of my blu-rays using MakeMKV before I discovered that the subtitles can't be played. If this support isn't on the horizon, are there suggestions for blu-ray backups that preserve both chapters and subtitles?

I can use tsmuxer to create single .m2ts files (e.g. from titles like Up and Terminator Salvation that have multiple .m2ts files) that have playable subtitles but then I lose the ability to have chapters. Actually if there were just a "jump 10 minutes forward" option in the cinematube I would probably just deal with m2ts for now rather than bother with mkv.

Briteview,

I downloaded and installed the new Beta firmware and I am still getting some hiss/sound distortion. Please tell me what is my best method of making it go away (wait for another firmware update or exchange defective unit? for another one).

I found a way to make the hiss/sound distortion to go away is to hit the reverse button to 1X for one second or two, and then hit play button again. Hope this help.

Hi, I have a HDPrimo (BV-6000P) and I was
-Option to turn off autoplay (where it automatically plays the next file in the folder). I rarely need to watch movies in alphabetical order, and I'll often fall asleep watching a movie then wake up and the box had been playing nonstop all night, which can't be very good on the hardware.


Extra features would be nice, or you could separate each Movie into it's own folder and it would stop when the last file in the folder is played.

@brite-View

Please include the ability to read Mac .IMG files. I'm forced to convert them all to .ISO files using disk utility. After the conversion they end up exactly the same size so you might simply need to detect the extension as a .ISO file.
************************************************************ ********
The IMG file format is one of the following files:

1. A CD or DVD image file, essentially equivalent to an ISO file. On such a file, simply changing the extension from IMG to ISO can make it usable as the latter by most programs.

2. An archive format used for creating a disk image of floppy disks and HDDs. This allows for digital storage, transmission, and replication of floppy disks and HDDs. Files created using this format typically use the ".IMG" file extension.

3. A file in the Macintosh Disk Image format used by Aladdin Systems (now Allume Systems) ShrinkWrap and Apple Disk Copy for Mac OS although they share the same file extension.

4. The IMG file format, also known as GEM IMG, is an image file format used to store bitmap digital images on Graphical Environment Manager.

5. A graphics image format used in various ways by many different graphics software packages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMG_(file_format)

Extra features would be nice, or you could separate each Movie into it's own folder and it would stop when the last file in the folder is played.

I also have folders for a lot of TV shows, and I'd rather not make 300 folders just for my Simpsons episodes. And using the playlist option is pretty inefficient - navigating to the file, adding it to the playlist, going back to the starting menu, selecting playlist, selecting the file there, letting it play, then marking it for deletion from the playlist, then deleting it.

I understand the auto-play being used for .vob collections, but for most everything else it's just completely unnecessary.

I also tried this last night:
1. Checked to be sure file sharing was enabled. It was
2. Made sure the usb attached hard drive was on and recognized by CT
3. Typed "\\192.168.2.4" in to file explorer
Got the embeded calculator.

I tried leading zeros: "\\192.168.002.004", too.

What does it mean to "have something resolving that IP address to a host name". I haven't doen anything like that intentionally.

Thanks
Resolving a host name means.... changing an IP address to a name of a server. for example if you type 72.14.204.104 into a web browser, it will automatically get changed to www.google.com. Also, you ping www.google.com at a DOS prompt, it will come back saying it is pinging 72.14.204.104. Usually this is done a by a DNS host. However, Windows has a file that does that for you as well. it is a hosts file, and it is there to be able to translate a server name to an IP address.

now for the other problem... you are not typing the IP into a web browser, correct? Also, you are not typing in the quotation marks, correct?

Your next step would be to open a dos prompt and ping your CT. at the prompt type 'ping 192.168.2.4'

If says 'reply from 192.168.2.4 bytes=32 time=XXms, TTL=XX' then that is good. If it says the address is unreachable then:
1) your firewall may be blocking communication
2) That isn't actually the IP address
3) your router isn't allowing communication between the 2 devices
4) something else I am not thinking of off the top of my head.

Where can I ensure that the file sharing is enabled in CT? I also typed the IP address in file explorer and it does not work. I am using the firmware IPB1009C241 (beta).

In Setup, under Network, the bottom selection is File sharing, you can turn it on or off.

Hey Brite-View, I just ran into the "no sound" issue again with the latest firmware (well, maybe not the latest, but the one with the new UI).

It's an Xvid encoded AVI. Here is the info about the audio (reported by MediaInfo):

ID : 1
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Format settings, Mode : Joint stereo / MS Stereo
Codec ID : 55
Codec ID/Hint : MP3
Duration : 1h 6mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Resolution : 16 bits
Video delay : 8ms
Stream size : 61.1 MiB (9%)
Alignment : Split accross interleaves
Interleave, duration : 24 ms (0.72 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration : 529 ms

Are you using SPDIF RAW? mp3 audio has a bug with that... switch on SPDIF LPCM.

Are you using SPDIF RAW? mp3 audio has a bug with that... switch on SPDIF LPCM.

Actually, just came to post that this is the issue. I normally watch DD5.1 or DTS encoded videos, so it's been a while since I ran into this. I see that it's been reported before. Brite-View, what are the plans to fix this?

Hello,

I wonder if there is a setting that will allow you to disable on-line software update. Every time when I turn on the unit, it prompts me to confirm the online software update. Most of the time, I cancel it. But today I accidentally use default "OK", which is not what I want. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

If you do not use torrent client then change your DNS with an invalid and you will get rid of this problem.

If you do not use torrent client then change your DNS with an invalid and you will get rid of this problem.

Are you saying change the unit's DNS to an invalid one? Can you please let me know how? Thanks.

Brite-view,

Almost forgot to ask, I notice you support Windows Media Player 11 streaming. I was wondering if you plan on supporting the iTunes Home Sharing? I haven't used it but it looks like a way to share out the iTunes library to other machines (and hopefully the CT).

Let me know,

Orlando

Are you saying change the unit's DNS to an invalid one? Can you please let me know how? Thanks.

Setup -> Network -> Wired LAN Setup -> Static IP -> DNS Server IP Address and here put a false value. You must have network set to "Static IP" not DHCP.

For the few days that I played around with the new GUI, I noticed that the "All" media option was missing. Do you have plans to add this back. I use this method for browsing files (both videos and pics). Please consider adding this functionality back.

Thanks

Setup -> Network -> Wired LAN Setup -> Static IP -> DNS Server IP Address and here put a false value. You must have network set to "Static IP" not DHCP.

Thanks a lot for the info. I know torrent no longer works. Do network and PlayOn still work when you do that?

brite-view:

Can your team add a setting to disable auto online software update in the next firmware release? Kids and wife can easily brick the unit during auto software update. It takes a while to finish the update.

Thanks.

For the few days that I played around with the new GUI, I noticed that the "All" media option was missing. Do you have plans to add this back. I use this method for browsing files (both videos and pics). Please consider adding this functionality back.

Thanks

In fact, I think this is a better feature than O!Play. Keep the "All" tab there but move to the rightest. And you can default to "Video" or "All" tab.

in fact, i think this is a better feature than o!play. Keep the "all" tab there but move to the rightest. And you can default to "video" or "all" tab.

+1 !

Do network and PlayOn still work when you do that?



Thanks.

yes!
Network and PlayOn not suffer.
I just did and not have problems with online update. When you want to do online updates cure DNS settings.

I got my cinematube yesterday and found the following issues:
1. I have my CT connected to Sony bravia IS-100 home theater using HDMI and then connected back to samsung 46" LCD tv using HDMI cable again.
When I play dvd, I only hear audio from home theater, but no sound from the tv. I tried same thing with WD media live it works on tv as well as home theater. Is there an issue with CT?

2. The streaming from Hulu does not work. I have plyon installed on win7 and try to stream feature movies, it says that format not supported kind of message. Where as CBS and rest works.

Appreciate your help for any solutions for the above problems.

yes!
Network and PlayOn not suffer.
I just did and not have problems with online update. When you want to do online updates cure DNS settings.

Thanks again. I will give it a try tonight.

I got my cinematube yesterday and found the following issues:
1. I have my CT connected to Sony bravia IS-100 home theater using HDMI and then connected back to samsung 46" LCD tv using HDMI cable again.
When I play dvd, I only hear audio from home theater, but no sound from the tv. I tried same thing with WD media live it works on tv as well as home theater. Is there an issue with CT?

2. The streaming from Hulu does not work. I have plyon installed on win7 and try to stream feature movies, it says that format not supported kind of message. Where as CBS and rest works.

Appreciate your help for any solutions for the above problems.

I got the same message for Hulu. Update the PlayOn fix the problem. PlayOn just released a new version.

Hey guys, I got my Cinematube today. What is the procedure to access files from a Windows 7 PC? I don't have a password on it. I can access files on a Win Vista laptop just fine, but not the Win 7 PC I have all the video files on.

I can access the Win 7 PC fine from the Win Vista laptop. Again, I don't have to enter any username or password. So why is the Cinematube saying 'Log in failed' when the Win Vista laptop can access the Win 7 PC without any special log in procedure?

Also, my version is IPB1009CO21? I don't see this firmware on the website, but the Cinematube says I don't need to update. Is this firmware recent or not?

Hey guys, I got my Cinematube today. What is the procedure to access files from a Windows 7 PC? I don't have a password on it. I can access files on a Win Vista laptop just fine, but not the Win 7 PC I have all the video files on.

I can access the Win 7 PC fine from the Win Vista laptop. Again, I don't have to enter any username or password. So why is the Cinematube saying 'Log in failed' when the Win Vista laptop can access the Win 7 PC without any special log in procedure?

Also, my version is IPB1009CO21? I don't see this firmware on the website, but the Cinematube says I don't need to update. Is this firmware recent or not?

There are a number of posts describing this, but it doesn't seem to work for everyone. Although, I am starting to get curious... most of the people who say they don't have a password, it doesn't seem to work for them... I maybe grasping at straws...

I have been able to get it to work, and so have others... but many, many have not.

Do a search on this thread. I personally have set up directions a couple of times, but again, it may not work.

I was able to update the firmware to the beta version with a USB stick instead of directly from the internet. Now I can access the Win 7 PC just fine without a password. Yay! :)

I was able to access win7 after updating to beta version using usb, but with the shipped version I was not able to access.

Since torrents were made a part of the CinemaTube, it would be awesome if you could get newsgroups in there too.

Thanks!
uptempo777

-With many video files, there is an occasional audio crackle/pop and sometimes a half-second audio skip every few minutes (very minor but definitely noticeable and re-occurring). I've adjusted the HDMI cable and USB connection, but don't see any improvement. The files play fine without the audio problems on my computer and Xbox 360. My hard drive is split into FAT32 and NTFS partitions and I've had the problem with files on both sides.

Please help with this - the static pops are getting louder and more frequent now.

I don't remember having this problem for the short period I was using the original HDPrimo firmware that came pre-installed. I don't see any place to download files to attempt a downgrade, though.

I've tried setting audio to HDMI Raw and HDMI LPCM, with Night Mode both on and off, and the static remains in any combination.

update: I've been using the RCA cables that came with the unit for a few minutes and haven't had any problems yet. I don't know what to make of this. I use the same HDMI cable for the HDPrimo and my Xbox 360, and the 360 never has any audio problems.

update2: Audio is fine with RCA. Tried a different HDMI cable, static pops immediately returned.

Hi ,


Which is a better player

1. ASUS IOPLAY
2. Brite view HD5005
3.Patriot Box Office 1080P High Definition Media Player PCMPBO25


In terms of build quality. My main purpose is that it should play all the video formats and it should support Dolby digital and DTS 5.1. I have panasonic LCD tv.If i connect my external drive the video should play flawlessly in my TV.I am not aware of any type HDMI which my tv supports.

Video formats should be : .MKV 1080p and 720p,.mp4,.avi

Thanks for ur suggestion

Since torrents were made a part of the CinemaTube, it would be awesome if you could get newsgroups in there too.

Thanks!
uptempo777

While you're at it why not ask them to add the feature of cooking and cleaning for you too.

Hi ,


Which is a better player

1. ASUS IOPLAY
2. Brite view HD5005
3.Patriot Box Office 1080P High Definition Media Player PCMPBO25


In terms of build quality. My main purpose is that it should play all the video formats and it should support Dolby digital and DTS 5.1. I have panasonic LCD tv.If i connect my external drive the video should play flawlessly in my TV.I am not aware of any type HDMI which my tv supports.

Video formats should be : .MKV 1080p and 720p,.mp4,.avi

Thanks for ur suggestion

None of the above.

Build a Home Theatre PC or buy a laptop with HDMI output.

could you please provide the problems of these players mentioned above

None of the above.

Build a Home Theatre PC or buy a laptop with HDMI output.

Hi,


My purpose is that. after downloading from net. i will transfer them to my external hard drive(USB) 1 tb . Then will connect them to any of these players mentioned above. My priority is not with network and all..

thanks

I found a fairly simple solution to this problem. It involves updating the toshiba 32AV502R LCD TV firmware to version 1.09
The intructions are simple and the whole process takes only about 5 to 10 mins. After the upgrade the TV should work with the Brite-View Cinematube without problems.
Worked great for me!!! Excellent picture quality!!
Please submit this to others who have the same problem. Nothing wrong with you cinematube! Just update the toshiba firmmware

Dean1976:)

and the picture quality is great!!

happy viewing!

I found a fairly simple solution to this problem. It involves updating the toshiba 32AV502R LCD TV firmware using the following link:

http://web1.toshiba.ca/support/ceg/downloads/all/view.asp?docid=D000024

The intructions are simple and the whole process takes only about 5 to 10 mins. After the upgrade the TV should work with the Brite-View Cinematube without problems.
Worked great for me!!! Excellent picture quality!!
Please submit this to others who have the same problem. Nothing wrong with you cinematube! Just update the toshiba firmmware

Dean1976

I was able to update the firmware to the beta version with a USB stick instead of directly from the internet. Now I can access the Win 7 PC just fine without a password. Yay! :)

excellent! Then I still don't know why some still have issues.

Hi,


My purpose is that. after downloading from net. i will transfer them to my external hard drive(USB) 1 tb . Then will connect them to any of these players mentioned above. My priority is not with network and all..

thanks

I haven't tried all 3 players, but I do like my CT alot. It should be able to do exactly what you are looking for.

Brite View,

Is there a chance to support decoding or pass through for DolbyTrueHD and DTS HD MASTER?

I tried to update my brite-view but it doesn't see the files on the root directory of my USB drive. What am I doing wrong please?

Thanks

Better yet, would someone please post a step-by-step procedure on how to update the CT or post where to find it?

Thanks

I haven't tried all 3 players, but I do like my CT alot. It should be able to do exactly what you are looking for.

Thanks for ur reply.


External hard disk is a usb 2.0 drive.. if i load an 8gb rip will CT load it with out any problems.bcoz asus ioplay has a sata port for which i can buy external esata hard disk.since sata transfer rate is higher than USB 2.0.

Please let me know ur valuable suggestions.

I am from india i am going order this from my friend in US. I should get a problem free player :) which should be able to play 720p and 1080p pixels easily.

Better yet, would someone please post a step-by-step procedure on how to update the CT or post where to find it?

Thanks

Have you read or searched ANY of this forum???

@e24412: I have not heard of another firmware release for HDPrimo, but in case you do not have IPB1209B061 on your box, and are experiencing difficulty in software update, here's another link to the latest firmware for HDPrimo. http://www.easy-share.com/1908527378/install.img.zip

The preview window can be completely out of sight from the CinemaTube menu with its beta firmware, and because of hardware similarity I think it's possible to implement it on HDPrimo too. You might have heard, however, that we are still trying to fix the new bugs that comes with the beta firmware.

I will report the audio issue.

If the hardware is constantly running, it might decrease the lifespan of the hardware. We apologize for not being able to change the RCU code, but if possible, please power it off when not using it.

@Chris Burkart: thank you for the suggestion for the 10-second skip. The full blu-ray iso support has something to do with licensing fee, and we are looking into that. Unfortunately, PGS subtitle support is not inplace yet due to blu-ray licensing issues.

@metasearch: noted. Thank you for the suggestion. I heard that the one drawback of the chip that we're using is its compatibility with Mac. We had to add the HFS+ drive compatibility ourselves, for example. I will see if we can add Mac .img files, but I'd also like to let you know sometimes its chip limitation.

@avhokie: hmm it should have handled this audio file ok. Sorry the new firmware did not fix this - I've reported it again and stressed that this has existed for a while.

@hitoya: I will propose this in our meeting. It seems several other folks have the same idea, too.

@oteixeira: we will look into that.

@vjm: noted. Several others on this board feel the same way, too. Thank you for the suggestion.

@harig1: I'm sorry I'm confused with the setup - is the CinemaTube connected to the TV or to the hometheater system with HDMI? Does it work when it's connected directly to the TV?

I'm guessing you're not using the beta firmware. It actually would work; it's a time-out issue. Please scroll up and down the queue a few times (with preview window on), and you should be able to play that video. Also, I heard there is a patch released for the PlayOn software fixing a few Hulu issues. Please check to see if your PlayOn is the latest version.

@justlnluck: the firmware that came originally with your CinemaTube was the "current one" (if not counting the beta). It was supposed to fix the Toshiba flash issue. We are adding it to our website today. I'm glad to hear that the beta firmware worked for your Win7 machine!

@uptempo777: Thanks for the suggestion.

@e24412: can you tell me the setting of your HDPrimo? HDMI raw or HDMI LPCM? If you have switched from one to another, does the pop or crackle still return?

@dean1976: I am SO happy you posted this! Thanks so much!

@has123: Yes! We are acquiring the necessary license for Dolby TrueHD.

@ToUgHsPoT: here you go:

1) Power off and unplug CinemaTube

2) Hold the power button

3) Plug the CinemaTube back (without letting go of the power button for around 10 seconds)

4) You'll enter the "USB Update". Please plug in the USB drive with the firmware on the root menu, and update from there.

@e24412: can you tell me the setting of your HDPrimo? HDMI raw or HDMI LPCM? If you have switched from one to another, does the pop or crackle still return?

I have used both raw and LPCM - the problem is present on both settings.

@vjm: noted. Several others on this board feel the same way, too. Thank you for the suggestion.

@harig1: I'm sorry I'm confused with the setup - is the CinemaTube connected to the TV or to the hometheater system with HDMI? Does it work when it's connected directly to the TV?

I'm guessing you're not using the beta firmware. It actually would work; it's a time-out issue. Please scroll up and down the queue a few times (with preview window on), and you should be able to play that video. Also, I heard there is a patch released for the PlayOn software fixing a few Hulu issues. Please check to see if your PlayOn is the latest version.

@justlnluck: the firmware that came originally with your CinemaTube was the "current one" (if not counting the beta). It was supposed to fix the Toshiba flash issue. We are adding it to our website today. I'm glad to hear that the beta firmware worked for your Win7 machine!

@uptempo777: Thanks for the suggestion.

@e24412: can you tell me the setting of your HDPrimo? HDMI raw or HDMI LPCM? If you have switched from one to another, does the pop or crackle still return?

@dean1976: I am SO happy you posted this! Thanks so much!

@has123: Yes! We are acquiring the necessary license for Dolby TrueHD.

@ToUgHsPoT: here you go:

1) Power off and unplug CinemaTube

2) Hold the power button

3) Plug the CinemaTube back (without letting go of the power button for around 10 seconds)

4) You'll enter the "USB Update". Please plug in the USB drive with the firmware on the root menu, and update from there.

Updated without any problems. One question though; what Net User ID and password should I use? I'm using my Windows 7 username and password but they're not working. I keep getting "login failure."

@harig1: I'm sorry I'm confused with the setup - is the CinemaTube connected to the TV or to the hometheater system with HDMI? Does it work when it's connected directly to the TV?

I'm guessing you're not using the beta firmware. It actually would work; it's a time-out issue. Please scroll up and down the queue a few times (with preview window on), and you should be able to play that video. Also, I heard there is a patch released for the PlayOn software fixing a few Hulu issues. Please check to see if your PlayOn is the latest version.
---
After I updated to beta sw, my audio problem disappeared on TV.

But, Hulu streaming after updating latest playon still an issue on win7 .
In the preview mode it looks like it is working. But the moment I switched to play mode, the screen always shows, buffering and stay empty.

I reloaded the beta firmware back on to the cinematube which I had no problems with. I like the fact that I can map the drive now and use it as a backup drive which is synced automatically with my HD on the PC automatically. Great feature. Only thing is the drive is no longer mapped about every 20 minutes or so because the firmware keeps trying to upgrade me to the latest firmware because I loaded the beta back on. As soon as I clear the screen and hit cancel I can get the mapped drive back on line.

The only other issue I have is being able to play my home videos in AVI format. Out of about 50 files that have been converted over I can only play one of them. Why it plays that file I have no idea since it was all done the same way. This playing straight off of the HD on the CT too, not through the network. It says Format not supported on 99% of them. I wonder if there are different kinds of AVI files? Thought maybe the new firmware would take care of it but not yet, but overall........love the update. Nice work!:)

Doubts I have

1.External hard disk is a usb 2.0 drive.. if i load an 8gb rip will CT load it with out any problems.bcoz asus ioplay has a sata port for which i can buy external esata hard disk.since sata transfer rate is higher than USB 2.0.

2. Does CT comes with HDMI cable? does all tv's support it?

3. Does support DOlby digital and DTS? I have onkyo ht3200 5.1 home theatre system.

Please let me know ur valuable suggestions.

I am from india i am going order this from my friend in US. I should get a problem free player which should be able to play 720p and 1080p pixels easily

@avhokie: hmm it should have handled this audio file ok. Sorry the new firmware did not fix this - I've reported it again and stressed that this has existed for a while.

Hey brite-View, I figured out what it was (someone else did too) right after I posted. I think this has been posted before, but I'll share the situation again:

There are many receivers that decode DTS, but not MP3 (or similar formats).

If you want to watch a movie with DTS audio, you have to configure the CT for raw audio output. This is because the CT can't decode DTS but the receiver can.
If you want to listen to an MP3 or watch a video with MP3 or similar audio, you have to configure the CT for LPCM audio output. This is because the CT can decode (and re-encode to LPCM) the MP3 but the receiver can't


I think this is a very common use case, but as you can see, it is difficult to use with the CT. You can't expect people to manually swap audio format when going from one video to another, or from a video to audio. There should be a way to configure the CT to have both of these situations work correctly without the need to switch configurations.

Doubts I have

1.External hard disk is a usb 2.0 drive.. if i load an 8gb rip will CT load it with out any problems.bcoz asus ioplay has a sata port for which i can buy external esata hard disk.since sata transfer rate is higher than USB 2.0.

2. Does CT comes with HDMI cable? does all tv's support it?

3. Does support DOlby digital and DTS? I have onkyo ht3200 5.1 home theatre system.

Please let me know ur valuable suggestions.

I am from india i am going order this from my friend in US. I should get a problem free player which should be able to play 720p and 1080p pixels easily

I used to own Wd live and O!play. But I returned both of them. I plan to keep CinamaTube for a lot of reasons, but mainly the following two:

1) Very active support in this forum.
2) Very responsive remote.

The only feature I missed is music shuffle in O!Play.

I used to own Wd live and O!play. But I returned both of them. I plan to keep CinamaTube for a lot of reasons, but mainly the following two:

1) Very active support in this forum.
2) Very responsive remote.

The only feature I missed is music shuffle in O!Play.

Thanks for ur reply.

HDMI cable provided by CT is it compatible with any HDMI LCD tv ?

Thanks for ur reply.

HDMI cable provided by CT is it compatible with any HDMI LCD tv ?

My Sony HDTV has no HDMI connection, but has dvi connection. I have my own hdmi to dvi cable that works. I did not receive CT HDMI cable though as I ordered directly from Amazon.

Hi all,

I got my Cinematube yesterday and it is outstanding. I then installed TVersity to try, and started setting it up. Youtube works great and I can see all the video I have shot of the family that I have up there on my account. I was also able to drag and drop other vids with no issues. I then set up Hulu, and was stoked when my queue popped up on my TV. I highlighted one, and nothing, just the big (/) when I try to play one. Remember the refresh issue, I went up and down and all around the videos in my list, waited over 30 minutes on one. None of them every previewed or played. This is with the beta firmware, the wireless dongle, and a Win XP SP3 machine serving the TVersity.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,

Orlando

Interesting, I downgraded and it says "Format is not supported" in the preview window.

Orlando

Hi all,

I got my Cinematube yesterday and it is outstanding. I then installed TVersity to try, and started setting it up. Youtube works great and I can see all the video I have shot of the family that I have up there on my account. I was also able to drag and drop other vids with no issues. I then set up Hulu, and was stoked when my queue popped up on my TV. I highlighted one, and nothing, just the big (/) when I try to play one. Remember the refresh issue, I went up and down and all around the videos in my list, waited over 30 minutes on one. None of them every previewed or played. This is with the beta firmware, the wireless dongle, and a Win XP SP3 machine serving the TVersity.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,

Orlando

Does cinematube support 5.1 output through a 5.1 capable receiver when playing a movie with DTS audio?

I have a movie with DTS audio and it only outputs to 2 channel sound, even when I put it on SPDIF RAW format...please help!?

Hi,

I have just installed my CinemaTube.
Bought in USA in december but I'm using it here in Sweden.

Now I have a problem.

Together with the CinemaTube I also bought the USB dongle for wireless connection.
I first attached it to the USB port on the backside but nothing happens.
Are the drivers for this USB dongle already installed in th CT?

To install the the drivers for the USB dongle I got a mini cd in the package together with the dongle.

I have connected a cd reader to the CinemaTube and then I put in the mini cd into the cd reader.
And nothing happens.

What is going to happen?
According to the manual for the dongle I am expected to press the "Next"-button.

When I connect the cd-reader to my pc, which got XP, everything works as expected.

I tried to do it in an other way:
I copied all the files from the mini-cd to a memory stick and then connected it to the CinemaTube.
But I don't see the EXE-file or the Autorun-file. (Seems logical since I'm supposed to see only media files)

Another strange thing:
I put a cd with mp3 music into the cd-reader. The cd-reader is some years old but it has at least USB 2.0.
But I don't see the cd-reader in "USB Media" in the Media Center.

Any suggestions on how to install the USB dongle?

I have seen some similar questions from other CT-owners but I don't think anyone has asked this specific question.

Additional info:
I have installed the drivers on my laptop and then attached the dongle to my laptop and it works perfect. No problem.
So then I can exclude hardware-problems with the dongle;-)
I did also a test of the speed of the wireless network. And it only came up to 2.86 MBit/s.
Is that enough speed for streaming HD mtrl from desktop?

Additional info #2:
Jippiiii! :D
Yesterday I gut my dongle to work in the CT. I attached, as I have done several times before, and for some reason it suddenly started to function.
But....
the speed is much to low. I can see pictures without disturbances but as soon as I want to see a movie streamed from a network disc it starts to freeze for 1-2 sec and then it continous to play for 5 sec and the it frezes again.
So it seems that the dongle isn't having enough with capacity to stream movies.
Now I need to find a wired solution which will cost me some extra money. This tires me a lot :(


Regards Ingsva in Sweden

I have a movie with DTS audio and it only outputs to 2 channel sound, even when I put it on SPDIF RAW format...please help!?

Mine plays DTS fine. Have you checked the menu of the movie to make sure the DTS track is selected? A lot of mine are set to stereo by default and I have to change it to multi-channel

Mine plays DTS fine. Have you checked the menu of the movie to make sure the DTS track is selected? A lot of mine are set to stereo by default and I have to change it to multi-channel

I think it is set to multi-channel. It is a .wmv file with a DTS audio 5.1. When I press the audio button on the remote it says "audio 1/1 6 ch"

However, it does not transmit to the receiver properly. I have it hooked up to the receiver using the optical output and to the TV with the HDMI cord and the audio setting to SPDIF RAW.

It can play AC3 audio in 5.1 fine.

My sound receiver is a Samsung HT-P38 receiver.

Anyone have any ideas? Is this something in the new fw update or something?

THANKS

Does the cinematube allow for playback at 1080p 24Hz?

Quick update. I went back to the beta firmware. I love the ability to network the attached HD. Actually I just got a package from CT. They sent me an HDMI cable. Thanks CT!

Several issues I'm having, curious if others are also encountering:

-When I leave the CT plugged in overnight, about 50% of the time it doesn't want to turn on from the remote or front panel button--the little red power led remains lit but won't turn to blue and turn on. I have to unplug the unit from the AC adapter and "re-boot" to get it to turn on. It seems to happen more often if it's sat plugged in longer.

-Freezing up while navigating network shares. I have two PCs that share media on a wired network with a simple home router, one runs XP the other Vista Ultimate, happens on both. It seems to happen as the unit tries to load a preview of video files (mix of .m2ts, .mkv, dvd .iso, etc.)

-Occasional freezing during playback over the network (wired). Randomly stops right in the middle of playing back a video file. Nothing with huge bitrates, nothing to do with a specific file--sometimes it will freeze in one spot on a specific file, another time it will play the whole file flawlessly.

I'm running the most recent firmware; I did really like the "beta" with the new look and functionality, but it didn't make the above issues better or worse. I'm wondering if the latter two have something to do with my network, but it's pretty simple: 2 desktop PCs and the CT all running through a Buffalo brand router.

Any input would be appreciated!

Edit: When I say "freezing" I mean that the unit locks up and must be rebooted. Sometimes it will do this by itself if I let it sit frozen for long enough, other times I must physically unplug the unit from the wall.

hello, my cinematube does not turn on, only turn on the LED that indicates the network access. what do i can do? and thanks for the help.

hello, my cinematube does not turn on, only turn on the LED that indicates the network access. what do i can do? and thanks for the help.

What do you mean? The power LED (that is normally red) doesn't turn blue? No picture?

I have a problem that just started last night. I can no longer see any of my computers under PC Media. I can still see them under UPNP, but no under PC Media. So, no I have a brick that can work fine if I plug a flash drive into it, but without the ability to see my WHS, its useless to me.

I've tried downgrading the firmware and upgrading the firmware. Going from Static to DHCP but nothing helps. My X-Box, which is on the same wireless extender and switch, works just fine. I've even tried switching out he network cable.

Help, please.

K.

Hi all,
I just got my CT and am running it just of an external HDD, so far it's been a piece of cake. I'm keeping the firmware it came with for now as it works fine. I do have a question, I have it set ti HDMI raw for the audio out and as I have a lot of concert videos on the HDD I was wondering what would be the optimum setting? I am running the audio directly into a tube preamp and then to a tube amp and my SalkSongTowers. Any advice much appreciated.

I have a problem that just started last night. I can no longer see any of my computers under PC Media. I can still see them under UPNP, but no under PC Media. So, no I have a brick that can work fine if I plug a flash drive into it, but without the ability to see my WHS, its useless to me.

I've tried downgrading the firmware and upgrading the firmware. Going from Static to DHCP but nothing helps. My X-Box, which is on the same wireless extender and switch, works just fine. I've even tried switching out he network cable.

Help, please.

K.

I have that problem sometimes but I have multiple Gigabit wireless hubs, Gigabit switches, Apple and PC systems and several external drives. Try rebooting your routers and it might take a few minutes for the systems to show up. If not you can specify the IP address of each computer like 192.168.0.100 or whatever and save each one as a shortcut. My shortcuts always work regardless if my 5005HD shows the computers under the PC Media Tab.

hello, my cinematube does not turn on, only turn on the LED that indicates the network access. what do i can do? and thanks for the help.

When mine did that it was bricked from the software downgrade. Do you see anything on your computer with the HDMI connected? My unit was replaced and I'll wait until the firmware is out of Beta before I try and upgrade.

What do you mean? The power LED (that is normally red) doesn't turn blue? No picture?

not by the led light, i mean the one is in at the left to the power light, that turn blue but the power light don´t turn on not blue or red.

December had several post about an audio bug in my CT. Fast forwarding from 2x-16x speed always mutes my videos. This is a critical issue if you stop a movie half way - the resume play/cancel option gives the same result.

Has anyone found a firmware solution or any progress with this muting issue? This bug breaks my heart in an otherwise amazing product. I've just waited through 90 minutes of a film to be able to hear the last 30 minutes. This sux.
Brite-view please respond - you're a great rep.

December had several post about an audio bug in my CT. Fast forwarding from 2x-16x speed always mutes my videos. This is a critical issue if you stop a movie half way - the resume play/cancel option gives the same result.

Has anyone found a firmware solution or any progress with this muting issue? This bug breaks my heart in an otherwise amazing product. I've just waited through 90 minutes of a film to be able to hear the last 30 minutes. This sux.
Brite-view please respond - you're a great rep.

I've had this problem with previous firmware (December and before). The Jan firmware with new UI hasn't had this issue once for me.

I just got Cinematube and have been trying to get it to talk to my Mac but haven't gotten anywhere. Can someone help me with how to access HDD connected to cinematube from my Mac and access shared folder on my Mac from cinematube?
I have Mac OS 10.6.2 and Cinematube firmware IPB1009C021. I have enabled windows file sharing using SMB (for windows) on my Mac and have a folder on my Mac which is shared with everyone. If I put IP addreess on cinematube in my browser, I get "A simple html+cgi example "page.

I would like to be able to trasnfer files back and forth (or just from my Mac to HDD connected to cinematube). Please help. Thanks.

does anyone heard if there will ever be an option for box art

@e24412: may I suggest that you exchange for a new one? I apologize for not having an immediate solution for that, and I know the popping sound must have been bothering you. Otherwise, may I suggest you downgrade to the older firmware?

@ToUgHsPoT: please use the user name and password you use to log into your computer when turning it on. Please remember to turn on "file sharing" and "password protected sharing" in your "Network and Sharing Center".

@harig1: yes, unfortunately streaming through UPnP is the major issue with the beta firmware. We are fixing this with the chip manufacturer now (because their code broke the UPnP communication).

@special_ed: thanks for the comment. Would you mind giving me more information on any of the AVI files that you can't play? Thanks in advance.

@toxicneo007: sorry for the late reply. To answer your questions:
1. No, you should not have problems doing so.
2. Yes, if you order from brite-View website or the store-in-store on Amazon. Amazon's version does not come with the HDMI cable.
3. It should be compatible with most TVs available, although I am not able to guarantee 100%.

@oteixeira: CT is lying. :) I mean the "format" should be supported, but it's a time-out issue. With the older firmware please scroll up and down the queue, and the video will play.

@Questi4110: I am sorry for the inconvenience. Would you mind maybe providing a video sample for us to test?

@ingsva: Thank you very much for taking the time to share your experience. To stream HD movies, the wireless environment is not the best option. However, 720p movies should be ok. For a complete list of streaming test result, please see http://www.brite-view.com/cinematube.php, under "Wireless USB Adapter" tab.

@fpwind: thank you for the update!

@Chris Burkart: thanks for sharing your expeirnece with us. Frankly I am worried that your CT has hardware issues. Please let us know if you would like to exchange for a new one. If it's not too much trouble, may I also ask for some more video information (the one that CT freezes on)?

@7enrique7: It sounds like it's a bad one - sorry about that. Did you get it from us? If so, please email service5@zinnetusa.com for refund or exchange.

@ivenoclue: please try using the "My Shorcut" feature. The details are explained here: http://briteview.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/cinematube-shortcut-feature-explained/

@tubetorrent: may I ask which version of firmware you are using? The beta would fix this audio problem, and also Windows 7 sharing issue, but breaks UPnP (urgh! I know). It can be downloaded here: http://www.brite-view.com/support.php

@frustrated207: Thanks for posting - I hope it's not CinemaTube that's gotten you frustrated. :) Please see this post (updated for Mac users) http://briteview.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/how-do-i-use-the-file-copy-feature-new/

brite-View,

Some quick suggestions for firmware improvement:

1) When you select a file to play, press "OK" will play only that file, press "->" will play all of the files in that folder. This should work for hard drive files and UPNP files such as PlayOn files. Both WD Live and ASUS O!Play have this feature. I hope 5005D will support it too.

2)Add zoom out of "0.9". Sometimes, when I zoom out, I just want to see the subtitle better. "0.75" is too much. O!Play has this feature that I still miss.

3)Add music shuffle or support multiple playlist.

It would take me one day or so to add those features and two days to do the test if I worked there :)

Brite-view,

I think my issue is marginal network speed. With the dongle it shows between 9000 and 12000 on speed tests. This is fine for data that is shared off my server (which is sadly a P4 2.8G) but when I tried to do any uPNP it get's very hit or miss. Last night I connected a wired connection using a gigabit switch I had lying around, and it worked better, but still it was not great, which I am going to blame on the old computer.

Orlando

@hitoya: noted. Like you said it should not be difficult to add these, under the circumstance that you don't have to deal with bureaucracy... (oops hopefully my boss is not watching this! j/k. he's cool :p)

1. I think with the beta firmware, the screen shows "play folder" or "browse folder" when you try to play the video (in a folder). Please correct me if I'm wrong.
2. noted. will suggest
3. thank you for suggesting that again regarding the music shuffle feature as I just spoke with my team about this (along with the 10 and 30 second skip). Because it's related to how the RCU is designed, I doubt that it will be added to the CinemaTube. But the multipal playlist suggestion is new and I will certainly report that.

@oteixeira: thank you for sharing your experience and being kind to us. :)

@hitoya: noted. Like you said it should not be difficult to add these, under the circumstance that you don't have to deal with bureaucracy... (oops hopefully my boss is not watching this! j/k. he's cool :p)

1. I think with the beta firmware, the screen shows "play folder" or "browse folder" when you try to play the video (in a folder). Please correct me if I'm wrong.
2. noted. will suggest
3. thank you for suggesting that again regarding the music shuffle feature as I just spoke with my team about this (along with the 10 and 30 second skip). Because it's related to how the RCU is designed, I doubt that it will be added to the CinemaTube. But the multipal playlist suggestion is new and I will certainly report that.

@oteixeira: thank you for sharing your experience and being kind to us. :)

brite-view,

Thanks for your response.

1) I used PlayOn a lot so I did not use beta firmware. But I am looking forward to your fix on UPnP. I did notice that the screen would freeze after I was done with one file using PlayOn as the unit is trying to play next file, but it cannot. I need to press STOP maybe 10 times before it exits.

2) We can use the combination of buttons (ex: "1" and "->" at the same time) on the remote to do music shuffle. You do not need the "shuffle" button to do that :)

Hi Briteview. I've downloaded the beta firmware because of the file transfer option. it works for the most part, but when I try and transfer anything above 200MB, it diconnects from CT. I've tried it on 3 different PCs and all the same results. I'm transfering via a network cable. Any ideas?

Also, is there anyway to have CT remember the username/passwords for individual folders? I've got different username / passwords for different folders on my PC.

Several issues I'm having, curious if others are also encountering:

-When I leave the CT plugged in overnight, about 50% of the time it doesn't want to turn on from the remote or front panel button--the little red power led remains lit but won't turn to blue and turn on. I have to unplug the unit from the AC adapter and "re-boot" to get it to turn on. It seems to happen more often if it's sat plugged in longer.

-Freezing up while navigating network shares. I have two PCs that share media on a wired network with a simple home router, one runs XP the other Vista Ultimate, happens on both. It seems to happen as the unit tries to load a preview of video files (mix of .m2ts, .mkv, dvd .iso, etc.)

-Occasional freezing during playback over the network (wired). Randomly stops right in the middle of playing back a video file. Nothing with huge bitrates, nothing to do with a specific file--sometimes it will freeze in one spot on a specific file, another time it will play the whole file flawlessly.

I'm running the most recent firmware; I did really like the "beta" with the new look and functionality, but it didn't make the above issues better or worse. I'm wondering if the latter two have something to do with my network, but it's pretty simple: 2 desktop PCs and the CT all running through a Buffalo brand router.

Any input would be appreciated!

Edit: When I say "freezing" I mean that the unit locks up and must be rebooted. Sometimes it will do this by itself if I let it sit frozen for long enough, other times I must physically unplug the unit from the wall.
@Chris Burkart
My CT had exactly the same problem as your CT with the new beta firmware loaded in to it. Moreover, half of the ISO files from the HD, which attached to the CT, did not play as smooth as the old firmware, such as, freezing, CT restarted by itself. I connect the CT to my router Linksys WRT320n via the CAT5/ CAT6 cable; however, I could not play any movie with ISO format from sharing computer in my local network. I suggested you should come back to the previous firmware.
@brite-View
I try to use the new firmware because of I got the network speed with the dongle which I bought together with CT was only 11Mbps on the current firmware xxC021, C024. I do not think I will pack it up and ask for the replacement. Instead using the shipping fun for the new CT replacement, I used the fun to pray for the new stable firmware.

Can anyone tell me why my CT can see a 500Gb WD ext drive but not a 750GB WD green ext drive (both are formatted in NTFS and the 750Gb drive is tested working with my laptop and my other media player)? Thanks.

I 'm on beta firmware, and the subtitle button on remote does not function while playing dvd files. It simply shoes Subtitle and the rest of the items in that menu faded out. I can not select any thing on this key. The only way I can select subtitle is going through the dvd menu and enable subtitles. Brite-view, is there a solution on this?

Also, I would like to suggest few enhancements on the menu.
1. If CT remembers what dvd it was playing, it will be convenient to go to previous dvd menu, when dvd-menu button is pressed irrespective of where the CT is traversing now.
2. Wide dvd are typically played at 80% screen, so it will be good idea to provide zoom views to include 1.1x, and 1.2x along with the present 2,4,8 x like in WD tv live.

I too am on the beta firmware and haven't been able to get the subtitles to work on any of my subtitled avi files. When I press the subtitle button on the remote it will not allow me to turn "on" the subtitles. The subtitle screen menu is lit up in bright white letters "off" but will not allow me to change the setting to allow sorting through the languages available. The subtitle file has the exact name as the movie title and plays fine using VLC media player on my PC. The files in the movie folder are .srt, .idx and .asx. Is this still a glitch with this firmware? The movie plays fine, just no subtitles.:mad:

Otherwise, besides the play-on problems I love this thing.

john

Also, Please change the default firmware update to CANCEL instead of OK. It's way to easy to mistakenly update the firmware.

@Chris Burkart
My CT had exactly the same problem as your CT with the new beta firmware loaded in to it.

I have these problems with both recent firmware versions (and earlier too, I think). It was happening very frequently with the "new" old (most recent non-beta firmware--up to now I have always updated whenever prompted) so I decided to try the beta firmware. The issues seem to persist, which does suggest possible hardware problems.

@brite-view: The most recent file I had it freeze on was an .m2ts of the movie "District 9" played from an external HDD. It was just pulled out of the STREAM folder on the blu-ray and was otherwise unmodified. It froze within the first 10 minutes of the movie, I had to unplug the CT and "reboot" it. The second time around it played fine.

The other title I can recently remember it freezing on was a Japanese TV show (Saka no ue no kumo) file, 1920x1080 x264 in .mp4, file size was 1.79GB. This was played over a wired network from a Windows machine. I think that one had two freezes before eventually playing the whole episode.

It also has lockups while navigating PC Media over the network but they seem to be less frequent under the "beta" (New UI) firmware.

If you are pretty sure this is a hardware issue please let me know the procedure for an exchange.

Thanks!

@Brite View - How long will the newly released (new GUI) firmware will remain as a 'beta' - are there additional changes slated before it becomes a general release?

What is the course of action planned - Is your team still testing the 'beta' and addressing all the issues that were brought up?

Will you post the progress and plan to keep us in the loop ?

Can anyone tell me why my CT can see a 500Gb WD ext drive but not a 750GB WD green ext drive (both are formatted in NTFS and the 750Gb drive is tested working with my laptop and my other media player)? Thanks.

I've used 500Gb (green), 1.0Tb (green) and 1.5Tb (non green) drives with no issues whatsoever.

Only suggestion I can make is to reformat it and try again. If you are using an external docking station - have the docking station powered on beforehand then turn on the CT unit.

When you state that the connectivity is fine with your laptop, I'm assuming you are using the same exact docking station that you used with the laptop, is the same one being used with CT

Thanks avhokie for the firmware tip and to @Brite-view for the quick and informed response. I suspected the next firmware would solve my only problem with the CT and sure enough, it did. I am now naked in a fetal position cradling my CinemaTube. True love, I've waited for a gizmo like this for 10 years (and at half the price of what it's worth).
Tubetorrent out.

Does anyone know where to get one of these in Canada?

We have them in stock again, and we should be able to ship within 2 business days. A friendly reminder - as we have received requests from people requesting to change their shipping address after we have sent out the units,

brite-View ,

I'm need to buy a unit, are you sending out, I'm in Brazil. Can I buy 2 units dongle wi-fi?

Currently cinematube usb port works with Blu-Ray or DVD unit PC (with adapter IDE / SATA to USB)?

thanks

I have not been able to play ripped dvd from a folder in HDD through the dvd menu button. Can anyone help? The ripped dvd is not in iso format.

@hitoya: you'd be happy to know that there will be two more firmware updates coming, one in Feb and one in March. These should address the UPnP issues. And thanks for the info on the "shuffle" button - I'll be sure to pass it on.

@cybergenie35: the file transfer should not be acting weird - did you connect the CT with a wire and the computer with a wire, too? And sorry the CinemaTube is not smart enough to remember different passwords now.

@daochoi, Chris Burkart: thanks for sharing the experience. Chris, if you have purchased this unit from us (on our website or from the store-in-store on Amazon), please email the transaction ID to service5@zinnetusa.com and the request will be forwarded to the RMA department.

@harig1, Spongebob38: this subtitle not turned on issue is new so I just checked it myself. Just as you experienced, I wasn't able to turn on the subtitle the first time, and had to go into the menu to turn it on instead. However, the problem seems to be gone afterwards. I turned off the CinemaTube and turned it back on to try the same movie and a few others, I was able to turn on the subtitle directly while viewing the movies. Please confirm.

@gadget-zilla: most certainly I will keep everyone updated. I do not know the details yet, but I know there will be another firmware update in February and another one in March. I will know more details soon.

@tubetorrent: awesome! Thank you.

@rickster904, fabriciogcbh: unfortunately we now no longer accept international orders because of the lack of manpower to properly handle the international orders. Our workload has surged along with the domestic orders, but we are talking to other distributors and dealers in other countries. If we add more distributors in other countries we will let you know.

@lalsal: could you tell me which version of firmware you're using, and also the file format? Is it in .VOB or .IFO? If so, try playing the VIDEO_TS.IFO one.

Hi brite-View,

Good to know that new firmware is coming. I will most likely buy another one for different TV. By the way, when I did a test for USB wireless network, everything seems to work. But USB adapter was getting really hot after a while. I wonder if you have some report on USB wireless network usability because of that. Also, I am curious what the major difference between Feb and Mar firmware.

Thanks again for your response.

hitoya

@harig1, Spongebob38: this subtitle not turned on issue is new so I just checked it myself. Just as you experienced, I wasn't able to turn on the subtitle the first time, and had to go into the menu to turn it on instead. However, the problem seems to be gone afterwards. I turned off the CinemaTube and turned it back on to try the same movie and a few others, I was able to turn on the subtitle directly while viewing the movies. Please confirm.

Brite-View, I went into Setup/System/Subtitle Encoding/Unicode(UTF8) and changed it to Turkish, exited the setup and went back and changed it back to UTF8. Turned the Unit off and back on and tried my subtitled AVI files. No change occurred. I then unplugged the unit and powered back on. No difference. I Cannot get the subtitles to display (SW ver. IPB1009C241) nor can I get the the remote control subtitle menu to turn "on" so I can choose the appropriate subtitle.

Movie folder contains the following files for example: Thirst.avi, Thirst.idx, Thirst.srt, Thirst.sub

Thanks for looking into this.

John

I downloaded the beta firmware on BV's website, install.img and install.img-sig to my USB stick and try to update it on the CT. I went to System-->Software Update and select the USB update. It saw the update with the correct version and asked if I want to update. I selected OK. The screen flashed with an error. I think the error said "Could not get image version number..." or something similar to that. Then on the Note: area it said the image is corrupted. I tried it on two CT and it did the same thing. I redownloaded the image and it did the same thing. Anybody has problem updating the f/w using a USB drive? Thanks.

Hi Brite-View,
When streaming HD content (e.g 720p mkv) via the ethernet port (wired) from my NAS the movie occasionally stutters but if I put the movie on the attached USB drive it plays smoothly. Streaming DVD iso file has no problem. This is with both the old f/w and the beta f/w. What do you think is wrong? Thanks.

@hitoya: I'm sorry I do not know the details of what each firmware update will entail yet, but I promise to keep everyone updated and we'll be careful about the firmware update procedure this time.

@Spongebob38: got it. I will immediately inform our team.

@nihaoma: for some reason the USB update is not very user-friendly to some of our customers. If you would like to try again, please try to "force" the update this way: (please do NOT power off during the update otherwise it may brick the box; I suggest detaching the internet cable/USB wifi dongle, if any, as well)
1) Unplug CinemaTube

2) Hold the power button

3) Plug the CinemaTube back (without letting go of the power button around 10 seconds)

4) You'll enter "USB Update". Please plug in the USB drive with the firmware and update from there.

Also, do you have any information on your network speed?

P.S. Just curious if your user name means "how are you" in Chinese.

does anyone heard if there will ever be an option for box art

Hey Briteview I was also interested to know if any future plans for this was discussed as well?( Since the WDTV Live supports this as well as the option to use a preview window).

@nihaoma: I asked my team and they said that sometimes it has something to do with if you're running too many things on the NAS at the same time. Please disable the other services and leave only the CIFS running.

@falcondx: Yes, but there is no timeline for that yet. I will keep pushing. (P.S. the request of GUI change was denied at the beginning. But because we keep bugging my team they finally did it. There is hope) :)

Hi Brite-view,
I upgraded to the beta version and I have the following issue:
The CT does not play my avi files from my DV video camera.
I asked you this before, how the new file sharing is supposed to work?
Thanks

Im buyin one tomorrow!!!

@cybergenie35: the file transfer should not be acting weird - did you connect the CT with a wire and the computer with a wire, too? And sorry the CinemaTube is not smart enough to remember different passwords now.



Briteview, yes, all computers and CT are connected through an RJ45 cable. Can I ask if anyone is having issues transfering files that are more than 350 MB? Thanks

Brite-view,

I was previously requesting very useful feature which is provided in WD Tv live. When you play dvd files in 16:9 aspect ratio, it typically plays 80% of the tv screen leaving small black bands on the top and bottom of the screen. With zoom in option of 1.1x and 1.2x magnification we can completely spread the video on entire wide screen which is there in WD Tv live but missing in CT.
I feel this is very handy to fill the entire screen. Could you guys consider to enhance to beat WD?

I am going to keep CT and returning WD simply because CT supports DVD menu.

Test

Hi Brite-View,

Would you let me know if CT (using the beta version of the firmware) would be able to do streaming using TVersity via UPnP? I have been using the beta version of the firmware successfully before today, and it just stop working for me tonight. Thanks a lot.

Brite-view,
With zoom in option of 1.1x and 1.2x magnification we can completely spread the video on entire wide screen which is there in WD Tv live but missing in CT.
I feel this is very handy to fill the entire screen.

You do realize that doing that will cut off part of the image, correct? There is no way to fill a 4:3 screen with 16:9 content without either losing part of, or distorting the image.

Considering Buying a CT.

Is there a way to access a USB drive attached to the CT from other computers on the network?

I want to be able to transfer multimedia files from my desktop computer to the hard drive that is attached to the CT.

Also, i am considering moving my media Hard drive to the CT and using it as the default for all my photo albums. Is there a way to make the CT usb drive my default storage for my desktop pc's photo programs? For example, when i import my photos from my digital camera on my desktop pc, they will automatically be stored on the USB drive attached to the CT.

Thanks!

You do realize that doing that will cut off part of the image, correct? There is no way to fill a 4:3 screen with 16:9 content without either losing part of, or distorting the image.
Some reason most wide screen dvds only occupy 80 percent of the wide screen leaving space at the top and bottom. In such cases 1.2 zoom correctly fill the wide screen complete screen with a minimum cut on horizontal sides. This option is available in WD TV live.

Hi Brite-view
I have a couple of questions:
1- Does the Cinema tube supprt jumping to next chapter in "avi" or "mkv" files? If not is it possible to add this feature?
2-Can you add an option to CT to shutdown after being idle for certain amount of time?
3-Can you add to the CT to automatically display the subtitles that have the same name as the video file?
4-Is it possible to confgure the CT not to play the next video file in the directory?
5-Since the CT can play many different internet media format, is it possible to add support for directly reading the stream from the internet without using the media server?

Thanks

Considering Buying a CT.

Is there a way to access a USB drive attached to the CT from other computers on the network?


This works for me with the "beta" firmware. Turns the CT into a mini-NAS. Directions for setting it up are several pages back.

@e24412: may I suggest that you exchange for a new one? I apologize for not having an immediate solution for that, and I know the popping sound must have been bothering you. Otherwise, may I suggest you downgrade to the older firmware?

@ToUgHsPoT: please use the user name and password you use to log into your computer when turning it on. Please remember to turn on "file sharing" and "password protected sharing" in your "Network and Sharing Center".

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Is there anyone other than me having problems trying to login into their PC with Win7 from the CT. I keep getting login failure. The WinXP PC's work fine.

Hey Brite-View, I did as you instructed and I'm still getting login failure. Is there anything else I should try?

if possible, add a torrent to upload to remain

Is there anyone other than me having problems trying to login into their PC with Win7 from the CT. I keep getting login failure. The WinXP PC's work fine.

Hey Brite-View, I did as you instructed and I'm still getting login failure. Is there anything else I should try?

briteview.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/cinematube-is-compatible-with-windows-7-now

@harig1 - The black bars are supposed to be there - it is caused by the aspect ratio of the source material. Even though the image and your TV are both “widescreen”, many widescreen movies are not filmed for exactly the 16x9 ratio of your TV so some black space has to remain. Otherwise you get distortion or lose some of the image.

@brite-view - More zoom in/out ratios would be a great addition for some use cases, like being able to zoom in more exactly for older videos in matted widescreen! This is definitely a bonus feature though, and isn’t something that should be expected before the remaining real bugs are fixed.

Guys,

Just want to quickly update the UPnP situation:

We just got the chip manufacturer's SDK and it works smoothly with UPnP now. We are also working on our side to address other bugs, and finally we'll merge the two. Once it's done, we expect to release that version in February (sorry I don't know when yet; and don't want to overpromise).

I will be on in a bit to answer the questions. Thanks.

briteview.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/cinematube-is-compatible-with-windows-7-now

I have done exactly according to the instructions and it is still asking for the Net User ID and Password. What next please?

I have done exactly according to the instructions and it is still asking for the Net User ID and Password. What next please?

I too am using Win7 and was unable to obtain access to my desktop shares until I upgraded to the beta version of the firmware.
With the beta firmware, the only problem I am experiencing is the same that everyone else is in that the UPnP doesn't work. The beta version with this one exception enables the CT to be the best-in-class for these types of devices. I've already talked two friends into purchasing and they too are happy not only with the device and firmware but more importantly with the prompt responses from Brite-View on this forum and their attention to all of us. Keep up the good work and your sales will reflect your best-in-class status!

Thnx, Leo

I tried following the same instructions and as a WIN 7 user, no dice. It is still asking me for a Net User ID and Password so after trying every possible combination I can think of (I've never had a WIN 7 password). I just gave up and followed this forum, but nothing has worked so far.

Also, I am using C241 and every time I turn on my CT I am prompted to download another 'latest' version which has something to do with Hitachi Flash or something like that.

As I have a wireless connection, I have tried to download and install this latest version many times, however each time it gets to 60% and dies. Even though it says not to Power Off, it is the only way I can get out of this crash. I've left it go a very long time and it never gets past 60%.

The CT, like the CC I had before it, is great for watching movies, etc. off my ext. drives, but I just have not had any luck with anything else. :confused:

I too am using Win7 and was unable to obtain access to my desktop shares until I upgraded to the beta version of the firmware.
With the beta firmware, the only problem I am experiencing is the same that everyone else is in that the UPnP doesn't work. The beta version with this one exception enables the CT to be the best-in-class for these types of devices. I've already talked two friends into purchasing and they too are happy not only with the device and firmware but more importantly with the prompt responses from Brite-View on this forum and their attention to all of us. Keep up the good work and your sales will reflect your best-in-class status!

Thnx, Leo

I upgraded to beta version also. I now have both UPnP and Network working. UPnP had always worked. I finally got the Network working. I guess it took a while to kick in. It just started working on it own after I made the changes in the system registry

briteview.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/cinematube-is-compatible-with-windows-7-now
actually works folks. Trust me!!

I tried following the same instructions and as a WIN 7 user, no dice. It is still asking me for a Net User ID and Password so after trying every possible combination I can think of (I've never had a WIN 7 password). I just gave up and followed this forum, but nothing has worked so far.

Also, I am using C241 and every time I turn on my CT I am prompted to download another 'latest' version which has something to do with Hitachi Flash or something like that.

As I have a wireless connection, I have tried to download and install this latest version many times, however each time it gets to 60% and dies. Even though it says not to Power Off, it is the only way I can get out of this crash. I've left it go a very long time and it never gets past 60%.

The CT, like the CC I had before it, is great for watching movies, etc. off my ext. drives, but I just have not had any luck with anything else. :confused:

Once you update to the beta version firmware, go here>>

briteview.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/cinematube-is-compatible-with-windows-7-now

and follow the instructions to the letter.

You will still get the logon screen, don't put anything into the fields and just click "OK"

It will work!!

I finally did some reading after not seeing the firmware update option in early Jan. I downloaded and updated the firmware using the beta release with no problem.

I know others have reported some problems, but the update works great for me. I like the UI improvements and the copy option to allow both copy from CT and PC -- great improvements in this firmware release.

I believe it does help distinguish your product from some of the other recent entries that were using the same chipset UI interface that was the default.

I don't use the uPnP option often, so can wait for the Feb release to fix that issue with minimal impact.

Once again thanks for the update and hope to see many more releases like this.

swmeister

Tell whether beta support russian language in UI ?

As I have a wireless connection, I have tried to download and install this latest version many times, however each time it gets to 60% and dies. Even though it says not to Power Off, it is the only way I can get out of this crash. I've left it go a very long time and it never gets past 60%.

The CT, like the CC I had before it, is great for watching movies, etc. off my ext. drives, but I just have not had any luck with anything else. :confused:

I waited about two hours
And the update was successful !

I update to beta firmware !
This is a very good soft thanks.
windows 7 net and share good works.

But not all words are translated into Russian, but it is not essential. :)

OK, I finally was able to download and install firmware update IPB1009C021. Actually, this looks like a roll-back to the previous GUI. I liked the new GUI, but could live with this if it worked.

1. I followed the instructions in briteview.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/cinematube-is-compatible-with-windows-7-now and I don't even get a prompt for a login/password now like I did before. It just shows My Shortcuts and will not go anywhere when I try to access it - I just get a screen that takes me BACK.

2. When I try to use the Torrents option, I get a message that "BT disk mount failed." I am using an NFTS formatted 8 gb flash drive.

3. Selecting the UPnP option only gives me the fast message "Searching for a PnP device. This may take a moment." Then, I only get the option to go BACK again.

Actually I seem to be worse off that before I did the update as I still cannot access my computer, PnP, or do Torrents and I liked the new GUI better. :confused:

EDIT: I went into Windows 7 and turned off Homegroups. I am able to get to the directory of my PC, however, STILL the same problem (after changing the registry per the instructions) of asking me for a user id/password and not accepting anything, including no entry/blank.

Also, now I am unable to even us the File Copy feature that I had in the previous firmware. Is that dead too? It was one of the things that was working OK. This is pretty frustrating in that most seem to be onboard, but I've had nothing but problems with the features of the CT, except for the simple playback of video, etc. using a HDD.

@emil3412: could you provide more details on the AVI files? what is the resolution and what is the bitrate, for example.

Do you mean watching a movie on your computer using the CinemaTube connected to the TV? Could you tell me more about the operating system? Windows or Mac?

@cybergenie35: is the problem still there? There were a few people who had issues transferring larger files earlier, but they did not say anything afterwards. We've tried a few times transferring files over 4G with the File Copy feature without problems in the office.

@harig1: Thank you for your suggestion. Have you tried the "Aspect" button on the remote control? Maybe that would help?

So far, I have enjoyed the CT for what I bought it for, playing DVD ISOs over the network.

Here are a couple ergonomic issues to think about for the successor and/or firmware update to the Cinemtube:

When I hold the remote, the sharp corners on the back end are uncomfortable and scratch the palm of my hand. I have to hold the remote differently than usual to avoid this. Slightly rounding the corners and top edge would make a big difference in comfort.

The blinking blue light on the front of the player is rather distracting when the player is near the TV. It would be nice if we had an option to turn this network status light off. Would it be possible to add this option with a firmware update? In the successor, perhaps you can move the light to the back of the unit similar to a desktop motherboard.

@iltwams: No, the major issue with the beta firmware is exactly that. It breaks the UPnP streaming through PlayOn or Tversity. However, the chip manufacturer had just fixed that and we're merging their software with our own. We expect to fix the problem and release another firmware in Feb.

@mongofrye: yes, with the "File Copy" feature in the beta firmware you can transfer files between your computer and the hard drive attached to the CinemaTube. Unfortunately it happens manually, not automatically.

@emil3412: to answer your questions:
1. No. A lot of people have proposed to add the 10 second or 30 second skip. Currently, you can use the "GOTO" button underneath the number 7 button to go to the desired chapter or time point.
2. I have to check with my team. Thanks for the suggestion.
3. With the beta firmware it does that - correct me if I'm wrong.
4. Someone else also proposed that. I will discuss with my team.
5. It has something to do with the content providers, and they usually require licensing fee and they select who they want to partner with. With the current chip the browser experience would not be bad, so we are not going to add a browser to the CinemaTube.

@ToUgHsPoT: thanks for the testimonial. :)

@CBdelta: Yes, we understand the importance of fixing the bugs and we know it's frustrating to have to wait for months for the fix, and then it breaks something else. We will keep working on this. Might not be able to make everyone happy, but we'll try fixing the bugs first.

@Sarisin:

Win7 --> could you see if you turned on the File Sharing in Network and Sharing center? With beta firmware Windows 7 sharing should be ok. Turn on "Password protected sharing" and use that with CinemaTube, if you have a user name and password when you turn on your computer.

UPnP --> the drawback of the beta firmware is that it breaks UPnP streaming. Therefore it's called a beta firmware now and not available for automatic online update.

Torrent Download --> Please use a NTFS or EXT-3 drive that has at least 20GB of free space. Please note that even when you're using a hard drive with high capacity (say 500GB), you will not be able to use the torrent download feature when it has less than 10% (50GB) left.

File Copy --> it should work ok, as long as CT can see your computer in the first place. Before the beta firmware this feature was not available.

@brite-view: When are you going to have your own forum? Nothing against this, but it will be a lot nicer to look at certaiun threads for you guys, rather than having to sort through 70+ pages of information to find out how things should be connected.

Or, at least have a sticky here we could access. I appreciate Brite-view's patient responses, but there seems to be a lot of repetition.

Also, is there some sort of online documention for the CT that might save a lot of these questions?

Thanks.

1) Unplug CinemaTube

2) Hold the power button

3) Plug the CinemaTube back (without letting go of the power button around 10 seconds)

4) You'll enter "USB Update". Please plug in the USB drive with the firmware and update from there.



Hello brite-view - I tried your method, but it didn't work. The 'update' via USB also did not work. I have a Sandisk Cruzer 4GB usb key. Both FAT and FAT32 did not work. How should we format the USB flash drive?

Edited 2009-01-22: I found my mistake - When I downloaded 'install.img', my download manager saved it as 'install.tar'. Once I downloaded and saved as 'install.img', the update via USB worked. BTW - My Sandisk Cruzer 4GB was formatted as FAT.

Is it possible to create shortcuts?
As of today, using the released firmware, I have to navigate as followed:

PC Media --> /WORKGROUP/ --> /NAS-01/ --> /Disk3/ --> /Partition1/ --> /TV-Series/ --> /Series-Season1/ --> Episode01.iso

It would be great if I can create a shortcut from PC Media --> Favorite --> /Series-Season1/

Possible feature for next firmware updates?

Thanks.

Is it possible to create shortcuts?
As of today, using the released firmware, I have to navigate as followed:

PC Media --> /WORKGROUP/ --> /NAS-01/ --> /Disk3/ --> /Partition1/ --> /TV-Series/ --> /Series-Season1/ --> Episode01.iso

It would be great if I can create a shortcut from PC Media --> Favorite --> /Series-Season1/

Possible feature for next firmware updates?

Thanks.

+1

It takes way too long to get to my videos. My wife can't navigate it at all.

+1

It takes way too long to get to my videos. My wife can't navigate it at all.

+1

Also, would it be possible to make CT be able to read "Shortcuts to other folders" (created on a PC) at all? So that, a shortcut can be made on a PC and used on CT to "jump" from one folder to another folder (e.g. a folder on another drive).

Thanks...

Can anyone tell me why my CT can see a 500Gb WD ext drive but not a 750GB WD green ext drive (both are formatted in NTFS and the 750Gb drive is tested working with my laptop and my other media player)? Thanks.

All my drives are NTFS and the CT worked well with them, including the newer 2TB drives. Once I had a 2TB drives with more that 5000 songs in one single directory, it took forever for the CT to display the song! Learned that now. :)

+1

also, would it be possible to make ct be able to read "shortcuts to other folders" (created on a pc) at all? So that, a shortcut can be made on a pc and used on ct to "jump" from one folder to another folder (e.g. A folder on another drive).

Thanks...

+3 :)

+1

It takes way too long to get to my videos. My wife can't navigate it at all.
+1

Even better, a graphical movie jukebox would make a nice user interface for video navigation.
An excellent open source jukebox is YAMJ:
http://code.google.com/p/moviejukebox/wiki/MovieJukebox
It is being implemented for the AC Ryan PlayOn!HD player (also based on the Realtek chip), so it is certainly feasible for the Cinematube, probably with minimal modification. Brite-View, what do you think of that?

Here is the AC Ryan link:
http://www.acryan.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=95

I updated to beta.
Now every time you switch CT says that there is an update.
How to disable?

Torrent client is able to work in the background?
Please add this feature in the new firmware.

2-Can you add an option to CT to shutdown after being idle for certain amount of time?



+1

I would like to see the auto-shutoff option implemented as well.
I've had many instances where CT was on idling all day/night because it wasn't shutdown properly.

+1

Even better, a graphical movie jukebox would make a nice user interface for video navigation.
An excellent open source jukebox is YAMJ:
http://code.google.com/p/moviejukebox/wiki/MovieJukebox
It is being implemented for the AC Ryan PlayOn!HD player (also based on the Realtek chip), so it is certainly feasible for the Cinematube, probably with minimal modification. Brite-View, what do you think of that?

Here is the AC Ryan link:
http://www.acryan.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=95


Hey Evb62 I had also asked about box cover art before and it looks like there are some plans for down the future.

With what you noted above and with WDTV Live having the option and with previews for the upcoming Boxee and Popbox media player interfaces , I think it would be a really good option to stay relevant.

I downloaded the beta firmware on BV's website, install.img and install.img-sig to my USB stick and try to update it on the CT. I went to System-->Software Update and select the USB update. It saw the update with the correct version and asked if I want to update. I selected OK. The screen flashed with an error. I think the error said "Could not get image version number..." or something similar to that. Then on the Note: area it said the image is corrupted. I tried it on two CT and it did the same thing. I redownloaded the image and it did the same thing. Anybody has problem updating the f/w using a USB drive? Thanks.
Make sure the two filenames in the USB key are what they supposed to be.

@hitoya: I'm sorry I do not know the details of what each firmware update will entail yet, but I promise to keep everyone updated and we'll be careful about the firmware update procedure this time.

@Spongebob38: got it. I will immediately inform our team.

@nihaoma: for some reason the USB update is not very user-friendly to some of our customers. If you would like to try again, please try to "force" the update this way: (please do NOT power off during the update otherwise it may brick the box; I suggest detaching the internet cable/USB wifi dongle, if any, as well)
1) Unplug CinemaTube

2) Hold the power button

3) Plug the CinemaTube back (without letting go of the power button around 10 seconds)

4) You'll enter "USB Update". Please plug in the USB drive with the firmware and update from there.

Also, do you have any information on your network speed?

P.S. Just curious if your user name means "how are you" in Chinese.
nihaoma brite-View,

You're right. Too many services are running on the NAS, especially the torrent downloader, are causing the stuttering on HD streaming. After I disabled them they ran smoothly. I'll try your suggested method on the USB f/w update. Thanks again.

ps: r u chinese?

I have done exactly according to the instructions and it is still asking for the Net User ID and Password. What next please?
works perfect brite view done it again grat product great price need 2 things full menu blu ray support and hd audio codecs any info about this is possible.

I'm not sure if that has been answered here...but does the CinemaTube support playback of Blu-ray (BD25) files?

Thanks.

I'm not sure if that has been answered here...but does the CinemaTube support playback of Blu-ray (BD25) files?

Does the notation "BD25" mean you're using BD Rebuilder to create BD25s? If this is the case, the answer is a qualified yes. You will need to navigate down to the STREAM subfolder in your disc's file structure and select the single m2ts file that is in there. You won't have any chapters, though.

My problem is that cinema tube does not recognize dvd (iso or img) files.
It does recognize avi, mkv, mpg, etc files.. but not iso or img files.

The files are on an external HD but when browsing the DVD folder CT does not
show the files.

I´ve tried the new and the old FW, both with same result.

Do I really have to extract the vob files from the img/iso files to make it work?
Or should I rename the img file to something else?

Torrent client is able to work in the background?
Please add this feature in the new firmware.
+1

For now torrent's client is useless, because of those problem:
1 - ONLY 1 torrent downloads, other 2 are waiting
2 - the average speed is 200KB/sec
3 - If I stop the torrent's client, it takes LOTS of minutes to start, for instance I download a 7GB torrent when it was at 99% I stoped the client an started again an it take 90 minutes to finish (about 85 minutes onlly to start the torrent)
4 - it don't upload

It is posible to resolve those problems?

Also it is posible to have those?:
a - Torrent client work in the background
b - have a web interface or/and a software for windows (like transmission one)
c - set the maximum peers per torrent

My problem is that cinema tube does not recognize dvd (iso or img) files.
It does recognize avi, mkv, mpg, etc files.. but not iso or img files.
The files are on an external HD but when browsing the DVD folder CT does not
show the files.
I´ve tried the new and the old FW, both with same result.
Do I really have to extract the vob files from the img/iso files to make it work?
Or should I rename the img file to something else?

DVD ISO files work fine for me. How are you creating them, what software? What exactly is the filename structure of your files? Is it "ABCDEFGH.ISO"?

I just got the CT and network speeds are hit and miss.

Used Asus Wireless AP plugged into ethernet and got 12,000 kbit/sec

Plugged in airlink wifi dongle and getting max 5,000 kbit/sec

This difference causes noticable stutter on video.

I have Wireless N router with gigabit ethernet and attached to gigabit ethernet on connected computer.

Any thoughts or explanations?

Just got my cinematube today and so far it's fantastic. There's one feature that I can't seem to make much use of though and that's the shortcuts. I've read the briteview page that describes how to create them, and I can create a very simple shortcut to the root of my fileserver.

However, what I want is to create a shortcut to a specific folder on my fileserver. For example:

/fileserver4/public/video/dvd/

I can't seem to figure out how to do this... any tips? The briteview page says that shortcuts can be used "to skip multi-level directory navigation", and that's what I'm trying to do, but can't figure that part out.

If the brite-view people are listening, then I suggest adding a "create shortcut" option to create a shortcut to a particular hilighted item when navigating through files and directories.

Scott

I just got the CT and network speeds are hit and miss.

Used Asus Wireless AP plugged into ethernet and got 12,000 kbit/sec

Plugged in airlink wifi dongle and getting max 5,000 kbit/sec

This difference causes noticable stutter on video.

I have Wireless N router with gigabit ethernet and attached to gigabit ethernet on connected computer.

Any thoughts or explanations?


I checked a little and i believe it may be incompatibility with my router, a netgear WNR3500.

For anyone using the wifi dongle, could you please write back what router you are using in conjunction with the dongle? and What kind of success you are having with speeds?

Thanks!

+1

For now torrent's client is useless, because of those problem:
1 -
.
.
.


Yes, telebog has the right.

And I would add:
1. CT is restart it can not read a file
2. Subtitle I want to be WHITE not GRAY
3. Low speed wired network to copy files to the NAS or the CT menu "Copy File"
4. I'd like FTP or SSH access to install third party software in CT, -> FTP server or Transmission
5. The interval between 2 update is very high and when he appeared last update it had problems

DVD ISO files work fine for me. How are you creating them, what software? What exactly is the filename structure of your files? Is it "ABCDEFGH.ISO"?

I haven´t created the files, just unpacked them.
They all come from The Internet =)
Anyway, the file structure is asdf_asdf-2.iso, but I´ve renamed them
to abcefg.iso as well. The strange thing is that two of the files
suddenly showed up on the CT and was playable, but after a restart they disappeared again.

@emil3412: could you provide more details on the AVI files? what is the resolution and what is the bitrate, for example.

Do you mean watching a movie on your computer using the CinemaTube connected to the TV? Could you tell me more about the operating system? Windows or Mac?

@cybergenie35: is the problem still there? There were a few people who had issues transferring larger files earlier, but they did not say anything afterwards. We've tried a few times transferring files over 4G with the File Copy feature without problems in the office.

@harig1: Thank you for your suggestion. Have you tried the "Aspect" button on the remote control? Maybe that would help?
Here is the codec and format of the DV video which CT can not play.
D:\pictures\dv\uvs100118-001.avi
General
Complete name : D:\pictures\dv\uvs100118-001.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 895 MiB
Duration : 4mn 7s
Overall bit rate : 30.3 Mbps
Recorded date : 2006-07-09 20:18:39
Video
Format : Digital Video
Codec ID : dvsd
Codec ID/Hint : Sony
Duration : 4mn 7s
Bit rate : 28.8 Mbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16/9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : NTSC
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:1:1
Scan type : Interlaced
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 2.778
Stream size : 849 MiB (95%)
Audio
Format : PCM
Format settings, Endianness : Little
Format settings, Sign : Unsigned
Codec ID : 1
Codec ID/Hint : Microsoft
Duration : 4mn 7s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 536 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Resolution : 16 bits
Stream size : 45.3 MiB (5%)
Interleave, duration : 333 ms (9.99 video frames)

@Cinematube

For example, I am having difficulty playing this file with true 5.1 surround sound using my surround sound receiver (Samsung HT-P38).

Here is the file that has WMA 5.1 surround sound: http://drop.io/7em4yxo

Can anyone else get this to play in 5.1 sound?

My settings are SPDIF RAW to my surround sound receiver using optical audio (every other audio file plays fine in 5.1 audio).

THANKS

Hi,
I ordered 2 last week Brite-View through Amazon since it would come with HDMI :). I made my final decision after reading this forum and realizing that the company rep is very active in the forum answering questions and they are addressing user concerns through firmware updates.
The question I have though is will Brite-View create a device that can do all that the CT does but also has the ability to record. I am looking for something other than Tivo or Reply-tv which charge too much for subscription and which the box is useless without it. If someone can give me a suggestion for a standalone device that can would be great.
Thanks

I checked a little and i believe it may be incompatibility with my router, a netgear WNR3500.

For anyone using the wifi dongle, could you please write back what router you are using in conjunction with the dongle? and What kind of success you are having with speeds?

Thanks!

Good Luck in getting this info. I posted a similar request a couple of months back - there were no replies.

As for me, I ended up not using the wi-fi dongle after all. I am not using (or plan to in the future) CT for any streaming purposes. My applications are strightforward and simple, by merely connecting a USB hard drive to the unit and leveraging its capabilities from a standalone perspective.

Hi,
I ordered 2 last week Brite-View through Amazon since it would come with HDMI :). I made my final decision after reading this forum and realizing that the company rep is very active in the forum answering questions and they are addressing user concerns through firmware updates.
The question I have though is will Brite-View create a device that can do all that the CT does but also has the ability to record. I am looking for something other than Tivo or Reply-tv which charge too much for subscription and which the box is useless without it. If someone can give me a suggestion for a standalone device that can would be great.
Thanks

If you need something quickly and don't want to wait if CT will add (or ever add) that functionality, look into the TVIX products.

It does exactly what you are seeking. There's a dedicated thread for that here on AVSFORUM so you can read up and learn about its functionality/features.

If you need something quickly and don't want to wait if CT will add (or ever add) that functionality, look into the TVIX products.

It does exactly what you are seeking. There's a dedicated thread for that here on AVSFORUM so you can read up and learn about its functionality/features.

OK, thanks I will look into it. One quick question on that brand, In your opinion how reliable is it?

@Hail2Victors, Sarisin: we're finalizing the forum structure and we should be able to launch it officially by the second weekend of Feburary.

@rhumba: thanks for the update - yeah it has to be "untarred" to install.img instead. Thank you for pointing that out.

Regarding the shortcut to a specific file or folder: we are improving the 'search' feature and hopefully that will help in the near future.

@sovaby: unfortunately, although ideally torrent download in the background would be nice, it would severely jeopardize the video playback performance. This is a chip limitation.

@telebog: thanks for the suggestions. However, like the torrent download in the background, the browser can not be added because of the chip limitation. We are developing new products using a different chip, and it'll come with a browser and flash support. So because of chip limitation on CinemaTube, the torrent feature unfortunately will not be able to be compared to a full-blown computer. Rather, it's there for convenience, and is a "bonus" feature.

@Beeeezer: thank you - will request that.

@falcondx: I will request the movie cover art again - just fyi a lot more "interesting" features are going to be added in the next couple of firmware updates.

@nihaoma: I'm originally from Taiwan. :) Good to hear that the NAS is working well with CinemaTube.

@puertowd, saxmax: full Blu-ray menu support has something to do with licensing fees; I will check in the meeting today to see if it's going to be implimented (if we plan to pay).

@puertowd: you'd be happy to hear that we paid the licensing fees in order to support Dolby TrueHD so that should become available soon.

@smbaker: Scott, thanks for joining us. Yes we are listening. :) We are improving the "search" feature and hopefully this will solve the issue in the short run.

@kri55ie: any luck with ISO files? which firmware are you using? We don't normally hear this problem so any feedback would be much appreciated.

@danitzi: understood. Please hang tight - we'll officially release the firmware (with the new GUI) in February, which will also address some major bugs.

@emil3412: thanks for the detailed info. I noticed that although this is in an AVI container, the video codec is DVSD which is not listed on the support list of CinemaTube. I guess this is one of those that's not supported.

@Questi4110: thanks so much for uploading. I will forward this to our lab and see if they have any updates for you.

:
:
@puertowd: you'd be happy to hear that we paid the licensing fees in order to support Dolby TrueHD so that should become available soon.
:
:



Great news on Dolby TrueHD support -- I may add a third one once this gets released. I have been noticing that a lot of the newer Blue-Ray movies use TrueHD and do not provide standard DD5.1.

Lots of great enhancements in the past few months -- I know everyone want's more more more, but I realize that software takes time -- if you want it to work anyway....

Thanks for all the support and features.

swmeister

[QUOTE=brite-View;17974538]

@cybergenie35: is the problem still there? There were a few people who had issues transferring larger files earlier, but they did not say anything afterwards. We've tried a few times transferring files over 4G with the File Copy feature without problems in the office.

QUOTE]

Hi Brite-View, yes I'm still getting this problem. But I did notice that when I transfer FROM CT to my computer, it works okay, but when I transfer TO CT, it fails to transfer.

Same problem, when I use the copy feature on the ct works fine. when I goto the computer map the ct to a drive letter, then try to copy a file over it doesn't work.


QUOTE]

Hi Brite-View, yes I'm still getting this problem. But I did notice that when I transfer FROM CT to my computer, it works okay, but when I transfer TO CT, it fails to transfer.[/QUOTE]

Hi Brite-View, yes I'm still getting this problem. But I did notice that when I transfer FROM CT to my computer, it works okay, but when I transfer TO CT, it fails to transfer.

I use usb hdd with ext3 & copy from UI CT --> CT to PC and from PC to CT, from PC network copy ---> from PC to CT , from CT to PC win7
this work fine.

I use usb hdd with ext3 & copy from UI CT --> CT to PC and from PC to CT, from PC network copy ---> from PC to CT , from CT to PC win7
this work fine.

I have the same problem to map the CT on my computer and try to transfer computer > CT, not work, only to small files like 30mb in a short time, if you try to transfer 20 files of 30mb, not work.

Thanks,

Rafael

Hi brite-View
Can you Add 0.9x zoom out option to help out the overscan on some TV (like Panny plasma 720p)?

Hi brite-View
Can you Add 0.9x zoom out option to help out the overscan on some TV (like Panny plasma 720p)?

We would need 0.9x, 1.1x, and 1.2x apart from what we have (like in WD TV live).

@sovaby: unfortunately, although ideally torrent download in the background would be nice, it would severely jeopardize the video playback performance. This is a chip limitation.

@telebog: thanks for the suggestions. However, like the torrent download in the background, the browser can not be added because of the chip limitation. We are developing new products using a different chip, and it'll come with a browser and flash support. So because of chip limitation on CinemaTube, the torrent feature unfortunately will not be able to be compared to a full-blown computer. Rather, it's there for convenience, and is a "bonus" feature.


hello briteview, you mention developing a new product with new chip and browser support. Any ideas on when that may launch? thanks.

Any one else having problems transferring files? If so, please let me know more about how your CT and computer are connected to the network.

@fjvs2102, harig1: I can ceratainly propose that.

@resteasy: I'm sorry but I have no idea - this is still very early in RD. I don't think it'll be available soon.

Meanwhile, we get probably 5-10 emails a day related to firmware update problems, and some even bricked their units. Here is a piece to explain how to update the firmware on your players, step by step:

http://briteview.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/why-can%E2%80%99t-i-update-firmware-why-why-why-i-have-tried-everything/

Good Luck in getting this info. I posted a similar request a couple of months back - there were no replies.

As for me, I ended up not using the wi-fi dongle after all. I am not using (or plan to in the future) CT for any streaming purposes. My applications are strightforward and simple, by merely connecting a USB hard drive to the unit and leveraging its capabilities from a standalone perspective.

I purchased both the Airlink dongle and the one from Brite-view. The Airlink is tiny, with about 1/2 inch protruding from the rear usb port. The Briteview is much longer and have about three inches protruding from the rear.

Performance from both of the dongles is about the same. I get max connection bandwidth in the range of of 9Kbit to about 20Kbit. My CT is one floor above my Linksys router so the signal strength is mostly strong.

The Airlink gets very hot at the USB connection so I stopped using it. Since then, my Briteview dongles served me well.

I also have another CT located further away from the server room and is connected via a D-Link powerline network setup. Standard definition works pretty well everywhere. My mkv files showed some performance lag, but acceptable.

So far, I'm ok with my setup. Giving up a bit of quality for the convenience of not having to drag my hard drive all over the house is great!

Hope this helps someone.

I have a satellite DVB openbox x-770cipvr that records video *. ts

CT can not play these files!
Please correct this if possible?

Here is a sample video file - http://depositfiles.com/files/3lcl08lua

Video: MPEG2 Video 704x576 (4:3) 25.00fps 15000Kbps [Video]
Audio: MPEG Audio 48000Hz mono 112Kbps [Audio]
Subtitle: DVD Subpicture [Subtitle]

fyi. I used up 2 usb slots, single cable w/ dual connector, to power up my 500Gb WD portable drive where on the PC, it needs only one port.
So I guess this means that the USB ports are not powered. I have two WD500 Passport drives that can only be powered thru their USB ports. Can some one else please confirm that the USB ports are not capable of powering WD Passport drives. If true this would be a deal breaker for me.

Hello Brite-view!

I am also having problems with file transfers. When I'm at the PC I can see the CT unit with its attached external drive just fine. When I try to copy an .iso file of about 3GB in size to it the CT unit immediately reboots every time. When it comes back up the name of the file I tried to copy is on the attached disk but it is zero bytes in length. My PC and the CT are connected together via wired connection through a Linksys WAP54G router.

Just wanted to give you some more info on the transferring files problem that some folks seem to have...

Edit: I am using the Beta software.