I'm aware, but thanks.

Alright, I ripped with Clown, but I must have done something wrong. I selected it output as M2TS files and then I thought it would launch ImgBurn and create an iso for playback. It didn't, so I launched ImgBurn, selected the M2TS chapters and created an iso and tried to play it back. My Dune said there was no playlist, so I'll have to go back, but I thought that Clown would automate everything and create an iso for playback. Am I doing something wrong?

On another note, has no one on this board tried to do a full iso rip of a Universal title and does it work? Or does everyone here just rip the main movie with Clown?

If you wanted an ISO why would you not select the BluRay + ISO output option instead of creating a standalone m2ts :confused:

If you wanted an ISO why would you not select the BluRay + ISO output option instead of creating a standalone m2ts :confused:

Mostly because I never used the software before and was following some instructions that I found on the net. Live and learn.

Mostly because I never used the software before and was following some instructions that I found on the net. Live and learn.

Here is a wiki I wrote on Clown_BD if it helps:

http://www.mediasmartserver.net/wiki/index.php/Clown_BD

All I have used for ripping so far has been DVDFab and MakeMKV. I like both but have yet to have a player capable of passing HD audio and displaying BD menus so I'm not sure how that will work out now that I will have a Dune player.

All I have used for ripping so far has been DVDFab and MakeMKV. I like both but have yet to have a player capable of passing HD audio and displaying BD menus so I'm not sure how that will work out now that I will have a Dune player.

DVDFab will do the trick for BD Menus. I would just do a test rip, and hopefully you will get your Dune soon to test out. Worse case, eat a can of beans and get to ripping early!!!

DVDFab will do the trick for BD Menus. I would just do a test rip, and hopefully you will get your Dune soon to test out. Worse case, eat a can of beans and get to ripping early!!!

Dune should be here sometime today! The only BD drive I have is in my PC here at work so I usually bring my movies with me to rip while I'm working on other things. I'm not too concerned about the time since it's just running in the background. On a side note, I updated my Xtreamer firmware last night to 2.4.1 and gave it one last spin before it gets replaced with the Dune. The Xtreamer locked up on me several times and playback seemed worse than before. I won't miss that at all.

It's here, it's here!!!

My Dune Base is on a UPS truck for Delivery. Duneplayer.com was great on getting me one so quick. Very nice people.

I still own a c-200, a-200, and a a-110. I'll let you guys know how i like it compared to the Popcorn Hour line.

On another note, has no one on this board tried to do a full iso rip of a Universal title and does it work? Or does everyone here just rip the main movie with Clown?

I had some problems with Universal's Apollo 13, even more severe than you describe. That was many months ago and firmware has been updated since then, but I haven't tried it again.

Normally I don't want extras/menus so I just use Clown.

Blu-ray is a ridiculously broken format, if you ask me. Every player has severe compatibility issues like this, though some are worse than others. Firmware updates are commonplace for all players. Even when it does work, even the fastest players can take 90 seconds or more to go from power-on to movie start, and a slow player can take 5 minutes or more. That's absurd. If Hollywood hadn't screwed up the format so badly, I might never have reverted to ripping all my movies.

Dune should be here sometime today! The only BD drive I have is in my PC here at work so I usually bring my movies with me to rip while I'm working on other things. I'm not too concerned about the time since it's just running in the background. On a side note, I updated my Xtreamer firmware last night to 2.4.1 and gave it one last spin before it gets replaced with the Dune. The Xtreamer locked up on me several times and playback seemed worse than before. I won't miss that at all.

It's here, it's here!!!

If you are a Pliot, I hope you are watching the view and not watching you ripping status while at work.:eek:

Dune should be here sometime today! The only BD drive I have is in my PC here at work so I usually bring my movies with me to rip while I'm working on other things. I'm not too concerned about the time since it's just running in the background. On a side note, I updated my Xtreamer firmware last night to 2.4.1 and gave it one last spin before it gets replaced with the Dune. The Xtreamer locked up on me several times and playback seemed worse than before. I won't miss that at all.

It's here, it's here!!!

Congrats bro, email or pm me as usual if you need any help, or ask here and I am sure the guys will be more then glad to help.

FYI - I finally got HD Audio working with the Xtreamer Pro, so I guess I will start testing soon to see what is in store!!!

If you are a Pliot, I hope you are watching the view and not watching you ripping status while at work.:eek:

Actually, I am NOT a pilot. Since this site is about audio/video stuff I thought my signature was an appropriate place to put a little quote from one of my favorite movies ever "The Right Stuff". However, according to my wife I do "fly" on the highway. :) I edited my signature and put that line in quotes with a link to the IMDB listing of the film. :)

Congrats bro, email or pm me as usual if you need any help, or ask here and I am sure the guys will be more then glad to help.



FYI - I finally got HD Audio working with the Xtreamer Pro, so I guess I will start testing soon to see what is in store!!!

Thanks Damian! You and blackssr have both been a big help and I'm looking forward to exporting Zappiti to the Dune later tonight. I did the setup and scraping last night and love the way it looks with the exception of some editing of media details I will need to do (for some reason it wants to say my standard DVD's are 576p instead of 480p?)

Nice! I tried their Movie Jukebox and while the setup seemed very simple I never got any coverart to show up.

How do you set global ZOOM. Its set to normal by default when i play a video.........or do you have to change it for every video?

Thanks For the help.

How do you set global ZOOM. Its set to normal by default when i play a video.........or do you have to change it for every video?

Thanks For the help.

Why would you want to zoom? Are you trying to fill a 16:9 screen with a 2.35:1 movie to get rid of black bars?

I would guess that this is NOT a global setting. Are there aspect ratio settings that allow for zooming without using that control?

Why would you want to zoom? Are you trying to fill a 16:9 screen with a 2.35:1 movie to get rid of black bars?

I would guess that this is NOT a global setting. Are there aspect ratio settings that allow for zooming without using that control?

Coming from my Popcorn Hours, they all have a normal,fit to screen and full screen and some others. This setting is in the main video setup. You can do the same with the dune....but only with the remote hitting the zoom button for each video.

Coming from my Popcorn Hours, they all have a normal,fit to screen and full screen and some others. This setting is in the main video setup. You can do the same with the dune....but only with the remote hitting the zoom button for each video.

Do you have a Harmony remote or something where you could program a macro to perform the zoom after you hit play? I checked through the manual a few minutes ago and only found references to "zoom" using the remote like you said. Personally, I don't like to zoom anything but I know a lot of people, like my brother would rather fill the screen. That seems like something fairly simple to add with firmware in the user settings.

Pros:

Nice case!
Nice packaging
Setup seems simple enough.

Cons:
Worst remote i've ever seen. For $300+ :mad:
Interface is horrible. Thank God for Zappiti.

Testing network performance and video play back tonight.

All I have used for ripping so far has been DVDFab and MakeMKV. I like both but have yet to have a player capable of passing HD audio and displaying BD menus so I'm not sure how that will work out now that I will have a Dune player.

If you want to do full disc ISOs, just use DVDFab Passkey (it's free) and ImgBurn (also free) to create an ISO. With the regular DVDFab, it copies the disc then creates an image, essentially it adds an additional unnecessary step. With Passkey, it decrypts it on the fly (like AnyDVD) and then you can rip directly to an ISO with ImgBurn.

I'm still at work so all I have done is open the box and look around. I agree, the packaging is nicely done, not Oppo nice but nicer than your average component. The remote looks pretty nice to me but I haven't used it yet so I assume you are talking about functionality. Thank goodness for my Harmony remote so this one goes in the drawer with the rest.

Have you tried Zappiti yet? I set it up last night on a PC but haven't exported to the Dune yet obviously.

If you want to do full disc ISOs, just use DVDFab Passkey (it's free) and ImgBurn (also free) to create an ISO. With the regular DVDFab, it copies the disc then creates an image, essentially it adds an additional unnecessary step. With Passkey, it decrypts it on the fly (like AnyDVD) and then you can rip directly to an ISO with ImgBurn.

Interesting. I keep having to uninstall and reinstall because the program expires. Does Passkey work the same way? I don't remember downloading ImgBurn but it must be packaged with DVDFab because it kicks in at the end to create the ISO. Can I still retain full menus and HD audio with Passkey?

I'm still at work so all I have done is open the box and look around. I agree, the packaging is nicely done, not Oppo nice but nicer than your average component. The remote looks pretty nice to me but I haven't used it yet so I assume you are talking about functionality. Thank goodness for my Harmony remote so this one goes in the drawer with the rest.

Have you tried Zappiti yet? I set it up last night on a PC but haven't exported to the Dune yet obviously.

Yes i tried out Zappiti. It works good. Nice and fast.

The remote is in comparison to C-200's RF backlight remote. It beats the WD TV remote:)

I'm also going to try out Play-ON tonight.

Yes i tried out Zappiti. It works good. Nice and fast.

The remote is in comparison to C-200's RF backlight remote. It beats the WD TV remote:)

I'm also going to try out Play-ON tonight.

An RF remote that comes with any component is worthless to me and most others on this forum. I would venture to say a majority of use all have universal ones. and RF one is a detriment to me as is the pos ps3 bluetooth one. thank god Harmony has an overpriced adapter for it though!
sorry about the off topic..
Chris

An RF remote that comes with any component is worthless to me and most others on this forum. I would venture to say a majority of use all have universal ones. and RF one is a detriment to me as is the pos ps3 bluetooth one. thank god Harmony has an overpriced adapter for it though!
sorry about the off topic..
Chris

ok.... in comparison to a $9.99 universal remote from wal-mart. This remote is crap.:D

Just recieved my Dune Base 3.0 from DigitalConnection, ordered over weekend and they shipped on Monday...fast service...but....
I payed for 2 day Fedex and they shipped ground..then I opened the box and it had a NON-US power plug.
I am sure they are a good business, but can't recommend them to anyone else because of the oversights on simple things like this.
Now I sit till next week for them to ship me the correct power plug..:mad:

Just recieved my Dune Base 3.0 from DigitalConnection, ordered over weekend and they shipped on Monday...fast service...but....
I payed for 2 day Fedex and they shipped ground..then I opened the box and it had a NON-US power plug.
I am sure they are a good business, but can't recommend them to anyone else because of the oversights on simple things like this.
Now I sit till next week for them to ship me the correct power plug..:mad:


I got my Dunes last year from Digital connection and they were fine. Sometimes mistakes are made. But Digital Connection has been top notch in my dealings with them during the last ten years.

Just recieved my Dune Base 3.0 from DigitalConnection, ordered over weekend and they shipped on Monday...fast service...but....
I payed for 2 day Fedex and they shipped ground..then I opened the box and it had a NON-US power plug.
I am sure they are a good business, but can't recommend them to anyone else because of the oversights on simple things like this.
Now I sit till next week for them to ship me the correct power plug..:mad:

Any standard PC power supply plug will work:confused:... Now get that Dune up and running soldier!:D

Interesting. I keep having to uninstall and reinstall because the program expires. Does Passkey work the same way? I don't remember downloading ImgBurn but it must be packaged with DVDFab because it kicks in at the end to create the ISO. Can I still retain full menus and HD audio with Passkey?

I'm not sure about when it expires but Passkey is a product that is in beta and free for the time being. ImgBurn is not part of DVDFab but you do have an option to use ImgBurn with DVDFab instead of the built-in VSO burning engine.

You can definitely retain full menus and HD audio with Passkey, all Passkey does is remove the copy protection, with ImgBurn and you can make a duplicate image of the disc (minus the copy protection of course).

Any standard PC power supply plug will work:confused:... Now get that Dune up and running soldier!:D

Finally realized that after a short break..thx.
At least I got a new one on the way also...;)

I'm having a problem setting up attached storage on the Dune. I downloaded the software from the Dune site, extracted it to a shared folder, attached an empty USB thumb drive to the Dune and I get an error that says empty storage is not detected or something of that sort. I can't go any further. I'm updating the firmware now, not sure if that will make a difference or not.

I'm having a problem setting up attached storage on the Dune. I downloaded the software from the Dune site, extracted it to a shared folder, attached an empty USB thumb drive to the Dune and I get an error that says empty storage is not detected or something of that sort. I can't go any further. I'm updating the firmware now, not sure if that will make a difference or not.

Yes, you need to be using the latest firmware, make sure you update to the latest beta firmware

Yes, you need to be using the latest firmware, make sure you update to the latest beta firmware

Okay, I just did the firmware update and still get the error message about no empty storage. The USB thumb drive shows up on screen when I plug it in. I erased everything from it and formatted it before plugging into the Dune. Does it matter how it's formatted? I tried FAT, FAT32, NTFS. When I navigate to that init_system_storage file on the share I created the files are listed but when I try to execute with that file I get the message about storage not detected.

Okay, I just did the firmware update and still get the error message about no empty storage. The USB thumb drive shows up on screen when I plug it in. I erased everything from it and formatted it before plugging into the Dune. Does it matter how it's formatted? I tried FAT, FAT32, NTFS. When I navigate to that init_system_storage file on the share I created the files are listed but when I try to execute with that file I get the message about storage not detected.

Hit info on the remote.
Choose format.
format disk, not partition.
this will prepare for dune use as ext3 partition.
then run program to init usb device.

Did you install inside the unit? Take the cover off there is a USB connector inside.
Also run the program via a external hdd if you have one. There may be a issue with your share???

No, I thought I could just plug it into one of the ports on the back. Well, time to break out the tool kit...

No, I thought I could just plug it into one of the ports on the back. Well, time to break out the tool kit...

Sorry... do this first.. brain fade.

Hit info on the remote.
Choose format.
format disk, not partition.
this will prepare for dune use as ext3 partition.
then run program to init usb device.

No, I thought I could just plug it into one of the ports on the back. Well, time to break out the tool kit...

You don't have to connect on the inside (i.e. you can use the external USB ports), but obviously keeping it inside the case keeps things nice and clean. I have mine on the back USB port and been meaning to move it inside when I get a few seconds

You don't have to connect on the inside (i.e. you can use the external USB ports), but obviously keeping it inside the case keeps things nice and clean. I have mine on the back USB port and been meaning to move it inside when I get a few seconds

Sorry... do this first.. brain fade.

Hit info on the remote.
Choose format.
format disk, not partition.
this will prepare for dune use as ext3 partition.
then run program to init usb device.

Still nothing guys. I got in a hurry and missed your follow up posts so I went ahead and installed a drive inside the Dune. I also tried running the software from an attached USB drive rather than from the share and I get the same error. I did the ext3 format on the internal drive as instructed. I don't know what I'm missing here.

Well, I got the system storage thing setup now. Not sure what the problem was but I attached a second USB drive to the Dune and formatted it for ext3 and then ran the software from my share and it worked. I assume it saw the internal USB drive I installed and not the one I ran the software off of.

Next problem. I exported Zappiti to the Dune and I'm able to start Zappiti from the shared folder and the movie wall comes up, movie information looks fine. I hit enter or play to start the movie and get an two error boxes over top of one another. Something about building a playlist and not being able to find a playlist or file. Give me option to OK, Cancel, or Skip. I assume this is a problem with my share path?

Just got my Dune Base set-up with new FW and connected to my EX495 for viewing of my BD ISO movies, but picture leaves alot to be desired.
I have the Dune plugged to Pioneer Rec. w/HDMI and HDMI out from rec. to my Panasonice 58" plasma. Video quality is not even up to standards of normal DVD's.
What settings in the Dune should be set: Which 1080p/Freq. do you set?
Which color bit is used..8,10,12?..and anything else that would help.
I do a main movie/HD audio ISO copy with DVDFab at BD 25 setting..should I use MKV or folder copy for better picture?..or do not compress and leave at BD50 output?

Hope someone out there can shed some light on getting this set-up to output better video..hate to think all this money spent was a waste...

Thx,
Scott

Just got my Dune Base set-up with new FW and connected to my EX495 for viewing of my BD ISO movies, but picture leaves alot to be desired.
I have the Dune plugged to Pioneer Rec. w/HDMI and HDMI out from rec. to my Panasonice 58" plasma. Video quality is not even up to standards of normal DVD's.
What settings in the Dune should be set: Which 1080p/Freq. do you set?
Which color bit is used..8,10,12?..and anything else that would help.
I do a main movie/HD audio ISO copy with DVDFab at BD 25 setting..should I use MKV or folder copy for better picture?..or do not compress and leave at BD50 output?

Hope someone out there can shed some light on getting this set-up to output better video..hate to think all this money spent was a waste...

Thx,
Scott

Well, you clearly have some kind of an issue with your ripping. I can not tell a lick of difference between a rip played through the Dune and the actual disc, and this is on a 120" screen. I can't even hazard a guess if the picture quality is worse than a dvd...

Only gripe I have so far with picture and I can't believe I missed this in my reading, the unit forces 4:4:4 colorspace apparently. I prefer to send 4:2:2 to my DVDO scaler and then let the scaler output 4:4:4. Even my Xtreamer had colorspace options so hopefully Dune can add this in a firmware upgrade. Aside from that I love this thing so far. Just having some problems getting Zappiti running but I'm sure it's my lack of IT knowledge that's holding me back at this point.

Well, you clearly have some kind of an issue with your ripping. I can not tell a lick of difference between a rip played through the Dune and the actual disc, and this is on a 120" screen. I can't even hazard a guess if the picture quality is worse than a dvd...

What video setting do I need to set-up on the Dune?...1080p/FREQ?
8,10,12 bit?...Fast SMB-on/off? I am re-ripping a movie to see if it looks any better. I will try different formats to look for a difference.

Thx

What video setting do I need to set-up on the Dune?...1080p/FREQ?
8,10,12 bit?...Fast SMB-on/off? I am re-ripping a movie to see if it looks any better. I will try different formats to look for a difference.

Thx

I have mine set at 1080p/24 and AUTO framerate, 12-bit, not sure if it needs to be but I have Fast SMB "ON".

I rip all my BD movies with DVDFab at the 100% BD50 setting, never tried the BD25 setting. I'm with Chris, the rips look excellent to me so try a different setting and see if it helps.

What video setting do I need to set-up on the Dune?...1080p/FREQ?
8,10,12 bit?...Fast SMB-on/off? I am re-ripping a movie to see if it looks any better. I will try different formats to look for a difference.

Thx

I have used the BD25 setting on the default values and don't see any issues with the video either. Now, I only use the BD setting so I can back up the bluray to disk. While on the computer, they are just straight rips at BD50

I have mine set at 1080p/24 and AUTO framerate, 12-bit, not sure if it needs to be but I have Fast SMB "ON".

I rip all my BD movies with DVDFab at the 100% BD50 setting, never tried the BD25 setting. I'm with Chris, the rips look excellent to me so try a different setting and see if it helps.

What are your settings in DVDFab?..or you using software to encode..or a hardware solution like the DXVA?

THX

Well, I got the system storage thing setup now. Not sure what the problem was but I attached a second USB drive to the Dune and formatted it for ext3 and then ran the software from my share and it worked. I assume it saw the internal USB drive I installed and not the one I ran the software off of.

Next problem. I exported Zappiti to the Dune and I'm able to start Zappiti from the shared folder and the movie wall comes up, movie information looks fine. I hit enter or play to start the movie and get an two error boxes over top of one another. Something about building a playlist and not being able to find a playlist or file. Give me option to OK, Cancel, or Skip. I assume this is a problem with my share path?

What is your path in Zappiti?

Well, I got the system storage thing setup now. Not sure what the problem was but I attached a second USB drive to the Dune and formatted it for ext3 and then ran the software from my share and it worked. I assume it saw the internal USB drive I installed and not the one I ran the software off of.

Next problem. I exported Zappiti to the Dune and I'm able to start Zappiti from the shared folder and the movie wall comes up, movie information looks fine. I hit enter or play to start the movie and get an two error boxes over top of one another. Something about building a playlist and not being able to find a playlist or file. Give me option to OK, Cancel, or Skip. I assume this is a problem with my share path?

This happens with every movie you try or just a few? I got the same thing a few times, but I believe that was because I had moved files around and made changes to those specific folders. I re-ran and exported and it seemed fine after that.

To Damian (dbone1026),

I followed you guide on setting up Zappiti on my Dune, and can get to the video folder on my WHS and launch it from there, but am unable to creat the Menu folder with the Zappiti Icon...not sure whats wrong, but followed your instructions to the letter...you got a second to help?

Thx

To Damian (dbone1026),

I followed you guide on setting up Zappiti on my Dune, and can get to the video folder on my WHS and launch it from there, but am unable to creat the Menu folder with the Zappiti Icon...not sure whats wrong, but followed your instructions to the letter...you got a second to help?

Thx

Did you set up the system storage like I mentioned in the guide with a USB stick?

What are your settings in DVDFab?..or you using software to encode..or a hardware solution like the DXVA?

THX

I have never changed a thing in the settings other than making sure it's set at BD50, 100% quality. I have a LG BluRay drive in my PC and DVDFab does the rest, then IMGBurn creates the ISO. One of the easier things I have tried to do really.

What is your path in Zappiti?

My share path is: \\TIMBERTOP\Videos

My folder path is: \\TIMBERTOP\Videos\Movies

My absolute path when exporting is: //TIMBERTOP/Videos/Movies

What should I see under the internal thumb drive I installed? All I see there is a file called .bdtp I think it is.

My share path is: \\TIMBERTOP\Videos

My folder path is: \\TIMBERTOP\Videos\Movies

My absolute path when exporting is: //TIMBERTOP/Videos/Movies

What should I see under the internal thumb drive I installed? All I see there is a file called .bdtp I think it is.

Try this:

My absolute path when exporting is: smb://TIMBERTOP/Videos/Movies

Did you set up the system storage like I mentioned in the guide with a USB stick?

Yes, shows it in the info screen.
I tab down to the Zappiti folder on my WHS:
//SACVIVSTORAGE/Videos/Utilities/Dune/Zappiti/_Zappiti
then I hit menu like you said and it just takes me back to the main menu.
I never see the option to creat shortcut.

Scott

EDIT: On a bit of good news, discovered why video output was so crappy. In the Misc/System folder on Dune, there is an option for BD Improvement Playback that is Enabled by default. Selected Disable and video is crystal clear now.

Yes, shows it in the info screen.
I tab down to the Zappiti folder on my WHS:
//SACVIVSTORAGE/Videos/Utilities/Dune/Zappiti/_Zappiti
then I hit menu like you said and it just takes me back to the main menu.
I never see the option to creat shortcut.

Scott

EDIT: On a bit of good news, discovered why video output was so crappy. In the Misc/System folder on Dune, there is an option for BD Improvement Playback that is Enabled by default. Selected Disable and video is crystal clear now.

So to confirm two things:

1) you are using the latest beta firmware?
2) with the USB drive connected to your dune you ran the “dune_service_init_system_storage.dsf” on it (i.e. once it is system storage you should not see the drive on the home screen)

Try this:

My absolute path when exporting is: smb://TIMBERTOP/Videos/Movies

Once again you are THE MAN Damian. :)

I actually had "smb" in the path before and took it out when troubleshooting. The problem was I never had the ":" :o

So to confirm two things:

1) you are using the latest beta firmware?
2) with the USB drive connected to your dune you ran the “dune_service_init_system_storage.dsf” on it (i.e. once it is system storage you should not see the drive on the home screen)

Yes, I set up the storage drive under the first FW, then installed the latest beta FW with the storage drive already set-up.

My Zappiti config is:
Share Path: \\SACVIVSTORAGE\Videos\Utilities\Dune\Zappiti
Absolute Path: //SACVIVSTORAGE/Videos/Movies
Folder Path: \\SACVIVSTORAGE\Videos\Movies

and I set up the SMB according to your guide. Which folder do you got to before you hit the menu button to creat the shortcut? I have tried them all.

Scott

Yes, I set up the storage drive under the first FW, then installed the latest beta FW with the storage drive already set-up.

My Zappiti config is:
Share Path: \\SACVIVSTORAGE\Videos\Utilities\Dune\Zappiti
Absolute Path: //SACVIVSTORAGE/Videos/Movies
Folder Path: \\SACVIVSTORAGE\Videos\Movies

and I set up the SMB according to your guide. Which folder do you got to before you hit the menu button to creat the shortcut? I have tried them all.

Scott

Make this your absolute path

smb://SACVIVSTORAGE/Videos/Movies

And re export

Also, after you re export navigate to the \\SACVIVSTORAGE\Videos\Utilities\Dune\Zappiti folder on your Dune. You should see two folders, _Zappiti and Zappiti_Resources. I forget which folder you highlight to create the shortcut, try one and if it doesn't work try the other

New beta's are out:Dune BD Prime 3.0
Version "100916_2027_beta" (BETA version, not well tested, may contain critical bugs and broken functionality; not recommended unless you really want to try)

Changes since the previous version:

- Added a possibility to adjust the vertical position of subtitles during
Blu-ray playback.

- Added a possibility to adjust the vertical position of PGS and VobSub
subtitles during file playback.

- Improved handling of PGS subtitles in MKV and TS files.

- Improved "Audio / HDMI audio = Disabled" setting, which should now work
more correctly with various HDMI equipment. Now, it only disables passing
audio through the HDMI, but does not force DVI mode with RGB colorspace
on the HDMI output any more.

- Added a new setting "Video / Advanced / Force DVI output", which allows
to force DVI mode on the HDMI video output. This allows to achieve player
behavior which took place previously when using "HDMI audio = Disabled"
setting. (Note, as previously, this does not affect Blu-ray playback.)

- Added a new setting "Video / Advanced / Output colorspace",
which allows to specify the desired colorspace on the HDMI output.
- Supported values:
- Auto (use BT.709 for HD video modes and BT.601 for SD video modes)
- BT.601.
- BT.709.
- RGB-Full.
- RGB-Limited.
- The default value is Auto.
- Note: does not affect Blu-ray playback (for Blu-ray playback, "Auto"
is always used).
- Note: in previous firmware versions, the actually used setting was
BT.601; if you think that you had a better picture quality during file
or DVD playback in previous firmware versions, you may try to set this
setting to BT.601 (see also the new setting "Video / Advanced /
Default decoder colorspace").

- Added a new setting "Video / Advanced / Default decoder colorspace",
which allows to specify the default colorspace which should be assumed
for files having no explicit indication of the colorspace actually used
when encoding these files.
- Supported values:
- Auto (use BT.709 for files using HD resolution and BT.601 for files
using SD resolution).
- BT.601.
- BT.709.
- The default value is Auto.
- Note: affects only file playback.
- Note: in previous firmware versions, the actually used setting was
BT.601; if you think that you had a better picture quality during file
playback in previous firmware versions, you may try to set this
setting to BT.601 (see also the new setting "Video / Advanced / Output
colorspace").

- Improved Audio CD playback startup speed.

- Improved compatibility with specific models of eSATA HDD enclosures.

- Implemented improvements/fixes for Avatar Blu-ray playback.

- Added automatic clearing (when needed) of Blu-ray Local Storage after
firmware upgrade in order to prevent possible Blu-ray playback problems.

- Added a new setting "Misc / Playback / Save zoom settings", which allows
to remember the choosen zoom mode even after stopping playback and
switching off the player.

- Added a new setting "Misc / Playback / Show recording indicator", which
allows to enable on-screen indication (blinking red circle) during
recording of IPTV / Internet radio / DVB-T streams.

- Improved the firmware recovery procedure: the LED indicator on the front
panel is blinking during firmware recovery process.

- Improved handling of specific unsupported files (such as GMC-encoded
AVIs): information about this is reported to the user.

- Bugfix: HDMI color depth and HDMI CEC settings could be set to wrong
values when using "safe" video modes (triggered by MODE + 1..6 RC
buttons).

- Bugfix: very high-birate IPTV channels could be played with artefacts and
picture distortions (a problem introduced in firmware version
100630_2131_beta).

- Bugfix: specific MKV files could not be recognized and played at all.

- Bugfix: ".djvu" files wrongly considered as supported.

- Bugfix: creation of debug dumps did not work in specific cases (when the
current folder path contained whitespaces).

- Some interface languages added/updated.

- Some other improvements/fixes.

Neat thanks. Has anyone loaded it? I was going to wait for a stable unless I hear good things about the beta.

Only gripe I have so far with picture and I can't believe I missed this in my reading, the unit forces 4:4:4 colorspace apparently. I prefer to send 4:2:2 to my DVDO scaler and then let the scaler output 4:4:4. Even my Xtreamer had colorspace options so hopefully Dune can add this in a firmware upgrade. Aside from that I love this thing so far. Just having some problems getting Zappiti running but I'm sure it's my lack of IT knowledge that's holding me back at this point.

From what I've heard, 4:2:2 colorspace is supposed to be coming in the next firmware update, which they said is coming any day now.

The latest beta also includes all of the following changes (from an unreleased firmware HDI developed):


Version "100828_0034"
Download: N/A (has not been released for this player model, the listed changes included into next firmware versions)
Changes since the previous version:
- Integrated a new version of Sigma Blu-ray SDK:
- This improves compatibility with new Blu-ray discs.

- Integrated commercial NTFS read-write driver from Tuxera.
- All kinds of write access to an NTFS HDD should work, including:
- Copying/moving/deleting/renaming files via file browser.
- FTP access from network.
- SMB access from network.
- Torrent client.
- Recording of IPTV, Internet Radio, DVB-T.
- NOTE: If you do not plan to use your HDD both with Dune and with PC,
it is still recommended to format the HDD to EXT2 or EXT3 filesystem
(as these filesystems are better tested, and as this may provide
better performance in some cases, e.g. when using Torrent client).

- Included Korean fonts.

- Added a workaround for MKV lipsync problem (a small A/V desync when
bitstreaming AC3 through S/PDIF or HDMI, noticeable by some users on some
A/V equipment).

- Bugfix: 192kHz/24-bit FLAC audio could not be output to HDMI TV.

- Bugfix: audio could be absent during playback of specific MPEG files.

- Bugfix: audio could be lost after specific user actions (such as SLOW ->
PAUSE -> PLAY) on specific files.

From what I've heard, 4:2:2 colorspace is supposed to be coming in the next firmware update, which they said is coming any day now.

Very nice. Looks like they have addressed it in the post Killroy made above. One nice thing about having a scaler like my DVDO VP50 is that I can see exactly what is being sent by the source and exactly what the scaler sends to the display. I just got my Dune so I may wait a while before trying this beta firmware as I still need to learn the player and actually watch some movies. :) So far, I love it!

Make this your absolute path

smb://SACVIVSTORAGE/Videos/Movies

And re export

Also, after you re export navigate to the \\SACVIVSTORAGE\Videos\Utilities\Dune\Zappiti folder on your Dune. You should see two folders, _Zappiti and Zappiti_Resources. I forget which folder you highlight to create the shortcut, try one and if it doesn't work try the other

Wow, I am such an idiot...I didn't realize there were TWO menu buttons on remote and was hitting the bottom one, top worked great...thx.
I do have a couple other 'Pro' questions for you...the shortcut works great but the name is: _Zappiti...and way to rename the shortcut and get rid of the underscore?
On the 'All Movies Menu'..looks good, but after scrolling thru 300 titles, can get on ones nerve just browsing..anyway to make the Movie tiles smaller to fit more on the screen?
One specific to Dune Menu...anyway to organize the on screen icons in a different order?..and when you hit the TOP menu button on the icons and it opens the drop down box for that icon, what does it mean to 'Mark' (puts a green check mark next to icon?

Thx again,
Scott

In a couple months I plan to buy either a Dune 3.0 base or maybe one of the new series of Dunes that are coming out soon. In the meantime I will be ripping movies (mostly Blu-ray) in preparation. I will have the movies on 4 hard drives in a Mediasonic USB 3.0 4-bay box connected to my PC's USB 3.0 card. The PC is connected to a router. I will run ethernet cable from the room the PC is in to the room the Dune will be in.

Given that set up, my question regards how I should organize the movies on the hard disks. Is there a folder organization that works best, such as organizing by genre? Or organizing with alphabetical folders such as A-D, E-H, etc.?

I plan to eventually have a couple hundred or more movies (mostly Blu-ray) and several standard definition TV seasonal episodes, so I want to make it easy to find the movie or TV episode I want to play on the Dune.

I don't know how the disk and folder organization will impact how the Dune displays the list of available movies, and can't experiment because I don't have the Dune yet. So I am asking for suggestions on how to organize the movies and TV season episodes on the hard disks as I rip them over the next couple months. Thanks.

In a couple months I plan to buy either a Dune 3.0 base or maybe one of the new series of Dunes that are coming out soon. In the meantime I will be ripping movies (mostly Blu-ray) in preparation. I will have the movies on 4 hard drives in a Mediasonic USB 3.0 4-bay box connected to my PC's USB 3.0 card. The PC is connected to a router. I will run ethernet cable from the room the PC is in to the room the Dune will be in.

Given that set up, my question regards how I should organize the movies on the hard disks. Is there a folder organization that works best, such as organizing by genre? Or organizing with alphabetical folders such as A-D, E-H, etc.?

I plan to eventually have a couple hundred or more movies (mostly Blu-ray) and several standard definition TV seasonal episodes, so I want to make it easy to find the movie or TV episode I want to play on the Dune.

I don't know how the disk and folder organization will impact how the Dune displays the list of available movies, and can't experiment because I don't have the Dune yet. So I am asking for suggestions on how to organize the movies and TV season episodes on the hard disks as I rip them over the next couple months. Thanks.

I want to know how you are going to store a
couple hundred blu ray rips on four hard drives? Are you planning on compressing them or doing ISO's?

I want to know how you are going to store a
couple hundred blu ray rips on four hard drives? Are you planning on compressing them or doing ISO's?

Hey Chris, he's probably counting on you having a few fully populated enclosures with TB drives for sale here soon! :)

Seriously, as much as I love ripping the full Blu Ray to ISO I am quickly filling space. It's time to start shopping for 2TB bare drives and getting more selective about what I keep.

Curious at what speeds I should be getting with my network on streaming and transfering files.
I have a LinksysWRT310N router and entire system is wired with Cat6 cables. Have been seeing 50-60mbs tranfer speeds. Is this on par, or is it possible to get more from it?

Thx

Hey Chris, he's probably counting on you having a few fully populated enclosures with TB drives for sale here soon! :)

Seriously, as much as I love ripping the full Blu Ray to ISO I am quickly filling space. It's time to start shopping for 2TB bare drives and getting more selective about what I keep.

On one 2TB drive, I have 46 blu ray rips. They are mostly all full rips. A couple here and there are BD25 but by no means the majority and a few are just the movie only, so I can see how that could happen. Right now I am using the Mediasonic HF2-SU2S2 4 bay enclosure for my drives. The price is right for me, comes with esata and keeps a lot of stuff in a relatively small footprint.

Seriously, as much as I love ripping the full Blu Ray to ISO I am quickly filling space. It's time to start shopping for 2TB bare drives and getting more selective about what I keep.

I love the full ISO as well. Ended up deciding I'd keep the full ISO for any movie with heavy action/graphics. If it's just a "talking movie" I rip it with x264.

- BrianAz

Curious at what speeds I should be getting with my network on streaming and transfering files.
I have a LinksysWRT310N router and entire system is wired with Cat6 cables. Have been seeing 50-60mbs tranfer speeds. Is this on par, or is it possible to get more from it?

Thx

You want to work towards 10/11 MBps or 80-88mbps. Once you get it there and steady, you shouldn't have any streaming hiccups even with the highest bitrate blurays. For a while, I could only get 8-9 MBps and as I was watching bluray ISOs, it would stutter very infrequently. Once I got up to 10 MBps constant, that went away.

I was using standard SMB connecting to my workstation which has a Realtek NIC. I tried to enable fast SMB and it would not work. Ended up realizing that my NIC won't support Fast SMB for whatever reason. Once I shared off my HTPC (which has an Intel NIC) Fast SMB worked perfectly and I never wavered from 10 MBps.

-BrianAz

I'm very happy with NTFS write on the new beta firmware. Now, my zappiti index folder will be stored on my 2tb internal drive in the dune. Woot

I'm very happy with NTFS write on the new beta firmware. Now, my zappiti index folder will be stored on my 2tb internal drive in the dune. Woot

How come you couldn't do it before. You could always FTP into the HDD and dump them off.

You want to work towards 10/11 MBps or 80-88mbps. Once you get it there and steady, you shouldn't have any streaming hiccups even with the highest bitrate blurays. For a while, I could only get 8-9 MBps and as I was watching bluray ISOs, it would stutter very infrequently. Once I got up to 10 MBps constant, that went away.

I was using standard SMB connecting to my workstation which has a Realtek NIC. I tried to enable fast SMB and it would not work. Ended up realizing that my NIC won't support Fast SMB for whatever reason. Once I shared off my HTPC (which has an Intel NIC) Fast SMB worked perfectly and I never wavered from 10 MBps.

-BrianAz

Haven't had any problems going from my WHS tomy Dune player, just looking to increase copy speeds from my PC's to my WHS.

Scott

How come you couldn't do it before. You could always FTP into the HDD and dump them off.

Huh? how could I FTP into a drive that didnt support "NTFS write" to before. :confused:

Huh? how could I FTP into a drive that didnt support "NTSF write" to before. :confused:

If you format the internal drive as EXT1/2 then you could FTP to it using the Dune's IP address. If you are going to store your Zappiti folder in the internal drive that means you will not be swapping it out all the time so might as well leave it as EXT1/2 and just FTP to it and transfer all files to it via FTP or Windows Network.

NFTS write support only makes sense if you are going to swap out the drive once in a while.

If you format the internal drive as EXT1/2 then you could FTP to it using the Dune's IP address. If you are going to store your Zappiti folder in the internal drive that means you will not be swapping it out all the time so might as well leave it as EXT1/2 and just FTP to it and transfer all files to it via FTP or Windows Network.

NFTS write support only makes sense if you are going to swap out the drive once in a while.

My 2tb is NTFS and I am not planning on taking it out. I had issue when I had a couple of my flash drive format to ext 1/2 . The transfer was very slow and sometimes it would lock up my player.

My 2tb is NTFS and I am not planning on taking it out. I had issue when I had a couple of my flash drive format to ext 1/2 . The transfer was very slow and sometimes it would lock up my player.

I have a 500GB internally formatted to EXT and I get 60-80mbps transfers when transferring my Zappiti folder using FTP.

I want to know how you are going to store a
couple hundred blu ray rips on four hard drives? Are you planning on compressing them or doing ISO's?


ISO's on four 2 TB hard disks. I'm figuring an average of 40 GB per rip, which would get nearly 50 rips per hard disk. And eventually I could get more drives and swap them out of the Mediasonic as needed.

Does anyone have suggestions on my original question regarding the organization of the rips on the hard drives to facilitate easy navigation of the movie list on a Dune?

In a couple months I plan to buy either a Dune 3.0 base or maybe one of the new series of Dunes that are coming out soon. In the meantime I will be ripping movies (mostly Blu-ray) in preparation. I will have the movies on 4 hard drives in a Mediasonic USB 3.0 4-bay box connected to my PC's USB 3.0 card. The PC is connected to a router. I will run ethernet cable from the room the PC is in to the room the Dune will be in.

Given that set up, my question regards how I should organize the movies on the hard disks. Is there a folder organization that works best, such as organizing by genre? Or organizing with alphabetical folders such as A-D, E-H, etc.?

I plan to eventually have a couple hundred or more movies (mostly Blu-ray) and several standard definition TV seasonal episodes, so I want to make it easy to find the movie or TV episode I want to play on the Dune.

I don't know how the disk and folder organization will impact how the Dune displays the list of available movies, and can't experiment because I don't have the Dune yet. So I am asking for suggestions on how to organize the movies and TV season episodes on the hard disks as I rip them over the next couple months. Thanks.



I have two network shares that I can add disk to as needed... one for movies and one for TV. Looks like this:

\\UnRaid\Video\Movies\Movie Title 1 (2009)\Movie Title 1.iso
\\UnRaid\Video\Movies\Movie Title 2 (2010)\Movie Title 2.iso
etc...

\\UnRaid\Video\Tv\Series 1\Season 1\Series 1 - S01E01.mkv
\\UnRaid\Video\Tv\Series 1\Season 1\Series 1 - S01E02.mkv
\\UnRaid\Video\Tv\Series 2\Season 2\Series 2 - S01E01.mkv
\\UnRaid\Video\Tv\Series 2\Season 2\Series 2 - S01E02.mkv

If you're not going to combine your drives with any kind of RAID/JBOD to make it appear as one folder on your Dune, I would say you should just create \Video\Movies and \Video\TV folders on each drive, load em up and then use something like Zappiti to manage your view of your media.

- BrianAz

Okay, I just did the firmware update and still get the error message about no empty storage. The USB thumb drive shows up on screen when I plug it in. I erased everything from it and formatted it before plugging into the Dune. Does it matter how it's formatted? I tried FAT, FAT32, NTFS. When I navigate to that init_system_storage file on the share I created the files are listed but when I try to execute with that file I get the message about storage not detected.

Have you tried a different flash drive with FAT32?
A Dune owner will have to answer your question regarding whether the player sees FAT, FAT32 & NTFS formatted drives.

Hi all,

I'm a current owner of a Dune Base w/500 GB drive i use with music and stream movies from a WHS server. Up till now I've had no problems. Here is my issue. After selecting an icon from the from the main menu, I see the sub folders. Trying to select a certain folder has become impossible. When moving to a selection the "cursor" keeps moving until it reached the last folder displayed. This happens no matter what direction it's moving. This happens on all folders and icons on the Dune. I've tried firmware upgrades, downgrades, stable releases and betas. Anyone else having a similar issue and possible fix?

Thx,
Charlie

I want to know how you are going to store a
couple hundred blu ray rips on four hard drives? Are you planning on compressing them or doing ISO's?

Why would he need to compress? He said he was using 4 drives. Assuming 2TB each that is 8 TB. That is more than enough space for a few hundred BD rips. So far my BD rips (movie only) are averaging about 25 GB per movie. So 200 would only need 5TB.

ISO's on four 2 TB hard disks. I'm figuring an average of 40 GB per rip, which would get nearly 50 rips per hard disk. And eventually I could get more drives and swap them out of the Mediasonic as needed.

Does anyone have suggestions on my original question regarding the organization of the rips on the hard drives to facilitate easy navigation of the movie list on a Dune?

You will rarely see 40 GB rips. Movies like Avatar and Transformers are, but you will find 18 GB rips far more often than you find 40's.

My 2tb is NTFS and I am not planning on taking it out. I had issue when I had a couple of my flash drive format to ext 1/2 . The transfer was very slow and sometimes it would lock up my player.

I find it easier and faster to hot swap my dune internal drive into my PC and sync it, then pop it back into the Dune. I use NTFS for this. I was using EXT2 with Ext2Fsd to let me do the same hot swap. However, I saw no performance gain from it, so I switched to NTFS.

All you need is a trayless hot swap bay in your PC (I use a cheap $20 Rosewill), HotSWAP! 5.0, Ext2Fsd (if you do want to use Ext instead of NTFS), and your choice of sync software (SyncToy, ViceVersa, etc.).

Now I don't drag my network down with large FTP transfers. I would only use FTP to add 1 or 2 items, or maybe update Zappiti.

I have two network shares that I can add disk to as needed... one for movies and one for TV. Looks like this:

\\UnRaid\Video\Movies\Movie Title 1 (2009)\Movie Title 1.iso
\\UnRaid\Video\Movies\Movie Title 2 (2010)\Movie Title 2.iso
etc...

\\UnRaid\Video\Tv\Series 1\Season 1\Series 1 - S01E01.mkv
\\UnRaid\Video\Tv\Series 1\Season 1\Series 1 - S01E02.mkv
\\UnRaid\Video\Tv\Series 2\Season 2\Series 2 - S01E01.mkv
\\UnRaid\Video\Tv\Series 2\Season 2\Series 2 - S01E02.mkv

If you're not going to combine your drives with any kind of RAID/JBOD to make it appear as one folder on your Dune, I would say you should just create \Video\Movies and \Video\TV folders on each drive, load em up and then use something like Zappiti to manage your view of your media.

- BrianAz

Thanks, BrianAz. The Mediasonic enclosure I will use can be set up as JBOD so I might do that.

Have you tried a different flash drive with FAT32?
A Dune owner will have to answer your question regarding whether the player sees FAT, FAT32 & NTFS formatted drives.

Thanks, I got it sorted yesterday afternoon. Everything is working like a charm now. The wife was actually impressed with the Zappiti interface which is saying a lot as she typically couldn't care less about this stuff. Of course, she has no idea that there is a new Dune player in the house running it all. ;)

Anyone tried the new Beta firmware yet?

Thanks, I got it sorted yesterday afternoon. Everything is working like a charm now. The wife was actually impressed with the Zappiti interface which is saying a lot as she typically couldn't care less about this stuff. Of course, she has no idea that there is a new Dune player in the house running it all. ;)

Dropzone
As a longtime Xtreamer user, any comparisons with your new Dune?

Anyone tried the new Beta firmware yet?

I ran it all day yesterday. I really haven't messed with anything new but so far what was working is still working.

I am having troubles with the latest version of Zappiti that come out Friday or Saturday....

I ran it all day yesterday. I really haven't messed with anything new but so far what was working is still working.

I am having troubles with the latest version of Zappiti that come out Friday or Saturday....

A new Zappiti was just released again I think yesterday (1.3.1.1293)

Dropzone
As a longtime Xtreamer user, any comparisons with your new Dune?

So far it is not a fair fight ;)

Anyone tried the new Beta firmware yet?

Updated last night, no issues so far.

Been messing around with changing icons on Zappiti

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/8148/capturesj.jpg

Dropzone
As a longtime Xtreamer user, any comparisons with your new Dune?

Oh man, there is no comparison regarding playback. I have some of those test files like the high bitrate Casino Royale .mkv clip and my Xtreamer and WDTV Live would never play it correctly. Hiccups and stutters galore. The Dune sliced through everything like butter. HD audio is awesome and for the first time I'm seeing the True HD and DTS-MA lights on my receiver. No media player I have had prior to the Dune could bitstream HD audio. I have mostly full BluRay ISO rips ranging in size from 20-45GB each and the Dune plays them all back flawlessly with full menus just like if you put the disc in your commercial BluRay player. If I had one gripe it would be the GUI, it's pretty simple and nothing fancy. However, I got the Zappiti software up and running and that totally makes up for it. I don't mind the lackluster GUI for setup and navigation of network shares, etc. but for movies I really wanted something flashy and Zappiti delivers in that regard. It's super easy to setup (I used Damian's guide from mediasmartserver.net) and had it going in no time, with a little help from Damian of course. :) The Dune appears to be very well put together and fits nicely with my other full size components. I moved the Xtreamer downstairs to the plasma TV setup where it will be used for music streaming and photos, maybe the occasional standard DVD rip since I can play those even with the wireless antenna. It's still pretty early to make a final judgement but so far I am blown away by the Dune and only wish I had gone with it in the beginning. However, I can now truly appreciate just how good it is after having lesser players.

Updated last night, no issues so far.

Been messing around with changing icons on Zappiti


Nice! I like it! :)

Updated last night, no issues so far.

Been messing around with changing icons on Zappiti



I was getting random errors on TV and movies. I would see the main image but when I clicked on it to see the details the screen would be blank. I mean all I would see is the 'curtain' background.

So I deleted the database and scraped again..same error. I uninstalled and went back to the previous release and everything was fine.

Oh man, there is no comparison regarding playback. I have some of those test files like the high bitrate Casino Royale .mkv clip and my Xtreamer and WDTV Live would never play it correctly. Hiccups and stutters galore. The Dune sliced through everything like butter. HD audio is awesome and for the first time I'm seeing the True HD and DTS-MA lights on my receiver. No media player I have had prior to the Dune could bitstream HD audio. I have mostly full BluRay ISO rips ranging in size from 20-45GB each and the Dune plays them all back flawlessly with full menus just like if you put the disc in your commercial BluRay player. If I had one gripe it would be the GUI, it's pretty simple and nothing fancy. However, I got the Zappiti software up and running and that totally makes up for it. I don't mind the lackluster GUI for setup and navigation of network shares, etc. but for movies I really wanted something flashy and Zappiti delivers in that regard. It's super easy to setup (I used Damian's guide from mediasmartserver.net) and had it going in no time, with a little help from Damian of course. :) The Dune appears to be very well put together and fits nicely with my other full size components. I moved the Xtreamer downstairs to the plasma TV setup where it will be used for music streaming and photos, maybe the occasional standard DVD rip since I can play those even with the wireless antenna. It's still pretty early to make a final judgement but so far I am blown away by the Dune and only wish I had gone with it in the beginning. However, I can now truly appreciate just how good it is after having lesser players.

WOW.. you sound like me now.(six months ago I got flamed for promoting the Dune.. How times have changed:).)... Can I say I told you so now.:D

So, are there any Network experts out there or someone that can point me in the right direction. My streaming is fine, I just want to increase my transfer speeds from my PC to my WHS. Average 60mbs when I copy/move files from PC to WHS, but feel it should be capable of much more. Would one of those new dual band routers speed things up?
Current one I have is the Linksys310N.

Thx,
Scott

WOW.. you sound like me now.(six months ago I got flamed for promoting the Dune.. How times have changed:).)... Can I say I told you so now.:D

The thing just rocks and does what it claims it can do and more. I'm not sure I have reached fan boy status yet but give me a few days. I'm glad I took yours and so many others here advice on the Dune. I haven't been this excited about an A/V purchase since my Oppo BDP-83.

The thing just rocks and does what it claims it can do and more. I'm not sure I have reached fan boy status yet but give me a few days. I'm glad I took yours and so many others here advice on the Dune. I haven't been this excited about an A/V purchase since my Oppo BDP-83.

You will find that you will be using that oppo less and less as time moves on...
The people's biggest complaint about the Dune was the price. But for what it does (and has done for the last year) is WORKED! Unlike many many other streamers I have tried..
Best,
Chris

The thing just rocks and does what it claims it can do and more. I'm not sure I have reached fan boy status yet but give me a few days. I'm glad I took yours and so many others here advice on the Dune. I haven't been this excited about an A/V purchase since my Oppo BDP-83.

Are you calling me a fanboy?;):D:eek:

So, are there any Network experts out there or someone that can point me in the right direction. My streaming is fine, I just want to increase my transfer speeds from my PC to my WHS. Average 60mbs when I copy/move files from PC to WHS, but feel it should be capable of much more. Would one of those new dual band routers speed things up?
Current one I have is the Linksys310N.

Thx,
Scott

60mb/s or MB/s? . Wired or wireless?

60mb/s or MB/s? . Wired or wireless?

Cat6 wired I believe.

The thing just rocks and does what it claims it can do and more. I'm not sure I have reached fan boy status yet but give me a few days. I'm glad I took yours and so many others here advice on the Dune. I haven't been this excited about an A/V purchase since my Oppo BDP-83.

set up two western digital live plus for two family members for the past two weeks and I got nothing but issues. One will stutter over local drive (blu ray movies) the other will sutter over network (dvd movies) I am too the point where I am going to return both and get the dune lite when it comes out.... Now, I remember why I returned my wd live player. I am so glad I got the Dune base.

set up two western digital live plus for two family members for the past two weeks and I got nothing but issues. One will stutter over local drive (blu ray movies) the other will sutter over network (dvd movies) I am too the point where I am going to return both and get the dune lite when it comes out.... Now, I remember why I returned my wd live player. I am so glad I got the Dune base.

The Dune lite may not have the performance on the base. Let us wait and see. I say it doesn't perform as well. Why would HDI do that?

The Dune appears to be very well put together and fits nicely with my other full size components. I moved the Xtreamer downstairs to the plasma TV setup where it will be used for music streaming and photos, maybe the occasional standard DVD rip since I can play those even with the wireless antenna.

haha, this is exactly the same situation with me. Got the Xtreamer Pro and it worked well but had problems with certain BD isos, so I went out and got the Prime for upstairs and moved the Xtreamer downstairs for the kids.

Currently I have a WDTV and use AnyDVD HD to rip Blu-rays, and then tsmuxer to make an .m2ts file with everything striped out except the main movie, English soundtrack, and English subtitles. This process works fine given the limitations of the WDTV. I plan to get a Dune unit soon and want to take advantage of it's ability to play iso's just like playing the actual disk.

Is there a way to make Blu-ray iso's and strip out everything but the movie, English soundtrack, and English subtitles, and still make the resulting iso play on the Dune like a Blu-ray disc. For example, to be able to select and display the subtitles (or not display them, depending on the movie.) I guess that would mean I would need to be able to get to the disk's main menu at the start of the movie, and to the pop-up menu at any time during the movie.

I'd like to do this not only to save disk space, but also to eliminate the annoying previews, etc. that some disks do not allow you to skip, or even when you can skip them with the remote "next" button, it takes a while to get past all of them. If I need to use different software than I am currently using, that is OK.

Or does stripping out parts cause problems when trying to play the .iso with a Dune, other than if I chose something from the menu that had been stripped out, that could be a problem. (But I won't do that.)

Currently I have a WDTV and use AnyDVD HD to rip Blu-rays, and then tsmuxer to make an .m2ts file with everything striped out except the main movie, English soundtrack, and English subtitles. This process works fine given the limitations of the WDTV. I plan to get a Dune unit soon and want to take advantage of it's ability to play iso's just like playing the actual disk.

Is there a way to make Blu-ray iso's and strip out everything but the movie, English soundtrack, and English subtitles, and still make the resulting iso play on the Dune like a Blu-ray disc. For example, to be able to select and display the subtitles (or not display them, depending on the movie.) I guess that would mean I would need to be able to get to the disk's main menu at the start of the movie, and to the pop-up menu at any time during the movie.

I'd like to do this not only to save disk space, but also to eliminate the annoying previews, etc. that some disks do not allow you to skip, or even when you can skip them with the remote "next" button, it takes a while to get past all of them. If I need to use different software than I am currently using, that is OK.

Or does stripping out parts cause problems when trying to play the .iso with a Dune, other than if I chose something from the menu that had been stripped out, that could be a problem. (But I won't do that.)

I dont believe theres any software out there that will let you do this. Basically stripe out things you dont want but still be able to have the menu. Like dvd shrink. I believe in order to keep the menu you will need to do a 1:1 rip. It would be nice if there was a dvd shrink for blu ray.

Is there a way to make Blu-ray iso's and strip out everything but the movie, English soundtrack, and English subtitles, and still make the resulting iso play on the Dune like a Blu-ray disc. For example, to be able to select and display the subtitles (or not display them, depending on the movie.) I guess that would mean I would need to be able to get to the disk's main menu at the start of the movie, and to the pop-up menu at any time during the movie.

You won't get the menus, but ClownBD might be what you want. You can use the remote to choose from among the subtitles. For movies that require subtitles you can make them default to on, though sometimes that requires some hassle.

I rip for the same reason as you: the forced previews, ridiculous load times, waiting for animated menus, and all that unnecessary junk when all I want is to watch the movie. If Hollywood hadn't made it so difficult to enjoy a movie on Blu-ray I never would have even considered ripping.

60mb/s or MB/s? . Wired or wireless?

Not sure difference between mb/s and MB/s is, but the copy window that pops up states MB/s and it's wired Cat 6. Average between 50-60 MB/s, but feel I can get better

Scott

Are you calling me a fanboy?;):D:eek:

:D There's no denying it right? It's easy to be a fan when a product delivers. I was telling all the guys at work about the Dune today. One of them said, "well I have an Apple TV and it's just awesome..."

Yes the 3530 will work.

The conflicting BIOSes remark was concerning the card BIOSes. Those have nothing to do with the motherboard BIOS. Since the 3530 has processor and memory it can be teamed with another 3530 so you can have 2 or 3 running in tandem. The 2000 series are software based and therefore use your system processor and memory, and those can not be teamed.


According to the manual, it indicates that the 2300 series (looking at the 2320) has a "Single-RAID Cross Adapter".
The RocketRaid 2320 is capable of supporting RAID arrays created between hard disks attached to multiple host adapters. Up to sixteen hard disk can be assigned to a single RAID array.
Eack RocketRaid 2320 provides two jumpers dedicated to this feature (JP3 and JP4), and a single cross-adapter cable designed for use with these jumpers.

I should be able to get a single RR2320 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=16-115-026&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo) and eventually add a second card. What do you think?

The RR 3500 series price is more than what I'm willing to spend. :confused:

:D There's no denying it right? It's easy to be a fan when a product delivers. I was telling all the guys at work about the Dune today. One of them said, "well I have an Apple TV and it's just awesome..."

Anything Apple is a waste of time. Jobs is a meglomaniac. Way too many rules.

According to the manual, it indicates that the 2300 series (looking at the 2320) has a "Single-RAID Cross Adapter".
The RocketRaid 2320 is capable of supporting RAID arrays created between hard disks attached to multiple host adapters. Up to sixteen hard disk can be assigned to a single RAID array.
Eack RocketRaid 2320 provides two jumpers dedicated to this feature (JP3 and JP4), and a single cross-adapter cable designed for use with these jumpers.

I should be able to get a single RR2320 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=16-115-026&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo) and eventually add a second card. What do you think?

The RR 3500 series price is more than what I'm willing to spend. :confused:

Well I learned something again, however... The fact that you will have two cards teamed and using the processor and the system RAM will put a significant load on the system resources. So factor that in and maybe go with little bit faster processor and more memory.

Damian, paging Damian...
I'm having a problem getting Zappiti to find my TV shows folder. The path is the same as my movies folder and I renamed the absolute path in the same manner as the working movie path but I get nothing. I only have about six episodes of one show so far but when I go to "scan" it doesn't find them. Suggestions?

I have the new Dune beta firmware on my base and whenever i play a BD iso it takes awhile to load, i'd say 2-3 minutes on most movies to get past a black screen. Also when I hit STOP after watching a BD iso i hear super loud hissing that never goes away, I had to play a mkv to get it to go away or turn my Dune off. Anyone here able to test a BD iso with the newest firmware? I think it has a major bug.

Hey Chris, he's probably counting on you having a few fully populated enclosures with TB drives for sale here soon! :)

Seriously, as much as I love ripping the full Blu Ray to ISO I am quickly filling space. It's time to start shopping for 2TB bare drives and getting more selective about what I keep.

Im just wondering which software did you use to put your blu ray dvds onto your hard drive in ISO files? Is it the same software for regular DVDs?

Im guessing your are using external hard drives?

I just bought a Dune Base 3.0 on Ebay. I have not received it yet but Im trying to understand how to do backups on either external or internal hard drives of regular DVDs and some blu rays.

If I have a internal hard drive installed on my computer and backup all my DVDs onto that hard drive can I just take it out and put it into the Dune without any issues?

What meant by formatting the internal drive installed on the DUne to EXT2 or EXT3? I have heard of FAT32 and NTFS? My drives right now are formatted to NTFS for the most part except the one I was using with the PS3 which is FAT32.

Im just wondering which software did you use to put your blu ray dvds onto your hard drive in ISO files? Is it the same software for regular DVDs?

Im guessing your are using external hard drives?

I use DVDFab to make a complete BluRay disc copy. It also works great for regular DVD's. When DVDFab finishes copying the movie, ImgBurn kicks in and creates the ISO. I have an LG BluRay drive in my PC here at work and I usually bring a small USB hard drive with me in the mornings along with whatever movie(s) I want to rip that day. It may not be the most efficient process but I'm sitting here at my desk all day anyhow so I might as well have this running in the background. When I go home I connect that external USB drive to my server and move the files over via wired Cat.6 network.

I just bought a Dune Base 3.0 on Ebay. I have not received it yet but Im trying to understand how to do backups on either external or internal hard drives of regular DVDs and some blu rays.

If I have a internal hard drive installed on my computer and backup all my DVDs onto that hard drive can I just take it out and put it into the Dune without any issues?

What meant by formatting the internal drive installed on the DUne to EXT2 or EXT3? I have heard of FAT32 and NTFS? My drives right now are formatted to NTFS for the most part except the one I was using with the PS3 which is FAT32.

If you are serious about keeping a lot of movies backed up and streaming them via the Dune then I would suggest a WHS (Windows Home Server). This is what I use and the internal drives are formatted to NTFS and stream media to the Dune. I don't think I would take a PC hard drive that probably has your PC operating system and non media files and stick it in the Dune. You would be better off just getting some bare internal drives for use in the Dune if you don't go the WHS route.

If you are serious about keeping a lot of movies backed up and streaming them via the Dune then I would suggest a WHS (Windows Home Server). This is what I use and the internal drives are formatted to NTFS and stream media to the Dune. I don't think I would take a PC hard drive that probably has your PC operating system and non media files and stick it in the Dune. You would be better off just getting some bare internal drives for use in the Dune if you don't go the WHS route.

What I meant was using one of the spare 1TB hard drives I have on my computer (no OS) and after backing up DVDs just take it out and put it in the Dune..........not sure if it would work.

The Windows Home Server might be something I get in the future but for right now probably just external 1TB and 2TB drives.

I use DVDFab to make a complete BluRay disc copy. It also works great for regular DVD's. When DVDFab finishes copying the movie, ImgBurn kicks in and creates the ISO. I have an LG BluRay drive in my PC here at work and I usually bring a small USB hard drive with me in the mornings along with whatever movie(s) I want to rip that day. It may not be the most efficient process but I'm sitting here at my desk all day anyhow so I might as well have this running in the background. When I go home I connect that external USB drive to my server and move the files over via wired Cat.6 network.

Yes I have a lot of slack time at work where I could be doing that too. Not a bad idea. Im just trying to find the ideal easiest software to do this.

Currently I have a WDTV and use AnyDVD HD to rip Blu-rays, and then tsmuxer to make an .m2ts file with everything striped out except the main movie, English soundtrack, and English subtitles. This process works fine given the limitations of the WDTV. I plan to get a Dune unit soon and want to take advantage of it's ability to play iso's just like playing the actual disk.

Is there a way to make Blu-ray iso's and strip out everything but the movie, English soundtrack, and English subtitles, and still make the resulting iso play on the Dune like a Blu-ray disc. For example, to be able to select and display the subtitles (or not display them, depending on the movie.) I guess that would mean I would need to be able to get to the disk's main menu at the start of the movie, and to the pop-up menu at any time during the movie.

I'd like to do this not only to save disk space, but also to eliminate the annoying previews, etc. that some disks do not allow you to skip, or even when you can skip them with the remote "next" button, it takes a while to get past all of them. If I need to use different software than I am currently using, that is OK.

Or does stripping out parts cause problems when trying to play the .iso with a Dune, other than if I chose something from the menu that had been stripped out, that could be a problem. (But I won't do that.)

I believe there is such a program, it's called Clown BD Copier (not to be confused with Clown BD). It's freeware. Here's a link to the description and download link:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/Clown_BD_BD_Copier

can anybody here answer my question:
as dune players can output HD-Audio I want to know do we need a Audio receiver (i.e denon 591, Onkyo 308,508) capable of decoding DTS-HD to take full advantage of new audio codec. or would a normal receiver would do the trick as well?
please answer
thanks

You would need a new receiver to take advantage as the Dune I don't think decodes those formats and send as multichannel PCM to your receiver.

You would need a new receiver to take advantage as the Dune I don't think decodes those formats and send as multichannel PCM to your receiver.

The Dune can indeed decode and send the HD audio formats as multichannel PCM over HDMI. Or analog 7.1.

Although I have a reciver that can decode those formats, it's good to know the Dune can decode HD audio, not just passthrough.

the dune can indeed decode and send the hd audio formats as multichannel pcm over hdmi. Or analog 7.1.

+1

so in short i do need those new receivers (i.e denon 591,onkyo 308,508) and connect it with one of the dune players over HDMI as multichannel PCM.is that correct?
im on the edge of buying dune D1 smart/base player and onkyo sr308.. would that be a good choice?

so in short i do need those new receivers (i.e denon 591,onkyo 308,508) and connect it with one of the dune players over HDMI as multichannel PCM.is that correct?
im on the edge of buying dune D1 smart/base player and onkyo sr308.. would that be a good choice?

incorrect. pretty much any receiver with hdmi input will accept multichannel pcm over hdmi, not just the ones that decode hd formats. in addition to that, the dune's have 7.1 channel analog outputs. so the receiver does not need to be able to decode the hd formats, nor does it even need hdmi at all. as long as it has either hdmi or 7.1 channel analog inputs, you're good to go.

Anyone have any luck with scraping 'Generation Kill' using Zappiti? I have it under a TV folder and it does scrap the main image folder but for the life of me I can't get any episodes to actually come up.

I had the exact episode names and even tried simply naming 01 02 03. No luck....Gonna try moving it to a Movie folder see if that does anything.

Anyone have any luck with scraping 'Generation Kill' using Zappiti? I have it under a TV folder and it does scrap the main image folder but for the life of me I can't get any episodes to actually come up.

I had the exact episode names and even tried simply naming 01 02 03. No luck....Gonna try moving it to a Movie folder see if that does anything.

The naming convention for series is different from movies. IF I'm looking at TheTVDB.com correctly, I believe your naming convention would be Generation Kill S01E01.[filetype] or something thereabouts (where S01 is Season 1 and E01 is Episode 1). Is that how you are naming? I know there are some posts in the unofficial "official" Zappiti thread over on MPCclub that describe exactly how to name series files.

The naming convention for series is different from movies. IF I'm looking at TheTVDB.com correctly, I believe your naming convention would be Generation Kill S01E01.[filetype] or something thereabouts (where S01 is Season 1 and E01 is Episode 1). Is that how you are naming? I know there are some posts in the unofficial "official" Zappiti thread over on MPCclub that describe exactly how to name series files.

I do have all my files named like that but for some reason they are not getting added. I even tried the actual names of the episodes. No luck with moving them into a Movie folder either. For some reason these episodes wont scrap. Thanks for the info though.

I do have all my files named like that but for some reason they are not getting added. I even tried the actual names of the episodes. No luck with moving them into a Movie folder either. For some reason these episodes wont scrap. Thanks for the info though.

I believe you can use the series id (82109) during the search instead of just using the title. I personally had an issue with Zappiti where it wasn't scanning TV episodes properly. A complete reinstall of Zappiti including deletion of its database fixed the issue. I doubt you'd have to do it if you're able to scan other episodes, but it's a good last resort.

What if we don't have TV shows broken down by episode? The few that I have so far are all ISO's of the original disc. For instance, series 1 (Disc 1, Disc 2, etc.). I finally got Zappiti to scan and find a TV show after creating a folder and putting one of the ISO's in that folder. However, I can't get it to distinguish between seasons or anything else.

What if we don't have TV shows broken down by episode? The few that I have so far are all ISO's of the original disc. For instance, series 1 (Disc 1, Disc 2, etc.). I finally got Zappiti to scan and find a TV show after creating a folder and putting one of the ISO's in that folder. However, I can't get it to distinguish between seasons or anything else.

I have a few full discs and I just label them as episodes (usually just 1-3 or 4) and let Zappiti scan them and then go back and edit the episode number to "Disc 01", Disc 02", etc.

What if we don't have TV shows broken down by episode? The few that I have so far are all ISO's of the original disc. For instance, series 1 (Disc 1, Disc 2, etc.). I finally got Zappiti to scan and find a TV show after creating a folder and putting one of the ISO's in that folder. However, I can't get it to distinguish between seasons or anything else.

This is how I have my episodes set-up on my system. You'll need to create a folder with the name that is used on thetvdb.com site. When looking at the different episodes on the tvdb.com site, make sure that you name the file based on what episodes are on your .iso file(s).

Example of this is;

TV Shows
(within the TV Shows folder) Miami Vice>
(within the Miami Vice main folder) Miami Vice S01E01.S01E02.S01E03.S01E04 (this would be the name for disc 1 of season 1, which contains episodes 1,2,3 and 4)
(again, within the Miami Vice main folder) Miami Vice S02E05.S02E06.S02E07.S02E08 (this would be the name for disc 2 of season 2, which contains episodes 5,6,7 and 8)

You'll need to name all of your file this way for Zappiti to work correctly.

This is how I have my episodes set-up on my system. You'll need to create a folder with the name that is used on thetvdb.com site. When looking at the different episodes on the tvdb.com site, make sure that you name the file based on what episodes are on your .iso file(s).

Example of this is;

TV Shows
(within the TV Shows folder) Miami Vice>
(within the Miami Vice main folder) Miami Vice S01E01.S01E02.S01E03.S01E04 (this would be the name for disc 1 of season 1, which contains episodes 1,2,3 and 4)
(again, within the Miami Vice main folder) Miami Vice S02E05.S02E06.S02E07.S02E08 (this would be the name for disc 2 of season 2, which contains episodes 5,6,7 and 8)

You'll need to name all of your file this way for Zappiti to work correctly.

Thanks, I think that is the way I was doing it. Tried separating S01E01 with "." and or with "," and it would pick up the first episode of a disc but nothing more. I must be missing something. Thanks for the suggestions and I will give it another go this evening.

I do have all my files named like that but for some reason they are not getting added. I even tried the actual names of the episodes. No luck with moving them into a Movie folder either. For some reason these episodes wont scrap. Thanks for the info though.

Hmmm, well, sorry, I'm out of ideas, with one exception. Is THAT the ONLY series that is giving you problems? I noticed in TheTVDB.com that in Season 1 of Generation Kill, someone has mucked it up by including the Specials in there (Specials are supposed to go in Specials, labeled as S00, and indeed they are in there correctly). So the first episode in Season 1 is Special, then Episode 1, etc. I'm wondering if that is throwing Zappiti for a loop and causing it to not recognize it, as maybe it's looking specifically for E01 to be a numerical "1" in the Season episode list, and when it sees "Special" it just errors out. You MAY want to register at the site, go in and edit Season 1 to take out the specials and see what happens. Just a thought.

Hmmm, well, sorry, I'm out of ideas, with one exception. Is THAT the ONLY series that is giving you problems? I noticed in TheTVDB.com that in Season 1 of Generation Kill, someone has mucked it up by including the Specials in there (Specials are supposed to go in Specials, labeled as S00, and indeed they are in there correctly). So the first episode in Season 1 is Special, then Episode 1, etc. I'm wondering if that is throwing Zappiti for a loop and causing it to not recognize it, as maybe it's looking specifically for E01 to be a numerical "1" in the Season episode list, and when it sees "Special" it just errors out. You MAY want to register at the site, go in and edit Season 1 to take out the specials and see what happens. Just a thought.

That is a great idea thanks. I have 11 other series in my TV folder and yeah Generation Kill is the only one giving me troubles.

Thanks!

Anyone know where I should report bugs for the newest Dune beta firmware? I found one with BDisos.

After months of reseach and being disappointed with the upscaling of the LG BD player I bought and returned (currently have an OPPO DV-980H player and using the USB port to view movies).. it looks like I will be getting a DUNE in the near future.. (Already ran a Cat6 cable to my den to prepare for streaming...)

The wifey wants a few things the DUNE doesn't handle out of the box.. stuff like Pandora and FaceBook..

So I was looking over the option of PlayOn for Pandora (And stuff like HULU, etc).. but how do you control PlayOn from the Dune remote/interface? (Since my PC running Playon is going to be down in the basement.. far far away)

Also, will the beta browser allow her to get to FaceBook? (Any support for a wireless keyboard or mouse?) I know I'm hitting in the HTPC catagory at this point but I decommissioned my old one long time ago and wasnt looking to still have to have a HTPC... Thanks for any info!

After months of reseach and being disappointed with the upscaling of the LG BD player I bought and returned (currently have an OPPO DV-980H player and using the USB port to view movies).. it looks like I will be getting a DUNE in the near future.. (Already ran a Cat6 cable to my den to prepare for streaming...)

The wifey wants a few things the DUNE doesn't handle out of the box.. stuff like Pandora and FaceBook..

So I was looking over the option of PlayOn for Pandora (And stuff like HULU, etc).. but how do you control PlayOn from the Dune remote/interface? (Since my PC running Playon is going to be down in the basement.. far far away)

Also, will the beta browser allow her to get to FaceBook? (Any support for a wireless keyboard or mouse?) I know I'm hitting in the HTPC catagory at this point but I decommissioned my old one long time ago and wasnt looking to still have to have a HTPC... Thanks for any info!

Playon appears as a set of file folders in the network browser. You choose upnp, then playon, then the channel that you want then the thing you want to play, all done via folders within folders. The playon configuration on the pc is how you choose what to show the dune and the logon information for that channel when required.

The internet browser can get to facebook and other sites, but remember things like flash are not yet supported and the browser itself takes quite a while to start. Wireless keyboards and mice are supported.

Many thanks for the info! Now I just gotta wait for the SMART series to start shipping!

Anyone know where I should report bugs for the newest Dune beta firmware? I found one with BDisos.

What was the bug?

Been playing around with the ability to group movies with the sequels and helps on the scrolling thru massive amounts of movies.
But, when you click on the group, it opens another window with the movies in the group, but the movie coverart is small. Any way to resize the coverart withing the group without affecting anything else.
I unsderstand the 7 columns and 3 rows view, but would like to see bigger coverart of the movies within the group itself.

Scott

Hello
Ive searched edverywhere on this forum but cant seem to get a detailed instruction on how to intall a 2.5" internal dard drive in the Dune Prime 3.0. i cant see any cables that would connect to the hard drive inside the player.

Can anyone help please??

Hello
Ive searched edverywhere on this forum but cant seem to get a detailed instruction on how to intall a 2.5" internal dard drive in the Dune Prime 3.0. i cant see any cables that would connect to the hard drive inside the player.

Can anyone help please??

Well, you know it voids your warranty if you do it yourself, but the cables should have come with the Prime in the box. There was a sata cable and a power cable. Open up the box, put it in the bay, attach the cables. I couldn't find an extra sata port so I had to disconnect the esata in the back and use that one. Maybe I missed it but I only saw two; one for the bluray drive and one for the esata port.
Look in the box again for these cables but if you don't have them, I would go back to where you bought it as they didn't give you everything they should have. Also, if you are going to void your warranty anyway, you should install a 40mm fan as well.

What was the bug?

Been using my Dune Base 3.0 everyday with the newest beta firmware till a few days ago when the newest beta firmware came out. I watch BD iso's atleast once aday if not more and have had no issues with it at all. After the new beta firmware a few days ago it seems some BDiso's take long to start black screen for maybe 1-5 minutes. Also strangest thing, say your done watching a flick, you hit stop. It does its normal stop of the BD iso and then returns to the main menu, but you hear a constant LOUD scratching audio that is very very annoying. If you restart a BD iso it goes away and you get movie sound but as soon as you stop and get the menu again the sound returns. If you play say an MKV / mp3 etc then stop it the sound is gone. It seems to be some kinda bug just with BD isos.

Anyone know where I should report bugs for the newest Dune beta firmware? I found one with BDisos.

http://dune-forum.com/

Go to customer support and open a new ticket.

Couple of new things in the beta firmware (100916_2027). Finally there is resume play for blu ray movies! The blu ray movies has to be in single file (mkv). Resume play does not work in iso or folder structure. The ability to adjust the vertical position of subtitles during Blu-ray playback.

Couple of new things in the beta firmware (100916_2027). Finally there is resume play for blu ray movies! The blu ray movies has to be in single file (mkv). Resume play does not work in iso or folder structure. The ability to adjust the vertical position of subtitles during Blu-ray playback.

Resume fro mkvs has been working since the previous beta fw (I think from August)

Resume fro mkvs has been working since the previous beta fw (I think from August)

okay didnt know that. quick question I dont know if these is a bug in the firmware. When turning off or on subtitle the picture will freeze for a second. I have tried this on 3 blu ray movies (makemkv) and all have this issues.

okay didnt know that. quick question I dont know if these is a bug in the firmware. When turning off or on subtitle the picture will freeze for a second. I have tried this on 3 blu ray movies (makemkv) and all have this issues.

My guess that is not a bug. I think the same thing happens when you switch audio tracks, there is a momentary pause while the switching is done

My guess that is not a bug. I think the same thing happens when you switch audio tracks, there is a momentary pause while the switching is done

I think your standards are too low! ;)

Turning on/off subtitles while watching Blu-ray ISO does not freeze the picture or audio at all, nor should it.

I think your standards are too low! ;)

Turning on/off subtitles while watching Blu-ray ISO does not freeze the picture or audio at all, nor should it.

Haha. The only time I have to switch between audio and/or subtitle tracks is when I am doing testing for a review, so I guess i keep my standards low since it isn't a feature I would use regularly. I don't know if it is just mkv related (sounds like it is)

I think your standards are too low! ;)

Turning on/off subtitles while watching Blu-ray ISO does not freeze the picture or audio at all, nor should it.

Well, not that the Xtreamer is a good representation of how things should work but I recall that with it the whole movie would pause when you selected the subtitle button or switched between subtitle choices. It brought up a small menu over the movie and once your selection was made the movie would start up again. Changing audio tracks did not affect the video playback but there usually was a slight pause or dropout of audio while the newly selected track was negotiated by HDMI to the receiver.

My guess that is not a bug. I think the same thing happens when you switch audio tracks, there is a momentary pause while the switching is done

I get the same thing with mine. But I don't have a need to mess with the audio or subtitles once the movie has started....

I tried to "google" several hours but I didn't find answer. :(

Does Dune support DVB subtitles in mpeg-ts files? They are not listed in supported subtitle formats but since you can have a DVB-T tuner, my logic says that they just might support DVB subtitles too. Of course my logic is known to be flawed. :D

I don't mean "teletext subtitles", but DVB subtitles (image based). Those are used in some European countries in digital tv broadcasts. For example YLE uses them in Finland.

My current player (Xtremer Sidewinder) supports them, SageTV HD Theater 300 supports them (DVB is listed in specs), WDTV HD Live doesn't, but how about Dune?

I'm currently using my PC to record DVB-T broadcasts and I watch them using Xtreamer SW. Works well, but I'm getting more and more fed up with Xtreamer and it's bugs. I really want to get Dune Base 3.0 (or some Smart model), but this DVB subtitle thingy is a dealbreaker for me.

(btw - this is my first post to this forum. Please be gentle with me and my English language skills. :p)

Avoid the forums on TVDB website..I tried to comment on the wrong order they have Farscape Season 1 listed...and got cussed at and banned. If you try to get a TV series fixed, be prepared to be belittled and shut down quickly, since they know everything and are never wrong. What a bunch of Aholes.

Pissed Off

For anyone interested:

http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/latest/index-landing.aspx

Hitachi 2 TB @ 99.00

I flashed with the new firmware that came out recently. For some reason my background went all green on me. I had to change the color space to RGB-FULL for it to go back to normal. Anyone know why this had to be done and why AUTO didn't work?

Avoid the forums on TVDB website..I tried to comment on the wrong order they have Farscape Season 1 listed...and got cussed at and banned. If you try to get a TV series fixed, be prepared to be belittled and shut down quickly, since they know everything and are never wrong. What a bunch of Aholes.

Pissed Off

Actually, you didn't read the rules and then proceeded to flame a moderator that called you out on it. First, the order IS correct and doesn't need to be changed because you're referring to the DVD order, which is already applied to the series. Second, while our mod was a bit rude in his response, you proceeded to write uncensored (I'm censoring them here) PM gems like the following:

Whats your problem, the **** is wrong..don't have to be a ***** about it. just fix it.

**** YOU *******

Your ban is only for a week, but as I posted on our forums, you need to tread lightly or else it'll turn into a permanent ban. I don't need people berating our volunteer moderators like that. All that said, we can continue this discussion elsewhere (via PM) if you like. Nobody other than you and me need to be involved in your tantrum and punishment.

Good news for the rest of us... I've had two contacts from API developers that are working on Dune software, so hopefully we'll see the quality of software available improve. My real hope is that Sick Beard and Couch Potato integrate Dune functionality at some point. :)

For anyone interested:

http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/latest/index-landing.aspx

Hitachi 2 TB @ 99.00

Thanks! Ordered 2. Now I just have to plan how I'll be hooking them up. :)

Can anyone comment on whether the Dunes will read HFS+ (non-journaled) formatted drives? Been using this disk format with the PH A200 - plugged in as external USB - works perfectly. This model and the C200 use the Sigma 8643 - which I understand is the same chip being used in these new Dune Smart boxes.

Considering getting the new Smart H1 - and I have over 5 Hard drives (>1.5TB) that I would love not to have to reformat as NTFS!

______________
Aloha,
Joseph

I ordered the 7200 RPM drive to act as my parity drive in UnRaid and then a bunch of the 5400 Spinpoints for data :)

Good news for the rest of us... I've had two contacts from API developers that are working on Dune software, so hopefully we'll see the quality of software available improve. My real hope is that Sick Beard and Couch Potato integrate Dune functionality at some point. :)

Man that'd be awesome. I just found Sick Beard yesterday and I'm blown away.

Hi guys,

I recall reading some reviews shortly after the Dune 3.0 Prime & Base were released noting that the player was rather slow to start a file and that starting a file required a HDMI resynch, is this still the case?

For reference, a full bit rate MKV starts playback in about 5 - 7 seconds on my WDTV Live playing off my WHS. By comparison, how quick do the Dune units start playback?

Hi guys,

I recall reading some reviews shortly after the Dune 3.0 Prime & Base were released noting that the player was rather slow to start a file and that starting a file required a HDMI resynch, is this still the case?

For reference, a full bit rate MKV starts playback in about 5 - 7 seconds on my WDTV Live playing off my WHS. By comparison, how quick do the Dune units start playback?

If there is no refresh rate change then it starts (at least on system) within a second or two. A refresh rate change makes it a few more seconds for my projector to re-adjust so I would say about 5 seconds.

If there is no refresh rate change then it starts (at least on system) within a second or two. A refresh rate change makes it a few more seconds for my projector to re-adjust so I would say about 5 seconds.

That sounds good! So if I watch a 1080p24 movie stop it there is no HDMI resynch?

Hey guys,

I was wondering whether existing Prime owners are happy with their Prime's blu-ray playback. I was planning on getting a Smart D1 but I'm getting impatient waiting. I can't decide between a Base and Prime, so for those that have a Prime are you happy with the blu-ray playback (speed, PQ, drive noise)?

Any feedback would be appreciated as I have day off tomorrow and a local retailer has the Prime for a decent price (for Canada that is).

I had my first hiccup with the Base yesterday. I have a lot of .mov format trailers that have AAC 2 channel audio. Video looked great but the sound was similar to a blown speaker. All other files with highdef audio sound awesome. Suggestions?

Hey guys,

I was wondering whether existing Prime owners are happy with their Prime's blu-ray playback. I was planning on getting a Smart D1 but I'm getting impatient waiting. I can't decide between a Base and Prime, so for those that have a Prime are you happy with the blu-ray playback (speed, PQ, drive noise)?

Any feedback would be appreciated as I have day off tomorrow and a local retailer has the Prime for a decent price (for Canada that is).

I live in Toronto and just got the Prime for $449. I think thats a pretty decent price for an excellent media server and bluray player. Bluray player responds well (much, much faster than my old Sharp POS) and will play my backups no problem. It's up to you but when I was looking to get my prime, I looked high and low, and the below link was BY FAR the best price on the prime in/to Canada. The best thing about this store is that if you live in Toronto they have local pickup, so with taxes it worked out to $500 tax included. Other places I found they were going for way more with delivery charges. If you are getting the Prime, below is where you want to go.

http://www.onlybestrated.com/hdi-dune-bd-prime-3-0.html

Hey guys,

I was wondering whether existing Prime owners are happy with their Prime's blu-ray playback. I was planning on getting a Smart D1 but I'm getting impatient waiting. I can't decide between a Base and Prime, so for those that have a Prime are you happy with the blu-ray playback (speed, PQ, drive noise)?

Any feedback would be appreciated as I have day off tomorrow and a local retailer has the Prime for a decent price (for Canada that is).
I went with a Base over a Prime and got a BluRay reader for my PC instead so I could rip my discs. I knew from my DVD days that once I got used to playing ripped movie files, I'd never go back to using the optical discs. I have a bunch of BluRay movies that I have no idea what the menus and bonus stuff is like because they've never seen a BluRay player, they get put into the PC, the main title ripped, then put on the shelf to gather dust. I do have a PS3 though, should I ever want to play the original.

I live in Toronto and just got the Prime for $449. I think thats a pretty decent price for an excellent media server and bluray player. Bluray player responds well (much, much faster than my old Sharp POS) and will play my backups no problem. It's up to you but when I was looking to get my prime, I looked high and low, and the below link was BY FAR the best price on the prime in/to Canada. The best thing about this store is that if you live in Toronto they have local pickup, so with taxes it worked out to $500 tax included. Other places I found they were going for way more with delivery charges. If you are getting the Prime, below is where you want to go.

http://www.onlybestrated.com/hdi-dune-bd-prime-3-0.html

Thanks for the feedback; that's exactly where I was looking to buy from as well. Knowing you got your unit from there and that you've had a positive experience I think pretty much seals the deal for me. I like the fact I can pick it up locally and return it without shipping it if I'm not happy with it for whatever reason. It looks like I'll place my order tonight and hopefully get a chance to pick it up tomorrow sometime.

[QUOTE=szsori;19241881]Actually, you didn't read the rules and then proceeded to flame a moderator that called you out on it. First, the order IS correct and doesn't need to be changed because you're referring to the DVD order, which is already applied to the series. Second, while our mod was a bit rude in his response, you proceeded to write uncensored (I'm censoring them here) PM gems like the following:


It's funny how you ONLY post what my response was AFTER his rude response to my original post. Check the original post where I was nice, but got talked down to by this idiot. All he had to do was respond that the order was the 'aired' order and not the DVD order, and all would have been fine, but he
insisted on being rude first, so what comes around.
So the problem is that Zappiti recognizes the aired order, without the ability to chose which order you want to use. Aired vs DVD order is not always the correct order.



Your ban is only for a week, but as I posted on our forums, you need to tread
lightly or else it'll turn into a permanent ban. I don't need people berating our volunteer moderators like that. All that said, we can continue this discussion
elsewhere (via PM) if you like. Nobody other than you and me need to be
involved in your tantrum and punishment.

So the issue is not the various ways you show order on your site but how
Zappiti uses it

I have a Zappiti question, that I posted in the Smart series thread...but I guess most of the followers there haven't delved into Zappiti much, or they have all their video on one share and couldn't really answer.

So my question, for you experienced Zappiti users, is...I have my movies on one share, and TV on another...and Zappiti seem to no likee. Am I missing something in the set-up, or do both paths have to come from just one share??

CD

I have a Zappiti question, that I posted in the Smart series thread...but I guess most of the followers there haven't delved into Zappiti much, or they have all their video on one share and couldn't really answer.

So my question, for you experienced Zappiti users, is...I have my movies on one share, and TV on another...and Zappiti seem to no likee. Am I missing something in the set-up, or do both paths have to come from just one share??

CD

Two shares but both on the same server? That's what I have.
183264

So my question, for you experienced Zappiti users, is...I have my movies on one share, and TV on another...and Zappiti seem to no likee. Am I missing something in the set-up, or do both paths have to come from just one share??

CD

I have a 3 separate NAS:

1 for TV and another 2 for Movies. So right now I have 3 different paths that Zappiti uses with no errors.

What kind of errors or troubles are you having exactly?

I have a 3 separate NAS:

1 for TV and another 2 for Movies. So right now I have 3 different paths that Zappiti uses with no errors.

What kind of errors or troubles are you having exactly?

In config, you have the share path; if I put \\unraid\movies, then I can put \\unraid\movies\bd for the movies folder. But if I try to put \\unraid\TV as the TV folder, I get the error "\\unraid\TV must be a sub-folder of your share path"; like it needs both folders to be off \\unraid\movies?

If I change the share path to be \\unraid\TV, then I can use \\unraid\TV as the TV folder...but then I get the same error for \\unraid\movies\BD; again, like both folders need to come of fthe same path in share path?

CD

In config, you have the share path; if I put \\unraid\movies, then I can put \\unraid\movies\bd for the movies folder. But if I try to put \\unraid\TV as the TV folder, I get the error "\\unraid\TV must be a sub-folder of your share path"; like it needs both folders to be off \\unraid\movies?

If I change the share path to be \\unraid\TV, then I can use \\unraid\TV as the TV folder...but then I get the same error for \\unraid\movies\BD; again, like both folders need to come of fthe same path in share path?

CD

Yeh, I got that error too. I don't know if it was the problem or not, but as soon as I made the share drive the one in my Dune, it worked fine. The rest of my drives are on my computer. I just figured that the share path wasn't the same as or couldn't be the same as the place as the folder path.

This is my share path

\\DUNE\DuneHDD_ead03492_c474_4e20_8456_a1a4f0c2867b

(Hard Drive installed in the dune)

This is the folder path

\\MY-PC\HD Movies 2

Absolute Path

smb://MY-PC/HD Movies 2

I have a Zappiti question, that I posted in the Smart series thread...but I guess most of the followers there haven't delved into Zappiti much, or they have all their video on one share and couldn't really answer.

So my question, for you experienced Zappiti users, is...I have my movies on one share, and TV on another...and Zappiti seem to no likee. Am I missing something in the set-up, or do both paths have to come from just one share??

CD

Disclosure: I don't own a Dune or have played with Zappiti, but I have been following the Dune, Dune Smart, and Zappiti (on MPC Club) threads in anticipation of a future purchase.

It looks like the Dune & Zappiti is not mapping two simultaneous network share to the same server. You can test this by moving your Zappiti export to another PC on your network and then point to that PC for your share path.

I expect the movie and tv folders can be on as many shares as you want since the Dune will only be playing only one media at a time and hence only require to connect to one share at a time from the same server if your Zappiti export is on another networked PC or on the Dune itself.

However, by putting you Zappiti export on the same server (but different share from your media), the Dune would need two simultaneous share mapped, one for Zappiti, and one for playing the media file.

If your media and Zappiti export where on the same share, then I suspect you would not have any problems. For example:

Share Path = \\myserver\media

Movie Folder = \\myserver\media\sd movies
Movie Folder = \\myserver\media\bd movies
TV Folder = \\myserver\media\shows

This would mean you will need to restructure your media directory structure.

This is one reason why I am planning to structure my future Unraid build to have only one media share. One media share would also allow me to access all my media (movies, shows, pictures, music, ...) in Windows with one mapped drive. Using split level 0 and explicitly creating the Unraid folder structure, I can determine the exact disk allocation for each media.

Again this is only my assumptions based on following the three threads.

Disclosure: I don't own a Dune or have played with Zappiti, but I have been following the Dune, Dune Smart, and Zappiti (on MPC Club) threads in anticipation of a future purchase.

Whats ya waitin' for boy! Life is short.;)

Disclosure: I don't own a Dune or have played with Zappiti, but I have been following the Dune, Dune Smart, and Zappiti (on MPC Club) threads in anticipation of a future purchase.

It looks like the Dune & Zappiti is not mapping two simultaneous network share to the same server. You can test this by moving your Zappiti export to another PC on your network and then point to that PC for your share path.\

I do this all the time and it works fine.

I create export on PC#1, move to my metadata PC #2, and also keep a copy of it on my Dune HDD for security/safety.

The Dune sees the SMB address and it does not care where the export sits. The SMB address is universal.

Whats ya waitin' for boy! Life is short.;)

One reason why I am holding back on the current Dune or the coming Smart D1 is Gigabit network support. I know that 100 Mbps is working for BD streaming, but I assume there is a slight lag to start playing BD movies? I suspect "Dune Network Playback Accelerator" is just a fancy way of saying buffering, hence the percieved lag at initial play? Of course this is all speculation on my part since I don't own one yet and my only exposure is reading the forums.

However, I first have a media server to build, test, and tune (waiting for Norco 4224 delivery). Then I have to backup all my media collection. Hopefully when my media server is up and running, the D2 will be available with functional Gigabit networking :D

I do this all the time and it works fine.

I create export on PC#1, move to my metadata PC #2, and also keep a copy of it on my Dune HDD for security/safety.

The Dune sees the SMB address and it does not care where the export sits. The SMB address is universal.

So is your Dune accessing PC #2 for the Zappiti export and not the internal HDD? Also, where is your actual media files (movies & tv shows) located?

Can anyone comment on whether the Dunes will read HFS+ (non-journaled) formatted drives? Been using this disk format with my PH A200 - plugged in as external USB - works perfectly. I believe my WD TV also reads this format. The A200 and the C200 use the Sigma 8643 - which I understand is the same chip being used in these new Dune Smart boxes.

Considering getting the new Smart H1 - and I have over 5 Hard drives (>1.5TB) that I would love not to have to reformat as NTFS!

Still no answer on this? I originally posted this to the Smart series thread - but no one could answer there... and some suggested I pose my question here.

I did a "Search this Thread" on this thread before I posted and seems like a few others have also posted this inquiry over the last year - but again no one seems to have answered them either.

You all seem so knowledgeable (and extremely helpful) - about all things Dune related - so surprised no one has an answer to this?

Perhaps a current Dune/Mac owner could plug a HFS+ formatted drive onto the external USB port and tell me if it reads the media files?

So is your Dune accessing PC #2 for the Zappiti export and not the internal HDD? Also, where is your actual media files (movies & tv shows) located?

The Dune is accessing the Zappiti export folder that was created on PC#1 but sits on PC#2, media is stored on MEDIASERVER1,MEDIASERVER2, MEDIASERVER3, etc... each server has 20 drives with each drive its own share and each share has a folder with two sub folders (Movies/TV).

Hi. I'm a noob in the media streaming and playback area. I was thinking about building a HTPC. I just want something central where I can place all my media files, movies, & music on a 1 or 2TB drive. Then have instant access to all that media through my remote on my HDTV.

What are the pros and cons of either using a HTPC or a Dune HD Base?

I initially wanted a PC for my audio so I can run Winamp and use the Milkdrop visualization. I love the graphic feedback Milkdrop has with audio. But I could always do without it.

I haven't really used Windows Media Center much, or the Dune interface for that matter, so I can't really compare the interfaces and to know if one is more intuitive than the other or which has more options or is more compatible with mainstream formats.

Also, what's the difference with the Dune HD Base 3.0 and the Dune HD Smart D1 besides the D1 being a new release shortly?

Regarding the optical audio out on the Dune, will it function like a regular audio out for playing MP3s, DVDs, & Blu-Rays? My A/V switcher is an older Onkyo TX-SR600 and only capable of 6.1, I only use it for switching audio, and only 2 channel at that. But I don't really require the use of any high def audio at the moment. My current Sony Blu-ray player has HDMI going to my TV, and the optical audio going to my Onkyo.

But anyway, so many questions, and I hope some folks can kick down a bit of knowledge my way. :)

One reason why I am holding back on the current Dune or the coming Smart D1 is Gigabit network support. I know that 100 Mbps is working for BD streaming, but I assume there is a slight lag to start playing BD movies? I suspect "Dune Network Playback Accelerator" is just a fancy way of saying buffering, hence the percieved lag at initial play? Of course this is all speculation on my part since I don't own one yet and my only exposure is reading the forums.

I'm not sure what thread you're reading, but I'm pretty sure you are wrong ;) Haven't seen anyone on this thread complain about BD playback. 100Mbps is more than enough to handle the most strenuous HD.

One reason why I am holding back on the current Dune or the coming Smart D1 is Gigabit network support. I know that 100 Mbps is working for BD streaming, but I assume there is a slight lag to start playing BD movies? I suspect "Dune Network Playback Accelerator" is just a fancy way of saying buffering, hence the percieved lag at initial play? Of course this is all speculation on my part since I don't own one yet and my only exposure is reading the forums.

However, I first have a media server to build, test, and tune (waiting for Norco 4224 delivery). Then I have to backup all my media collection. Hopefully when my media server is up and running, the D2 will be available with functional Gigabit networking :D

There is no lag with BD streaming. They play as if they are on a disk. Not sure where you got any of that, but this is the reason a lot of us with Dunes have them; to play our BD isos. It's really one of the few (only?) players that are capable of playing them properly.

One reason why I am holding back on the current Dune or the coming Smart D1 is Gigabit network support. I know that 100 Mbps is working for BD streaming, but I assume there is a slight lag to start playing BD movies? I suspect "Dune Network Playback Accelerator" is just a fancy way of saying buffering, hence the percieved lag at initial play? Of course this is all speculation on my part since I don't own one yet and my only exposure is reading the forums.

However, I first have a media server to build, test, and tune (waiting for Norco 4224 delivery). Then I have to backup all my media collection. Hopefully when my media server is up and running, the D2 will be available with functional Gigabit networking :D

Do not hold your breath for GB support. Not required and not a priority. I love fence sitters.

Do not hold your breath for GB support. Not required and not a priority. I love fence sitters.

Unless you are planning on transferring files back and forth between a networked PC and the Dune I don't see any reason to need gigE. I see this request made for many other players as well from people who will only be doing streaming. Maybe the perception is that you need gigE to properly stream high bitrate content???? Odds are if someone is having issues streaming it is either a network issue or the player itself, not the fact that it does not have gigE.

Disclosure: I don't own a Dune or have played with Zappiti, but I have been following the Dune, Dune Smart, and Zappiti (on MPC Club) threads in anticipation of a future purchase.
...
Again this is only my assumptions based on following the three threads.
Your logic seems sound, but speaking as a Dune/Unraid user myself, I suggest you look at spending a few bucks and get a flash drive for the Dune and sticking the Zappiti content on that. It makes browsing the UI a little snappier and means that Unraid doesn't have to spin up a disk until you actually choose your movie.

Your logic seems sound, but speaking as a Dune/Unraid user myself, I suggest you look at spending a few bucks and get a flash drive for the Dune and sticking the Zappiti content on that. It makes browsing the UI a little snappier and means that Unraid doesn't have to spin up a disk until you actually choose your movie.

That's what I did as well. I had an 8GB thumb drive I wasn't using so I plugged it in and just left it. That size was probably overkill, especially for my collection but USB drives are dirt cheap these days and I find that I'm starting to accumulate these more and more as businesses use them as swag or freebies to advertise.

That's what I did as well. I had an 8GB thumb drive I wasn't using so I plugged it in and just left it. That size was probably overkill, especially for my collection but USB drives are dirt cheap these days and I find that I'm starting to accumulate these more and more as businesses use them as swag or freebies to advertise.

Right now I just export Zappiti to a shared folder on my network. I may have to test out on a thumb drive to see if there is a noticeable difference. I believe with WHS the drives are always spinning so unlike UnRaid no benefit there. Aside from speed then the only other benefit would be being able to access the Zappiti Jukebox UI if your server is down/offline. Then again, if I am viewing Zappiti it is because I want to watch a movie/show so my server would need to be up and running

Hey Damian, I posted this a page or two back but do you know of any issues playing .mov files with AAC audio? I have a lot of movie trailers in that format and the audio is crackly and muffled for some reason. Video looks great as usual but the audio is clearly not right. All of my HD audio tracks on BD rips, etc. look and sound great. I never had a problem with these files on my other players so I'm wondering if it's a setting I'm missing?

Hey Damian, I posted this a page or two back but do you know of any issues playing .mov files with AAC audio? I have a lot of movie trailers in that format and the audio is crackly and muffled for some reason. Video looks great as usual but the audio is clearly not right. All of my HD audio tracks on BD rips, etc. look and sound great. I never had a problem with these files on my other players so I'm wondering if it's a setting I'm missing?

If i get a second I will test out, I should have a bunch of quicktime trailers that have AAC audio to test

Your logic seems sound, but speaking as a Dune/Unraid user myself, I suggest you look at spending a few bucks and get a flash drive for the Dune and sticking the Zappiti content on that. It makes browsing the UI a little snappier and means that Unraid doesn't have to spin up a disk until you actually choose your movie.

That's good thinking!

CD

It looks like the Dune & Zappiti is not mapping two simultaneous network share to the same server. You can test this by moving your Zappiti export to another PC on your network and then point to that PC for your share path.

I expect the movie and tv folders can be on as many shares as you want since the Dune will only be playing only one media at a time and hence only require to connect to one share at a time from the same server if your Zappiti export is on another networked PC or on the Dune itself.

However, by putting you Zappiti export on the same server (but different share from your media), the Dune would need two simultaneous share mapped, one for Zappiti, and one for playing the media file.

If your media and Zappiti export where on the same share, then I suspect you would not have any problems. For example:

Share Path = \\myserver\media

Movie Folder = \\myserver\media\sd movies
Movie Folder = \\myserver\media\bd movies
TV Folder = \\myserver\media\shows

i know the discussion has kind of moved on from here, but since i never saw a definitive answer given, i wanted to bring it back up...

in a game of hot and cold, you're on fire here. there is a limitation of the 8642/8643 that it can only be connected to one smb share per server at a time. zappiti has apparently programed in a "preemptive strike" on this limitation in that zappiti won't allow you to set itself up so that you'd ever encounter that limitation. as mifronte states, if zappiti were to let you put the interface files on one share of a given server, and the media files on a different share on the same server, then it would need two simultaneous connections, which can't happen, and you would get an error on the dune when you attempt to play a movie (i know this for a fact because i was trying this same type of setup with mymovies and zappiti, before it had the limitation built in). so, in order to save you from getting the error when you're sitting all comfy on your couch, ready to enjoy a movie, zappiti gives you the error you're describing when you're trying to do an "illegal" setup.

so, you can have your media all over the place, as long as the files for your interface (your "share path") are either local to the dune, or on a different smb server than all of your media. if you put your interface files on an smb server that also contains media, you'll only have access to the media thats in the same smb share as the interface files.

i know the discussion has kind of moved on from here, but since i never saw a definitive answer given, i wanted to bring it back up...

in a game of hot and cold, you're on fire here. there is a limitation of the 8642/8643 that it can only be connected to one smb share per server at a time. zappiti has apparently programed in a "preemptive strike" on this limitation in that zappiti won't allow you to set itself up so that you'd ever encounter that limitation. as mifronte states, if zappiti were to let you put the interface files on one share of a given server, and the media files on a different share on the same server, then it would need two simultaneous connections, which can't happen, and you would get an error on the dune when you attempt to play a movie (i know this for a fact because i was trying this same type of setup with mymovies and zappiti, before it had the limitation built in). so, in order to save you from getting the error when you're sitting all comfy on your couch, ready to enjoy a movie, zappiti gives you the error you're describing when you're trying to do an "illegal" setup.

so, you can have your media all over the place, as long as the files for your interface (your "share path") are either local to the dune, or on a different smb server than all of your media. if you put your interface files on an smb server that also contains media, you'll only have access to the media thats in the same smb share as the interface files.

So...when I stop doing all this for "pretend"...and set Zappiti to actually write to a USB on the Dune, I shouldn't have an issue with media on different unRAID shares? Because that would really foul me up, having to re-structure that.

CD

So...when I stop doing all this for "pretend"...and set Zappiti to actually write to a USB on the Dune, I shouldn't have an issue with media on different unRAID shares? Because that would really foul me up, having to re-structure that.

CD

correct. if you export your interface to a usb drive (internal hd, etc) connected to the dune, and access it from there when using the dune, you'll be using zero smb connections to browse the interface, and will be able to connect to any given smb share to play the media you've chosen.

DISCLAIMER: my server is not an unraid server, nor do i export my files to a usb drive on the dune. but i did a buttload of research on the 8642 smb limitation when i ran into it myself.

So...when I stop doing all this for "pretend"...and set Zappiti to actually write to a USB on the Dune, I shouldn't have an issue with media on different unRAID shares? Because that would really foul me up, having to re-structure that.

CD
You should be fine - I expose two Unraid user shares to Zappiti - one for Movies and one for TV Shows (see 183264)

If i get a second I will test out, I should have a bunch of quicktime trailers that have AAC audio to test

Cool, thanks. :)

Since many of us are talking about NAS and servers I noticed the price has dropped on 2TB hard drives today on amazon:

Western Digital 2 TB Caviar Green SATA Intellipower 64 MB Cache (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZCXK0I?ie=UTF8&tag=colbus-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002ZCXK0I)

$92.99 is the cheapest I have seen these...

What is the best Nas Storage(4 Bay and up) for the DUNE?

What is the best Nas Storage(4 Bay and up) for the DUNE?

I am a fan of Windows Home Servers, and the HP MediaSmart servers work great

What is the best Nas Storage(4 Bay and up) for the DUNE?

I am a fan of building your own with a nice Norco 4xxx series box...but I also like to do everything big.

I am a fan of building your own with a nice Norco 4xxx series box...but I also like to do everything big.


You can still go big with the HP WHS. I have 42TB in/attached to mine.(more if you want to use the stated capacity of the hard drives instead of what the WHS reports)

You can still go big with the HP WHS. I have 42TB in/attached to mine.(more if you want to use the stated capacity of the hard drives instead of what the WHS reports)

Now that I would like to see. I really need some new drives right now. Almost out of space.

Has anybody try this Acer Home Server

Cool, thanks. :)

Just tried a few 2ch mov files (Apple Trailers). They played fine (including audio)

Has anybody try this Acer Home Server

I'd like to know as well. I am really thinking about getting the AH342-U2T2H:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003KTN672/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I'd like to know as well. I am really thinking about getting the AH342-U2T2H:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003KTN672/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Here is a thread started (might be a little old) for the Acer:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1172172

Just tried a few 2ch mov files (Apple Trailers). They played fine (including audio)

Hmm...I cant' imagine needing to change anything in the audio settings to get these to play, especially when everything else works fine. Thanks for checking those out. Back to the drawing board...

Has anybody try this Acer Home Server

I've had one running for about 3 months now. You really can't go wrong for the money. It has a lot of room to grow too as it comes with a port multiplier aware esata port (i.e. it recognizes multiple sata drives in an enclosure - this is not the case for all HP MSS) and it has room for a PCIe card where you can add a RAID controller card with an additional 2 esata ports, thus, in combination you can connect a total of 18 drives (internal and esata) without even considering the 5 USB connections on the unit (I wouldn't go that route as they are only USB 2.0).

Overall, for the money it's tough to beat; I got mine for $390 CDN with a 1TB WD green drive included with the unit and a 2TB seagate LP5900 thrown in as part of the deal.

In terms of performance I have no trouble streaming challenging full bit rate blu-ray ISOs and MKVs to two different locations (I haven't tried three at once).

The only negative really and it applies to the HP MSS units is that there is no hardware raid controller (I guess that's the whole point of a WHS though) as such, if you go the WHS software backup route you're looking at cutting your storage space in half.

Personally, what I do is backup my compressed files and I don't bother backing up my ISOs as the way I figure it at best I can fit 60 blu-ray ISOs on a 2TB drive so if a drive goes down it's not the end of the world as each ISO only takes between 15 and 45 minutes to rip. On the other hand, a 2 terrabyte drive holding 200 blu-ray MKVs would be a disaster as each of those takes between an hour and two hours to recreate. Anyway, your risk tolerance will dictate what you consider an acceptable data loss.

Hey guys,

Thanks for the info along the way, I picked up my Dune Prime 3.0 today, basic setup was a breeze. It's nice to finally see stutter free blu-ray ISOs over SMB. However, i was wondering if there is a list of recommended settings? One thing I find annoying is that there seems to be an HDMI resynch after each file is started and stopped. My WDTV Live units do not do this so I was wondering if there was a setting that could alter this behaviour.

I must say, the stock UI sucks; it's in my opinion leagues behind even the WDTV Live, having said that, I expect Zappiti will fix this for me. Still, I must say, the UI is plain unacceptable for a $450 machine.

So far, I would say in terms of performance it definitely delivers but in many ways it reminds me of my '88 Mustang LX 5.0, it's fast but it's rough around the edges and can't handle or brake, but, there's a healthy aftermarket to fix these issues. The Dune is sort of the same deal, the stock UI plain sucks but there's plenty of 3rd party software to fix that.

I really do hope that the HDMI resynch issue can be addressed as I've been spoiled by the seamless transitions of the WDTV Live.

I've had one running for about 3 months now. You really can't go wrong for the money. It has a lot of room to grow too as it comes with a port multiplier aware esata port (i.e. it recognizes multiple sata drives in an enclosure - this is not the case for all HP MSS) and it has room for a PCIe card where you can add a RAID controller card with an additional 2 esata ports, thus, in combination you can connect a total of 18 drives (internal and esata) without even considering the 5 USB connections on the unit (I wouldn't go that route as they are only USB 2.0).

Overall, for the money it's tough to beat; I got mine for $390 CDN with a 1TB WD green drive included with the unit and a 2TB seagate LP5900 thrown in as part of the deal.

In terms of performance I have no trouble streaming challenging full bit rate blu-ray ISOs and MKVs to two different locations (I haven't tried three at once).

The only negative really and it applies to the HP MSS units is that there is no hardware raid controller (I guess that's the whole point of a WHS though) as such, if you go the WHS software backup route you're looking at cutting your storage space in half.

Personally, what I do is backup my compressed files and I don't bother backing up my ISOs as the way I figure it at best I can fit 60 blu-ray ISOs on a 2TB drive so if a drive goes down it's not the end of the world as each ISO only takes between 15 and 45 minutes to rip. On the other hand, a 2 terrabyte drive holding 200 blu-ray MKVs would be a disaster as each of those takes between an hour and two hours to recreate. Anyway, your risk tolerance will dictate what you consider an acceptable data loss.

Thanks a ton for the info. Expanding via esata is my biggest concern. I was planning on getting (2) Sans Digital TowerRAID TR5M-B 5 Bay along with it. Fill them up with 2tb drives. I am guessing I would get just over 7tb total storage each...so 14 tb total.

After that though I am pretty much stuck with that amount correct? I am thinking longterm I guess. My other option is getting some 4 bay NAS but those really add up as I expand.

I've had one running for about 3 months now. You really can't go wrong for the money. It has a lot of room to grow too as it comes with a port multiplier aware esata port (i.e. it recognizes multiple sata drives in an enclosure - this is not the case for all HP MSS) and it has room for a PCIe card where you can add a RAID controller card with an additional 2 esata ports, thus, in combination you can connect a total of 18 drives (internal and esata) without even considering the 5 USB connections on the unit (I wouldn't go that route as they are only USB 2.0).

Overall, for the money it's tough to beat; I got mine for $390 CDN with a 1TB WD green drive included with the unit and a 2TB seagate LP5900 thrown in as part of the deal.

In terms of performance I have no trouble streaming challenging full bit rate blu-ray ISOs and MKVs to two different locations (I haven't tried three at once).

The only negative really and it applies to the HP MSS units is that there is no hardware raid controller (I guess that's the whole point of a WHS though) as such, if you go the WHS software backup route you're looking at cutting your storage space in half.

Personally, what I do is backup my compressed files and I don't bother backing up my ISOs as the way I figure it at best I can fit 60 blu-ray ISOs on a 2TB drive so if a drive goes down it's not the end of the world as each ISO only takes between 15 and 45 minutes to rip. On the other hand, a 2 terrabyte drive holding 200 blu-ray MKVs would be a disaster as each of those takes between an hour and two hours to recreate. Anyway, your risk tolerance will dictate what you consider an acceptable data loss.

thanks

Thanks a ton for the info. Expanding via esata is my biggest concern. I was planning on getting (2) Sans Digital TowerRAID TR5M-B 5 Bay along with it. Fill them up with 2tb drives. I am guessing I would get just over 7tb total storage each...so 14 tb total.

After that though I am pretty much stuck with that amount correct? I am thinking longterm I guess. My other option is getting some 4 bay NAS but those really add up as I expand.

Let me know,how good is the TowerRAID TR5MB?
they look Reasonably price.

Thanks a ton for the info. Expanding via esata is my biggest concern. I was planning on getting (2) Sans Digital TowerRAID TR5M-B 5 Bay along with it. Fill them up with 2tb drives. I am guessing I would get just over 7tb total storage each...so 14 tb total.

After that though I am pretty much stuck with that amount correct? I am thinking longterm I guess. My other option is getting some 4 bay NAS but those really add up as I expand.

Actually, I think you can get a total of 18 drives via direct connection inside the unit plus 3 esata ports. Currently, I have 7TB of storage in 4 internal drives and another 8TB storage via an external Mediasonic esata/USB 3.0 enclosure (connected via esata) for a total of 15TB; I'm looking to get exactly what you're planning to get my storage total up to 35TB.

BTW, considering the low price of the Acer you can always setup two of them for a grand total of over 70TB between SATA and eSATA.

Hi guys,

As I just picked up my Dune Prime 3.0 today, I'm trying to figure out how best to setup Zappiti (can't get it setup soon enough as I really don't care for the stock interface). I have 3 subfolders under my videos folder on my WHS (blu-ray movies, blu-ray movies uncompressed, dvd movies). Each of these subfolders then contains a folder for each movie.

I was wondering, is it possible to setup Zappiti accordingly?

If not, how does Zappiti handle duplicates? (for compatability reasons I have both an MKV and an ISO of some movies)

Also, any advice on naming convention? Since I had my files in separate subfolders (i.e. blu-ray movies subfolder only contained folders for blu-ray movies) I have not named them based on format so Batman Begins is simply labelled as such rather than Batman Begins Blu-Ray; is this problematic? Do I have to rename my files and or their related folder?

Thanks for any advice you guys can offer.

Hi guys,

As I just picked up my Dune Prime 3.0 today, I'm trying to figure out how best to setup Zappiti (can't get it setup soon enough as I really don't care for the stock interface). I have 3 subfolders under my videos folder on my WHS (blu-ray movies, blu-ray movies uncompressed, dvd movies). Each of these subfolders then contains a folder for each movie.

I was wondering, is it possible to setup Zappiti accordingly?

If not, how does Zappiti handle duplicates? (for compatability reasons I have both an MKV and an ISO of some movies)

Also, any advice on naming convention? Since I had my files in separate subfolders (i.e. blu-ray movies subfolder only contained folders for blu-ray movies) I have not named them based on format so Batman Begins is simply labelled as such rather than Batman Begins Blu-Ray; is this problematic? Do I have to rename my files and or their related folder?

Thanks for any advice you guys can offer.

You don't need to name based on the format, just make sure the folder name is exactly the movie name (which it appears is what you are doing)

You should have no problem setting up Zappiti based on your folder structures. If you look at my guide I have multiple subfolders (i.e. Movies HD, Movies SD, etc...) under my WHS Videos folder. Regarding duplication I have no idea how Zappiti would handle. For your duplicates could you possibly move any duplicated files to a separate folder and then just not include it in Zappiti?

Hi guys,

As I just picked up my Dune Prime 3.0 today, I'm trying to figure out how best to setup Zappiti (can't get it setup soon enough as I really don't care for the stock interface). I have 3 subfolders under my videos folder on my WHS (blu-ray movies, blu-ray movies uncompressed, dvd movies). Each of these subfolders then contains a folder for each movie.

I was wondering, is it possible to setup Zappiti accordingly?

If not, how does Zappiti handle duplicates? (for compatability reasons I have both an MKV and an ISO of some movies)

Also, any advice on naming convention? Since I had my files in separate subfolders (i.e. blu-ray movies subfolder only contained folders for blu-ray movies) I have not named them based on format so Batman Begins is simply labelled as such rather than Batman Begins Blu-Ray; is this problematic? Do I have to rename my files and or their related folder?

Thanks for any advice you guys can offer.

I have the same thing. I am by no means an expert at this program but this is what works for me. Since I have two media streamers/players and one is NOT a Dune, I have two sets of movies in some cases; mkv for the kids and BD iso for me. I have my Bluray shares on the main screen and use Dune Explorer 2 for them. For everything else I use Zappiti.

It will pick up your files as long as the name of the movie is in there, but what I found works best is movie name- year of movie. Adding stuff on the end like bluray, 720p, 1080p etc can confuse it but you can easily change it. If you have TV Shows, they need to be listed SxxExx somewhere in the folder with the TV show name.

I am no software programmer but I don't understand why this program is designed to be so difficult to setup. It could have been dumbed down a bit IMO. Oh and if you want the Zappiti folder on the main screen, you need to have the latest beta firmware installed or at least 2131 I believe.

Guys, I think I know the answer to this but thought I would ask here anyway. Will nearly full hard drives in my WHS effect network performance when streaming to my Dune? I only have about 70GB of free space left between the two drives in my WHS. One is a 1TB drive that came with the unit and the other is a 200GB drive I pulled out of an old PC. It's certainly time to add more space but I am experiencing some stuttered playback for the first time since having the Dune and I wonder if my hard drives may be the culprits. I spent about an hour last night reading about LAN speeds and bottlenecks in a Gigabit network. I realize that the Dune is not really using Gigabit but 10/100 should be more than enough for the Dune from what I have read. My router, cabling and switch are all Gigabit compliant so I'm thinking it must be the drives that are the problem now. Thoughts?

Guys, I think I know the answer to this but thought I would ask here anyway. Will nearly full hard drives in my WHS effect network performance when streaming to my Dune? I only have about 70GB of free space left between the two drives in my WHS. One is a 1TB drive that came with the unit and the other is a 200GB drive I pulled out of an old PC. It's certainly time to add more space but I am experiencing some stuttered playback for the first time since having the Dune and I wonder if my hard drives may be the culprits. I spent about an hour last night reading about LAN speeds and bottlenecks in a Gigabit network. I realize that the Dune is not really using Gigabit but 10/100 should be more than enough for the Dune from what I have read. My router, cabling and switch are all Gigabit compliant so I'm thinking it must be the drives that are the problem now. Thoughts?

Yes nearly full HD's will affect your performance. I think the general rule of thumb these days is to leave at least 15% of each drive as unused free space.

Well... Yes and no. It depends on where the file is on the platter. The more you add the more it gets to the slower part of the hard drive, so your files will always have slightly different speeds depending on location. That said, I don't think it's a real world problem and I don't agree with the leave 15% free unless it is your os drive.

You don't need to name based on the format, just make sure the folder name is exactly the movie name (which it appears is what you are doing)

You should have no problem setting up Zappiti based on your folder structures. If you look at my guide I have multiple subfolders (i.e. Movies HD, Movies SD, etc...) under my WHS Videos folder. Regarding duplication I have no idea how Zappiti would handle. For your duplicates could you possibly move any duplicated files to a separate folder and then just not include it in Zappiti?

dbone,

Thanks and I did have a look at your guide, it was very helpful. Since you have your folders setup similarly on your WHS, is it possible to navigate in Zappiti based on that structure (i.e. only look at my DVD movies)?

Also, from reading your guide I'm slightly confused about the Zappiti file's location; do I have to send it to my WHS or can I just access it from my PC which holds the Zappiti application to save the hassle of copying it over to my WHS each time.

For anyone interested:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816132016&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL092810&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL092810-_-EMC-092810-Index-_-ServerRAIDSystems-_-16132016-L02D

Enter promo code (EMCYXNW96) at checkout for $ 229.99

Guys, I think I know the answer to this but thought I would ask here anyway. Will nearly full hard drives in my WHS effect network performance when streaming to my Dune? I only have about 70GB of free space left between the two drives in my WHS. One is a 1TB drive that came with the unit and the other is a 200GB drive I pulled out of an old PC. It's certainly time to add more space but I am experiencing some stuttered playback for the first time since having the Dune and I wonder if my hard drives may be the culprits. I spent about an hour last night reading about LAN speeds and bottlenecks in a Gigabit network. I realize that the Dune is not really using Gigabit but 10/100 should be more than enough for the Dune from what I have read. My router, cabling and switch are all Gigabit compliant so I'm thinking it must be the drives that are the problem now. Thoughts?

Your system drive should have some free space, but it's pretty common (at least from what I've read) to fill the pool drives as much as you can. The idea being that once you've archived the media you won't move the data around anymore.

That being said, I have a low end sys drive, and I have stuttering issues when there is activity on that drive while streaming video. Suspending the DEMigrator service was the fix for my case.

dbone,

Thanks and I did have a look at your guide, it was very helpful. Since you have your folders setup similarly on your WHS, is it possible to navigate in Zappiti based on that structure (i.e. only look at my DVD movies)?

Also, from reading your guide I'm slightly confused about the Zappiti file's location; do I have to send it to my WHS or can I just access it from my PC which holds the Zappiti application to save the hassle of copying it over to my WHS each time.

When you set up Zappiti you can assign various locations. For example, I did not point Zappiti to my main Videos share because I have various folders that I do not want included. So instead I just pointed Zappiti to the specific folders I wanted (in this case Movies HD, Movies SD, etc...) and left out other folders such as home videos... This is all done in the configuration (If you go to the last screenshot in the Configure part of the guide you can see I only chose certain folders from my Videos Shared folder)

As far as where to access, are you talking about exporting the Zappiti files? If so you will need to do this step no matter where Zappiti is installed. Zappiti outputs the files that the Dune will then access, so you just want to make sure you are exporting this to a shared folder or drive that your Dune can access

Since you have your folders setup similarly on your WHS, is it possible to navigate in Zappiti based on that structure (i.e. only look at my DVD movies)?

unless they've added it in one of the newer versions that i havne't installed yet, no, zappiti doesn't have this "custom categories" type of capability. one of it's biggest shortcomings, IMHO. thats one of the main reasons i use a hybrid setup that uses mymovies for movies and zappiti for tv shows.

Your system drive should have some free space, but it's pretty common (at least from what I've read) to fill the pool drives as much as you can. The idea being that once you've archived the media you won't move the data around anymore.

That being said, I have a low end sys drive, and I have stuttering issues when there is activity on that drive while streaming video. Suspending the DEMigrator service was the fix for my case.

Thanks. I had turned of the Demigrator service a while back as well as duplication and pretty much everything else I can think of. Sunday night I think I may have caused a problem by having a disk defrag program running while streaming. I normally would not have been up watching movies during this time and forgot to reschedule or turn off the defrag. Last night I was running speed tests on certain files through the Dune and was getting 8 or 9 MBps instead of the 10-11 MBps I was initially getting.

unless they've added it in one of the newer versions that i havne't installed yet, no, zappiti doesn't have this "custom categories" type of capability. one of it's biggest shortcomings, IMHO. thats one of the main reasons i use a hybrid setup that uses mymovies for movies and zappiti for tv shows.

Not sure if we are talking about the same thing, but you can create custom categories in Zappiti (there is a "New Category" button in the Categories section)

For anyone interested:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816132016&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL092810&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL092810-_-EMC-092810-Index-_-ServerRAIDSystems-_-16132016-L02D

Enter promo code (EMCYXNW96) at checkout for $ 229.99

A newbie question here... Can this unit be connected directly to the Dune, or does it need to run through a Media Server or WHS?

Bill

Here is a thread started (might be a little old) for the Acer:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1172172

Oh this is perfect thanks. Sound like I can actually hook up 3 of these TR4M to the Acer. According to that article it does support port multiplier out of the box without any additional port multiplier card support. With that and the additional 2 ports from the card I should be good to go for a while...unless I just read that wrong.

Thank you!

Oh this is perfect thanks. Sound like I can actually hook up 3 of these TR4M to the Acer. According to that article it does support port multiplier out of the box without any additional port multiplier card support. With that and the additional 2 ports from the card I should be good to go for a while...unless I just read that wrong.

Thank you!

I would guess, 1 with the Acer and 2 connections with the card. Here is another writeup detailing:

http://kamlau.com/software/sans-digital-towerraid-tr4m-b-and-acer-easystore-home-server/

A newbie question here... Can this unit be connected directly to the Dune, or does it need to run through a Media Server or WHS?

Bill

It must be connected to a PC with a PCI-e slot.

Not sure if we are talking about the same thing, but you can create custom categories in Zappiti (there is a "New Category" button in the Categories section)

What I was personally looking for was whether it could be setup so that I could access just my DVD ISO's or just my Blu-Ray ISO's so that the two are not comingled together; is this possible in Zappiti? If not, is it possible in MyMovies? Personally if possible, I would prefer to have the option to navigate through these collections separately.

What I was personally looking for was whether it could be setup so that I could access just my DVD ISO's or just my Blu-Ray ISO's so that the two are not comingled together; is this possible in Zappiti? If not, is it possible in MyMovies? Personally if possible, I would prefer to have the option to navigate through these collections separately.

You could create categories (i.e BluRay ISO and DVD ISO) and then manually assign each movie to the correct category. You can then view each category separately.

Oh this is perfect thanks. Sound like I can actually hook up 3 of these TR4M to the Acer. According to that article it does support port multiplier out of the box without any additional port multiplier card support. With that and the additional 2 ports from the card I should be good to go for a while...unless I just read that wrong.

Thank you!

I can confirm that it supports port multiplier out of the box, I recently added a mediasonic 4-bay eSATA/USB 3.0 enclosure and it seems to be working fine. By the way, the Acer seems to support hot swap but hot plug is limited to one drive. In other words, you have to reboot the Acer with the enclosure already on for it to recognize all four drives. It's not really a big deal though as the whole point is for these devices to run 24/7 anyway.

I have the same thing. I am by no means an expert at this program but this is what works for me. Since I have two media streamers/players and one is NOT a Dune, I have two sets of movies in some cases; mkv for the kids and BD iso for me. I have my Bluray shares on the main screen and use Dune Explorer 2 for them. For everything else I use Zappiti.

It will pick up your files as long as the name of the movie is in there, but what I found works best is movie name- year of movie. Adding stuff on the end like bluray, 720p, 1080p etc can confuse it but you can easily change it. If you have TV Shows, they need to be listed SxxExx somewhere in the folder with the TV show name.

I am no software programmer but I don't understand why this program is designed to be so difficult to setup. It could have been dumbed down a bit IMO. Oh and if you want the Zappiti folder on the main screen, you need to have the latest beta firmware installed or at least 2131 I believe.


That could work too but I would rather avoid that option as I hate the stock UI.

You could create categories (i.e BluRay ISO and DVD ISO) and then manually assign each movie to the correct category. You can then view each category separately.

That sounds like a reasonable solution; so essentially, if I went to all movies they would all be viewable but I could create my own categories that would list just the DVDs or just the blu-ray's.

Can you drill down multiple levels within a category - e.g. DVD ISOs then by Actor? If so, that would pretty much address all my needs?

I can confirm that it supports port multiplier out of the box, I recently added a mediasonic 4-bay eSATA/USB 3.0 enclosure and it seems to be working fine. By the way, the Acer seems to support hot swap but hot plug is limited to one drive. In other words, you have to reboot the Acer with the enclosure already on for it to recognize all four drives. It's not really a big deal though as the whole point is for these devices to run 24/7 anyway.

Thank you! Yeah no big deal for me as it will be on 24/7.

I haven't tried this feature yet but can someone tell me how to setup internet radio stations on the Dune Base? I got kind of spoiled with my Xtreamer, one of the few things it did fairly well was provide an internet radio jukebox, point and click.

For anyone interested:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816132016&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL092810&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL092810-_-EMC-092810-Index-_-ServerRAIDSystems-_-16132016-L02D

Enter promo code (EMCYXNW96) at checkout for $ 229.99

Excellent price! I'm very tempted but I'd prefer two TR5Ms as I can add two additional drives. Still, at this price it's tempting to forgo a couple of drives for the cost savings.

I haven't tried this feature yet but can someone tell me how to setup internet radio stations on the Dune Base? I got kind of spoiled with my Xtreamer, one of the few things it did fairly well was provide an internet radio jukebox, point and click.

I'm interested in this too! I used to have this functionality through my Denon 3310 CI AVR but the network card has died and I can't bring myself to go through the trouble or removing it and sending it in for repair (too much work to reprogram my universal remote and make the necessary changes to reintegrate my old non-hdmi avr on a temporary basis) since everything else works.

I'm interested in this too! I used to have this functionality through my Denon 3310 CI AVR but the network card has died and I can't bring myself to go through the trouble or removing it and sending it in for repair (too much work to reprogram my universal remote and make the necessary changes to reintegrate my old non-hdmi avr on a temporary basis) since everything else works.

Well, I just found this. http://dune-forum.com/index.php/topic/32/
Not really what I was expecting but I guess I will give it a try.

Well, I just found this. http://dune-forum.com/index.php/topic/32/
Not really what I was expecting but I guess I will give it a try.

Please let us know how it goes; I'd like to give it a try too but I won't be trying anything until I get Zappiti sorted out first.

I haven't tried this feature yet but can someone tell me how to setup internet radio stations on the Dune Base? I got kind of spoiled with my Xtreamer, one of the few things it did fairly well was provide an internet radio jukebox, point and click.

This was actually one of the first things I messed with when I got mine. I have a ShoutCast station I run 24/7 and wanted to stream from the Dune.

You can pretty much save any .pls file and Dune will open the stream.

Check out the attachment if you like. Rename it with a .pls extension (I could not attach it with the original .pls extension).
I placed it on my hard drive inside the Dune and all you need to do is open it. It will start streaming without any issues.

Most stations will have the .pls link so all you need to do is save it and open it with the Dune.

Not sure if we are talking about the same thing, but you can create custom categories in Zappiti (there is a "New Category" button in the Categories section)

Damian, I've looked all over for the "New Catagory" button, but can't find one (I am using the latest version of Zappiti.) Can you tell me which screen it is on (i.e. the path to get there?)
Thanks.

Damian, I've looked all over for the "New Catagory" button, but can't find one (I am using the latest version of Zappiti.) Can you tell me which screen it is on (i.e. the path to get there?)
Thanks.

Go into the categories then on the top menu bar you will have an option to create a new category.

Hi guys,

Just finished setting up Zappiti and scraping my collection of almost 400 movies. In general, using dbone's guide made setup a breeze.

Btw, Zappiti does indeed support multiple files with the same name from different folders (for those that may have for example an MKV file and a blu-ray ISO to support different media players).

I do have a couple of questions that I hope someone might be able to assist with. I tried adding another small subdirectory of movies and I accidentally typed in smb:: instead of smb: upon realizing this I corrected the absolute path and re-exported to Dune but any movie in that folder doesn't seem to work. I also tried erasing the Dune Export file altogether and re-exporting but again to no avail, anyone have any ideas on what could be causing this problem?

Also, while Zappiti seems good overall, the scraper isn't the best for movie details; it's funny some well known movies produced no synopsis (e.g The Departed). Also, I found the categories tags to be a little out of whack. Also, it seems that it assumes your DVDs are PAL as it reports back 576p. Is there a particular setting that informs Zappiti that it should be looking for Region 1 DVDs? Also, is can you scrape movie details from an alternate source?

Another minor issue I'm having is that the local cover art that I've used from dvdaf.com doesn't quite fit in the Zappiti window and the cover art available through Zappiti doesn't seem to include blu-ray covers; any suggestions anyone?

Thanks again especially to dbone for that great Zappiti guide.