Crank 2, released today, took over an hour for a AV and Computer expert to load this film. I would get a square of about 8" of actual video on a 60" display after waiting 2.5 minutes.

First I updated my Panasonic DMP-BD35K firmware via the internet, which to this day never hicupped on any movie. Restarted, no change.

OK so I left it hooked up the internet, restarted again and this time the movie said it was checking on updates. Still I would not get pass that 8" square of video.

Ok so I then put in my SD memory card, restarted, and after downloading, which also took at least two more minutes on a 16 Mbps internet line, now I get a EULA for Lionsgate BD-Live site. I selected "I disagree" and sure enough the movie would still not load.

OK one more time and I selected "I agree" and wouldn't you know it the movie actually started.


This is the bottom line on getting the movie to play:
It appears that this problem disc will not load on certain 2.0 profile players unless you use an external memory card.

All 1.0 and 1.1 profile players such as the Panasonic BD-30 or Sony's BDP-300 or 500 will not have a problem because they are not BD-Live capable.

All players that are 2.0 profile, that have built in memory, i.e. the PS3 or the OPPO 83 will not have this problem.

All of this would have been a walk in the park if the studios would put a simple system requirement notice on the back cover stating " 2.0 profile players must have either internal or external memory installed for this movie to load correctly."

It has one of the best menus out there, its not their fault not everyone updates their players firmware

That's the point it was not a firmware issue.

You must be connected to the internet, have a SD memory card installed and agree to their EULA in order to update the java on the movie.

Fair point, still the best menu ever made, maybe next time buy a ps3

You know I'm going to edit the orginal post.

so if i buy this movie do i have to do anything special with my Sony Bdps350?

so if i buy this movie do i have to do anything special with my Sony Bdps350?

I don't know. It was the stangest thing that I have ever done in order to watch a movie. YMMV

Isn't this the same crap they pulled with "T2: Skynet"?

No in that case you could just hit cancel and the movie would start (I own it). This was different. It would not load and fill the entire screen until I allowed it to do what ever update it was trying to do.

So you are saying if you don't have your player connected to the internet and agree to download something then the film doesn't play ?

Or are you saying you have your player connected to the internet and it asked to download something before playing. Big difference if the latter.

If it was the latter then simply disconnecting the player from the internet would have surely fixed this issue.

If it's the former then i consider that bad.

I watched a portion on the movie today using an OPPO 83 (without their latest firmware). I did not get prompted that I had to connect to the internet to play the BR. The movie played without issues.

So you are saying if you don't have your player connected to the internet and agree to download something then the film doesn't play ?

Or are you saying you have your player connected to the internet and it asked to download something before playing. Big difference if the latter.

If it was the latter then simply disconnecting the player from the internet would have surely fixed this issue.

If it's the former then i consider that bad.

What I am saying is , in my case, on my Panasonic BMP-35, which has never had a problem like this, is the movie would get to a point where the Java loading icon would not go completely away after starting to play a preview. You would see part of the preview and part of the icon and the rest of the screen was black.

This was before the player was connected to the internet. Not until I connected to the internet and allowed the movie to go to Lionsgate web site with a SD card installed and agreeing to their EULA, downloading their update to the SD card did the movie finally played filling the screen.

Follow thread here: http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=113491

It looks like you have to just have a SD card installed in players that have external cards in order to watch the movie that is 2.0 profile.

I watched a portion on the movie today using an OPPO 83 (without their latest firmware). I did not get prompted that I had to connect to the internet to play the BR. The movie played without issues.

THe OPPO has internal memory. I think this is where the problem starts. If you do not have internal memory then you have to have a SD card installed in order for the movie to load properly.

Ok I just went back to the system and took the SD card out and it has the same original problem.

Bottom line should be that Lionsgate and all the other studios should put on the back of the cover that " This movie requires either internal memory or an external SD card in order for the movie to load properly." If they want this format to have a lifespan, then they need to start this procedure now.

Or perhaps you could turn off the BD-Live feature on your player if that's what's causing the issue.

Or perhaps you could turn off the BD-Live feature on your player if that's what's causing the issue.

It was off before all hell broke loose. I never have had BD-live on until this movie gave me problems. I hate BD-live. Worthless piece of ______.

I've said it many times.. One needs 2 BD players in their rack. If one hiccups, the other likely will play.... (I take no chances with my entertainment hours and have 3 BD players in my rack). Movies have to play immediately when I'm ready to watch.

I've said it many times.. One needs 2 BD players in their rack. If one hiccups, the other likely will play.... (I take no chances with my entertainment hours and have 3 BD players in my rack). Movies have to play immediately when I'm ready to watch.

Maybe I need to bring my older Sony s-500 down from the bedroom and add it to the rack because low and behold it played fine on the older machine. However I would have lost out on the DTS Master audio.

Worked fine on my PS3.

I've said it many times.. One needs 2 BD players in their rack. If one hiccups, the other likely will play.... (I take no chances with my entertainment hours and have 3 BD players in my rack). Movies have to play immediately when I'm ready to watch.

Exactly! thats why I have 2 region A and 2 Region B. Its not the first time ive had movies play up on one player but work on the other.

Anyone try this on a BD30? Did it play fine?

I've said it many times.. One needs 2 BD players in their rack. If one hiccups, the other likely will play.... (I take no chances with my entertainment hours and have 3 BD players in my rack). Movies have to play immediately when I'm ready to watch.


Does two PS3's count?:D

I was tempted to say the same as others regarding using a PS3, but truly it is the most dependable it seems.

Anyone try this on a BD30? Did it play fine?

My copy should arrive soon will give it a try on that player. But then again you could get it before me.

Yes a forum member on Bluray.com said it loaded ok on the BD-30.

Ok, we sat down to watch this movie. We only lasted 55 minutes of the 85 minute run time. I can't believe people enjoyed this movie. It was a total spoof of the original Crank movie, more a comedy that an action flick. To each his own but if you have trouble with your player I wouldn't waste the time or effort to get it to load. My opinion and my wife but your YMMV. :(

I tried playing Crank 2 on my Panasonic BD35 and I was only getting a small block of a screen.Hooked it to the internet same thing.No updates available.Added a 32 MB memory card,same.Turned on secondary audio.Nothing worked.I then inserted 4 Gig memory card finally played perfectly after pretty long loading time.Did not need to be hooked to internet.I don not know how big of a memory card you need but it must be a certain minimum.

Does two PS3's count?:D

I was tempted to say the same as others regarding using a PS3, but truly it is the most dependable it seems.

Yeah, I would bet you are safe with the PS3.....if all else fails, I will pull mine from upstairs and put it in the HT for this film:)

My copy should arrive soon will give it a try on that player. But then again you could get it before me.

Thanks Franin.....if you dont hear some sort of report from me before you get it, let me know how it works out on the BD30 if you dont mind.


Yes a forum member on Bluray.com said it loaded ok on the BD-30.


Nice. Thanks for that:)

I've said it many times.. One needs 2 BD players in their rack. If one hiccups, the other likely will play.... (I take no chances with my entertainment hours and have 3 BD players in my rack). Movies have to play immediately when I'm ready to watch.

:) OR... they can just buy one PS3. :)

So far I have not had ANY issue with ANY movie including Crank 2. Also, PS3 is controlled fully with my Harmony 890 so any objection about using a gamepad is rendered mute.

Last, so far, it's the only Blu-ray "player" that is fully upgradable to any of the newer profiles that may come down. So far... hopefully stays that way.

This kind of nonsense where the consumer is the ongoing beta tester for a video format that's been on store shelves going on 3 years now is beyond ridiculous. That some consumers actually apologize for this sort of attitude from the movie industry is even more pathetic.

T.B.

I thought this thread would be about the boom cams

Yes a forum member on Bluray.com said it loaded ok on the BD-30.

Ok, we sat down to watch this movie. We only lasted 55 minutes of the 85 minute run time. I can't believe people enjoyed this movie. It was a total spoof of the original Crank movie, more a comedy that an action flick. To each his own but if you have trouble with your player I wouldn't waste the time or effort to get it to load. My opinion and my wife but your YMMV. :(

have not seen it yet, I was hoping it will be good as the first.

Its also happening on the LG BH200. I don't have first hand knowledge but its being reported in the Dual Format Players forum.

Well count the Denon A1UDCI as another that only shows a small square picture right next to a partial high voltage load icon. I didn't try using a memory card as I don't have one on hand to use. But like many others have said it's a very wise idea to have at least a secondary Blu-ray player in case one will not load a title.

I put Crank 2 into my Denon 2500BTCI (profile 1.1) and it loaded just fine and played with no problem. Just for kicks I'm going to try it in my Sony S300 (profile 1.0), and if it plays then it has something to do with certain profile 2.0 players and their need for on board memory (or something). Pretty weird if you ask me.


Seth

No worries, this (http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/ultimate-gear/over_the_top/) is only profile 1.1.:eek: Start saving.;):p

P.S. Seth, weren't you thinking of trading in the A1 for this?:D

Well count the Denon A1UDCI as another that only shows a small square picture right next to a partial high voltage load icon. I didn't try using a memory card as I don't have one on hand to use. But like many others have said it's a very wise idea to have at least a secondary Blu-ray player in case one will not load a title.

I put Crank 2 into my Denon 2500BTCI (profile 1.1) and it loaded just fine and played with no problem. Just for kicks I'm going to try it in my Sony S300 (profile 1.0), and if it plays then it has something to do with certain profile 2.0 players and their need for on board memory (or something). Pretty weird if you ask me.


Seth

Good to know Seth :)

No worries, this (http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/ultimate-gear/over_the_top/) is only profile 1.1.:eek: Start saving.;):p

P.S. Seth, weren't you thinking of trading in the A1 for this?:D

Now for that price it had damn better play Crank 2!:p

Trading? Oh yeah! I mean it has no SACD/DVD-A, no balanced outs, only profile 1.1. But it sure is purty and weighs a ton.:)


Seth

Now for that price it had damn better play Crank 2!:p

And make me toast too.:D

I had this happen to me befor. Never knew why it wouldnt load. I never did watch the movie. And this was on my ps3.....

I should never PWA (Post While Aggravated).

It appears that this problem disc will not load on certain 2.0 profile players unless you use an external memory card.

All 1.0 and 1.1 profile players such as the Panasonic BD-30 or Sony's BDP-300 or 500 will not have a problem because they can not use BD-Live.

All players that are 2.0 profile that have built in memory i.e. PS3 or the OPPO 83 will not have this problem.

Hope this helps anyone who wants to watch Crank 2. And maybe you will not do what I did and PWA. :D

BTW the bass in this movie is its only saving grace.

:) OR... they can just buy one PS3. :)

So far I have not had ANY issue with ANY movie including Crank 2. Also, PS3 is controlled fully with my Harmony 890 so any objection about using a gamepad is rendered mute.

Last, so far, it's the only Blu-ray "player" that is fully upgradable to any of the newer profiles that may come down. So far... hopefully stays that way.

You may not have had issues playing discs but the PS3 is far from being resilient to play all titles/discs. Some have required updates.

You may not have had issues playing discs but the PS3 is far from being resilient to play all titles/discs. Some have required updates.


Absolutely wrong! I have played at least a hundred BDs with no issues whatsoever.

Originally Posted by 42Plasmaman
You may not have had issues playing discs but the PS3 is far from being resilient to play all titles/discs. Some have required updates.

Absolutely wrong! I have played at least a hundred BDs with no issues whatsoever.

Read his response. Now read the bolded part in yours....repeat ad nauseum. Myopia much?

I hate BD-live. Worthless piece of ______.

Yup, I just wish that they gave up on it and make discs that can play in ALL players without having to mess with firmware/memory card/internet connections.

I tried playing Crank 2 on my Panasonic BD35 and I was only getting a small block of a screen.Hooked it to the internet same thing.No updates available.Added a 32 MB memory card,same.Turned on secondary audio.Nothing worked.I then inserted 4 Gig memory card finally played perfectly after pretty long loading time.Did not need to be hooked to internet.I don not know how big of a memory card you need but it must be a certain minimum.

Same problem here...wouldn't play on my BD-35 or Bd-60. THinking it was a firmware issue, downloaded latest firmware for both players and burned to CD-R's and updated both players. No change..I get the small square also.

Finally gave up, returned movie to Blockbuster and exchanged for standard DVD version. Is this really the future of home entertainment? :(

It's an authoring bug. Usually BD-Live movies have this kind of issue if your player is Profile 2.0and connected to internet but don't have required memory (1GB). However, it appears Crank 2 only checks Profile 2.0 and neglect to check if the play is connected to internet or not before go ahead and invoke BD-Live feature.

If your player is profile 2.0 and connected to internet, you better make sure you have sufficient memory for the player. Otherwise, a lot of BD-Live movie will hang.

Same problem here...wouldn't play on my BD-35 or Bd-60. THinking it was a firmware issue, downloaded latest firmware for both players and burned to CD-R's and updated both players. No change..I get the small square also.

Finally gave up, returned movie to Blockbuster and exchanged for standard DVD version. Is this really the future of home entertainment? :(

Did you not understand my post. It was confirmed that you needed to use a SD or USB memory card for the movie to load right in the BD-35 or BD-60. I went through the trouble shooting steps in order to help others watch this movie. Did you not have a memory stick?

The problem is not with processing power... it is with the delusion held by the studios that they have any influence on their product after the sale. Once the sale is made, the distributor is out of the equation (or should be), period. You should not have to agree to anything, as the disc is now your property, and the studio has precisely zero say as to how, when, or where it is viewed. Assuming that it is legally purchased, there is no EULA, as there is no connection between the distributor and the consumer. The studios are pushing this "you did not buy the film, just the license to view it" nonsense. Well, a license can be revoked, and I would pay real money to see Hollywood in all of their money and perceived power to show up at my door and try to revoke anything.

Isn't this the same crap they pulled with "T2: Skynet"?

Wait I don't own my movie? WTF are we buying?

Wait I don't own my movie? WTF are we buying?

You don't own the movie. Only the right to watch it under strict conditions set forth by studios, e.g. you can't show the movie to the public or rent them out.

You don't own the movie. Only the right to watch it under strict conditions set forth by studios, e.g. you can't show the movie to the public or rent them out.

Yes, I do. Assuming that I do not violate copyright, they have absolutely no say as to it's disposition. I am free to watch it when ever I want, wherever I want, and how often I want. They have absolutely no ability to re-possess what I have legally purchased, nor can they dictate any usage patterns (again, outside of copyright violations*).

*Copyright, as I observe it: I cannot deprive the content provider of any potential profit. This means:

1) I cannot copy it and sell it, because the buyer may otherwise have bought it legally. Hence, the content provider might lose profit.

2) I cannot copy it and give it away for the same reason as #1.

3) I cannot copy it and give it away, even if the recipient would not have bought it anyway. Who's to say that they might not have a change of heart later and purchase it? Hence, potential lost profit.

4) I cannot hold a public viewing and charge admission, because I would be making a profit of of their work. Any profit I might turn could have potentially have gone to them, now or at an undetermined point in the future.

5) I cannot hold a free public viewing, because the studio might hold its own presentation and charge for tickets. Anybody attending my showing could represent lost ticket sales for them.

6) I cannot rent them out, as this would deprive the local rental outfit of the fee, a part of which goes to the content provider.

Above and beyond these constraints, I am free to do what ever I wish with my property. The disc, polycarbonate substrate, aluminum recording layer, and the physical pits representing the recorded material belong to me. Outside of the copyright restrictions as outlined above, there are no "strict conditions" that the studios can impose.

In the current context, that means that they cannot require me to log into their server in order to watch what I legally own, essentially asking permission to do so. This is what killed DIVX 10 years ago (which, ironically, would flourish now), and is a major reason why the studios wanted Java over HDi (their dream is to maintain control beyond the sale as an potential income stream). Not gonna happen in my house.

They can impose the digital data that the disc downloads, that is what the agreement is for

They can impose the digital data that the disc downloads, that is what the agreement is for

True, if you are indeed downloading new content from the internet that you did not explicitly pay for (hence, the content owner still has some rights to it). The question here is "why can I not play the disc I bought without connecting to the internet to begin with?" The physical disc I am holding in my hands (assuming it was legally acquired) is mine, free and clear. I do not have to ask further permission to use it, and I am free to do with it what I please (above and beyond copyright as defined in my previous post).

You're way off topic. it is not true that you can't play Crank 2 without connecting to the internet first. Profile 1.1 players play them just fine. The problem is the authoring is wrong. It didn't check player's network connectivity before invoking BD-Live.

Is there a standard thread for AQ/PQ regarding this movie? This thread is pretty worthless...

It has one of the best menus out there, its not their fault not everyone updates their players firmware

Who cares about the menu? How about just to be able play the damn movie? If the BD forum wants this format to survive they better stop expecting that everyone will do a FW update because they can't get their act together by now. They should just stop hiring laid of MS people. ;)

You're way off topic.

You are correct...:o I apologize. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...:D

Is there a standard thread for AQ/PQ regarding this movie? This thread is pretty worthless...

I do not think this thread pretty worthless, its was informing people that players with 2.0 requires an update to play this film. I'm sure a separate thread can be started regrading Pq and Aq

plays on pioneer 320 without issue

plays on pioneer 320 without issue

The Pioneer also has the built in 1G memory for 2.0.

I believe the issue is with 2.0 players that require an SD card or USB stick for BD Live even though the Ethernet is not connected.

It would not play in my Sony 550 last night. It has the new firm ware but I don't have a SD card in it yet, so I guess that'll be the next thing to try.
Jason

It was off before all hell broke loose. I never have had BD-live on until this movie gave me problems. I hate BD-live. Worthless piece of ______.

I have the exact same problem, with the exact same resolution. I am livid I had to spend an hour debugging a film. There is no disclaimer on the box, and yet I am Paying Them to Debug their Film!!
I am so pi**ed at Lionsgate I can't see straight! Can you imagine if there had been guests over?!?
Played great on my older Panny BD-30 in the bedroom, which doesn't do BD Live. I got it for the 7.1 lossless, but the amp on the BD-30 doesn't support the codec. But my BD-60 (which is hooked to an internet connection with a Yamaha 663 in the living room) won't play the video unless I go out and purchase a 4 gig SD card! Screw that, I'm returning the film instead. Lionsgate just lost a sale over this.

It would not play in my Sony 550 last night. It has the new firm ware but I don't have a SD card in it yet, so I guess that'll be the next thing to try.
Jason

Same problem here on S550. However, it plays fine after I put the microvault tiny that comes with the player in. Kinda annoying!

Same problem here on S550. However, it plays fine after I put the microvault tiny that comes with the player in. Kinda annoying!

Cool, I'll give that a try

Thanks,
Jason

Don't mind about the digital copy and loading time but this studio should make decent films not only Saw 6....,Crank 2....then Lionsgate would become like Cannon in the past.
Decent film please.BTW,Corallco some movies were phenomenal like Terminator2,Rambo2 for example before the company was gone.

That's the point it was not a firmware issue.

You must be connected to the internet, have a SD memory card installed and agree to their EULA in order to update the java on the movie.

welcome to hollywood when you agree to their eula i bet it says you are granted a license to view the movie "we" still own this disc
expect this to happen more and more

welcome to hollywood when you agree to their eula i bet it says you are granted a license to view the movie "we" still own this disc
expect this to happen more and more

Not if don't buy there crap,then market forces will dictate for them to stop
. if theres an up-roar like this on here, there must be huge stink in the tom and jerrys that just a bought HDTV, blu-ray player and a HTIB from wal-mart when they get home there movies don't work. Then they go back to wal-mart's untrained sales staff who send the disc back to the manufacturer and give customers new copies of the same movie that still isn't going to work....

Don't mind about the digital copy and loading time but this studio should make decent films not only Saw 6....,Crank 2....then Lionsgate would become like Cannon in the past.
Decent film please.BTW,Corallco some movies were phenomenal like Terminator2,Rambo2 for example before the company was gone.

Don't dis Lionsgate...they've had plenty of good stuff, especially in the horror genre...and there is plenty more coming.

I understand about having to have the sd card installed but does your player have to be attached to the internet for the movie to play?

It only needs the card and not connected to the internet. Just say NO when it askes you if you would like to update.

Big issue on my Panny BD60. Can't get to the menu. This is the very first disc I put in this brand new Blu Ray. Should have came to this forum first. Holy hell, bad first impression.

I also could not play Crank 2 in my DMP-BD35 with latest 2.0 firmware. Following the tips in this thread, I inserted a blank SD card in the BD35 and then Crank 2 worked even without an internet connection. So all you have to do to get this movie to play in your BD35 is put in a blank SD card. Your BD35 does not need to connect to the internet, and you do not need to accept any EULAs.

The Samsung bdp1600 I have had to be upgraded to the latest firmware to get Crank 2 to play.
It was playing before with audio but there was no picture, just a black screen, but after upgrading to the latest firmware everything played perfectly.

I have the Sony bdp-s360 blu-ray and had the same small square problem playing the movie.

Latest firmware on blu-ray player.
Sony BDP-S360 --HDMI--> Sony STR-N1000 --HDMI--> Panasonic TC-P65V10
Internet via a gigabit LAN to a roadrunner cable modem.
4gig microcenter usb flash drive.

Disk would ask to download update and then update would fail. Would play on a small box on my Panasonic TC-P65V10. If you choose no to the update, same square box problem. Powered down, removed usb flash drive, disk bypassed update request but still same problem. Tried a 75% full 2gb usb flash drive with jpg photos on it, downloaded update fine and had full screen.

I also could not play Crank 2 in my DMP-BD35 with latest 2.0 firmware. Following the tips in this thread, I inserted a blank SD card in the BD35 and then Crank 2 worked even without an internet connection. So all you have to do to get this movie to play in your BD35 is put in a blank SD card. Your BD35 does not need to connect to the internet, and you do not need to accept any EULAs.

Yes your are correct, If you say NO to the update then there is no EULA.

But again, I was one of the first person to try to get this movie to play early Tuesday afternoon, since I was on vacation, and could not find any help on the web. So I tried anything I could think of and was extremely annoyed when I did the update download and the movie would still not load after I declined the EULA. I then was forced to accept the EULA because I initiated the download.

So I posted my saga so you would have an easier time then I did.

Hey quick question, people on this thread have mentioned SD Cards will make this BR play. How bout a USB flash drive?

Hey quick question, people on this thread have mentioned SD Cards will make this BR play. How bout a USB flash drive?Probablt depends if your specific player can utilize USB memory for BD Live. I would consult the manual.

Hey quick question, people on this thread have mentioned SD Cards will make this BR play. How bout a USB flash drive?

It depends on what your player needs for BD-Live storage. For Panasonic players, IIRC, SD card is used for BD-Live storage. Most other brands probably use USB flash drive or have built-in flash storage already.

great.... just got this movie shipped from netflix. i have a panny 55 and I will see if it plays tonight. I dont have a card and i am not going to purchase a card. If it doesnt work then ill make a note of it to netflix.

Glad this was posted here. if it wasnt i would have probably pulled my hair out. So a big Thanks to the OP. :)

Yeah, I called Netflix today, because I put on their site that this disc was unplayable, but they weren't going to send me the next movie until they recieved Crank 2. I did not agree, I said they should send me my next now. It's not netflixes fault, but I made them aware of the situation with this disc. The rep did not seem to understand or care. Oh well, next movie being shipped today.

Ok so here is the update of my funky trials and tribulations.

put the disc in the panny BD55. a white screen came up with a black square in the upper left hand corner. the white screen goes away and the blue box that says reading pops up (totally standard so far). The reading box goes away and for a split second a box pops up that says checking for updates and it then dissapears. It was on the screen so fast i had to run it through a second time to be able to read it. so that box went away and the normal reading box pops up. after a minute it goes away. The lightning bolt icon pops up in the middle of the screen to represent loading i presume. The little boxes under the icon go from green to yellow and i get one red box filled. The previews start up but only fill a small square in the middle of the screen (which has been reported to happen in this thread already). The funny thing is half the icon in the middle of the screen never goes away. the part of the icon from the red boxes over stays on the screen as the video covers what is left of that area. When i hit exit to remove the disc the whole screen fills with video then turns blank as the disc ejects. This leads me to believe there may be a workaround for it. The java menu just seems to be overlayed on top of the video.

Placed it in the PS3 and all is well (as has been mentioned in this thread already). the update icon actually stays on the screen so i can choose to update or not. I chose not to and right now the movie is sitting on the menu screen.

well thats my experience.

After all I went trough, Did you not use a SD card?

nope. :D
i do have a ps3 so i dont need a sd card ;). I dont even know what a sd card is or what it looks like.

on a side note, just watched crank. it was funny. stupid, but funny. :)

Wow they are the most common memory cards out there, you don't have a digital camera even a digital video camera?

nope. :D
i do have a ps3 so i dont need a sd card ;). I dont even know what a sd card is or what it looks like.

on a side note, just watched crank. it was funny. stupid, but funny. :)
Then you must not be following the issue and reviewed the resolutions posted in this thread.
Your experience is void. :D

nope. i dont have either of those. :o

Well I'm sure you will one day :) but in the meantime if you go to your local electronics store they will give you an idea how one looks like. They come in all different memory sizes.

I think it's a bit funny that for such a mindless movie you actually have to be quite savy (from a average joes standpoint) to actually get it to work on the player.

Does not work in Samsung BD-P2500 with latest firmware, performing the disc update, or using an external memory stick.

Either the menu fails to load, the menu loads, but there are no buttons or way to play the movie, or sometimes I get a functioning menu and start the movie, but only get audio only, no video.

Seriously WTF!?!

It would not play in my Sony 550 last night. It has the new firm ware but I don't have a SD card in it yet, so I guess that'll be the next thing to try.
Jason

Why not given the 550 came with a USB memory stick in the box?

Ok so I have a Sony BDP-S350 and had to insert a flash drive to get it to work.

Glad I came here and read up on it I was about to give up on Crank 2.

So thanks to everyone for their input. :)

btw if you are going to insert a flash drive be sure it is NOT password protected or your player probably will not recognize it. This was the first time I put a flash drive into my player and it took me a few minutes to figure out why it didn't recognize it. duhh

Did anybody actually watch this yet? What is up with the blurred out scenes at the racetrack? Anyway, definitely mindless fun with excellent PQ and strong AQ.

nope. :D
i do have a ps3 so i dont need a sd card ;). I dont even know what a sd card is or what it looks like.

on a side note, just watched crank. it was funny. stupid, but funny. :)

Secure Digital memory Card.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital_card

Same problem here on S550. However, it plays fine after I put the microvault tiny that comes with the player in. Kinda annoying!

Same experience here. I knew I had seen a little blue thing that came with the player, but had no idea what it was. Glad I still had the box!

Did anybody actually watch this yet? What is up with the blurred out scenes at the racetrack? Anyway, definitely mindless fun with excellent PQ and strong AQ.

Watched it last night and almost turned it off as it was just flat out stupid IMO. It was fun at times, but overall I feel a little less smart this morning!:p Even as a mindless popcorn flick it was almost unwatchable for me.....oh well.

The Audio was just shy of reference IMO and was VERY good. I thought video was fantastic as well.

Did anybody actually watch this yet? What is up with the blurred out scenes at the racetrack? Anyway, definitely mindless fun with excellent PQ and strong AQ.

It's blurred out because this is an R-rated movie, not an NC-17 film or pornography. Also the fact that Jason Statham and Amy Smart did not actually have sex.

It's blurred out because this is an R-rated movie, not an NC-17 film or pornography. Also the fact that Jason Statham and Amy Smart did not actually have sex.

They didn't 'have sex' for the first film either, but nothin' had to be blurred there.

They didn't 'have sex' for the first film either, but nothin' had to be blurred there.

Because they didn't shoot angles that were as explicit in the first film. In the first film, they were always close together, or the scene was shot from an angle where one of their bodies hid the 'sex.' In this film, they rolled around on the ground in full view of the camera, and they did some more ridiculous positions - so blurring was necessary. At least one position they did comes to mind where, without blurring, they would have needed to really have sex or it would be completely obvious that it was fake. I mean the viewers all know on a meta-level that the sex is fake, but it's a different thing to be able to see that there is no coupling between them, just empty space and skin-colored underwear.

If you're questioning why the directors chose to do the more outrageous sex positions, well there's no answer anyone can give you for that - they simply wanted to.

They blurred it for the LOLs. Come on now.

I watched a portion on the movie today using an OPPO 83 (without their latest firmware). I did not get prompted that I had to connect to the internet to play the BR. The movie played without issues.

I have the same player.

I could not play this disc despite numerous attempts.

It was a brand new disc from Netflix without a mark on it.

I requested another copy, but I have my doubts this one will play either.

I also could not get it to play in my older Pioneer Elite HD1.

All players that are 2.0 profile that have built in memory i.e. PS3 or the OPPO 83 will not have this problem.



Again, this is not accurate. I had the exact same problems described by others in this thread, and I have the Oppo.

There are two issue to the problems:

1) BD players are expected to have a place to store data. Profile 1.1 players should have min 256MB and Profile 2.0 players should have min 1GB of memory. It's up to the manufacturer to supply that storage internally or via an external memory card. If you don't have the memory as required, then your player is out of spec and you will run into problems.

Panasonics cheaped out and required owners to purchase a 1 GB card. Other manufacturers supplied the required memory - either built in or via a card that need to be installed.

2) The data storage are will be filled up eventually so you do need to clean them out every now and then. Check you manual for instructions. Movies are supposed to check to see if there is enough room to store their data and gracefully handle the situation if there isn't. Crank 2 didn't do this.

The problem is not purely Lionsgate's fault. Panasonics is a big contributor.

Again, this is not accurate. I had the exact same problems described by others in this thread, and I have the Oppo.

Wow, I'm sorry about that. So you are saying that you never got to the screen that asks you if you want to update?

Click here on the official thread for the OPPO, It looks like you need to do a firmware update.:http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17165316#post17165316

Are we having fun yet?

There are two issue to the problems:

1) BD players are expected to have a place to store data. Profile 1.1 players should have min 256MB and Profile 2.0 players should have min 1GB of memory. It's up to the manufacturer to supply that storage internally or via an external memory card. If you don't have the memory as required, then your player is out of spec and you will run into problems.

Panasonics cheaped out and required owners to purchase a 1 GB card. Other manufacturers supplied the required memory - either built in or via a card that need to be installed.

2) The data storage are will be filled up eventually so you do need to clean them out every now and then. Check you manual for instructions. Movies are supposed to check to see if there is enough room to store their data and gracefully handle the situation if there isn't. Crank 2 didn't do this.

The problem is not purely Lionsgate's fault. Panasonics is a big contributor.

With all due respect, the blame is purely on Liongate or the company that manufatured the disc for NOT QCing it before it went to production. I have never, repeat, never had a problem like I had with this movie. Did I say never?

Wow, I'm sorry about that. So you are saying that you never got to the screen that asks you if you want to update?

Click here on the official thread for the OPPO, It looks like you need to do a firmware update.:http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17165316#post17165316

Are we having fun yet?

I already have the latest (Beta) firmware.

It only needs the card and not connected to the internet. Just say NO when it askes you if you would like to update.

This is a problem. My father is law tried to watch this movie and his blu ray player did show up (for about ½ seconds) if it wanted to "updated" and it disappeared right away.

It doesn't give you the option to say "NO."

This is pathetic. I have a s350 without a usb in back because bd live is such a stupid idea. I don't regret it but the fact that it needs something back there is stupid.

I just rented this and I just want to watch it, any help?

With all due respect, the blame is purely on Liongate or the company that manufatured the disc for NOT QCing it before it went to production. I have never, repeat, never had a problem like I had with this movie. Did I say never?

From the Panasonic BD-60 Manual...
Many BD-Live compatible discs require content to be downloaded onto an SD card (Local storage) in order to access the available BD-Live features.
-An SD card with 1 GB or more of free space (SD Speed Class Rating 2 or higher) needs to be inserted prior to inserting the BD-Live compatible disc.
...
-While using this feature, do not remove the SD card. Doing so will cause playback to stop.
-A message may be displayed when SD card doesn't have enough storage capacity for BD-Live content.
Please make space available on the current SD card, or insert another SD card.

This maybe your first disc, but it won't be your last.

I was able to watch it on my Oppo 83 by attaching a 1 GB SD card via the USB port.

I had no idea so many people were having problems with this disc. I was reading through quite a few posts and I am surprised at all the issues. I had no problems with Crank 2 in my PS3, but it did load up slow after doing that java update. It took about 1 minute, maybe a little more. I actually was beginning to think that the disc would not load for me, but it eventually did. I have yet to run into a problem with a Blu-ray disc.

You really would think Lionsgate would have authored the disc without this crap. Hopefully their future releases don't have this. I work at a rental store so this thread will be useful for me to try and pinpoint peoples issues with this disc. Surprisingly, nobody has complained yet.

Did anyone with the DMP-BD35 try turning off BD-Live, via the BD-Live Internet Access option under set-up > disc? I'm thinking setting this to Prohibit should allow this to go off without a SD card.

I don't know if there's a similar setting in the Sony 350 player.

This is a problem. My father is law tried to watch this movie and his blu ray player did show up (for about ½ seconds) if it wanted to "updated" and it disappeared right away.

It doesn't give you the option to say "NO."

If the movie does not see the memory it will not load and get to the update question screen. When he installs the memory he will then see another screen asking about the update. The memory needed will either be a SD card or USB thumb drive depending on his player.

If the movie does not see the memory it will not load and get to the update question screen. When he installs the memory he will then see another screen asking about the update. The memory needed will either be a SD card or USB thumb drive depending on his player.

All this trouble to watch this movie and it isnt even a box office:confused:

This is pathetic. I have a s350 without a usb in back because bd live is such a stupid idea. I don't regret it but the fact that it needs something back there is stupid.

I just rented this and I just want to watch it, any help?

PUT THE USB DRIVE IN or the movie will not load properly. What part of the solution do you not understand. If you really want to watch this movie, I would advise against it, you need the memory installed. Have I made myself clear yet?

Did anyone with the DMP-BD35 try turning off BD-Live, via the BD-Live Internet Access option under set-up > disc? I'm thinking setting this to Prohibit should allow this to go off without a SD card.

I don't know if there's a similar setting in the Sony 350 player.

BD-Live was set for PROHIBIT, now going on a year, and has nothing to do with this movie loading properly. When I first put the movie in for the first time it was set for Prohibit. When it did not load I started to change settings in the player trying to figure out how to get the movie to load.

One more time readers:

YOU WILL NEED MEMORY INSTALLED IN YOUR PLAYER.
EITHER INTERNALLY OR EXTERNALLY. WITH FREE SPACE ON THE MEMORY.

IF EXTERNALLY: A SD CARD OR USB THUMB DRIVE IN ORDER FOR THE MOVIE TO LOAD TO A POINT WHERE IT WILL ASK YOU IF YOU WANT TO DOWNLOAD UPDATES. YOU CAN SAY YES OR NO AND THE MOVIE WILL THEN LOAD.

I was able to watch it on my Oppo 83 by attaching a 1 GB SD card via the USB port.

There is 1GB of internal memory in the OPPO. So you should not have to have external memory.

I have read somewhere this week that if the memory does not have enough space you would also have problems. So maybe your internal memory is full?

Did anyone with the DMP-BD35 try turning off BD-Live, via the BD-Live Internet Access option under set-up > disc? I'm thinking setting this to Prohibit should allow this to go off without a SD card.

I don't know if there's a similar setting in the Sony 350 player.

Sorry but WRONG. This movie will not load without SD card.

PUT THE USB DRIVE IN or the movie will not load properly. What part of the solution do you not understand. If you really want to watch this movie, I would advise against it, you need the memory installed. Have I made myself clear yet?

Expecting everyone with OPTIONAL memory for their blu ray player to HAVE a memory card or usb stick for it to use no not good practice. There are tons of people who are in the exact same situation I am in and are not tech savy who just rented or bought this movie and have no idea why it is not working. What about them, they sure as hell wont know why it wont work.

What a PIA movie to get started !!!!!

1. I have the SD card. Had it in my BD35 to play Starship Troppers.
2. I got no EULA but did see the "checking for updates" screen popup for about a second.
3. White screen with little black block in upper left corner was displayed for about 2 seconds.
4. From disk insertion to the first preview, it took like 3 1/2 minutes.
5. You must FF or Skip chapters through the previews.
I tried the player menu option that usually allows you to go directly to the movie menu and the player displayed a blank screen.
I let it sit for 2 minutes and gave up and decided to Stop and start over.
FF or Skip chapters through the previews gets to the menu the quickest.

Overall, it took 5 minutes from disk insertion to get to the main movie menu.

I thought Disney/Buena Vista was hardcore with load times and previews but Liongate has out done Disney.
I can't see the general public dealing with such loooooooooooooooong load times and hassles.
Titles authored like this won't go over well for those new to blu-ray


As for the movie, I thought it was great mindless popcorn flick with great PQ/AQ.

So are you trying to say that a SD memory card or another memory source is needed for the movie to play? Im finding it hard to understand.
Yes.
If your player is profile 2.0(BD Live capable) and has no internal 1G of memory, you MUST install a 1G SD card or USB stick, which ever type is required for your specific player.

What makes all this even worse is I am sure most will find the movie was not even worth all the trouble to get it going!:eek: Not sure how I got through this one:confused:

that is one observation i made with the panny 55 i have. what player does your father in law have?

He has SONY BDP-BX1 player.

I have a PS3 and it asked me if I wanted to update. (I have internet connected) and it went smoothly. (after I updated)

Thanks johnathan,

You made me laugh. I will be out of town for the next couple of days so can you handle it from here until I get back Thursday? :D

He has SONY BDP-BX1 player.

I have a PS3 and it asked me if I wanted to update. (I have internet connected) and it went smoothly. (after I updated)

I just watched Crank this weekend and after my ps3 did a small update, it ran very well. The disc has the best menu I have seen on any blu-ray yet. I liked the imbedded local weather forcast, clock, and how when you accessed the blu-ray live content you remained within the menu.

Most other blu-rays i've used redirect you to an external website that requires "signing-up". I appreciated not having to do so for Crank 2 as signing up can be quite tedious without a real keyboard.

Does not work in Samsung BD-P2500 with latest firmware, performing the disc update, or using an external memory stick.

Either the menu fails to load, the menu loads, but there are no buttons or way to play the movie, or sometimes I get a functioning menu and start the movie, but only get audio only, no video.

Seriously WTF!?!



I had the same issues with my Samsung BD-P1500(latest firmware, not connected to internet, 4gb USB flash drive). What I finally got to work is after I could get the menu to load with buttons I selected a random chapter (5) then, thank the gods, the movie started playing, so I skipped chapters back to #1 and movie is playing like it should. but I never selected the good audio track, so went back to the menu and **** no buttons again. ugh!!!!!

What I am saying is , in my case, on my Panasonic BMP-35, which has never had a problem like this, is the movie would get to a point where the Java loading icon would not go completely away after starting to play a preview. You would see part of the preview and part of the icon and the rest of the screen was black.

This was before the player was connected to the internet. Not until I connected to the internet and allowed the movie to go to Lionsgate web site with a SD card installed and agreeing to their EULA, downloading their update to the SD card did the movie finally played filling the screen.

I had no problem with mine. I didn't have it connected to the INternet and it played fine. Halfway through I tried the BDLive stuff and that was when I realized it was never connected. When I restarted the disc it downloaded the update. It was about as fast as the PS3 slim did it.

With my BD35 I'm still on firmware 1.8. I'm still debating whether I should update to 2.0 since v1.8 has not caused me any problems.

I am informing anyone I run across to avoid this movie Crank 2 like the plague.

I have a Panasonic BD 601 and I get that funny little square as well, I DO NOT HAVE HIGH SPEED internet, not all places in America is able to get that so any firmware update is out of the question, problem is do I also trash my Panasonic player becuse this may be a future problem?, the disc went into the garbage can.

I had no problem loading this with my Panasonic BD30 (with the latest firmware), but it must have taken a good 5 minutes.

The PQ was exceptional, especially facial details (as good or better than Transporter 3). But the movie itself was disgusting, nothing more than mindless drivel, IMO. I ended up fast-forwarding through a lot of it; I just couldn't stomach the endless absurdity.

I am informing anyone I run across to avoid this movie Crank 2 like the plague.

I have a Panasonic BD 601 and I get that funny little square as well, I DO NOT HAVE HIGH SPEED internet, not all places in America is able to get that so any firmware update is out of the question, problem is do I also trash my Panasonic player becuse this may be a future problem?, the disc went into the garbage can.

Hey dude take that out of the garbage and send it to me. I'll pay the shipping! PM me.

I am informing anyone I run across to avoid this movie Crank 2 like the plague.

I have a Panasonic BD 601 and I get that funny little square as well, I DO NOT HAVE HIGH SPEED internet, not all places in America is able to get that so any firmware update is out of the question, problem is do I also trash my Panasonic player becuse this may be a future problem?, the disc went into the garbage can.

Please read the above post:

Ok, ill try hometheatergeek. It is a pretty complex issue.

Post Number 128.
for anyone coming late to this thread and didnt read the whole thread and didnt read hometheatergeeks posts.

If the movie doesnt load on your player then that player needs memory. Depending on the player will depend on what type memory you need. Please see your user manual.

have a nice day. :)

Crazy stuff crank 2 would not work on my uk panny bd60 until i put in my camera card into the blu ray player card slot now it loads up with no problem
WTF

I just tried loading in on my PS3 80g and although I had an issue with Gladiator and the BD utility file, I never had an issue like this. I have plenty of memory on my PS3 hard drive, but it still wouldn't load. I tried the usb stick and sure enough it worked. It doesn't make any sense. Some are able to get it to load without the memory stick and some have to use it.

Crazy stuff crank 2 would not work on my uk panny bd60 until i put in my camera card into the blu ray player card slot now it loads up with no problem
WTF

Yep a first for me as well.

BD-Live was set for PROHIBIT, now going on a year, and has nothing to do with this movie loading properly. When I first put the movie in for the first time it was set for Prohibit. When it did not load I started to change settings in the player trying to figure out how to get the movie to load.

One more time readers:

YOU WILL NEED MEMORY INSTALLED IN YOUR PLAYER.
EITHER INTERNALLY OR EXTERNALLY. WITH FREE SPACE ON THE MEMORY.

IF EXTERNALLY: A SD CARD OR USB THUMB DRIVE IN ORDER FOR THE MOVIE TO LOAD TO A POINT WHERE IT WILL ASK YOU IF YOU WANT TO DOWNLOAD UPDATES. YOU CAN SAY YES OR NO AND THE MOVIE WILL THEN LOAD.

Unfortunately this is not entirely factual. See my above post # 137. I have 10g of free space on my hard drive and it wouldn't load and I got the 80029940 error code on my PS3. I put in a already full 1g sd card and it loaded fine. Yes, you read it correctly, the USB card is maxed and had no room, but it triggered the Crank BD to work. So this really is less of a memory issue and more of a software glitch as the there is too much inconsistency from all the posters having problems.

I just tried it on my 60g PS3 and it started without a glitch. The BD Data utility file for Crank 2 is 7330 KB so one needs that much memory to make it work which still doesn't explain why it didn't work on my 80g.

This is horseshite.
IIRC, hardware sellers stated in the past an SD card is NOT necessary to watch a BD movie.
If it is, then the player manufacturers must include one with each player.
Otherwise, their players should be advertised as playing only some BD movies, not all.

Starship Troopers is bad enough (and we should never have let THAT stand:mad:).

Stop it now, fellas, or you will only have yourselves to blame...

Just finished watching it on the Denon 2500 Pq and Aq good. Movie itself is like a fun ride. The first is definitely better.

I just rec'd this email from Netflix:
Due to a technical problem with the Blu-ray version of Crank 2: High Voltage, some Blu-ray players have not been able to play this title.

Due to this problem, we have temporarily made the Blu-ray version of Crank 2: High Voltage unavailable for rental. It is now in the saved section of your DVD Queue.

We are sorry for the inconvenience, and we are working with our distributor to get replacement discs as quickly as possible. We expect to have the title available again within a couple of weeks. When the new discs are available, Crank 2: High Voltage will automatically return to the bottom of your active DVD Queue.

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. If you need further assistance, please call us at 1-866-923-0898.

-The Netflix Team

I just received this email from Netflix:

"Important information about Crank 2: High Voltage

Dear Rob,

Due to a technical problem with the Blu-ray version of Crank 2: High Voltage, some Blu-ray players have not been able to play this title.

We are working with our distributor to get replacement discs as quickly as possible and expect to receive them within a couple of weeks. If this title does not work in your Blu-ray player, you will need to add Crank 2: High Voltage back to your Queue if you would like to rent this title again.

Due to this problem, we are giving you a bonus rental to use at your convenience. The bonus rental will automatically be applied to your account. To redeem, log into your account and access your Queue. Then click the "Use the Bonus Rental" button located at the top of Your Queue.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. If you need further assistance, please call us at 1-866-923-0898.

-The Netflix Team"

They have obviously received tons of reported problems. This email suggests that they will be getting newly authored copies....eventually anyway.

So glad i kept my profile 1.0 Bd players.

Umm, the hardest part about playing this movie was getting it out of that plastic wrap BD's all come in. Insert disc, play. Wow.

Seriously people, keep your players updated.

We spend so much time and energy around here complaining about EE, DNR and crappy transfers- a movie comes along with fantastic PQ/AQ and you find some lame reason to complain about it.

Umm, the hardest part about playing this movie was getting it out of that plastic wrap BD's all come in. Insert disc, play. Wow.

Seriously people, keep your players updated.

We spend so much time and energy around here complaining about EE, DNR and crappy transfers- a movie comes along with fantastic PQ/AQ and you find some lame reason to complain about it.

Did you even read this thread? It has little to do with keeping the players updated and all to do with the way that Lions Gate authored this disk.

If you have a non Profile 2.0 player, your chances of this title loading are pretty good. However, if you have a Profile 2.0 player, they are not so good. As an example, my Panasonic 55 is updated with the latest firmware and it would not play this title unless I put an SD memory card in. Whether a title plays or not, should not be dependent on installing a memory card in the player.

So, people are not complaining for a lame reason. Lions Gate screwed up on this title.

Mike T

^^Yep this is a software issue as I surmised. It doesn't play nice with some players and requires data room on a hard drive or usb key for it to work since it requires a 7.1 MB file to be downloaded. I guess it has to do with it being the first disc you can watch interactively with friends critiquing it on the fly while being miles apart.

I just received this email from Netflix:

"Important information about Crank 2: High Voltage

Dear Rob,

Due to a technical problem with the Blu-ray version of Crank 2: High Voltage, some Blu-ray players have not been able to play this title.

We are working with our distributor to get replacement discs as quickly as possible and expect to receive them within a couple of weeks. If this title does not work in your Blu-ray player, you will need to add Crank 2: High Voltage back to your Queue if you would like to rent this title again.

Due to this problem, we are giving you a bonus rental to use at your convenience. The bonus rental will automatically be applied to your account. To redeem, log into your account and access your Queue. Then click the "Use the Bonus Rental" button located at the top of Your Queue.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. If you need further assistance, please call us at 1-866-923-0898.

-The Netflix Team"

They have obviously received tons of reported problems. This email suggests that they will be getting newly authored copies....eventually anyway.

Good to hear you have it resolved. Even my trusty PS3 struggled with it and I had to install a usb key.

Nice to see NF has stepped up for the consumer.
Another reason to love NF.:)

I received the netflix email as well- I have the cheap Magnavox player I bought over a year ago from walmart when they were giving away $100 store gift card with player purchase. but so far this player has played everything I throw at it- but crank2 would not load and then when it did it would jut stop. So I used the complicated method of washing the disc off and then it played beautifully!
thetman

My Pioneer 51D played it without problems.
FYI: liked the first "Crank" better.

I've said it many times.. One needs 2 BD players in their rack. If one hiccups, the other likely will play.... (I take no chances with my entertainment hours and have 3 BD players in my rack). Movies have to play immediately when I'm ready to watch.
Not everyone can afford nine million players in their rack to be able to watch a movie.
If one is paying $30 for a movie then they expect it to play immediately when it is inserted in their player.

This is another reason why the PS3 is the ultimate BD player.

Did you even read this thread? It has little to do with keeping the players updated and all to do with the way that Lions Gate authored this disk.

If you have a non Profile 2.0 player, your chances of this title loading are pretty good. However, if you have a Profile 2.0 player, they are not so good. As an example, my Panasonic 55 is updated with the latest firmware and it would not play this title unless I put an SD memory card in. Whether a title plays or not, should not be dependent on installing a memory card in the player.

So, people are not complaining for a lame reason. Lions Gate screwed up on this title.

Mike T

I tried it on an LG BH200, a Panny BD35, and a PS3 (slim and Fat). All those players are profile 2.0 and my Netflix Crank2 disc played fine in all of them.

Nice to see NF has stepped up for the consumer.
Another reason to love NF.:)
Step up?
Sounds like they are clueless and going on the feedback from J6P reporting they can't play the disc because they aren't aware of the solution.

If Netflix did some research, they could of sent an email stating that an SD card or USB stick may be required on profile 2.0 players and leave it at the discretion of the member to check out the disc.

They can hold these discs back but there is no guarantee or notion that Lionsgate will redo this disc anytime soon.

I tried it on an LG BH200, a Panny BD35, and a PS3 (slim and Fat). All those players are profile 2.0 and my Netflix Crank2 disc played fine in all of them.

So, do you have USB drive on your BH200 and SD card in your BD35? If so, you shouldn't have problem. Now try remove either the USB drive or SD card and see if Crank2 plays.

Step up?
Sounds like they are clueless and going on the feedback from J6P reporting they can't play the disc because they aren't aware of the solution.

If Netflix did some research, they could of sent an email stating that an SD card or USB stick may be required on profile 2.0 players and leave it at the discretion of the member to check out the disc.


NF did the right thing. Just look at all the posts in this thread. It is very clear in the first 2 pages that one need to have enough BDLive storage in order to play this disc. However, ppl continue to post complaints of not being able to play the disc or offer 'tips' to update firmware. If ppl in this board can't even figure out how to play Crank 2 when solution has been repeated million times, how do you expect j6p to follow NF's suggestion? After all, it costs NF more money to dealing with problem returns and shipping replacements.

Hey Guys and Gals,

Now you all understand.

I was possibly the first person to try and get this movie to load on the Tuesday that it was released. I could not find any help on the web. I kept trying to get this to work until I finally tried a SD card.

I still say that all the studios have to do is put a notice on the back of the cover "BD-LIVE enabled players must have available memory in order for this movie to load correctly."

If this can be said any better please post your ideas.

So, do you have USB drive on your BH200 and SD card in your BD35? If so, you shouldn't have problem. Now try remove either the USB drive or SD card and see if Crank2 plays.



....

Why would I remove them? I have them dedicated to each player. They are there for the player to be profile 2.0 compliant.

Umm, the hardest part about playing this movie was getting it out of that plastic wrap BD's all come in. Insert disc, play. Wow.

Seriously people, keep your players updated.

We spend so much time and energy around here complaining about EE, DNR and crappy transfers- a movie comes along with fantastic PQ/AQ and you find some lame reason to complain about it.

Are you an idiot? Did you even bother to read the posts in this thread? Do you realize that you don't have any clue as to what you are talking about? :rolleyes:

Why would I remove them? I have them dedicated to each player. They are there for the player to be profile 2.0 compliant.

So, what's the point of your original post?

So, what's the point of your original post?

I tried it in my other players after I realized my BD35 wasn't online.
I don't like the fact of the USB being on the front of the LG BH200 but you need the usb drive for it to be profile 2.0 compliant. And it's more of a pain to constantly remove and put it back in, so it's easiest just to dedicate a memory card or USB drive to the player.Especially since they only cost a few dollars now.

Although since getting the PS3 slim I'm thinking about using a PS3 with discs again. I only used my PS3 fat for watching digital transfers and downloads. But with the low power draw of the slim and the bitstreaming, I will start using it instead of my BD35.

Not everyone like to use BD-Live feature. That's why a lot of ppl with the entry level players does not bother put in a USB or SD storage and does not even connect the player to internet at all. That works fine for all BD-Live titles except Crank 2 because it decides that you must have storage even if you don't connect to internet. Hence the complaints.

* Crank 2 plays fine with profile 1.x players as well as profile 2.0 players with proper storage. You don't have to connect your player to internet.
* Crank 2 does not play if your profile 2.0 player does not have BD-Live storage regardless if you connect it to internet or not.

This has been clearly explained million times already in this thread. So I don't understand what's the point of your post.

I regularly deny disc updates, for instance Iron Man on my PS3 (i turn off autotragic since I don't want playback to be delayed).

Moral of the story? PS3 FTW. :D

I regularly deny disc updates, for instance Iron Man on my PS3 (i turn off autotragic since I don't want playback to be delayed).

Moral of the story? PS3 FTW. :D

It has nothing to do with disc updates. You don't have to be connected to internet and it may still refuse to play. So, I don't understand your moral of the story :rolleyes:

Did you even read this thread? It has little to do with keeping the players updated and all to do with the way that Lions Gate authored this disk.

If you have a non Profile 2.0 player, your chances of this title loading are pretty good. However, if you have a Profile 2.0 player, they are not so good. As an example, my Panasonic 55 is updated with the latest firmware and it would not play this title unless I put an SD memory card in. Whether a title plays or not, should not be dependent on installing a memory card in the player.

So, people are not complaining for a lame reason. Lions Gate screwed up on this title.

Mike T

Yep, I've read. Your Blu-ray player has a slot for an SD-card. You bought a player that required additional storage to be Profile 2.0 compliant.

So put one in.

Is 6 pages of moaning necessary for something so easily solved?

A little off topic, but is the new PS3 slim just as loud as the old models? I have had 2 PS3s and both are WAY too loud to use as my primary BR player IF I had to have the unit in the same room as my HT. Fortunately I have mine in a seperate room so noise is a non issue, but even using the PS3 on the upstairs TV I find the noise VERY annoying with BRs. Is the new slim any better as far as noise?

Yep, I've read. Your Blu-ray player has a slot for an SD-card. You bought a player that required additional storage to be Profile 2.0 compliant.

So put one in.

Is 6 pages of moaning necessary for something so easily solved?


Yes, just because we spent hours, days, weeks, months and years installing, wiring, setting up and tweaking our systems and now you want us to do something so simple? :D

;) ;)

good gawd! i have a sony bdps 550...if lions gate askes me to go thru that hellish exercise again, they can kiss my bucks goodbye!

Inserted disk into BD35.
Wouldn't work.
Installed SD card = worked.

There really should be a warning on the box about external memory requirements.
Then again...there shouldn't be a NEED for external memory to begin with.:rolleyes:

Fair point, still the best menu ever made, maybe next time buy a ps3

It's only the best menu if you can get to it. I just gave the damn blu-ray back to blockbuster and got the dvd. I hope this trend doesn't continue.

P.S. It's Crank, not like it's Transformers or something
P.S. P.S. I wish they would just play the damn movie straight and skip everything else including the menu

It's only the best menu if you can get to it. I just gave the damn blu-ray back to blockbuster and got the dvd. I hope this trend doesn't continue.

P.S. It's Crank, not like it's Transformers or something


I dunno. Both movies are pretty dreadful.

T.B.

me buy player.
me put disc in player.
disc no work.
disc go back for refund.

problem solved so easily.

its not my problem to have to figure out. :)

There you have it and there you go. Consumers shouldn't have to be beta testers for products already on the market.

T.B.

There is definitely an issue with the Crank 2 Blu Ray. This is something where you should just be able to insert the disk and it will play.

I have a Samsung BDP-2550 Blu Ray player and this disc will not play. I have updated the firmware to the very latest. I have connected it to the Internet and downloaded an update. My player is a profile 2.0 player, but it has a built in flash memory of 1gb and the disk does not play. I even stuck a USB thumb drive in the back as some people suggested and it still does not play properly.

Before updating the firmware I could watch the previews, but the menu would not display properly. After updating the firmware the menu would display, but when I go to play the movie I get audio but no video (screen is blank). If I hit the stop button I see a split second of video before it stops.

And yes, my player works fine with other movies.

This basically sucks, and they should have tested this disc more thoroughly before releasing it. Who cares about fancy menus if you can't even watch the movie.

So did Lionsgate actually make replacement discs that could play if no storage device was attached, or is Netflix now just distributing the original discs again?

my son bought crank 2... he has a sammy player ...i got it to play on my sony bd 350 after trying the usb ..so he trys it again on the sammy with the thumb drive still wont play on his sammy ..so i gave him 20 bucks for the movie....if it was not for this forum i would not have a clue about solving this problem..it should be posted ...SOME PLAYERS NEED ADDITIONAL MEMORY...On the movie jacket


http://www.pbase.com/jazzmaster221/image/114762263/small.jpg

http://jazzmaster221.smugmug.com/

I'm sure my PS3 will play it, and although I'd kinda like to see this movie since it was shot with Canon XH-A1 cams, I'm going to avoid the Blu-ray anyway. Consumers should not have to put up with this kind of nonsense.

i have a pana. bd60. 1.7 firmware. had 2ea crank 2 from netflix both would not
play. the disc played up to 8 min. of previeu of movies.when it got to the movie
all it would do is play crazy music over&over.tried 6 times/gave up.

Inserted disk into BD35.
Wouldn't work.
Installed SD card = worked.

There really should be a warning on the box about external memory requirements.
Then again...there shouldn't be a NEED for external memory to begin with.:rolleyes:

Yep, even on my trusty old BD-30 it took forever to load this, much like Twilight. I wish studios would just issue a movie only version as an option, at least for places like Netflix.

Yep, even on my trusty old BD-30 it took forever to load this, much like Twilight. I wish studios would just issue a movie only version as an option, at least for places like Netflix.

I seem to recall back in the early days of BD the BD Forum claimed EXTERNAL memory wouldn't be a requirement for movies to play on any BD player produced.
For BD Live stuff, yeah...
But not for just playing the movie on the disk.

All Lionsgate discs take a while to load.

Did ok on our BD1600, with no external memory.

I'm sure my PS3 will play it, and although I'd kinda like to see this movie since it was shot with Canon XH-A1 cams, I'm going to avoid the Blu-ray anyway. Consumers should not have to put up with this kind of nonsense.
Uhhh if you have a PS3 you will have no problems...why would you avoid the movie if you are so interested in it and how it was shot. They actually have a 90 minute documentary on the making and a big part of it is what cameras were used and how they were used.

Uhhh if you have a PS3 you will have no problems...why would you avoid the movie if you are so interested in it and how it was shot. They actually have a 90 minute documentary on the making and a big part of it is what cameras were used and how they were used.

Unless you don't have enough memory on your PS3. I had to dump some things to be able to play it. It needs almost 7KB of free space to be able to play on the PS3.

The problem is not with processing power... it is with the delusion held by the studios that they have any influence on their product after the sale. Once the sale is made, the distributor is out of the equation (or should be), period. You should not have to agree to anything, as the disc is now your property, and the studio has precisely zero say as to how, when, or where it is viewed.



Unless you rent it. I agree that this shouldn't happen on retail copies, but a rental is not your property. A solution could be to release copies with EULA to the rental market and separate retail copies without.

...good luck with that, I guess.

I seem to recall back in the early days of BD the BD Forum claimed EXTERNAL memory wouldn't be a requirement for movies to play on any BD player produced.
For BD Live stuff, yeah...
But not for just playing the movie on the disk. Agreed.

I didn't follow the specs that close back then but it would make sense to me.
I really wonder just how many people who currently own a player cares for the interactive extras in the first place.

Hey guys,

I interviewed the producer for the disc who gave an explanation why the loading issues exist:

http://www.doblu.com/2009/10/16/interview-producer-cliff-stephenson-on-the-crank-2-blu-ray/

The short of it?

"... what Crank 2 really did was highlight the main shortcoming of Blu-ray, which is the lack of consistent specs..."

"What’s going on is that, because the disc is so advanced in some of the things it does, the authoring house made a decision to optimize the disc for speed... This was a bit of a wake up to some people that their players were not the best they could or should be."

*Edited to add additional quote

"What’s going on is that, because the disc is so advanced in some of the things it does, the authoring house made a decision to optimize the disc for speed... This was a bit of a wake up to some people that their players were not the best they could or should be."

Now THAT there is funny...I don't care who you are.:rolleyes:

Now THAT there is funny...I don't care who you are.:rolleyes:

What's so funny? Did you actually read all of what was said, or just the highlights?

What's so funny? Did you actually read all of what was said, or just the highlights?It is funny that Lionsgate decided it had a need to educate BD owners to the alleged deficiencies of their players.
Not THAT is a way build bridges with consumers...

Unless you don't have enough memory on your PS3. I had to dump some things to be able to play it. It needs almost 7KB of free space to be able to play on the PS3.

Was that a typo ? 7kb or 7 mb ? If it's only 7kb thats not much at all.

"... what Crank 2 really did was highlight the main shortcoming of Blu-ray, which is the lack of consistent specs..."

"What’s going on is that, because the disc is so advanced in some of the things it does, the authoring house made a decision to optimize the disc for speed... This was a bit of a wake up to some people that their players were not the best they could or should be."

That quote works as both comedy and an indictment on movie studio arrogance in so many ways.

I mean, the movie is called "Crank (2)" and the disc was supposedly optimized for "speed." HA!

Better yet, the movie sucked and the disc takes forever to load or doesn't load at all depending on the player.

Then you have the disc's producer actually claiming (one of the) reasons for the decision to author the disc this way was to point out and presumably force the consumer to upgrade their player to play Crank 2 - which so far is the only blu-ray that won't load on some players without external memory. Everyone raise their hand who went out and bought a new br player so they could specifically play Crank 2...... anyone? No?

Hey, at least no one will have to worry about this title ever being double-dipped - I mean, it's so advanced, it'll still be cutting edge even after this format's dead.

The guy is a marketing departments worst nightmare.

What's so funny? Did you actually read all of what was said, or just the highlights?

Cliff, lets just come clean about this. It is a bug your QA team did not catch. It only affects one brand of players and only if there is no SD card inserted, which is a subset of a subset (but still the way said players come out of the box and likely how the vast majority are being operated).

If it was intentional, then your team would have had the foresight to include the message "ENSURE A MEMORY DEVICE IS INSERTED IN PLAYERS WITH SD SLOTS" or simply could have treated said BD-Live players w/o needed memory as BD1.1 players.

The problem here is that it would be too costly to fix the problem and it only affects one brand of players, so it is best to sweep it under the rug or blame the user.

That's a pretty big 'f you' to the people who enjoyed the film enough to purchase it. Good thing I didn't buy it.

Hey guys,

I interviewed the producer for the disc who gave an explanation why the loading issues exist:

http://www.doblu.com/2009/10/16/interview-producer-cliff-stephenson-on-the-crank-2-blu-ray/

The short of it?

"... what Crank 2 really did was highlight the main shortcoming of Blu-ray, which is the lack of consistent specs..."

"What’s going on is that, because the disc is so advanced in some of the things it does, the authoring house made a decision to optimize the disc for speed... This was a bit of a wake up to some people that their players were not the best they could or should be."

*Edited to add additional quote

The authoring house made the decision to optimize the BD for speed and in doing do it becomes the fault of BD players and the "inconsistent" spec. Even though the authoring is completely within the spec, he basically blames BD as the fault.

I understand where he is coming from and that the authoring house used something that was within the spec, but had they not tried something different by optimizing the speed it seems there wouldn't be an issue. How about they try testing it out before letting us be the guinea pigs and I don't mean Sony, BD or the company's who players are not up to spec, etc., IMO the authoring house needs to test all the variables regardless if they are operating within guidelines.

Cliff, lets just come clean about this. It is a bug your QA team did not catch. It only affects one brand of players and only if there is no SD card inserted, which is a subset of a subset (but still the way said players come out of the box and likely how the vast majority are being operated).

If it was intentional, then your team would have had the foresight to include the message "ENSURE A MEMORY DEVICE IS INSERTED IN PLAYERS WITH SD SLOTS" or simply could have treated said BD-Live players w/o needed memory as BD1.1 players.

The problem here is that it would be too costly to fix the problem and it only affects one brand of players, so it is best to sweep it under the rug or blame the user.


It affects only one brand? I though it affected any brand that didn't have memory? It affected my PS3 when I had to free up 7,000KB of space just to play it. That is the first disc I couldn't play in three years of watching BDs.

Was that a typo ? 7kb or 7 mb ? If it's only 7kb thats not much at all.

I meant 7,000KB more or less 7 MB. I keep my HDD in my PS3 full as I do a gaming too. I tried deleting some demos I downloaded and the disc would not play till I had at least 7MB free. I tried it at 4MB free, then 5MB, then 6 MB. I then noticed the file itself was around 7MB after it had downloaded.

It loaded up on my sammy 1400 on my tired try. I gave up after 2 since i heard that the disc was not playing. And since i got it off netflix it caused no harm to try. So then my brother stopped by and i told him it wont even load up it would just eject the disc and say "disc will not play" on screen, he then asked to see and outta know nowhere the thing loaded up fine. I tryed 2 more times just to see if it was just something random but it kept working.

That quote works as both comedy and an indictment on movie studio arrogance in so many ways.

I mean, the movie is called "Crank (2)" and the disc was supposedly optimized for "speed." HA!

Better yet, the movie sucked and the disc takes forever to load or doesn't load at all depending on the player.

Then you have the disc's producer actually claiming (one of the) reasons for the decision to author the disc this way was to point out and presumably force the consumer to upgrade their player to play Crank 2 - which so far is the only blu-ray that won't load on some players without external memory. Everyone raise their hand who went out and bought a new br player so they could specifically play Crank 2...... anyone? No?

Hey, at least no one will have to worry about this title ever being double-dipped - I mean, it's so advanced, it'll still be cutting edge even after this format's dead.

The guy is a marketing departments worst nightmare.

I'll make this one last comment, and then I think I'll bow out of AVS (like pretty much any other insider or person with knowledge has already done). But since you seem comfortable to pretty much call me a liar and a marketing department's worst nightmare (even though the studio was well aware that I was doing the interview before I agreed to it), I guess I have no choice but to clarify my comments here since people appear to not have time to actually read and comprehend what was said elsewhere.

Lionsgate didn't decide it needed to educate BD customers. It only decided to author the disc to get the very most out of the BD spec and make the user experience the very best it could given the requirements of the content. What everyone realized after the fact was that there was a VERY small segment of the Blu-ray population (the problem doesn't affect almost all PS3s, profile 1.0 or 1.1 players, or any profile 2.0 players that contain memory- either included like the Oppo or user supplied) who weren't equipped technically for this disc.

And that's the only thing I'll say about it because no matter what I tell people, some of you guys are clearly smarter than I am and know what kind of conspiracies and hidden agendas are at play here. Some of you don't care that you're correct, you just care that you're right. I have neither the time nor the patience to waste on people too busy rehearsing their comeback line to actually listen to and contemplate what I'm trying to tell them. If anyone wants to discuss this further, you can talk to me via PM, but I won't discuss it further publicly because all anyone wants publicly is to talk about me "blaming" Blu-ray or needing to "come clean" about what really happened.

(and for anyone who was legitimately interested in hearing more about the authoring and creation of the Crank 2 Blu-ray, sorry about this. I had a whole long explanation about things already written up but I ultimately deleted it all because I have no desire to go through all that trouble to simply be called a liar by people in no position to do so. I'll save the explanations and details for people who deserve them.)

Cliff I took the time to read the interview, the explanation just logically doesn't make sense based on the way the product was rolled out. I'm sure the dump to memory was purposely designed to speed up loading, but...

If you *did* know that most Panasonic 2.0 players wouldn't play the movie without an SD card (which they don't come with), why not put this info that they need one on the loading screen? Or why not include a sheet of paper in the box that says Panasonic BD-Live players need an SD card inserted? Why not simply program the disc to treat a player as BD1.1 spec if copying the data to memory fails?

It just makes more logical sense that a Panasonic 2.0 player w/o SD card was not a combination that got QA'd and hence was not programmed/compensated for... Because if it did get QA'd and the authoring house realized this, much more consumer education or at least notification in the box or on the disc's loading screens should have been done. Either way someone blew it, the QA team, authoring house, or studio for failing to assist the consumer in learning why the disc won't play in their player - though I bet the disc could have been coded to fallback to "BD1.1 mode" if the copy to memory failed in the first place.

If you *did* know that most Panasonic 2.0 players wouldn't play the movie without an SD card (which they don't come with), why not put this info that they need one on the loading screen? Or why not include a sheet of paper in the box that says Panasonic BD-Live players need an SD card inserted? Why not simply program the disc to treat a player as BD1.1 spec if copying the data to memory fails?

It just makes more logical sense that a Panasonic 2.0 player w/o SD card was not a combination that got QA'd and hence was not programmed/compensated for... Because if it did get QA'd and the authoring house realized this, much more consumer education or at least notification in the box or on the disc's loading screens should have been done. Either way someone blew it, the QA team, authoring house, or studio for failing to assist the consumer in learning why the disc won't play in their player - though I bet the disc could have been coded to fallback to "BD1.1 mode" if the copy to memory failed in the first place.

THAT is precisely the point.

There is no excuse for the authoring errors on this BD.
"Contemplation" doesn't change anything, but it is (uh, I better stop here;)).

Panasonic has been the preferred standalone player on this forum and Lionsgate should be aware of this and if they are not...

Well done, guys. You managaged to drive away another industry insider. Way to go. Now, instead of having actual facts and real information, we can go back to baseless speculation, blind guesses, and mindless poo-throwing. Kudos. :rolleyes:

Out of everyone posting in this thread, we had one guy who actually knew what he was talking about (the guy who actually produced the disc in question!) and you guys managed to piss him off to the point that he may not post here anymore. While many of you may not care, some of us would actually like real, factual answers to these questions as opposed to the speculation and BS the so-called "experts" throw around. It's almost like you guys don't want insiders here. Why anyone would want a site full of self-proclaimed "experts" (who don't have a bit of first-hand information to offer) as the only source of information is a mystery to me, but you're likely going to get your wish.

What a shame...

This thread has been nothing but trouble. Buy PS3's people and stop buying cheap ass Panasonic players. Here comes the heat....

respectfully request you limit posts to a 'civil discussion'

Two members banned from the thread. If bickering continues, more maybe or the thread closed.

Any firmware corrections to this or any other problamatic discs?

I just had the time to finally open this disc I was given as a gift sometime last fall.

Plays fine after a long load on a 1.1 player, but just a center block on a friends 2.0... what a disappointment.

I do not have or want any of my players tied to the internet, I do not have a HS internet connection, a Player is a Player, & not a device for the internet, that is why I have a PC, & the reason I chose a 1.1 player over a 2.0.

I'm becoming sorry that I purchased the few movies on Blu-Ray now, there is nothing like a standard DVD!

Any firmware corrections to this or any other problamatic discs?

I just had the time to finally open this disc I was given as a gift sometime last fall.

Plays fine after a long load on a 1.1 player, but just a center block on a friends 2.0... what a disappointment.

I do not have or want any of my players tied to the internet, I do not have a HS internet connection, a Player is a Player, & not a device for the internet, that is why I have a PC, & the reason I chose a 1.1 player over a 2.0.

I'm becoming sorry that I purchased the few movies on Blu-Ray now, there is nothing like a standard DVD!
You shouldn't have to connect the player to the internet.
Your player just needs built-in BD Live memory or you need to install an SD card for the BD live memory.
Once the disc detects the BD Live memory, then the disc will load completely.

You shouldn't have to connect the player to the internet.
Your player just needs built-in BD Live memory or you need to install an SD card for the BD live memory.
Once the disc detects the BD Live memory, then the disc will load completely.

OK now where would I get the BD Live memory? On the machine in question (LG530) there is no memory card slot... not sure if there is a USB slot, machine isn't mine.

This LG 530 machine supersceded this thread, I was really surprised it did have issues & the older player played this. I do know there is a firmware upgrade to the LG530, though from what I read here, I am lead to believe no firmware will fix this issue.

Thank you for your reply, I know this is all old hat & obsolete, yet stores still stock this disc.

Makes me hesitant to buy anything in Blu-Ray at this point.

OK now where would I get the BD Live memory? On the machine in question (LG530) there is no memory card slot... not sure if there is a USB slot, machine isn't mine.

This LG 530 machine supersceded this thread, I was really surprised it did have issues & the older player played this. I do know there is a firmware upgrade to the LG530, though from what I read here, I am lead to believe no firmware will fix this issue.

Thank you for your reply, I know this is all old hat & obsolete, yet stores still stock this disc.

Makes me hesitant to buy anything in Blu-Ray at this point.

"The USB device can be used for the local storage for enjoying BD-Live discs"

http://www.lg.com/us/tv-audio-video/video/LG-blu-ray-dvd-player-BD530.jsp

"The USB device can be used for the local storage for enjoying BD-Live discs"

http://www.lg.com/us/tv-audio-video/video/LG-blu-ray-dvd-player-BD530.jsp

The link takes me over to the player support, tries to load some flash file then crashes, I'm taking just a blank USB memory stick (reading between the lines of at least 4g) installed in the USB slot will suffice then? Not having this player in my possession I have yet to try this but I'll pass the suggestion.

TY again for your reply.

The link takes me over to the player support, tries to load some flash file then crashes, I'm taking just a blank USB memory stick (reading between the lines of at least 4g) installed in the USB slot will suffice then? Not having this player in my possession I have yet to try this but I'll pass the suggestion.

TY again for your reply.

Hi Bismarack, If the BD player does not include built in memory than you will need to purchase a USB stick so that the movie can load the additional java info onto the stick so the menu will load. This movie along with Starship Troopers were the only two movies that (I know of) that required the additional memory storage. I think by now the other studios realized this and stop this practice. Or you can use the movie as a coaster because you will probably find half way through the movie that the disc is best used as a coaster. :p I never thought this thread would ever be bought back to life. Hope this helps.

Hi Bismarack, If the BD player does not include built in memory than you will need to purchase a USB stick so that the movie can load the additional java info onto the stick so the menu will load. This movie along with Starship Troopers were the only two movies that (I know of) that required the additional memory storage. I think by now the other studios realized this and stop this practice. Or you can use the movie as a coaster because you will probably find half way through the movie that the disc is best used as a coaster. :p I never thought this thread would ever be bought back to life. Hope this helps.

TY, I have only 2g & 4g sticks laying around, so I hope this works, one would think newer players would have had increased memory just in case. The BD player handles Standard DVD's better than the norm, but there seems to be a lot of pausing & loading when navigating around any BD.

I will try this, though hypothetically will inserting a mem stick or card in the player increase speed or loading times? I'm thinking this format was not well thought out now, & I'm certainly not going to replace any standard DVDs with BD for fear of future compatibility problems.... since there were standardization issues, surprised it beat out the HD DVD format.

Of all the DVD's I've owned or rented over the years, I only recall problems with the movies 8mm & FM that would not play new out of the box. 20/20 hindsight here, I would have rather had this movie on the regular DVD format. As very few movies I'll notice any real difference, but there are some exceptions.

TY both for the help (for the technically inept) :), a 4g flash drive did the trick, & loaded the menu without a hitch in the LG 530. Noted also the scrolling menu had an added selection box 'LG Live' which seemed to be an added feature only uable if connected to the internet.

I'm curious though if the flash drive or SD card enhances the performance or speed of these machines with any movie? I've noted one saying in this thread that they had SD cards dedicated to their machines. Does this store files on the memory stick/card after the disk is playing or is this just create a swap file that deletes itself?

TY both for the help (for the technically inept) :), a 4g flash drive did the trick, & loaded the menu without a hitch in the LG 530. Noted also the scrolling menu had an added selection box 'LG Live' which seemed to be an added feature only uable if connected to the internet.

I'm curious though if the flash drive or SD card enhances the performance or speed of these machines with any movie? I've noted one saying in this thread that they had SD cards dedicated to their machines. Does this store files on the memory stick/card after the disk is playing or is this just create a swap file that deletes itself?

Bottom line, a Profile 2.0 compliant BD player requires memory. Some manufactures like Panasonic, to keep cost down, do not include internal memory so in my view they really should not be consider 2.0 compliant. But to answer your question you should keep the external memory attached to the player at all times. Other movies will place a marker on the memory if you stop the movie, so when you start the movie back up it will ask you if you want to resume or start from the beginning which is a nice feature. Also depending on the size of the memory stick you will eventually have to reformat the stick in order to free up space. Your manual will explain how to do this.