Originally posted by snoots
I have not been able to find any configuration other than the webadmin page that sets the share folder and permissions. It is configured and the box was rebooted. I grep'd a bunch of files looking for port numbers etc but did not find any. There are only 2 pcast files I could find in the cgi-bin directory. I also downloaded the buffalo media server for pc from a japanes page but found that it is the same as the standard iodata and momitsu servers.
where did you download the PC server version ?
I can't find it in english :(

There seems to be an issue with serving files from the default folders under "My Documents". I previously posted a problem about the server software being unresponsive. If I simply move all my pictures to another folder, say c:\pictures, and change my default server folder to this directory, then the problem goes away. Doesn't seem to be related to the number of files I'm serving, just their location.

I've followed this thread from the start. I've got a question unrelated to most of the chatter about server software, etc.

I currently have a Denon DVD-910 hooked up via component to a Panasonic PT-L500U projector. Picture quality suits me fine. I'd love to buy a HD-Tivo but funds just won't allow it. I've been downloading shows I miss (Lost, American Housewives and American Idol) with ********** and then burning to DVD to watch on the big screen.

Hence the question: Picture quality wise as a primary DVD player and to occasionally watch downloaded divx files or xvid files would you recommend this player for me? I'm ready to pull the trigger. It would serve 2 purposes, cheap upscaling DVD player for commercial DVD's would be primary use and network player for the occasional divx or xvid would be secondary.

Don't know if this is common knowledge or not - but I haven't read this yet. I know some folks have been wondering about streaming directly from the Tivo to the AvelLink. I do not have Tystream installed, so that is the missing link - perhaps someone can take that final step.

But here is how to access TivoWebPlus directly from the AvelLink:

1) Go to the Login page - usually comes up at start up, or by pressing the Server button on the remote
2) Click on New
3) Give it a name and for IP use the IP you use for TWP - in my case: 192.168.1.9:80 - you MUST add the :80 or else AvelLink will try and add :800
4) Save it and go back a few pages to the logon screen
5) Select it from the list

and there you have it - TivoWebPlus from the AvelLink player

As an aside, instead of your Tivo URL, you can enter any URL on the internet and surf the web. It's not real fast and you need to watch out for burn in!

I haven't tried any alternative client software yet - I suspect things may be easier using it - from what I've read.

For those working on new servers:
1) should all this stuff be moved to the thread on open source servers? Should we start a new consolidated hacks & add-ons thread instead?
2) have a new idea: it would be nice if the front end could consolidate multiple servers into one listing. Since I would like to keep my pics & music on a mac (for iTunes/iPhoto reasons), I run the I-O or Momitsu mac version there. However, movies I keep on the PC. I hate having to look at listings for photos, music, movies, etc.. for each of the servers individually and remember which one has what. It would be great if the inro screen looked like this:
-DVD Disc
-Server Content- All
-Server 1
-Server 2
etc...

The Server-all would look for all media/watch folders on all the servers currently online and combine them into master photo/music/movies folders.
Then if you want, you could also select an individual server below on the list.

Not sure if this is possible to change on the server-side. The limitation (as I see it at least) may be in the player iteself. Not sure if it's do-able- just a thought.

Originally posted by buckeye1010
Don't know if this is common knowledge or not - but I haven't read this yet. I know some folks have been wondering about streaming directly from the Tivo to the AvelLink. I do not have Tystream installed, so that is the missing link - perhaps someone can take that final step.

But here is how to access TivoWebPlus directly from the AvelLink:

1) Go to the Login page - usually comes up at start up, or by pressing the Server button on the remote
2) Click on New
3) Give it a name and for IP use the IP you use for TWP - in my case: 192.168.1.9:80 - you MUST add the :80 or else AvelLink will try and add :800
4) Save it and go back a few pages to the logon screen
5) Select it from the list

and there you have it - TivoWebPlus from the AvelLink player

As an aside, instead of your Tivo URL, you can enter any URL on the internet and surf the web. It's not real fast and you need to watch out for burn in!

I haven't tried any alternative client software yet - I suspect things may be easier using it - from what I've read.
Okay, someone NEED's to get .ty files playing on this player. For those of you who have not seen this in action, on a networked TiVo, TivoWeb+ gives you a web page to control the unit, and with TyShow enabled, the Now Playing list becomes links to the individual shows. Click on the link, and if the filters are configured for your PC running Windows Media Player, VNC, etc.., the show will stream to your computer & start playing. so it is still stored on the Tivo, but you can also access it from your PC. Now, this .ty playback was made to work, you could access the now playing list directy from the LinkPlayer as described above. Don't want this to get too off topic for those of you who don't have Tivo or don't care, but I was just too excited about the possibility. Let's hope someone can figure out .ty files for this unit!

If anyone needs access to a small .ty sample file, PM me.

Has anyone other than Tom Roper used the JVC cable? I would love to hear how it affects different systems.

lifeisfun

I installed the japanese Buffalo version, following all the defaults, it is exactly the same as the standard linkserver except the backgrounds are different, the layout is identical.

Originally posted by snoots
lifeisfun

I installed the japanese Buffalo version, following all the defaults, it is exactly the same as the standard linkserver except the backgrounds are different, the layout is identical.

You are brave man :)
I'm suprised that the linkplayer can't connect to the KURO BOX
If the server software is the same one would presume that the PCast server would work with the Linkplayer as well.
I wanted to install the Japanese firmware with PCast server on my LS
but I stoped the upgrade when I got first Japanese question :)
I guess I don't have to think about it when it doesn't work :(

I'm inclined to think "stupid" rather than "brave" :)

I think that maybe the software on the Kurobox HG is an older pcast version not the version for the newer buffalo player that uses the syabus and sigma designs chipset. The model number that is mentioned in the web set up is
PC-MP2000 SERIES

I hope you right :)
I love to see my 300GB LS connected without PC to LinkPlayer !
Yesterday was released new firmware for LS (1.46) but I don't have confirmation if the server is on ( Buffalo doesn't publish changes in new FW versions - not sure why...)

Just got my linkplayer this weekend. So far I like it. I'm having one strange problem though (so far).

I have a 4:3 Sony Wega that I'm using to upconvert to 720p over component. However when I first set the mode to 720p while playing a DVD (or start a DVD with the player already in 720p mode) the image is vertically squished and everyone is a little more plump than they should be. But if I cycle the modes to 1080i and so on back around to 720p (image still squished), then cycle through the zooms ... the image will then take the proper proportion and everything looks fine (still in 720p) ...

If I cycle through zooms withouth cycling through the tv modes first the image is still squished.

so don't know what's going on there.

Originally posted by FlipFlop
Is anyone else viewing slide shows on a 4:3 TV screen in 480i mode? When I do this, the image is slightly squished, with black bars on either side, even though the digital photo is 4:3 which should fill the entire screen. I contacted IOData support, but they think the problem is with my TV. But video play back with the correct aspect ratio, so I don't see how it could be my TV.

Could someone else confirm that photos are squished in the 4:3 display mode on their player too?

I haven't loaded the server software yet ... but when I do I'll try a slide show in 480i and let you know.

Originally posted by snoots
I'm inclined to think "stupid" rather than "brave" :)

I think that maybe the software on the Kurobox HG is an older pcast version not the version for the newer buffalo player that uses the syabus and sigma designs chipset. The model number that is mentioned in the web set up is
PC-MP2000 SERIES
Just upgraded my LS to 1.46 and the PCast server works with my
Linkplayer just fine. I presume you need to upgrade the PCast server version.
I'M VERY HAPPY MAN :D

What port is it talking on ?

How do I check that ?
( I didn't change any ports all left default LS and Linkplayer static IP's)

Originally posted by spyfy
Picture quality wise as a primary DVD player and to occasionally watch downloaded divx files or xvid files would you recommend this player for me? I'm ready to pull the trigger. It would serve 2 purposes, cheap upscaling DVD player for commercial DVD's would be primary use and network player for the occasional divx or xvid would be secondary. I would strongly recommend it as an mpeg4 player; it does a better job and is more flexible (picture manipulation-wise) than my Philips 642. The occasional divx3, etc. old/odd encode that may not look so good or not play at all, the advanced server does a good job transcoding and streaming it to the player.

As an upscaling mpeg2 player, it still is rough around the edges, because of the audio issues (video is fine). Some receivers don't recognize its DD signal and last night I noticed a lipsynch problem playing Pirates of the Caribbean DTS (don't recall if anyone else has mentioned this). These problems will supposedly be addressed in the next firmware upgrade.

Originally posted by FlipFlop
Is anyone else viewing slide shows on a 4:3 TV screen in 480i mode? When I do this, the image is slightly squished, with black bars on either side, even though the digital photo is 4:3 which should fill the entire screen. I contacted IOData support, but they think the problem is with my TV. But video play back with the correct aspect ratio, so I don't see how it could be my TV.

Could someone else confirm that photos are squished in the 4:3 display mode on their player too?

I just tried this ... 480i on a 4:3 tv and I'm seeing the same thing. There are black bars on either side and the image is stretched vertically (or squished horizontally ... half empty half full)

changing the mode from full screen, to fit to screen, and so on makes no difference.

Originally posted by spyfy
...Picture quality wise as a primary DVD player and to occasionally watch downloaded divx files or xvid files would you recommend this player for me? I'm ready to pull the trigger. It would serve 2 purposes, cheap upscaling DVD player for commercial DVD's would be primary use and network player for the occasional divx or xvid would be secondary. Some of us over on the Doom9 forum have been involved in the testing of the Siemssen SCO 5000 ND, which is the first "NeroDigital" approved stand-alone player!

Because it's NeroDigital approved it can play Mpeg4/AAC streams stored in the MP4 container (as well as Mpeg4/AC3/MP3 in AVI). Plus if you generate your encodes using Nero Recode2, the player will respond to chapter selection, as well as, multiple subtitle and audio stream selection.

There's also component video outputs, on-board 6Ch analogue audio pre-amps and media card readers!

It's about the most flexible Mpeg4/DVD stand-alone player you can get ;)


Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Some of us over on the Doom9 forum have been involved in the testing of the Siemssen SCO 5000 ND, which is the first "NeroDigital" approved stand-alone player!

Because it's NeroDigital approved it can play Mpeg4/AAC streams stored in the MP4 container (as well as Mpeg4/AC3/MP3 in AVI). Plus if you generate your encodes using Nero Recode2, the player will respond to chapter selection, as well as, multiple subtitle and audio stream selection.

There's also component video outputs, on-board 6Ch analogue audio pre-amps and media card readers!

It's about the most flexible Mpeg4/DVD stand-alone player you can get ;)


Cheers

But is it a networked player? I have over 100 DVD rips on my server to play back. Plus HD content from the HD Tivo and MyHD card. IIRC this DVD does not play HD native or have networking, or am I thinking of the wrong thing. I think most people here are interested in the LinkPlayer for its networking, HD upscaling, and playback of HD files. If I am off base I will stand corrected. Glad that plauer has more support for MPEG4, but that is not why I got the LinkPlayer. Still, if I-O could add some of these features in a future firmware upgrade I wouldn't complain. :)

Originally posted by goenkar
You can use JAD decompiler http://kpdus.tripod.com/jad.html. There are several front ends for it. I like to use DJ http://members.fortunecity.com/neshkov/dj.html

I am not sure if JAD comes bundled with DJ or if its a separate download.

I personally do not have this player but am following this thread. I am looking to pickup a DVI version when its out (hopefully soon).

I did it with that program.
Here is one of the lines that changes the picture:
out.print(player.showPhoto(url + "-" + application.getAttribute("language") + ".jpg", 5, trans));

And Another:
out.print(player.showPhoto(url + slides.get(j), interval, trans));

So that five up there means 5 seconds. Change it to 99999 or rewrite the code to make it not change or change with the song changes.

Download DJ Javacompiler.
Install
Run DJ Javacompiler.
Go to tools Decompile more files...
Select the file(s)
Set your Destination directory.
Then Click Decompile.

You will get a Jad file. Then open that up in the DJ Java Decompiler.

Voila you now have the source.

I have not yet recompiled.
I have to figure that part out.
But all you java guru's could have a field day with this.
Perhaps there is a way to pull song information from the music file you are playing and display it on screen.

Or scan your mp3 artist/album info and go and download it automatically. Where is a good source for album covers? http://images.google.com of course.

Originally posted by lifeisfun
Just upgraded my LS to 1.46 and the PCast server works with my
Linkplayer just fine. I presume you need to upgrade the PCast server version.
I'M VERY HAPPY MAN :D

I recently purchased the Link Player it is awesome don't know how I lived so long without it. Are you saying you have the Buffalo HD-H300LAN Link Station and have the Link Player accessing it? What is upgraded my LS to 1.46 and where did you find it? I have a lot more questions for you but this will do for now.

Ed

Originally posted by FlipFlop
Is anyone else viewing slide shows on a 4:3 TV screen in 480i mode? When I do this, the image is slightly squished, with black bars on either side, even though the digital photo is 4:3 which should fill the entire screen. I contacted IOData support, but they think the problem is with my TV. But video play back with the correct aspect ratio, so I don't see how it could be my TV.

Could someone else confirm that photos are squished in the 4:3 display mode on their player too?

I also have that same problem with the black bars on either side. I did a test of a few pics. I resized them to 2048 X 1440 in stead of the original 2048 X 1536 and they display correctly in the resized format. I did notice when I encode movies to XVID that the original movies are 720 X 480 and if I try to output to 640 X 480 they don't display all they way to the side I have to encode them larger say 656 X 480. Maybe its some thing to do with the way TV's display. I have Sony Wega 32".

Ed

check your PM MoparHemi :)

Just found this..

PCMicroStore.com - network storage enclosure $85
Looks like an interesting device. It's an external hard drive controller that hooks up to an Ethernet Hub/Switch and is accessable by any computer on the network. First you must insert your own hard drive inside the unit, any IDE 3.5" drive of 300GB or less, then the drive becomes network attached storage for your LAN. You can access your files by FTP or Windows Networking (Samba).

http://www.pcmicrostore.com/PartDetail.aspx?q=p:10502197

Fabian.

I just saw this on fatwallet as well. Will this work just like the ones that IO DATA sells. Seems like a good price, and holds up to a 300gig hard drive. Can you hook this up to the network, and play ripped DVDs to the AvelLink?




Originally posted by flamaest
Just found this..

PCMicroStore.com - network storage enclosure $85
Looks like an interesting device. It's an external hard drive controller that hooks up to an Ethernet Hub/Switch and is accessable by any computer on the network. First you must insert your own hard drive inside the unit, any IDE 3.5" drive of 300GB or less, then the drive becomes network attached storage for your LAN. You can access your files by FTP or Windows Networking (Samba).

http://www.pcmicrostore.com/PartDetail.aspx?q=p:10502197

Fabian.

NO :(
I-O Data wouldn't bother with there's drive if it would be that easy

Be careful with some of those external on the network drives. Some don't support FAT,FAT32 or NTFS. They include their own file system and some destroy the data on the drive. Linksys makes a sweet Network to USB device that will let you put any external USB device on the network, but requires the drive to be formatted with it own file system.

I picked up a KuroBox HG, it comes without a drive but has a gigabit ethernet, 2 usb ports. It is a kit. You put your own drives in it. It is a hack box not a finished product. It runs linux and you can put whatever you want on it if you know how. The IODATA is a bit pricy but is a solid finished product that includes a pre installed linkserver application for basic use with the linkplayer. It is not perfect but I expect we will see some firmware updates that will improve the linkserver portion. I got the UHDL 300 and am happy with it's quality of build and feature set. You could add a bigger drive to it later also if you are willing to remove the drive and hook it to a linux pc.

Originally posted by MoparHemi
I also have that same problem with the black bars on either side. I did a test of a few pics. I resized them to 2048 X 1440 in stead of the original 2048 X 1536 and they display correctly in the resized format. I did notice when I encode movies to XVID that the original movies are 720 X 480 and if I try to output to 640 X 480 they don't display all they way to the side I have to encode them larger say 656 X 480. Maybe its some thing to do with the way TV's display. I have Sony Wega 32".

Ed

sounds like you have the same TV I do (unless you got the non hd version) ...

do you also have the issue I mentioned previously with upscaling DVDs to 720p or 1080i? where everyone is short and fat until you go througha little ritual?

also i have some HD divx files and some of the sides are cut off ... i think this is just normal overscan tho.

Took me about 30 minutes to get caught up...but to answer a question a few pages back: i'm starting from scratch. Working it from the ground up. However, *everything* is interpreted from XSL, so if you can figure that out (or just edit the CSS) then you're golden.

No I have one of the 1st Wega's not HD.

Ed

OK, went ahead and ordered it. Ordered direct from IO Data. Paid for 3 day shipping. Seems they are on top of orders and shipping from what I've read so hopefully I'll have it Thursday. I'm guessing all ship with the upgraded D4 connector now correct?

i placed my order last sunday and it shipped monday. you should have no problems.

you probably would have been ok with ground ... ground got it from CA to GA by friday for me. but better safe than sorry i guess.

You need to pre-order the longer cable with them. There is no "Upgraded D4" that I know of. Better give them a call (see below).

>>IODATA Contact Info:
>>Hiromi Kaneko
>>I-O DATA DEVICE USA, Inc.
>>Tel: 408-570-4219
>>Fax: 408-570-0959
>>Mail: hkaneko@iodata.com

I'm guessing all ship with the upgraded D4 connector now correct?I believe you still have to sign up for the female connector.

They also updated their webpage to say it could be the end of Feb. before they release the new firmware.

Length of the D4 isn't much of a problem for my situation. I thought they updated it or something tho. I'll give them a call in the morning.

If this thing works as I expect I'm gonna be very happy BTW. I've been wanting a HD-Tivo for some time. Money and the chance of a $1000 receiver being outdated w/ Directv's transition to MPEG-4 made me hold off. The only things I would ever wanna record would be a few TV shows. With this I can grab the torrents and watch them in widescreen when I want. Wont be HD but still widescreen and decent quality. I'm kinda excited. ;)

Originally posted by mikemav
But is it a networked player? I have over 100 DVD rips on my server to play back. Plus HD content from the HD Tivo and MyHD card. IIRC this DVD does not play HD native or have networking, or am I thinking of the wrong thing. I think most people here are interested in the LinkPlayer for its networking, HD upscaling, and playback of HD files. If I am off base I will stand corrected. Glad that plauer has more support for MPEG4, but that is not why I got the LinkPlayer. Still, if I-O could add some of these features in a future firmware upgrade I wouldn't complain. :) Sadly it's not a "network" or "high-def" player... The Siemssen SCO 5000 ND is purely a standard-def/resolution player - which is what I interpreted spyfy was requiring!

The player might however be adapted to read files over a network via one of it's memory card reader/writer slots....

And some of you may be interested to learn that the player can already read VIDEO_TS.IFO (together with all other DVD associated) files stored on memory cards. DVD menu navigation, chapter seeking, audio and subtitle track selection worked perfectly!


Cheers

Originally posted by WillGonz
I did it with that program.
Here is one of the lines that changes the picture:
out.print(player.showPhoto(url + "-" + application.getAttribute("language") + ".jpg", 5, trans));

And Another:
out.print(player.showPhoto(url + slides.get(j), interval, trans));

So that five up there means 5 seconds. Change it to 99999 or rewrite the code to make it not change or change with the song changes.




I did exactly that. But when I tried to compile I got errors. I was using Netbeans. I'm sure I didn't have a syntax error but maybe I was using the program incorrectly, this is my first time at something like this. And I'm not sure that simply changing the "5" will work, what about "interval" and "trans"? Are those variables defined elsewhere?

Anyway, what I did was change 5 to 20 and then clicked "save" and it had no affect. Well, of course because you have to compile again, didn't know that at first and so I tried a few other things, and then tried to compile but maybe by then I had messed the file up somehow (though everything still works normally).

One thing you can do is find a slide called...I'm not at home and I can't remember exactly...but it's "english" something. You can find it if you search, it's that jpg with a blue background with musical notes. Simply delete that file and the album cover will "flash" on for about 2 seconds and then off and immediately flash on again. Even if I can figure out how to get the cover to display "permanently" I may stay with that setting, it's kinda cool. And in any case much better than that default picture.

Originally posted by uofmtiger
Has anyone other than Tom Roper used the JVC cable? I would love to hear how it affects different systems. I am using the JVC cable. Build quality (and picture quality) are identical to the cable that came with my AVLP2. In fact, it looks like the same cable, just longer. I am still using it because I needed a length > 1m. This is on a 40" 16:9 RPTV Toshiba 40H80, in 1080i mode. Those of you with better sets may notice a difference; I did not.

My biggest problem with this player is the delay, for me about 5 seconds, between video clips. But I only have a 1 ghz processor and 192 RAM. Would changing either of those have much of an affect? I'm not going to replace the processor, I would get a new computer first, but it's easy to add a little more RAM. Also can you get a "premium" ethernet cable or all they all the same, and does the fact that mine has to travel about 30 ft. make a difference?

Originally posted by mabrym
My biggest problem with this player is the delay, for me about 5 seconds, between video clips. But I only have a 1 ghz processor and 192 RAM. Would changing either of those have much of an affect? I'm not going to replace the processor, I would get a new computer first, but it's easy to add a little more RAM. Also can you get a "premium" ethernet cable or all they all the same, and does the fact that mine has to travel about 30 ft. make a difference? How do you mean, "between video clips"? When selecting them on the menu? Or when playing all files in a folder? There is always a slight delay between files when playing all files in a folder, on my setup it is about 1-2 sec while the name of the next file flashes on the screen. When selecting in a menu, I get 3-4sec delays even on a disc in the AVLP2 loader. FYI, I have a 3Ghz P4 w/ 1GB RAM.

There is most definitely differences between Ethernet cable, such as Cat 3, Cat 5, Cat 5e, Cat 6, etc. But not really in a particular category. As long as you have Cat 5 or higher you should be fine, unless the cable itself is bad. The 30ft run is nothing; ethernet is rated to 100m cable runs.

Originally posted by WillGonz
Be careful with some of those external on the network drives. Some don't support FAT,FAT32 or NTFS. They include their own file system and some destroy the data on the drive. Linksys makes a sweet Network to USB device that will let you put any external USB device on the network, but requires the drive to be formatted with it own file system. The Linksys NSLU2, as purchased, uses a linux file system. However, this is easily changed to support Windows drives. There is a community of over 400 people working on hacking this box. The harder part is getting a linux version of LinkServer or equivalent running on this box.

This latter caveat is true of any of the network storage adapters you guys have mentioned, whether they include hard drives or if you need to add your own, regardless of what file system(s) they support. You need to be able to run compatible AVLP2 server software on them or you'll have to map them through a pc anyway.

Originally posted by catware
How do you mean, "between video clips"? When selecting them on the menu? Or when playing all files in a folder? There is always a slight delay between files when playing all files in a folder, on my setup it is about 1-2 sec while the name of the next file flashes on the screen. When selecting in a menu, I get 3-4sec delays even on a disc in the AVLP2 loader. FYI, I have a 3Ghz P4 w/ 1GB RAM.

There is most definitely differences between Ethernet cable, such as Cat 3, Cat 5, Cat 5e, Cat 6, etc. But not really in a particular category. As long as you have Cat 5 or higher you should be fine, unless the cable itself is bad. The 30ft run is nothing; ethernet is rated to 100m cable runs.

I mean between clips in a folder. 1-2 secs is Ok while it displays the next file name but sometimes, a lot of time, it's longer. And some larger clips take as much as 10 secs to play. I'm not upgrading my computer to what you have anytime soon, maybe I'll add more RAM, if nothing else it will help with running multiple programs.

The UHDL linkserver looks like it is just using PHP and the apache web server on the linux partition to handle the linkplayer. I assume I could install the same code on my Kurobox. The buffalo pcast server code is missing from the kuro or it would work with the linkplayer. I have downloaded the buffalo but the gzip file looks to be encrtyped and I don't want to "flash" my kuro hg to think its a linkstation.

Here is an article from the New York Times on HD-DVD which mentions the AVeL and Dixv networks:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/20/technology/circuits/20blue.html?oref=login&adxnnl=1&oref=login&adxnnlx=1106331367-4oMKVqK/n1Frihv91T/7sA
(subscription required)
Note they mentioned that players like the AVeL are likely to cost as little as $100 by the end of the year (I suspect just the player not necessarily networked linked).

I got my 99 dollar rebate check from IODATA for buying the UHDL-300 today at work :) Makes the price a little more bearable !

Originally posted by jackshakes
sounds like you have the same TV I do (unless you got the non hd version) ...

do you also have the issue I mentioned previously with upscaling DVDs to 720p or 1080i? where everyone is short and fat until you go througha little ritual?

also i have some HD divx files and some of the sides are cut off ... i think this is just normal overscan tho.

I have a similiar problem but on a widescreen TV, some Divx movies look stretched. Is there a way to convert them to another size?

Originally posted by mabrym
I have a similiar problem but on a widescreen TV, some Divx movies look stretched. Is there a way to convert them to another size? Have you tried 'square pixel' mode?

Originally posted by mabrym
I have a similiar problem but on a widescreen TV, some Divx movies look stretched. Is there a way to convert them to another size?

yeah I don't have the squished problem with divx movies ... i do get overscan but that's a different issue ... i have to use square pixel mode for them to look the best

the squished issue and ritual i speak of only happens to dvds.

In the discussion on the New Zensonic Tom Roper made this post:

"The I-O Data AVeL LinkPlayer2 which uses the same Sigma Designs EM8620L media processor as the Zensonic, does support 1080i transport streams over the network, but you have to make some enabling entries in the Windows registry."

Does anyone know what those registry entries are???

also what are most of you guys using for server software?? i'm using the regular linkserver but it slows my internet down bigtime and delays the time of opening programs. I can't stand it, is anyone else having this problem?? i have a amd athlon xp barton 2800, 512mb ram.

I'm still using the momitsu for now, and I don't care for that, either. They're based off the same core software, and sacrifice any kind of performance for being cross-platform java.

Originally posted by Paul_PDX
In the discussion on the New Zensonic Tom Roper made this post:

"The I-O Data AVeL LinkPlayer2 which uses the same Sigma Designs EM8620L media processor as the Zensonic, does support 1080i transport streams over the network, but you have to make some enabling entries in the Windows registry."

Does anyone know what those registry entries are???

Actually Tom mistyped you need to change some files in the server software.

1. Change: I-O DATA DEVICE,INC\AVeL Link Server\webapps\ROOT\application\video\xml\extension.xml

add the following code
<ext>ts</ext>

2. Change: I-O DATA DEVICE,INC\AVeL Link Server\webapps\ROOT\xml\video.xml

add the following code
<ext>ts</ext>

3. Change: I-O DATA DEVICE,INC\AVeL Link Server\conf\web.xml

add the following code
<mime-mapping>
<extension>ts</extension>
<mime-type>video/mpeg</mime-type>
</mime-mapping>

While you are in there if you want to make more pages available at the top change: I-O DATA DEVICE,INC\AVeL Link Server\webapps\ROOT\theme\avellink-1280x720\theme.xml

look for maxPage="4" I changed it to maxPage="8"

I haven't received my unit yet but I do have a big thumbs up for IO Data's service and support so far. I ordered Sunday over the internet. Paid for 3 day shipping. As of earlier today it had not shipped. I called the number for a contact person listed here. She checked my order and called me back. She said they had a high number of orders and were running behind. Made sure it got shipped today, gave me a tracking number and shipped it 2 day air instead of 3 day for my trouble.

Impressive considering I didn't call to nor did I complain in any way. They offered that right off the bat without me asking for anything.

that's crazy ... mine shipped right away just last week.

glad to hear you got it worked out though ... and you'll still have it for the weekend!

IRGAAC -
Thanks -- I had done most of this earlier I thought I had missed something.

Another question about playing TP files on the LinkPlayer

Are other people still seeing issues with the wierd line accross the middle of the screen if they are in HD browser mode ??

My pal videos stutter, the picture and not the audio.

Anyone else?

Originally posted by FlipFlop
If you go to the "internet" section, you will see links for RSS and Internet Radio. These appear to be fixed content provided by an external server.

I haven't found a way to add stations to the built-in list, but you can set up your own stations by creating a "station.pls" file in the "C:\program files\MOMITSU MEDIA CENTER\webapps\ROOT" folder (going from memory, but I think that is right - this is the base directory for the images and other static content). "Station.pls" must be a text file containing the URL of the radio station. Then you can create a "favorites" link in Internet Explorer pointing to "http://192.168.0.1:8000/station.pls" (fill in your IP address and port number).

Then you can just go to the LinkPlayer, browse to "Internet" on the momitsu server, and you will see your list of internet explorer favorites. Select the link for station.pls to start playing the station.

Can someone confirm the location to save the .pls files on the Momitsu server? I could not get this to work. I tried various locations (webapp/ROOT, + others), and it would not play my shoutcast .pls. It flashed for a second to "connecting to internet radio station" but then went away. Does the text file I create with the URL need to be encoded some special way? I created one in wordpad called Club977_80's.pls with the url of the stream on the first and only line of text. I had a choice to encode the file as ANSI, Unicode, and others in Wordpad. I used the default, ANSI. Could this be the problem? Or maybe it is just in the wrong place in the Momitsu folders?

Also, anyone found where to customize the RSS feeds?

mattdb:

The AVLP2 has an intense dislike if not outright loathing for PAL content.

mikemav:

Just add it to your IE favorites and it will show up on the internet tab in the momitsu server. That's a great station BTW :)

Thanks irgaac for the correction(s) on playing TS content over the network with the Link Server.

Your .pls file should look like this in notepad:


[playlist]
File1=http://64.236.34.196:80/stream/1040
Title1=CLUB 977 The 80s Channel
Length1=-1
NumberOfEntries=1
Version=2

Originally posted by Kermee
Your .pls file should look like this in notepad:


[playlist]
File1=http://64.236.34.196:80/stream/1040
Title1=CLUB 977 The 80s Channel
Length1=-1
NumberOfEntries=1
Version=2


Thanks Kermee. I will edit it. Where in the Momitsu server files do I store the .pls?

Well it seems that I can run the streams thru VLC, but I loose all the chapter points etc of the DVD and it is a pain to get VLC to output the correct audio stream. Does anyone have any other suggestions for this issue?

Matt

Originally posted by irgaac
mattdb:

The AVLP2 has an intense dislike if not outright loathing for PAL content.

I have downloaded and installed the linux MMC software on my KURO box. Have not had time to put it on my IODATA UHDL-300. I will post the link if anyone is interested. I had to do a little "sluething" as the site requires you to email support to get the link. It works on my kuro from the linkplayer :)

New Momitsu MMC software for windows out today version 1.3 check it out.

momitsu.com/dvd_880n_mmc.html

Originally posted by MoparHemi
New Momitsu MMC software for windows out today version 1.3 check it out.

momitsu.com/dvd_880n_mmc.html

What is a custom folder? How is that different from a watch folder? Is it that a watch folder is a subfolder of Video or Music or Photo and a custom folder appears on the main screen?

I have no idea what a custom folder is yet but it is a lot better software. More features but they took some away that I liked. Guess we can't complain to much it better than the alternative.

Ed

Originally posted by snoots
I have downloaded and installed the linux MMC software on my KURO box. Have not had time to put it on my IODATA UHDL-300. I will post the link if anyone is interested. I had to do a little "sluething" as the site requires you to email support to get the link. It works on my kuro from the linkplayer :)

Yeah, sure. What is it?

Thanks in advance.....

Just finished reading the entire thread....wow a bit overwhelming. Hopefully someone can answer a few basic questions about this unit....

I am purchasing a R5000 which is basically a modified STB, allowing recording of HD to a PC. These filese can be played back with a card such as the MyHD card. I am searching for a non pc way to play back these files. Will this unit play back these recorded files? The file specs according to the R5000 manufacturer are below. Any input would be greatly appreciated.--Darin

"Writes standard, ISO 13818-1 MPEG-2 transport streams (tested to be fully compatible with MPEG2 decoders such as MyHD, Roku, JVC 30000, JVC 40000, etc). Configurable output bit rate allows transport streams to be NULL stripped, or other rates."

Originally posted by dj7675
Just finished reading the entire thread....wow a bit overwhelming. Hopefully someone can answer a few basic questions about this unit....

I am purchasing a R5000 which is basically a modified STB, allowing recording of HD to a PC. These filese can be played back with a card such as the MyHD card. I am searching for a non pc way to play back these files. Will this unit play back these recorded files? The file specs according to the R5000 manufacturer are below. Any input would be greatly appreciated.--Darin

"Writes standard, ISO 13818-1 MPEG-2 transport streams (tested to be fully compatible with MPEG2 decoders such as MyHD, Roku, JVC 30000, JVC 40000, etc). Configurable output bit rate allows transport streams to be NULL stripped, or other rates."

This post a page back (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5059238#post5059238) explains how to modify the software to play back .ts files threw the player.

http://www.momitsu.com/products/v880n/momitsux-p10.tar.tar

Does anyone know if this player will work with stuff from MovieLink.com? Here is a link for a free movie. http://cs.silverpop.com/movilink/southwest_airlines/1/

Warning use a address that you want spam to go to, cause I think they are going to send you junk later.

Originally posted by WillGonz
Does anyone know if this player will work with stuff from MovieLink.com? Here is a link for a free movie. http://cs.silverpop.com/movilink/southwest_airlines/1/

Warning use a address that you want spam to go to, cause I think they are going to send you junk later.

I rented a movie from your link but cant pull it down now. (downloading a 11 gig .ts file) as soon as thats done ill test a movie from them unless someone else beats me to it. Im guessing it should work since DMR is done on the pc. kinda sucks there policy on most movies is 24 hours, should be longer. And you cant apply the 5 buck credit towards one of there "enhanced movies".

<edit>
I downloaded a trailer and im downloading a movie now (seems i have enough bandwidth to do both) I cant get the trailer to play at all. I get a very bad squelshing noise and scrambled video. Im guessing it will be the same with the movie also. I dont have the advanced server software installed Im wondering if it would work threw that...
</edit>

<edit2>
Is it possible to FF while playing a .ts file??
</edit2>

my understanding Webboy is that the advanced server software does the transcoding while the std server software doesn't. Now I haven't tried that feature yet myself, transcoding, but I have the adv server software running on my XP media box and will be shortly.

Just as an FYI, I have the along with the std server software so both seem to coexist without issue.

they use different ports so they both work at the same time

I apologize if this is not the proper forum to make this post. I've been following this thread from the beginning, and thought someone may appreciate doing it this way rather than me just pawning it off on Ebay.

I received my LinkPlayer2 from I-O Data yesterday. It's still sealed in the box. During the time I ordered it, and the time it arrived from CA, I've decided to go another route with my media center. I found on the website that I-O Data charges a 15% restocking fee for returned items that are not defective. I'd rather not have to eat this on an item that hasn't even been opened -- not to mention shipping all the way back to CA (I'm in PA).

So, if anyone is planning to buy one of these, I would gladly send them this one for $250, shipped to your doorstep. It's brand new, and I have the receipt/order number to accompany the unit. I'm PayPal/Ebay verified etc.

Those interested may email me using ComputerResearch<at>Comcast.net

Thanks!

PLEASE SAVE ME !

I changed the port on the AVEL server on my PC from 8000 to 8020
and now when I sellect it from the Linkplayer main menu I get screen
that it CAN NOT connect to web site specified
Please press back button to go to previous page or GOTO button and input new URL
If I use the back button the same problem will repeat it self and where the heck is GOTO button ? !
( switching back to port 8000 didn't fix the problem)
Thanks

make sure you powered the pc off and back on and the linkplayer also

I did, still no go :(
When it finds the PC server it will detect it on port 8000
not the 8020 :(

If it detects it at 8000 then perhaps you have not succesfully changed the port in the server options. After reloading the PC does it show the 8020 on the server properties .

yes, on the pc it's set to 8020 but on the Linkplayer it changes it self to 8000...
Looks like there is problem with the Linkstation on the same network
If I shut it down OFF not just turning OFF the PCast server it works fine
but only on port 8000 any other will give me the white screen with text as described before
Perhaps you have the same problem with your KURO ? !

To play the PAL VOB streams, I use dvd shrink to remove all the unwanted audio streams etc. Then I use VLC to stream to a program stream file thus creating an MPG file, which in turn plays just fine now.

Originally posted by mattdb
Well it seems that I can run the streams thru VLC, but I loose all the chapter points etc of the DVD and it is a pain to get VLC to output the correct audio stream. Does anyone have any other suggestions for this issue?

Matt

How can I get it to play .ogm files? They aren't recognized right now.

I've got them playing in Windows Media PLayer. Can't figure out how to get the Linkplayer to play them tho.

Ok. Figured it out in the Advanced server. Just gotta edit one of those .xml files and add this info:

<mediaFile extension=".ogm" transcode="yes" />

Found that in an earlier post in this thread about another file type.

Originally posted by lifeisfun
yes, on the pc it's set to 8020 but on the Linkplayer it changes it self to 8000...
Looks like there is problem with the Linkstation on the same network
If I shut it down OFF not just turning OFF the PCast server it works fine
but only on port 8000 any other will give me the white screen with text as described before
Perhaps you have the same problem with your KURO ? !

I just got my LinkPlayer and I've noticed the same problem; I make a change to port# on the LinkPlayer in edit mode, save it and the next time I check it, it's back to port#8000. I haven't even read the docs yet so I was asuming I was doing something wrong. How do you save changes to the port # on the LinkPlayer so they stay changed? (Changes made to the Linkserver port# on the PC side are fine.)

Originally posted by snoots
http://www.momitsu.com/products/v880n/momitsux-p10.tar.tar

Ok, I down it and put it on my Imac. Can't find properties to make settings with. Seems to be one file with no sub folders. Internet part seems to work better than other servers.

So if you want to make changes to settings, watch folders, or whatever as you can do in PC versions, what do you do?

I was about to order the Linkyplayer2 today, but I was wondering which state they ship from so that I can choose a fast delivery method. If they come from California I might just choose ground shipping. Thanks in advance.

They come from California if you order direct from IO Data.

Perfect. Thank you very much spyfy.

Originally posted by webboy10169
This post a page back (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5059238#post5059238) explains how to modify the software to play back .ts files threw the player.

Thanks for the help. A couple more questions for you or anyone else....

1-Considering this device or the Roku HD1000. Which would be better for the playback of large recorded TS files (via the R5000 modded receiver).? Pros/Cons?

2-Regarding the modification to the server software....Which software is it? What are the file size limitations?

Thanks

Darin

Originally posted by dj7675
Thanks for the help. A couple more questions for you or anyone else....

1-Considering this device or the Roku HD1000. Which would be better for the playback of large recorded TS files (via the R5000 modded receiver).? Pros/Cons?

2-Regarding the modification to the server software....Which software is it? What are the file size limitations?

Thanks

Darin

1 - Hands down the IODATA is the more complete product. Roku plays a very limited number of data types and has been very slow to update their players instead relyting on share ware fixes from third parties to make the thing usable.

2 - There are several server software sets for the IODATA -- 2 vesions from IODATA and several from outside (including some from IODATA competitors). This thread has links to most of them and I believe most of them support files bigger than 4GB if stored on NTFS.

Just wanted to add a little mini-review after getting my player set up last night.

Out of the box setup of course was easy. Plug and play, no problems. I'm using the D4 out to my Yamaha 5760 receiver and component out from it to a Panasonic PT-L500U PJ. First hitch I ran into was no picture. I was scared my component run was too long. Finally saw the TV mode button and pressed it. Voila, picture.

Played with it for some time getting it networked correctly (don't use DHCP on my network) which went smoothly. Got all the settings set like I thought they should be and was ready to watch some content. Slideshows of my pictures were alot of fun and my wife and kids enjoyed it. I was ready to watch some downloaded material however and away I went. Had a couple episodes of "Lost" I'd grabbed and they streamed without a hitch and quality was very good on my 102" screen to say the least. Certainly not HD quality of course, but close to DVD quality. I was impressed.

Next came some .ogm files I had. Couldn't get them to recognize in the server. Downloaded the advance server. Man is that thing confusing. Absolutely no explanation of how or what to do with that thing. I finally found in this large thread how to get it to play the .ogm files by transcoding them on my PC. Again excellent quality picture.

Next came the first commercial DVD. We sat down as a family to watch "Friday Night Lights." Before watching I recalibrated with DVE. My old DVD player was a DVD 910 which doesn't pass BTB. This player does. I was very impressed with the upscaled picture. I have previously owned a Samsung 841 and the upscaled picture with that left alot to be desired. I set the player to output 1080i even tho my PJ is 720P native based on recommendations here. I was really blown away with the picture. Shadow detail was greatly improved and the colors were very good and accurate.

I did have a few glitches with the player using DVE. The parts where DVE stops to let you set brightness, contrast and color wouldn't advance without pressing "next" on the remote. Play is suppossed to resume the player in these spots. It also froze a time or two and I had to stop the DVD and resume it. When I did it jumped ahead farther than where I was at when it locked.

Overall I'm extremely pleased. I made this purchase for 2 reasons. Number 1 as an upscaling DVD player. Number 2 as a psuedo stop gap from buying a HD-Tivo. At close to a $1000 and MPEG4 around the corner I didnt wanna take the plunge. It's nothing compared to a HD Tivo I know but it still lets me watch high quality backups of missed episodes of my favortie shows in widescreen on my PJ.

FWIW and YMMV, lol.

Has anyone been able to get album covers to display while playing WMP playlist or is that not possible.

Sorry to harp on this subject but I used to love album covers. One of the bad things about CDs. Displaying them on the TV screen is really cool

Man this thread is getting huge. Took me two days to read it. Anyhow, I see a lot of speculation but is anyone having any luck coding a server to stream DVD .ISOs to the LinkPlayer2? Right now that is all I want it to do. I will buy one right away when that capability is available.

- Neil

Can DVD .ISO's be played in Windows Media Player? If so then you an use the Advanced Server software and play them on the Linkplayer by transcoding the files on your PC.

If they aren't playable in WMP, then I doubt they can play on the Linkplayer.

Has anyone done anything to get rid of the annoyingly bright blue light on the front of the player? I have my components up front below my screen and that light is way too bright. I'm gonna put some tape or something over it for now.

Originally posted by spyfy
Can DVD .ISO's be played in Windows Media Player? If so then you an use the Advanced Server software and play them on the Linkplayer by transcoding the files on your PC.

If they aren't playable in WMP, then I doubt they can play on the Linkplayer.

They can be played with Windows Media Player if they are mounted first using Daemon-Tools. The trick would be automating that function.

- Neil

Originally posted by spyfy
Has anyone done anything to get rid of the annoyingly bright blue light on the front of the player? I have my components up front below my screen and that light is way too bright. I'm gonna put some tape or something over it for now.

It would be nice to put there resistor to dim the LED

Originally posted by spyfy
I'm using the D4 out to my Yamaha 5760 receiver and component out from it to a Panasonic PT-L500U PJ. First hitch I ran into was no picture. I was scared my component run was too long. Finally saw the TV mode button and pressed it. Voila, picture.

Any problems with your Yamaha receiver decoding the Digital Audio? I need to purchase a new receiver. There have been many compatibility problems with various receivers as noted in this thread. Hopefully, the upcoming firmware upgrade will fix.

I got my Linkplayer2 this week as well. So far, I'm impressed. I'm only using Svideo out to a older 4:3 RPTV Toshiba Cinema Series set, but I'm impressed with the quality. My regular DVD player is a Tosh SD-9200 which has been excellent, but the lack of CD-R/DVD-R is annoying. Add to that all the wonderful Divx features and network streaming, and the Linkplayer2 is as good of a consumer electronics purchase as ReplayTV was.

I do look forward to the firmware fix to enable AC3 output, as my processor is one of the ones effected by the bug. Stereo and DTS play just fine. I currently have the server side software installed on my Mac, and the ability to stream all my iTunes CD encodes is wonderful!

I'm also enjoying catching up on some of my shows in HD-rips, its nice to see 24 in widescreen!

I really only have a few complaints about the unit. The blue power light is annoying - and when you turn off the power with the remote, the display goes out, but the blue power light stays on. You have to turn off the physical switch if you want the light out. Whats with equipment these days and the silly blue lights? My pair of Replay 5000 series units both have them too. Its blinding when they are all powered up!

Another wierd thing is the DVD mech seems kinda cheap. I'm sure its an off the shelf unit, but the tray is quite slow to open and isn't very smooth. Compared to the 9200, its pretty cheesy (but the 9200 is a tank, its about 45 lbs!) Sometimes when the unit gets "lagged", and its opening the tray, it must sense that its taking too long and it immediately displays "CLOSING" and closes it again, before its even open all the way. Does anyone else have those sorts of issues?

The remote is either crappy, or it just doesn't always see the IR signal - I find myself pointing the remote at the unit, and even then it doesn't seem to respond everytime. I did swap the batteries that came with the unit, as they're pretty cheap, but no real change. Anyone else notice this?

All in all, a great bargain for $250. With the time and media savings (no need to burn CD-R/VCD/DVD-R's anymore), it will pay for itself in no time. Thanks IO-DATA!

""The blue power light is annoying - ""

Nothing like a littke color macthed electrical tape cut to spec to do the trick..

Blue light.. BE GONE!

F.

Originally posted by MVBJJ
Any problems with your Yamaha receiver decoding the Digital Audio? I need to purchase a new receiver. There have been many compatibility problems with various receivers as noted in this thread. Hopefully, the upcoming firmware upgrade will fix.

No problems w/ the Yamaha and the IO Data. Digital audio working fine.

I've gotta dig up that post and replace the DVD drive however. The stock one is crap. I had a burned copy of a movie that I tried to play and it locked up several times (5+) and required stopping and powering down and back up to fix. Very annoying.

Otherwise great as mentioned by others.

Lite-On SOHD-167T

at Circuit City

The reality of it though, is you need a new burner or different media too, because if your disk quality tested out with parity inner errors below 280 and parity inner fails 4 or less, and no parity outer fails, it would play fine even on the crap EPO loader.

It's probably the media, but why do I need new ones? The disks play fine on my PC and I'm sure they'll play fine on the Linkplayer with a different DVD player. The stuff I'm burning is temporary stuff that I won't be playing 10 years from now or most likely not 5 months from now. I'd just like to get thru a sitting without it having the read errors.

Why not stream over the nework and save the media ? :)

Thats what I do do when possible. Streaming .vobs is a pain tho IMHO without .ifo support.

any word on descrete power codes for this device? perhaps we could get IODATA to give us the hex codes?

Originally posted by spyfy
Thats what I do do when possible. Streaming .vobs is a pain tho IMHO without .ifo support.
Convert to Xvid od DivX

That's always an option, but honestly guys, I'm looking for the most painless way. I wanna download content and then watch it. Wouldn't I lose quality if I convert a ripped DVD to Xvid or DivX as well?

All I would like to have is PAL support.

My mp cf631 plays the disk just fine'

I am looking for a steaming unit that will allow my pc to do the decoding of the video content. When a there is an upgrade to any codec, the pc can handle it with a quick download. Does anyone know if there is such a thing? Am I dreaming?

I have a JVC direct view hv-m300vsu HDTV...great picture..however, I too grab a ton of video content off the web and am getting sick of burning it to media and playing it on my philips dvp642 which handles most divx and axvid I throw at it.

Is it possible to have the decoding of that video at the local PC level and simply stream the video to the JVC, or a intermediary pass through device?

The LinkPlayer2 being discussed here will do that w/ the advanced server software.

Are you saying that they include software for pass through video called "advanced server" software?

If so, that's exactly what I need....Here's the problem I've run into w/burning xvid or divx to media and then playing it...

the JVC is a 1:1.85 aspect ratio and inevitably I get the divx files in 1:2.33

on the pc I can use software to "zoom in" appropriately to maximize my viewing area, without stretching the image.

When I use the dvp642 dvd player I can only view it with black bars on the left and right of the video AND black bars on the top and bottom of the video...making for a very small image.

If I choose to expand the image..I still get the same width black bars top and bottom, the left and right black bars go away, however the video is stretched.

This player sounds very flexible.

I captured a Stream File from my Samsung T-165 via firewire and dropped it onto my web site. Could someone please download and verify they can stream this file from there XP box to the Linkplayer2 via the 100M network connection. I do not have enough CPU horsepower to play it on my 1.3 Athlon XP box. I am considering the purchase of the Linkplayer2 but want to verify it can play the raw transport streams I capture. From reading this forum, I understand that there is an option to have the XP computer process the video files then stream them to the LinkPlayer2. I would like to verify this TS file can be played without using this option.

Thank Very Much In Advance
Ron

The file is located @


The file was checked out by another forum member and it played fine.

I am pulling the link so I do not upset my WEB page provider.


PS you can just download a portion of the file to test

The following thread has instruction on how to setup an XP computer to capture firewire video streams from the Samsung T165 HDTV receiver.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=403695&highlight=divx

I tried to give it a shot but the download speed is so slow it would take over 30 hours ???

I downloaded it only tool 2 mins ill test it as soon as the wife and kid are done watching the incredibles for the 5th time.

<EDIT>
Works like a charm no problems...
</EDIT>

Unless webboy or snoots beats me, I'll take a quick look at it too. I've been eyeing for a new OTA HDTV receiver anyway. The OTA tuner in my DISH 6000 is less than desireable. I've been looking at the LG and Samsung units.

<EDIT>
webboy beat me. Excellent!
</EDIT>

Has anyone seen this problem happens with a few store bought DVD's so far "Titanic" and "a bugs life".

Insert disc choose widescreen/letterbox and movie plays with black bars all around. zoom button will ony zoom movie not change aspect ratio?!?

I am going to rip the movie to see if it has the same effect but i doubt it will in fact im thinking a rip will work perfectly.

webboy,

I'll try "A Bugs Life" when I get home. Haven't tested it yet in the IOData yet.

Yeah the pbs.ts file works fine except it has a funky line going across the screen don't know if somehow it corrupted during download or if that's the way the file is. also i've notice there is no aspect ratio zoom i've sent a query to iodata about this, and they said they might try to address it in the next firmware update if not the one after. It sucks when i play non anamorphic widescreen dvds. because it zooms but i still get black bars on the side.

Originally posted by Kermee
If memory serves me correctly, a line going across the screen is indicitive of multiple video or audio PID's in the transport file. The solution is to rip out only the respective audio and video stream and mux it back into either an MPEG or TS file. IOData needs to address this.

Strange i didnt have a line going threw the .ts file. Could it be what the dvd player is hooked up to? my IO is hooked up to a zektor switch
--> denon 3803 --> plasma.

If im not mistaken vlc reported no alternative audio/video tracks in the pbs.ts file.

Yeah the pbs.ts file works fine except it has a funky line going across the screen don't know if somehow it corrupted during download or if that's the way the fileThe line is because you have HD browsing enabled in the setup menu. When you turn it off, the file plays without a problem.

Originally posted by auilani
Are you saying that they include software for pass through video called "advanced server" software?

Yes. It's still in beta, but the Advanced Server software can do realtime transcoding of any video playable in Windows Media Player from a Windows XP or 2k computer.

Has anyone successfully played a AVI/DTS file with the Link Player and had the dts sound to the receiver?

Ed

Originally posted by uofmtiger
The line is because you have HD browsing enabled in the setup menu. When you turn it off, the file plays without a problem.

Good point i turned off hd browsing a few hours ago while trying to figure out "a bug's life " issue i was having.

Originally posted by MoparHemi
Has anyone successfully played a AVI/DTS file with the Link Player and had the dts sound to the receiver?


Care to supply one for testing???

Originally posted by Cyclone
Yes. It's still in beta, but the Advanced Server software can do realtime transcoding of any video playable in Windows Media Player from a Windows XP or 2k computer.

Except for a file that dmr'd...

thanks for the info on the hd browser. and what does hd browser actually do?? i am using the momitsu software the newer 1.3 anyone get a chance to make a new theme for it. as the old one doesn't work for me anymore?

webboy, just tried bugs life with no problems, is your iodata set to 16:9 in the dvd menu?

Originally posted by webboy10169
I downloaded it only tool 2 mins ill test it as soon as the wife and kid are done watching the incredibles for the 5th time.


I must have missed something. The Incredibles is out on DVD??????

Ron

Originally posted by mswell
I must have missed something. The Incredibles is out on DVD??????
no not yet i have a dvdrip to xvid copy.

Gosh this has grown since the last time I looked at it.

Since I'm in Tokyo I picked up their new product this weekend (no DVD player).

http://www.iodata.jp/prod/multimedia/video/2005/avlp2g/index.htm

Took about an hour to set it up including setting up the 802.11G network since I didn't have that previously.

Plays my MP3, and photos without issue.

The one DVD that I ripped also plays quite well, but there are dropouts occasionally that I'm attributing to the network, is this common?

Anyway to improve the performance of a wireless network?

I could also pick up a portable HD to use with it, but wanted to keep the living room clean.

Geno

Originally posted by webboy10169
Has anyone seen this problem happens with a few store bought DVD's so far "Titanic" and "a bugs life".

Insert disc choose widescreen/letterbox and movie plays with black bars all around. zoom button will ony zoom movie not change aspect ratio?!?

I am going to rip the movie to see if it has the same effect but i doubt it will in fact im thinking a rip will work perfectly.

webboy,

I just tried "A Bugs Life" and it looks like the widescreen is non-anamorphic? Am I correct? I had black bars on all four sides no matter what I tried to do.

which version of bugs life do you guys have?? i have the se 2 disc version and it works fine for me.

Originally posted by Chhuong
which version of bugs life do you guys have?? i have the se 2 disc version and it works fine for me.

I have the original first-run DVD. I'm sure the SE was 'properly' remastered to anamorphic. Like all DVD players on a 16:9 screen, we *hate* non-anamorphic DVD's.

I just got my LinkPlayer2 from onlybestrated.com. This is a great piece of hardware. I will not expand on this since you already know it all.

I want to bring to your attention something I noticed while trying things. Have you noticed the effect of HD vs non HD browser mode?

In non HD browser mode all video I played back look stretched. Like if the aspect ratio was off. Even Divx HD and WMV HD did not look right. Kind of half resolution. I am not sure but I think that the non HD mode is king of a 480p resolution hidden inside a 1080i output.

Give it a try and let me know if I am beside my plate here.

Other than that how good the WMV HD look! Wow! To bad there is no sound yet. Hopefully with the next firmware upgrade in February!

To bad there is no sound yet. Hopefully with the next firmware upgrade in February! You should be able to get sound with the Advanced server if it is not a DRM file.

I will create a test AVI/DTS file tomorrow. Unfortunately, I do not have a DTS receiver (until March '05 when my new house is done being built) so someone else will have to test it for me. And I've never done an AVI/DTS mux before and until today, I didn't even know of a tool called AVI-Mux which apparently does DTS muxing into AVI files. BRILLIANT!

A DTS to AVI muxer! BRILLIANT!

Some radio stations come in sounding like a 33.3 rpm record playing at 45 rpm. GrassyHill Radio (128k rate) most always plays fast. There are others also.

Anyone else have this problem? Suggestions on what to do?

Originally posted by Chhuong
webboy, just tried bugs life with no problems, is your iodata set to 16:9 in the dvd menu?

Yes im set for 16 x 9


Originally posted by Kermee
I just tried "A Bugs Life" and it looks like the widescreen is non-anamorphic? Am I correct? I had black bars on all four sides no matter what I tried to do.

The bugs life i have is full frame 1.33:1 and widescreen 2.35:1

I ripped the widscreen off the dvd as a .vob and its fine no blackbars left or right but huge bars top and bottom. I hate 2.35 matting I mean come on its a cartoon for christ sakes.

Kermee if you can post a test AVI/DTS file i can play with it.

I've already made a AVI/DTS rip. The sound does not play on the LinkPlayer says "unknown audio code". I tried a couple of tools, AVI-Mux and Gordian Knot. The sound works fine on the origanal vob though. I e-mail Iodata have not got a response yet.

Ed

Have any of you guys tried playing any of the new DivX Media Format encodes, with this player, such as this (39.8MB) Last Man Standing (http://download.divx.com/labs/LastManStanding.zip) clip?

For more information about why the encodes are so different to normal DivX .AVI's, please look here (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=88988) and here (http://www.divxlabs.com/)!


Cheers

I'm a little confused from reading the thread :). Where does HD playback currently stand? Can it handle .ts files or do they need to be converted to another format first? Does it require null packets or stripped pids?

Thanks,
MP

I have read a few posts about this but I don't think I have seen anyone say that they have been able to play files over a wireless connection from the server. I have a Super-G router and bridge (Dlink di-624 and gwl-810) and I cannot get a single video of any format (TS, Mpeg2, Divx, WMVHD) to play without stuttering and speed-ups. Before you ask, yes I have tried running my network using standard G specifications.

Originally posted by DouglasCleary
I have read a few posts about this but I don't think I have seen anyone say that they have been able to play files over a wireless connection from the server. I have a Super-G router and bridge (Dlink di-624 and gwl-810) and I cannot get a single video of any format (TS, Mpeg2, Divx, WMVHD) to play without stuttering and speed-ups. Before you ask, yes I have tried running my network using standard G specifications.

Heres a test for ya that should help out all people asking or wondering about the same question. Transfer a video file between two wireless machines if the file takes longer to transfer than the playing time you've answered the question yourself. Wireless technology just cant handle a "constant stream" of data all that efficently. As for HD clips and movies at 10 to 19 megs a second i'd say what you are getting is the best its going to be.

Others can fire away...

have you tried the LAC (long ass cable) tecnique? use a cable and see if your results differ so you can isolate the problem to the wireless connection and not your PC or something else.

Then start looking for interference sources ... microwaves, phones, neighbors on the same channel.

in general, wireless is no good for streaming video (yet).

Fair enough, but why then are they going to release a version with wireless G built in? For downloading firmware updates or just viewing pictures or internet radio? How are they planning on doing VOD from the internet? It sounds like they have no way to buffer the content.

Originally posted by webboy10169
Heres a test for ya that should help out all people asking or wondering about the same question. Transfer a video file between two wireless machines if the file takes longer to transfer than the playing time you've answered the question yourself. Wireless technology just cant handle a "constant stream" of data all that efficently. As for HD clips and movies at 10 to 19 megs a second i'd say what you are getting is the best its going to be.

Others can fire away...

I was curious about using a bridge to test the linkplayer. But I need to upgrade my wireless router first to G. But as for webboy's suggestion, I have played Divx files from a labtop using files off server via 802.11b wireless connection and don't have much trouble at all.

maybe your neighbor is leeching off your connection? ;-)

Originally posted by madpoet
I'm a little confused from reading the thread :). Where does HD playback currently stand? Can it handle .ts files or do they need to be converted to another format first? Does it require null packets or stripped pids?

Thanks,
MP

It handles .ts just fine. I haven't bothered to null strip one of my .ts files yet to see if it is a problem or not, I'll add that to the list of things to play with tonight.

As for the pids, I don't have any OTA caps to check, if someone wants to post a small sample I will be happy to try it.

webboy brings up a good points as well ... usually when streaming from one PC to another the content is buffered on the playing end ... I don't think the linkplayer has the ability to buffer much (if any at all) video ...

I'd hope the upcomming wireless model had buffering capabilities if they plan on advertising you can stream video over wireless ... that's really the only way they could make it work with 802.11g

After changing the extension to Avi I played the clip in WMP10 and got something like two audio streams overlapping, some music and some voice interview stuff but at a much lower level (inaudible really).

I burned the file to a dvd and tried it on the IO Data. First things first, my player is not yet connected to my surround receiver so audio was going to my plasma's stereo inputs. The video plays fine with a couple of bits of blocky garbage which I hope aren't attributable to the player. The video is 720X480 which surprised me as I was expecting HD. Audio only had the basey music line, no voice track.

Anyone managed to get subtitles working ? ( sub, srt )

Hello -

I've been attempting to use my relatively new LinkPlayer over a hardwired 100baseT network with a couple of switches between my server/PC and the LinkPlayer, itself.

I just can't seem to get through an xvid movie without it locking up somewhere along the way. Admittedly, I've not read all 105 pages of this thread, but I've been digging through it and the only complaints I've seen that are even close are those with wireless networks.

What is worse than the lock-up is that there seems to be no way to recover without turning the unit off and then back on again. That is ugly, especially when you are almost halfway through a movie and have to attempt to fast forward back to the end, praying it won't happen again. My wife was not happy about this.

Is there a known problem that that I'm not aware of or is this likely to be a problem somewhere in my network (I've attempted from two different servers, one running XP and one running Linux with the wizd daemon running)?

Any other feedback/links/techniques is/are appreciated!

Thanks,
Lou

Have you updated the firmware on the Linkplayer? If not be sure and do that ASAP. I belive some had these problems before the upgraded firmware was released.

Originally posted by spyfy
Have you updated the firmware on the Linkplayer? If not be sure and do that ASAP. I belive some had these problems before the upgraded firmware was released.

Yes, this was the first thing I did.

BTW, I've experienced this with both the standard server and the advanced server (on the windows XP system). I've also attempted with two different xvid downloads, but have not attempted with my own DVD's yet.

if you play one vid file twice will it freeze in the exact same place? or is it random?

Originally posted by DouglasCleary
After changing the extension to Avi I played the clip in WMP10 and got something like two audio streams overlapping, some music and some voice interview stuff but at a much lower level (inaudible really). When you tried the clip in the I-O DATA player, did you remember to revert the file extension back to .divx?


Cheers

Need some advice...min processor and RAM for media server.

I have one of these Linkplayer's and overall love it...I primarily use it to stream movies and music. I have a large DVD and CD collection I've ripped to various harddrives and have 1.2 terabytes of data.

Now that I have the Linkplayer I'm planning on building/buying a server to hold my media collection and was wondering what I could get away with in terms of minimum processor speed and RAM.

All this server will be doing is feeding my hungry Linkplayer data! Dell has their entry level SC420 server perpetually on sale. I've built several computers but in doing the math the Dell SC420 could be the way to go.

I've always gone overboard on building/overclocking pc's so I'm nervous with a barebones server. I'm thinking a Celeron 2.53GHz, 256KB cache, 533MHz FSB isn't going to cut it. I'll probably go with a P4 2.8Ghz, 1MB cache, 800MHZ FSB.

RAM is fairly cheap and easily replaced so I'm not too worried about getting enough.

Any help is greatly appreicated.

Originally posted by jackshakes
if you play one vid file twice will it freeze in the exact same place? or is it random?

Random.

I know what this is heading towards, and I know my wife isn't going to be happy with wires strung about the house. I wouldn't think that having switch or two between the devices would make a difference. Perhaps I need to plan an alternative cabling route, just to rule that out...

Originally posted by lifeisfun
Anyone managed to get subtitles working ? ( sub, srt )

I have i believe my xvid copy's of passion of the christ and the incredables have sub-idx files. I can check again if you'd like...

Please do :)
Can you test some other sub or srt files ?
Thanks

Originally posted by Kewan
Need some advice...min processor and RAM for media server.

Will the IOData be the only device accessing the server? Will you need the transcoding capabilities of the Advanced Link Server? Your specs sound fine so far.

Originally posted by tivoupgrade
Random.

I know what this is heading towards, and I know my wife isn't going to be happy with wires strung about the house. I wouldn't think that having switch or two between the devices would make a difference. Perhaps I need to plan an alternative cabling route, just to rule that out...

if it's random that suggests it's a network connectivity issue or an issue with your PC serving up the files.

a "switch or two" between the devices should make no difference. Are they indeed switches? or are one or more of them hubs?

also is there anything else talking on your network the could be interferring? Does your PC serve up anything else at the same time.

If you have a laptop or other PC you could hook it into the same switch your link player is, then do a pint with the -t option to your server and let it run ... watch for any spikes in the reply time. you should have <1ms all the time ... if it ever jumps way up you have a problem.

that's a real lame test that doesn't prove much but it's a good start.

Originally posted by jackshakes
if it's random that suggests it's a network connectivity issue or an issue with your PC serving up the files.

a "switch or two" between the devices should make no difference. Are they indeed switches? or are one or more of them hubs?

also is there anything else talking on your network the could be interferring? Does your PC serve up anything else at the same time.

If you have a laptop or other PC you could hook it into the same switch your link player is, then do a pint with the -t option to your server and let it run ... watch for any spikes in the reply time. you should have <1ms all the time ... if it ever jumps way up you have a problem.

that's a real lame test that doesn't prove much but it's a good start.
Are there any other devices on the wireless network running at 802.11B speeds? having a b device on a g network can bring speeds down. And not to bash dlink hardware but ive never had great success with there hardware.

And i believe jackshakes meant "ping -t insert ip address here"

Originally posted by Kewan
Need some advice...min processor and RAM for media server.
I
Now that I have the Linkplayer I'm planning on building/buying a server to hold my media collection and was wondering what I could get away with in terms of minimum processor speed and RAM.

All this server will be doing is feeding my hungry Linkplayer data! Dell has their entry level SC420 server perpetually on sale. I've built several computers but in doing the math the Dell SC420 could be the way to go.

I've always gone overboard on building/overclocking pc's so I'm nervous with a barebones server. I'm thinking a Celeron 2.53GHz, 256KB cache, 533MHz FSB isn't going to cut it. I'll probably go with a P4 2.8Ghz, 1MB cache, 800MHZ FSB.

RAM is fairly cheap and easily replaced so I'm not too worried about getting enough.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

I am running a VIA Samuel 2 1Giga Pro 800MHz. 133MHz bus this is a $99.00 Frys Special I bought 1.5 years ago. Put on XP and 256 of ram and a 300 Gig drive and believe it or not doesn't skip a beat. So I have no idea what the minimum would be. I have a p111 1gig that I'm willbe upgrading soon I'll test that one then.

MH

I can back webboy's claim about D-Link products. I don't like to bash other company's products, but their wireless AP/router consumer line leaves a lot to be desired in reliability. From their early products (DI-713P, DWL-900AP's, etc.) to their most recent products (DWL-2100AP's). Although most people have had good luck with the DI-624's and variants.

I strictly use Linksys WRT54GS's with Sveasoft firmware now for all of my home wireless needs. I'm planning a three-home/node WDS 802.11g link with two of my neighbors when I finally move into my new home if the builders would ever finish.

Originally posted by tivoupgrade
What is worse than the lock-up is that there seems to be no way to recover without turning the unit off and then back on again. That is ugly, especially when you are almost halfway through a movie and have to attempt to fast forward back to the end, praying it won't happen again. My wife was not happy about this. And is there a solution your wife prefers for XviD that is superior to the AVLP2?

According to the XviD development board, there is no product at all that has been certified to be XviD compliant. None. Being DivX compliant is not the same thing. Any product that claims to be XviD compliant is doing so without the approval of the XviD developers.

I have a lot of XviD content, and have never had a problem with a file locking up while watching it. This is with a single switch inbetween the server and the AVLP2. I do commonly have the hard lockup when trying to fast-forward or rewind XviD content (jump to a %). Not always, but enough so that I definitely cross my fingers when I attempt to jump.

Originally posted by MoparHemi
I am running a VIA Samuel 2 1Giga Pro 800MHz. 133MHz bus this is a $99.00 Frys Special I bought 1.5 years ago. Put on XP and 256 of ram and a 300 Gig drive and believe it or not doesn't skip a beat. So I have no idea what the minimum would be. I have a p111 1gig that I'm willbe upgrading soon I'll test that one then.

MH

Thanks! That answers my question. I typically overkill on horsepower when building a pc but I'm trying to be more logical on a media server. This will save me some money to blow elsewhere.

The Linkplayer will be the only device accessing the server and since I'm only watching DVD's from my harddrive I don't need the Advanced Server transcoding abilites.

Originally posted by Kermee
I strictly use Linksys WRT54GS's with Sveasoft firmware now for all of my home wireless needs. I'm planning a three-home/node WDS 802.11g link with two of my neighbors when I finally move into my new home if the builders would ever finish.

Yes i also use nothing but linksys product for me and my clients. how is that aftermarket firmware? I no longer have an extra router laying around to play with. Im very curious what it provides over the stock. PM me if you wish with your opinions. It took over 2 years to build my house so i know your pain. Right now I have 6 neighbors all attached to the same network its great in the summer especially when we party. being able to control the music wireless from just about anywhere is awesome. Never mind the xbox gaming we do.

I also use the WRT54G with Sveasoft firmware. It adds features like packet shaping (QOS), static IP reservations, and most inportantly to me SSH server. I tunnel all of my RDP connections using this device. It's been rock solid.

I will be purchasing the LinkPlayer very soon. I finally got through this entire thread. What a wealth of information.

I just ordered a Samsung 46" DLP (HL-P4667W) through the AVS powerbuy. :) Can't wait to get both of these hooked up together.

One question that I know has been addressed, but I just want to make sure. Is the current recommended method to rip DVD's (for the LinkPlayer at least) to create one big vob? I was deleting the .bup and .ifo files, but I think these are needed for PC playback. FF/RW didn't seem to work in TheaterTek for me. Any ideas? Are people putting all the single movie vobs in the same directory?

Originally posted by webboy10169
Are there any other devices on the wireless network running at 802.11B speeds? having a b device on a g network can bring speeds down. And not to bash dlink hardware but ive never had great success with there hardware.

And i believe jackshakes meant "ping -t insert ip address here"

yes i did mean ping -t ... pint won't get you far :)

i thought he was talking hard wired here? he did say something about not wanting cables stretched all over the house but then he's talking about one or two switches between the iodata and pc ... guess we need some clarification.

Originally posted by jackshakes
if it's random that suggests it's a network connectivity issue or an issue with your PC serving up the files.

a "switch or two" between the devices should make no difference. Are they indeed switches? or are one or more of them hubs?

also is there anything else talking on your network the could be interferring? Does your PC serve up anything else at the same time.

If you have a laptop or other PC you could hook it into the same switch your link player is, then do a pint with the -t option to your server and let it run ... watch for any spikes in the reply time. you should have <1ms all the time ... if it ever jumps way up you have a problem.

that's a real lame test that doesn't prove much but it's a good start.


They are indeed switches. And there is not much else going on the network (at least not behind the firewall on this IP address). Time to eliminate some variables. I'll set up a separate switch and a laptop in the same proximity and give that a shot. Perhaps there is a bad cable or switch somewhere in my environment, or some interference due to electrical power (the wires weren't professionally run).

Webboy - no wireless as part of this equation - I've got two networked TiVo systems in the same spot so hardwired connectivity is tres importante.

BTW, pingplotter is a nice app for keeping logs of ping traffic; I might set that up on the server to the LinkPlayer and see if that turns up anything meaningful...

Thanks for your input, folks.

Lou

let us know how it turns out ... setting up a temporary isolated network is a good idea.

if you have a lot of broadcast traffic on your network it could also be causing the issues ... but that is rarely a problem on home networks unless a virus is involved.

I have a similar question to Steely's above... I have about 200 of my DVD's ripped to my media server in VOB's. The folder format is DVDName/VIDEO_TS/VOB's. I used dvdshrink to rip them. They play back perfectly on my HTPC on any of the sofware dvd players.

After reading through the thread, I am not certain if these rips will work with the Linkplayer2. Is it correct that dvd's with multiple .vob's will cause me problems?? From reading this thread, it appears they would...but I've read a couple of other reviews and they made me think that it wouldn't be an issue. Just looking for a little clarification. Also, are there other places to purchace the LinkPlayer2 other than direct from I-0 data?

So I take that as a negative.....

Originally posted by barhoram
Is it correct that dvd's with multiple .vob's will cause me problems??
The LinkPlayer will play back the .vob files fine. However, using the IOData software, you will see a directory listing of all of the .vob files, and you can "play all" to play them all in sequence, or select individual .vob files to play. When playing all in sequence, there is a little pause in the playback between each .vob file. The are no indications of file sizes, so it is difficult to tell which files are the main movie, and which are the menus and extra features.

The 3rd party "wizd" program will automatically combine the .vob files so the Linkplayer sees each set as a single file, so they play back without breaks. It also displays the file size so you can tell which one is the big one. See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=496964 for details on wizd.

FlipFlop,

Thanks for the replay. My DVD rips are movie only, so I belive the .VOB's played back in order would suffice for playing back the movie if all you need to do is select "play all". Too bad about the pauses etween .vob's...how long of a pause ?

How complicated is the "wizd" program to use? I would like to use the LinkPlayer2 on our main tv (HTPC is in the home theater room) so my wife can easly access all of our ripped dvd's as well. Is this something a less than technical person could figure out? Or if the pauses aren't too bad, than perhaps navigating to the VIDEO_TS folder and selecting all would be a better way for her. Is navigating 200 dvd's stored across 6 hard drives complicated?

I'm pretty sure the 'wizd' program flipflop refers to resides on the server ...so the interface for your wife would be no different.

I did not. I'll have to give that a try

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
When you tried the clip in the I-O DATA player, did you remember to revert the file extension back to .divx?


Cheers

Originally posted by FlipFlop
[B]The 3rd party "wizd" program will automatically combine the .vob files so the Linkplayer sees each set as a single file, so they play back without breaks. It also displays the file size so you can tell which one is the big one.

i've been following this thread, question:
What about chapter points, jump chapter inside the big vob? does it work, can I fast forward and back?

How fast is the convertion to 1 vob? and is it reverable ie make permanent change to the original dvd files or create a new big vob image and leave the original?

Originally posted by lifeisfun
Please do :)
Can you test some other sub or srt files ?
Thanks

Scratch that for some reason sub titles on media that is not a dvd rip are not working.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Have any of you guys tried playing any of the new DivX Media Format encodes, with this player, such as this (39.8MB) Last Man Standing (http://download.divx.com/labs/LastManStanding.zip) clip?

For more information about why the encodes are so different to normal DivX .AVI's, please look here (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=88988) and here (http://www.divxlabs.com/)!


Cheers

This clip didnt not play as advertized on the link player. There is no menu the clip just started playing with a music soundtrack I was able to change audiotrack to get the right one but this proved to be unstable. When i cycled threw audiotracks things speed up. Subtitle function was available but no subtitles ever showed up. I guess the good news is the clip played with no conversion or issues. Dropped the clip into my video folder linkplayer saw and played it as is.

What about chapter points, jump chapter inside the big vob? does it work, can I fast forward and back?

How fast is the convertion to 1 vob? and is it reverable ie make permanent change to the original dvd files or create a new big vob image and leave the original?

It is my understanding that chapters are not currently supported, on the LinkPlayer, for vob files. I Believe that the .ifo and .bup files contain that information. I believe that ff and rw work, but someone else that has a LinkPlayer can maybe chime in on that. I would like to know if you can do ff at 1x, 2x, 4x, etc.

I converted my original vob files to one single vob very quickly using DVDShrink.

Originally posted by webboy10169
Scratch that for some reason sub titles on media that is not a dvd rip are not working.
I have some DivX files with external subs
they play fine incl subs on KiSS and Philips but Linkplayer NO subs :(

What to use? Momitsu has by far stunning sound and an ok picture on my setup; Advanced Server has a better picture and so-so sound.

Momitsu lets me set up folders arranged in Genres (Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, ..., etc.) and place links within the folders so that I can cross-classify movies without duplication. Advanced Server offers no such functionality.

Does Advanced Server transcode VOB files? If so, should there be a really apparent improvement in picture quality? I'm sending almost every non-HD signal through a centerstage scaler, and sometimes its impossible to tell the difference between it and the Linkplayer.

Got my Lite-On loader today and replaced the default loader. Went a little different for me than it did Kermee and Tom Roper.

1st-Installed the Liteon in my PC and set the region. Then downloaded a region free hack for this loader and applied it. Verified w/ DVDInfo that it was region free.

2nd-Set loader to master as per Kermee's instructions and installed. Took the drive faceplate off the loader. Had some trouble getting the Linkplayer tray cover to fit but got it. Instead of using hotglue, I just screwed the back screws in at the point Kermee used hotglue and it keeps the loader firm enough it won't move.

3rd-Fired player up but the new loader wasn't recognized. Took back apart, set the jumper on the Lite-On to cable select instead of master and reinstalled. Loader recognized and all was well.

The Lite-On really improved the responsiveness of the player w/ DVD media. Chapter skips and FF/RW's work much better and are almost instant. Player spends much less time searching. I'm happy and at only $29 shipped plus my time of replacing it's a good value addition to a already good player.

So.... you are running region free now ?

=-o waiting for above response...

Originally posted by barhoram
Too bad about the pauses etween .vob's...how long of a pause ? How complicated is the "wizd" program to use? Is navigating 200 dvd's stored across 6 hard drives complicated?
The pause between vob's is 1 to 2 seconds.

From the Linkplayer side, the wizd program works nearly the same as the normal server software. You can even run both at the same time on your PC, and each will show as an option on the main Linkplayer screen.

On the PC side, you can set up "junction points" in the docroot directory to each of your 6 dvd directories, and all 6 hard drives will show up on the LinkPlayer. Then you just need to leave the "wizd" program running on your PC.

Chapter points are not supported. These would need to be supported on the Linkplayer side, in the firmware, and that support doesn't exist. You can fast-forward and fast-rewind, and also skip-to-percent forward and backwards. Fast rewind on the network does not work very well, however. It plays about a second forwards, then skips back some amount of time, plays another second forward, skips back, etc... so it is hard to follow. Also it appears to go into fast forward mode for a while before it starts with the fast rewind.

The program "merges" the .vob files instantly, so there is no delay. It doesn't actually modify the files, it just reports the first file's size as the sum of the sizes all of the files. Then, when it gets to the end of one file, it automatically opens and continues with the next file with no break. This is much easier than going through all 200 DVDs and manually combining the files ;)

FilpFlop has got me interested one question before i dive in the beta pool...
hows the interface? Better then what weve got now? Is it fully customizable?

<EDIT>
well three questions i guess...
</EDIT>

The interface is similar to the advanced server, showing basically directory listings. It doesn't split things into photo/video/audio branches - you can play whatever is there in the directory, and if a directory has all three, you can select any of the three. It also supports .url links and .html pages.

It is fully customizable with skins. Also, the full source code is available, so it can be extended with new functions.

FlipFlop,

Thanks again for the answers. My dvd's are spread out between 2 server computers. Any problem doing what you mention with junction points between either 2 pc's or mapped network drives?

So I started reading and got through 9 pages of TUFU's commentary in late '04 regarding the pre-US released version of this player before I realized there were 100+ pages of posts. HELP! Sorry to be blunt but.........

1. Does anyone REALLY LIKE THIS DEVICE?
2. Does it stream MP3 files from a PC to an AVR over a wired 10/100 LAN WITHOUT ANY BUGS?
3. What does the UI look like on the television for the audio menu(s) when accessing these same MP3 files?
4. Does it stream/play DIVX files from a PC to an HD LCD television over a wired 10/100 LAN WITHOUT ANY BUGS?
5. Has anyone really figured out how to get subtitles and chapters to work well with this device for DIVX files originating from a PC?
6. What does the UI look like on the television for the video menu(s) when accessing these same DIVX files located on a PC?
7. Is it possible to browse other menus while an MP3 is playing in the background?
8. Is the quality of the video/audio from the DVD-ROM of the player itself on par with other progressive scan DVD players (I'm assuming this unit does NOT upconvert to 720p/1080i - please correct me if I'm wrong).
9. Does this device adequately replace an HTPC?

I'm certainly NOT trying to curtail anyone's efforts here but this thread is too big to read from beginning to end given my 30 minutes a night I get to sit down and actually research (seemingly) great devices to purchase. On paper this thing sounds like it'd solve all my problems but 110 pages of posts would indicate otherwise.........or am I crazy??

PLEASE HELP!...........:)

webboy did you figure out the problem you were having with a bug's life?? does hd browser have any effect on that??

Originally posted by lifeisfun
So.... you are running region free now ?

lifeisfun and webboy,

I don't have a non region 1 disk to check. If you search for the model number of the LiteOn Kermee, Tom and myself installed and region free you'll find a website w/ an application to make the player region free. After running it I ran the program Discinfo and it showed my loader as being region free. I then took it out of my PC and put it in my Linkplayer and it is working but again, no non region 1 disks to test.

Originally posted by TLI
So I started reading and got through 9 pages of TUFU's commentary in late '04 regarding the pre-US released version of this player before I realized there were 100+ pages of posts. HELP! Sorry to be blunt but.........

1. Does anyone REALLY LIKE THIS DEVICE?
2. Does it stream MP3 files from a PC to an AVR over a wired 10/100 LAN WITHOUT ANY BUGS?
3. What does the UI look like on the television for the audio menu(s) when accessing these same MP3 files?
4. Does it stream/play DIVX files from a PC to an HD LCD television over a wired 10/100 LAN WITHOUT ANY BUGS?
5. Has anyone really figured out how to get subtitles and chapters to work well with this device for DIVX files originating from a PC?
6. What does the UI look like on the television for the video menu(s) when accessing these same DIVX files located on a PC?
7. Is it possible to browse other menus while an MP3 is playing in the background?
8. Is the quality of the video/audio from the DVD-ROM of the player itself on par with other progressive scan DVD players (I'm assuming this unit does NOT upconvert to 720p/1080i - please correct me if I'm wrong).
9. Does this device adequately replace an HTPC?

I'm certainly NOT trying to curtail anyone's efforts here but this thread is too big to read from beginning to end given my 30 minutes a night I get to sit down and actually research (seemingly) great devices to purchase. On paper this thing sounds like it'd solve all my problems but 110 pages of posts would indicate otherwise.........or am I crazy??

PLEASE HELP!...........:)

Kermee's FAQ (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=484807) might help answer some of your questions. I don't own one (yet), but here is a short answer for some of your questions:

- yes, people are LOVING it - you don't think we'd spend over 100 pages trashing it, do you?

- yes, it does upconvert

- yes, it does stream MP3s over a network from your PC

- personally, it does everything I would want an HTPC to do except act as a DVR. As soon as the DVI version is released in the States, I'm all over it :D It's up to you to decide if this is a good HTPC replacement for you.

Hope that helps a little ;)

Originally posted by TLI
1. Does anyone REALLY LIKE THIS DEVICE?


oh yes indeed. i love it. I haven't done much to push it's limits like these other guys have tho. just watched dvds, hd divx vids, and music.

Originally posted by TLI
2. Does it stream MP3 files from a PC to an AVR over a wired 10/100 LAN WITHOUT ANY BUGS?
[/B]

absolutely


Originally posted by TLI
3. What does the UI look like on the television for the audio menu(s) when accessing these same MP3 files?
[/B]

there are probably screen shots on iodata's site. nothing to run home about ... basically just a directory listing on the screen. it is skinnable tho.

when the music is playing though it goes through this cycle of images. there's been a lot of talk about getting album art to display but not much luck doing it well.

Originally posted by TLI
4. Does it stream/play DIVX files from a PC to an HD LCD television over a wired 10/100 LAN WITHOUT ANY BUGS?
[/B]

absolutely .. you'll get bugs every now and again depending on how the file is encoded, but for the most part you'll have no issues. i watched all 14 episodes of LOST in hd divx over the network on this thing ... didn't screw up once.

Originally posted by TLI
5. Has anyone really figured out how to get subtitles and chapters to work well with this device for DIVX files originating from a PC?
[/B]

dunno bout this one.

Originally posted by TLI
6. What does the UI look like on the television for the video menu(s) when accessing these same DIVX files located on a PC?
[/B]

same as audio for the most part

Originally posted by TLI
7. Is it possible to browse other menus while an MP3 is playing in the background?
[/B]

don't think so

Originally posted by TLI
8. Is the quality of the video/audio from the DVD-ROM of the player itself on par with other progressive scan DVD players (I'm assuming this unit does NOT upconvert to 720p/1080i - please correct me if I'm wrong).
[/B]

oh god yes. I don't have a surround system so I can't speak for the DTS ... but the PQ is great.

and you're kidding about the upconvert right? 75% of the reason to buy this player is because it upconverts to 480p, 720p or 1080i over the components. and yes it looks great.

Originally posted by TLI
9. Does this device adequately replace an HTPC?
[/B]

um ... depends on you. it's a lot cheaper than an htpc that's for sure ... but htpcs are generally more flexible. then again they're more problematic too. this is a great device ... and even if you decide in the long run you'd rather have an htpc, it would still be worth having this thing laying around.

there is a FAQ for this device in the forum ... you should read it.


most of the 100 pages here are talking about minor issues (like replacing the dvd loader ... it sucks) and people going back and forth figuring out what all this thing can and can't do.

Originally posted by spyfy
lifeisfun and webboy,

I don't have a non region 1 disk to check. If you search for the model number of the LiteOn Kermee, Tom and myself installed and region free you'll find a website w/ an application to make the player region free. After running it I ran the program Discinfo and it showed my loader as being region free. I then took it out of my PC and put it in my Linkplayer and it is working but again, no non region 1 disks to test.

my understanding was the region lock on this device were software related, not hardware.

anyway ... I *do* have a few non region 1 discs ... if I get to replace the loader this next month I'll let everyone know.

Originally posted by jackshakes
and you're kidding about the upconvert right? 75% of the reason to buy this player is because it upconverts to 480p, 720p or 1080i over the components. and yes it looks great.


Well, I am confused too. I thought I read on the LinkPlayer web site that DVD's are ONLY Played in 480p when played from the LinkPlayer's DVD mechanism. If played from the network, then yes, it upscales to 1080i, but not if you just stick a DVD into the player. Am I wrong?

Second, does this play multiple .ts files seamlessly? If i have file.0000.ts to file.0060.ts, each a 1 minute 144MB file, will it player them as a single program without pauses?

Originally posted by bpearse
Well, I am confused too. I thought I read on the LinkPlayer web site that DVD's are ONLY Played in 480p when played from the LinkPlayer's DVD mechanism. If played from the network, then yes, it upscales to 1080i, but not if you just stick a DVD into the player. Am I wrong?

Second, does this play multiple .ts files seamlessly? If i have file.0000.ts to file.0060.ts, each a 1 minute 144MB file, will it player them as a single program without pauses?

Regardless of what IOData states on their website, the player does upconvert to 720p/1080i on commercial DVD's when played from the loader.

I am aware that the text is written in red on their website that it does not upconvert DVD's, but it does.

Originally posted by jackshakes
my understanding was the region lock on this device were software related, not hardware.

anyway ... I *do* have a few non region 1 discs ... if I get to replace the loader this next month I'll let everyone know.

Most likely, the unit is most definitely region-locked by the firmware/software on the unit. We've discovered the loader in the IOData unit is set in RPC1 - All Regions mode.

I have a 58MB demonstration file (XviD format) of the IOData in action. If someone is willing to host the file for me on a website, you can see how the GUI of it works including MP3 playback.

Originally posted by spyfy
Got my Lite-On loader today and replaced the default loader. Went a little different for me than it did Kermee and Tom Roper.

1st-Installed the Liteon in my PC and set the region. Then downloaded a region free hack for this loader and applied it. Verified w/ DVDInfo that it was region free.

2nd-Set loader to master as per Kermee's instructions and installed. Took the drive faceplate off the loader. Had some trouble getting the Linkplayer tray cover to fit but got it. Instead of using hotglue, I just screwed the back screws in at the point Kermee used hotglue and it keeps the loader firm enough it won't move.

3rd-Fired player up but the new loader wasn't recognized. Took back apart, set the jumper on the Lite-On to cable select instead of master and reinstalled. Loader recognized and all was well.

The Lite-On really improved the responsiveness of the player w/ DVD media. Chapter skips and FF/RW's work much better and are almost instant. Player spends much less time searching. I'm happy and at only $29 shipped plus my time of replacing it's a good value addition to a already good player.

spyfy,

Excellent! I forgot to mention in my instructions that you should probably set the Lite-On to CS (Cable-Select). The original loader was set to cable-select I believe. I left mine set to 'Master' and my IOData hasn't had any issues with it. Strange.

Also, now we know we don't need hot glue but you can just screw the rear two screws back onto the post to hold the LiteOn drive in. BRILLIANT!

(Okay. I admit it. I was looking for a good reason to use my old hot glue gun that's been sitting in my tool closet for years.) ;)

speaking of the lite-on ... is there something special about this particular brand and model or is it the only one anyone here has tried?

I think it was just used because it was found OEM cheap at newegg.com. Other than that and it being a good loader that reads all media well, no.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by spyfy
[B]Got my Lite-On loader today and replaced the default loader. Went a little different for me than it did Kermee and Tom Roper.

Hi Spyfy:
Can you indicate the model number of the Lite-On loader you got and where you got it? Thanks!

Lite-On SOHD-167T

Got mine from www.newegg.com for $29 shipped. I believe Tom Roper got his at Circuit City.

Originally posted by webboy10169
FilpFlop has got me interested one question before i dive in the beta pool...
hows the interface? Better then what weve got now? Is it fully customizable?

<EDIT>
well three questions i guess...
</EDIT>

How does one go about diving in?

I will update the FAQ later today with instructions with replacing the loader combined with what Tom Roper, spyfy and I found (among anyone else I left out by accident).

can the player be purchaced at any B/M store? or is online the only option?

Can be purchased locally I think in California somewhere. I think the store is digitalconnection, the same store that sells them online. Otherwise, it's all online only.

NEW FIRMWARE

wil be released tomorrow ! :)

- DVD bug fixed
- AV receiver problem fixed
- DVD loader slow response fixed
- Online Service Start (1st: vTuner *ShoutCast Internet Radio)

Originally posted by lifeisfun
NEW FIRMWARE

wil be released tomorrow ! :)

- DVD bug fixed
- AV receiver problem fixed
- DVD loader slow response fixed
- Online Service Start (1st: vTuner *ShoutCast Internet Radio)

Any specifics on what DVD bug this refers to?

tom or kermee, have you guys done a firmware update with the new lite on installed??? will the liteon interfere with firmware updates??

Originally posted by lmengel
Some radio stations come in sounding like a 33.3 rpm record playing at 45 rpm. GrassyHill Radio (128k rate) most always plays fast. There are others also.

Anyone else have this problem? Suggestions on what to do?


Yeah, that's happened to me. I just restart the station and it usually corrects itself. Overall, I don't think the Linkplayer's handling of internet radio is there yet. I'll be interested to see what happens in the next update, when they formally add it. To date, I still haven't been able to get Radio Paradise, which is my favorite station in any medium, at 128k. Very vexing.

Originally posted by Chhuong
tom or kermee, have you guys done a firmware update with the new lite on installed??? will the liteon interfere with firmware updates??

I was wondering the same thing. The last firmware update that provided the slow/very slow speed options for the DVD loader had no adverse impact on the Lite-On SOHD-167T. In other words, I've been using the most recent firmware before the *just announced* firmware for tomorrow, without problems.

Fingers crossed, I'm going to try it.

Worth the wait!

Just got the new firmware. I think the Premium content is a slick upgrade. I just started to play with it, and--glory be--out comes Radio Paradise loud and clear (along with a few billion other stations). It looks like the one-time fee for I-radio is reasonable--I would have whined about a monthly fee.

One thing about RSS, I don't get, because I've seen this a couple of times. I thought the whole cool thing about RSS was that it provided a single scrolling line that ticked through multiple stories. In this setup, you select one-paragraph synopses from a menu. Doesn't matter, just curious.

So far...am VERY excited about the I-radio. Looks very well done...

(Haven't even downloaded the server software yet!)

Hello, Just received my Linkplayer on Feb. 1 and like others I had no AC3 through my Kenwood VR615 receiver .
Just updated to the new firmware this morning and all is well, hope this firmware corrects the AC3 issue with everyone else.
Overall my impression is very positive for this player.

thanks:)

Is there a link where I can read what changes the new firmware has? Or is it only the 4 items lifeisfun mentioned? A Jan release was supposed to address WM-DRM; does this release do so? Thanks

there are 2 updates after you perform the firmware up date go back to update and there is a ui update

(By the way, I think I deserve an award for being the first firmware update download this time around.)

Originally posted by catware
Is there a link where I can read what changes the new firmware has? Or is it only the 4 items lifeisfun mentioned? A Jan release was supposed to address WM-DRM; does this release do so? Thanks

When you check for new firmware with your Linkplayer, it gives you a list of new changes. You can review that before you start the install. Other than that, (as you probably already know) the information below is on iodata's site. It seems to be pretty consistent with what I saw on the firmware update message:

Next Major Update (January 2005) *The worst case is until the end of Feb 2005
We will plan to release the newer firmware with these functions:
[ Bug Fixed ]
- AV receiver digial audio problem
- Few DVD title movies playback problem
[ Additional Functions ]
- Microsoft DRM (Windows Media® DRM for ND) for DVD Movie Playback
- Microsoft DRM (Windows Media® DRM for SD) for Network File Playback
- Microsoft WMA Pro (5.1ch Audio)
[ Services ]
- Rhapsody Internet Radio
- vTuner Internet Radio (ShoutCast Radio Stations)


One thing I didn't see in this update (which is fine with me) is the absence of Rhapsody. Had Rhapsody been the only solution, I would have been disappointed because I don't see its value as a pay-per-month service. My initial impression of vTuner is that it is absolutely outstanding from both content and its one-time-fee structure. I think I'm probably more interested in I-radio than most folks here, but from my perspective Iodata appears to have come through with flying colors.

I already rolled back, ts support seems to be majorly broken. I did a rather cursory test and out of 5 files 3 wouldn't play.

irgaac, did you have to roll back to the very first firmware, i.e. the default firmware in the AVLP2? Or is there a way to roll back to the previous most recent firmware version?

Man... I *just* got to work here in the PST and didn't even check to see if the firmware was out. Now I'll have to wait for 9 hours before I go home. Everyone keep us posted! Too early to tell if this firmware update is a mixed bag (I-Net Radio vs. TS playback). I just hope my AC3 issue is resolved.

No, you can only roll back one version. So I am still at the 12/27 version now.

[edit] also none of the iradio stations I tried worked, it looked like it connected but never got any audio.

What's the full firmware version number for the new firmware? Curious to see if anyone has tested WMA9 Pro on it yet either...

Originally posted by irgaac
No, you can only roll back one version. So I am still at the 12/27 version now.

[edit] also none of the iradio stations I tried worked, it looked like it connected but never got any audio.

Ick. Looks like I'll get to debug this evening.

I forgot to write the new verison number down. I have to split here in a second, have a 3 hour drive for a service call so no more playing for me today :(

Originally posted by irgaac
[edit] also none of the iradio stations I tried worked, it looked like it connected but never got any audio.

This happened to me too i turned up the volume and the audio all of a sudden it was there (denon 3803)

Originally posted by Kermee
What's the full firmware version number for the new firmware? Curious to see if anyone has tested WMA9 Pro on it yet either...

Firmware version: 04-91-050127-02-IOD-234-000
File system version: 02IOD
DVD ROM Model:EPO EPO-LDR-DP-306D
DVD ROM Firmware:586H

I can comfirm .ts playback is now flakey some played fine others didnt where as before all my .TS files played perfectly.

As for HDWMV all the clips posted on MS site still dont work no audio on all files green blotchies on some too.

HDDIVX works fine as if that matters...

Can someone verify if commercial DVD's still upconvert over component when played from the player itself?

Also what's the story on the internet radio? A one time fee? Guess I'll have to wait till I get home to test some of this stuff out myself.

Originally posted by spyfy
Can someone verify if commercial DVD's still upconvert over component when played from the player itself?

Yes it does and the open/close button works much better.

Thanks webboy. Now the million dollar question is how this will affect those of us who swapped loaders out already, lol.

Originally posted by spyfy
Thanks webboy. Now the million dollar question is how this will affect those of us who swapped loaders out already, lol.

im not sure it will as i didnt notice a difference in the firmware of the loader maybe someone else can check the firmware info before the upgrade to confirm.

I did notice that the option to slow down the drive is gone after the firware upgrade.

http://myibox.net/update/local-bus/04-91-050127-02-IOD-234-000.bin

Someone who is more familiar with low-level firmware (it's not a Linux ROMFS image)... Start hacking. I'm not even sure where to begin...

Originally posted by spyfy
Thanks webboy. Now the million dollar question is how this will affect those of us who swapped loaders out already, lol.

All functions of the new firmware seem to work fine with Lite-On SOHD-167T loader, FF/FR/Chapter skip/open/close/etc, no problems of any kind noted, no worries.

1280x720 mpeg2 18.5 mb/s still plays fine from the DVD loader.

1280x720 WMV-HD (home grown) plays fine from the DVD loader.

720x480 commercial DVD still upscales no problem.

Audio seems fine, no worries of any kind so far.

Have not tried WMV-HD with DRM or WMA9 5.1 Pro Audio.

Originally posted by webboy10169
im not sure it will as i didnt notice a difference in the firmware of the loader maybe someone else can check the firmware info before the upgrade to confirm.

I did notice that the option to slow down the drive is gone after the firware upgrade.

- The option to slow down is still there.

- The loader firmware is just a readout of the drive's eprom, either the EPO or the Lite-On. Even the rom version of the Lite-On loader displays on the setup page.

Just a heads-up for those with the Lite-On loader, if you select "Very-Slow" on the drive speed, it may randomly kick into 2x FF mode by itself, (even before the firmware upgrade.)

I recommend you accept the "Default" drive speed for the Lite-On. It knows when to slow down on its own anyway.

For everyone else, the Lite-On is much faster responding to FF/FW/Chapter skip than the stock EPO loader... My $0.02

Thanks Tom. I gotta give you props, the addition of the Lite-On makes this a different player. The old one wouldn't play half of the DVD's I got from Netflix (scratched up). The Lite-On doesn't hesitate a second and has played everything I throw at it.

Dolby digital AV receiver problem fixed on my Sony receiver. Thankyou IODATA.

MH

Any more feedback on transport streams? I tried two (that worked fine before) and one would not play...

Zach

I got the WMV9 HD DVD's for Stormchasers and Magic of Flight. Neither one will play in my linkplayer. Any ideas ?

My guess is they dont have DRM worked out yet.

Couldn't get the Motmisu Server working with the new firmware.

Both Avel Servers work.

Was hoping for the DRM fix with this release ... maybe next time.

Some of the TS files in the same set of files would play and some wouldn't.

I notice that my TS and PS files capture from my JVC HD1 and edited with Media Studio Pro lack sound. The sound is MPEG audio layer 2. I'll let Ulead know they may need to add Dolby Stereo output to their HD file generation (it's available for DVD). At the same time IO-DATA might want to add MPEG audio layer 2 support (for HD camcorders).