You can do all of these - the formatting can be either FAT32 or NTFS, depending on what you chose when originally formatting (or if you bought it with a hard drive, whatever they did). You can dump whatever you want onto the 500 and then swap it into the MG-35 as long as it's one of those two formats.

*edit* you beat me to it :)

VERY cool.. this'll save me a TON of time.

Does it work with any drives beyond 500GB?

Also - what specific formats/configurations of DiVX/Xvid or MPEG-4 does it work well with?

Be aware that FAT32 doesn't support files larger than 4GB. Might not affect your decision though.

@teddystacker

Hi , just to mention I still experience my mediaplayer hanging after 20-30 mn from playing a divx from the remote PC. Would you have any tip ?

Also, did you find out about slow MP3 playback?

Cheers

Just wondering if anyone else has encountered this:

Only happened recently, been working fine for ages, and its happened twice now.
After shutting down the MG-35 properly, the next time I power on, I only get a flashing blue LED and a flashing power LED.

The unit stops responding and after pulling the power out and trying again, continues to do the same thing. However, I unplug the network cable, and try again and all is back to normal.

Running the non-developer firmware 1.4.4.4-pre4, network only, no HDD.

So many pages.. it gets hard at some point to find out the whole story..

quick question.. since a lot of the media players seem to be based on the same technology/hardware.. does this 'unofficial' firmware work on the eUreka LX-350HD ? I'm trying to find a solution that has a better UI than the manufacturer/stock one..

It seems that user participation for development has slowed a bit. I know we had some issues with writing to NTFS partitions, and finding code to do it for uClinux was a problem.

I located a new NTFS read/write tool for various flavors of linux, howver, uClinux is not 'currently' on the list. If anyone with compiling skills greater than I, then you may want to look at the tool:

http://www.ntfs-3g.org/
http://www.linux-ntfs.org/

Perhaps, this may be a way to get reliable NTFS access.

Getting ready to leap to new GUI 1.4.7 from 1.4.4. Hope all goes well with new version.

Just to follow up on my own question, I got NDAS to work in OS X and the read speed is 1.5MB and write speed is deadly slow, like 110KB - almost unusable. But I did get the MG-35 to see and log into my Mac Shares and it can stream video nicely both ways now - and I haven't applied the new firmware yet.

I'm looking into using this box with Mac OS X.. Have you tried using it to access your iPhoto library or iTunes music? Is there anything beyond just pointing it to the file share & finding the right files? Is there any sort of media server software that can take the iPhoto structure (albums) and present them that way with the MG-35?

I can only say that with sharepoints you would be able to point it to those folders, and there is some playlist functionality (although I've never used it) but I wouldn't expect too much. Maybe if you export slideshows as video files you'd be in business.

It's a decent little box, but it's no AppleTV in terms of playing nice with iLife.

Thanks for the response. Yeah, nothing is going to compare to AppleTV for integration.. But, it's a bit limiting. I would really like to make it easy to view DVDs from a file server, while also having decent iPhoto integration. The MG-35 does the former, and AppleTV does the latter.

Maybe a hack with Applescript, to read through Albums and create a directory named for each album, with links to the images, would work as a simple file share to use with the MG-35. Or, I guess I'll check back into the AppleTV hacks and see if VLC on the AppleTV could do the DVDs well enough.

Do you know where I can find thread regarding setting up MG-35 for Vista? I just got my today, installed the HDD, plug into the computer and stuck here.

Hi Everyone,

I'm very new here, but have been following this thread with gusto! :)

Question:

My MG-35 will be arriving on Monday, so I'm looking for a HD for it. Is there any known problems/advantages for a particular HD Brand/Size etc.

Things Like:

1) Buffer Size (16mb vs 8mb)
2) Heat Generation
3) S.M.A.R.T

Does the MG-35 take advantage of HD specs in the same way a normal PC would?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts, I just want to make sure I get a HD that performs well with the unit.


Bill

Hi Bill

Welcome to all things Mediagate..

Having had a MG35 for over 18 months and a 350HD for 9 months , I really dont believe that the Specs of the Hard disk make much difference , I think its better to use one of the more "top" brands , ie Seagate,Maxtor,Wd , as oppsed to lesser brands like Samsung,Hitachi etc - But thats just my opinion.... but the Spped,SMART etc does not have much (if any) bearing on performance,as far as I have found out..

I just upgraded to this 500 Gig Seagate listed here..

http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4795159

I got it for the great Sale price of only $109.00 a few weeks ago , works very well..

Dont forget to upgrade to the much better looking "New Gui" firmware once you receive your unit and please feel free to ask any "newbie" questions here , we were all "newbies" to this stuff at one time" , and I never forget that..

Regards

Teddy



Hi Everyone,

I'm very new here, but have been following this thread with gusto! :)

Question:

My MG-35 will be arriving on Monday, so I'm looking for a HD for it. Is there any known problems/advantages for a particular HD Brand/Size etc.

Things Like:

1) Buffer Size (16mb vs 8mb)
2) Heat Generation
3) S.M.A.R.T

Does the MG-35 take advantage of HD specs in the same way a normal PC would?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts, I just want to make sure I get a HD that performs well with the unit.


Bill

Thanks Teddy,

That's all I needed to hear, especially coming from you ;)

I've seen the New GUI, Joined the Yahoo Group, Downloaded the Firmware & I'm ready and waiting for it to arrive.

Truth be told... I bought the MG-35 AFTER seeing your Interface! It was the deciding factor... You really did a bang-up job on that as well.

Thanks Again,


Bill

Hi Everyone,

I'm very new here, but have been following this thread with gusto! :)

Question:

My MG-35 will be arriving on Monday, so I'm looking for a HD for it. Is there any known problems/advantages for a particular HD Brand/Size etc.

Things Like:

1) Buffer Size (16mb vs 8mb)
2) Heat Generation
3) S.M.A.R.T

Does the MG-35 take advantage of HD specs in the same way a normal PC would?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts, I just want to make sure I get a HD that performs well with the unit.


Bill

I don't think you need to worry too much about specs on the HDD for the MG-35, although heat is one thing to consider.

I believe the Samsung SpinPoint's are widely used in HTPC's since they are very quiet and still provide good performance (and are well priced).

Maybe someone can help me ?

I use the mg35 with the fireware 1.47 or 1.47 Alpha
the movie are store to my PC (Vista)

The movie play but at some point there freezing for a millisecond and continue for a 20 to 30 second and then shaky again (Look like they froze for a millisecond or a frame or two are missing on the sequence)

This behavior happen to somebody else ?
Somebody have a cure, a walk around for it?

Thank in advance (sorry for my english)

Do you have a hard drive in your 35? If so, I'd copy the files over locally and see if they still skip. That would let you know if it's the file that's the problem, or if it has to do with something else. If they don't skip locally, then I'd copy the movie to another PC and see if it skips that way.

tk

Do you have a hard drive in your 35? If so, I'd copy the files over locally and see if they still skip. That would let you know if it's the file that's the problem, or if it has to do with something else. If they don't skip locally, then I'd copy the movie to another PC and see if it skips that way.

tk

Yes i have a hard drive, but it's a very old one (10 Gig).
At the beginning I copied some movie on it, and it was shaky/Skippy I was thinking maybe it's the hard disk since it's not recent. (maybe the cache is to small)

After that I decide to watch the movie directly from the pc (through the router) and it
still have the same behavior.

I try maybe 10 or 12 different movie, from different source but still a king of shaky ?

Now to trouble shoot that, the element is:
Firmware ?
Router ?
cable lenght (30 feet) ?

I still can watch movie the image is just a millisecond shake at every 15 to 30 seconde :mad:

So nice device, so frustrating result (sometime !)

Edit;
I forgot the file are .avi and they all play fin direct on the PC with Windows media player or Winamp. That lead me to the comclusion the file are ok.

The MG-35 doesn't like some files encoded with packed bitstreams. Although sometimes it plays them fine, other times it may have occasional jumps. It can also be much worse, looking like the video is recorded at 5 frames per second.

One thing you can try, visit http://www.moitah.net/ and grab MPEG4 Modifier.

Load your avi file, and it will show you if it has packed bitstreams. You can then tick the box to unpack and save the file as another filename. Generally, this fixes the problem, although I have seen a case or two where it made it worse.

Hope this helps..

Please help if you can.

Looking for a HD network player that play all my DVR-MS, media center TV program files, and ripped DVD files in my network server to my DVI in Plasma.

Can this player play dvr-MS files and DVD files?

What is different between this player and MVIX 760HD?

Many thanks in advance!

Morning All (atleast morning for me in the not so sunny UK).

I have just got my Freecom 35 and stuck a 500gb drive in it.

Although I've tried my best to read and understand all the info on this thread and also various wiki's / Sites etc, I am still stuck. 3 questions?

1. The GUI, what's the latest fully functional one available and where do I get it from? The boring Grey screens and folder layouts Freecom give seriously suck.

2. My player came with Firmware 1.4.6, should I upgrade? and if so should I upgrade via Freecom or have better been produced by third partys? or other companies (Mediagate, Cowboy thing etc)

3. I am not interested in the Network function so do I have to select Hard drive when first turning on every time? or is there a way to make it default to bypass that initial screen altogether?

I bought two of these, one for me and another for my father in law, so I'd really like to both all sorted before I give him his next week. Oh and my 500gb drive is alread full with various movies etc, will this slow it down? should I leave some space or does it not matter?

And finally is there anything else I am not aware of or mentioned that I should be doing?

Thanks to whomever takes on the challenge of answering my questions...

CIAO

Morning All (atleast morning for me in the not so sunny UK).

I have just got my Freecom 35 and stuck a 500gb drive in it.

Although I've tried my best to read and understand all the info on this thread and also various wiki's / Sites etc, I am still stuck. 3 questions?

1. The GUI, what's the latest fully functional one available and where do I get it from? The boring Grey screens and folder layouts Freecom give seriously suck.

2. My player came with Firmware 1.4.6, should I upgrade? and if so should I upgrade via Freecom or have better been produced by third partys? or other companies (Mediagate, Cowboy thing etc)

3. I am not interested in the Network function so do I have to select Hard drive when first turning on every time? or is there a way to make it default to bypass that initial screen altogether?

I bought two of these, one for me and another for my father in law, so I'd really like to both all sorted before I give him his next week. Oh and my 500gb drive is alread full with various movies etc, will this slow it down? should I leave some space or does it not matter?

And finally is there anything else I am not aware of or mentioned that I should be doing?

Thanks to whomever takes on the challenge of answering my questions...

CIAO

I'll take a stab.

1.) You can load the latest/best user 'modified' GUI from: http://rapidshare.com/users/Q0O9VG/

You may also want to look at:
http://mediagate.pbwiki.com/MG35Faq

and

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mg-35_firmware_mods/

and finally:

http://mediagateusa.s10.forumsplace.com/index.php


2.) It depends. If you load the firmware from 1) above, you may not want/need to upgrade from mediagate/freecome vendor sites.

3.) As far as I have seen, you always get a choice for "local" or "network". Perhaps if "network" is not configured, or plugged in, it may not ask, never tried it with that configuration.

x.) The disk does not care how full it is. Nothing 'operates' from the disk (no swap, OS, etc), it just contains data. As far as the Data format, I use movies in the .ISO format, usually shrunk to 50-80% of original. It still looks as good as the original on 52" monitor. It helps the viewer if the movie directory filename is of value. For instance: "Long_Movie_Title_ISOS_80PM_113M_PG_1985"

Where:
"Long_Movie_Title" is Movie Title,
"ISOS" is Format of Movie and optionally if it is Shrunk,
"80PM" percent shrunk and if "M"ovie only or "F"ull disk,
"113M" is the Total Running Time in Minutes,
"PG" is the U.S. MPAA rating (yours may be different),
"1985" the year it was released in theaters.

You may choose to follow some other naming convention, but when the wife wants to see what movies we can watch, it is easy to see all the folders with nice informational and easy to read names. I thought about making "Themes" folders, but too much effort to control the remote into numerous folders.

Good Luck and Enjoy.

I am a new owner of MG-35 and I am trying to view photos and getting insufficient memory or format error message. Is there is file size limit on the photos.
currently each file is around 1 to 2 mb and 2592X1730 jpeg files...and have been edited in photoshop....
Any help would be great.....

I am a new owner of MG-35 and I am trying to view photos and getting insufficient memory or format error message. Is there is file size limit on the photos.
currently each file is around 1 to 2 mb and 2592X1730 jpeg files...and have been edited in photoshop....
Any help would be great.....

Gah! Too big!

The MG35 is suited for standard-def TVs: as a good rule-of-thumb I'd drop the resolution to somewhere around DVD - 720 X 576 for example.

Thanks Mr Gadget...

As above so far so good...I now have upgraded firmware, MUCH better GUI (the royal blue one)..

I now have 2 more questions/issues...

firstly, a simple one, is there a way of removing file extensions? seeing .avi/.mgp etc is annoying (atleast to me anyway)

Secondly, and much more importantly, all of the movies I have downloaded via torrents etc play 100%, very pleased, however all of the ones I have created myself, via DVDrip and then converted to AVI using AutoGK all have problems, the main one being the sound and video are about 5 seconds out of sync? is this common?

Any help would be great

Thanks

hey guys i've been reading this forum for about a year now ....great work on the firmware....

now is there anybody else workin on a newer firmware?
i know there were talks about implementing new features to the firmware,i would like to help if i can in that matter ,,not a progammer''


thx.....julian

I have had my MG-35 for a couple of days now and have noticed the following:

I have a 50" 16x9 Panny TV

A DVD Decrypter created .VOB file streams flawlessly over network, however, aspect ratio is incorrect on TV (displays 4x3) regardless of settings used on MG-35. The same VOB played on PC plays with correct aspect ratio (16x9).

DVD Decrypter created .ISO streams very choppy over network, but the aspect ratio is correctly displayed (16x9) on TV.

The .ISO plays OK when played from the local drive mode in the MG-35.

Has anyone else run into this issue?

If I could figure out how to get the aspect ratio correct with the .VOB files, that would be preferrable to copying all .ISO files to the local drive

Any help/thoughts would be greatly appreciated

Bill

hey guys i've been reading this forum for about a year now ....great work on the firmware....

now is there anybody else workin on a newer firmware?
i know there were talks about implementing new features to the firmware,i would like to help if i can in that matter ,,not a progammer''


thx.....julian

@julian2875

Sadly, at this time there is nobody is working on MG-35 firmware development - all the guys that were doing so have moved on....

Hopefuly someone wil come along soon...

Think the best we can hope for in the future is that "Wizkidshaw" will be kind enough to add the "new Gui" to any new Firmware that Al Tech issues..

Hello

I have trouble using the MG35 with a Windows Vista PC.

If I directly (crossover) connect the MG35 to the networkcard in the PC everything works fine. If I connect the MG35 over a switch then after a few moments the playback of a movie stops with a message on the MG35 saying that the Share Modus does not work anymore.

The strange thing is, with a XP PC on the same switch everything works fine. There is also no problem with copying data between the XP PC and the Vista PC. I copied over 1000 Gigabyte withhout any problem.

I have tried almost any kind of configuration/setting (like removing the connection from the internet router to the switch, changing the new Vista private/public setting, adding a second networkcard for direct connection of the MG35, enabling/disabling the firewall) but nothing helps.

I have the Freecom Firmware 1.4.6 on the MG35 (actually it is a Freecom Network Media Player 3.5).

I also have VMWARE on the Vista PC (as I do have on the XP). I disabled the VMWARE network cards (VMNET1/8) but this does also not help.

Has anyone experienced similar problems or does the combination of Vista / Switch / MG35 work for someone?

Thank you very much for any feedback.

Regards

Thomas

Hi

I have just tried the newest 1.4.7 upgrade and also have disabled the NDAS Feature on the MG35. No success, still the same problems.

Regards

Thomas

PLEASE HELP ME - LAST RESORT

I'm gettng to the point of no return, only bought this 10 days ago and have 14 days to retun if not happy, so if I can't figure out how to get past my problems, it's going back.

I've read through about 500 or so posts and various oither Wiki's Yahoo Groups etc, these have helped me resolve most issues,like the GUI, firmware, set up etc...

Now it's time to actually use it....I have around 1500 AVI movies on my 3TB PC...I;m trying to copy about 500 at a time on to this and then watch them, sounds simple....

Every time I play one there is an issue? All of the downloaded movies play PERFECT, bt all of the ones I've made myself eith have an audio/video sync problem or play with a sliht stuttering.....almost as though they are in slow motion....

Is the problem with the unit? (they play fne on my Vista PC)...or have I encoded my movies incorrectly? I'm using AutoGK with standard settings to create Xvid files....

If anybody knows a fix for this please please please let me know what it is....

I'll even re-encode all the movies if it will work...but with what? and to what?

H E L P

Thanks

Hi,
@ne1cdamo

Give this a try - it may well help - please post here and let us know...

http://www.fairusewizard.com

Regards

Teddy

Great thanks Teddy, I'll report back soon

Cheers

Sadly I only got as far as the install....It will only convert from an actual DVD...all of my files are already converted to AVi on my system, I need to reconvert them so they will play in the media player

I thought I'd get a few of my DVD's out anywa and give this a try....the reviews in forums seem to be favourable Fairuse than AutoGK....lets see if the MG35 agrees?

Am going to convert the same movie with Fairuse and autogk and compare.

Will let you all know the result in a few hours (if anyone is curious, the movie I'm trying is 'a few good men', the MG35 hs never agreed with it, have tried it 3 different ways...(autogk, avi.net, dr divx))

Try this one for converting .avi etc - I see it talked about VERY highly in other forums - again please let us know if this fixes your problems

http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_encoders/super.cfm

Regards

Teddy

Hi everybody. I hope someone will be able to give me a clue about this problem.

So far my MG-35 has behaved nicely since September last year. However when I tried a few weeks ago to connect it to my laptop (Thinkpad T42) the dial blue led just kept blinking and my laptop just didn't recognize it.

I disconnected it completely from the TV and router and connected power and usb cable to the laptop. I am not sure where I read about disabling NDAS throuh the setup before connecting via USB, tied it with same results.

I have connected it to my other laptop a Pavillion v2250 with same results (it is not recognized).

I must also mention that when I first bought it, I installed a new 250 Gb hard disk, connected it via USB and successfully formatted and loaded it but that's the only time I remember it worked as a USB drive.

Otherwise it works perfectly: it play movies from the internal hard drive or streamed from my laptop, and I can copy from and to it through my wireless network.

Any ideas on what else could I try? Anybody knows about the warranty or has experience with it? I bought it from eWaggle.

I'd appreaciate any help, thanks


Percy

@Percy

Welcome to the forums mate...

One thing to check is that the Jumper on the hard disk in the MG-35 is set to MASTER or Single - NOT Slave or Cable Select (CS)

99% of the time this is the cause of the 35 in USB mode not being detected.

Also have you tried connecting your Mg to a regular desktop pc?

hope this cures it..

Kind regards

Teddy

AutoGK vs FairUse Wizard (FUW).

Testing with 'A few good men' set to 700mb.

Speed - AutoGK 1hr 05 Mins - FUW 1hr 20mins
Ease of use - their both faily easy to understand, even for a begginer
Quality - AutoGK pretty good on PC, MG35 stutters and has audio sync issues..FUW WOW, better in every aspect, the MG35 loves it, plays smooth and at great quality.
Size - even set at 700mb autogk ended up at 782mb, FUW = 706mb
System resource - AutoGK constantly had my processor running at 95+%, FUW hovered around the 60-70% mark. (am running DC6700, 4gb DDR2, 3TB, Geforce 8800)

Basically FUW was far better on the quality side, it took a little longer and it does have the draw back of only being to convert drect from DVD, you can't convert from a file on your pc (unless you create an ISO and then stick it a virtual drive, but that's just too much hassle).

I did you use the FULL version of FUW which I found for free here http://www.videohelp.com/tools/FairUse_Wizard

FUW will be great for movies and thanks to teddy I think that's all I use from now.

Damo

PLEASE HELP ME - LAST RESORT

I'm gettng to the point of no return, only bought this 10 days ago and have 14 days to retun if not happy, so if I can't figure out how to get past my problems, it's going back.

I've read through about 500 or so posts and various oither Wiki's Yahoo Groups etc, these have helped me resolve most issues,like the GUI, firmware, set up etc...

Now it's time to actually use it....I have around 1500 AVI movies on my 3TB PC...I;m trying to copy about 500 at a time on to this and then watch them, sounds simple....

Every time I play one there is an issue? All of the downloaded movies play PERFECT, bt all of the ones I've made myself eith have an audio/video sync problem or play with a sliht stuttering.....almost as though they are in slow motion....

Is the problem with the unit? (they play fne on my Vista PC)...or have I encoded my movies incorrectly? I'm using AutoGK with standard settings to create Xvid files....

If anybody knows a fix for this please please please let me know what it is....

I'll even re-encode all the movies if it will work...but with what? and to what?

H E L P

Thanks

Hi there,

Check out my earlier post about packed bitstreams here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10539733&&#post10539733)..

Sounds like this might be the issue for you?

I have been having issues with AutoGK 2.40 and Xvid 1.2, especially with filesizes ending up bigger than they should be, and have resorted to using DivX 6.6 which seems to be working ok.

@Damo
Good To hear your report on FUW - look forward to you comments on "super" , which does Xvid to Xvid etc converts..

Regards

Teddy

@Percy

One thing to check is that the Jumper on the hard disk in the MG-35 is set to MASTER or Single - NOT Slave or Cable Select (CS)

99% of the time this is the cause of the 35 in USB mode not being detected.
Teddy

Add me to the 99%. Set the jumpers correctly and magically it worked. Now I am able to see the drive from both laptops.

Thanks very very much. You have no idea how upset I was with this.

Percy

Anyone know where I could find a car power adapter (IN STOCK!!) for the MG-35? I've got a trip coming up this week and would love to be able to bring it along for the kids to watch movies while I drive.
I've only got one 12V accessory port ('05 Jetta) and would rather not install an inverter if I didnt have to. What I need:
1 - 12V port for TOMTOM 700
1 - 12V port for DVD player w/LCD screens
1 - 110V (or if available *in stock* somewhere 12V) for the MG-35

The WIKI lists the car adapter from one of the MODIX as *possibly* being able to work but I can't find one in stock anywhere.

Thoughts and suggestions?

Thanks!
Mike

Anyone know where I could find a car power adapter (IN STOCK!!) for the MG-35? I've got a trip coming up this week and would love to be able to bring it along for the kids to watch movies while I drive.
I've only got one 12V accessory port ('05 Jetta) and would rather not install an inverter if I didnt have to. What I need:
1 - 12V port for TOMTOM 700
1 - 12V port for DVD player w/LCD screens
1 - 110V (or if available *in stock* somewhere 12V) for the MG-35

The WIKI lists the car adapter from one of the MODIX as *possibly* being able to work but I can't find one in stock anywhere.

Thoughts and suggestions?

Thanks!
Mike
be very careful... we know for certain that there are power adaptors for other equipment that has the 5 volt and 12 volt lines in the connector transposed.

this make for the creation of smoke when the overvoltage is applied to the 5 volt line in the MG-35. unfortunately, i've read of at least two different people who smoked their units by attaching the wrong power supply.

If you do get an a adaptor from a different unit, use a voltmeter to confirm the pinout before connecting it to your media player.

Joe L.

Thanks Joe, on that note I may have to resort to making a power supply. I think I can pick up the correct connector here in town and I have a 12v-12v dc/dc converter that I was using in a car-pc that I can pull the 12V and 5V from. If it comes down to that.....

hey guys, i've been reading through a few pages but there's way 2 much information to read it all.

I'm wondering about the music playback on the mg-35. I want to be able to have my 10,000 mp3z on a hdd in the unit. But i want to know how well i can play songs, and browse through other songs while still playing songs. I'm wondering if i can set a song to play after the current song, and if i can set a song 2 play after that. I guess what i'm asking is can i make an on the go playlist and keep adding to it.

Any information about how the music playback/browsing works would be apprecated, thanks.

Krug

Hi there,

Check out my earlier post about packed bitstreams here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10539733&&#post10539733)..

Sounds like this might be the issue for you?

I have been having issues with AutoGK 2.40 and Xvid 1.2, especially with filesizes ending up bigger than they should be, and have resorted to using DivX 6.6 which seems to be working ok.

Hi Frenik, thanks I'll check it out.....am having lots of fun with FUW...playing about with Codecs etc, have shrunk Shawshank down to 700mb (2hr 20mins movie) and plays perfectly, audio set to 128 MP3 video encoder x264....

I did try super, boy is that thing heavily packed with features, sadly though the quality just wasn't quite there, also damn was it SLOW W W W, you get the idea..good if you have some obscure video files but for DVD-AVI and the like i'd stick with FUW2 (FUW = the free version - FUW2 = the full version $19.99 or free via the link on the previous page).

Have only been converting my own AVI files for just over a month now so still very inexperienced but...I'll still use Autogk for TV series (lost, sopranos etc) simply because you can que up 20 odd episodes then fall asleep for a week and come back with them all done.....but for the quality side with movies FairUseWizard2 is my new digital friend....

One thing you might want to be wary of...encoding using XVid will take just over an hour (depending on your PC power of course - mines what I would call a beast)...and is great for PC playback but the MG35 still has a few moments of digital turrets syndrome however X264 can take a good 3-5 hours depending on the movie length/size and plays back with cinema style on the MG35...

Sadly I did decide to use my 14 day return and send the MG35 back...BUT only becuase I want to get the wireless version, unplugging it and taking it all upstairs to fill it again is just too tiresome (something to bare in mind for a new buyer)...Also the wieless version has DVI output and A USB on the back...

Only £120 delivered via www.SVP.co.uk (making use of Google generous £10 off offer).

CIAO

DAMO

You can download the full edition of Fair Use Wizard 2.6 from here:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=60358&page=19

see post #373.
Fair Use is open source, and Celtic Druid made his personal build.

Anyone know where I could find a car power adapter (IN STOCK!!) for the MG-35? I've got a trip coming up this week and would love to be able to bring it along for the kids to watch movies while I drive.
I've only got one 12V accessory port ('05 Jetta) and would rather not install an inverter if I didnt have to. What I need:
1 - 12V port for TOMTOM 700
1 - 12V port for DVD player w/LCD screens
1 - 110V (or if available *in stock* somewhere 12V) for the MG-35

The WIKI lists the car adapter from one of the MODIX as *possibly* being able to work but I can't find one in stock anywhere.

Thoughts and suggestions?

Thanks!
Mike

Did you try DivXtech.com

https://id312.securedata.net/divxtech.com/merchantmanager/index.php?cPath=2&mmsid=575e48790754c051caf8002db6457e76

You may have to contact them to see if these units are interchangeable with the MG-35. I know that the IR Extension cable is a direct replacement.

If you contact them. Please report back your findings.

- Chris

kornable,

The MG-35 is horrible at playing and navigating music files. The new version is said to have playlist capability, but I have not loaded 1.4.7 yet. Building 'temporary' playlists is next to impossible, since it is hard to add files and navigate folders/songs.

I have given up on using this device as my jukebox player. It is good for playing movies, where you select one, and then watch for an hour or a few. But trying to select 20-30 songs is nearly impossible, and if you mess up, you get to start over -- but perhaps I was doing something wrong. In my version, the playlist vanishes once rebooted.

I dare not use the device as a JPEG viewer either, since several people have discovered how to brick the MG-35 with a goobered up jpeg. Once again, perhaps the newer version has eliminated this anomoly.

- Chris

I am looking at possibly buying one of these from here: datakits :) co :) uk

However im confused by the opening paragraph on that product page as it says that it supports DivX and WMV9. Is this true? The page also states "integrated 802.11a/g" but im thinking that they have mixed up there decription with the 35HD.

Anyone able to confirm?

Thanks

Gurus,
I need help.
Recently I have upgrade my MG-35 from 40gb drive to 300gb drive and started having problems.

Following is the error message I get when i try to play or watch it on TV.
"mg-35 can not find local hard drive or network connection"

I don't have any problem accessing the drive via USB to a computer.

I have verified that the jumper is set to master and I have disconnected and connected back the power and ide connection but no go.....

Let me know if you guys need any more info about the mg-35 from me.

I am using the new firmware 1.4.7....

The drive is an Maxtor 300 and used maxblast software to enable all 320 NTFS drive...

Gurus,
I need help.
Recently I have upgrade my MG-35 from 40gb drive to 300gb drive and started having problems.

Following is the error message I get when i try to play or watch it on TV.
"mg-35 can not find local hard drive or network connection"

I don't have any problem accessing the drive via USB to a computer.

I have verified that the jumper is set to master and I have disconnected and connected back the power and ide connection but no go.....

Let me know if you guys need any more info about the mg-35 from me.

I am using the new firmware 1.4.7....

The drive is an Maxtor 300 and used maxblast software to enable all 320 NTFS drive...

My first guess is - you don't need special partition software (i.e. maxblast ?), just set a normal, primary partition and format it.
I suspect maxblast is used to trick older PCs/Windows into seeing a big partition, but it might be confusing the Mediagate.

I'm using a 500GB drive partitioned normally - works fine.

Just got this, but having some issues. On some videos, it will play sound briefly but no video, but then cut out completely. Anyone have similar issues? is there a fix?

On some videos, it will play sound briefly but no video, but then cut out completely. The only time I noticed that particular symptom was when I was playing an encrypted DVD video via Windows share from my PC. If these videos are unencrypted, then I have no idea. Please post the characteristics of your troublesome videos, e.g. codec used, resolution, frame rate, etc. I favor MediaInfo for this task.

Hi guys, just found thi forum and noticed it was pretty active. Just bought a Mediagate MG-35 and it seems to be running well, been playing mainly divx/xvid files. Just a question regarding the Real Media codec support, is there any way o play rmvb files? Perhaps a different firmware that has support? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks alot.

Lloyd

Hi Loyd

Welcome to the MG world mate..

Real meadia support will NEVER be available on your MG-35 sadly , as the decoder chip inside it does not support this.. plus if the addition of external codecs were possible,Al Tech would have to License this from Apple , which I doubt would ever happen...

If you have not already done so , make sure you install the latest "new Gui" 1.4.7 firmware - download details in my sig..

Regards

Teddy

Hello;
While I admit I have not read all 119 pages of this thread. I have tried to read and search it. Where is the best place to purhcase a replacement powersupply? I'm hoping that is the problem with my unit, as the light does not come on (the powersupply.) I'm assuming the surge in power with my power invertor when I turn my car on, created the problem.

Hi pileosnafu

Try emailing tony@mediagateusa.com , he **MAY** be able to swap it for you if you pay the shipping both ways - Tony is a cool guy and will help you if he is able to..

If not I am pretty sure you wil be able to buy one from:

http://www.ewaggle.com/

They are known to be ok..

Regards

Teddy

.

Be very careful about ordering anything from ewaggle atm. It seems something has happened since the beginning of the year.

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/eWaggle

not good.

I didn't look there until today. Have a MG35 that i paid for on the 19th of May. Have not heard one peep from them as of tonight. Multiple emails have gone unanswered.

Bleh.

I bought a playTime HV0102 A player from zioncom_net and it came with firmware 1.28

I try to download the new one v1.40 on their website but their file is corrupted.

I've tried loading the frimware from mediagate_dnsalias_com but my box isn't picking up the firmup folder. If it is, it is not pickign up any files inside.

Can you guys help me cause I can't get the zioncom tech support to respond.

Thanks.

I've been reading throught the post and they seem both good and bad about the MG-35. I think this box will do what I want just fine, but I do not want to have a lot of issues (the wife factor). I need it to play divx/xvid files that my Philips 5960/37 plays without any issues (the ability to play ISO's is also wanted). I would like for it to be able to play divx files of HDTV shows (the philips 5960 can play these without problem, even from the USB port). I have looked at the MG-350HD and the Tvix 4100sh, but I do not want to spend that kind of money and I do not need the ablility to play HD ts files or HD DVD stuff. Can/will the MG-35 play the divx/xvid files without issues (slow frame rate, lip sync, etc)? Also where is a good play to buy one? Also the divx/xvid files are mostly "packet bitstream" and some are AC3 audio.

The divx/xvid file look great on my plasma coming from the HDMI port of the Philips DVD player, will I loose quailty on the MG-35 (I have read some review complaing about picture quality on larger HD sets)?

Thanks for the help,
SgtHavoc

Just created a new post and found this thread. I have a mediagate mg 35 and mg 350 Hd at home. saw a great deal on a buffalo linkstation 500 GB NAS. will these devices be able to pull data off the NAS? does it need a lot of configuration?

thanks in advance for the answers

Hey aniruddha23, what is the video quaility difference on the 35 and 350 on dixv/xvids?

Hey aniruddha23, what is the video quaility difference on the 35 and 350 on dixv/xvids?

actually my dad uses it in india so i cant answer that question. but iw ill check with him. doubt its going to be a big one.

First of all let me say how happy I am to see a community out there
for the MG350HDs/MG35. Thank you all for your information, it has been an
interesting couple of days of reading!

My question is, has anyone implemented any of the MG35 mods to a
firmware for the MG350HD.

Specifically I'm interested in controlling what the MD350HD is playing
from a remote computer. (Via the WiFi connection)

I am working on a creative development of a Dance performance, and
would love to use a few MG350HDs to display some video on screens,
however I'd like to control the Media gates remotely from one PC.

If any one is interested in assisting me, I have reward available of
AUD$500 (which I know is not much - but its all I have) for anyone who
can supply an .update file for the MG350HD which will allow the
following -

1. Show a blank screen when nothing is playing (I can make a skin if
required)

2. Allow me to connect to the MG350HDs (multiple devices) from my
computer via the MG's WiFi connection and send commands to

2a - select a video file (or play list) to play
2b - buffer a video so when play command is sent it plays
(if possible)
2c - start the selected video file playing
(and have it show on a screen - using the DVI port)
2d - pause (and start playing again) the playing video file
2e - stop playing all video

If anyone is able to assist me I would be most indebted.

With Regards
Neil

@Neil

As of today there is NO ONE (as far as I know) doing **ANY** Third Party mods to either the MG-35 Or MG-350HD , all the guys that were working on the project have either moved on or lost interest - atm we are looking for people with the necessary programming skills..

Regards

Teddy

@Teddy
Thanks for the info, I should have taken up programming years ago!
Its a shame. I would have loved to telnet into the 350HD, and play a file.
I'm going to have to look at the documents very carefully and try and decipher what has been done with the 35 to see if I can get something going on the 350.
I hope everyone wishes me luck, I'm going to need it!

With Regards.
Neil

@Neil

As of today there is NO ONE (as far as I know) doing **ANY** Third Party mods to either the MG-35 Or MG-350HD , all the guys that were working on the project have either moved on or lost interest - atm we are looking for people with the necessary programming skills..

Regards

Teddy


I would be happy to pick up from where it was left off if one of the guys that was working on it is willing to help me to get started. I've had quite a bit of firmware and assembly progamming experience in the past and that may come in handy.

@Yahoo, oom how about you take a look at the MG-35 Wiki 1st and see if you think this is for you.. The guys did details stuff pretty well..

Details here..


http://mediagate.pbwiki.com/

The next stage would be getting yourself a Serial recovery cable , so that you can revover from a "bricked" MG-35..






I would be happy to pick up from where it was left off if one of the guys that was working on it is willing to help me to get started. I've had quite a bit of firmware and assembly progamming experience in the past and that may come in handy.

@Yahoo, oom how about you take a look at the MG-35 Wiki 1st and see if you think this is for you.. The guys did details stuff pretty well..

Details here..


http://mediagate.pbwiki.com/

The next stage would be getting yourself a Serial recovery cable , so that you can revover from a "bricked" MG-35..


Great. Thanks for the pointer and that is a lot of info and seems very tedious to get it set up initially. However, some times that is the only way to go to get the functionality you need.

I just started paying attention to the MG-35 and ordered the MG-350HD. Once the MG-350HD confirms to be what I need I will also order a few MG-35's for various parts of my home that does not require all the features of the MG-350HD, also at which time I can determine what features are worth pursuing. Programming time is valuable and I do this professionally so the feature will have to be worthy of the time investment, but I am very interested in making the MG-35 does what I need it to do if it doesn't already.

Sounds good , I think the guys that were working on it came to the conclusion that the only thing that could really be done with the 35 in the end was to update the simply awful GUI - you may also like to read some of the posts at my yahoo group and there are also some VERY useful items in the files section..

Atm Al Tech are still developing the MG-350 hd firmware , and of late , have added some great new features , but I am sure if you have the necessary skills you may be able to add more..

You may also want to take some time to read this whole thread, as again , it contains some VERY useful info , from the guys that were working on the 35 in the early days before they created the Wiki....

Please feel free to post here or email me should you need any more info , I am not a programmer but have quite a deep knowledge of both the 35 and 350..

Regards

Teddy






Great. Thanks for the pointer and that is a lot of info and seems very tedious to get it set up initially. However, some times that is the only way to go to get the functionality you need.

I just started paying attention to the MG-35 and ordered the MG-350HD. Once the MG-350HD confirms to be what I need I will also order a few MG-35's for various parts of my home that does not require all the features of the MG-350HD, also at which time I can determine what features are worth pursuing. Programming time is valuable and I do this professionally so the feature will have to be worthy of the time investment, but I am very interested in making the MG-35 does what I need it to do if it doesn't already.

looks like we have some activity again, Of course I will help where I can but my Linux/Programming skill are shacked up with the dodo..
Regards
Neil

Could someone please help me with the instruction to upgrade the firmware for mediagate MG-35.

Thank in advance

hello,

Has anyone ever ran into a "disabled mode" screen? My mg-35 will not boot up my hdd anymore and all that comes up is this "DISABLED MODE" screen. I cannot hear the hdd spin anymore but i am sure it is working {it mounts just fine when i put it into my computer}. Might this be a problem with the power lead not working in the mg-35 that is causing the "disabled mode" screen, or the other way around, as in something else causing the mg-35 to go into disabled mode and thus stopping the hdd from being recognized or even from getting powered up. I am not comfortable trying to change the power lead myself, and im not even sure that is even the problem. Also, when the mg35 is pulgged through usb into my computer, the drive is still silent {not getting powered, i assume again}. In both cases {plugged to tv or pc} the mg35 IS powered {PWR light goes on in the front} but the hdd light never turns on {obviuosly?}

any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

Sounds good , I think the guys that were working on it came to the conclusion that the only thing that could really be done with the 35 in the end was to update the simply awful GUI - you may also like to read some of the posts at my yahoo group and there are also some VERY useful items in the files section..

Atm Al Tech are still developing the MG-350 hd firmware , and of late , have added some great new features , but I am sure if you have the necessary skills you may be able to add more..

You may also want to take some time to read this whole thread, as again , it contains some VERY useful info , from the guys that were working on the 35 in the early days before they created the Wiki....

Please feel free to post here or email me should you need any more info , I am not a programmer but have quite a deep knowledge of both the 35 and 350..

Regards

Teddy

Hi Teddy,

Thanks for all the info. I have to admit I have not spent enough time reading them in entirety, and I still have not received my 350HD yet. :mad:

From the info I have read so far on the 350HD it is just basically a 35 with wireless. If so, it would seem relatively easy for AL TECH to continue to upgrade the 35 in parallel. I have not found any info that anyone has attempted to study the 350HD in depth as they did with the 35 -- is this correct? Will the recovery/serial cable work on both?

I appreciate just some quick answers (or short links) to save time in bringing me up to speed.

From the info I have read so far on the 350HD it is just basically a 35 with wireless. If so, it would seem relatively easy for AL TECH to continue to upgrade the 35 in parallel.

Quite a different beast.

Has anybody tried the MG-35 port of the MVPMC software?
Is there anything there that could help the MG-35 users?
http://www.mvpmc.org/~gettler/

Hi all,

First, I'd like to say that I have the MG-35 for at least a year and am knowledgeable about networking. But lately, I seem to have a problem with my mg-35 accessing my files other systems than from hard drive installed inside it.

You see, I connect my mg-35 to a router along with my simpleshare NAS and another xp file server. My computers can see the simpleshare fine and fast. But it takes 12 min every time for the mg-35 to search for the files inside the NAS or on my file server. It sees the NAS and the file server fine but when i click on the host name, that is when it takes a long time. Do any of you have this same problem? if so, did you solve it? and how?

I did try to create and log on my file server (xp sp2) as usrname: media psswrd: gate but to no avail.

I'm running firmware 1.4.7 alpha 2. router: trendnet TEW-432brp. Cat5e cables.

I'm thinking this problem is related to the mg-35 (specifically the firmware) and not the network since all computers and NAS can see and access files from each other fine and fast.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers.

Hi all,
You see, I connect my mg-35 to a router along with my simpleshare NAS and another xp file server. My computers can see the simpleshare fine and fast. But it takes 12 min every time for the mg-35 to search for the files inside the NAS or on my file server.
A problem I discovered may be of help to you. When a folder has lots of files, the MG-35 takes a long time, and there is a limit that I have not determined yet (I asked them what this limit is but received no answer). I think the MG-35 uses its limited memory to gather the list of files every time you visit a folder. My suggestion is to partition your files into a hierarchy of folders such that no level has many items in it... Al

[/QUOTE]A problem I discovered may be of help to you. When a folder has lots of files, the MG-35 takes a long time, and there is a limit that I have not determined yet (I asked them what this limit is but received no answer). I think the MG-35 uses its limited memory to gather the list of files every time you visit a folder. My suggestion is to partition your files into a hierarchy of folders such that no level has many items in it... Al[/QUOTE]

actually, there are about 10 files or less on each folder.

Here is where the problem lie: When I turn the mg-35 on, you have 2 choices -- local drive or network. I click on network (quick response). then I click on movies or music option (about 10 second response). I then see the hosts -- the NAS and file server. When I click on either hosts that is when it takes too long. Even inside each host, there are only 2 folders (inside each folder, there are 10 files or less).

There is no usrname or passwd required on the hosts. There is no security setup on the side of the router (wired).

actually, there are about 10 files or less on each folder.

Here is where the problem lie: When I turn the mg-35 on, you have 2 choices -- local drive or network. I click on network (quick response). then I click on movies or music option (about 10 second response). I then see the hosts -- the NAS and file server. When I click on either hosts that is when it takes too long. Even inside each host, there are only 2 folders (inside each folder, there are 10 files or less).

There is no usrname or passwd required on the hosts. There is no security setup on the side of the router (wired).
Perhaps then your problem is that your network connection from the MG-35 to the router is not good. Too many retries to read your servers? Check the cables. I do not have your setup, of course, but I don't have the lengthy times you seem to have... Al

Sorry for this noob question has been answered zillion times before.

Can someone give me a quick lesson on how to set it up on the network? NDAS or NAS?


Thanks

Newbie here...I apologize if this has been answered in the past. Is there a firmware besides mg35 1.4.5 CHS that displays chinese fonts? If so, can you show me where to get a copy? Thanks again.

@teddystacker

Hi teddy,
Love the work you've done with the firmware. But i've got a quick question. How do I get FTP/Telnet to work. Firstly I have downloaded the latest firmware from your sig. Followed the wiki artile and I read to get FTP working I have to telnet into the box. When doing this from the windows command prompt I just get an error. Is there any particular port I need to be using?

@tillz0r
Ok , I have to be fair here and say that none of the firmware mods are MY work , All I ever did/do in this project was provide a Yahoo support group , organise etc etc .I am not a programmer,but do have other IT skills that helped with the project..

The firmware in my Sig does not have any FTP stuff in it (i dont think anyway , I never used it as FTP was always READ ONLY) , that was only avaiable in "developer" releases (you may stil find some of these at the MG-35 Yahoo group) but as of now, there is no one working on developing this firmware..

All the guys that were , have either lost interest or moved on to other things..

Its a great shame , but thats the way it is until someone with the necessary skills comes along...

Kind regards

Teddy

Hi Guys,

Given that the ethernet port maxes out at say...um...REALLY SLOW, has anyone added a usb to ethernet adapter to get decent transfer speeds over a home network?

I'm pretty happy with the unit overall, but it would be much easier to transfer my movies over the network, and was wondering if this would work.

Mike.

... has anyone added a usb to ethernet adapter to get decent transfer speeds over a home network? The USB port on an MG-35 is a client type B port. Unfortnately, all the USB adapters that I know about are type A for plugging into a USB host such as a computer.

So theoretically...

This

http://www.amazon.com/USB-Adapter-Type-Female-Male/dp/B000AA2SMS

Would solve the problem?

So theoretically...

This

http://www.amazon.com/USB-Adapter-Type-Female-Male/dp/B000AA2SMS

Would solve the problem?Unfortunately, when the MG-35's USB port was designed, it was engineered so when it is active the internal processor in the MG-35 is halted. The MG-35 was never designed to be have both the USB interface and the internal CPU active at the same time.

Even if you can get the adapter for the cable to the USB based network cable, it probably will not work like you want.

Joe L.

Doh!

Ok, Thanks

Edit: Shoot, ok just a sec. I'm not looking to stream anything over the network. Just use it to transfer data to the device. If it can do that, then that's fine. I'll just plug and unplug as needed. It will save me moving the unit/power supply up and down stairs etc. Not ideal overall, but better than what I'm doing right now. I'll give it a day or two to see if someone has already tried this, then if not I'll spend some money and see what happens.

I'll give it a day or two to see if someone has already tried this, then if not I'll spend some money and see what happens. Don't bother; it won't work! Even if you use some sort of passive adapter to connect the MG-35 client port to a USB wireless adapter, there is no software running on the MG-35 to control it. I don't think the MG-35 will even supply power to such an adapter. It has a client port, not a host (like a PC) port.

You want an active adapter such as this thing. (http://www.cooldrives.com/cfineatstnad.html)

It may be just me - BUT - out of curiosity I installed the new 1.4.7 GUI, and indeed I was impressed - BUT - then I started noticing periodic audio and video stuttering of everything (.avi, .mpg, .ifo, etc). I re-installed the original 1.4.7 and the stuttering went away. So the bottom line is this; I tried the new 1.4.7 on 5 MG-35s (no hard drives, accessing the video files via both wired and wireless network). All 5 MG-35s stuttered. Re-installed the original 1.4.7 and all was well again. The 5 MG-35s have been in service without problem for well over a year.
Just fyi ... in case it is just me.
ps. does the new GUI introduce processor overhead which may drag on the MG-35?

It may be just me - BUT - out of curiosity I installed the new 1.4.7 GUI, and indeed I was impressed - BUT - then I started noticing periodic audio and video stuttering of everything (.avi, .mpg, .ifo, etc). I re-installed the original 1.4.7 and the stuttering went away. I've noticed something very similar. Only a few of my videos stutter, usually when there is a very simple static picture with music. The static picture of course stays static as it should, but the background music stutters a little with the Al Tech firmware. With the new GUI 1.4.7, these same videos stutter horribly. Because of this, I still suffer the eyesore of Al Tech firmware.

I've been using 1.4.7 modded for about a month now after switching from the 1.4.4 mod, but haven't had any of these stuttering issues.

Can you provide any more details about the files? Codecs, etc..

Hello everybody. Newbie here. I bought MG35 last week to play the videos taken from Samsung Miniket (avi file) and sony dcr-sr200 harddrive cam (mpeg file). The movies from Sony play great on MG35. My problem is the avi file from Samsung which is not supported. I have lots of movie files with samsung miniket, and it would be too tedious for me to transcode each one of them. My question is will it be possible to get support for this avi file? the codec is free from samsung site, and I have it ready if someone will be kind enough to check it. Will it be too hard for the programmers to include whatever codec samsung uses? Thanks a lot in advance...

My problem is the avi file from Samsung which is not supported. I have lots of movie files with samsung miniket, and it would be too tedious for me to transcode each one of them. My question is will it be possible to get support for this avi file? Considering the Samsung Miniket and the Mediagate both run uClinux, I'm surprised this does not work out of the box! From my reading of Samsung's website, the Miniket uses a standard flavor of MPEG4. So, I don't know what the problem is. If it will take more than a simple filename extension change, or un-munging the headers, you're out of luck because the codecs on the Mediagate are implemented in hardware.

Thanks TheKrell.

how do you un-munge the headers?

What is the fastest encoders?

Is virtualdub capable of batch converting? That would somehow make it a bit easier to process a bunch of movie files... sigh

how does this device compare to the tivx devices?

I'm sick of waiting for stuff to come out on wmvhd, to play on 360 from ext. hdd so i'm looking to get something that can play x264 in 1080p.

guess i should be lookint at the Mediagate MG-350HD

how does this device compare to the tivx devices?

I'm sick of waiting for stuff to come out on wmvhd, to play on 360 from ext. hdd so i'm looking to get something that can play x264 in 1080p.Keep looking, it cannot play x264 files and never will. The codecs are in hardware.

yeah i kind of found this out after the fact. sucks though.

i'm hoping ps3 gets hacked just enough to play x264/mkv in 1080p through hdmi.

that will sell a lot of consoles for them. if not soon 360 will have an xbmp ability like xb1 did and then there will be no need for a ps3 ever and they will lose even more then they alread are.

how do you un-munge the headers? I googled "miniket batch conversion", and in the 2nd link found this method for modifying the header to make it compatible with the Mac. This may make it compatible with the Mediagate as well, but who knows? You'll have to try it to know for sure.
If you change the FourCC codec information in the AVI header from SEDG to DIVX, the files will work on OSX without any problem. You can use hexedit for this or you can use my little tool to do this.

Windows version: http://www.rt4.org/download/avi2DivX.zip
OSX version: http://www.rt4.org/download/avi2DivX.jar
Good luck!

Good afternoon everyone, ok I am finally going to get one of these media centers. I had everything on my xbox with XMC. But the xbox met my baby cousin and my baby cousin pulled it to the floor. And I really don't want to redo this box all over so I am just going to get a media hub. I am chosing between the Mediagate MG-350HD and the Tvix HD M5000. i am wondering is there any big difference in the 2. All I am going to be playing on them are my cartoon and tv show series, along with my dvd iso files. Any help, thank you in advance.

Hello teddystacker... I upgraded to 1.4.7 with ac3 fix and found the playing of video taken from sony dcr-sr200 to be skipping, sliding or a bit robotic. I reverted back to 1.4.6 and the video played smoothly but without sound. Do we have the firmware 1.4.6 with just a patch of ac3? hope you can help me here... thanks in advance



from teddystacker @Bobdenar

Ok,here is a STOCK 1.4.7 + The Ac3 Fix + The NEw Gui complete with the 2 missing Icons.. No developer functions added this time..

Can you please test this on the same files that the other developer build was giving you problems with..

I googled "miniket batch conversion", and in the 2nd link found this method for modifying the header to make it compatible with the Mac. This may make it compatible with the Mediagate as well, but who knows? You'll have to try it to know for sure.
Good luck!
Thanks TheKrell for the link and information.

Unfortunately, I dont have hex editor nor do i know how to use it.

Anyways, I used Super to reencode all my samsung video files, and it works well now with MG35.

My only concern now are the sony dcr-sr200 video files, which skip or stutter with 1.4.7 firmware. With the firmware originally loaded when i bought mg35 (1.4.6) the movement was smooth but without audio. There were shots taken with tripod, yet the videos seem jerky at times.

Anybody knows if future firmware will address this problem? Or should I start reencoding all the long clips again? (sadly, it defeats the purpose of not buying mini MV camcorders, I thought it would all just be drag and play)

I also wonder if tvix m-3100 has these same problems... someone with this unit willing to try short clips taken from samsung miniket (avi) and sony dcr-sr200 (mpegII)?

Hi all,
i have "burned" my mediagate 35 inserting the power connector in the wrong way. :mad:
I don't if someone else did the same error but i think yes considering that the connector fits without forcing.
The result is a smell and the mediagate not working. :mad:
I think i have inverted the 12v and 5v.
I have open the mediagate and removed the hard disk and the mainboard.
The component with the label U68 is burned but i'm not able to understand which kind of component is and if is the only one damaged.
Can someone help me please ?
Do you think there's the way to repair ?
I'm able to use the solder and perhaps with the right component i can do it !

Thank u in advance.

Vincent

Thanks TheKrell for the link and information. Unfortunately, I dont have hex editor nor do i know how to use it. Right. That's what the rt4 link above was for... It's an application that fixes the mpeg-4 header for you instantly without transcoding. I presume that is what you used Super to do.

My only concern now are the sony dcr-sr200 video files, which skip or stutter with 1.4.7 firmware. With the firmware originally loaded when i bought mg35 (1.4.6) the movement was smooth but without audio. Sympathies. I have a JVC Everio, and it makes native mode MPEG-2 w/AC3 sound track. MPEG-2 program streams with AC3 audio don't play on any official firmware, and I've tried them all back to 1.3.2. Supaeon pored over the decompiled mpegplayer.bin and figured out that it wasn't parsing the audio parts of an mpeg-2 program stream header at all. He binary-hacked mpegplayer.bin so that the parsing parts were executed, and voila. AC3 audio works. He developed this patch for firmware versions 1.4.4, 1.4.5, 1.4.6, and 1.4.7.

Unfortunately, the authorized firmware is so profoundly buggy that (as Gadgetmind once said in this thread) it's an accident that it works at all! I have been complaining to Al Tech about the AC3 bug for at least a year. Mpeg-2 program streams with AC3 sound tracks is an advertised feature, yet Al Tech never fixes it. An example of the firmware bugginess is what happens with the AC3 bug and unauthorized patch. When we apply supraeon's patch to 1.4.5 (or was it 1.4.6?) it mysteriously kills network browsing! (For those not knowledgeable about Mediagate firmware subroutines, there is no way in hell that should happen.) The most feature-rich unauthorized versions of the Mediagate firmware is 1.4.4, which includes a full Busybox, telnet and ftp daemons, and even a web interface. It mostly works, yet it spontaneously crashes my Mediagate at unpredictable intervals.

So, what I'm saying is that you can try to get AC3-patched versions of 1.4.5 or 1.4.6 to work without choppy playback... But any of these firmware versions are a real crap shoot, and I predict the patched versions will be just as choppy or worse than 1.4.7. Are the Sony files on the Mediagate hard drive, or played over the network? Just about any network bandwidth problem will cause this symptom, as MG-350HD owners know too well. (MPEG-2 HD bandwidth needs are greater.)

Anybody knows if future firmware will address this problem? Or should I start reencoding all the long clips again? We can hope so. But so far I have seen only feature-enhanced firmware coming out of Al Tech. They never fix known bugs.

Right. That's what the rt4 link above was for... It's an application that fixes the mpeg-4 header for you instantly without transcoding. I presume that is what you used Super to do.
I used Super to transcode my miniket files. I am still very much interested to know how to fix the header without transcoding. Please help me more on this. I dont know how to use hexeditor, is there a more simple program that I can use? :)


So, what I'm saying is that you can try to get AC3-patched versions of 1.4.5 or 1.4.6 to work without choppy playback...
Please, please where can I download these files?

All my video clips taken from samsung miniket and sony dcr-sr200 are on my hard drive. I am not using the network feature of mediagate at the moment...

I am still very much interested to know how to fix the header without transcoding. Ah, now I see the problem. The link was less than 2 yrs old and already it's broken. Sorry about that. You can still get the Java application, and since Java is "run anywhere", I downloaded the jar file and tried it out. It does not appear to have a batch mode. Here (http://www.feringa.net/downloads/avi2DivX.jar) is a link that still works, if you want to fiddle.

Other Mac users solved the problem with an OSX "droplet." But I see no source for a Windows version as quick/easy as that. :( Maybe another Samsung user can jump in here with a more elegant Windows solution. I'm afraid I don't know how to run hexeditor either!

Please, please where can I download these files? Well, fiddle. Seems Yahoo groups don't allow much disk space and the moderator deleted older versions when newer ones have been released. I still have a fairly complete set on my Mediagate. PM me with your real email address and I'll just mail them to you. They aren't very big.

friends

is there anyway to switch from the english firmware to chinese version ?
i can back up 1.4.7 to 1.4.6 etc, but in 1.4.6 the chinese firmware 1.4.5 wont run

thanks
jeff

I still have a fairly complete set on my Mediagate. PM me with your real email address and I'll just mail them to you. They aren't very big.

Thank you very much TheKrell... got all your sent firmwares. I found 1.4.6 with ac3 patch the least jumpy... I am happier now with mg MG35. :)

It will do until the perfect firmware is released (wishful thinking) LOL!

Just another question - is it normal for the adaptor to be too warm? I just think this is just another weak link in the product. A defective adaptor already bricked my first two units. (luckily, when it happened it was still under full replacement warranty)

You're very welcome. On looking around further for 1.4.5, it seems I don't have a copy of it w/AC3 patch (if that version ever existed)... The one I sent from my thumb drive turned out to be unpatched and will not play mpeg-2 program streams with AC3 audio.

Is it normal for the adaptor to be too warm? Mine gets quite warm when the Mediagate is on. But I have had zero trouble with it, ever. Some people, with repeated plugging/unplugging, find the pins start disappearing back inside the hood and then their Mediagate doesn't work. But fixing the pins fixes that problem.

Ok Guys,

Been reading this forum fairly deeply (soooo much information) and you've all done a brilliant job, I've learnt more than I needed to know :).

But, and I feel a bit daft, I have a really simple problem.

I just bought an Vantec Avox Jukebox 100TX and downloaded the latest firmware from the vantec website (1.4.7), and the readme simply says, stick the file on the drive, browse the the .upgrade file and play.

Well my problem is, I can't see the .upgrade file.

Can someone tell me how to upgrade the firmware on the Avox?

please :)

1. Version 1.4.8 additions and modifications.
1) During random play (remote control key 0), the folder and internal files in the folder can play randomly.
2) Folder password => with a 4-digit password, you can show/hide a private folder.
3) Auto Off Function

2. Auto Off Function
- In the Setup menu, if you press 8 on the remote control, you can set the Auto Off Function.
- Auto Off can be set after 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes (1 hour), 120 minutes (2 hours) or 180 minutes (3 hours).
- You can set the Auto Off Function on Video files. You can set it on Music files only in Play All mode.

Bugs fixed in version 1.4.8
1. After video play by Enter key, if a user presses FF or REW & then Enter, the video will pause & the user has to press Enter once more to play. This symptom is fixed.
2. During random play (remote control key 0), the folder and internal files in the folder can play randomly.
3. While playing A.iso, if a user stops the play & immediately plays B.iso, the play will start from a strange location. This problem is fixed.
4. Bugs fixed where Sleep Mode doesn't work in DVD_rip.
5. In the case of DVD files, because the DVD menu should appear after File Play ends, the 'Shutdown after File Play' feature is removed. Only Sleep Mode is allowed.

Download it from AL Tech Firmware (http://www.airlinktek.com/english/firmware/MG35_1.4.8_ENG.upgrade)

Does anybody have an issue with the 35 when connecting it to their computer? Sometimes when I connect it via USB, device manager shows the device banged out with a code 10 (device cannot start). Typically this is an issue with a lack of power via USB but obviously this is not the case since the 35 has an external power supply.

Pantala, I believe the PC's USB port powers the USB controller in the MediaGate, but that should be a very small amount of power required...

Ok Guys,

Sorted it out myself, turns out the Vantec AVX-100TX is not the same as the Vantec AVOX-100. I originally got AVOX_1.4.7_EN.upgrade from vantecusa(dot)com, but on a whim i checked out vantectw(dot)com/eng/support/download.html
where i downloaded a file called bank30.rom.

Threw the file on the drive, started up the avox on the tv, and it just automatically upgraded the firmware.

Hope this post helps someone else in the future. :rolleyes:

Bugs fixed in version 1.4.8... I just tried it to make sure, and there is still no AC3 sound in MPEG-2 program streams.

I just tried it to make sure, and there is still no AC3 sound in MPEG-2 program streams.

Here's Hoping that "Wizkidshaw" has the Time to add the "new Gui" and "Ac3 fix" to 1.4.8 , as I am sure many people will not want to revert back to the "Battleship Gray" Gui to get these new 1.4.8 features....

Regards to all

Teddy

Ok,Thanks to Wizkidshaw and Supraeon (Plus all the original guys),we now have a version of the Stock 1.4.8 firmware with the NEW Royal Blue GUI added..

Only Problem is that there are Eight (7 new and the screensaver from the 1.4.7 release) New Graphics that need producing , so we can update them in the 1.4.8 f/w..

I have asked Joel who did them for 1.4.7 , but so far he has not replied yet and may be busy..

So,we would be VERY grateful if anyone could help to make this new f/w release as perfect as possible..

So anyone would anyone that can produce these eight graphics for us , please email me direct at: teddystacker@hotmail.com

In the meantime please feel free to try out the NEW 1.4.8 with its much.much better looking interface.There is a read_me in the file with all the details you need to know.

THIS FIRMWARE HAS BEEN LOADED ONTO MY OWN MG-35 AND TESTED - but as usual "you use at your own risk".

You can download either at the files section in the Yahoo group..

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mg-35_firmware_mods/files/MG-35%20Beta%20Firmware/Non-Developer%20Releases/MG-35%201.4.8%20Alpha1/

or at the following Rapidshare link:

http://rapidshare.com/users/Q0O9VG/

Please consider making a small donation,if you have not already done so - thanks..

Regards to all..

Teddystacker

teddystaker: Thanks for the organization of the GUI project. Did you happen to mention to the folks that some of us experience significant audio and video stuttering (.avi. .mpg, IFO) - (making the new GUI unusable). This stuttering does not happen with the stock firmware. Thanks.

teddystaker: Thanks for the organization of the GUI project. Did you happen to mention to the folks that some of us experience significant audio and video stuttering (.avi. .mpg, IFO) - (making the new GUI unusable). This stuttering does not happen with the stock firmware. Thanks.

@Grumpa

To be honest I and a few others have not been able to replicate this on our Mg's with the NEW GUI added , and I have many, many email from people saying how useable it is and not saying anything about this stuttering , but at the same time , I assure you I believe what you are saying..

So I guess we really dont know where to start to try and de-bug your problem..

When the new GUI is added , in essence all it does is just replace the original graphic file and Pallet,and no changes are made to the code that does any of the playing..

If we knew where to start , we would gladly look into it..

Also , I and the others would be VERY grateful if you could test out this new 1.4.8 firmware and see if you get the same "stuttering" results as before..

kind regards

Teddy

Teddy:
Thanks for the quick reply. I installed the new v1.4.8 GUI over the ALTech v1.4.8 firmware on 3 of 5 MG-35s. I am happy to report that (so far) there has been no instance of audio/video stuttering. I re-installed the previous new GUI v1.4.7 again over the new GUI v1.4.8, and the same files stutter. So, GUI v1.4.8 is now on the 3 MG-35s, and will be tested this evening. I must also mention that during the ALTech v1.4.8 upgrade, a BIOS update seemed to take place as well. It was just a flash on the screen, but I saw it happen on the other 2 MG-35s as well. Could that have modified something important to the stuttering issue?

@Grumpa

Good to hear things may be ok this time..

Not sure what you mean about "bios upgard" , when you run the .upgrade file on a mg35 thats exactly what you are doing (upgradin , in the case of the MG-35 a firmware upgrade IS the BIOS.
Either way , Glad you are happy with all the efforts the various guys have made..

Regards

Teddy

Teddy

teddystacker

Thanks for the GUI update...

The GUI is the only complaint I have about the MG-35...well the remote can be a PITA at times too...

How did you modify the GUI? Any other hacks for the MG-35 around?

Thanks again

@dartworth

I am not responsible for the new GUI myself , this way put together by a bunch of people really (I gave them credit in the read me) , If you go back around 12 months in this thread, you can see how the New Gui was developed , it actually makes very interesting reading..

kind regards

Teddy

Anybody figure out the private folder/password business yet? I try to turn it on in setup, it asks to set a password, yet it says "incorrect password" when I set one.

Anybody figure out the private folder/password business yet? I try to turn it on in setup, it asks to set a password, yet it says "incorrect password" when I set one.


Q.How Do the "Private Folder" function work?,can you explain more..

A:
The Private folder is really a folder thats hidden from view,when you enter the password (Via the setup area) you can then view and access it.You choose if you can see the folder or not.This is what todo:
1)Create a folder in the root of the hard disk called private (I used
lower case).

2)Then go to the "folder lock" option in the setup menu - this is the
confusing bit , it should really be called "folder hide or un-hide" ,
as this is how it works - ie when you switch the private folder "on"
in setup , this allows you to see and access the folder you just
created within the file browser,and when you switch it "off" in
setup , it then hides the folder within the file browser (if you can
not see it , you cannot access anything within it).
The initial password is 0000 You need to enter this to start with.

Q.How Do the "Private Folder" function work?,can you explain more..

A:
The Private folder is really a folder thats hidden from view,when you enter the password (Via the setup area) you can then view and access it.You choose if you can see the folder or not.This is what todo:
1)Create a folder in the root of the hard disk called private (I used
lower case).

2)Then go to the "folder lock" option in the setup menu - this is the
confusing bit , it should really be called "folder hide or un-hide" ,
as this is how it works - ie when you switch the private folder "on"
in setup , this allows you to see and access the folder you just
created within the file browser,and when you switch it "off" in
setup , it then hides the folder within the file browser (if you can
not see it , you cannot access anything within it).
The initial password is 0000 You need to enter this to start with.

Hm, thanks for your reply. Naming the folder private worked, but I still can't access it with the 0000 password.

Hi, I am setting up a Live streaming server with VLC (under XP). On my MG-35 I can access to folders and play any video stored on my pc, but I have a question :

Is there a way to read live streaming on MG-35? Or only stored videos? That would be so great!

Or do you know another device that could do it?

Thanks for your answers!

Philippe.

Teddy:
Thanks for the quick reply. I installed the new v1.4.8 GUI over the ALTech v1.4.8 firmware on 3 of 5 MG-35s. I am happy to report that (so far) there has been no instance of audio/video stuttering. I re-installed the previous new GUI v1.4.7 again over the new GUI v1.4.8, and the same files stutter. So, GUI v1.4.8 is now on the 3 MG-35s, and will be tested this evening. I must also mention that during the ALTech v1.4.8 upgrade, a BIOS update seemed to take place as well. It was just a flash on the screen, but I saw it happen on the other 2 MG-35s as well. Could that have modified something important to the stuttering issue?

Hi everyone.

I have been playing with both the 35 and the 350HD for the last few weeks in the hopes of finding a media player that can play ISOs with full menu support. Today I downloaded the latest 1.4.8 GUI version (first time trying the GUI version) to see how it fares comparing to the 1.4.4 I have been using.

To make a long story short, I have the IO Data LinkPlayer and the Buffalo LinkTheater and for the most part okay with them using them in wired mode. For my primary media network, I use only a single gigabit router between the media servers to my main media storage (also gigabit on WinXP) so the routing is clean.

MediaGate 350HD was great in terms of features AND, VERY IMPORTANTLY, better fidelity (color was matched almost spot on), but it was horrible in handling ISOs in what I would perceive as "error recovery." Once the 350HD runs into a hiccup during playback of the ISO, it would go into REPEAT mode of that hiccup even if you choose another title to playback and ultimately requiring a reset. This was with the latest non-beta firmware I downloaed from their website. This is my biggest problem with MediaGate 350HD.

The MG35, on the other hand, is great with recovery (stutters at parts of the playback, but never crashes or goes into a loop). However, it was impossible for me to tune the color accurately using AVIA. In the end, the color rendition was much better than it was "out of the box" but unacceptable for hi-fidelity viewing (skin tones were visibly off, for example).

Please note that my intent was finding a player that plays ISO files. For other file formats I have not tested thoroughly but what I tested did work fine.

For the edification of advanced members of this forum, please test the MUNICH movie original full size ISO file on your MediaGate. The problem shows up repeatedly around the 2:24 through 2:26 (2 hours 26 minutes) area where the guy goes to the phone booth and calls.

After reading just about every post in this forum, I tried 1.4.4 and it was "much" improved...the stuttering is gone but you can still catch a very momentary pause (like fast layer switch) at that scene. The 1.4.8 with GUI and AC3 fix looks great but is still stuttering. I will try 1.4.8 stock version but unless it is good news I will not post the result. If that doesn't work I will probably try 1.4.4 with GUI if that is still available from somewhere. Does any one know if 1.4.4 with GUI and AC3 fix is available?

Given the circumstance I would not want to invest time on customizing the MG35 but as a general purpose player it is fine for times that color fidelity is not important. I'm sticking to the I/O Data and Buffalo Link Player for more critical viewing.

I really never have had any of these stuttering problems and only use a 27" crt so NTSC skin tone colours are not really a issue for me after many years of watching superior PAL tv :-) , i just take what i get...

I very much doubt adding the New GUI really does alter the players ability to play files,as all it involves is changing the graphic files.. but I always repect we all have different setups.. mine is just a simple home network with a 100mbit hub feeding 5 pcs - nothing fancy..

for the $100 the 35 costs it has to be the best of its type on the market today..

But thanks to Yahoo for his report...

kind regards

Teddy







Hi everyone.

I have been playing with both the 35 and the 350HD for the last few weeks in the hopes of finding a media player that can play ISOs with full menu support. Today I downloaded the latest 1.4.8 GUI version (first time trying the GUI version) to see how it fares comparing to the 1.4.4 I have been using.

To make a long story short, I have the IO Data LinkPlayer and the Buffalo LinkTheater and for the most part okay with them using them in wired mode. For my primary media network, I use only a single gigabit router between the media servers to my main media storage (also gigabit on WinXP) so the routing is clean.

MediaGate 350HD was great in terms of features AND, VERY IMPORTANTLY, better fidelity(color was matched almost spot on), but it was horrible in handling ISOs in what I would perceive as "error recovery." Once the 350HD runs into a hiccup during playback of the ISO, it would go into REPEAT mode of that hiccup even if you choose another title to playback and ultimately requiring a reset. This was with the latest non-beta firmware I downloaed from their website. This is my biggest problem with MediaGate 350HD.

The MG35, on the other hand, is great with recovery (stutters at parts of the playback, but never crashes or goes into a loop). However, it was impossible for me to tune the color accurately using AVIA. In the end, the color rendition was much better than it was "out of the box" but unacceptable for hi-fidelity viewing (skin tones were visibly off, for example).


Given the circumstance I would not want to invest time on customizing the MG35 but as a general purpose player it is fine for times that color fidelity is not important. I'm sticking to the I/O Data and Buffalo Link Player for more critical viewing.

I still have a problem accessing internal HD on my MG-35 (see this thread). (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=883241) On the other hand everything still plays fine – both from internal HD (files that are already there) and over the network.
I am thinking about firmware upgrade to try to fix the problem, but I can do it only over the network (as I can’t access internal HD). I read somewhere that it is not recommended to do it over the network as things can go wrong.
What are your thoughts on that?

I read somewhere that it is not recommended to do it over the network as things can go wrong. What are your thoughts on that? Given the symptom you reported in the other thread, "unreliable connection", I sure as hell wouldn't upgrade your Mediagate over the network! The only time I have seen that particular error pop up was when the network patch cord was literally falling out of the wall jack. In other words, believe that warning and fix your network before you do some real damage. ;)

Given the symptom you reported in the other thread, "unreliable connection", I sure as hell wouldn't upgrade your Mediagate over the network! The only time I have seen that particular error pop up was when the network patch cord was literally falling out of the wall jack. In other words, believe that warning and fix your network before you do some real damage. ;)
Well, I doubt that the network itself is the problem as MG-35 is playing anything I throw at it over the same network from my server flawlessly. :confused:
(And I guess I wouldn’t have the USB problem then as well)

Well, I doubt that the network itself is the problem as MG-35 is playing anything I throw at it over the same network from my server flawlessly. :confused: (And I guess I wouldn’t have the USB problem then as well) Indeed that's perplexing. Is your network server the same as the one with NDAS on it?

Anyhow, your workaround is to pull the disk, get it working in your PC, load it with all the firmware you can find, and re-install it in the Mediagate.

Just tried 1.4.8 mod firmware. The sleep function looks handy.

Just to correct what it states in the ALtech readme,
it seems you can press 8 anywhere to set the sleep function, not just in the Setup Menu.

If done from the menus, it cycles through the times, or off, but if done while playing a video file it also adds another option at the end, Power off after playing.

If only they included a power off after X minutes idle option as well.

Overall seems like a useful upgrade, especially if you have a need for the porn, ah i mean 'private' folder.

Hi, I am setting up a Live streaming server with VLC (under XP). On my MG-35 I can access to folders and play any video stored on my pc, but I have a question :

Is there a way to read live streaming on MG-35? Or only stored videos? That would be so great!

Or do you know another device that could do it?

Thanks for your answers!

Philippe.

Ok... no answer to this quote?

Well, do you think it could be possible to use GB-PVR with MG-35?

Ok... no answer to this quote?

I don't think its possible with the MG-35 (for now anyway).
Any device thats supports UPnP media servers should be able to do it (although I don't know if VLC is UPnP compliant, might have to use dedicated software on the serving PC)

Well, do you think it could be possible to use GB-PVR with MG-35?
If you mean streaming from another GB-PVR machine to the MG-35, then still no for now, though it's thought to be possible.

http://mediagate.pbwiki.com/wishlist#UseMG35asMythTVfrontend

I just tried it to make sure, and there is still no AC3 sound in MPEG-2 program streams.

I think mpegplayer.bin is the same as in 1.4.7

Hm, thanks for your reply. Naming the folder private worked, but I still can't access it with the 0000 password.

Anyone actually been able to un-hide the private folder using the initial 0000 password?

Is the initial password 0000?

I can't change it (in Setup) because mine won't recognise 0000. Any ideas?

Hi there,

I have been using my mediaplayer for someweeks now and lastnight, tried to watch
a video but it was not working anymore.

Freecom Mediaplayer-35 80GB
Manufactured 2006

The blue light is blinking constantly.
I can not see any image in my TV when it is connected to the TV

But via USB cable, I can see all the file and watch video in my computer

I have tried to push (more than ones) the button video into the remote control
but still nothing.

I could not find any factory reset button in this machine.

Called the support in England, they said to write you.

Could you please tell, how can I resolve the problem?

I bought the machine via internet Febraury 2007.
Changed the disk to 300GB
It was working beautifully until yesterday night.


Please help and thanks in advance

Hi there,

I have been using my mediaplayer for someweeks now and lastnight, tried to watch
a video but it was not working anymore.

Freecom Mediaplayer-35 80GB
Manufactured 2006

The blue light is blinking constantly.
I can not see any image in my TV when it is connected to the TV

But via USB cable, I can see all the file and watch video in my computer

I have tried to push (more than ones) the button video into the remote control
but still nothing.

I could not find any factory reset button in this machine.

Called the support in England, they said to write you.

Could you please tell, how can I resolve the problem?

I bought the machine via internet Febraury 2007.
Changed the disk to 300GB
It was working beautifully until yesterday night.


Please help and thanks in advance

Hello,
did you try to change the video output pressing the "Tv Out" key on the remote control ?
Eventually, try to connect another video via the rca serial output to verify if is a video issue.
My two cents.

ciao
Vincent

tried to do that, the video playback is working from another dvdplayer but with Freecom MG35==> nothing in the Screen totally BLACk :confused: :( :mad:
Hello,
did you try to change the video output pressing the "Tv Out" key on the remote control ?
Eventually, try to connect another video via the rca serial output to verify if is a video issue.
My two cents.

ciao
Vincent

...tried to watch a video but it was not working anymore... The blue light is blinking constantly... Congratulations! You have a "brick." While it's possible to debrick your Mediaplayer, (http://mediagate.pbwiki.com/Debricking) the procedure is not simple or free and you may find that a warranty replacement would be more suitable to your skill level. If you're an EE, then by all means debrick it. ;)

The blue light is blinking constantly.
I can not see any image in my TV when it is connected to the TV

But via USB cable, I can see all the file and watch video in my computer


Make sure your USB cable is disconnected from the back of your MG35 before you turn it on and hook it up to your TV.

-shawjo

@Grumpa

To be honest I and a few others have not been able to replicate this on our Mg's with the NEW GUI added , and I have many, many email from people saying how useable it is and not saying anything about this stuttering , but at the same time , I assure you I believe what you are saying..

So I guess we really dont know where to start to try and de-bug your problem..

When the new GUI is added , in essence all it does is just replace the original graphic file and Pallet,and no changes are made to the code that does any of the playing..

If we knew where to start , we would gladly look into it..

Also , I and the others would be VERY grateful if you could test out this new 1.4.8 firmware and see if you get the same "stuttering" results as before..

kind regards

TeddyTeddy,
Thanks so much for all your time and effort in coordinating all this. I just tried the most recent 1.4.8 alpha1 release.

Unfortunately, the new 1.4.8 alpha1 release is unusable here because of the stuttering on high bitrate ISO images over the network. Now, this is nothing new, as it also stuttered on the 1.4.7 release as well when playing a high bit-rate ISO over the network.

In fact, I've not been able to upgrade from the MG35-1.4.4.5-alpha7 release without having the same issue. It has had the least amount of stuttering of all (except for two or three movies out of nearly 200 on my server, no stuttering occurs and on those few, very very little. )

I have one ISO image where this is VERY evident. It is from the DVD "Sabrina" where an uncompressed ISO rip of the movie alone is over 7Gig. Apparently, it is a very high bit-rate movie. It is unwatchable with the latest firmware but has only two or three minor "jitters" on a few scenes on the older 1.4.4.5 firmware and is very watchable with it.

Here is a link to a 30 second clip where the stuttering is very evident (http://server1.filecows.com/download/d6iMI6OaZ1U1vKATknhr/sabrina_30_sec_clip.iso) (download is approx 34 Meg. I do not recommend a dial-up-line) The scene is of a water fountain (lots of water droplet detail) transitioning to a panning shot of the top of a garden arbor with tons of moving detail. Both the sound AND the picture stutter.

Now, to be fair, this same clip stutters on the STOCK 1.4.6, 1.4.7, and 1.4.8 release firmware, as well as on the 1.4.8-alpha1 release with the improved graphics. Basically, nothing since 1.4.4.5 has been able to play this ISO image to where it is watchable over a LAN connection.

Yes, I know I could compress the ISO to where it has a lower bit-rate, but it would lose a lot of detail I would miss on the big 110" screen in my theater where I use an HTPC to play the ISO image at 720p from the LAN server. (I have MG-35's in my Den and in my Bedroom for more casual movie watching on smaller HDTV displays. On those I would probably not notice the loss of detail.)

I have never had this issue when playing from the hard-disk internal to the MG-35 on any release, so it is apparently some inefficiency of the networking software in the MG-35 that is partly to blame. Perhaps those e-mailing you about their lack of stuttering are playing from the internal hard-disk.

Joe L.

Hi all,
thanks for your quick reply.
my usb cable is not connected when I am using my MG35 as a video player.

Does any body can tell how can I retreive the Factory default setup?
Where is the reset button? Is there any?

Remarks: screen totally black (no image) when connected to TV :confused: :( .
I can see all the files when connected to PC :)

Please help me, I love watching all my movies in a bigger screen not to pc.

Thanks again

Make sure your USB cable is disconnected from the back of your MG35 before you turn it on and hook it up to your TV.

-shawjo

Is the initial password 0000?

I can't change it (in Setup) because mine won't recognise 0000. Any ideas?

Same here, done everything priorly mentioned and still nothing, wont accept 0000 as the password.

J.L.,

Just to be sure...where can I download the 1.4.4.5-alpha7? I'm not sure if the one I have is that version. Anyway to do a quick check? Can someone merge the GUI into that version. It's been over a week since I read all the posts and I'd appreciate not having to go through all that if someone can just quickly point me the info. Thanks.

P.S. What you described is EXACTLY what I'm experiencing. I do not use the internal HDD.

Teddy,
Thanks so much for all your time and effort in coordinating all this. I just tried the most recent 1.4.8 alpha1 release.

Unfortunately, the new 1.4.8 alpha1 release is unusable here because of the stuttering on high bitrate ISO images over the network. Now, this is nothing new, as it also stuttered on the 1.4.7 release as well when playing a high bit-rate ISO over the network.

In fact, I've not been able to upgrade from the MG35-1.4.4.5-alpha7 release without having the same issue. It has had the least amount of stuttering of all (except for two or three movies out of nearly 200 on my server, no stuttering occurs and on those few, very very little. )

I have one ISO image where this is VERY evident. It is from the DVD "Sabrina" where an uncompressed ISO rip of the movie alone is over 7Gig. Apparently, it is a very high bit-rate movie. It is unwatchable with the latest firmware but has only two or three minor "jitters" on a few scenes on the older 1.4.4.5 firmware and is very watchable with it.

Here is a link to a 30 second clip where the stuttering is very evident (http://server1.filecows.com/download/d6iMI6OaZ1U1vKATknhr/sabrina_30_sec_clip.iso) (download is approx 34 Meg. I do not recommend a dial-up-line) The scene is of a water fountain (lots of water droplet detail) transitioning to a panning shot of the top of a garden arbor with tons of moving detail. Both the sound AND the picture stutter.

Now, to be fair, this same clip stutters on the STOCK 1.4.6, 1.4.7, and 1.4.8 release firmware, as well as on the 1.4.8-alpha1 release with the improved graphics. Basically, nothing since 1.4.4.5 has been able to play this ISO image to where it is watchable over a LAN connection.

Yes, I know I could compress the ISO to where it has a lower bit-rate, but it would lose a lot of detail I would miss on the big 110" screen in my theater where I use an HTPC to play the ISO image at 720p from the LAN server. (I have MG-35's in my Den and in my Bedroom for more casual movie watching on smaller HDTV displays. On those I would probably not notice the loss of detail.)

I have never had this issue when playing from the hard-disk internal to the MG-35 on any release, so it is apparently some inefficiency of the networking software in the MG-35 that is partly to blame. Perhaps those e-mailing you about their lack of stuttering are playing from the internal hard-disk.

Joe L.

I have a question for the MG-35 cognosenti.

Is it possible to make the MG-35 play MP3 tracks in album/track number order?

I consider this a rather crucial requirement if you have classical or concept albums. Currently I can only make them play in alphabetical order.

I know I can alter the filename of each track, by adding aaa, bbb or 111, 222 at the beginning of each filename - but that rather defeats the object of having track numbers in the first place.

WMP11, and other PC players, don't have a problem with this - but I only use computers to access the filesystem in other rooms, I don't want to have to have a separate computer and the media player, just so I can play tracks in track number order.

I hope you can help. I am using firmware 1.4.8.

Thanks.

Same here, done everything priorly mentioned and still nothing, wont accept 0000 as the password.

As just posted on the Al
Tech forums , please let us know if it work for you..
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



The flash memory was not initialized, so please do "Factory Reset" as follows;

For the factory reset,
Go to the Setup page=> press [Stop]->[Play/Pause]->[Stop]->[Play/Pause]->[MediaType]->[MainPage].

If you can not see the screen, then:

Press [Setup]->[Stop]->[Play/Pause]->[Stop]->[Play/Pause]->[MediaType]->[MainPage]->[Left Arrow]
->[OK].

As just posted on the Al
Tech forums , please let us know if it work for you..
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



The flash memory was not initialized, so please do "Factory Reset" as follows;

For the factory reset,
Go to the Setup page=> press [Stop]->[Play/Pause]->[Stop]->[Play/Pause]->[MediaType]->[MainPage].

If you can not see the screen, then:

Press [Setup]->[Stop]->[Play/Pause]->[Stop]->[Play/Pause]->[MediaType]->[MainPage]->[Left Arrow]
->[OK].Teddy,
Interesting... I never saw an initialization key sequence for the MG-35 before.

Did you try it on your MG-35? I wonder if it just resets the password?

Joe L.

Indeed that's perplexing. Is your network server the same as the one with NDAS on it?

Anyhow, your workaround is to pull the disk, get it working in your PC, load it with all the firmware you can find, and re-install it in the Mediagate.
I did what you suggested:
Pulled the HD out, connected it to the computer and the drive worked fine right away. Deleted a few things from the drive so that free space increased from 10% to 14%, run check disk and defragmented the drive.
Installed HD back into MG-35 and everything seems to be working now – without updating the firmware.

Teddy,
Interesting... I never saw an initialization key sequence for the MG-35 before.

Did you try it on your MG-35? I wonder if it just resets the password?

Joe L.

@Joe,

no , not yet been busy with "real life" but also Wizkid just released 1.4.8 - **developer version** , so been trying to update the readme etc to get it up to the sites for release..

Think it resets the flashram where the password is stored.....

Regards

Teddy

Thanks to "W izkidshaw" today saw the
release of TWO new Un-official MG-35 1.4.8 Firmware releases.. Both are now in
the files section of the <G-35 Yahoo and also at the Rapidshare mirror (details in my Sig)

Here are the Details.

1)MG-35 1.4.8.1 - Release Version - This is almost the Same as last
weeks release (Stock 1.4.8 with New RB GUI & AC3Fix added),only difference being that thanks to Rolf , all newicons and dialogue boxes now display as they should - No corrupt icons.

2)MG-35 1.4.8.2 Alpha1 Developer Version.
As above,but also with the Much requested "developer" Functions also
added - full details are inclided within the read_me.

Here is a short FAQ for those who what to know the difference between
the two versions.But in short,if you dont know what Telnet and
busybox are - then Option 1) is the firmware for you.

Feedback/donations are always welcome....
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Q:-

There are two sets of firmware here,which one is best for me..

A:-
Well that depends if you are a software developer with programming
skills or just the average "Man In The Street" type user..

The Developer releases contain a few extra developer tools for people
that know
about firmware programming.If you do have programming skills , we ask
you to join our project,we will always be VERY grateful of any input
you can provide.

The "Non Developer" firmwares are for the "Average user" (Man in the
Street) that does not need the extra development tools.


A extensive readme file is contained in all firmwares so you can see
the functions.

All firmwares have been tested and wil not damage your machine as
long as you follow the update procedure contained in the Readme file.

Installed HD back into MG-35 and everything seems to be working now – without updating the firmware. Unbelievable! [Metaphorically speaking.] I hate when that happens. You never know when or where your ghost will reappear.

Unbelievable! [Metaphorically speaking.] I hate when that happens. You never know when or where your ghost will reappear.
Exactly!

have been trying to decide to replace MG35 with PM HD-100, finally decided not to due to
1. better photo rendering performance
2. ability to play out HD resolutions (but not HD formated, 1080i, 720p files) even from SD files (so can the PM HD-100)
3. still coming up firmware fixing problems after all this time

figure many new ones are coming out, just additional support for HD files isn't very worthit, (I only have HDTV CRT, no HDMI), if I jump for next box, it will be because of more format, codecs and foreign language subtitles external support (so I can watch more content with less hassles). However I also found myself wasting lots of time AVI RECOMP'ing XVID with GMC and QPEL or Packed frames content, or adding burnt in subtitles, this former though will have the biggest impact of the amount of files I can play with the box, so in terms of importance :

1. XVID / GMC, QPEL, etc Packed Frame (Chipset limited)
2. MKV / H.264 support (Chipset limited)
3. external subtitle support

In this regard, only #3 is easily handlable by firmware upgrade, humm, why don't Harddisk player people consider #1 ? It'll by far will make the most files accessible via this platform

Just tried it. This resets all settings to factory default, also enabling 0000 as the private folder password.


Teddy,
Interesting... I never saw an initialization key sequence for the MG-35 before.

Did you try it on your MG-35? I wonder if it just resets the password?

Joe L.

MG-35: NDAS over wireless bridge (WET54G)
My MG-35 shows up offline when trying to connect to it using the NDAS Device Management program. I can ping it from a command prompt using the IP address given in its setup. I can also ping the WET54G bridge. It just wont find the device when using the NDAS software.
It works fine when the MG-35 is wired via a hub. SOmewhere I found reference to some kind of MAC address switching when using wireless bridges. Any suggestions to how to configure the bridge to get around the problem?

Thanks,

Bjorn

disabled mode please help! I m facing the same problem as you did. If you got it fixed, please let me know how.

thanks.

NDAS uses Ximeta's own protocol; it is not IP! Anything that does not bridge the NDAS protocol will never work. If your WET54G has a "layer 2" bridging function, then turn that on and it should work.

Thanks to the great efforts of Wizkidshaw,we bring you the MG-35 1.4.7 firmware,with the added feature of "MP3 Browsing" now fully implemented,along with the other 1.4.7 features of the New Royal Blue GUI and AC3 Audio fix.
As usual, this firmware has been well tested and is available from the files section at the MG-35 Yahoo group and also the Rapidshare file mirror located here:-

http://rapidshare.com/users/Q0O9VG

We fully realise that this is a older firmware (As 1.4.8 is the latest Version),but I think many of you will agree that the addition of MP3 Browsing in this firmware,outweighs the loss of the two new features (private folder & Auto shut-off) that the latest release 1.4.8 has..
Mp3 Browsing makes listening to music on the MG-35 much,much more useful and enjoyable,and has long be the "Holy Grail" of requested MG-35 Features.
We hope to be able to implement "Mp3 Browsing" into the 1.4.8 firmware at some future point.

Q:Just What is this MP3 Browsing feature,why is it such a Big deal?.

A:The Mp3 Browsing feature allows you to actually browse other directories within your MG-35 or network share , while a aduio file is already playing - this was just not possible within the stock 1.4.7 firmware.
With our firmware you also get the added benefits of a Super new GUI and also the Ac3 fix that allows you to hear the Ac3 audio contained
within Mpeg 2 video streams.

See the Youtube Video here..

http://www.youtube.com/teddystacker

YouTube seem to have speeded up the video for some reason , but I think users will get the general idea and get to see the New Gui , if they have not already done so..


Enjoy this new release,and as always we welcome your comments,questions,donations.

Regards to all

Teddy.

Thanks to the great efforts of Wizkidshaw,we bring you the MG-35 1.4.7 firmware,with the added feature of "MP3 Browsing" now fully implemented,along with the other 1.4.7 features of the New Royal Blue GUI and AC3 Audio fix.


That sounds great. Thanks to you and Wizkidshaw for your continuing efforts to support the firmware development.

I've been using the somewhat old, but most recent, developers' version of the firmware because that includes the SETNAS function which I find very helpful. Is that included in the new release? If not can I lobby for it to be included in future builds?

As an aside, I access all my files off a network share (hence my use of the SETNAS function) and have no hard disk installed in my MG-35. However, I recently installed a CF card in the MG-35 using an IDE/CF adapter. I use it to store the firmware updates which saves the risk of doing the updates over the network. Works well and only cost a few quid for the adapter and nothing for the spare CF card that was lying around unused.

TTFN

That sounds great. release? If not can I lobby for it to be included in future builds?

TTFN

@TTFN

Glad you are happy...

No developer functions are availble in this release.... BUT.... Keep your eyes open at the Yahoo Group/Rapidshare mirror for a 1.4.7 with the MP3 Browse,new Gui , Ac3 fix and Developer stuff inc SETNAS (if its possible todo)...


Did not have todo that much lobbying did you :-)

Regards

Teddy

TS, can you explain to me why you put the files in a rar package - and not a zip package, or just a few individual files? I really don't like using that winrar stuff.

I know it's familiar to developers, but XP supports ZIP by default, without any need for extra programs.

No real reason really,I guess I believe that rar is fast becoming the "standard" , with Zip fastly getting outdated...

The reason I "package" the releases , is so that they are "protected" from getting corrupt,but to also ensure that the read_me is included with each download - we have had instances before where people just dont d/l the read_me with the firmware file,and end up asking all the questions that the read_me provides the answers for..

Only takes a min or two to go to rarlabs and download winrar - I may consider making self extracting archives in future to save users the 2 mins that are involved in doing so - I will have a think about it.. If its really worth it..

Kind Regards

Teddy


TS, can you explain to me why you put the files in a rar package - and not a zip package, or just a few individual files? I really don't like using that winrar stuff.

I know it's familiar to developers, but XP supports ZIP by default, without any need for extra programs.

Thanks to the great efforts of Wizkidshaw,we bring you the MG-35 1.4.7 firmware,with the added feature of "MP3 Browsing" now fully implemented...

I say we promote Wizkidshaw to Supermanshaw;)

-Ian.

I see 1.4.9 has been released on the Altech website - finally officially fixes the AC3 problem, and apparently MP3 browsing (sort of).

-Ian.

It's great to see there is a MG-35 community :D


I love my MG-350 :D (had some problems first with the blue flashing light, brought it to the store and I immediatly got a new one ! great!

but atm I'm experiencing some problems.

1. I cannot update my firmware, I tried the official 1.4.7, 1.4.8 the modded 1.4.7 and 1.4.8 it always says upgrade failed. Anyone knows what my problem could be ?
2. when i'm in the setup menu, I cannot go back, i've tried every button, when I press setup again it says "folder is not existing, ....."

if anyone could solve my problems I would be grateful !

edit : okay I think i've solved the problem myself, its because I have a 350 right ? not the 35 ? Isn't there a modded firmware for the 350 then ?

Hi everyone,

I'm just surprised no one is commenting on the hang up problem after about 20mn while video or picture streaming from a VISTA computer ?

Am I the only one ? Could people with VISTA confirm this works ?

Cheers

@Hdr

Yes you are getting confused here , MG-35 firmware will never work on a 350 , there are certain checksums within the firmware to stop you doing this - good job really as the 35 firmware would have trashed your MG-350.

There is no un-official 350 firmware as yet , but a project has started to produce one - please think about making a small donation towards buying a "development box" if you would like to see this happen - more details at my Yahoo Group here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MG-350HD_Support/

Kind Regards

Teddy





It's great to see there is a MG-35 community :D


I love my MG-350 :D (had some problems first with the blue flashing light, brought it to the store and I immediatly got a new one ! great!

but atm I'm experiencing some problems.

1. I cannot update my firmware, I tried the official 1.4.7, 1.4.8 the modded 1.4.7 and 1.4.8 it always says upgrade failed. Anyone knows what my problem could be ?
2. when i'm in the setup menu, I cannot go back, i've tried every button, when I press setup again it says "folder is not existing, ....."

if anyone could solve my problems I would be grateful !

edit : okay I think i've solved the problem myself, its because I have a 350 right ? not the 35 ? Isn't there a modded firmware for the 350 then ?

Thanks for the news Ian , and we/they have you to thank for fixing the AC3 Bug - I know many are Very grateful..

Regards

Teddy


I see 1.4.9 has been released on the Altech website - finally officially fixes the AC3 problem, and apparently MP3 browsing (sort of).

-Ian.

Thanks to both Ian and Teddy for their efforts in getting the AC3 bug fixed. Glad to see AlTech was embarrassed into finally fixing it.

I've just tried the 1.4.8 and 1.4.9 releases, and then reverted back to the 1.4.4.5 alphha7 release I've been using. The reason, it can play the high-bit-rate ISO images over the LAN. None of the subsequent releases, official or unofficial, do the same.

In this post http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=11272350&postcount=3650
I gave a link to a 30 second ISO image that demonstrates the stuttering. It is pretty much unwatchable on any recent release.

I have a feeling that some compile option in the networking is different in more recent releases. Of course, since AlTech is not honoring the GPL, we can't find and fix the inefficiency easily. Perhaps they would prefer that their competitors products work better over the LAN then theirs? Who knows?

All I can say is I'd rather give up the AC3 fix you painstakingly worked on in .avi files to have stutter free DVD ISO images work over my LAN.

Perhaps you can get AlTech to download and check out the 30 second clip. It plays perfectly fine over the LAN on the 1.4.4.5 alpha7 version, but not on any subsequent release (official or otherwise) Oh yes, it works on the internal hard disk, even on recent versions, so I think the issue is in the network software they are using is compiled/configured.

Joe L.

In earlier releases prior to 1.4.7 I was unable to disconnect my PC from the network, without having to reset the MG-35 before restarting any of my computers. If just one PC was rebooted it meant rebooting all the other NDAS enabled computers, and the MM13x (Sweex version MG-35).

You should be able to convert those ISO disc images to another format.

So yes, something must have been changed in the networking facilities, but it is the better for it, in my view. Now I can boot and reboot NDAS enabled computers on my LAN at will, without having to go to the living room to reboot the media centre, and without disturbing any other computer.

In earlier releases prior to 1.4.7 I was unable to disconnect my PC from the network, without having to reset the MG-35 before restarting any of my computers. If just one PC was rebooted it meant rebooting all the other NDAS enabled computers, and the MM13x (Sweex version MG-35).
Good to see somebody has benefited from the newer releases.
You should be able to convert those ISO disc images to another format.
I have no intention of converting formats or compressing the ISO images. These same ISO images are played on my Home Theater PC on a 110" screen in my theater using daemon tools and Zoom player. Any loss of quality would be very apparent.

My MG-35s are for smaller HDTV displays in my Den and Bedroom. Harder to detect compression on their much smaller screens, even at 720p resolution, but they are not for critical viewing.
So yes, something must have been changed in the networking facilities, but it is the better for it, in my view. Now I can boot and reboot NDAS enabled computers on my LAN at will, without having to go to the living room to reboot the media centre, and without disturbing any other computer.I do not use NDAS... I don't have it enabled. No need when most of my content is on a LAN based server. It sounds like they have fixed a few bugs in NDAS that are more important to you than network throughput.

Thanks to both Ian and Teddy for their efforts in getting the AC3 bug fixed. Glad to see AlTech was embarrassed into finally fixing it.

I've just tried the 1.4.8 and 1.4.9 releases, and then reverted back to the 1.4.4.5 alphha7 release I've been using. The reason, it can play the high-bit-rate ISO images over the LAN. None of the subsequent releases, official or unofficial, do the same.

In this post http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=11272350&postcount=3650
I gave a link to a 30 second ISO image that demonstrates the stuttering. It is pretty much unwatchable on any recent release.

I have a feeling that some compile option in the networking is different in more recent releases. Of course, since AlTech is not honoring the GPL, we can't find and fix the inefficiency easily. Perhaps they would prefer that their competitors products work better over the LAN then theirs? Who knows?

All I can say is I'd rather give up the AC3 fix you painstakingly worked on in .avi files to have stutter free DVD ISO images work over my LAN.

Perhaps you can get AlTech to download and check out the 30 second clip. It plays perfectly fine over the LAN on the 1.4.4.5 alpha7 version, but not on any subsequent release (official or otherwise) Oh yes, it works on the internal hard disk, even on recent versions, so I think the issue is in the network software they are using is compiled/configured.

Joe L.
Hi JL,

Can you send me the 1.4.4.7 alpha 5 firmware? All the previous links to it seem to have expired.

RobAnt,

If what you say is true then the NDAS LAN reboot fix came at the expense of reducing the efficiency of the LAN transport layer, which is a bad trade off in my opinion. Part of the reason for network media players is the versitility and expandability of storage -- the inability to play via wired network storage reliability should be a top-of the list fix item for them.

Here is a link to the 1.4.4.5 alpha7 release. (http://70.47.147.175/downloads/MG35-1.4.4.5-alpha7.zip)

I seem to remember it was pulled from general distribution as the one of the developer features in the built-in web-interface crashed and bricked somebody's MG-35. (a screen capture that apparently worked on an earlier developer release is broken)

I strongly suggest you not play with the web-interface unless you are prepared to de-brick your player.

All that said, I've not had any issues with playing DVD ISO images. It does play the sample ISO I posted without stuttering.

Included in the release were two different images, with two different color schemes. They are otherwise identical. I prefer the royal blue rather than thhe sky blue.

You are on your own in using any of the unofficial versions... I will not be able to help if you brick your unit flashing any firmware release. I have flashed the 1.4.4.5 alpha7 royal blue image about a dozen times as I experimented with throughput, so I know it has worked consistently for me as an upgrade file.

Joe L.

JL Thanks.

I had been using the 1.4.4 stock from the Al Tech website. I presume the 1.4.4.5 alpha is the one with custom GUI and no other enhancement from 1.4.4 stock?

JL Thanks.

I had been using the 1.4.4 stock from the Al Tech website. I presume the 1.4.4.5 alpha is the one with custom GUI and no other enhancement from 1.4.4 stock?Actually, 1.4.4.5-alpha7 is the full developer version. It has a telnet server, an ftp server, a web-server with a sample cgi script to list the firmware version, utilities to read and write to the flash memory (if you know what you are doing). It also has a two phase start-up script so you can replace any of the executables and experiment using folders on your hard-disk. (if you have better ones, of course) Again, I ,must warn you that the screen-capture crashes my MG-35, and somehow managed to brick one user's MG-35. I would not use that screen capture link in the web-interface if I was you.

I've not done much other than to telnet in and look around. The ftp is only usable if you have a FAT file system and even then, you have to telnet in and re-mount the FAT partition as read/write. It normally is read-only. Unfortunately, ftp speed was not much better than NDAS speed, so it did not get much use. I partitioned my disks with a large NTFS file system and a small FAT file system so I could use ftp for small file uploads. The file browser on the MG-35 shows them as partition1 and partition2.

You will need to read way back in this thread to see everything 1.4.4.5-alpha7 had to offer.

As far as network performance...
I just confirmed by loading the stock AlTech 1.4.4 upgrade software that it did play my sample DVD ISO over the LAN just fine. I then loaded the stock 1.4.5 upgrade and it stuttered badly playing the same file over the LAN.

The network inefficiency started with version 1.4.5 and it has been bad ever since. This is very interesting as NDAS capability was added in 1.4.4.

I've just now re-flashed back to the unofficial 1.4.4.5-alpha7... I like the color scheme way better than the stock upgrade, and...just like the official 1.4.4 upgrade, it can play the ISO images over the LAN without stuttering.

Joe L.

fifi2004



Well, do you think it could be possible to use GB-PVR with MG-35?

for what it's worth:

I record my TV programmes using GBPVR using the Cyperlink BDA multiplexer to save mpg files onto the PC drive. I then share the drive over the network using the MG35 to view the files. You can simultaneously view the files as they are recording so you get some form of "pause live tv". of course you have no control of GBPVR from the MG35.

I first set this up using an internal hard drive in the MG35 and got GPBPVR to save the files direct to the drive using NDAS. It had sufficient bandwidth for this but I found the connection too unreliable to trust - I lost a lot of recordings. Also, NDAS was too slow to do any useful copying or editing of files on the MG35. Hence I changed to the local PC drive.

TTFN

I just confirmed by loading the stock AlTech 1.4.4 upgrade software that it did play my sample DVD ISO over the LAN just fine. I then loaded the stock 1.4.5 upgrade and it stuttered badly playing the same file over the LAN.
I just verified this, as well.

My wife bought the "Happy Feet" DVD, and I copied an ISO onto my NAS (Synology CS406). The dance scene called "Boogy Wonderland" stuttered horribly when all of the penguins were dancing (high bit rate with all of that moving black-on-white, I assume). It was totally repeatable, for those who have access to that DVD.

One at a time, I rolled back the firmware. The problem was identical from 1.4.8 back to 1.4.5, and then almost disappeared with 1.4.4. There was still a hint of stuttering at the worst spot.

There are two D-Link gigabit switches between the MG35 and the NAS. I will try to move the MG35 one switch closer to see if that changes anything (the switches use a 'store-and-forward' algorithm). I will also try ripping to a .VOB, in case it is an .ISO problem.

Here is a link to the 1.4.4.5 alpha7 release. (http://70.47.147.175/downloads/MG35-1.4.4.5-alpha7.zip)

I seem to remember it was pulled from general distribution as the one of the developer features in the built-in web-interface crashed and bricked somebody's MG-35. (a screen capture that apparently worked on an earlier developer release is broken)

I strongly suggest you not play with the web-interface unless you are prepared to de-brick your player.

All that said, I've not had any issues with playing DVD ISO images. It does play the sample ISO I posted without stuttering.

Included in the release were two different images, with two different color schemes. They are otherwise identical. I prefer the royal blue rather than thhe sky blue.

You are on your own in using any of the unofficial versions... I will not be able to help if you brick your unit flashing any firmware release. I have flashed the 1.4.4.5 alpha7 royal blue image about a dozen times as I experimented with throughput, so I know it has worked consistently for me as an upgrade file.

Joe L.
Hi JL,

Thanks for the link but the archive does not appear valid and is corrupted according to WinZip. Tried several times.

Can you verify? Thanks.

JL nevermind. It works. I had to use FLASHGET to get it...strange.

I just verified this, as well.

My wife bought the "Happy Feet" DVD, and I copied an ISO onto my NAS (Synology CS406). The dance scene called "Boogy Wonderland" stuttered horribly when all of the penguins were dancing (high bit rate with all of that moving black-on-white, I assume). It was totally repeatable, for those who have access to that DVD.

One at a time, I rolled back the firmware. The problem was identical from 1.4.8 back to 1.4.5, and then almost disappeared with 1.4.4. There was still a hint of stuttering at the worst spot.

There are two D-Link gigabit switches between the MG35 and the NAS. I will try to move the MG35 one switch closer to see if that changes anything (the switches use a 'store-and-forward' algorithm). I will also try ripping to a .VOB, in case it is an .ISO problem.

I just worked on making some new upgrades that used different stuff from the 1.4.4.5 version of the firmware, and I DID come up with a combination that stopped studdering, BUT.........the fix is to use the dvdplayer.bin from the 1.4.4.5 version, which doesn't gain us anything as ALL of the newer features that have been included in the 1.4.7, 1.4.8, and 1.4.9 versions of firmware are IN the dvdplayer.bin.

This is plainly a BUG that al-tech has introduced in dvdplayer.bin since 1.4.4.

Hopefully we can find someone who can reverse engineer dvdplayer.bin and find out what is wrong.

hope this helps,

-shawjo

Hi JL,

Thanks for the link but the archive does not appear valid and is corrupted according to WinZip. Tried several times.

Can you verify? Thanks.Try it now... FileZilla probably did not autodetect the binary contents the first time I uploaded it to the server

I re-uploaded to the server and this time specifically set 'binary mode" I then downloaded it and opened it via Winnzip. You should be good to go.

JL nevermind. It works. I had to use FLASHGET to get it...strange.Not too strange, I had just finished re-uploading it. :D
It could have been you downloading in text mode, or the original upload not autodetecting binary mode, but in any case, glad you got the file.

Hi everyone,

I'm just surprised no one is commenting on the hang up problem after about 20mn while video or picture streaming from a VISTA computer ?

Am I the only one ? Could people with VISTA confirm this works ?

Cheers

Up please, I'am getting desperate ??

This is plainly a BUG that al-tech has introduced in dvdplayer.bin since 1.4.4.
Yes. The stock 1.4.5 has the problem and the stock 1.4.4 does not.

More information, though it may only apply to my test file (a scene from "Happy Feet"):

With AlTech version 1.4.5, the .ISO has the stuttering problem, but the .VOB ripped from that .ISO does not.

The .ISO was a backup of the DVD, created by DVD Shrink 3.2 onto the NAS. The .VOB was then ripped from the .ISO with DVD Shrink into a sub-folder of the .ISO's folder (called "rip"). If I play the .VOB, either directly or through the .IFO, I don't get any stuttering. If I go back to the .ISO, it stutters horribly.

I'm somewhat perplexed. Do any others see the symptoms like this? Does this make any sense?

Yes. The stock 1.4.5 has the problem and the stock 1.4.4 does not.

More information, though it may only apply to my test file (a scene from "Happy Feet"):

With AlTech version 1.4.5, the .ISO has the stuttering problem, but the .VOB ripped from that .ISO does not.

The .ISO was a backup of the DVD, created by DVD Shrink 3.2 onto the NAS. The .VOB was then ripped from the .ISO with DVD Shrink into a sub-folder of the .ISO's folder (called "rip"). If I play the .VOB, either directly or through the .IFO, I don't get any stuttering. If I go back to the .ISO, it stutters horribly.

I'm somewhat perplexed. Do any others see the symptoms like this? Does this make any sense?It makes some sense, since the ISO is mounted as if it were a file system and then the .VOB within it read. That adds overhead.

I just checked by logging in via telnet while a DVD ISO image is playing. This is what I saw:
BusyBox v1.2.0 (2006.08.28-07:47+0000) Built-in shell (lash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

/ # mount
/dev/root on / type cramfs (ro)
none on /dev type devfs (rw)
ramfs on /phase2 type ramfs (rw)
ramfs on /var type ramfs (rw)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,nosuid)
ramfs on /hosts type ramfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
ramfs on /net type ramfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
ramfs on /usb type ramfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
ramfs on /cdrom type ramfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
/dev/discs/disc0/part2 on /cdrom/Partition2 type vfat (ro,nosuid,nodev)
/dev/discs/disc0/part1 on /cdrom/Partition1 type ntfs (ro,noatime,nodiratime,nos
uid,nodev,uid=0,gid=0,fmask=0177,dmask=077,nls=default,error s=continue,mft_zone_
multiplier=1)
none on /net/TOWER/Movies type smbfs (ro)
/dev/loop/0 on /iso type iso9660 (ro)
/ # ls -l /iso
dr-xr-xr-x 1 0 0 2048 Jan 13 2007 audio_ts
dr-xr-xr-x 1 0 0 2048 Jan 13 2007 video_ts
/ #
The actual inefficiency might be a combination of issues, together they are unable to cope at high bit-rates. I can see from above that the loop-back device is involved, as is the iso9660 driver, when playing an ISO image. We know the 1.4.4 dvdplayer.bin works better than the 1.4.5 and subsequent players. It might just be additional inefficiency in a change to dvdplayer.bin Al-Tech introduced in 1.4.5 that causes the stuttering.

Playing the VOB directly results in one less process being involved, so the overall efficiency is enough to not stutter. In other words, it is barely able to keep up in 1.4.4, the additional code they added in 1.4.5 pushed it over the edge. (apparently it is not far from stuttering, even in 1.4.4)

Joe L.

just had a little question :

would it be better (and little bit faster) to increase the cluster size on the hd in the mg-35(0) ?

just had a little question :

would it be better (and little bit faster) to increase the cluster size on the hd in the mg-35(0) ?Don't know... I've never had any difficulty playing an ISO image off the internal HD on my MG-35. I never tried changing cluster size.

Joe L.

I would go faster I guess, increasing it.

maybe the heat will be lower too ? It's a lot less work for a hard drive then

I would go faster I guess, increasing it.

maybe the heat will be lower too ? It's a lot less work for a hard drive thenMany of today's hard disks read ahead and buffer the cylinder under the read head. My pattern of usage would be very easy on a disk, as there is very little random seeking involved, it is almost all linear access as a movie is playing.

Thanks again to the talents of "Wizkidshaw" , we bring you:

The Stock MG-35 1.4.9 Firmware with the New Royal Blue GUI Added..

1.4.9 Was a Great update by Al Tech as they brought you "Mp3 Browsing" - The ability to browse your drive , as a song is actually playing..

As always,this firmware has been tested prior to release,and is totally safe to use..

Please feel free to leave comments or even a small donation , if you have not already done so..

As usual the file is availble in the files section at the Yahoo group or at the Rapidshare mirror..

http://rapidshare.com/users/Q0O9VG

A version with "Developer" functions added will be released as soon as testing on it has been done.

Regards To all Teddy

I just verified this, as well.

My wife bought the "Happy Feet" DVD, and I copied an ISO onto my NAS (Synology CS406). The dance scene called "Boogy Wonderland" stuttered horribly when all of the penguins were dancing (high bit rate with all of that moving black-on-white, I assume). It was totally repeatable, for those who have access to that DVD.

One at a time, I rolled back the firmware. The problem was identical from 1.4.8 back to 1.4.5, and then almost disappeared with 1.4.4. There was still a hint of stuttering at the worst spot.You have basically confirmed what I found.

I looked at the release notes for 1.4.5 and AlTech added the "repeat mode"
- Repeat mode

This mode allows a user to play all files in all folders and subfolders under the current directory path in a continuous loop.

I know that "repeat mode" should be code that is executing between files being played, and not when they are playing. I think the release notes are not telling the whole story... something else might have also been changed.

Perhaps a disassembly of the two versions of dvdplayer.bin (1.4.4 vs. 1.4.5) and a comparison of the differences would give us a clue as to what else was changed and might be causing the inefficiency in 1.4.5 and subsequent releases.

Joe L.

Until the stuttering issue during high-bitrate network ISO playback is resolved, I'd be more than happy to contribute if WizShaw can add the MP3 browsing during playback to version 1.4.4.5 for those of us who refuse to move to versions that have known playback issues.

Hi everyone,

I'm just surprised no one is commenting on the hang up problem after about 20mn while video or picture streaming from a VISTA computer ?

Am I the only one ? Could people with VISTA confirm this works ?

Cheers

I can stream video fine from my Windows XP server, but when I try to stream video from my Vista box, it just disconnects after a few minutes...

Until the stuttering issue during high-bitrate network ISO playback is resolved, I'd be more than happy to contribute if WizShaw can add the MP3 browsing during playback to version 1.4.4.5 for those of us who refuse to move to versions that have known playback issues.

@Yahoo - Think you may be opening ya pockets soon...

Go here..

http://www.airlinktek.com/english/e_atboard.php?section1=e_qna&section2=mediagate


Read post #1148

Jeff is "THE GUY" at AL Tech and gets things done - I have sent him the sample .iso and also a very detailed read me file..

As you can see I an many others are working very hard to fix this issue for everyone..
Will post more info as I get it...

Kind Regards to all..

Teddy

I can stream video fine from my Windows XP server, but when I try to stream video from my Vista box, it just disconnects after a few minutes...

Thanks DARTWORTH, at least now I know I'm not he only one .

So people, any clue ? What's the cure ?

Cheers

Thanks DARTWORTH, at least now I know I'm not he only one .

So people, any clue ? What's the cure ?

Cheers

1) Go back to XP , for the moment Vista is just not too good inho , the other day, I reformatted a "Vista Laptop" with XP , I saw a 42% performance increase in most aspects , I was amazed! - for the moment its not getting installed on any of my machines,as i dont want to loose that 42%.

2)Although the above is true , I understand it may not be a thing many people want todo - so may i suggest you write out a VERY detailed report of the issue and very nicely as them at the Al Tech Q and A Forums if they know a answer - i have been doing this myself for many months now and we are starting to see results on many 35 issues..
The more people that write on the same issue ,the more chance we have of getting things done..

Forum located here:

http://www.airlinktek.com/english/e_atboard.php?section1=e_qna&section2=mediagate

Regards to all

Teddy

Thanks Teddy, I will.

Cheers

Hi Guys,

I,m rather new here so I hope I can ask you guys for assistance with a problem where I dealing with for quite some time now.
I bought recently a mg 350.
I tried for severall days to play a DVD from my network drive. (LAN-DISK based upon a linux server).
The problem lies within the VIDEO_TS.ifo file.
When i want to open this file (wireless), the screen goes on black.
I do can play the several VOB files from this drive. Also all other media is no problem.
When I access the same ifo file on the local harddrive or the attached USB drive the DVD plays perfectly.
I tried also with FTD protocol, but the same results.
When I access this ifo file on the lan-drive with my laptop (also wireless) there's no problem.
When I access this ifo file on my laptop with the media player there's also no problem.

The problem seems only to occur between the network drive and the media player but i am unable to fix this.
Maybe there's a solution or some ideas how to fix this problem.
Thanks in advance.

Kind Greetings,

Paul (NL)

Thanks DARTWORTH, at least now I know I'm not he only one .

So people, any clue ? What's the cure ?

Cheers

Right now the only fix is to use XP...:(

I've been using the 1.4.2 Firmware on my MG-35 for a long time and it worked great except that on DVDs that I created the sound would have problems occasionally and I would have to Pause and then start again to fix the problem. Based on the principle "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" I never bothered to upgrade the Firmware. However, yesterday I decided to try 1.4.9 in the hope that it would fix the sound problem mentioned above. This did not work at all for me. I first tried it on one of my own DVDs. The menu worked and had sound, but when I tried to start a video I got no sound at all. I then tried a ripped commercial DVD and the player just froze (on an ordinary .IFO file). Has 1.4.9 worked for any of you? Any ideas what my problem might be? I'm now back to 1.4.2 and fortunately everything seems to be as it was before.

@MKA

Umm this is interesting for sure,as we have had no other reports of this..
I just tried it with several Iso's O have on my server atm and all seems fine , I am using Analog audio..

I am wondering if the is something screwed in your audio Setup somehow , being as you are going from a very old firmware , right up to a newer one..

Somthing you may like to try..

1)Download the latest 1.4.9 from Al Techs site , dont use our "new Gui 1.4.9",as it does not have the boot loader in it , which has INDEED changed since 1.4.2 (should not make any difference,but if you start with a "clean" copy that it rules that out..)

2)Next do a "Factory Reset" - This resets the part of the 35's memory where your audio settings are stored and where they may be some error..
3)Reboot and setup your audio in the setup menu..

Try this reset procedure...

For the factory reset,
Go to the Setup page=> press [Stop]->[Play/Pause]->[Stop]->[Play/Pause]->[MediaType]->[MainPage].

If you can not see the screen, then
Press [Setup]->[Stop]->[Play/Pause]->[Stop]->[Play/Pause]->[MediaType]->[MainPage]->[Left Arrow]
->[OK].

Let us know if this does the trick , if not please let us know your audio settings , type of sound on the dvds you are having the problems with etc etc - would be nice to try and track this one down.

kind Regards

Teddy




I've been using the 1.4.2 Firmware on my MG-35 for a long time and it worked great except that on DVDs that I created the sound would have problems occasionally and I would have to Pause and then start again to fix the problem. Based on the principle "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" I never bothered to upgrade the Firmware. However, yesterday I decided to try 1.4.9 in the hope that it would fix the sound problem mentioned above. This did not work at all for me. I first tried it on one of my own DVDs. The menu worked and had sound, but when I tried to start a video I got no sound at all. I then tried a ripped commercial DVD and the player just froze (on an ordinary .IFO file). Has 1.4.9 worked for any of you? Any ideas what my problem might be? I'm now back to 1.4.2 and fortunately everything seems to be as it was before.

Hello, got a few questions about the MG35. Some of them might have been answered, but at 124 pages it might be a tad bit hard to find the answers in this thread. :D

-- How many MG35s can you have running from one network? Id like to be able to have a few of them streaming from one PC.
-- I experimented with Hauppauge, but had a problem with the movies being streamed being too red. Does the MG35 have a good picture quality? Is it in anyway adjustable?
-- Does it have an internet radio feature?
-- From what I have read about the MG35, it seems that it has a problem with network utilization. Any truth to that?

Id also like to know if anyone has had any success in a project similar to mine.

Thanks

I'll give you my experience and setup. I have 7 MG-35s on my home network. 2 are connected directly to a router, and 5 are connected to Buffalo Ethernet Converters for a wireless connection via Access Points (APs). I use the Buffalo ECs with Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 Routers set as APs, that way I get their full speed "125 Turbo" mode. There are no hard drives in any of the MG-35s - NDAS is slow, and useless (to me). There are 6 different "movie servers" on the network. Some with with DVD .ifo/.vob files, and others with .avi/.mpg files, even some .iso too. All stream perfectly (wired or wireless) and high quality - I have no HiDef TVs. Depending on the server's capability I can stream 2 different movies from the same server at the same time. I cannot stream the same movie/file to different TVs at the same time (well, I can but with choppy results). QOS is off in all Network Properties. I also successfully used "Frame Bursting" for wireless connections before I had the Buffalo "125 Turbo" speed. The MG-35 has no Internet Radio. Hope this helps.

I'll give you my experience and setup. I have 7 MG-35s on my home network. 2 are connected directly to a router, and 5 are connected to Buffalo Ethernet Converters for a wireless connection via Access Points (APs). I use the Buffalo ECs with Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 Routers set as APs, that way I get their full speed "125 Turbo" mode. There are no hard drives in any of the MG-35s - NDAS is slow, and useless (to me). There are 6 different "movie servers" on the network. Some with with DVD .ifo/.vob files, and others with .avi/.mpg files, even some .iso too. All stream perfectly (wired or wireless) and high quality - I have no HiDef TVs. Depending on the server's capability I can stream 2 different movies from the same server at the same time. I cannot stream the same movie/file to different TVs at the same time (well, I can but with choppy results). QOS is off in all Network Properties. I also successfully used "Frame Bursting" for wireless connections before I had the Buffalo "125 Turbo" speed. The MG-35 has no Internet Radio. Hope this helps.
are you using the original buffalo firmware? if i understand correctly you no longer use frame bursting mode or frame bursting does not work with 125G mode?

Yes, still using the latest (original) Buffalo firmware ... absolute solid performer - no reboots in almost 2 years. If you mix vendors (eg: Buffalo with Belkin, or D-Link) the "Turbo 125" mode is disabled automatically, it can only be active when all components accessing the AP are Buffalo. If not all Buffalo, you get a solid 54g, and can then select "Frame Bursting". The pure Buffalo to Buffalo wireless environment with Turbo 125 is really the way to go ... especially since you get 3 other 100mb ports off of the Ethernet Converter to connect other network components.

Teddy,

I haven't had time to retry Firmware 1.4.9, but fyi my homemade DVDs were created by the Roxio Easy Media Creator program. The GSpot program says that the VOBs are

video: mpeg-2, bitrate 10080kb/s, 720x480
audio: AC3, 48000hz

Max

If you would like to upload a small sample to www.rapidshare.com (its free) , I will gladly test it..

regards

Teddy



Teddy,

I haven't had time to retry Firmware 1.4.9, but fyi my homemade DVDs were created by the Roxio Easy Media Creator program. The GSpot program says that the VOBs are

video: mpeg-2, bitrate 10080kb/s, 720x480
audio: AC3, 48000hz

Max

Realy nobody any suggestions??:(


Hi Guys,

I,m rather new here so I hope I can ask you guys for assistance with a problem where I dealing with for quite some time now.
I bought recently a mg 350.
I tried for severall days to play a DVD from my network drive. (LAN-DISK based upon a linux server).
The problem lies within the VIDEO_TS.ifo file.
When i want to open this file (wireless), the screen goes on black.
I do can play the several VOB files from this drive. Also all other media is no problem.
When I access the same ifo file on the local harddrive or the attached USB drive the DVD plays perfectly.
I tried also with FTD protocol, but the same results.
When I access this ifo file on the lan-drive with my laptop (also wireless) there's no problem.
When I access this ifo file on my laptop with the media player there's also no problem.

The problem seems only to occur between the network drive and the media player but i am unable to fix this.
Maybe there's a solution or some ideas how to fix this problem.
Thanks in advance.

Kind Greetings,

Paul (NL)

You did notice this is an MG-35 thread, right? Perhaps if you posted in the MG-350 thread, you'd get more responses?Realy nobody any suggestions??:(


Hi Guys,

I,m rather new here so I hope I can ask you guys for assistance with a problem where I dealing with for quite some time now.
I bought recently a mg 350.

...snip...

Kind Greetings,

Paul (NL)

TS, can you explain to me why you put the files in a rar package - and not a zip package, or just a few individual files? I really don't like using that winrar stuff.

I know it's familiar to developers, but XP supports ZIP by default, without any need for extra programs.You can download IZARC, it's a free package that supports ZIP and RAR files.

Hi Grumpa,

By any chance , are you running on VISTA ? I can't get mine to stream properly after upgrading to VISTA.

Cheers


I'll give you my experience and setup. I have 7 MG-35s on my home network. 2 are connected directly to a router, and 5 are connected to Buffalo Ethernet Converters for a wireless connection via Access Points (APs). I use the Buffalo ECs with Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 Routers set as APs, that way I get their full speed "125 Turbo" mode. There are no hard drives in any of the MG-35s - NDAS is slow, and useless (to me). There are 6 different "movie servers" on the network. Some with with DVD .ifo/.vob files, and others with .avi/.mpg files, even some .iso too. All stream perfectly (wired or wireless) and high quality - I have no HiDef TVs. Depending on the server's capability I can stream 2 different movies from the same server at the same time. I cannot stream the same movie/file to different TVs at the same time (well, I can but with choppy results). QOS is off in all Network Properties. I also successfully used "Frame Bursting" for wireless connections before I had the Buffalo "125 Turbo" speed. The MG-35 has no Internet Radio. Hope this helps.

Hi Grumpa,

By any chance , are you running on VISTA ? I can't get mine to stream properly after upgrading to VISTA.

Cheers
No to Vista ... I plan to stay far away from Vista until I see a reason to do otherwise. As you are seeing too many "unforced errors" and operational penalties to leave XP.

Teddy,

I tried Firmware 1.4.9 again last night. Installed it and did the factory reset you suggested. When I tried a ripped commercial DVD, it froze at the initial picture (actually I think it moved at about 1 frame/minute). There was no sound. The remote was still active, so I was able to stop the movie. My setup:

hardwired to my Infrant ReadyNAS
video: component to my Sony VPL-50 projector
MG-35 set to HD 1080i
audio: coaxial to my receiver
MG-35 set to digital

I've gone back to Firmware 1.4.2 and won't play with 1.4.9 anymore. After all, I was happy with 1.4.2 and did not expect any new useful (for me) features in 1.4.9. Why should I risk messing things up for no gain? I've been keeping my eye on the development of HD media players and expect to get one of those by the end of this year, at which point I will retire my MG-35.

By the way, the sound on the DVDs that I created was ok in analog mode. The problem arose in digital mode.

Thanks for your willingness to help anyway.

Max

FWIW, I just installed the 1.4.9 updated firmware with the new GUI, and it played a commercial ripped DVD just fine. This happened to be the individual files, not an ISO image.

1.4.9 with new GUI looks very good.

Question: for the background images, am I limited to 720x480?
I tried 1366x768, but no luck. I am trying to get a decent picture as background in widescreen. TV is 720p. What other resolutions can I save my pictures at?

720x405 also works, seems to look better (scaled down from 1366x768 maintaining aspect ratio).


Thanks.

@cacat

Thanks for you comments on the GUI - as you say much better than the "Battleship Gray" Al Tech Offering

Ref background - Umm really cant comment on this as I only have SD gear myself - wife wont let me spend the money for a HD TV yet :-)


If you find out the answer to this via trial and error , I would be grateful if you could post the results here , for others that will ask in the future...

Thanks and kind regards

Teddy


1.4.9 with new GUI looks very good.

Question: for the background images, am I limited to 720x480?
I tried 1366x768, but no luck. I am trying to get a decent picture as background in widescreen. TV is 720p. What other resolutions can I save my pictures at?

720x405 also works, seems to look better (scaled down from 1366x768 maintaining aspect ratio).


Thanks.

Hi, I just bought a MG-35 n came with the latest firmware. I have a 500GB hard disk with me before formatted in NTFS. I had been having trouble with my hard disk because I have one XP Pro laptop and one XP home laptop. so the hard disk couldn't be detected on the XP home.

anyway, i tried to transfer some files from the hard disk in an external enclosure last time n it worked for a while. then after that the hard disk couldn't be detected. so now when i go to activate the hard disk which is connected via USB, it says Online (Errors)... Healthy at Risk. I can see the hard disk in My Computer but there is no info on the size. When I double click it, it's just empty. I tried using Hard Disk Recovery Programs but I can't do anything to rescue the data from the disk.

Now the funny thing is when i hook up that hard disk to the MG35 and then hook it to the tv, i can see all the files in there! i can even play some of the videos in there!! what is going on?

now my concern is i want to get the data out and burnt onto a CD. so far i can't get the data out when i connect the hard disk to my laptop via USB or firewire.

do u think if i connected a cross cable between the MG35 and my laptop, i could then be able to see the files and transfer them to the laptop? any body know what's wrong?

@madeinmsia

Welcome...

I will do my best to help here and debug this for you..

Question: Have you checked that the Jumper on the hard disk within the MG is set to either MASTER or SINGLE? - almost always in these types of issues,they are either related to the jumper on the hard disk,The USB Cable,the USB Port on the computer or lastly the actual hard disk itself - all we have todo is find out which this is - This will NOT be a firmware related issue,as on the MG the firmware DOES NOT control the USB functions,as these are done totally in hardware.

Regards

Teddy

@cacat

Thanks for you comments on the GUI - as you say much better than the "Battleship Gray" Al Tech Offering

Ref background - Umm really cant comment on this as I only have SD gear myself - wife wont let me spend the money for a HD TV yet :-)


If you find out the answer to this via trial and error , I would be grateful if you could post the results here , for others that will ask in the future...

Thanks and kind regards

Teddy


Hello,
The best result was 1366x768, which is the standard resolution for 720p (wide screen).
Please remember that this is not a standard that you can come to simply maintaining the ratio from 800x600, 10224x768, 1600x1200.
For best quality, always resize from a bigger resolution. My original pic was 2816x2112, jpg format. I resized to 1366x1025 (maintain ratio) and then simply adjusted canvas size to 1366x768 (simply cut my border on the bottom). The quality is great, I am next testing higher resolutions to see the results.
I used Paint.net version 3.10

So max 720x480 for image size on MT-35 is bull. I was able to go higher, a lot higher. It looks awesome 1366x768 and I magine that you wont get the same results on 4:3.

@cacat

Many thanks for you tests and reporting here...

I am sure alot of people with HD display gear will be really interested in this...

Kind Regards,

Teddy

I was able to load a pic 4.5 mb in size; 2732x1536 (double 1366x768).
I do not really see any difference between 1366 and 2732.
However, I tend to believe that as long as you keep the ration 1366x768 up or down, it should work. I will do no further testing as 1366x768 (1x1 pixels) seems to be good enough; Mediagate's picture rendering is not great anyway.
Here are 3 examples, tested on my MG-35; if you want to get them, just right-click, Save As. Please note that these are for wide screen TV, 16:9. I do not think these work on regular 4:3.
These are 1366x768, scaled from 3880x2608. I have not spent much time with them, for sure you can do better. They look good enough on LCD for me. Maybe someday I will give it another try to improve the quality, but for now, the beer and the movie have priority.

http://www.xclouds.com/local/mg35/mybg1.jpg

http://www.xclouds.com/local/mg35/mybg2.jpg

http://www.xclouds.com/local/mg35/mybg3.jpg

teddystacker, feel free to upload them to the yahoo group if you like them or if you think they are useful; let me know if you need more info.

Enjoy.

I'm on a LimHD200i, which uses Linux 2.4.22-uc0-sigma, and armutils 2.5.178.0 which seems to be nearly identical to MG. May I ask if any of you have Dropbear compiled for it? I was hoping not to have to cross-compile gcc etc :)

@cacat

Many thanks for all you efforts here , I wqil indeed upload your background to my Group at some point..

Thanks again

Teddy


I was able to load a pic 4.5 mb in size; 2732x1536 (double 1366x768).
I do not really see any difference between 1366 and 2732.
However, I tend to believe that as long as you keep the ration 1366x768 up or down, it should work. I will do no further testing as 1366x768 (1x1 pixels) seems to be good enough; Mediagate's picture rendering is not great anyway.
Here are 3 examples, tested on my MG-35; if you want to get them, just right-click, Save As. Please note that these are for wide screen TV, 16:9. I do not think these work on regular 4:3.
These are 1366x768, scaled from 3880x2608. I have not spent much time with them, for sure you can do better. They look good enough on LCD for me. Maybe someday I will give it another try to improve the quality, but for now, the beer and the movie have priority.

http://www.xclouds.com/local/mg35/mybg1.jpg

http://www.xclouds.com/local/mg35/mybg2.jpg

http://www.xclouds.com/local/mg35/mybg3.jpg

teddystacker, feel free to upload them to the yahoo group if you like them or if you think they are useful; let me know if you need more info.

Enjoy.

@lundman

The two units use a VERY similar OS (most of the units do that are based on this Sigma chip) , but the hardware on the units is quite different..

I am not really the Technical person (in regarding to firmware mods ) but all the info we have has been posted at the MG-35 Wiki , located here..

http://mediagate.pbwiki.com/

I am pretty sure the item you want we do not have..

Sorry I cannot help more

Kind Regards

Teddy

I'm on a LimHD200i, which uses Linux 2.4.22-uc0-sigma, and armutils 2.5.178.0 which seems to be nearly identical to MG. May I ask if any of you have Dropbear compiled for it? I was hoping not to have to cross-compile gcc etc :)

Well for dropbear the hardware differences wont matter as it only links agains the kernel, and libc. Nice wiki with plenty information, but I see no pre-made binaries, which was what I was hoping for. Anyway, I got the arm-elf package listed on there.


Bummer, using arm-elf-tools-20030314.sh from the wiki, compiled dropbear:

dropbear: BFLT executable - version 4 ram

compared to the firmware's:

busybox: BFLT executable - version 4 ram

Not very informative.. doesn't even say if it is the same endianness.

But it does not start, and since I'm flying blind it could be anything.

Oh well, sorry for polluting your thread people.

@Lundman

No problem , you did not pollute anything , as we are always willing to help anyone we can..

Sorry we did have what you were seeking mate,

kind Regards

Teddy

hi Teddy

I recently bought a new MG35 and installed your MG-35 *New August 2007* 1.4.9 NEW GUI Firmware: which looks great by the way... 90% of files will play but I have never been able to play any AVI files with AC3 sound... I can play Xvid and some Divx so I have tried converting the problem AC3 files to MP3 sound but to no avail... I have used Divx Pro and SUPER and WinAVI.Video.Converter.7.7 and WinAVI.Video.Converter.8 without anyluck...

I use Gspot to see what codec is in the AVI but it seems to me once I have a problem AC3 file no matter how many differant ways I convert it - it always stays a problem...

I wish there was a way to convert to an AVI with one codec and MP3 sound that WILL play on my MG35? Is there a standard I should follow?

Also I cannot play DVD VOB files... How can I convert VOB and or AVI to ISO files? Perhaps these will play ? Please dont make me go back to buying DVDs...

Hmm actually something else may be the issue. I compiled my own listen,accept,fork, dup2 and system() and I can connect to it, and send data, but the spawning do not work. Maybe system() isn't supported. So it could be dropbear did not work as there are other issues, like /dev/ do not have any ttys entries. But at least I can get my code on there, so I will find a way in.

Hmm actually something else may be the issue. I compiled my own listen,accept,fork, dup2 and system() and I can connect to it, and send data, but the spawning do not work. Maybe system() isn't supported. So it could be dropbear did not work as there are other issues, like /dev/ do not have any ttys entries. But at least I can get my code on there, so I will find a way in.Pretty sure ucLinux (as used in the MG-35) does not support "fork" but instead uses "vfork," a special version of fork where the parent process is halted while the child process continues. Don't think system() is supported because it needs fork()

Joe L.

@madeinmsia

Welcome...

I will do my best to help here and debug this for you..

Question: Have you checked that the Jumper on the hard disk within the MG is set to either MASTER or SINGLE? - almost always in these types of issues,they are either related to the jumper on the hard disk,The USB Cable,the USB Port on the computer or lastly the actual hard disk itself - all we have todo is find out which this is - This will NOT be a firmware related issue,as on the MG the firmware DOES NOT control the USB functions,as these are done totally in hardware.

Regards

Teddy

I tried changing to Master, Slave and Cable Select. All the same. Only for Master it doesn't see the hard disk at all.

I have a feeling there's something wrong wtih the hard disk. the only think i don't understand is it works fine when connected to tv. but when the device is connected to the laptop, i can't transfer any data. in computer management, it sees it as a dynamic disk but with online errors.

I tried changing to Master, Slave and Cable Select. All the same. Only for Master it doesn't see the hard disk at all.

I have a feeling there's something wrong wtih the hard disk. the only think i don't understand is it works fine when connected to tv. but when the device is connected to the laptop, i can't transfer any data. in computer management, it sees it as a dynamic disk but with online errors.

Have you tried removing the jumper completely and not setting it to anything? That is what I had to do.

jkurlanski has a good point also try removing the jumper..

But...

Please also check you have the hard disk formatted in this manner:

NTFS
Single PRIMARY Partition (Not Avtive)
Disc Compression **OFF** - this one has caused many people problems in the past..

Have you also checked the disc for errors using Chkdsk? make sure you use the "check file system" and "Check for bad sectors" flags when you check it..

Hope this helps

Regards,

Teddy





I tried changing to Master, Slave and Cable Select. All the same. Only for Master it doesn't see the hard disk at all.

I have a feeling there's something wrong wtih the hard disk. the only think i don't understand is it works fine when connected to tv. but when the device is connected to the laptop, i can't transfer any data. in computer management, it sees it as a dynamic disk but with online errors.

@David

I really wish I knew the answer to this one..

I really do rarely have any problems playing xvid avi's on My 35..

If you would like to upload a small sample of one of your problem Avi's to www.rapidshare.com and pm me with the link , I will gladly take a look for you..

Regards

Teddy

Regards

Teddy


hi Teddy

I recently bought a new MG35 and installed your MG-35 *New August 2007* 1.4.9 NEW GUI Firmware: which looks great by the way... 90% of files will play but I have never been able to play any AVI files with AC3 sound... I can play Xvid and some Divx so I have tried converting the problem AC3 files to MP3 sound but to no avail... I have used Divx Pro and SUPER and WinAVI.Video.Converter.7.7 and WinAVI.Video.Converter.8 without anyluck...

I use Gspot to see what codec is in the AVI but it seems to me once I have a problem AC3 file no matter how many differant ways I convert it - it always stays a problem...

I wish there was a way to convert to an AVI with one codec and MP3 sound that WILL play on my MG35? Is there a standard I should follow?

Also I cannot play DVD VOB files... How can I convert VOB and or AVI to ISO files? Perhaps these will play ? Please dont make me go back to buying DVDs...

Pretty sure ucLinux (as used in the MG-35) does not support "fork" but instead uses "vfork," a special version of fork where the parent process is halted while the child process continues. Don't think system() is supported because it needs fork()

Joe L.

The fork()ing worked, in that I suspect it simply used vfork instead. I replaced both fork and system with vfork and execlp() instead.

Also created a sh script that looks for a sh script on HDD and if new, executes it, so even if it doesn't work, I'll be able to (slowly) execute commands and figure out why it doesn't work :)


***

Actually, changing to use vfork and execp solved the problem, also found out "telnetd" didn't start as it wants no options (the google page I found specified options).

uclibc[/bin]# uname -a
Linux uclibc 2.4.22-em86xx-uc0-sigma #1 �� 6�� 27 18:28:41 HKT 2007 armv4l unkno wn

Thanks all.

Anyone know what the max HD size supported by the MG-35 is?
500GB? 750GB?
I have a 500GB in mine, but am looking to upgrade. I thought I saw someone on NewEgg say they used a 750GB, but I thought the limit was 500GB.

@takabanana

Confirmed by Message #348 at the So called "official" Al Tech Q&A forum , Seagate 750gb drives Work fine on the 35..

Regards

Teddy

Hmm I seem to be walking in your foot steps, especially gadgetmind (still around?)

Looked at getting FUSE compiled, seems only 1.4 will work with such an old Linux kernel. Naturally ntfs will not work with that. But then I'm more interested in writing my own dvdcss-fs anyway. libdvdcss does run, and csstest comes up ok.

Hi,

Sadly "Gadgetmind" left the project around Christmas 2006,when he purchased a N35.
None of the original Mg-35 Developers are left on board these days...They did some great work for us all..

Sorry we cannot help more - some new "development" interest is starting again at my Mg-35 and MG-350HD Yahoo groups , so you may want to keep a eye on them,as well as this forum,

Kind Regards


Teddy



Hmm I seem to be walking in your foot steps, especially gadgetmind (still around?)

Looked at getting FUSE compiled, seems only 1.4 will work with such an old Linux kernel. Naturally ntfs will not work with that. But then I'm more interested in writing my own dvdcss-fs anyway. libdvdcss does run, and csstest comes up ok.

I just started trying ogg - format plays on my computer, but the mg35 just skips over it. am i encoding it wrong? any help? Using the latest firmware.
thanks.

Is it possible to change the background? how is this done? thanks.

Hi,

And welcome..

This is real easy , just create a jpg with the screen size of 720x480,rename it to mybg.jpg,and then copy this to the Root dir of your hard disk - you will then need to reboot for it to display correctly.

If you look back at some of the posts made by Cacat , you will see that you dont have to use the 720x480, you can infact go much higher - he also posted some of his backgrounds..

Regards

Teddy



Is it possible to change the background? how is this done? thanks.