MediaGate MG-350HD Info [Text View]

teddystacker

08-06-06, 09:19 AM

teddystacker,

Thanks for the reply. So .iso plays fine even though it is not listed on the product specs?

Yes,on the MG-35,I Rip the DVD with Dvd Decryptor,and then play the .iso on the MG-35.It starts by playing the main movie,but if you hit the MENU key on the remote ,it reverts to the main menu on the dvd and from there you can navigate the dvd as if you were playing it in a real dvd player,play spec features etc etc.

I cannot confim this will be the same on the MG-350HD as I dont have one,but I guess they will be using the same basic code as the MG-35,so it should play them the same.

Ref the problems with the MG-35 firmware , if you check out this thread at the "official" US support forum and you will see these details and many people pleding for fixes.As you will read the lastest Firmware seems to break more than it fixes ,and thats taken almost 5 months for them to issue...

http://mediagateusa.s10.forumsplace.com/viewtopic.php?t=32

You idea of waiting for reviews is indeed the best one here,reviews given by REAL world people,as websites and magazines often have a vested interested and never really test the unit to any great degree..

If Al Tech get their act together fixing the issues with the MG-35 then I will buy a MG-350HD just to have the added feature of host/slave USB - but somehow I very much doubt they will.

anywareus

08-07-06, 01:23 PM

we have our MG-350 Coming this month, and we only have 500pcs for US and Canada Customer of the first order, please come to the following website to pre-order it.

http://www.xpcgear.com/ (http://http://www.xpcgear.com/ )

http://www.ewaggle.com/

http://www.pc4usa.com/ (http://www.xpcgear.com/ )

rofl

08-08-06, 09:20 PM

teddystacker

08-08-06, 09:46 PM

is someone working on some modded firmware for the MediaGate devices?

MOV support is sorely missing IMO. I think this device could really fly if you could get it to the sort of things XBMC can do.

How are they getting away with not releasing the source code if they are running on Linux anyway? :mad:

cheers,
AC

Yes ,we have been forced into it by the poor support offered by Al Tech..

But I would have thought that .mov support is a good way off yet , to be honest..

you would never , ever get .mov support from Al Tech , I am pretty sure , as they cannot even fix simple problems..

Go here for details of the project:

http://mediagate.pbwiki.com/MG35Development

They get away with it , as GPL has NOT sued them *YET* , but from reading various foums , I understand this is due to change soon..

I just dont think they understand how serious this is...

rofl

08-09-06, 03:02 AM

what are the chances of recompiling VLC (videolan) to work on this thing?

VLC rocks! it plays (almost) everything i throw at it. Whats does everyone else think??

Cheers,
AC

rofl

08-10-06, 09:48 PM

ChessKing

08-10-06, 10:43 PM

btw we have the only MG-350HD in the country on demo in store atm. the firmware definately needs some work. hopefully there are some updates coming before its released.. :( on a whole tho its very nice...

Are you able indicate what areas of the firmware need work as I am interested in buying the MG-350HD when it finally get's released.

rofl

08-11-06, 01:26 AM

Are you able indicate what areas of the firmware need work as I am interested in buying the MG-350HD when it finally get's released.

it doesnt remember the screen ratio setting after you reboot it. i have to re-set it everytime i power it on otherwise im watching 16:9 material on a 16:9 screen LETTERBOXED! :confused:

and also the device needs to be restarted everytime you finish copying files to it over NDAS if you want to be able to see the files. But thats about it that is a problem atm..

i hope that helps.

lionoiz

08-11-06, 09:00 PM

I placed an pre-order with this online retailer called ewaggle com and expecting my new MG-350HD by end of this month, will try this new hot toy and post my feedback later.....

onstar

08-11-06, 10:29 PM

ewaggle already charged my credit card for my pre-ordered yesterday. I expect they will ship the MG-350HD soon.

teddystacker

08-12-06, 04:46 PM

ewaggle already charged my credit card for my pre-ordered yesterday. I expect they will ship the MG-350HD soon.

Thought that was against my credit card company rules,if the card was charged more than a day before dispatch...

teddystacker

08-14-06, 10:20 PM

it doesnt remember the screen ratio setting after you reboot it. i have to re-set it everytime i power it on otherwise im watching 16:9 material on a 16:9 screen LETTERBOXED! :confused:

and also the device needs to be restarted everytime you finish copying files to it over NDAS if you want to be able to see the files. But thats about it that is a problem atm..

i hope that helps.

@Rofl

I see a NEW *English* Firmware for the Mg-350HD , was released today..

http://www.airlinktek.com/english/atboard_view.php?param=e_sw&page=1&kind=&uid=64&keyfield=&key=

Can you confirm that the issues you listed above have been fixed? - as usual, no "read_me" has been issued by al Tech..

I know a few people are holding off on buying a MG-350 until these issues have been fixed...

Thanks in advance..

jchoi

08-23-06, 01:31 PM

You can order (this is not back-order) it online here at:

ewaggle
/product_p/mg-350hd-kit.htm

xpcgear
/mg350hd.html

pc4usa
/detailsales.asp?productID=37

Regular: $299.00
Sale Price: $249.00 (Limited time offer)

NoTime

08-24-06, 12:31 PM

The MG-35 doesn't have a cooling fan. From the pictures I've seen it doesn't appear the MG-350HD does either. Can anyone confirm that? Feature wise, the Eureka LX350 HD looks very similar......... any comments?

teddystacker

08-24-06, 05:46 PM

The Mg-350 Only has Passive Cooling ie NO cooling fan - Although some people have modded their MG-35 with a small fan on the Side - although this does not really appear to be a big issue where the MG35 is concerned , its yet to be confirmed if this passive cooling will be a issue with the Mg-350HD - as they are shipping now,I am sure we wil soon find out..

dbfresh23

08-24-06, 08:02 PM

Anyone know what kind of a system this is base on? x86, Risc, etc? This could be a cool thing to mod to setup as an HTPC client.

teddystacker

08-24-06, 08:16 PM

Anyone know what kind of a system this is base on? x86, Risc, etc? This could be a cool thing to mod to setup as an HTPC client.

The MG-350HD is VERY,VERY similar to the MG-35 - there is a firmware mod peroject underway at this moment - details here:-

The Wiki has alot of Tech info on the Processor etc and is a good place to start,but is in its early stages yet..

The MG-350HD uses the Sigma Design EM8621 Chip,whereas the the MG-35 Uses a Earlier version of the Sigma chip..

http://mediagate.pbwiki.com/

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

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8276724#post8276724

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

HTPC client is a ways off yet,unless we get alot more people on board..

hope this helps..

NoTime

08-25-06, 09:48 AM

Looks like the Eureka LX350 HD, (also Korean), might be a level up on the MG-350HD........ uses the same Sigma chip, has active cooling for those larger hard drives needed for HD content and appears to have a pretty decent user interface, (at least from the pictures). Downside seems to be limited distribution in North America, price, and how firmware bugs compare to the history of the MG-35/MG350HD. Anyone have experience with both?

picnic22

08-29-06, 03:34 AM

Got my unit this morning looks good. So far no problems does all its supposed to. Lots more than the MG35. Remote is more user friendly

rkumar

08-29-06, 11:24 PM

For all those that purchased this unit, how does it compare with all the other HD media players with .iso capability? I am in the market for one of these, but still haven't decided, which one. If someone could give a reference on which one does the HD with .iso capability the cheapest and the best, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

allyak

09-06-06, 11:55 PM

Hi all,

I'm thinking upgrading from a MG 35 to a MG-350HD and had some questions that I've searched for answers to on the forums with no luck. I'm hoping a current user can help me with these:

1) Can files be copied to the MG-350HD from a computer over the wireless network?
2) Does files on the MG-350HD be browsed / accessed by PCs over the wireless network?
3) Can PCs browse / copy from USB slave devices hooked up to the MG-350HD over the wireless network?
4) Is network file browsing on the MG-350HD as slow as the NAS firmware hack is reported to be on the MG-35?
5) What is the nature of the Wireless network with the MG-350HD? Is it ad-hoc or infrastructure? In other words, if I have an existing Wifi infrastructure network running from a wireless router, will the MG-350HD find it and connect to it? Can the MG-350HD connect to this network if it uses a WEP/WPA key? How is this entered into the MG-350HD? Can any PCs on the same network browse / copy from / copy to the MG-350HD?

Any help greatly appreciated!

Ally

animaal

09-07-06, 11:28 AM

1) Can files be copied to the MG-350HD from a computer over the wireless network?
2) Does files on the MG-350HD be browsed / accessed by PCs over the wireless network?
3) Can PCs browse / copy from USB slave devices hooked up to the MG-350HD over the wireless network?
4) Is network file browsing on the MG-350HD as slow as the NAS firmware hack is reported to be on the MG-35?
5) What is the nature of the Wireless network with the MG-350HD? Is it ad-hoc or infrastructure? In other words, if I have an existing Wifi infrastructure network running from a wireless router, will the MG-350HD find it and connect to it? Can the MG-350HD connect to this network if it uses a WEP/WPA key? How is this entered into the MG-350HD? Can any PCs on the same network browse / copy from / copy to the MG-350HD?

Any help greatly appreciated!

Ally

1. - Yes, using NDAS. This is a Windows driver that makes the remote MG-350HD appear as a local external hard drive on your PC. However, it's very slow. Can't remember the speed, but I definitely got less than half a MB per sec.

2. - yes, same as (1) above.

3. - I don't think so.

4. Slow, but I haven't seen the MG-35.

5. The MG-350HD can be configured to use either ad-hoc or infrastructure. It supports WEP, but not WPA. Being a tad optimistic, many devices initially ship with support for WEP only, and later provide WPA support through firmware/driver updates. Here's hoping! The WEP key is entered through the remote control, using up/down the cursor keys to increment/decrement the current char through 0-9, a-f.

gkinma

09-08-06, 08:39 AM

So, I got my MG350HD yestarday, and have now tried using it to play ripped DVD ISO files. I have connected it to both a Sony GWIII RPLCD and a Toshiba 42HP95 plasma, using the DVI output.

On the Toshiba, if I select 720P or 1080I output, I get occasional horizontal black lines during dvd playback, as well as occasional drops in the video signal. The display goes black for a few seconds, then comes back. If I select 480P output, playback is clean, and there are no drops in the video output.

When I use the Sony RPLCD, I can only use the 480P output. If I select 720P or 1080I, the Sony can not seemt o synch properly with the video output from the MG350HD at all. Not even on the main screen from the MG350HD. I have connected my Motorola HD cable box to the Sony DVI input in the past, and it worked just fine at both 720P and 1080I.

Needless to say, this is annoying!

Has anyone else had similar problems? At this point I am not sure what the issue is, although I suspect it is the MG350HD. I plan to try testing both tvs with my PC (just a pain to lug it around) to see if the problem is with the MG350HD, maybe cables, or perhaps the tvs themselves.

I will also try to contact tech support, and see what they say.

Oh yes - this happenned with both the 1.0.5 firmware and with the 1.0.6 upgrade.

gkinma

09-26-06, 01:20 PM

I received my replacement MG-350HD yestarday. The DVI output on the new unit works correctly on the Toshiba plasma at 720p, but is still not working correctly on the Sony RPLCD. It's better, in that the display is now viewable, but it rolls and occasionally blanks.

I've decided to keep this unit, since it works so well on the plasma. I can always use the compnent connection on the RPLCD.

ptwyzard

10-08-06, 12:53 AM

Will this unit play DiVX movies? Can it stream movies directly from a NAS?

the bartender

10-08-06, 08:07 PM

Will this unit play DiVX movies? Can it stream movies directly from a NAS?

yes and yes.

holysin

10-09-06, 05:50 PM

Hey all, how is this unit at playing back huge (8-12GB) .ts files? I've discovered the joy of .ts and will be getting a 720p projector (hd72 or hd73 if it's out) in a couple months, but for now I'm on a sony 36xbr400. Right now I use an xbox running XBMC to play SD video (via windows/samba shares), and was debating trying the xbox360, but that would require me getting another PC to install XP media center on which would be annoying. This + a $80 200GB drive would be a much easier solution if it works as advertised...

Thanks!

Mike_Mem

10-09-06, 08:12 PM

I got a MediaGate 25 and 35 (not the HD) and I must say I am VERY pleased.

I can now keep my computer in my office and now that I have a Cat5 cable to the entertainment center, I'm good to go. I keep all my music, movies and DVD's on a shared drive on my home computer and can access any of them from the MG 35. The ones the kids watch over and over just get copied to the MG 25 or 35 hard disk. I really like the fact it reads those DVD IFO files so it's just like watching the DVD - deleted scenes, pick a chapter and even play the games on the kids DVD's.

I have a MCE PC and record several shows for the kids and the wife. The last piece I added to my system was the software VideoReDo... It cuts the DVR-MS commercials out and then saves the file as a MPG (MPEG-2 stream) file that plays great on the MG35. Total process time is 5 to 10 minutes ...no encoding !!!

Great info here ... glad I found you guys and keep up the good work ...

gkinma

10-10-06, 01:46 PM

My experience trying to play back files via the wireless ethernet connection:

Movies:
Ripped ISO FIles - well, they don't work too well over the wireless connection. They get jumpy and sometimes freeze. Parts of some movies play fine, but most do not.

MPG4 Covnerted Movies - I've only tried one, but it worked beautifully. I re-coded Stargate to mp4, with about a 2 GB size for the main move. Played without a hitch. I used Nero Recode, and obviously I have to learn how to do this better. I wanted to still have access to the chapters, but I screwed that up.

Music:
mp3 files played back perfectly over ther wireless connection.

Just FYI - the MG350HD is about 30 feet from the wireless router, across a couple walls and miscellaneous stuff. I get a reported signal strength anywhere from 70 - 89%. The router is a Belkin Pre-N (I forget the model #). I'm still a little bothered that the MG350HD only supports WEP, not WPA.

serfrat

10-10-06, 04:46 PM

ptwyzard

10-15-06, 08:18 PM

Will this unit play DiVX movies? Can it stream movies directly from a NAS?

Just verifying this. It will play movies with .divx extensions? And I won't need my PC running as it will stream directly from my NAS.

buick

10-16-06, 08:44 AM

I posted this in another part of this forum, but maybe someone here might have a idea as to why this is happening, and a possible solution.

I recently purchased a MG-350HD, and am having problems only with .IFO's & .ISO's playback. I plays but stutters alot when playing these files. I can play .vob's of the same movie no stuttering at all, but I would like to access the menu of the movie and I don't like the gap between the vob's. Also sometimes it will play the video of all the vob's, but some vob's in the same movie have no sound.....wierd? Anyone know why the IFO's and ISO's stutter and any way to get around this in wireless mode. I am getting about 85% signal stregth on my wireless connection.

So far I havent been able to get the wireless to work yet but I can tell you playing iso or vob from the internal drive or wired network I have had no problems so far. Im not sure why my wireless isnt working , it will see my network and change everything over to wireless but wont light up in the device area to access. Good luck.

nshabdue

10-28-06, 11:28 PM

I'm deciding if I'll buy this unit or the Eureka LX350. I know the Eureka will upconvert to 1080p, and I was wondering if the mediagate does the same, or if it just displays the native signal as it recieves it.

Also, does anybody else know of any other differences in the 2. The only biggie I see is that the Eureka is not yet capable of transfering files across the network, though the company is shooting to have that fixed by November.

Kurto2021

10-29-06, 07:12 AM

OK I have decided I want to get a NAS because I have a computer upstairs that is running Meedio (small via epia very quiet). Right now all the video resides on my PC downstairs but I would prefer to move the files from the PC to a NAS. As an added bonus but not the primary reason I am getting a NAS I thought about the media gate 35 or 350 so that I could watch those shows downstairs as well. I guess the question really is for HD playing connected via Component cables Is the 350 really worth $140 more? I won't be using the wireless and will occasionally use the video output. HD would be nice and I am assuming both offer that.

I found the MG-35 for $111 and the MG-350 for $249

nshabdue

11-07-06, 07:56 PM

gkinma

11-08-06, 10:10 AM

Yes, the MG350 up-converts. I do not remember if it has 180p output, but it does do 720p and 1080i.

The two boxes are probably very similar, and probably both use the same Sigma chip.

nshabdue

11-08-06, 10:25 PM

Thanks for the response. I'm still hammering out the 2. I have the Mg-25 right now, so I'm leaning towards the Zio, based on Mediagates crap english support.

Another question for anybody who owns either of the 2... can xvid files with qpel and GMC encoding work with these players? Nothing is more annoying than downloading a show (to back up my dvd collections) just to find out that it's not the playable in the mediagate. It's not like people throw that tid-bit in the NFO.

gkinma

11-09-06, 12:02 PM

I could be wrong about this, but I do not think that any of the current Sigma based media players can handle the advanced encoding options like qpel. I think this stated in documentaiton somewhere.

Kurto2021

11-10-06, 12:52 AM

how can you tell if your files are qpel

wellVersed

11-11-06, 11:46 AM

Icepic!

11-12-06, 07:10 PM

So CNET Australia practically beamed about this device, but denguru was less than flattering.

Is the MG-350HD as unbearably slow as denguru's review states?

This is the one device that has ALL the pieces. Reliability and support are up in the air in my mind though.

Calm my fears MediaGate lovers.

Hi there.

My first post, so hopefully I don't screw up. ;)

I bought one of these last week here in Sydney. I upgraded the firmware from the Korean site to the latest version to v1.0.8 which fixed the detection of the Maxtor 300Gb IDE drive (which I was intending to use, which was timely!)

Ok, I have no read any reviews, and I have some experience in media centres, but specific to this unit I'd say that it has a few issues, but there is nothing that can't be fixed with some future firmware updates.

The speed of user interaction is adequate, so it's OSD is not lighting fast, but let's be honest, if you expect it to perform like a high end PC, you're just expecting too much. It is a relatively cheap device, but for the money, what you get is outstanding.

I won't go over the specs, as they're available online, but it outputs upto 1080i and will play Xvids from HDD, USB or over the network fine. I have not used the wireless, as a quick look indicated that it only supported WEP and not WPA, but apart from the obvious security reasons not use wireless, the speed for reliably streaming full HD content would be pushing it for me, anyway.

One thing that I did notice: It currently doesn't allow you to specify a password, so you are forced to create a non-passworded Guest account to allow access to your shared content over the (wired, in my case) network.

One other problem is that my collection (probably like many other peoples) has a very large directory of unsorted material, I found that the unit crashed when it tired to read the contents of this directory - but as it consists of several thousand files, it's probably a buffer/memory availability issue and just means that I need to actually get around to sort the stuff into the right locations. :)

Apart from those issues, I have used the box since last Thursday, it has only crashed once (when I tried to read the aforementioned huge directory) and works a treat.

One thing I love about it, I have a 17" LCD monitor plugged into the DVI port and my projector on the component output, so during the day, I can simply use the 17" screen to navigate through the music, etc - and at night when I wish to use the projector as the display, I hit the "Output" button on the remote and it will cycle through to the projector and back again to the LCD. Very useful!

It has recognised every USB device I have plugged into it - USB memory sticks, external USB hard drives and even a USB DVD-ROM drive.

It scans the wired network and displays all the machines it can see, and allows you to tunnel down to the main machine and access your shared directories. It's only 10/100Mbit, not Gigabit, but still it's fast enough to stream all the HD content off the connection that I've tried thus far.

So, no problems and the only speed issue I can see is the slight delay as it caches the directories when you select them. I consider this a small price to pay for the functionality and reliability it provides.

Hope that helps!

I.

GraveDilute

11-14-06, 10:18 PM

I've had one for about a month now. Got it off Ebay with 200gb HDD for AUD$420 shipped.
It shipped with firmware 1.04 and then I upgraded it to 1.08 and it worked better. i'm currently running the Japanese version of the software, "Media Cowboy" as I have a lot of files with Japanese filenames.

Initial setup was a PITA as the manual is not translated that well, but after trying a few things it all worked together fairly well. It is fairly intuitive.
Be warned though, that flashing new firmware will lose all of your settings.

Video:
I'm running it with component, at 1080i. Was watching Prison Break Season 2 from Fox yesterday, and it looked beautiful. Will try with DVI in the next few weeks.

Sound:
Supports coaxial, and everything that is encoded in the file will be sent to the AVR.

Performance wise:

It plays my extensive MP3 collection well wirelessly.
It plays divx no problems wirelessly. I have played up to 720p divx wirelessly, and it gets a little choppy if I'm downlaoding or using the network some other way.
DVD playback on wireless is adequate. (iso)
HINT: Change the folder names to use no spaces. ie. My Music - My_Music. This allows the unit to read folders way quicker.

It will play almost everything you throw at it. Have only had one avi file which it told me was "incompatible".

It uses NDAS to transfer files. Not the fastest system but no real issues.

Next firmware upgrade is meant to support streaming radio and TV. The proof will be in the pudding I guess.

TheKrell

11-15-06, 07:46 AM

Next firmware upgrade is meant to support streaming radio and TV. From the Internet? Where did you read about that?

godinste

11-21-06, 12:47 AM

Hello, when you play an ISO or a IFO of a DVD, with the MG350HD, is it possible to choose the language in the menu, or do we only have access to the first language like the D-Link DSM-520.

Thanks, Michel

nshabdue

11-22-06, 07:48 AM

turrican2

11-22-06, 05:49 PM

just picked one of these up, I really like it. I would love to see WPA support in a firmware upgrade, but I'm not looking forward to inputing a 63 character key using the remote :). Plays my Dvico .tp files from my free-to-air HD recordings fine, even over wireless - very impressed.

ctdish

11-24-06, 02:03 PM

Will this playback an H.264 HD file?
John

qz3fwd

11-25-06, 12:49 AM

No-nothing on the market you can buy today, sans HTPC's, playback AVC content. Wait another 6 months or so young padawan (tvix for me)

Daymeyon

11-25-06, 01:07 PM

Will this playback an H.264 HD file?
John

plays back H.264 files...but it doesnt play back x264

godinste

11-25-06, 01:17 PM

Hello everybody, I just finally order one (MG350HD) with a 320 GB HD, after all the time I've passed (2weeks) reading everything for those kind of media center, I made my choice, and I hope it's a good choice, I'll tell you next week. Thanks you for the expertises transmit from you all. ;)

Michel

vesper8

11-28-06, 01:08 AM

ctdish

12-01-06, 11:17 AM

Can someone who has an MG-350HD try to play the HD file that can be downloaded here.
http://www.nextcomwireless.com/r5000/download/mpeg-4_mpeg-2Comparison(dish-sd).zip
It is an H.264 transport stream.
John

the bartender

12-01-06, 08:14 PM

turrican2

12-01-06, 09:41 PM

Can someone who has an MG-350HD try to play the HD file that can be downloaded here.

John

The Mpeg2 files play just fine, the Mpeg4 however (hbo-mpeg4sd-dish.ts) does not appear to be supported and hence does not play at all.

-T

ctdish

12-02-06, 07:28 AM

Thanks for trying. John

the bartender

12-02-06, 07:09 PM

The Mpeg2 files play just fine, the Mpeg4 however (hbo-mpeg4sd-dish.ts) does not appear to be supported and hence does not play at all.

-T

same results with the 1.09 firmware

nshabdue

12-02-06, 10:16 PM

hello.. I love my MG-350HD.. but I'm having a problem with subtitles

they just won't work !!!?!

The subs I'm trying to use are .sub. They have exactly the same name as the .avi files

When I go into subtitle menu and choose 'select sub' I can see it in the list, I go on it, press enter.. and it takes a few seconds and then it says 'sub configured' on the screen.. but nothing. If I got back to click 'sub position' or 'sub language' it just says 'no sub selected'. I have tried many combinations.. as well as many movies and it always "seems to work" but then NADA!

I'm really out of ideas here.. how do I do this ?? Thanks!!

There's actually a few different types of .sub files I've found. I have the MG-25 and about 70% of the time, I have to edit the sub files with vobsub. It's rather simple and can convert any subs you may come across, srt, sub, etc. I never can remember which files work, so once you run through it and set up your matrix, save it multiple times, as different file formats, in the same folder as the .avi file. Then if you remember which one worked, you're gold for the next time.

Hope that helps. I could be way off.

turrican2

12-03-06, 05:41 PM

same results with the 1.09 firmware

where did you get this version of the firmware? I thought 1.08 was the latest? dont suppose they've added .mkv support :)

godinste

12-03-06, 11:07 PM

where did you get this version of the firmware? I thought 1.08 was the latest? dont suppose they've added .mkv support :)

They put it on line 2-3 days ago, and they took it off, for some bugs. But tonight they put it back online, 1.0.9 ;)

Bye, Michel

turrican2

12-04-06, 12:35 AM

They put it on line 2-3 days ago, and they took it off, for some bugs. But tonight they put it back online, 1.0.9 ;)

Bye, Michel

Yeah, I see it now, thanks, I'll install this tonight!

oleg55555

12-04-06, 03:50 PM

Got this unit recently and have experienced the following issues. I was wondering if other owners encountered the same issues and what, if any, solutions did you find:

1. JPG playback. Noticed that any image that was "rotated" on the PC, does not get displayed (get the "imcompatible" message). Also large images (1-3Mb) take a long time to load (about 5 seconds), even from the Hard disk. This really ruins the slideshow, since it means you are looking at a black screen for 5 sec before the next picture will load.

2. NDAS performance. Found it to be very unreliable when large files (700Mb+) are copied from PC to MG-350. In some cases the PC would freeze and had to be rebooted. I use a wireless 802.11g network.

3. Video Playback via wireless. While DIVX files playback very well, DVD and HD material is jerky. My network is 54Mbps. I would expect at least DVD files to play normally.

Thanks!

GraveDilute

12-04-06, 09:42 PM

1. JPG playback. Noticed that any image that was "rotated" on the PC, does not get displayed (get the "imcompatible" message). Also large images (1-3Mb) take a long time to load (about 5 seconds), even from the Hard disk. This really ruins the slideshow, since it means you are looking at a black screen for 5 sec before the next picture will load.

Same problem. Very slow jpg playback. ATM, it's a useless feature for me.

2. NDAS performance. Found it to be very unreliable when large files (700Mb+) are copied from PC to MG-350. In some cases the PC would freeze and had to be rebooted. I use a wireless 802.11g network.

Have had the same issues. Takes a long time to transfer.

3. Video Playback via wireless. While DIVX files playback very well, DVD and HD material is jerky. My network is 54Mbps. I would expect at least DVD files to play normally.

I've been able to play DVD material fine when saved as an ISO. When playing the IFO files wirelessly then I've had issues. I also have a 54Mbps 802.11g network.

Haven't tried firware 1.0.9 yet though

the bartender

12-05-06, 02:15 AM

1.09 is back up on the site.

oleg55555

12-05-06, 09:57 AM

I installed 1.0.9 last night, hoping it would fix the jpg problem I described in my previous post - but no such luck. I can confirm that the "MediaGate" splash is gone and the directory browsing is faster.

GraveDilute

12-05-06, 05:48 PM

Did anyone else feel that the GUI looked worse in the 1.0.9 firmware?
I ended up going back to 1.0.8.

I hope the next firmware introduces new features and doesn't just fix "unknown bugs". (Hey, if they're unknown, how'd you know what to fix?)

souwalker

12-05-06, 09:03 PM

Hi
I was looking to get the MG350HD mainly to view jpg as a slidshow but if this function is too slow, I'd have go skip this. What a pity.
Any recomendations to an alternative media player with better slideshow for jpegs?
Thanks
Patrick

scooby092477

12-08-06, 09:57 PM

Hello, This is a great forum to ask this question I see. For the last few days I have been extensively researching the Galaxy IPTV 3500. It seems to do almost the same thing except it doesnt have a built in hard drive and doesnt convert to 1080p, which is fine cuz my Sony 51" HDTV widescreen only supports 1080i anyway. ANYWAY, I have a Tvisto from the same company, love the product...BUT... from the sounds of it, Mediagate isnt any better at customer support than Galaxy. They are really bad. They have NEVER answered an email..even after 10 attempts. So now im looking at something that will do the same thing. I really want to utilize the HD on this TV as it hasn't been used since I bought it 2 years ago.

I have some .ts files on my HD that i really want to play and this seems to be the way to do it. Does it pass DTS through? I would think so since I use optical out on every device I can. I like the USB device features as well. If you look at Galaxy's Product is seems similar except you dont have a HD installed. BUT you do have .MOV playback capability.

Is this worth the $100 more than the Galaxy IPTV-DMG which you can get for $150? I know it costs $250 and WITHOUT a HD. But it has MANy reviews and the Galaxy has NONE basically. I've scoured the internet for days now and this forum is the best one so far. You guys really know what you're talking about.

So I'm aiming towards the MG-350HD right now because it does have DVI outputs, which is fine but I'll onyl use the Components for now anyway, but im looking at future firmware abilities. Nice thing about the Galaxy is that it searched the web automatically for them, and also allows you to surf the web using your IE favorites. Thats cool, but will not sell the product IMHO.

So, im left hanging. Will someone please look at the Galaxy 3500 IPTV-DMG and let me know if this is a better product. And im mainly inetersted in the HDTV content that I am able to DL off the net. they seem to be in .ts format. I doubt I will have any problems with the DivX avi files I have that are 1280 x 720. Those would be a no-brainer.

This would be worth the extra money if there are better features.

galaxymetalgear

thats the makers of the IPTV 3500.

I appreciate everyone's excellent knowledge in this forum as I have ready EVERY post in it tonight so far and I'm on the same page as everyone else.

BTW, im going to hard wire the connection from a router (which I have yet to buy) to this device so I do not have lag. that seems to be a problem with everyone ive read about so far.

The DVD .iso feature is a plus also.

Thanks to all who reply!!

godinste

12-11-06, 05:28 PM

Hello, everybody, 5 days ago I wrote to AL Tech, for some complaints about the MG-350HD running on 1.09 firmware, and today I received an answer.

They told me they have a very big work to do on the firmware 1.09 again, and they just took it out of the support site, I very appreciate an answer so fast from them, because all I have read before on many forums was negative for the support......of this Company.

May be they change there mind, thinking it's important to keep customer happy :) and satisfied, instead of angry :mad: .

Bye, ;)

Michel

teddystacker

12-12-06, 10:13 AM

May be they change there mind, thinking it's important to keep customer happy :) and satisfied, instead of angry :mad: .

Bye, ;)

Michel

I doubt it very much - lets just see how long it takes them todo a "fix" , the new year is my bet.I mean its really bad that we are all still "beta testing" this product for them,months after its release - with hardly any features added , I for one am going to sell my 350 soon and go the TVIX route,I really did try to give Al Tech a fair chance. - I really would suggest others do the same , as I really belive now that the 350's Firmware will never really be "fixed" to any great degree - this is what happened to the MG-35,as once a new model comes along that loose interest in working on the older model - I am keeping my MG-35 , as it not worth much now , but wil sell my 350 while i can stil get a fair price for it..

SydneyGuy

12-12-06, 05:22 PM

Hi there.

One thing that I did notice: It currently doesn't allow you to specify a password, so you are forced to create a non-passworded Guest account to allow access to your shared content over the (wired, in my case) network.

That is a decision maker for me. I was just about to buy one of these but with that limitation it is a no go. I have various shares on my NAS device that are protected via various usernames and passwords. That allows me to restrict access to certain movies so my kids can't get to them, allows readonly access to most but allows me R/W access etc. Given that I would want the 350HD to access all of those shares (it was to be located in my bedroom and away from the kids) I can't create a Guest account with no password as that will blow all the other security out the window.

Damn! It looks like another XBOX with XBMC might be my only option although that means running a network cable to the bedroom. Grrrr.

sean_w_smith

12-12-06, 05:41 PM

Get a WIFI Ethernet bridge.... Thats what I have with my bedroom and I can watch streamed DVD's with XBMC over it with no issues... These aren't the cheapest gadgets but they do work... YMMV depending on distance and construction of your house. but the one listed below works really well for me...

I have two of these at two different houses with good results with both...

http://www.buy.com/prod/Buffalo_Turbo_G_High_Power_Wireless_Ethernet_Converter_WLI_T X4_G54HP/q/loc/101/202009413.html

There are also those electrical wiring network adapters but I have no first hand experience with them....

Sean

djhaps

12-15-06, 06:37 PM

I've had the MediaGate MG-350HD for about 2 months now and up until recently was very pleased with it, but now I've got a problem. It turns off and restarts by it self from what seems to be overheating. When I first got the MG-350HD, I probably played it for about 8 hours straight with no problems. Last week I turned it on and it played for about 10 mins. and then shut off by itself and restarted. I figured it was a problem with the file, so I tried a different file. Same thing, except the longer it was on the shorter the play time until it would just be in a constant shut off-restart loop which is what's leading me to think that this is an overheating problem. I've got a 400GB Seagate drive in it and using the DVI output to HDMI. I upgraded to firmware 1.0.9 (which has been taken down due to bugs), but it was doing it with 1.0.8 too. Anybody else have this problem?

I've emailed airlinktek twice (mediagateusa isn't a functioning website and neither is their email address) and have yet to hear a reply back. It's been about a week. And when I went to look for warranty info in the manual and on the box there is none. So we'll see how this turns out.

shannonrawls

12-16-06, 01:53 PM

dj,
that's not good. You ran it for 8 hours when you first got it. But have you used it since for that long? or just for a little while (2 hours) at a time?

djhaps

12-16-06, 05:00 PM

shannonrawls,

When I first got it, I didn't have a hard drive to put in it. So for about a week I used it to stream files from my computer over wireless (which works great for divx and xvid files) and used it daily. Not for 8 hours, but for about 2-3 hours daily. When I got a hard drive for it, I played it probably for about 4-5 hours to test it out. Since then it got pretty regular use (not everyday, but almost everyday) as everyone in my family would use it to watch tv shows or movies which run 40 mins.- 2.5 hours long. I'm not unhappy with the product, I'm unhappy with the quality of the product and with the customer support. I'd like to know the email address that the guy at the beginning of this had. I sure as hell didn't get a reply back within the hour. It's now been a week. I'm gonna start calling the 626 area code number they list on the non functional website on Monday to see if that's an actual functioning phone number.

MonkeyGoD

12-23-06, 09:16 AM

There's actually a few different types of .sub files I've found. I have the MG-25 and about 70% of the time, I have to edit the sub files with vobsub. It's rather simple and can convert any subs you may come across, srt, sub, etc. I never can remember which files work, so once you run through it and set up your matrix, save it multiple times, as different file formats, in the same folder as the .avi file. Then if you remember which one worked, you're gold for the next time.

Hope that helps. I could be way off.

There's two types of .sub files. Subpictures and subtitles. Subpictures are typically ripped from a dvd and they are literally pictures; they don't contain any text. Some players don't support this format, unless it is in its native dvd format (muxed in with the vob files). The player doesn't have the ability of vobsub/directvobsub to overlay these images over the video while it is playing. You can convert these to actual text sub or srt files but it can be a pain translating the pictures into actual letters, even with the all the tools available.

Subtitle files are much like SRT files where its basically nothing but a bunch of text and timecodes. These are the ones that are widely compatible across players.

Kronozz

12-30-06, 07:24 PM

BitBasher

01-04-07, 06:33 AM

Hi, I just recently got the MG-350HD and I am having some problems. When trying to use the LAN option it gets the directories correctly however when i go into the directory no files are listed. This includes directories with music and video files.
Currently running Firmware 1.0.5 that came with it. Any ideas?

Hmm, well first you could try upgrading to firmware 1.0.8. I'm using that and the shares are working fine.

Also, if you created a share that you can see from the MG350HD, then the share itself is ok. But maybe the file permissions are still restricting guest access.

On my NTFS partition, I just made sure all files have EVERYONE set to full access. If you have any restricted NTFS permissions on your files, the guest account may not be able to access them (even though the share is working).

Just a thought,
Bit.

BitBasher

01-04-07, 06:41 AM

That is a decision maker for me. I was just about to buy one of these but with that limitation it is a no go. I have various shares on my NAS device that are protected via various usernames and passwords. That allows me to restrict access to certain movies so my kids can't get to them, allows readonly access to most but allows me R/W access etc. Given that I would want the 350HD to access all of those shares (it was to be located in my bedroom and away from the kids) I can't create a Guest account with no password as that will blow all the other security out the window.

I've been poking around in the MG350HD's cramfs file system. I've found the file that contains the code that attempts to make connections to windows shares.

The code tries the following:
administrator, no password
guest, no password
mediagate, no password (then media with password gate for share access).

Once I convince myself that I won't brick my unit, I might try patching these entries in the code to see if I can get the MG350HD to access shares with a REAL username and password. If it works, it won't be a user setting - it would have to be hardcoded in the cramfs image. But at least, if it does work, I could create an account like MG350 (same number of letters as media) and a strong-as-I-can-make-it four-letter password (like w2#Z). I think the password may have to be the same length as "gate". If there's some room in the buffers, it might be possible to make the password longer.

Right now, I need to figure out the MG350HD boot loader code. It's not the same as the MG35, so the download command and boot command are different. I need to see if I can load a "soft" ROMFS to test it out. I'm not sure if I want to flash a hacked ROMFS just yet (I really don't want a brick). :P

I'll update my results, as I get more time to tinker in the MG350HD firmware.
Bit.

SydneyGuy

01-04-07, 04:39 PM

I certainly will welcome any update that allows us to use a proper username/password pair (even if it is hardcoded) instead of the guest account. I've had to enable a guest account with no password on my NAS box and whilst I have only granted RO access it does mean that my "adult" movie collection is wide open to my inquisitive son should he figure out that he can connect to the relevant share using the guest username.

I'll be keeping an eye out for your progress. I think you are more likely to come up with something before AL Tech does.

teddystacker

01-04-07, 06:29 PM

@BitBasher

Keep up the good work , like many others here , I have almost totally given up on ever getting any REAL working firmware updates for the MG350/35 from Al Tech , at this point in time I would have thought that sales of both are pretty close to rock bottom mostly due to poor firmware support..

Kronozz

01-06-07, 02:23 PM

Thx for the replies guys... unfortunately I still couldnt get it to work and since the place I bought it from had a crappy return policy I couldnt keep it longer to play around with it so its gone now ;(... too bad I had high hopes for that player.

Anyway still browsing the net for other players I came across the MX-760HD and the MV-5000U from MvixUSA they look interesting as well has anyone took a look at them? Feature wise the HD one looks pretty much identical to the MG-350HD any thoughts?

shannonrawls

01-06-07, 03:29 PM

You won't find the TVIX 500OU anywhere for sale. That's because they made changed it to the newly release 4000P unit. You can find it at www.TVIXBOX.com and www.DigitalConnection.com. I ordered mine from DigitalConnection. Apparently the firmware is supposed to be mature but still has the little flaws that all these players have.

As for the MVIX 760HD it's wireless like your old MediaGate 350HD was, however I'm not sure how well it performs. There's a thread on it with a few complaints here and there about the image.

I would opt for the TVIX 1st, then look at the Rhapsody N35 2nd, the look at the 760HD 3rd and finally the PixelMagic Mediabox last.

oleg55555

01-08-07, 11:16 PM

I am having a video freezing problem when playing video from a USB hard drive attached to my MD-350HD.

Freezing happens occasionally (every 15-20 minutes) and usually lasts a couple seconds. The sound can still be heard, but the picture gets frozen.

Sometimes the playback will not resume and I am left with no choice but to reboot the player.

Anyone else experienced this problem?

hyeug01

01-09-07, 02:09 PM

Hi,
I was looking into getting the MG-350HD but I have a Mac, does anyone know if this device can stream video from a Mac. I've download the manual and it shows you how to setup a pc shared but not a Mac. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Ashims

01-10-07, 10:16 PM

Yup, you'll be able to set it up to work against a mac.

Just ordered one of these myself. Any homebrew projects out there writing software for this baby?

GraveDilute

01-10-07, 10:24 PM

Not that I've heard of, but they were officially launched in the US at the CES show, so hopefully there will be more official support.
If only someone can get their hands on the source code, then I think the device will really take off.

animaal

01-11-07, 05:13 AM

Just saw, 1.1.0 is now available on the usual mediagate site.

Ashims

01-11-07, 06:53 AM

Anyone else noticed that ALL the problems that have been mentioned on this thread have been "aparently" squashed?

Guess who's been reading our conversation! ;)

I pick mine up on saturday morning and will be updating straight away, so wont be able to really do much of a comparison-- so anyone here have the goss on 1.1.0?

Cheers.
Ash.

teddystacker

01-11-07, 10:48 AM

Ok,

I Applied the 1.10 updaye to my MG350HD..

All went well with the update , and here is what I have noticed so far... The Boot screen animation and sound are now back,after being removed in 1.09.

Note: This update wipes ALL your previous saved settings,so you will need to re-enter you wep key and other prefrences etc etc

1)Displaying JPG's is now WAY slower than before,there is a good 2-3 sec pause (this is reading from internal HDD btw) between each picture,from when you hit the "next" button , and the "flie loading" dialogue is displayed during the wait.

2)The new "Auto-play" feature is interesting , I enabled it and then played a file off one of my local shares via wireless.I then turned off the 350 and rebooted..
When the machine restarted it AUTOMATICALLY selected the file I was playing and start to play it again from where I had stoped it - This was aafter a TOTAL cold power off and did not require and other interaction.

Not really noticed anything else much so far , I played various formats without any problems..

The NEW "Private folder" option is a great new feature I have to admit , I have yet to try this,but will be a great feature if it works..

Edit:The NEW "Private" folder option does work,but maybe confusing to some users (It was to me) - Here is how to use it..

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 way Al Tech worded it , I thought a dialogue box would pop up and ask you for a password when you tried to access the private folder , but this is not the case - its a hide and un hide type method..

The password can be changed but is a little tricky todo , as sometimes it appears you have not entered the last number - but it is possible and does work..

Hope this saves people alot of time - I wasted several hours today , until "the penny dropped" with me..

Would have dearly loved to see the following included in this release, and if there are any mods still left at this forum , please pass these requests onto the techs that develope the firmware.

A)A screen saver , this is already present in the new MG35 firmware , so surly it would be very easy to port the code over to the 350?

B)A FTP server - The TVIX has this already,and would dearly love to see it on the 350..

C)Fix the slow loading of JPG's please..

Would be VERY grateful of anyone else opinion of this new firmware .

Altech appear to have done well with this update , I only hope thay continue to work on it in a timly manner,if they do I am 100% sure that sales of there 350 will increase,as so far I understand they have been quite poor.

oleg55555

01-16-07, 10:13 AM

teddystacker, thanks for your post - it was very informative. Definitely saved me lots of time figuring out the private folder functionality!

I installed the new firmware yesterday and played around with it a little. I found that the jpegs load faster then they did before - I would say in about half the time. I still don't understand why they don't keep the current image displayed while loading the next one! There must be a hardware limitation of some sort.

It still doesn't display jpegs which have been rotated on the PC, just says "file type not supported" or something like that. Does anyone else experience this problem?

I still get periodic video freezing problem when playing back files from my external USB hard drive - same files play back fine from the internal drive.

CyPliX

01-18-07, 06:29 AM

I have been unsuccessful in flashing my unit.
Current Firmware is 1.0.6

It comes up with the message saying that its going to flash and not turn it off
Than it says "Update Failed".

I've tried to do it from the hdd, lan, wlan. Doesn't seem to want to flash.
I'm definetly using the correct firmware for the model that I have downloaded from the site.

I sent an email to technical support 2 days ago, still no reply.
So I sent another to technical support and sales, hopefully that should make someone think twice in helping me.

teddystacker

01-18-07, 08:20 AM

This was a known bug in 1.06 - Took me 10-15 tries before it would upgrade - just make sure you re-download the 1.10 upgrade file in case its corrupt and then trying upgrading from a pen drive attatched to the USB , thats the way I got mine to work , there seems to be a bug in the checksum routines , but all is ok in later versions , if you check the various forums , you wil find lots of people have had this problem. - seems totally random...

Ps Its VERY,VERY rare that Al Tech Support is of any use..

I have been unsuccessful in flashing my unit.
Current Firmware is 1.0.6

It comes up with the message saying that its going to flash and not turn it off
Than it says "Update Failed".

I've tried to do it from the hdd, lan, wlan. Doesn't seem to want to flash.
I'm definetly using the correct firmware for the model that I have downloaded from the site.

I sent an email to technical support 2 days ago, still no reply.
So I sent another to technical support and sales, hopefully that should make someone think twice in helping me.

CyPliX

01-21-07, 04:56 AM

Thankyou very much it works now.
I re-downloaded it for the forth time and for some insane reason it now works.

Works much better now, thankyou.

teddystacker

01-21-07, 10:23 AM

You are very welcome mate , just seems so random , now you are @ 1.10 , future updates should be no problem ,as I said, it is a known problem thats been covered/encountered quite a few times... the cure is to just keep trying...

Thankyou very much it works now.
I re-downloaded it for the forth time and for some insane reason it now works.

Works much better now, thankyou.

godinste

01-21-07, 06:10 PM

Hello, for those who are interested, there's a new version of the NDAS software from ximeta who come with the MG350, at this link:
http://www.ximeta.com/web/support/download/windows_xp/drivers/v3x/index.php

There is also lot of infos about the change in the update, ;)

Bye,

Michel

teddystacker

01-22-07, 08:22 AM

A Warning to anyone using Windows XP with this new 3.20 and the MG-35 - it installs and APPEARS to be ok , but as you will see is NOT FULLY working under XP Home and using a MG-35 - anyone that installs 3.20 , please can you fully test and report - TIA...

See here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9536019&&#post9536019

It DOES however work with the MG-350...

Hello, for those who are interested, there's a new version of the NDAS software from ximeta who come with the MG350, at this link:
http://www.ximeta.com/web/support/download/windows_xp/drivers/v3x/index.php

There is also lot of infos about the change in the update, ;)

Bye,

Michel

godinste

01-22-07, 08:48 AM

Hi, for me, I've got the MG-350HD, under XP Pro and everything run perfectly with that new update. I also notice a little bit faster transfer by the wire connection.

Michel

teddystacker

01-23-07, 08:27 AM

@godinste

Thanks for your report , the new 3.20 software DOES indeed work with the MG-350HD , but sadly NOT with the MG-35..

I presume that the 35 must contain a slightly different NDAS chip to that of the 350 that is no longer fully supported - I was thinking of asking Al Tech about it , but pretty much know their answer already - "Use 3.10"...

Thanks again..

Hi, for me, I've got the MG-350HD, under XP Pro and everything run perfectly with that new update. I also notice a little bit faster transfer by the wire connection.

Michel

gkinma

01-23-07, 11:45 AM

I recently upgraded the firmware in my mg350hd form 1.0.8 to 1.1.0. The upgrade went pretty smoothly, and I am very happy that the device now supports WPA encryption on the wireless network connection.

However, I can no longer play mp3 audio or mp4 video files that used to play just fine with the 1.0.8 firmware. The mp3 files give an error indicating that the format is not supported. The mp4 files go into play mode, but just display a blank screen.

Has anyone else noticed this?

12marshall

01-23-07, 12:05 PM

i've had no problems with mp3 or mp4 files from the upgrade. I would try reflashing the unit.

On a different subject.... HD avi files that are perfectly synced on the pc have delayed audio on the 350-hd over wired ethernet. In this case the stream is 1080i and the audio dolby DTS... anyone else experience this and/or have a fix?

cyberdude_pete

01-31-07, 12:53 PM

Guys, I appologize if this is covered somewhere and I simply missed it. I do not use an internal drive on my unit, it is all streamed. How do I upgrade the firmware?

Thanks in advance.

BTW, I bought this to replace my Zensonic Z500. After the last firmware (1.6), it was clear that those guys have a ways to go before it is ready for prime-time. Shame, I liked the built in DVD drive.

cyberdude_pete

01-31-07, 12:58 PM

Never mind. Read the last page of the manual. I know, I know, RTFM. the "z" is not quite as straight forward.

12marshall

01-31-07, 02:55 PM

The only way i mean... for me... was to use a flash drive in the usb port on the unit. Everything else failed.
Just put the firmware on the flash drive.... the rest you can follow just as it says in the manual...but it didn't work from a shared drive.

BTW... for anyone who's interested I have a few thoughts about the unit thus far (had for 3 weeks now).
It's great but has a few bugs/flaws.
First, it has played just about everything without problems.... odd HD files, vobs, high res .ts, odd divx, xvid.... no problems. The quality of the video and audio of what does play on my 1080i (TV or projector) is stunning with perfect alignment of colors (which by the way has not been trivial for competing units in my hands).

However...
1) lags often at verious menu items and the menues aren't intuitive or powerful
2) can freeze if you "get ahead of it"
3) no bells/whistles as in:
a) can't scroll songs while one is playing (even roku did that)
b) album art is nearly completey covered by info
c)NO SCREEN SAVER! that's just cheap, thoughtless and lame
4) no upnp support...which i think is a tragedy with great software like tversity around. No one could convince me that all of these things aren't doable given the technology in the box....so it's all about firmware and most of this should have been implemented long before it was released as a product.

If they fix some of these issues they would go from the almost forgotton to a real competitor.

P

cyberdude_pete

02-01-07, 12:36 PM

Upgraded my firmware by copying it onto my server and loading it through my wires network. Worked like a charm.

I had ver. 1.0.8 on there when I bought it, not 1.1.0

Under the old firmware, I couldn't play any of my MP3 tunes. Figured, broken.

so I updated. Tried the MP3s again, no go. O.k., been developing on computers for 16 years. Thought, hmm, let's go down the list....

1. Path to file too long, breaks 128 char. limit (don't know if that's true in Linux, but...)
-Nope, not it.
2. File start with digit
-Nope, not it.
3. Sample rate too high. (Or VBR? Didn't get to test that part, got too late.)
-BINGO!

The particular files in question were sampled higher than 128KBs.

Now, I don't know what the ceiling is, and I don't know if there's a problem with VBR vs. CBR, but when I converted the file to 128CBR, played like a charm.

So, since I have 40 gig (or more, lost track) of music sampled all over the place (depending on who gave me the files, my only choice, if I want to play music through this thing, is to go through a UPNP.

Oh, that's right, no UPNP support : /

Otherwise, plays my .ISO files like a charm, and that's primarily why I bought it. I actually use my Roku for music. that plays EVERYTHING!

pendragn

02-01-07, 01:13 PM

I'm having the same problem with my MG-350HD and the latest firmware. It won't play any of my MP3s. The funny part is that my $95 MG-25 plays them just fine. :(

tk

cyberdude_pete

02-01-07, 11:51 PM

Oh boy! How exciting. I have the unit for all of two days...and networking has completely failed. No matter what I do, ncluding a reflash of firmware.

Back it goes...

Henrik.Anderson

02-02-07, 02:00 AM

I do hope that my 350 will work since I ordered it around the world.
/Henrik
from Sweden

12marshall

02-02-07, 03:32 AM

Oh boy! How exciting. I have the unit for all of two days...and networking has completely failed. No matter what I do, ncluding a reflash of firmware.

Back it goes...

If you haven't shipped it yet and you continued to flash via wireless.. please try reflashing to 1.1 with a fresh download using the usb port and flash memory.

coffeemug

02-02-07, 08:24 AM

Oh boy! How exciting. I have the unit for all of two days...and networking has completely failed. No matter what I do, ncluding a reflash of firmware.
Back it goes...
Are you using wireless? Sometimes the unit forgets the WEP or WPA security settings. Double check your SSID and any security keys.

pendragn

02-02-07, 10:22 AM

Oh boy! How exciting. I have the unit for all of two days...and networking has completely failed. No matter what I do, ncluding a reflash of firmware.

Back it goes...
By any chance is your subnet mask something large like 255.255.0.0? When I got my 350HD it couldn't find any machines on my network. I flashed the firmware, hard coded an IP (normally run DHCP) nothing would work. I broke out a sniffer to see what was going on. The 350HD does an ARP request for every address in its block. Since my subnet mask was 255.255.0.0 it was starting with 172.26.1.1 then 1.2, then 1.3, etc. The ARP sweep was taking too long and the 350HD was timing out. I changed the subnet mask to 255.255.255.0 and it found my computers the first time.

Now getting into the shares was another adventure...

tk

cyberdude_pete

02-02-07, 10:33 AM

Not the case. In fact, it worked fine the first night through DHCP. I hooked up a USB DVD drive to "experiment", and that's when networking conked out.

aniruddha23

02-02-07, 10:46 AM

Any suggesstion on what NAS would be suited best for the MG-350 HD. I wanted to keep all my media in a central location and access it off that. Ideally I would prefer a Diskless NAS and add my own HDD/s. Budget is around $200 to $400 and I need around 500 Gigs of space on it.

Any suggesstions are much appreciated.

gkinma

02-02-07, 04:10 PM

cyberdude_pete

02-02-07, 04:16 PM

So with regards to failed networking connection...

New results. Brought the unit into work and plugged it into our network (figured a new network couldn't hurt.).

So same thing, no net connection.

So I went into setup and turned WIRELESS back on. Went backto main screen, WELL, what do you know, wired network now works. Wwent back and shut off WIRELESS again, went back to main screen. WELL what do you know, wired network STILL WORKING!!

O.K., whatever. Back home it goes with me.

cyberdude_pete

02-02-07, 05:45 PM

By the way, anyone know if you can change the system font on this thing. It looks like KA KA!!!!

aniruddha23

02-02-07, 06:04 PM

Well, I'm using a Synology 106 (SATA verison, don't remember exact model number), with a 360GB drive in it. But there are newer dual-drive units from HP and DLink that you could use, which should be near the $200 range without drives. Add the drives of your choice.

There also the Buffalo LinkStationPro drives which come with a hdd for a pretty good price.

Thanks a lot. The D-Link one looks really great. I can use one drive now and add another later. Couldnt find the HP model you were talking about. Most of them seem to be $2000 +. Would be great if you could give me a link or model number.

cyberdude_pete

02-03-07, 12:27 AM

One more time...

Well, with more robust testing, it turns out that the wired network connection is still bad.

If I turn off wireless, nothing works.

If I set wired to static, the icon lights, but gives me an error trying to access. If I turn on wireless, the wireless icon does not light up, but the wired icon will now access the net, however, it is actually using the wireless connection. No good. Access time under wireless stinks for .ISO images.

I have flashed it forwards, backwards, and sideways. No change.

It's hosed.

Too bad, When I first installed it, it simply worked out of the box, no problem. It wasn't until after I had plugged the DVD drive into the USB that it had a brain anurism.

RMA is on the way. I'll give it one more try.

godinste

02-03-07, 03:08 PM

I'm having the same problem with my MG-350HD and the latest firmware. It won't play any of my MP3s. The funny part is that my $95 MG-25 plays them just fine. :(

tk

I had the same problem, I fixed it by reconvert the MP3 with Easy CD-DA converter, and I just click delete the additionnal ID3(Who was a little JPEG) in the MP3, after this everything run perfectly. The only MP3 with problems were those with this little JPEG in the file. If you want to know if there is a little JPEG in the MP3 File, just play the file with WMP11 and if you will see a picture on the player, if you see a musical note instead of a picture, you don't have this little JPEG in the MP3 file. I hope it's clear, because I try to do my best in english,

Bye, Michel

tsniff

02-03-07, 10:21 PM

Just curious what brand/size HDD's you are using.

Anyone know of the largest HDD the MG-350HD will support? I'd like to throw in at least a 320gb and possibly a 500gb.

CyPliX

02-03-07, 11:03 PM

I threw in a Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200RPM(16Mb Cache).
I've had no dramas.

teddystacker

02-04-07, 11:10 AM

We do know a Seagate 500gig will work in the 350 , as Mediagate USA have comfirmed this , but getting any REAL info out of Al Tech or Mediagate USA is almost impossible , as they dont really understand what support is,and they wonder why sales of the 350 are so poor? - its crazy...

Just curious what brand/size HDD's you are using.

Anyone know of the largest HDD the MG-350HD will support? I'd like to throw in at least a 320gb and possibly a 500gb.

TheKrell

02-04-07, 12:50 PM

We also know that a Seagate 750GB drive works in the MG-35. I would be surprised if the MG-350HD were less capable.

kwntut

02-05-07, 11:16 AM

I purchased my MG-350HD as soon as it was released to market. I've not been able to connect to my wireless network until the lastest firmware update supporting WPA was enabled. It worked great for about 30 minutes, then I could no longer connect via wireless. I've noticed that it loses SSID setting sometimes so I fix that, but no luck connect to my network. I did notice that my wireless MAC address keeps changing values for some reason. I contacted tech support and they told me it is a rare but known defect. They said that I would have to send them my unit and they'd send it to Korea for analysis.

That didn't seem reasonable to me and I let them know that.

The biggest problem with the wireless not working is the extremely long boot times and performance issues suffered. Video does not play back very well. I end up having to reboot between 10 and 20 times before it is stable enough to watch a video.

Oh, yes! VBR or rates on MP3s above 128kbps do not play at all.

Does anyone know the default password for the private folder? I did not set one, but I am prompted for it.

This is a very frustrating product to have purchased. I should have just waited for Apples iTv to be released.

kwntut

02-05-07, 12:05 PM

oh! 0000 is the default password. RTFM!

teddystacker

02-05-07, 07:41 PM

This is a very frustrating product to have purchased. I should have just waited for Apples iTv to be released.

Would you really want a player that will upscale video designed for a 4" Ipod screen , to display on your nice shiny 50" Plasma HD TV?.Apple may be great,but I doubt even they cant alter the rules of physics!! - then there is the fact that the DRM will lock it down so much,you will be able todo little with it that Apple do not "approve" of - then there is the price - we all Bemoan al Tech for their poor suport,but for the $ Both the MG-35 and 350 take some beating.. Just some point to think about..

Bytre

02-05-07, 08:35 PM

Has anyone begun pulling the firmware apart?

I believe I read that the 1.10 "restored" the startup sound, and I would be interested in "un-restoring" that fix, and losing the startup sound.

My box generally appears to be working ok, I've used it wired, wireless (no encryption), and from internal HD (300gb maxtor, replaced with 200gb seagate which was more quiet).

kwntut

02-06-07, 03:41 AM

Would you really want a player that will upscale video designed for a 4" Ipod screen , to display on your nice shiny 50" Plasma HD TV?.Apple may be great,but I doubt even they cant alter the rules of physics!! - then there is the fact that the DRM will lock it down so much,you will be able todo little with it that Apple do not "approve" of - then there is the price - we all Bemoan al Tech for their poor suport,but for the $ Both the MG-35 and 350 take some beating.. Just some point to think about..
Just read the specs! Somehow I stuck in my head it would really just be an extension of my Mac. I've not had any problems with MPEG4 files, but I don't know if the MPEG4 files I've created meet their spec. I'll have to research more.

***Note on my wireless problem: I let the unit sit for a few days and then it worked again. I connected it to my pc to transfer some files via USB and then my wireless went out again. I am not able to get tech support to confirm if the cause is hardware or software related or both. They seem to be ignoring my emails now.***

kwntut

02-06-07, 10:37 AM

MediagateUSA has a discussion forum. Says it's a test forum. There's only one post so far. Might be worth checking out. Maybe they're becoming more aware of negative press and are looking to change.

cyberdude_pete

02-06-07, 10:50 AM

It's interesting you mention the USB and wireless issue. when I bought myunit, it worked (wired) out of the box. I then hoooked up a USB DVD drive. read some files, including the upgrade firmware.

From that point forward, wired and wireless were basically non-functional. Wired would not work, turning on wireless would active the wired icn on the main menu, but access data through the wireless connection : /

needless to say, nothing ever got it working the way it was supposed to. Returned it andhave a replacement on the way.

Needles to say, I WON'T be plugging anything into the USB port untill there is some confirmation one way or the other as to what is going on.

I bought it to stream .ISO wired from my server. when it worked, it did a fine job.

kwntut

02-06-07, 11:13 AM

ALTech just posted new NDAS software.

stevemag

02-06-07, 11:15 AM

Looking for anyone that can advise or has input on this new model..

Thx

cyberdude_pete

02-06-07, 02:08 PM

So I'm still kicking the wheels of the 350HD (since my first one blew up).

Anyone have a comparison or opinion between this and the Tvix M-4000?

dan69man

02-07-07, 09:54 AM

Hey guys, Just got my MG350-hd and wanted to upgrade the firmware...but on the website the downloads section is MIA. Where'd you guys get the latest firmware from?

thanks

gkinma

02-07-07, 10:07 AM

You have to go to the manufacturer's site, at AirLink Tech, not the MediaGate site:

http://www.airlinktek.com/

It's in the support section.

dan69man

02-07-07, 10:09 AM

Thanks for the quick reply gkinma

kwntut

02-07-07, 12:22 PM

Does anyone know if there are MG-350HD hacks like there are for the MG-35? I was also wondering where I might find more info regarding the MG-350HD's main board. Like what the multiport I/O is for (even though there's really nothing on the board for this) Looks like there is something resembling an extra USB port connector, or something. Looks like the wireless card is soldered to the mainboard at the connector clips. Does anyone know if this wireless card is replaceable through some other vendor? I am looking at options for repairing it myself since tech support seems to not want to respond. They told me they would get me an RMA and send me a new unit, but I've not heard anything since and no one will respond to my emails. I tried contacting their USA office via email, but the emails bounce. I'll try call the number to see if I can get a hold of someone that way.

I still have had no luck getting network working. Tech Support still has not replied.

I'm relatively new to this forum and I've found it quite helpful so far. I've read postings on the MG-35 forum also. I have a question. If AL Tech has had such a bad reputation for support and many unsatisfied customers, has AL Tech ever been sued, like in a class-action suit? I am not a lawyer and I am not litigious, but it seems like companies respond very quickly if they are legally at fault for some grievance and held liable.

teddystacker

02-07-07, 02:06 PM

Does anyone know if there are MG-350HD hacks like there are for the MG-35? I.

At this moment in time there are NO known firmware hacks of any kind for the 350 or anyone working on them to my knowledge.

Sorry about the lack of replies from Altech or Mediagate USA , this has been the case all the way with both 35 and 350 - utterly poor support , which in turn has lead to VERY poor sales of the 350 - Its a great shame , as with real support , it could have been the market leader..

I and a couple of others seem to be the only source of support at the "Official" Mediagate USA forums - The owners seem to have gone AWOL..

Sorry I could not help further..

teddystacker

02-07-07, 02:11 PM

MediagateUSA has a discussion forum. Says it's a test forum. There's only one post so far. Might be worth checking out. Maybe they're becoming more aware of negative press and are looking to change.

I VERY much doubt it , as the owners of the MediagateUSA discussion forums have gone AWOL for some months now - its seems that the very poor support from them and Al Tech has lead to VERY poor sales of the 350..

I, and a couple of others appear to have been left as the only way anyone can get support at those forums , and we dont even work for then! , we are just keen users that wanted to see the 350 do well , but sadly it looks like dure to the support issue this has failed..

12marshall

02-07-07, 03:10 PM

on the other hand... they have been releasing new firmware and ndas software..... so they're not completely AWOL.
BTW...for me it's working great and I've thrown a lot at it as I'm primarily interested in HD and DTS surround. It's worked great.
I just think it could be much better with a little effort.

teddystacker

02-07-07, 03:34 PM

12marshall

02-07-07, 04:26 PM

I have somehow avoided the mp3 issues... but it's mostly because I'm using my roku for mp3s with tversity!
:)

kwntut

02-08-07, 02:49 AM

I meant MEdiagate USA were AWOL , and this is true as its Al Tech Korea that have been releasing firmware and NDAS , NEVER THE USA people..

But...

1)If you check the NDAS thay just released its a older version (3.11) and NOT the current 3.20.1519 From Ximeta - so they are not really releasing anything NEW and worthwhile..Also there is NO version of NDAS that works on the 35 and vista..

2)The Latest firmware releases are still not fixing any of the main long outstanding issues such as picture display and MP3 playing..
I noticed the NDAS that AL Tech posted was not current. I thought they might have posted it for an unspecified reason, like the most current version caused issues with the 350 in general. Giving the benefit of the doubt, I downgraded to the one AL Tech posted, but I can't get network working on it to even know.

I purchased the 350 based on all the media hype, it really sounded like it was a good product. My 350 is not completely dead, just no network and I am unable to slave another USB device to it. Used to work fine. I wish that AL Tech would have elaborated on the "known defect" at least enough to indicate if it is a hardware issue or a software issue. Again I am giving the benefit of the doubt and hoping it will be resolved through software. The wireless MAC address changes on it's own for some reason. I thought a real MAC address is embeded in the hardware. The only time I've seen this able to be overridden is in software, like if you're trying to spoof a MAC address...which makes me think this is a software issue.

I have not taken mine completely apart yet to see, but I was wondering if there is a battery in the unit somewhere, so I can remove it and hopefully it'll reset itself completely if I leave it sit for some duration of time. I was able to find what appears to be a reset switch on the mainboard under the drive tray located in close proximity to the power, drive, and remote LEDs. It only seems to reboot the device and not reset any settings or preferences. I wish they didn't solder the wireless card to the mainboard at the retainer clips. I'd to see if reseating the wireless card will fix my network and whatever conflict is causing the USB slave port not to work. I am able to still transfer files to the device via the USB host port, which is way faster than network anyway and I can still watch my ISO files from it.

Thanks for the comments. Too bad they just don't open source the firmware and let those with interest and time to spare the opportunity to fix the issues they seem to be unable to provide timely resolution to.

Cheers!

kwntut

02-08-07, 03:00 AM

I spent some time looking into mods for my XBox, but I could not ever seem to commit to actually doing it. Does anyone have any experience with these and if the functionality is compareable or better than what the 350 offers?

dan69man

02-08-07, 07:42 AM

Has anyone updated with the beta firmware yet?

http://www.airlinktek.com/

MG-350HD v1.1.1 beta3 Firmware

teddystacker

02-08-07, 09:08 AM

Thanks for the head up Dan , looks like this will be a MAJOR update (Function-wise) if it works , as it adds net radio!!

Here is the full read_me , I will load/test and report as soon as I can..

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The improvements of the 1.1.1 firmware are as follows:

1) Photo slide show method -> Improved
- The loading message that used to obstruct the screen has been moved to the bottom right corner
- Current photo remains visible (instead of black screen or animation) while loading next photo

2) Internet radio function -> Added
Usage:
- Configure and setup the Internet Radio settings on the Configuration/Setup screen
- Press the Left key on the Main screen (list) to move to the Device and Application screen where the I-radio icon can be selected
- Press the I-radio icon to get a broadcasting station list from a server. (Currently www.shoutcast.com is supported)
- After creating an 'iradio' folder on the root of the local hard drive, if an .m3u or .pls file that contains the broadcasting station list is saved in
the folder, a direct connection to a broadcasting station is possible without having to connect to a server first. (Currently shoutcast and icecast protocol are supported)
- If a broadcasting station is selected, a channel list will appear
- Choose a channel to listen to the radio
- A manual containing further details and usage guide will be uploaded shortly
- known bug: while connecting to certain broadcasting stations, system goes down

3) Additional Internet setup options -> Added

4) A few unplayable MP3 files now playable.

5) RECYCLE.BIN folder is hidden (not visible) if connecting to Vista via network

6) Certain jpeg files that cannot be displayed in Portraitmode can now be displayed
- known bug: the color of certain photos that are in Portraitmode can go off

7) Possible to change to 4:3 Letterbox/16:9 display while viewing a movie (via Menu button)

8) Caption sync in 0.5 second intervals up to 2 seconds, in 1 second intervals after that

9) Multi-language caption supported (by selecting 1+2 for caption). Up to 2 languages can be displayed simultaneously.

Has anyone updated with the beta firmware yet?

http://www.airlinktek.com/

MG-350HD v1.1.1 beta3 Firmware

teddystacker

02-08-07, 11:06 AM

Here is the full read_me , I will load/test and report as soon as I can..

Ok,well I loaded this new beta firmware and can report the following..

1)Firstly,as with previous releases,all your previous settings will wiped , so after you have updated to this firmware you will need to re-nter ALL your wireless,wep settings etc,the Private folder password also gets reset to the default 0000.

2)This is the good bit - the net radio works!!,and works very well first time - I was totally amazed how easy it was.I setup the new "internet" area in the setup menu and then also the net radio section (set servers to 30 max).Then go to the 350's main screen and hit the LEFT arrow key on your remote,a new menu wil then appear with a Radio icon , you can then select up to 30 servers (The default is only 10,but you alter this in the setup screen).You then select a channel and it displays the player and starts playing.I only have a Wireless B network , but played very well for me.
I have yet to create the Iradio folder as outlined to create faves etc etc.

3)Photo displaying is now MUCH better than before , and does indeed seem much more seemless , as it keeps the previous photo on screen.It may still not be perfect,but I am happy with it..

4)Mp3s play fine , but then I never had these issues before anyway - look forward to reports from those that did to see if this issue is now fixed

I have todo some more testing but so far this looks good , if only Al Tech would have added this net feature sooner , I am sure that sales of the would be much,much better than they are now

Really look forward to other users comments on this new firmware - for once (at this stage) i have nothing but praise for Al Tech...

gkinma

02-08-07, 12:06 PM

kwntut,

Have you tried to contact the vendor you purchased the unit from? Wehn I was having issues with DVI output on my first unit, I contacted the vendor. They had some discussions with AL Tech (which did not really seem to do any good), but they sent me out a replacement unit. I had to do a purchase/credit deal to get the replacement before sending in the original. I could have sent back the original first, but did not want to have nothing for the week or so this would have taken. Just a thought for your situation...

dan69man

02-08-07, 06:06 PM

installed the new firmware everything seems to be working, LOVE the new internet radio Kudos to Al Tech for this cool feature!!

teddystacker

02-08-07, 06:58 PM

installed the new firmware everything seems to be working, LOVE the new internet radio Kudos to Al Tech for this cool feature!!

I agree,I have been playing with it this afternoon , it wil be great once I can work out how to create my own .M3u or .PSL files , as the server list is a little limited..

Does anyone know where these .M3u or .PSL (With the broadcast info in) files can be obtained?? or how can I make/save them within winamp?

Sorry for being a newbie to this net radio stuff,would be grateful if anyone with iradio knowledge could help..

SydneyGuy

02-08-07, 10:14 PM

The new version sounds good. It's not that long since the last release so maybe they have realised that frequent updates will keep existing users happy and perhaps entice new users to buy their product.

One thing that did stand out for me from the readme was ...

"After creating an 'iradio' folder on the root of the local hard drive"

What if you don't have a local hard drive? Does that mean the Internet Radio function wont work? I stream all my files off a 2.25TB NAS server so I wont be installing a local hard drive anytime soon.

kwntut

02-08-07, 10:44 PM

I could give that a try, but I think I know what their response will be and it will be that my 30 day return period has long since expired. This would be my fault for not testing this when I first recieved the unit. But I didn't even try network until I AL Tech released firmware to add WPA support. I was not willing to drop my security WEP. Now I know to at least drop it enough to test any new gear I get that is network capable. Thank you for the suggestion. :)

cyberdude_pete

02-08-07, 11:35 PM

O.K., installed new firmware..

1. Seems a bunch of internet radio stations are pre-installed. I use a file server too, and when I turn on the radio feature, it is populated. Seamingly,works like a charm!

2. I have (had) some MP3 files that would not play under 1.1.0, either due to sample rate, VBR, or possibly having album art embeded. Don't know the true reason, however, that is now MOOT!!! Works like a charm!

Well, I've have this unit all of a week. First unit was bad for whatever reason, Got a replacement, and so far (two days) so good.

Darn thing plays all but 1 of my 70 .ISO files (as far as I know, didn't really play ALL of them, but at least a dozen.)

That's really what I bought it for, but none the less, MP3 and Net Radio playback seem tight.

Very happy. Now if only my darned Zensonic Z500 could be this stable....But that's quite a different issue. Maybe I'll dump it and get a decent upscaling OPO DVD player or something....

divinewrite

02-08-07, 11:37 PM

Hi Everyone,

Just wondering if you someone could give me a little guidance on the MG-350. I've been considering getting the Mvix MV5000U, but I've just found out that its playlists are folder specific (i.e. playlists can only include files from within the folder that the playlists file itself lives in).

I spoke to the Australian distributor of the MG-350, and he said that playlists are created in the unit (rather than in something like WinAmp as for the MV5000U), and that the songs within a playlist can come from any folder in the system. Can anyone confirm this?

And how hard is it to create and edit playlists?

Also, can you skip back and forward between songs in a playlist once it's actually playing?

And are there any other really big problems that I should know about?

Thanks greatly in advance!

SydneyGuy

02-09-07, 06:35 AM

I've installed the firmware update and it all went well. The Internet Radio feature is working although with 60GB of music on my network I'm not sure if I will ever need to use online radio.

The biggest change for me was the picture viewing. They have almost got it right. It now leaves an image on the screen while it loads the next one and then transitions between them. This is MUCH MUCH better than previous versions. But there is still a "Loading" animation on the screen as well. Admitedly it is small and down in the bottom right hand corner but why does it need to be there at all??? With 5 seconds between pictures the animation is on the screen permanently as it takes about 5 seconds for each picture to load. We know we are watching a slideshow and that the machine is going to be constantly loading images. There is no need to tell us that with an animation.

I haven't noticed any other improvements but I wasn't having any real problems with the previous version anyway.

migmac57

02-09-07, 02:00 PM

DAN69MAN

could you indicate me where can I get MG-350HD in Toronto or Montreal? cause a friend of mine will go there next week and he will do me the favour.....

dan69man

02-09-07, 03:19 PM

DAN69MAN

could you indicate me where can I get MG-350HD in Toronto or Montreal? cause a friend of mine will go there next week and he will do me the favour.....

I actually ordered it from Mediasonic.com I got it less than 24hrs later no shipping fees.

Henrik.Anderson

02-10-07, 07:02 AM

I'm new to the web radio thing and wounder if someone can share there sites for this? Or any other sites for that matter...
Thanks in advance
/Henrik

12marshall

02-11-07, 03:56 PM

I agree,I have been playing with it this afternoon , it wil be great once I can work out how to create my own .M3u or .PSL files , as the server list is a little limited..

Does anyone know where these .M3u or .PSL (With the broadcast info in) files can be obtained?? or how can I make/save them within winamp?

Sorry for being a newbie to this net radio stuff,would be grateful if anyone with iradio knowledge could help..

It appears we can play an .m3u or .psl file from the network as well... there is no need as far as i can see to have it on the drive in the 350. Here's a guide on m3u and psl from the winamp forums....

M3U and PLS Specification
The Unofficial M3U and PLS Specification

Winamp playlists are just a text file containing links to the location of the proper file. You can crate or edit a playlist in any text editor. It could be anything to MP3, WMA, or even another playlist. Just because something is in a playlist, doesn't mean Winamp can play it though. Winamp will just skip over unknown file formats. This document will hopefully try to clarify the differences of the playlist formats available.

Generic M3U/PLS
A list of links to files makes a valid generic playlist. The entry can be relative (i.e. \files\song.mp3) or specific (i.e. c:\media\files\son.mp3). Also, URLs can he inserted to point to a stream or a file on the Internet.

Here are a few sample generic MP3/PLS files:

A Simple M3U

sample.m3u

code:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alternative\Band - Song.mp3
Classical\Other Band - New Song.mp3
crap.mp3
F:\more music\foo - bar.mp3
http://www.site.com:8000/listen.pls
http://www.site.com/~user/mine.mp3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Alternative and Classical are sub-directories of the directory that this playlist is stored in.
- "Song" and "New Song" are in sub-directories that this playlist is stored in.
- "Crap" is in the same directory that the playlist is stored in.
- "Foo - Bar" is in the specified directory, which may or may not be the same directory the playlist is in.
- http://www.site.com:8000/listen.pls is a Shoutcast stream.
- "Mine" is a MP3 stored on a web server somewhere.

These path options hold true of the extended playlists described below.

Extended M3U

Let's first look at an extended M3U file then I will describe everything below

sample2.m3u

code:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:233,Everclear - So Much For The Afterglow
Alternative\everclear - SMFTA.mp3
#EXTINF:227,Weird Al - Everything You Know Is Wrong
Comedy\Weird Al - Everything You Know Is Wrong.mp3
#EXTINF:187,Weird Al Yankovic - This is the Life
Weird Al - This Is The Life.mp3
#EXTINF:129,Weird Al: Bad Hair Day - Gump
http://www.site.com/~user/gump.mp3
#EXTINF:-1,My Cool Stream
http://www.site.com:8000/listen.pls
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Explanation of entries:
#EXTM3U At the VERY top of the Extended M3U file is this header, which signifies this is an extended M3U file. '#EXTM3U" must be all capital letters.

#EXTINF:233,Everclear - So Much For The Afterglow: This is the line that tends to confuse people. Let's break it up into parts
- #EXTINF:: This signifies this is an Extended Information field. It ends with a colon (:).
- 233,: This is the time of the file in seconds followed by a comma. (233 seconds = 3:53). On the last entry there is a negative one, this is usually seen on streams, it tells the program to ignore the time entry.
- Everclear - So Much For The Afterglow: Title to display. This is usually the title read from the file name or ID3 tags. This also can be the name of a stream. No characters follow the title.
Alternative\everclear - SMFTA.mp3: File location as described above with basic playlists.

Extended PLS (PLSv2)

Same playlist from the M3U section in PLS format.

code:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[playlist]
File1=Alternative\everclear - SMFTA.mp3
Title1=Everclear - So Much For The Afterglow
Length1=233
File2=Comedy\Weird Al - Everything You Know Is Wrong.mp3
Title2=Weird Al - Everything You Know Is Wrong
Length2=227
File3=Weird Al - This Is The Life.mp3
Title3=Weird Al Yankovic - This is the Life
Length3=187
File4=http://www.site.com/~user/gump.mp3
Title4=Weird Al: Bad Hair Day - Gump
Length4=129
File5=http://www.site.com:8000/listen.pls
Title5=My Cool Stream
Length5=-1
NumberOfEntries=5
Version=2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Explanation of entries:
[playlist]: Signifies that this is a playlist. This is case sensitive.

File#=: Location of the file in any of the formats described above. This is also case sensitive. Also the # sign after "File" signifies what file number it is. The first file in the playlist is "File1", the second is "File2" and so on.

Title#=: Title to display. This is usually the title read from the file name or ID3 tags. Like the other fields, this is case sensitive. This also can be the name of a stream. Like "File#" the pound sign (#) is replaced by the entry number that is in the playlist.

Length#=": Length in seconds, this is also case sensitive. On the last entry there is a negative one, this is usually seen on streams, it tells the program to ignore the time entry. Like "File#" the pound sign (#) is replaced by the entry number that is in the playlist.

NumberOfEntries=#: The total number of entries in the playlist. This should match the last number on the "File#", "Title#", and "Length#" fields. Also case sensitive.

Version=2: This required entry near the bottom tells the player what format the PLS is in. Older versions of the PLS format did not include this. Like everything else, it is case sensitive.

divinewrite

02-11-07, 06:38 PM

I spoke to the Australian distributor of the MG-350, and he said that playlists are created in the unit (rather than in something like WinAmp as for the MV5000U), and that the songs within a playlist can come from any folder in the system. Can anyone confirm this?

For anyone who's interested, I've since re-contacted the Australian distributor of this product, and have learnt that it doesn't support multiple playlists. Apparently only supports one permanent playlist. Not quite sure of the ins and outs, but there's enough doubt for me to pass on it.

Still investigating the Sarotech DVP-570HD and a couple of cheaper units (which I don't hold out much hope for). Also investigating a streaming unit which looks like it'll probably be the ultimate solution.

Will post my findings when I have them.

Cheers.

ChessKing

02-12-07, 07:25 AM

AL Tech have decided to open their own online support forum, here is the email I received from AL Tech today:

"Dear All,

Due to the increasing popularity and sales of our products, thanks to the ever increasing support from our customers, AL Tech is getting more and more inquiries and support requests. In order to improve the quality of our customer service and deal better with customer queries and questions, we will be getting rid of the techsupport@airlinktek.com email account and replace it with a forum/Q&A board on our website.

The reasons for this move are:
1. Allow our engineers and support team faster and easier access to customer queries and questions.
2. Reduce delays, repetitions and redundancy in answering similar queries and questions.
And most importantly,
3. Allow for greater and better sharing of information, updates and solutions to customers' queries and questions among our valued customers.

Please check our forum/board for any queries or questions you might have regarding the use of our products and if you can't find an answer, feel free to post your question on the forum/board.

We will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible, but just in case we're a little bit delayed due to the large amount of queries coming in, please understand our situation and forgive us.

Thank you.

Have a nice day.

Tech Support / AL Tech"

cyberdude_pete

02-12-07, 10:42 AM

WOW!

Just what the heck are they trying to do here! Buck the trend? How unreasonable!

Next they'll tell us: Hey, we're going to add more features, or, Hey, we're stabalizing the code further.

I've been buying hgh tech for decads folks. If ALTech thinks they can just go and offer better support just like that, well...

I just don't know what to say.

(humorous sarcasm off.)

teddystacker

02-12-07, 11:03 AM

Chessking,

Thanks for the heads up here mate...

Sadly,Like many others I dont hold out much hope here - I predict we will see many of the "stone Wall" replies that we have always gotten my emailing their so called support people..I gave up emailing them a long,long time ago..

There are already lots of posts on the site from users , I wonder how many days it wil be before we see the 1st "official" reply - they even say in their read me that replies might take a while..

Same old , Same old From al Tech.... I only hope I am wrong and things really do get better...

WOW!

Just what the heck are they trying to do here! Buck the trend? How unreasonable!

Next they'll tell us: Hey, we're going to add more features, or, Hey, we're stabalizing the code further.

I've been buying hgh tech for decads folks. If ALTech thinks they can just go and offer better support just like that, well...

I just don't know what to say.

(humorous sarcasm off.)

animaal

02-12-07, 01:55 PM

To be fair, I have a MG-350HD, and the firmware updates have been very good. Since buying it, I have had various problems but they have been fixed. At the moment, I do not experience any problems in day-to-day use, and I have features I didn't expect to get, like internet radio and WPA.

At this point in time, the only firmware updates I really want are:

1. FTP wireless transfers rather than NDAS
2. tone down the "loading" animation.

I think recent firmware updates will reduce the need for support, and make it easier for Altech to deal with the problems people wil have.

12marshall

02-12-07, 02:01 PM

divinewrite

02-12-07, 05:21 PM

For anyone who's interested, I've since re-contacted the Australian distributor of this product, and have learnt that it doesn't support multiple playlists. Apparently only supports one permanent playlist. Not quite sure of the ins and outs, but there's enough doubt for me to pass on it.

Again for anyone who's interested, I ended up buying an Australian product, the Zensonic Z500 DVD player & media streamer. Obviously, it's a little different to the Mediagate product in that it's designed to stream, but it's supposed to properly support m3u playlists, and that was the sticking point with most of the other devices I researched. For the record, I looked in a far amount of detail (called manufacturers & distributors where possible, and did a lot of forum and site surfing) at the following, and none of them supported multiple, permanent m3u playlists referencing files in multiple folders:
- DGM USB2 Movie World HDC-DX3536
- tvix-m3000u
- Snazio SZ1310
- modded xbox
- Mediagate MG-25
- Mediagate MG-35
- Mediagate MG-350HD
- Neuston Virtuoso - Obsolete (they have a new product coming out in a month or so that is supposed to support playlists)
- Noontec GigaView MP35 HDD Media Player WEST AUS
- Mvix MV5000U
- Sarotech DVP-570HD
- D-link DSM-320RD (Promo material doesn't say anything about playlists. I didn't actually call the manufacturers and distributors nor surf forums on this one.)

Some notes on the Zensonic's handling of playlists:
- Zensonic support tell me that playlists must be contained in the root music folder
- Zensonic support tell me that it plays them in the order that it displays them (which may be different to your intended order)
- Another user reports that the Zensonic order is a little bodgy (e.g. it displays track 11 immediately following track 1)

Bear in mind that I'm no expert on all this stuff, but to the best of my knowledge, the above is correct.

Now I'm awaiting delivery, then I have to try the Zensonic out to see if it lives up to its promise. As with all of these devices, it has its critics. Guess I'll just have to wait 'n see. So far, though, my experience with them has been good. I'm in Australia and the product is built and supported in Australia. It's the first product of all those that I researched that has had excellent phone sales and tech support (I got to speak at length with tech support even though I didn't yet own one).

Cheers.

ChessKing

02-12-07, 06:04 PM

Chessking,

Thanks for the heads up here mate...

Sadly,Like many others I dont hold out much hope here - I predict we will see many of the "stone Wall" replies that we have always gotten my emailing their so called support people..I gave up emailing them a long,long time ago..

There are already lots of posts on the site from users , I wonder how many days it wil be before we see the 1st "official" reply - they even say in their read me that replies might take a while..

Same old , Same old From al Tech.... I only hope I am wrong and things really do get better...

No problem teddystacker,

I too am hoping that this is a sign that AL Tech maybe turning over a new leaf in terms of improving support for their products. I guess only time will tell whether this is just a publicity stunt or they are really serious about supporting their products.

cyberdude_pete

02-13-07, 02:55 PM

Again for anyone who's interested, I ended up buying an Australian product, the Zensonic Z500 DVD player & media streamer. Obviously, it's a little different to the Mediagate product in that it's designed to stream, but it's supposed to properly support m3u playlists, and that was the sticking point with most of the other devices I researched. For the record, I looked in a far amount of detail (called manufacturers & distributors where possible, and did a lot of forum and site surfing) at the following, and none of them supported multiple, permanent m3u playlists referencing files in multiple folders:
- DGM USB2 Movie World HDC-DX3536
- tvix-m3000u
- Snazio SZ1310
- modded xbox
- Mediagate MG-25
- Mediagate MG-35
- Mediagate MG-350HD
- Neuston Virtuoso - Obsolete (they have a new product coming out in a month or so that is supposed to support playlists)
- Noontec GigaView MP35 HDD Media Player WEST AUS
- Mvix MV5000U
- Sarotech DVP-570HD
- D-link DSM-320RD (Promo material doesn't say anything about playlists. I didn't actually call the manufacturers and distributors nor surf forums on this one.)

Some notes on the Zensonic's handling of playlists:
- Zensonic support tell me that playlists must be contained in the root music folder
- Zensonic support tell me that it plays them in the order that it displays them (which may be different to your intended order)
- Another user reports that the Zensonic order is a little bodgy (e.g. it displays track 11 immediately following track 1)

Bear in mind that I'm no expert on all this stuff, but to the best of my knowledge, the above is correct.

Now I'm awaiting delivery, then I have to try the Zensonic out to see if it lives up to its promise. As with all of these devices, it has its critics. Guess I'll just have to wait 'n see. So far, though, my experience with them has been good. I'm in Australia and the product is built and supported in Australia. It's the first product of all those that I researched that has had excellent phone sales and tech support (I got to speak at length with tech support even though I didn't yet own one).

Cheers.
Lemme know what you think. I've had mine for about 6 months (maybe longer) but I'll hold off on my thoughts until you've had time with yours.

teddystacker

02-13-07, 03:47 PM

For those looking for Remote codes to program a JP1 remoate control to work with the MG-350HD - see my post here..

http://mediagateusa.s10.forumsplace.com/viewtopic.php?t=390

divinewrite

02-13-07, 05:50 PM

Lemme know what you think. I've had mine for about 6 months (maybe longer) but I'll hold off on my thoughts until you've had time with yours.

Will do! It's supposed to arrive today. I'll be hooking it up as soon as it arrives. I'm hoping it won't make me swear, but as every other AV device I've ever connected has, I think that's a vain hope!

Cheers.

Henrik.Anderson

02-14-07, 02:49 AM

Can anyone help me.
I have just got my 350 and I need it to connect to my new wireless card, in my Win XP.
I use wired network otherwise, I guess I should use AdHoc but I don't know how to get that working in XP.
Please advise.
Regards
/Henrik

cyberdude_pete

02-14-07, 10:52 AM

Henrik, did you go throu the proper incantations of activating te Guest account, seting up your DHCP (or fixed address), etc?

Are you usig any protection? (hehe.) :cool:

I sugest turnin off protection initally to see if youge a standard connection first, then start gointhrogh level of encripton o see if it fals at some point.

I would start there. If, after that, you still have prolems, I'm sure this grop can get youup and runnig.

Scan back through this thread and search for wireless. You will likely find all ou need to know.

Good luck.

teddystacker

02-14-07, 12:18 PM

Just in case anyone missed it , this little Gem was posted at the Official MG-350
Forums by Al Tech Admin..

Its a procedure to do a factory reset on your MG-350HD - the way they posted it
it was to be used in the case of when the unit will not boot (Flashing blue light).But myself, I cannot see this would work when the unit was in that state.as being as it had not booted ,how could the remote work?,anyhow here it is for what its worth...

Initiallization (Factory Reset) for MG-350HD
1) Turn on the unit.
2) Press 'SET UP' button
3) Press '0 8 5 2' on the remote control.
4) Press the 'left arrow¢·' button.
5) Press the 'OK' button.
After this, please wait 3 to 5 minutes and power off and power on again.

ChessKing

02-15-07, 07:51 AM

New beta firmware is up on the Altech Site v1.1.1_beta5. Seem to be some incremental fixes to some problems. Items in red are the fixes.

1) Photo slide show method -> Improved
- The loading message that used to obstruct the screen has been moved to the bottom right corner
- Current photo remains visible (instead of black screen or animation) while loading next photo
- Keep getting errors when displaying Jpeg files => Bug fixed.
(If the resolution is too high, full screen slides cannot be maintained so all screen got erased.)

2) Internet radio function -> Added
Usage:
- Configure and setup the Internet Radio settings on the Configuration/Setup screen
- Press the Left key on the Main screen (list) to move to the Device and Application screen where the I-radio icon can be selected
- Press the I-radio icon to get a broadcasting station list from a server. (Currently www.shoutcast.com is supported)
- After creating an 'iradio' folder on the root of the local hard drive, if an .m3u or .pls file that contains the broadcasting station list is saved in
the folder, a direct connection to a broadcasting station is possible without having to connect to a server first. (Currently shoutcast and icecast protocol are supported)
- If a broadcasting station is selected, a channel list will appear
- Choose a channel to listen to the radio
- A manual containing further details and usage guide will be uploaded shortly
- Depending on the server's resources and condition, connection may fail.

3) Additional Internet setup options -> Added

4) A few unplayable MP3 files now playable.
- MP3 files carrying ID3 tag can be palyed.
- MP3 files carrying WAVEfmt headers can now be played.

5) RECYCLE.BIN folder is hidden (not visible) if connecting to Vista via network

6) Certain jpeg files that cannot be displayed in Portraitmode can now be displayed
- the color of certain photos that are in Portraitmode can go off => Bug fixed

7) Possible to change to 4:3 Letterbox/16:9 display while viewing a movie (via Menu button)

8) Caption sync in 0.5 second intervals up to 2 seconds, in 1 second intervals after that

9) When entering a text string => '-' added after 'Z'

10) "User: Media Password: gate" account added for network connection.

11) Multi-language caption supported (by selecting 1+2 for caption). Up to 2 languages can be displayed simultaneously.

12) Srt subtitle remains until next subtitle appears => bug fixed.

cyberdude_pete

02-15-07, 10:23 AM

teddystacker

02-15-07, 11:13 AM

WOW! After struggling with a Zensonic for a year, I don't know what to say!

These guys turn a firmware rev around in a WEEK! FIX BUGS, ADD A FEATURE, WHAT GIVES!

I have a tear in my eye. I'm all choked up.

Please, DON'T STOP!!!!

I agree totally , you may want to add to the thread here,Al Tech are doing alot better and i think its only fair we tell them that its appreciated ,after all the bashing people like myself have done in the past..

http://www.airlinktek.com/english/e_atboard_view.php?section1=e_qna&section2=mediagate&page=1&kind=&uid=63333&keyfield=&key=&prod_sch=

12marshall

02-15-07, 01:18 PM

WOW! After struggling with a Zensonic for a year, I don't know what to say!

These guys turn a firmware rev around in a WEEK! FIX BUGS, ADD A FEATURE, WHAT GIVES!

I have a tear in my eye. I'm all choked up.

Please, DON'T STOP!!!!
I third the motion....this thing kicks ass and takes no prisioners....
I finally have a streamer that hasn't failed me.

now if only they could help Creative labs write a vista driver from my audigy 2 card......
:)

Saroset

02-15-07, 06:11 PM

MrInsaneBuff

02-16-07, 05:57 PM

Hi guys

Found this place while trying to find a solution to a problem im having with my MG-350HD. Seems you are all well informed.

Ive recently had to reset my entire home network, going so far as to setup the workgroup again. Since doing this the MG-350HD will show its connected, but wont find any of my network devices. Ive tried doing the 0852 reset listed above. But this hasnt worked. Is there another way i can do a factory reset? Or would upgrading to the new beta drivers wipe all the current settings so i can set them up again?

Is there a way i can specify the workgroup name on the MG-350HD?

Any ideas would be appreciated. Ive only had it for about 3 weeks and already i feel like a huge part of my AV setup is missing.

Thanks

edit: Ive since tried updating to the beta drivers with no luck. Strill unable to detect my network even through all my pc's can connect and share with eachother.

nir_im

02-18-07, 07:47 PM

Hi Guys,
I reccently bought this unit and having problems. The main issue is - it freezes all the time regardless of what function I try to use. It freezes after some time (not fix - some times in few seconds and some other times after few minutes). Whether I am on main screen or on setup screeen or may be trying to play audio or video, it happens most of the time. This has been very frustrating and haven't been able to set it up properly because of this problem. If anyone has come across this issue before and resolved it, can you please share your knowledge... Any help will be appreciated...!
Thanks..

teddystacker

02-18-07, 08:52 PM

teddystacker

02-19-07, 01:54 PM

MG-350HD v1.1.1_beta5 Firmware

Now I have had time todo more testing on this latest firmware release , I think I may have found a Major bug..

It wont play MP3 files from a Wireless network share.. The same files play fine off local media or USB but not over a Network share.Photos play/display fine.

This is not a network problem as prior to this update all files would play fine.

Can anyone else with this same Firmware loaded , please try , so if confirmed I can pass onto al Tech..

Thanks in Advance..

nir_im

02-19-07, 07:13 PM

nir_im

I had this on TWO units I had (dealer swapped both of them) , in the end I tracked it down to the type of hard disk I was using (Hitachi) , I swapped this for a Seagate hard disk and all the freezing problems went away - This might not be your problem also , but this is what happened to me.. - Does this stil do this with no hard disk installed?

Thanks for the response teddystacker

I am using seagate harddisk (400 GB). I tried conneccting it without hard disk and still the same problem. It freezes after sometime. I am going to try and talk to dealer and see if I can swap this with other unit.

Thanks again.

divinewrite

02-19-07, 10:55 PM

Lemme know what you think. I've had mine for about 6 months (maybe longer) but I'll hold off on my thoughts until you've had time with yours.

Hi cyberdude_pete,

Here's a bit of an update on my experience so far with the Zensonic Z500...

Overall, I loved the unit... until it stopped working! I was mid-dvd and it froze. Support and forum members were helpful in diagnozing and attempting to fix the problem, but it looks like it's a hardware fault, so I'm sending it back for repair.

My only complaints with the working unit were that it was quite slow to navigate through the unit's menus (especially exiting back to the main menu), and it takes a full minute to power up. But I s'pose those are compromises you make when you don't invest in a $1500-$2000 media center PC!

Sure, it'd be nice if it was faster, but for me, it's not a huge issue. I like to have music playing in the background, and this is the best way to do it without repeating CDs or inserting new ones (it's a lot faster than doing that!).

For slide show, I don't really care if there's a bit of a pause between photos.

Startup's not a huge issue either, 'cos I don't do it that often. Once it's on, it tends to stay on. I've set up all the activities in my Harmony remote to have "Z500 is on" as part of their programming, so if I switch from Mp3 or slideshow to TV or video (yep, I still use video as some of my son's favourites are on vhs), the Z500 stays on. This means when I switch back, it's on and waiting for me.

Probably the biggest inconvenience for my particular needs is the long delay when you switch back to the root menu. My Harmony remote runs a lot of macros, and they all expect a common starting point (i.e. the root menu). So whenever I want to switch between, say, slideshow and mp3s, I have to wait 10 secs just to get back to the main menu, then another 5-10 or so to display the relevant folder on my PC.

Assuming all goes well with the repair and the unit doesn't fall over again any time soon, I'd still recommend it to anyone with similar needs to me.

Also, I would have preferred a replacement unit (rather than having mine repaired), but that was mostly because I didn't want to do without it for too long. Zensonic are pulling out all stops to get it repaired and back to me ASAP. I'll keep you updated...

cyberdude_pete

02-20-07, 02:55 PM

Hey Divine:

What a bummer!

Well, my unit never croaked on me, but what makes me a little crazy is the fact that it doesn't do a very good job playing .ISO files. I know they keep saying its experimental, but come'on, nearly every other player with this chipset does it.

The slow menues is because they have built a robust interface shell, and I guess they're taxing what little memory the box has. They had to buffer the dickens out of the interface to stablize it.

I really am torn. they're still working on getting the fundamentals right with this box. I fear they will loose the window and have to move on in order to keep up with market advancement (read: new and improved chips.) and leave the Z500 platform behind as a "pioneer platform". Meaning, great idea, too long in the growth state, left behind and lessons learned.

divinewrite

02-20-07, 05:36 PM

I fear they will loose the window and have to move on in order to keep up with market advancement (read: new and improved chips.) and leave the Z500 platform behind as a "pioneer platform". Meaning, great idea, too long in the growth state, left behind and lessons learned.

Let's hope not. I'd like to get some longevity out of it, so I guess it'd be better if they kept developing it a little...

Cheers.

tullman187

02-22-07, 08:30 PM

So am i to understand that this unit will play vbr mp3's? Most of my library is in that format and i would dearly love to be able to play them. and is the interface ok? does it allow random play from a single folder with subdirectories? thanks...

KAZUKI67

03-17-07, 11:53 AM

pendragn

03-17-07, 12:44 PM

i am thinking of buying a mediagate 350 but noticed wireless network is only WEP, i have WAP on my router will it still work? when you stream video content is the pc converting the video ie using codec on pc,or is it done in the mediagate, just worried about codecs getting outdated.

im in the uk anyone know where i can buy?
thank you looks a good site.
It only does WEP You only have WPA (I assume that's what you meant, as "WAP" normally means Wireless Access Point in this context). WEP != WPA. It won't work.

The Mediagate has the codecs built in and does all the decoding itself. A PC does not figure in at all.

tk

KAZUKI67

03-17-07, 12:55 PM

ChessKing

03-18-07, 01:50 AM

thanxs for reply but what i mean the security on my router and is set up for WPA so will the mediagate still work with that only been WEP? i understand about the codecs in mediagate but when you stream from the pc . will say some codecs not supported by the mediagate play because you are streaming from pc, the pc is doing the decoding.

The 350-HD does now support WPA as of firmware version v1.1.0 as quoted from the readme file

"13) WPA-TKIP and WPA-AES for wireless network => Supported"

KAZUKI67

03-18-07, 10:08 AM

can you use vlc player to stream to the mediagate350?
so video which mediagate does not support will work.

ChessKing

03-19-07, 07:13 PM

can you use vlc player to stream to the mediagate350?
so video which mediagate does not support will work.

Check out this post and response by AL Tech support at AL Tech - Streaming Files (http://www.airlinktek.com/english/e_atboard_view.php?section1=e_qna&section2=mediagate&page=2&kind=&uid=65032&keyfield=&key=&prod_sch=) which will answer your question about streaming files.

turrican2

03-20-07, 03:31 AM

MikeKom

03-20-07, 09:46 AM

Can anyone help.

I just flashed the new firmware 1.1.1 Beta 5, and now my 350 won't boot up.

Is there a recovery procedure anyone knows that I can use to recover my unit ?

MikeKom

03-20-07, 10:20 AM

Problem resolved.

I did a bit of reading on other forums and found the problem.

I am using the Digital to HDMI for the video connection, and the upgrade set the system to default. So I tried the solution I found elsewhere and connected it using the standard RCA connections. This worked and I reset it to Digital and all is well.

gilesp

03-21-07, 09:26 AM

Hi, totally new to this, and wanted to get advice on how best to set up the system for my needs - you guys clearly know a hell of lot more than the manual writers as I'm really struggling to get the unit to do anything.

Anyhow, have a XP Pro desktop and Vista laptop. Desktop plugs directly (LAN) into the wireless router (Netgear). Bought the 350 to replace my now full external hard drive - went looking for a drive plus box and figured the extra $100 for the wireless and streaming features would be worth it. So the main aim was to use the 350 as an external hard drive that could:
a) Sit in one spot in the house and store photos, music etc, and be live to the laptop whenever it was switched on
b) Be picked up as a standalone AV unit when travelling

Now, I have not managed to get it to do either. Reading the forum I have come to learn the following:
In order to do (a) NDAS is the only way and it is very slow - is this true? In relation to that can I plug the 350, via it's LAN connection directly into the router and see it from my laptop? If so what the hell do I have to do to get it to work.
Secondly, if I plug the 350 (which now contains a 320Gb drive) straight into the laptop via USB, why can't I see it?? I have tried power on, plug in - solid blue - lights starts to flash and doesn't stop. Plug in, power on, flashing blue light.

If I use the wireless networking functionality am I in essence sitting up an independent wireless network to my normal Internet based one? Dumb newbie question I'm sure.

I'm still optimistic I'll get it to work but if it's cactus, then so be it!

teddystacker

03-21-07, 09:24 PM

Hi and Welcome,

first , lets get the laptop to "see" your 350 - are you 100% sure the jumper on the hard disk in the 350 is set to MASTER or SINGLE DRIVE?.As tghis is the No.1 reson that it cannot be seen by a pc..

Where did you format the 320gb hard drive ? , in your pc? , it needs to be formatted FAT32 or NTFS in NON COMPRESSED MODE..

Hi, totally new to this, and wanted to get advice on how best to set up the system for my needs - you guys clearly know a hell of lot more than the manual writers as I'm really struggling to get the unit to do anything.

Anyhow, have a XP Pro desktop and Vista laptop. Desktop plugs directly (LAN) into the wireless router (Netgear). Bought the 350 to replace my now full external hard drive - went looking for a drive plus box and figured the extra $100 for the wireless and streaming features would be worth it. So the main aim was to use the 350 as an external hard drive that could:
a) Sit in one spot in the house and store photos, music etc, and be live to the laptop whenever it was switched on
b) Be picked up as a standalone AV unit when travelling

Now, I have not managed to get it to do either. Reading the forum I have come to learn the following:
In order to do (a) NDAS is the only way and it is very slow - is this true? In relation to that can I plug the 350, via it's LAN connection directly into the router and see it from my laptop? If so what the hell do I have to do to get it to work.
Secondly, if I plug the 350 (which now contains a 320Gb drive) straight into the laptop via USB, why can't I see it?? I have tried power on, plug in - solid blue - lights starts to flash and doesn't stop. Plug in, power on, flashing blue light.

If I use the wireless networking functionality am I in essence sitting up an independent wireless network to my normal Internet based one? Dumb newbie question I'm sure.

I'm still optimistic I'll get it to work but if it's cactus, then so be it!

gilesp

03-22-07, 06:41 AM

OK no idea what I just did, but can now see the 350 as my "F" drive - wow - major advance!! Amazing how happy the basic stuff can make you!!!

Blue light is still flashing - is this a problem??

I also tried a different USB cable - wouldn't that suck if that was the problem?

OK next job is to see the thing on the wireless network - or LAN? As I said before, main aim is to access the 350 from the laptop for back-up and media files. Will try to do that now. No doubt more questions to follow......

Incidentally have just upgraded the firmware on the unit to 1.1 at the same time as stuffing around tonight.

teddystacker

03-22-07, 08:38 AM

Hi Again

Good to hear you go it connected..

Yes "Flashing Blue" is what the 350 ALWAYS does when connected via USB host,there is no way to turn it off when in host USB mode,other than remove the bulbs , crappy design I agree...

Streaming should be pretty easy todo , just make sure you "share out" the drive you want to access, on the laptop..

NDAS works , but is as slow as hell (Al Tech Say they are looking into making it faster) , I always USB to "fill" my 350..

Suggest you always use the VERY latest firmware from their site 1.1.1 Beta 5 is stable and is ok to use..

Regards

Teddy

OK no idea what I just did, but can now see the 350 as my "F" drive - wow - major advance!! Amazing how happy the basic stuff can make you!!!

Blue light is still flashing - is this a problem??
.

st5000

03-28-07, 09:32 AM

... Will someone please look at the Galaxy 3500 IPTV-DMG and let me know if this is a better product. ...
Thanks to all who reply!!

Can't compare as I don't have the MG-350. I would say the Galaxy 3500 has a good hardware base (Sigma Designs / ARM processor) but not so good software (think it's Syabas / Linux). I haven't been able to play more then one song at a time (no playlists?) and it is not easy for me to skip around in a video. However, I have never seen a problem with the video (played NTSC, 720p & 1080i back on S-Video NTSC set). There are a number of interesting things inside the box. It is ready to accept a notebook wireless card and there is a target for a PATA interface. Makes you wonder if they were thinking of making a HDD version. I would give the Galaxy user interface a bad score of about 3 out of 10 (really lacking features). For comparison, I would give TiVo and ReplayTV scores like 7 (easy to use, but lacking a few features) and MythTV a score of 9 (very full featured, but sometimes inconsistent).

ChessKing

04-03-07, 08:46 AM

Firmware 1.1.2 is now out here is what's there:

* Version 1.1.2 additions and modifications

1. Version 1.1.1 beta 5 functionalities included

2. SKIN function added
- Background and all icons changeable
- When applying skins, display might slow down
- For further details, please refer to the homepage.
We will upload it soon.

3. Special characters now supported for WPA Key entries

4. Caption accent now supported

5. Shorcuts for mode selection screen and sound effect ON/OFF
functionality now added to Setup screen

6. Shorcut for loading icon on/off functionality now added to setup screen

7. Avi file index loading time now changeable at the setup screen
(Reduced loading time for continuous play)

8. Screen saver functionality added (When playing music files, the
title and play time will be shown along with the screen saver)

9. Parsing bug fixed for certain pls files

10. After error occurs while playing video files, device halts and all
video cannot be played - bug fixed

11. While ff/rw, progress bar is now displayed at the left top corner

12. Bug for certain id3 tag of mp3 files - fixed

13. Topfield file can now be played.

* Errors can occur while upgrading over the network due to the
unstability of the wired/wireless environments, so we recommend
upgrading using the internal HDD. Copy the upgrade file to the HDD and
please do not perform any other tasks while upgrading.

Suggest that anyone who is upgrading to this firmware make a note of your settings as they do not get restored.

teddystacker

04-03-07, 06:37 PM

Want to Test the New SKIN feature in Firmware 1.1.2?

Ok , so until Al Tech issue some Documentation on how to use the New Skin feature - we have to use the ones they have produced to let Korean users how to use it..
If you Do install this skin (As detailed below),it will be all In Korean , but at least it will give you some idea of what things will look like , if you cant work out what todo because its all in Korean , just delete the "skin1" folder in the root of your hard drive ,when connected via either USB or NDAS - and you wil be nack to "Normal".

Here is how todo it..

1)Install firmware 1.1.2
2)In the root of your hard disk create a folder called Skin1
3)Download this file from Al Tech's Korean site..
http://www.mediagate.co.kr/file_swfw/MG350HD_Skin_EnjoyTheMediagate.zip
4)Extract the contents of the Zip into the Skin1 folder you just created in step 2.
5)Hit setup on your remote and go to the last Icon on page two of the setup screens.
5)Enable the Skin feature and also select Skin1

See The instructions here - You can use "Google Translate" to get a partial translation:
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediagate.co.kr%2Fatboard_view. php%3Fclass1%3Dcs%26class2%3Dfaq%26page%3D1%26kind%3D%26uid% 3D5139%26keyfield%3Dall%26key%3D%26product%3D0531&langpair=ko%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools

After , go here to see how to create your own skin (Again in Korean)

http://www.mediagate.co.kr/file_manual/MG350HD_SkinManual.pdf

Hopefully , Al Tech will "get their act together" and produce English version of all this stuff soon , but as Always , I aint holding my breath on it..

If there are any Korean members reading this , can you help translate that PDF , as I just have not faith that Al Tech wil do it any time soon,and if we can get it translated we can start asking around for other members to help produce skins...

hiddenleavez

04-03-07, 06:49 PM

I've been thinking of getting this one and install a large HD. I have a few question though

-How is the navigating menu? A lot of my movie are seperated by folder, can this navigate through folder or do all my movie have to be in 1 folder.
-Are the file listed in alphabetical order or random order (as I heard)
-I have a few movie with seperate sub file. Will the sub appear when playing off the HDD?

I'm sure these question have been answer before, but there's so much go through and the search function isn't that great. Perhap someone can compile a FAQ and start a new thread with common ask question which would be great.

teddystacker

04-04-07, 10:42 AM

EDIT....

Al Tech have messed this up bigtime , as you will see the home screen (File list) appears in the old Green and not the New orange - Thankfully Teddy has a fix for you all..

Go to the Skin1 folder on your 350

Rename file common_listbackground.jpg to background.jpg and all will be fixed for you..

I really think that Al Tech should pay me as a full time tester on this stuff..
It appears they dont do much testing , but then again , I forgot we are the beta testers for their product aint we?

Al Tech just released a ENGLISH SKIN file - direct download is here..

Still no translation of the .PDF so we know how to make our own - but at least its something..

http://www.airlinktek.com/english/firmware/MG350HD_English_SKIN.zip

ewi

04-04-07, 10:46 AM

...
-How is the navigating menu? A lot of my movie are seperated by folder, can this navigate through folder or do all my movie have to be in 1 folder.
-Are the file listed in alphabetical order or random order (as I heard)
-I have a few movie with separate sub file. Will the sub appear when playing off the HDD? ...

-It navigates folders just fine in either the internal HD, usb HD, over the LAN or WiFi.
-Files are listed in alphabetical order on mine.
-If the srt/idx/sub files are in the same folder and have the same name (except the extension) as the video file it picks them up automatically, else you can use the "subtitle" button on the remote to select the idx or srt files. Yes, sub's will appear when playing off the HDD.

dawzer

04-04-07, 09:07 PM

Is it worth downloading the 1_1_2 firmware upgrade? Since I am doing ok with current version, I am inclined to wait a week or two to see whether there will be some newer versions of this upgrade.

ChessKing

04-05-07, 12:52 AM

Is it worth downloading the 1_1_2 firmware upgrade? Since I am doing ok with current version, I am inclined to wait a week or two to see whether there will be some newer versions of this upgrade.

I guess it up to you to decide if any of the changes in v1.1.2 would fix any problems you maybe experiencing.

dawzer

04-09-07, 12:23 AM

Based on what I've read on the AL Tech forums - it is better not to install the new firmware yet.

teddystacker

04-09-07, 07:04 AM

This is simply not true in my opinion , the Skin feature alone is worh looking at.So far I really have had no problem at all with 1.1.2 , yes there are still some issues that have to be addressed,but none of these are new created by 1.1.2... this is what i have found myself , not what I have "read" at the forums..

Based on what I've read on the AL Tech forums - it is better not to install the new firmware yet.

teddystacker

04-09-07, 02:14 PM

Just to keep users that dont read other forums up to date with recent developments on the MG-350HD.....

1)Al Tech today released some English docs on how to create skins for the MG-350HD , one or two people are already working on good looking skins.

http://mediagateusa.s10.forumsplace.com/viewtopic.php?t=455

http://mediagateusa.s10.forumsplace.com/viewtopic.php?t=451

2)For those having problems with iradio , this post may help you..

http://mediagateusa.s10.forumsplace.com/viewtopic.php?t=455

Regards to all

Teddy

mka

04-11-07, 01:19 PM

For whatever it's worth, here is the latest review of the MG-350HD

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2112827,00.asp

charleykay

04-15-07, 09:19 PM

Firmware 1.1.2 is now out here is what's there:

* Version 1.1.2 additions and modifications

13. Topfield file can now be played.

Hi, has anyone tried playing Topfield .rec files with this latest firmware?

regards Charley

ChessKing

04-16-07, 07:55 PM

Hi, has anyone tried playing Topfield .rec files with this latest firmware?

regards Charley

Yes I have, it seems the issues relating to playing back of HD files have been fixed. SD files seem to also playback fine as well.

funkdr_1999

04-17-07, 11:47 AM

charleykay

04-17-07, 01:29 PM

Yes I have, it seems the issues relating to playing back of HD files have been fixed. SD files seem to also playback fine as well.
Thanks for the feedback. The ability to connect the Toppy via USB to the 350 and copy files without the need for a computer between them would be really neat.

regards Charley

ewi

04-17-07, 07:32 PM

Hi,

Last night I streamed a few 720p .ts files off the MG-350HD and about 20 minutes into show it started to stutter and the sounds went wild. I had to press stop, replay the file, and then find the point where I left off using the timer search. Then the file would play again without problems. ...

I experience video stutter or complete stops occasionally when playing full DVD rip ISO files or HD files. Both my MG350HD and the PC are on WiFi so I assume the wireless connection is causing buffering problems, which the MG-350HD is not smart enough to recover from. Replaying the file from the left off point is fine everytime. I think the solution is wired LAN connection from end to end. Is your PC also wire connected?

I never experience problems for SD content avi files. I hope they implement VLC streaming client on the 350HD so I dont have to worry about codecs anymore.

gkinma

04-17-07, 07:38 PM

I remember reading, but now cannot find, that someone was using some type of wireless adapter connected the the ethernet port instead of the built-in wireless connection on the MG350. The post indicated that the throughput with this connection was much better than that of the built-in wireless connection.

Could someone please let me know what type of device they used to do this, and if I am remembering this post correctly.

Thanks!

funkdr_1999

04-17-07, 07:41 PM

Thanks for the response ewi...
unfortunately, both are connected via wire. So it's pretty odd it would stutter isn't it? Hmmm, I'll try different files tonight and see if the stuttering continues.

cyberdude_pete

04-26-07, 08:03 PM

Hi,

Last night I streamed a few 720p .ts files off the MG-350HD and about 20 minutes into show it started to stutter and the sounds went wild. I had to press stop, replay the file, and then find the point where I left off using the timer search. Then the file would play again without problems. This happened twice though to both files. My MG-350HD is wire connected, so there shouldn't be any problems. Has anyone else experienced this and is there any possible solution? Thanks a lot for any input.

I have an Infrant ReadyNAS hooked up through a router/switch and had issues with this. Here is what I learned...

There is a program called IOMeter which allows you to test aspects of your network (http://www.infrant.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=265) It is VERY likely that you have a network issue that, although is transparent under a typical OS environment, shines through with the 350.

Could be bad cables (crimpped, etc.), could be a bad NIC on your PC.

rickers

05-13-07, 07:26 AM

Hi all, I am bit of a noob in this area, but have been researching and getting a we bit confused. I purchased a MG350HD a couple of months ago, upgraded firmware (last beta b4 latest release) connected to network (wirelessly) and use external USB drive currently. No problems. Most of the stuff I have thrown at it plays fine, ISO's DVD's DIVX XVID etc etc. However after just purchasing Sony 40" LCD which supports HDMI 720P and 1080i I am keen to try some high def stuff out. Looking at the specs I can see that the player supports MP4@L5 and a bit of googling shows this is level 5 of the MP4 standard, H264 is at level 10. Also supported (I think) is WMV9@ML(720P). So I have here some H264 files in Matroska containers (these play fine on the puter with appropriate codecs installed) and have discovered software, WINAVI Video Converter which would seem to be a piece of software that can convert H264 files to a supported format without loosing any resolution. However before purchasing a license I am trying it out through several hours of experimentation, with out much success yet. So it occurred to me that someone here might have already been down the same path and could offer advice and clarification on how I might be able to convert files for playing.

Thanks :confused:

ne1cdamo

05-28-07, 09:44 AM

HELP....

Hi Guys, I have recently changed from the MG35 to the MG350HD...A vast improvement noticed so far...the skins are an awesome little touch, the GUI is vastly improved, the playback of AVI files is much smoother etc etc...

However, I can't for the life of me get the wireless network set up...I am an absolute beginer at networks so need advice....I am using Vista....

I basically want to be able to drag files from my PC and drag them onto the media player wirelessly, it's getting quite annoying having ot unplug it all and take up stairs to my PC to load it all up....

Has anybody set this up before? if so can you give me a step by step guide on how to do it? It's currently connecting to my wireless router as it can't see th wirless card on my pc....please help

Thanks

Damo

pendragn

05-28-07, 10:54 AM

If you want to drag and drop files to the MG-350HD do a search for "NDAS." That's the software you'll need to do that.

tk

ne1cdamo

05-28-07, 06:50 PM

Hi, thanks, I have installed NDAS software but it says it's only compatible with XP & Below, not Vista??? any one know how to get this working?

ne1cdamo

05-28-07, 07:38 PM

I finally played around and got it working...

If anyone else has Vista and is struggling here's how to get it working...

1. Enable NDAS in the MG350 settings
2. Click Here (http://www.ximeta.com/web/support/download/windows_xp/drivers/v3x/index.php) and download the latest NDAS software (this supports Vista)
3. Install and follow the instructions, i asks for the Device and Key which is underneath your unit.
4. towards the end of installation select enable read/write.

This is now installed, to be able to see the drive you now need to

5. Right click on my computer and select manage, then select 'Disk Management'
6. After a minute or two of loading it will show all the drives on your PC, find the one that is in your MG350.
7. Right click on the drive and select map the drive....select a letter for the drive.
8. it will tell you the drive is RAW and will want you to formatt, DO NOT do this if you have already formatted and put stuff on your drive. (My drive was formatted to NTFS but disk management says it's RAW, not sure why. So when it pops up saying formatt click cancel..
9. Bingo...you'll now have an extra drive in 'my computer'

After doing this I tried drag and droping a few movies...a 700mb movie with USB takes me about 45 seconds, wirelessly it takes about 3 mins, this to me is more than acceptable.

Am now well chuffed, I hope my mini guide helps some others out there...

I also managed to stream from my PC via the MG350, this took alot more playing around though so if you need help with this please email me.

CIAO

Damo