maybe the sovereign receivers have different connectors? my 5700 has screws that with plastic knobs. when you turn them counter clockwise, they open so you can insert the wire. unfortunately the screw is in the center and it is very difficult to maneuver the wire around the screw, out to the other side. the wire hits the screw, and bends.

the plugs i bought at radio shack were the smallest they had, and they didn't fit into the opening.

Monster makes some right angle pin type connectors that work well with the 5700. Parts Express Pin Speaker Connectors (http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&SO=2&&DID=7&CATID=41&ObjectGroup_ID=416) also has several different ones that range from $1.15 per pair up to $19.95 a pair.

Parts Express (http://www.partsexpress.com) is a great source for this type of stuff.

I don't know, they sound the same. I leave the plastic part tightened and these push into the center hole. Let me know and I can PM you a picture.

Monster makes some right angle pin type connectors that work well with the 5700. Parts Express Pin Speaker Connectors (http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&SO=2&&DID=7&CATID=41&ObjectGroup_ID=416) also has several different ones that range from $1.15 per pair up to $19.95 a pair.

Parts Express (http://www.partsexpress.com) is a great source for this type of stuff.

hmmmmmmmmm. i will have to look at the connectors again on the receiver. sounds like i might have missed something. i am so used to unscrewing them, i never thought there might be an alterenative way of connecting speaker wire.

those angle pins look like they might do the trick doing it my way. thxs for the link.

So an update to my entre not recognising my upgraded dvd changer.. On advise from Kenwood Tech Support I rushed the changer over to the nearest authorised repair in Hartsdale on Saturday morning. Days of phone calls later. Today, being Thursday they finally admitted they had no idea what an entre was and without bringing in the Entre there was no way they could troubleshoot.. I lost it... I have now been without the changer for 3 weeks.
I went to get it form the authorised repairs and on my way to the shipping depot called Kenwood... got cut off many times. I was on a cell and finally spoke to Jill who after a long long story told umpteen times has agreed to pay for overnight shipping costs and possibly a replacement. Who knows at this point Im kind of very very frustrated..
All I want is the changer back the way i sent it in good working order

3 weeks? 10 weeks here. Kenwood emailed me yesterday that they were still waiting on a part to fix the eject button but were sending me a new unit instead so I didn't have to wait anymore.

Let us know when you receive it Derek and what kind of upgraded condition it comes in

wow, i have enuff peanuts to use for anything i might sell on ebay from now to the end of my life!!!! never seen so much peanuts. good job on the packing.

i also received my original box which i was happy about. minor, but welcome.

haven't hooked it up yet, but tonight i will.

i can't believe that all this time i never knew you could plug in banana plugs into the end of the plastic connectors!!!!! i just checked and i burst out laughing that i was completely ignorant of such simplicity. the plugs fit in perfectly. i have been struggling with those darn wires for so long!!!!!

always something to learn and that makes life interesting.

Originally posted by slocko


i can't believe that all this time i never knew you could plug in banana plugs into the end of the plastic connectors!!!!! i just checked and i burst out laughing that i was completely ignorant of such simplicity. the plugs fit in perfectly. i have been struggling with those darn wires for so long!!!!!

always something to learn and that makes life interesting.

That's nothing.
I had a Carver power amp for almost 10 years before I learned about banana plugs.
And the first time I seen them is when I had the amp serviced. And they guy doing the work used them to hook it up for testing it.
And I went, DUH! I wish I would have known about that before...;)

Slocko, FYI the same type of connectors are usually found on the back of most speakers, too...

Tonight, as I was entering a title of a movie in my Entre using a USB keyboard (anyone owns Criterion's Down by Law? My Entre will recognize only disc 2, not disc 1), the unit suddenly turned off and the power light started flashing. After about a minute, the CD drawer opened! I closed the drawer, started sweating profusely and attempted a soft reboot. Another minute of blinking light, then the drawer opened again. Uh oh. My heart nearly stopped, I unplugged the unit, waited a minute and powered back up. After a good 5 minutes of blinking light, the screen came back on (it said "Rebuilding MP3 library", or something similar). Everything appears fine now, I also tried rebooting a few more times to see if the problem would reoccur, but Entre seems to be in fine shape. Weird. In my experience, the opening drawer has not meant a dead Entre, thank goodness.

--
Umberto B

Wow, that would worry me Turin. By the way, did you follow up with the contact I gave you for the changer?
A little off the subject but is anyone using a scaler with their Kenwood system? If so, which scaler? What kind of projector?
I just received a FE cs-1 today and hooked it up to my satellite receiver. On normal broadcasts I wasn't enormously impressed with the difference in the picture.I wish I could hook up my dv5900 to it but it's boxed up in the front room waiting for UPS to come with a call tag (been waiting 2 weeks and I'm on the 3rd call tag, 2 were bad according to Jill at Kenwood). According to someone at FE the best results with the dv5900 would be to use the interlaced output rather than the progressive because the processor in the cs-1 is superior to the Faroudja. Anyone using the cs-1 or cs-2 with your system, if so what is your experience?

i am happy to report that some of that good karma has rubbed of on me. my changer came back double boxed in the original box i sent it in, the eject works, and the changer is daisy changed, reporting correctly.

now i just have to exchange the new one and i will be set. it felt good to get rid of the pioneer. everything is simplified.

do we get the full blown sirrus lineup or only a sampling of their stations? just curious, because if that is all that sirrus offers, i dont think it's worth it.

If you read this post ten times, it's because I've tried posting it something like this and it never gets through. Only once, and then it was mistakenly created as a new thread. So forgive if there is redundance.

Long and short is that I never used Media Manager until now. I downloaded it, and the first prompt called for me to identify the “Remote Library.” In the window from which one would presumably “choose” such a library, it is empty. When I tried to type something in it (I had given my Entre a Network Name—Nick Satullo Music Entre), it wouldn’t even receive the typing keys.

I called Kenwood and Openglobe. I was told that I had to “register” the unit in some fashion (not the same as registration with KenwoodUSA—which is replete with problems of its own these days). That registration would be accomplished by entering the IP address of Entre in its internal settings, and then by power cycling the Entre.

First problem was that on this particular Entre, I had gotten away with setting it up dynamically (I’m assuming the static IP necessity that got created with the 2.0.0.8 software has been fixed, since the dynamic assignment worked fine—new Entre, last week). There was no IP address in the settings, and nothing to enter. The fellow at OpenGlobe agreed that I should simply enter the statically created IP address of Entre 2, by varying the last number. I tried that.

I tried both ways. I entered the IP address, pulled the plug on the Entre unit and let it reboot. Then I tried loading the Media Manager software again, and the same non-responsive prompt appeared—please identify remote library identifier, and simply no way to do it.

For those who are savvy in Entre Media Manager (which, so far, neither Kenwood nor OpenGlobe is), I’d appreciate any tips on how to get it up and running. It will give me some neat control features, and I’d really like to become facile with it.

Help.

Nick

I just got my 5900 back and everything seems ok, but they stole my original box. What’s up with that? My original was a little shabby so I double boxed it.

I like to keep the original boxes to stuff, yaa..waa..yaaa.. I want my box back….

Wayne

most people who posted here, didn't get their original box back. i have no idea why i was so special.

Nick, are you running windows xp? if you are, windows xp by default activates it's firewall that prevents you from seeing other machines on the network.

If you go into the properties for your network adapter, i think the last tab, lets you deactivate the firewall.

that is the only problem i ran into, the one time i tried media manager.

and i am using dynamic ip, so there is no need to use static.

Nick, just what slocko said. The only problem I have had with Media Manager seeing the entre was when I had a firewall running, and when I had the mysterious problem that was solved by going back to the factory defaults. I never registered anything between the entre and the software. It has always been automatic for me with both dynamic and static.

FYI-

Just to let everyone who is waiting on their changer to return...
I called Kenwood today. A part is backordered from Japan...the ETA is Aug 12th. I was given a name and # to check the status next week.

4 Weeks and counting...

Nick,

Ditto what the others said, and, even if you're not running XP, If you've got Zone Alarm or some other firewall, you must put the Entre in the Trusted Zone.

Originally posted by uh2
FYI-

Just to let everyone who is waiting on their changer to return...
I called Kenwood today. A part is backordered from Japan...the ETA is Aug 12th. I was given a name and # to check the status next week.

4 Weeks and counting...

Must be something with your unit because my date was 7/30 and got it back yesterday working great.

Wayne

I should've clarified...

This is for people waiting for repairs AND the upgrade. I got the dreaded "I refuse to play any disc" error message right before the upgrade was announced. The tech on the phone informed me that there were a few changers in addition to mine that were waiting for parts.

I thought I would inform the forum, in case there were a few people waiting like I was.


uh2

Greetings All...

Wow... what a forum. I am a complete newbie, and must admit to be shellshocked! I just purchased an new Entre via Ebay ($760 -- good deal?) and am hoping to buy the 5900M shortly...maybe two! Wondering if anyone has any advice about initial set-up, and also if there is a place to buy the changers for a great deal...

Finally, have I done the right thing? I have about 250DVDs and growing, and plan to use the entre for all my mp3 files, with Axcess ports to my pool area and the master bedroom. As of now, I've got a Sony VPL-400Q, 100" stewart screen, Lexicon DC-1 and amps, etc. Any advice is much appreciated. Glad to join the club (I think!?!?)

Welcome the Kenwood victim support group :D

I think that is a great price for a new entre in my opinion. Right now there is nothing on the market to manage dvds that is as consumer friendly as the kenwood system of the entre and 5900m. the only alternative is to build your own solution via an HTPC.

the only thing i would warn you about, is that there is no way to backup the entre. so any mp3s you rip, copy, or transfer to the unit, will be lost in case of a hard drive crash. I think about 3 or 4 of us here have experienced a hard drive failure. It's a very traumatic experience due to the amount of work you can spend customizing your groups and ripping music to it.

other than that, it's a lot of fun playing with and showing off the unit. send me a pm (that little pm button next to my name, and i will give you the name of NY dealer who will sell you a 5900m for $995 plus shipping. Really nice guy. He just agreed to ship me a new one to replace my defective unit.

Welcome msb212 !!

I also bought both my Entre' and DV-5900 off of eBay (paid a bit more for my Entre' then you, but still got a very good price) back in January. Great way to save a little money. Still got my eye on eBay for a good price on a second changer (hopefully with the Stage 3 upgrade).

If you can stand it this thread is FULL of VERY VERY VERY (can't emphasize this enough) good information and is worth a FULL read.

I have gotten information just a couple of weeks back that I did not know all this time (regarding playing DVD-Audio discs).

Spend the time to get your Entre' connected right (i.e. MUST use HPNA-Ethernet bridge to support internet connection and KW Axcess Portal's) and you will be very happy.

Feel free to PM me with any questions (not that I am a mountain of info, but am willing to help :D ).

See Ya !!

There's no free lunch. There's a lot of great information that gets produced by the info button on the Entre, but I have thus far been unsuccessful in getting the Info button to work, once I've "taught" it to my Marantz RC9200 (the better clone to the ProntoPro).

I get the sense that, in order for the info button to acquire the information off Entre, it must send a lengthy, uninterrupted IR signal. However, despite having "taught" the button to my universal remote, I can't get the information to appear when using he universal remote.

Anyone else having this problem?

Nick :cool:

There's no free lunch. There's a lot of great information that gets produced by the info button on the Entre, but I have thus far been unsuccessful in getting the Info button to work, once I've "taught" it to my Marantz RC9200 (the better clone to the ProntoPro).

I get the sense that, in order for the info button to acquire the information off Entre, it must send a lengthy, uninterrupted IR signal. However, despite having "taught" the button to my universal remote, I can't get the information to appear when using he universal remote.

Anyone else having this problem?

Nick :cool:

Anyone ever get word from Kenwood on the price for the upgrade now that the 31st has passed?

I recently finished most of the core for a complete NetNamer replacement but will not release it until I have an upgraded 5900 to test on.

An off-shoot of this work was a smaller control module for DVD Lobby usage which has been tested by several 5900 and 5050 users and has proven so far to be trouble free and reliable.

The NetNamer replacement supports uploads and downloads of title info which makes it a quick and easy tool to backup the changer data as needed and also supports using a DVDProfiler export file to keep your changer info up to date as discs are added. Hopefully someday they will finally release the DVDProfiler SDK which will allow it to become more seamless in the background.

Hi all,

starting yesterday evening my Entre is not able to connect to the OpenGlobe web. When I run the test connection I get an indication that Entre is not able to establish connection with OG Web. Is this a problem with the OG web site is down or is it a local problem with my system ? Anyone else experiencing this problem now or are you able to connect to OG ?

Thanks, /Lars

Originally posted by Nick Satullo
There's no free lunch. There's a lot of great information that gets produced by the info button on the Entre, but I have thus far been unsuccessful in getting the Info button to work, once I've "taught" it to my Marantz RC9200 (the better clone to the ProntoPro).

I get the sense that, in order for the info button to acquire the information off Entre, it must send a lengthy, uninterrupted IR signal. However, despite having "taught" the button to my universal remote, I can't get the information to appear when using he universal remote.

Anyone else having this problem?

Nick :cool:


Nick, I have an RC5200, and the following codes are behind my info button, which works for me:

Two learned codes in a row:
First learned code:
0000 006c 0000 0002 0157 0057 0015 0e7f
Second learned code:
900a 006d 0000 0001 b658 49b6

PM me if you want to see my RC5200 layout for the Entre/Changer. It works pretty well for me.

Originally posted by MediaStorm
I recently finished most of the core for a complete NetNamer replacement but will not release it until I have an upgraded 5900 to test on.

An off-shoot of this work was a smaller control module for DVD Lobby usage which has been tested by several 5900 and 5050 users and has proven so far to be trouble free and reliable.

The NetNamer replacement supports uploads and downloads of title info which makes it a quick and easy tool to backup the changer data as needed and also supports using a DVDProfiler export file to keep your changer info up to date as discs are added. Hopefully someday they will finally release the DVDProfiler SDK which will allow it to become more seamless in the background.

I live in Lake Villa, IL and have an upgraded 5900... pm me if I can be of any help.

Larry

I just installed my 5900m and all is well except...all of my compiled CD-rs (in PCM format) play with crackling noises in the background. Sounds awful.

Has anyone experienced that?

I have tried two different burning programs, tried mp3's, tried most of the audio setup changes with no luck. The 5900 is hooked up to my Denon 3808 via the Optical out and to an Onkyo by the stereo plugs. The 6 channel analogs are also hooked into the Denon. The crackling noise occurs on both the Onkyo and the Denon.

i had to keep the button pressed for a long time for it to learn correctly.

does anyone here by any chance have the best of the muppet collection? 10 discs. entre only found like half, and i can't get the other one.

Does anyone here with sovereign receives experience audio dropouts when watching movies with DTS?

I consistently get DTS drop outs. Can this be a symptom of a bad optical cable? Last night I tortured myself by watching Daredevil. What a waste of a movie. Any way, tons of audio drops out.

Here is a search tip for anyone who doesn't do this. Instead of typing the title of the movie in the search window, type it in the main screen in the title field. This way when you go to search, it's already there and if you get an "Unknown" result, you can just keep on searching and not have to type the search term over and over again.

Originally posted by slocko
Does anyone here with sovereign receives experience audio dropouts when watching movies with DTS?

I consistently get DTS drop outs. Can this be a symptom of a bad optical cable? Last night I tortured myself by watching Daredevil. What a waste of a movie. Any way, tons of audio drops out.

I think it is an issue with the format / input detection on the 5700 itself. I see this quite a bit using a coax input as well for MP3 playback from my ProDigi card. I experience a momentary dropout and it often requires flipping the DSP mode to another mode and back again in order to correct. If you lock the input format so that it is not trying to auto detect the type it seems to help.

I've never had a drop out on DTS playback or on the DVD inputs. Out of curiosity do you have both analog and digital connections from your 5900/entre plugged into into the 5700?

Slocko,

I've never had a dropout with DTS movies through the DV-5900M to either my old Marantz SR8000 or the VR-5900. Both receivers were connected via the optical cable. I think you're on the right track questioning the cable. I had a pinched optical cable on my Dishplayer that gave periodic dropouts. Replaced the cable and all was well.

Mike

My second 5900m is only reading about 2/3 of the DVD's I put in it. Has anyone had this problem and is there some sort of self calibration that can be done, short of sending the unit in for repair. I just got it back from the upgrade, its loaded with about 200 DVD's (that it reads) and it sits below my main 5900m which is full (in other words it would be a huge pain to send it in for repair.)

Once again, I must say, the reading problem will only get worse. If I recall, you once said that when you had a problem with a disc that could not be read, you would just stick it in your other player. So as you can see, your problem has gotten progressively worse.

It's probably that part that is on back order from Japan.

Actually I was using coax cables, not optical. I just bought two thick coax monster cables for $40 a piece. I'll post if that fixes the drop out issue on dts.

Just the coax digital connection. No analog. Hopefully the new cables will take care of the problem. If not, I will try locking it in to digital.


Originally posted by MediaStorm
I think it is an issue with the format / input detection on the 5700 itself. I see this quite a bit using a coax input as well for MP3 playback from my ProDigi card. I experience a momentary dropout and it often requires flipping the DSP mode to another mode and back again in order to correct. If you lock the input format so that it is not trying to auto detect the type it seems to help.

I've never had a drop out on DTS playback or on the DVD inputs. Out of curiosity do you have both analog and digital connections from your 5900/entre plugged into into the 5700?

Folks, I would love to see some of your Kenwood Sovereign setups. It's almost as good as putting a face with a name. If you are so inclined, I started a thread here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2533644#post2533644

I would, but compared to your setup, I would be ashamed :D

It's a good idea. I will see if I can take some pics this week.

I love your setup by the way.

Thanks but it was the only way my wife would let me have it.

Anyone have any color ccf files for the sovereign line? I'd like to borrow some.

Originally posted by DerekFSU
Thanks but it was the only way my wife would let me have it.

Maybe so, but it also looks great setup like that!


Unless of course you miss seeing your "gear", or having it in the same room while watching TV.
As I can understand that....;)

But I really like the way you did it. And how it ended up looking in the TV viewing room.
I just wish I could do the same way.

I got my 5900 back from the upgrade a week ago, but didn't have time to install it until yesterday. It was return shipped very well, doubled boxed and with my original 5900 box. After hooking it up, I held my breath as I hit the button to open the door.....it opened.....whew! Dodged one bullet. But then I noticed something. The inside is absolutely FILTHY! There is hair, fuzz and dust everywhere. I promise you that it was perfectly clean when I sent it in. I think I can clean it up pretty well with a little mini-vac I have for cleaning computers. I'm a little concerned, however, that it might be this dirty in the middle where the discs are played too. Argh!

Derek,
I have a color ccf for my Marantz RC9200 that is, well, pretty simple and plain. I'm constantly tweaking it to my satisfaction. If you want to take a look at it, PM me with your e-mail.

Bob

Robert,

Can you re-post your solution to a disc that could not be read by the changer. I think it was beauty and the beast. you said the outer edge was ruff and you had to sand it?????

I have 3 discs like that that the changer will not read, and when i run my fingers on the rims of the discs, i can fell the roughness on some spots.

Thxs.

Derek,

I think Nick has a complete Sovereign CCF .

If anyone is trying to learn the power on command, you have to time how long you hold the button for. hold it too short or too long and your remote may not learn it correctly. If you notice, the entre remote keep emitting if you hold the button down.

OK

Kenwood wins....I give up. I finally put my Entre and three changers together got everything up, loaded in my 825 DVD's started a lookup and went to bed, yesterday when I went back to it I discovered it had 227 unknown disks. Now I know I buy a lot of strange movies but that is more than a 20% failure rate. I spent quite a few hours trying to look up some of the unknowns and managed only very moderate success (32). This may be a cool toy when it works but this is just too much of a hassle with no certainty that there wont be some failure in the future that will wipe out all of my manual work. I have therefore decided to part with the Entre and go back to my Pronto and SuperNudelist, it certainly doesn't have the WOW factor but at least it works reliably all of the time. So if anyone is interested in a VERY slightly used Entre at a VERY reasonable price please drop me a PM.


Tom

b00bie,

Don't abandon ship just yet!!!

Because of multiple versions of the same movie the database just needs some help. You will notice that music is almost 100% because of the lack of different versions of the same cd.

I have had to rebuild my library twice and it is still worth it. Kenwood finally has their act together and I think it would be worth your time to do it....when it is running the "cool factor" is off the charts!!!

Just do a manual lookup and once it is in your DB you wont have to do it again.


Mr. I

Originally posted by DerekFSU
Anyone have any color ccf files for the sovereign line? I'd like to borrow some.

http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/files/rcfiles.cgi?area=pronto&db=systems&br=normal&dv=&md=nicholassatullosdeviceccf&fc=co&kw=entre&st=&dt=&so=&pg=1&file=ccf_templates/complete_system/nicholas-satullo_pro.zip

Thanks Wayne. That is the one that I do have. It's a nice file. Just got one on here from Bob, also very nice.

Originally posted by DerekFSU
Thanks Wayne. That is the one that I do have. It's a nice file. Just got one on here from Bob, also very nice.

Can I get a copy of the one from Bob also?

Wayne

PM him at Bob_422.

Originally posted by slocko
Robert,

Can you re-post your solution to a disc that could not be read by the changer. I think it was beauty and the beast. you said the outer edge was ruff and you had to sand it?????

I have 3 discs like that that the changer will not read, and when i run my fingers on the rims of the discs, i can fell the roughness on some spots.

Thxs. You basically have it: there was one disk (I don't remember which one) that kept being unreadable, but I was convinced wasn't part of the typical "unreadable disk error." It is possible, though I don't remember now, that I came to that conclusion because the disk played from a rental slot but not from a permanent slot. In any event, I found a burr on the edge of the disk (a smaller version of what you used to get if you built plastic model kits and removed a part from the tree). I just filed it down with an emery board and, voila, it worked.

on my second changer I had 20 unknowns out of 150. Almost all of them were children dvds, and movies with both full screen/wide screen on one disc.

i can't say i blame you. having to look up 227 discs is time consuming and since there is NO BACKUP solution, i would throw in the towel too and head over to dvdlobby.

I wonder what combination you have that yielded such poor results? That is like 70 unknowns per changer.

anything in common between the titles? for the heck of it, maybe you should swap some of the unknowns and put them in the changer that has the least unknowns. doesn't sound like a changer problem, but you never know.

also try the lookup disc option inside edit disc. someone here reported that while the automatic lookup failed, the lookup disc option worked.



Originally posted by b00bie
OK

Kenwood wins....I give up. I finally put my Entre and three changers together got everything up, loaded in my 825 DVD's started a lookup and went to bed, yesterday when I went back to it I discovered it had 227 unknown disks. Now I know I buy a lot of strange movies but that is more than a 20% failure rate. I spent quite a few hours trying to look up some of the unknowns and managed only very moderate success (32). This may be a cool toy when it works but this is just too much of a hassle with no certainty that there wont be some failure in the future that will wipe out all of my manual work. I have therefore decided to part with the Entre and go back to my Pronto and SuperNudelist, it certainly doesn't have the WOW factor but at least it works reliably all of the time. So if anyone is interested in a VERY slightly used Entre at a VERY reasonable price please drop me a PM.


Tom

Slocko

I spent hours fooling with it yesterday it's just too much @%^$%* trouble, as for DVDLobby, it looks really nice but I have contacted Mario and it doesn't support multiple changers, I tried emailing MediaStorm and offered to work with him to test it with my stuff and he hasn't even bothered to return any of my mail, so as far as I am concerned this is also not an option, perhaps someday someone will come up with a better solution (maybe even Kenwood) who knows, but in the mean time it's Pronto city.


Tom

Originally posted by b00bie
Slocko

I spent hours fooling with it yesterday it's just too much @%^$%* trouble, as for DVDLobby, it looks really nice but I have contacted Mario and it doesn't support multiple changers, I tried emailing MediaStorm and offered to work with him to test it with my stuff and he hasn't even bothered to return any of my mail, so as far as I am concerned this is also not an option, perhaps someday someone will come up with a better solution (maybe even Kenwood) who knows, but in the mean time it's Pronto city.


Tom

You miay want to check this out, and email him to find out if it will do what you're looking for.


http://pantherstudioscorp.com/movies.html

http://pantherstudioscorp.com/movies_features.htm

http://pantherstudioscorp.com/screen_shots.htm

Originally posted by b00bie
Slocko

I spent hours fooling with it yesterday it's just too much @%^$%* trouble, as for DVDLobby, it looks really nice but I have contacted Mario and it doesn't support multiple changers, I tried emailing MediaStorm and offered to work with him to test it with my stuff and he hasn't even bothered to return any of my mail, so as far as I am concerned this is also not an option, perhaps someday someone will come up with a better solution (maybe even Kenwood) who knows, but in the mean time it's Pronto city.


Tom


Hold up a second here.. I haven't received any messages from you and I respond to email quite quickly. Maybe you're just having a bad day or something but I don't appreciate you posting statements like those above implying negativity towards myself or Mario.

I've never received any email messages from you outside of a PM message that I got last night or this morning.

The version you were testing is clearly marked a beta version and the readme docs specifically point out that multi-changer support is not included at this time since I have been unable to do any testing YET.

I would be more than happy to work with you on testing the multi-changer support as time permits but please don't post negative comments that are unfounded.

Hopefully some of the other beta testers can step forward and confirm that the control does indeed work as documented and that any and all questions have been answered in a very timely manner.

are you looking to implement via the fixes that kenwood implemented, or are you going to require multiple serial ports on the computer?

Originally posted by Johnla
You miay want to check this out, and email him to find out if it will do what you're looking for.


http://pantherstudioscorp.com/movies.html

http://pantherstudioscorp.com/movies_features.htm

http://pantherstudioscorp.com/screen_shots.htm


Unless they have made some recent revisions this app uses a variant of the changer control originally written by Larry Rowland and does not support multi-changers.

I do not know if they have any future plans to include multi-changers or not so you would want to contact them directly. Dean DePue would be the person to ask from PantherStudios.

Originally posted by slocko
are you looking to implement via the fixes that kenwood implemented, or are you going to require multiple serial ports on the computer?

Implemented fixes. That's the cause of it not getting out any sooner since most folks are just getting the updated changers and I have not had my 5900 updated yet.

The necessary elements to handle the 2nd and 3rd changers is already in place but not enabled pending testing.

The control was released as beta prior to the Kenwood updates being available which is the primary reason it was released as 'beta' until it could be determined if there were any other changes needed based on the updates.

Of course prior to the recent update multi-changer support wasn't even possible so kudos to Kenwood for getting it fixed.

Originally posted by b00bie
Slocko

I spent hours fooling with it yesterday it's just too much @%^$%* trouble, as for DVDLobby, it looks really nice but I have contacted Mario and it doesn't support multiple changers, I tried emailing MediaStorm and offered to work with him to test it with my stuff and he hasn't even bothered to return any of my mail, so as far as I am concerned this is also not an option, perhaps someday someone will come up with a better solution (maybe even Kenwood) who knows, but in the mean time it's Pronto city.


Tom

Tom,

FYI- I tried to send you information about beta testing the multi-changer support a few minutes ago and the email was rejected.

Here is what I got:

<bullfrog@frontiernet.net>:
Spam messages are not being accepted by this account.

OK - so I just got my entre back from service and my dv-5900m back from upgrade today.

I had no luck using usb - ethernet adaptor and kenwood service gave up and said that I had to send it in to be looked at. The entre was packaged unbelievably well - Kudos! The packing slip said that the unit had the microprocessor reset and they performed a general alignment and cleaning, specification measurement and alignment.

I plugged the entre in and entered all the info for dial up to make sure it has the latest software version and then I will try the usb - ethernet adaptor (fingers crossed already). I really hope it works!!

I will unpack and test the dvd changer later.

Originally posted by MediaStorm
Hold up a second here.. I haven't received any messages from you and I respond to email quite quickly. Maybe you're just having a bad day or something but I don't appreciate you posting statements like those above implying negativity towards myself or Mario.

I've never received any email messages from you outside of a PM message that I got last night or this morning.

The version you were testing is clearly marked a beta version and the readme docs specifically point out that multi-changer support is not included at this time since I have been unable to do any testing YET.

I would be more than happy to work with you on testing the multi-changer support as time permits but please don't post negative comments that are unfounded.

Hopefully some of the other beta testers can step forward and confirm that the control does indeed work as documented and that any and all questions have been answered in a very timely manner.

I have been using the control for a few weeks and I have had no issues at at all. Setup is very simple and I have received great communication and support from both Mario and Mediastorm. I don't think anyone that has spent any reasonable amount of time with Dvdlobby or Mainlobby can complain about support and service. The program is probably the least expensive part of my setup, but it is the most impressive Once it's setup navigation is extremely simple even for guests that have never used it before.

Originally posted by b00bie
OK

Kenwood wins....I give up. I finally put my Entre and three changers together got everything up, loaded in my 825 DVD's started a lookup and went to bed, yesterday when I went back to it I discovered it had 227 unknown disks. Now I know I buy a lot of strange movies but that is more than a 20% failure rate. I spent quite a few hours trying to look up some of the unknowns and managed only very moderate success (32). This may be a cool toy when it works but this is just too much of a hassle with no certainty that there wont be some failure in the future that will wipe out all of my manual work. I have therefore decided to part with the Entre and go back to my Pronto and SuperNudelist, it certainly doesn't have the WOW factor but at least it works reliably all of the time. So if anyone is interested in a VERY slightly used Entre at a VERY reasonable price please drop me a PM.


Tom How did you initiate the lookup? Did you use the changer maintenance command or the command within the options menu? I ask because I think that the changer maintenance command only looks at the Entre's internal database (for those who don't know this, the Entre has, on its hard drive, a copy of a then-current Open Globe database, and many older discs can be found without any internet connection at all. FWIW, I've got 37 unfound discs out of about 425, though 14 of those 37 are two different 7 disc sets of Wagner's Der Ring Des Niebulungen that I didn't expect to be found.

I think that the proper steps for looking up are as follows:

1. Be sure that your internet connection is active
2. Do the lookup from Setup>Changer Management
3. Do the lookup from Movies>Options
4. Do a Movies>Options>Edit Disk>Lookup on each Unknown Disk
5. Enter all or part of the title in Movies>Options>Edit Disk>Title and search for it.
6. Periodically, re-run the lookup in Movies>Options

I have boldly gone where I couldn't get to before but I have further to go, please help me get there.

OK - now I'll try that again in English....

I got my entre back from Kenwood service today. I sent it in because my kenwood approved usb-ethernet adaptor wasn't recognized. I plugged in the entre, got the software update and my usb-ethernet adaptor is now recognized.

I went into setup to set-up ethernet and first tried to use DHCP. It passes the first step (check hpna/ethernet link) but fails at the second step (locate DHCP server).

I figure that I will try a Static IP address (seems like many here prefer this method). I went into my windows computer and found the address that my computer is using (dhcp assigned by router) and confirm this with the info from the router instructions and input the following:

IP Address: 192.168.2.199
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.2.1
DNS 1: 192.168.2.1
DNS 2: I left this blank.
DHCP Client ID: I left this one blank, too.

I click on test connection and it fails on the first step (check hpna/ethernet link) and gives the following error message: Could not resolve server name.

I am looking to get some help to figure this out so that I can finally start using my entre.

Thanks!

Mitch

P.S. My system consists on entre (obviously) connected to Belkin FSD5050 usb-ethernet adaptor) connected to SMC SMC7004VBR Broadband Router connected to Motorola SB4220 Cable Modem with 3 PCs on the router.

Mitch, same thing happened to me after the upgrade. I had to switch to static IP and then it failed the first test. I then reset it and it worked great. Try a reset after you have entered all the static IP info.

P.S. I had a SMC router and could never get it to work with the entre. I swear it was something to do with the router's internal firewall. Anyway, I switched to Belkin and it worked fine.

OK - so I took Dereks advice and reset the entre (held in power button for 5 seconds - waited for blinking light to stay solid) and tried again.

This time the test never ended - there is acitivity light on the usb-ethernet adaptor every 15 to 30 seconds but the connection test never gets past step 1.

Anybody, got any ideas?

Thanks,

Mitch

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


George is getting frustrated!!!!!

Mitch, the last thing I can think of is that I had to get the netmate adapter. The Belkin worked for a while and then stopped.

Did you unplug the adapter during the reset? If not, try that as well.

Question, has anybody had the lookup process seem to freeze on them when loading and looking up DVDs. The sbu1 changer looked up the first 90 dvds just fine, read the remaining through number 125, but the entre is stuck on the look up screen, showing all disc read, but waiting to process 29 more disks off open globe.

Any thoughts, I have loaded 1 changer with 403 already with no problems.

Charles

OK now the entre, just rebooted itself, and as been blinking.... cd tray opens..... blinking.....blinking...... blinking.

I have reset, and unplugged.... any thoughts or am I hosed?

Charles

Hello again! Thanks for welcoming me! Entre arrived today, and am about to start the process of installation. My question is this: I have a dsl connection using a 2Wire Home Portal 1000. The easiest way to connect would be via wireless, since the protal is far away from planned location of Entre. First question is do I have to scrap the 2Wire device, or will it work with the entre? What do I need to buy? 2Wire makes a USB adapter that should also serve as a wireless access point, but not sure whether the entre will have the drivers to make it work? Or whether it would work with a diferent company's products? Help?!? Not sure what I should go buy, and I am DYING to hook the damn thing up! Thanks for any advice out there...and sadly, you're talking to an idiot here, so as much detail as possible, since it's all greek to me! Thanks!

Originally posted by chefmitch
I figure that I will try a Static IP address (seems like many here prefer this method). I went into my windows computer and found the address that my computer is using (dhcp assigned by router) and confirm this with the info from the router instructions and input the following:

IP Address: 192.168.2.199
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.2.1
DNS 1: 192.168.2.1
DNS 2: I left this blank.
DHCP Client ID: I left this one blank, too.

I click on test connection and it fails on the first step (check hpna/ethernet link) and gives the following error message: Could not resolve server name. I don't think that this is a valid configuration. As you can see, this configuration shows your router as the DNS server. This is almost certainly not a valid DNS server. How did you find your IP address? If you are running 9x/Me, you need to run WinIPCfg.exe from the run command and if you are running 2K/XP, you need to run IPConfig.exe from the run command. In either case, when you are using DHCP, you should see the DNS server assigned to your machine by the router. Then enter that address into the Entre. That should work. But two caveats: (1) if there is something unusual about your router and it servers up its own address as your DNS server, then you need to go into your router's configuration and find the DNS servers assigned by your ISP and use those. (2) I dimly recall that at one time you were required to use UUNet's DNS servers (I'm not using these, but they are very robust and it can't hurt to sue them), so put in 198.6.1.1 and 198.6.1.2 as your DNS servers.

I am using an all linksys system using the A & G router, linksys usb adaptor connected to a linksys ethernet bridge.

I.P. 192.168.1.100
Subnet 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway 192.168.1.1
Static for bridge 192.168.1.105

So far this seems to work. When I tried to use the bridge in the dynamic mode it did not connect so I swithced it to a static address.

Charles,

Welcome to the club of people who had their entres give up the ghost. Don't waste time on it. Just pack it up, put a copy of your purchase receipt in the box and ship it to:

Kenwood Service Center West
13030 Alondra Boulevard
Suite 104
Cerritos, CA 90703-2257

Their direct number is 562-483-8740. Keep on top of them once the tracking number shows they received it. Just ship the entre by itself. Don't bother with the cables, manuals or remote.

Good luck.

Originally posted by wagncv
OK now the entre, just rebooted itself, and as been blinking.... cd tray opens..... blinking.....blinking...... blinking.

I have reset, and unplugged.... any thoughts or am I hosed?

Charles

the most stable thing i have seen here is the hpna bridge. do you have a phone jack near the entre? this would be the easiest way for you to get up and running and it always works. i haven't lost the ability to use dynamic with the upgrade and the entre has the hpna adpater built in.

you connect the hpna bridge to your dls router and to your phone line via a phone jack. connect the entre to a phone jack and that's it. your done.

you can't use a usb wireless adapter with the entre because there are no usb drivers for it. you can also try a usb ethernet adapter going into a wireless ethernet bridge.

Originally posted by msb212
Hello again! Thanks for welcoming me! Entre arrived today, and am about to start the process of installation. My question is this: I have a dsl connection using a 2Wire Home Portal 1000. The easiest way to connect would be via wireless, since the protal is far away from planned location of Entre. First question is do I have to scrap the 2Wire device, or will it work with the entre? What do I need to buy? 2Wire makes a USB adapter that should also serve as a wireless access point, but not sure whether the entre will have the drivers to make it work? Or whether it would work with a diferent company's products? Help?!? Not sure what I should go buy, and I am DYING to hook the damn thing up! Thanks for any advice out there...and sadly, you're talking to an idiot here, so as much detail as possible, since it's all greek to me! Thanks!

Could sales of the 5900m and entre be picking up? We have a lot of new fresh blood lately.

Kind of strange coincidence that it happened right around the upgrade programs. Could be that prices are dropping on ebay on the entre and the changers.

Has anyone notice that the entre cannot finish a lookup unless your display device is on that input? Maybe something else is going on, but everytime I put a disc in or remove one, without having the entre display up, it just sits there on the update screen waiting. The minute I switch to the entre display, it finishes the process.

I have a question, all these dead entres: does anyone know what is happening to them? The solution of sending a new one each time seems to be a short term solution, especially if their supply of new ones run our, or our warrenties expire.

I have 3 entres and now 6 changers, but the work to relook up and manually enter those not found is almost not work the hassel every time something happens.

Does anyone know if Escient or other vendor is working on a solution. I am really concerned about the quality issues that are appearing on this forum.

So much money spent, and now that the solution is almost there, I have an entre go down after almost looing up the complete second changer. This is my second entre go down.

Charles

There is hope for all of us!!!!!

After my last entre just died..... 3 for 3 now...

I just talk with sales at Escient and sometime in november they will be releasing a DVD management system. Now it will not have the hard drive in it so know MP3, but it will control 3 kenwood players each, as well as sony's new ES DVD soon to be released. If you also have their music management system "Fireball" on the nextwork it can all be controlled from one menu.

No hard drive, I believe will solve a lot of what the issues are around the entre!

Charles

First the bad news....

I am giving up on the entre. I can't believe what a piece of junk it is and/or how poorly Kenwood supports this product. The fact that I can't get online using a Kenwood approved USB--Ethernet adaptor on a brand new entre with Kenwood support on the phone is a big problem. Support then says the unit should be mailed in to service. A month later my entre comes back (wonderfully packed (no sarcasm)) without the software upgrade (1.0.0.1 or something like that). So, I go through all the hoops of using the phone modem and several hours later I get up to date and still can't get online. The more I think about it the more I scratch my head. How can the service center tested my unit with the old software (did they even try the belkin adaptor)? If they did test it, why wouldn't they leave the most current software (save me several hours of work)? Anyway, I couldn't get online so I am giving up on the entre.

So, I will sell the entre and continue to use Pronto with SuperNudelist (Thank you SNL). Anybody interested in a very lightly used entre? PM me, if you are.

Now the good news.....

I, also, received my upgraded dv-5900m back from being upgraded. The unit was also packaged quite nicely (box in a box with peanuts). My biggest concern was how loud the player was (so loud, to make it unusable for my home theater). I loaded in a few discs and it is 90% quieter (estimate). It looks like the eject button works and the upgrade was performed. I am excited to fill this player up and get busy. I pulled out my older sony 301 dvd (860) which is not progressive scan and have been waiting for a usable replacement so I have discs galore to get loading.

3 dead entres in a row is a bit much. maybe a bad batch of drives? how is your ventilation? heat is the enemy of computer equipment.

without a hard drive i don't think you can get a feature rich gui like the entre. maybe i am wrong, but i dont see how they can fit all that into RAM.

the solution in my opinion is simple. give us the ability to at a minimum make a backup, and ideally, let us replace the hard drive on our own. i think most of us here can take a drive, image it, and then copy that image to another drive. if not, we know somebody that can.

this is the single issue that is going to drive us away from the entre. until you have experienced it, you have no idea how frustrating it is.

Quick question -- I read somewhere on the KW webste that if I hook up the entre via HomePNA netwroking (which is already in place at my home) I lose the ability to use the media manager software on my pc. Is this true? I have a number of mp3 files on my pc that I would like to transfer to the entre. Does this mean I am better off with a wireless ethernet bridge to connect? Trying to sort out what exactly I need to go buy today so that I can get up and running...Thanks.

"3 dead entres in a row is a bit much. maybe a bad batch of drives? how is your ventilation? heat is the enemy of computer equipment."

Ventalation is great, in a equipment rack, setting in the middle of a spare bedroom, ceiling fan, ac..... the one unit that stop responding is repsonding again, but the drive sounds terrible.

AS to the GUI, I asked Ecsient Rep if we will have the same type of interface with coverart and categories and he said yes. They are adding a large Ram to hold this....

I agree with your statement give us the ability to backup and replace drives. That would solve everything.!

Charles

that is incorrect. i have successfully used media manager with the entre via hpna. the kenwood guide is incorrect. maybe it was a bug that got elimanated early on.

Originally posted by msb212
Quick question -- I read somewhere on the KW webste that if I hook up the entre via HomePNA netwroking (which is already in place at my home) I lose the ability to use the media manager software on my pc. Is this true? I have a number of mp3 files on my pc that I would like to transfer to the entre. Does this mean I am better off with a wireless ethernet bridge to connect? Trying to sort out what exactly I need to go buy today so that I can get up and running...Thanks.

if they can do it all in RAM it should be faster too. can't wait to see what the price is going to be.

i can only imagine that kenwood must have signed an agreement that Escient wouldn't compete with them at that price range. or maybe only a specified amount of time was given.

Does anybody know why these entre reboot?

I am just so unhappy with the problems........

Charles

i am happy to say that since i got my new entre from kenwood support, i have not had one lockup or reboot. even surfing the internet radio stations has not caused a lock up yet.

I just talked to kenwood support on my entre system, and did you all know that the entre is a very complicted peice of electronic equipment and lots of moving parts that do break...... boy that really cleared things up for me as to what the root cause of the problems are....

Charles

Originally posted by slocko
i can only imagine that kenwood must have signed an agreement that Escient wouldn't compete with them at that price range. or maybe only a specified amount of time was given. I'm betting that it is exactly the opposite: that Escient is the driver here, not Kenwood. Probably what Escient said to Kenwood was that they would develop the product for them, but that it would only have a pared down version of the software.

I've had conversations a few years ago with someone high up at Escient regarding the PowerPlay and he most emphatically told me that they would never produce a unit that would control both DVD changers and CD changers, because the one product would canabalize sales from the other. This was in response to my statement that it was really stupid to have to get both a PowerPlay (for DVDs) and a TuneBase (for CDs) and separate changers for both systems when one could have banks of DVD changers that would hold both media. In any event, they softened this attitude somewhat in developing the FireBall which can both serve MP3s and control CD changers.

Given how concerned Escient was about their marketing, I can see that they wouldn't let Kenwood have access to the full-blown Fireball feature set. And they don't: among the missing are larger disk drives, the song and artist views, the nice graphics and the high-end remote (i.e., Crestron, Panja) interfaces. But you do get all-in-one functionality, which is worth something.

Does anyone want reserve any of my 3 entres? I will be selling them for $425 each plus shipping, each will have some level of warrenty left, 3 years on one and 4 years on the other two. I bought them through Tweeter with a 5 year warrenty.

I will be selling them once Escient gets their solution out. I will make sure any know problems are fixed... by sending to california service center before I send to any buyers.

Just let me know and I will hold one or all for some.

Charles

Giving up on the the entre.....

Kenwood if you are reading this you have lost another customer! That is a customer with 3 entre and 6 changers...getting ready to buy 3 more changes.

but kenwood must have put language in there to protect themselves from Escient just taking over the business if they saw that kenwood was very successful. probably an agreement not to sell at Kenwood's price range, or not to get into the market for at least 2 years. Kenwood probably thought they could sew up the market in that time.

Aren't the two years up in November, coincedently the same time Escient is releasing their product?

I also heard about the new Escient DVD management system: worth a look

I think Escient has come a long way in development of their hardware: the Fireball for CD's is very impressive ( earlier experience with a PowerPlay system was not so good)

Hope their new DVD system is as good

"I think Escient has come a long way in development of their hardware: the Fireball for CD's is very impressive ( earlier experience with a PowerPlay system was not so good)"

I have the Fireball and love it! I have had no problems at all.

Charles

Has anyone had any luck getting a response from the Kenwood upgrade email address. It has been two weeks since my scheduled upgrade and I have heard nothing from them. They have ignored two emails from me requesting information.

Originally posted by crbaldwin
Has anyone had any luck getting a response from the Kenwood upgrade email address. It has been two weeks since my scheduled upgrade and I have heard nothing from them. They have ignored two emails from me requesting information.

My upgrade was set for the 29th. I also have not heard back after a number of e-mails. In fact the one I sent over this past weekend came back with an auto-reply saying "Out of Office". What a bunch of bull poop :mad:. I cannot believe they only have one person monitoring the upgrade e-mail account.

I called Kenwood last week and was promised a return call, non came :eek: (surprise). I called again today and spoke with a very nice young lady (Venita, (sp?))who actually put me on hold to check my status. After checking she came back and said that the upgrade area was way behind and my unit would be done in the next five days.

Not what I wanted to hear, but at least I had some information. I will wait my 5 (business) days and will promptly call back on the 19th.

I would suggest a phone call. Hope this helps.

Thanks. I hope they are just behind but it would be nice to have a reponse. It's been over three weeks since I shipped it so I'm going through DVD player withdrawal :).

it could be your player required repair and they are waiting on that part from japan. Scott and I had appointments on the 29th and we got our players back last week.

Originally posted by slocko
it could be your player required repair and they are waiting on that part from japan. Scott and I had appointments on the 29th and we got our players back last week.

I asked that when I called and according to the lady I spoke with my unit was not in the repair queue they were just behind.

Hope thats a good sign.

Originally posted by crbaldwin
Thanks. I hope they are just behind but it would be nice to have a response. It's been over three weeks since I shipped it so I'm going through DVD player withdrawal :). My appointment was on the 29th and they shipped it on the 31st. They responded to my e-mail in 1 day but it was on the 5th! (ie. shipped on the 31st and e-mailed response to my inquiry on the 5th). Go figure. Kudos to KW for the packing...and to those that were early to send in their units and then provided constructive criticism here.

I only have 1 DVD in it. When I first turned it on it sounded like a piece of paper was rubbing on the carousel as it rotated. At this point I'm sure it is a Benjamin Franklin and their way of saying thanks. I suppose I'll have to take the case off to really see what the rubbing is about tho. Thus only 1 DVD until I opener up this weekend.

The 1 DVD was identified wrong, however. I think it was the DVD that was in the 1 slot originally. Just took it out and let the changer determine it was gone then put the same DVD in the same slot and it identified it correctly.

A curious point earlier that the openglobe DB is on the hard disk! I don't recall ever hearing that before.

Speaking of hard disk. Would I like to back that baby up as well. Also lest we forget the survey...it asked us about upgrading the hard disk size. Perhaps not to farfetched of option.

P.S. Never watched 1 DVD on the camping trip. Was really roughing it!

Sent my changer in for an upgrade a couple weeks ago and there was nothing wrong with it. It came back and the stocker wouldn't turn or the door wouldn't open! Called Kenwood and they said ship it back will fix it and pay for the shipping. By the way this is my second changer. The first one set at the repair shop for two months waiting for parts then was replaced with a new one. So my wife gets a phone call today saying that if I don't produce a receipt there not going to fix it!!!!!! Well I can't wait till they open the service center tomorrow!

Scott,

Try doing what I ended up doing. Just loosen the case screws all around by about half a turn. Since then, no problems. When they were torqued down, door wouldn't open and it wouldn't spin. Somehow it seems that the screws or the case interfere with something inside, though I didn't spend a lot of time looking for what it was.

The insides of this thing are VERY tight.

MJ

So, I unpacked the Entre and hooled it up yesterday, and it worked. This morning, all I get is a flashing standby light -- can't start it up. I tried holding in the power button, as well as disconnecting and reconnecting. Nothing. Help!!!!

here comes the famous question. is the cd tray popping open? do you hear the hard drive making a grinding noise?

no to both -- a slight whirring noise, then nothing.

Also, wondering who carries the netmate adapter -- my hpna network doesn't seem to work, so I want to try a wireless ethernet bridge. From reading the posts here, it seems the netmate is the best choice, but can't seem to find anyopne that sells it. Also, anyone know how long it takes to do the software update via dialup (assuming I can't hook up to my dsl for now...)

Well Kenwood finally replied to my question about the cost of the Entre' multichanger upgrade after July 31st.

Here is thier response:

===========================

Dear Kenwood Customer,

This is an auto-reply to your recent email. Our offer for the free upgrade
to DV-5900M and DV-5050M mega changers has ended. If you are interested in
having this upgrade made, the cost will be $75.00 (seventy-five dollars) per
changer, plus return shipping of $35.00 (thirty-five dollars).

To have your changer upgraded, please print and complete the attached form
to pre-approve the charges. The service center will only contact you with
an estimate if your unit requires additional service other than for the
upgrade. You will need to ship your unit via UPS with insurance (prepaid
shipping - no CODs) to the following address:

Kenwood Service Center West
17300 Marquardt Avenue
Cerritos, California 90703-1023

Phone: (562) 483-8740
Fax: (562) 483-8749


If you are inquiring about the status of your mega changer that we received
during the month of July, we will send you a separate response.

Sincerely,

Kenwood USA Corporation
Customer Service Department

==========================

I have attached the PDF as well. The price is better then I thought, BUT it still seems like a rip considering this should have worked from day one.

Oh well.

somebody here had the same problem and they solved it by plugging it into a completely different outlet.

i would first try unplugging it for a few minutes, and plugging it back. if that doesn't work, try a different outlet.

i think as long as your cd tray doesn't open, you don't have a hard drive crash. at least that seems to be the pattern.

Originally posted by msb212
no to both -- a slight whirring noise, then nothing.

Try ebay.

Originally posted by msb212
Also, wondering who carries the netmate adapter -- my hpna network doesn't seem to work, so I want to try a wireless ethernet bridge. From reading the posts here, it seems the netmate is the best choice, but can't seem to find anyopne that sells it. Also, anyone know how long it takes to do the software update via dialup (assuming I can't hook up to my dsl for now...)

what brand is your hpna ethernet bridge? my linksys works so well it seems magical.

also, this may sound dumb, but did you hook up the entre to the hpna port and not the phone jack?

Originally posted by msb212
Also, wondering who carries the netmate adapter -- my hpna network doesn't seem to work, so I want to try a wireless ethernet bridge. From reading the posts here, it seems the netmate is the best choice, but can't seem to find anyopne that sells it. Also, anyone know how long it takes to do the software update via dialup (assuming I can't hook up to my dsl for now...)

i wonder if your getting far enough to half boot and that is why your tray is not opening, but not far enough to work.

Originally posted by msb212
no to both -- a slight whirring noise, then nothing.

Just booted. Didn't do anything different. Who knows.

Re: the Bridge, haven't bought one yet -- was thinking of the Linksys, so glad to hear it works well. Though my router is from 2wire, so hopefully they'll talk to one another. WRT the hpna port, I tried it in a different jack that I unplugged my computer from, and still no connection -- entre just sits there saying authenitcating...

Interesting. Finished the upgrade via dialup (now version 2.0.0.8), and hpna is now working...YEEEEHAAAAAA

Hi ya'll,

Think this is probably my first post....been reading alot. Sent my 5900M changer out to be upgraded. Upgrade date was July 18. Sent it out...UPS took their grand old time and it arrived the morning of the 18th, I assume putting me at the back of the line. No big deal I figured, I'm using an el cheapo Panasonic backup unit to watch movies.....

So time goes by and on July 28 I sent out an email asking for a status report. Next day (29th) I get a message from Kenwood saying "The upgrade on your unit is completed and due to ship out this week".

Two weeks later it's still not shown up....wondering if the pack mule whose back it must surely be on has dropped over in the Midwest heat.

So today (Aug 13) I sent out an email asking for a status update of the last update. Got the "Out of Office AutoReply: Upgrade Status" msg.

What's up with that? Can this program really be resting on 1 person? I won't deny anyone a vacation but for God's sake, assign someone else to do that person's job while they're gone.

Ok, so my unit got there 9 hours late, but I think I've been extremely patient for a unit that was scheduled to be upgraded nearly a month ago.

Slan,

Jim

my entre that died did that to me a couple of times. a month or two later the drive died. so it could be a flaky drive.

it sounds like you already have some sort of hpna ethernet bridge since you can connect, unless you have a router with hpna built in.

i use a linksys hpna ethernet bridge. this allows me to connect my phone jacks to my D-Link router. Even after doing a complete rebuild that brings you back to the old version of the software, it still worked. So i have no idea why yours didn't work until you got the new software.

Originally posted by msb212
Just booted. Didn't do anything different. Who knows.

Re: the Bridge, haven't bought one yet -- was thinking of the Linksys, so glad to hear it works well. Though my router is from 2wire, so hopefully they'll talk to one another. WRT the hpna port, I tried it in a different jack that I unplugged my computer from, and still no connection -- entre just sits there saying authenitcating...

That is the kind of company Kenwood is. There are certain times you call support and a recording tells you that they are out to lunch.

I have had support tell me countless times that someone would call me back and they haven't.

Originally posted by Shinner
Hi ya'll,

Think this is probably my first post....been reading alot. Sent my 5900M changer out to be upgraded. Upgrade date was July 18. Sent it out...UPS took their grand old time and it arrived the morning of the 18th, I assume putting me at the back of the line. No big deal I figured, I'm using an el cheapo Panasonic backup unit to watch movies.....

So time goes by and on July 28 I sent out an email asking for a status report. Next day (29th) I get a message from Kenwood saying "The upgrade on your unit is completed and due to ship out this week".

Two weeks later it's still not shown up....wondering if the pack mule whose back it must surely be on has dropped over in the Midwest heat.

So today (Aug 13) I sent out an email asking for a status update of the last update. Got the "Out of Office AutoReply: Upgrade Status" msg.

What's up with that? Can this program really be resting on 1 person? I won't deny anyone a vacation but for God's sake, assign someone else to do that person's job while they're gone.

Ok, so my unit got there 9 hours late, but I think I've been extremely patient for a unit that was scheduled to be upgraded nearly a month ago.

Slan,

Jim

if you do a lookup to find an approximate cover for you unknown dvd and just change the title and save it, is that dvd now marked as a known dvd and will never be looked up again?

reason i asked is that I noticed that today it found a dvd that i just put in generic coverart and that i manually typed in a title for. so i figured that the entre still considered this unknown.

so it must keep track of whether a lookup is successful or not when you do searches. so it might be better for you to use generic covers and type in your own title so in the future the entre can find the dvd for you.

Hi. I have been lurking for a while. I spoke to someone at Kenwood today. Do not bother calling the phone number to the service center for info on the post-July 31st upgrade. They will just refer you to the upgrade at kenwood usa dot com address. There is nothing they can tell you that is no in the new letter that is being distributed by that address. Kenwood has set up an auto reply with this message. It happens the “out of the office” auto reply feature in MS Outlook was the most convenient way for them to distribute the information regarding the post-July 31st upgrade procedure.

well my new entre is now sitting there blinking and blinking. at least the tray is not opening. no idea what it's doing.

maybe it's checking it's indexes due to a powerloss?

let's hope it comes back up again :(

phew!!!!!!!! i guess since we had that momentary power loss here in the new jersey area, it caused my network connection to become flaky.

i had reset my cable modem and my router. i guess the entre doesn't like to have it's internet connection interrupted.

after resetting everything i reset the entre and it came back on.

Originally posted by fireboy92k
Scott, Try doing what I ended up doing. Just loosen the case screws all around by about half a turn. Since then, no problems. When they were torqued down, door wouldn't open and it wouldn't spin. Somehow it seems that the screws or the case interfere with something inside, though I didn't spend a lot of time looking for what it was. The insides of this thing are VERY tight. MJ Thanks MJ. Since the sound I heard did not sound like plastic to metal or metal to metal I decided that maybe it should be opened up. Now KW if you are listening what you are about to read is entirely in your imagination and a made up story.

(theoretically) While taking the screws out of the sides the metal noticeably bows out. Thus I could see why backing them off a half of turn and the rear bottom corner (slotted) ones would loosen up the ol'belt. [I recall others complaining about the noise of this unit...perhaps it was rubbing on the sides for them and loosening the screws would have helped that too.]

(theoretically) With the top off I didn't find any Benjamin's but instead found a whole styrofoam peanut and several pieces of styrofoam peanuts. Apparently this is what I was hearing. A vacuum cleaner seemed to be appropriate after removing the ones I could easily access.

(theoretically) Also noticed a piece of glue (like hot glue) spanning a couple disc slots in the 300 range. I'm not there yet so that would not have caused me a problem yet. I carefully scraped them off with my finger nail and vacuumed it up.

All back together (without a shipping charge) and she is quiet and all appears to be working as expected. Time to put all disc in again.

Kenwood, you may want to consider taping a piece of paper over the door on all 4 sides. Heck school is starting soon so paper and tape would be pretty cheap <grin>. I did appreciate the nice box in box with peanuts shipping but I don't think the peanuts inside my machine was too cool.:rolleyes:

P.S. Anyone that theoretically has pictures of their new machines inside I'd be interested in swapping pictures to compare. Mine was pretty open and I thought others said it was closed up inside? My numbers with the Power on; hold_units_STOP+press_0_on_remote test looked good (3's) but I only have 1 changer so far.

Scott, the new unit I bought had a plastic covering the center of the carousel on top.

Originally posted by slocko
Scott, the new unit I bought had a plastic covering the center of the carousel on top. See attached. Left is front of unit.

that is the way my original changer looked before I sent it in and it didn't change after the upgrade. I suspect the board in the back is what got swapped. they probably slide it out and slide the new one in and run diagnostic checks.

the new changer has a big clear plastic cover right on top of the center mechanism. i am guessing they discovered dust might be the cause of the units breaking?????????? who knows.

Originally posted by slocko
that is the way my original changer looked before I sent it in and it didn't change after the upgrade. I suspect the board in the back is what got swapped. they probably slide it out and slide the new one in and run diagnostic checks.

the new changer has a big clear plastic cover right on top of the center mechanism. i am guessing they discovered dust might be the cause of the units breaking?????????? who knows. I understand. I misunderstood that the upgrade would have the cover.

Another attachment (not for you as you know). Circuit boards a) on top, b) on rear right and c) all the way across the back. It is clear they made it as big as it is for the carousel as the rest of the product parts are placed where they could fit them.

Scott I can see your social security on some papers in the picture!!!

Just kidding. Imagine that. :)

Wow. Finally got everything set. A question for the experts -- I seem not to be able to get any info on mp3's that I have transferred via media manager -- I can get cover art, but as far as track info, etc., it always returns no cd info available? Wondering if there is a simple reason why this is so. THis applies to all tracks, whether a ful album or individuals. Seems to work when I put in a disc and rip it directly, however, but not sre if this is actually just info encoded on the cd.

i am not an expert, but i think the entre only supports a certain type of id tag. not sure if it supports id3. if you do a search on this thread on id tag you should find some posts by a guy named hmatos.

msb212,

I'm not sure I understand your question -- but let me take a shot at the possiblities.

If you are actually using the "Lookup CD" option from the "Edit Disc" menu, it won't work -- this is only for CD's in the changer or single disc in the Entre's tray.

If the Media Manager is not populating the information from the "Import Media/Music" option -- MM uses ID3 V1.1 & V2.2 tags.

btw, It seems that the best way to get MP3 files onto the Fireball (Entre) is to create MP3 discs and edit all the MP3 information (using something like Tag & Rename). I use Tag & Rename and I pull in all the information from allmusic.com (I believe it's what the Entre/Fireball use). I'm then able to "Rip to HD" and it brings in all the information, including cover-art. This seems alot faster than waiting for it to copy the original CD and then encode it. The MM application is so unstable, that it's just easier to use it for basic editing (rather than trying to transfer large amounts of data).

If you're actually trying to use the "Info" button from the remote for an MP3 file -- I asked Kenwood a long time ago and they said it would only work for discs in the changer. If it's working with a CD you ripped, then it's probably relying on an "ID" being stored in the Media Manager library.

These are my experiences with a Fireball I'm currently loading up -- YMMV. Although the Entre is basically an OEM'd Fireball.

HM

That makes sense. I didn't realize the lookup function was only for disc play. I was trying it with MP3's.

Now on to my next question:

Just hooked up the 5900M changer. I have the digital optical cord connected to the entre, and then digital and analog to my Lexicon DC-1. When I try to play a dvd, I get video, but no audio. Audio from the entre works for both digital (when playing a cd) and analog on my mp3s from the HD. This implies the problem is between the entre and the changer. Is there a setting I am missing? I checked the dvd-video option and it is set to off. Any ideas? THanks all! Now that I am into it, it's becoming an obsession...

i don't remember, but there might a setting on the entre for configuring that correctly. start going backwards in this thread, page by page, and someone attached a picture of the what the menu should look like for that to work properly.

Originally posted by msb212
Now on to my next question:

Just hooked up the 5900M changer. I have the digital optical cord connected to the entre, and then digital and analog to my Lexicon DC-1. When I try to play a dvd, I get video, but no audio. Audio from the entre works for both digital (when playing a cd) and analog on my mp3s from the HD. This implies the problem is between the entre and the changer. Is there a setting I am missing? I checked the dvd-video option and it is set to off. Any ideas? THanks all! Now that I am into it, it's becoming an obsession...

Go into the Entre Setup menu and find the Audio Input setup. I posted a screenshot here. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=2502926#post2502926) You will just want to reverse the settings in the picture. Optical In set to changer, Coax not used.

Bob

Thanks Bob -- Itried it, but it still doesn't work. Hmmn.

have you tried going directly to the lexicon? that way you can verify that the changer and the cable works.

you don't gain anything by routing the conenction through the entre. it's nice for those that have sovereign receivers because the entre will automatically switch the receiver to the right input as soon as a movie plays. or in the case of Nick, whose cabling/equipment layout made it easier to use the entre's digital output.

msb212,

Did you reboot the Entre after making the change?

hm

I will try both -- for now I have analog playing, but this is of course not ideal. Thanks for the input.

I think I figured it out -- turns out the issue is with my Lexicon unit -- too old!!! Never got the upgrades, so it doesn't accept the digital input with the software version it is running. THough it does seem to acept the digital input from the entre -- which is odd. Or maybe I have it all wrong.

how do you lexion is using the digital output? cds will also play through the analog output I believe. If you disconnect the digital cable, i bet you still get sound from the cd playing.

The Entre' will not pass BOTH a digital and analog signal you have to choose one. disable the analog in the menu and you will get your digital signal to the Lexicon, disable the digital and you can listen to your radio and MP3s on the analog output. I just bypassed the digital signal and input it directly to my reciever enabled the analog and disabled the digital so I could listen to the radio, however that means no digital output for any CD's that you play................


Tom

Originally posted by b00bie
The Entre' will not pass BOTH a digital and analog signal you have to choose one. disable the analog in the menu and you will get your digital signal to the Lexicon, disable the digital and you can listen to your radio and MP3s on the analog output. I just bypassed the digital signal and input it directly to my reciever enabled the analog and disabled the digital so I could listen to the radio, however that means no digital output for any CD's that you play................ This is not correct. It is true that certain signals can be output only in analog (radio, MP3) and others are digital only (DD or DTS), both will most definitely work at the same time. The real trick is whether your receiver/preamp will detect the absence of the digital signal and automatically switch to analog, or, conversely, detect the presence of a digital signal and automatically switch to digital. The Lexicon MC-12 and MC-1 will most definitely do this (on my system, there is one analog cable and one digital cable connecting the Entre to a Lexicon MC-12 and a single digital cable connecting the Rec Zone output of the MC-12 to an MC-1, and I can get all signals, but digital and analog to play through both systems.

Hey All, I have been reading posts for a while, and Slocko has helped me out with a thing or two, (Thanks Dude!!!). I received my entre a couple a days ago and ethernet doesn't work. I realize the software needs updating. One problem I've got AOL, no other dialup. I tried to trick the Entre into thinging it was logging into to nothing, and then plugging in a live AOLO connection, No such luck. Any Help Anyone??????

you can call kenwood support and they will give you the earthlink account and password they use for these situations. or yu can search for earthlink in this thread, or pm derekfsu for the info.

FINALLY...after a second return and with major help from Jill my 5900 is back and fully loaded. This time i have a typed up back up of all my dvd's in order and exactly how some of the dvd's found their names on the internet. Painstaiking but until there is a proper back up solution what can i do...Especially with the Northeast blackout it was a real help in resetting everything. So out of all my dvd discs only one cannot be found..Ive tried numerous configurations and I realise in the scheme of things its not a huge deal but this is the one.
Earth, Wind & Fire - Live in Japan
If anyone has any suggestions or can offer any help.. IM LISTENING

yesterday i put in The Police -
Every Breath You Take. It was not found.

Any one own this one and found the right combination?

Adele, there is an address you can email unfound titles and keep your fingers crossed that they add them. I don't have it memorized. I don't know if it works.

Has anyone here every emailed the address and seen them add a previously unknown title?

Hi Slocko... yes I have sent in the title to the address. Thanks. I have sent them titles and have seen them appear at a later date..Not really sure how the system works and how soon after it appears

thanks. good to know it's not a waste of time. i guess i better go through all the titles i have input manually and send them in.

Thanks Again Slocko. I searched this thread and for the info for earthlink.... one problem after I log on to the network It keeps telling me can't update at this time try again later???? Have you seen or heard about this before???? I tried a couple of the access numbers for my area... (Lakewood & Jersey City) also what is the final updated version number???

I believe the last updated version is something like 2.0.0.8

My unit will not update at all keeps say try again later????

Danny,

I think openglobe is down. I just tried a test connect and it's not responding. wati and try it later.

Slocko, OG is working fine for me now... I just looked up a number of new DVD's.

yes, it might have been temporarily.

Thanks Slock..... I registered and received the internet radio stations, it went pretty fast !! I am about half way through the software update now...(I've Got My My Fingers Crossed). Ihave noticed after registration, when I'm on the radio menu, my entre seems to freeze up. I am hoping it will correct itself after the update. I will post again after my update..

Later......

I am happy to report that after replacing the stock coax cables that ship with the 5900ms, the dts drop out problem is gone. just played daredevil again to see if the cables made a difference and they did.

if anyone wants to check out my humble setup:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2557117#post2557117

Slock.... "All is well in here in suburbia!!!" Entre registered & updated to 2.0.0.8 (I think that was it!!). Now I am gonna go out on a limb and try to get my ethernet adapter up and running.
Danny!!!

I got my Entre back form Kenwood during the blackout. Last night I did a look up all. Once again I have a number of Unknown DVD's located in the ?? Internal DVD ?? location. Any one else getting this location? Multiple changer support works great. I only wish that someday the Entre could control more features on the changers, reducing the remotes to one.

Danny glad to see it work out.

I am slowly restoring my lost categories I had before I lost the drive on the entre. I definitely don't ever want to do this again. sigh.

Slocko, got the ethernet adapter setup everything seems a ok. Entre found it with no problem after the update. No more freezing either. The internet radio is a little less than I had hoped for, but I really haven't gone through all of the stations yet. I let Entre scan my changer, I only have about 100 movies or so, found all but one. Easy Money, but I did a manual look up and there it was. I haven't decided if I'm gonna send my changer out for the upgrade,(I have until Wednesday to decide, Kenwood will pick up the tab.) I really only planned to use it for dvd's anyway. I have a dedicated changer for my music. (cd-3280m w/ dual transports). I remember reading something in the changer manual about relay play, Is that the same idea as the dual transport , using two changers???

Originally posted by aauno
I got my Entre back form Kenwood during the blackout. Last night I did a look up all. Once again I have a number of Unknown DVD's located in the ?? Internal DVD ?? location. Any one else getting this location? Multiple changer support works great. I only wish that someday the Entre could control more features on the changers, reducing the remotes to one.

I had the same thing happen, then my entre's hard drive crashed......

Charles:mad:

Originally posted by DannyFresh
<snip>I haven't decided if I'm gonna send my changer out for the upgrade,(I have until Wednesday to decide, Kenwood will pick up the tab.) <snip> For the cost of one way shipping (you to them) it is a steal of a deal. You didn't mentioned if you listened to Sirus. Sirus radio is pretty darn good.

Danny you should. You might be surprised how quickly you will fill it up with dvds. Might as well be prepared.

Allright guys you talked me into it..... I have to call the service center in Cerritos, Monday with the serial number... About how long was it gone when you guys upgraded ?? I have a DV-2070 I'm gonna have to set up, my son (2 years old), loves his movies.
Scott, last night when I was going through the internet stations, there was no Sirus stations listed just Radio Free Virgin. This morning they were there. Yes, the content is cool, but the quality is a little off. I don't think I would pay for it, but for free what the hell. I remember reading a post on this thread saying," The Cool Factor is Off The Charts" I can surely agree with that this thing is prettty awesome. Be back later!

Guys I was wondering, when I turn on the entre my cd changer 2280m, receiver vr-5900 power on. Is my dv5900m supposed to power also? I keep getting a message that it is no longer connected, but when I power it on everythimg seems ok??

No. The changers don't turn on automatically. good thing too. I keep mine on all the time and wouldn't want to deal with the start up issue. When the 5900s power up they detect and play the last disc. even though you can stop it by hitting stop, delay, stop on the 5900m, i rather not have to deal with it. it takes a little while for the detection to stop.

how long does it take to transfer an mp3 using media manager? i am trying to transer one track as a test and i see the progress bar move across but it just says 0 percent complete and doesn't seem to change.

this is when i say, send to lcient.

my mp3s are 160. is that too big for the transfer?

Media Manager is a pain I keep getting a "Run Time" error when syncing..Ever see this before??? I tried re-installing MM, looks ok for now....

maybe it's that XP issue someone brought up a while ago after the upgrade.

I installed the 2.x version of Media Manager on an XPMCE computer and have successfully used it to send cover art and updated album data to the Entre with no catastrophic issues. It does seem that I have to go into the Entre menus and manually assign the new cover art to the CDs from there (the cover art transfers to the Entre but doesn't immediately associate with the CD).

Regarding the power-up play issue, I noticed when I hooked up and loaded my DV-5900Ms after the upgrade that the Entre appears to send a stop command to the changers when it is powered up. I had powered on both changers a second or two prior to powering on the Entre, about halfway through the detection cycle the play indicators on both changers winked out. Haven't pursued it further.

Mike

i would guess that the playback stopped when the entre queried them for info.

media manager seems broken on my machine with xp. i am going to try win2k on another machine.

media manager worked on my win2k machine. i did notice that when i installed it, it gave me a browser not supported message. no idea why media manager would care about the browser i use.

to me it seems that media manager takes about the same amount of time to transfer an album as it would to rip it directly from the cd.

where do you guys get cover art from? I tried Amazon, but it didn't seem to scaled correctly. i got a white border when i imported into media manager.

After several attempts over a couple of weeks and a lot of phone calls to Kenwood tech support and the starband users web sight (satellite internet) I finally got the the entre to connect to the internet. Now the new problem. Every time I try to connect to openglobe I have to hold down the power button for five seconds, the entre resets then connects and it works. Anybody have any ideas what the problem might be? Dave

If you haven't already, try a static ip.

Also check back a few pages on Scott's comments on how he avoids having to reset his Axcess unit everyday. That might apply in your case.

This is a photo of my Sovereign setup, Not the greatest, but I am proud of it !! Be careful not to trip on my son's toys !! hahaha :) :) :)

The system is approaching Star Trek Status. Cover Art for all media except some DVD-Audios, but all CDs and some albums I've recorded as MP3.

Press a Pronto (Marantz) button called "Movies" and that system goes on. Press "Music," and that system goes on. The Lexicon distinguishes which one plays out loud, and what images get displayed.

I wil be posting pictures on this and the Lexicon Forum soon. I'm in New York for a few wretched days, and hope to be back to the sanity of my room tomorrow.

Nick :cool:

Originally posted by vaha
After several attempts over a couple of weeks and a lot of phone calls to Kenwood tech support and the starband users web sight (satellite internet) I finally got the the entre to connect to the internet. Now the new problem. Every time I try to connect to openglobe I have to hold down the power button for five seconds, the entre resets then connects and it works. Anybody have any ideas what the problem might be? Dave Dave, in my case the Axcess/Entre would loose internet connection but my hub (NexLand) has an option to renew every x minutes. When I told it to renew ever 1 minute the problem went away and it has no adverse effect on my other internet access.

Since the changer update I have watched 2 movies front to back and never saw the layer change in either of them. Never thought this bothered me but sure is nice not to see them. Nice job KW.

where is the pic???????? did you forget to attach it?

Originally posted by DannyFresh
This is a photo of my Sovereign setup, Not the greatest, but I am proud of it !! Be careful not to trip on my son's toys !! hahaha :) :) :)

OK I'll Try Again!!

Damn, That 36" inch TV looks quite small in the picture.......

That is an awesome piece of furniture yu have there. Very nice. is it custom built?

Is that silver thing something my grandfather used to call Cassette player??? :)

do you have a 5700 or a 5900 receiver? i have a 5700 but my indicator lights are red and yours seem blue in the picture.

Thanks Slocko. No the unit is not custom built. It is called a "Curtain Call" it is manufactured by a company called "Ello Furniture" They come in many sizes, colors and configurations. Ello Furniture (http://www.ellofurniture.com) The units retail locally for between $8000 and $12000. I have a connection where you could get one for around $5000 + delivery and setup. (Depending on the configuration) It took two guys a good part of a Saturday to assemble this thing, and forget about moving it, once its there, its there.
The two checkerboard pattern silver doors are motorized. They open and close at the touch of a button. I have attached a second picture.
The silver thing you see is a Kenwood CD2280M. It is a 200 disc changer with dual transports I like it because it has a "Continuous Random" mode which . Uses two transports to eliminate the gaps between tracks in "All Disc Random" mode. It was part of my original home theater setup, which is now part of a project I am currently working in my basement. (I have always been a Kenwood fanatic, even in my car audio days !!) The receiver is a Sovereign VR-5900.

double wow!. that unit looks even nicer closed up.

If anyone is interested in buying an upgraded DV-5900M please PM me. Thanks.

Scott, do you think it would make a difference if you set up a batchfile to continiously ping the entre ip address? would that keep it from losing it's connection? maybe that will help Vaha out.

i noticed something interesting yesterday. I used media manager to copy over an mp3 and for some reason it automatically created a group called WAV and put the mp3 in that group. of course i couldn't play the mp3. when i tried to use the entre to delete the WAV group, it said it was a built in group and couldn't be deleted. i had to use media manager to delete the mp3.

so it seems that there is some kind of support for WAV files, maybe not activated and slated for a future release.

i still think that it takes the same amount of time to rip a cd to the entre as it does to copy them over using media manager. but using media manager is much faster to organize your mp3s into groups. i wish it could do the same for dvds. it just takes so much time to setup these groups with the movies you want. I have 565 dvds to go through every time I set up a group!!!!!

also, if you rip the cd in the entre, you get more information like studio, year than if you transfer the mp3 over.

Chefmitch,

I see you are abandoning ship. Anything in particular that broke the camel's back?

Here's a pic of my setup, complete as of tonight with Dolby Digital EX capability. If it looks kind of temporary it's because it is - we will be moving to San Antonio the end of this year so there's no point in building it in. Theater possibilities will be a big part of the househunting criteria...

Mike

Not sure why the picture didn't attach, here is a second try...

Mike

Nice setup.

yes very nice.

Slocko,

Yep, I gave up. I bought the entre on a whim, I really wanted the DV-5900m that I got with it. I thought it would be cool to see what the excitement was all about with the entre. I spent enough time and frustration that I decided to just make a clean break and put the entre on ebay.

I am a happy dv-5900m owner, though. I have my Pronto controlling it and my sony 300 dvd changer using the SuperNudelist program. I find this to be a really good solution.

My music solution is going to be the Yamaha MusicCast. If you haven't seen it already, it's worth a look.

Cheers,

Mitch

Thanks. I built the cabinet specifically to hold the DV-5900M (24" deep). Unfortunately, I didn't think about getting two of them at the time, or getting the rest of the Sovereign gear. Now I've outgrown the cabinet. Depending on how I can set the stuff up in the new house, I may build a second cabinet. My preference would be to do a built-in installation similar to DerekFSUs, but with the gear visible behind glass in an appropriate location. The Samsung LCD monitor runs off the amp's switched power output, which is very convenient as I no longer need to run the TV when doing system maintenance or listening to music. Long-term I'm hoping to set up a kiosk near the seating area with the Powertouch remote hardwired to the receiver and a 7" or 9" LCD monitor for the menus. I'll keep an appropriate wireless remote for channel surfing and volume/mute control.

Speaking of hard-wiring the Powertouch remote, has anyone seen a custom installer's manual for the Sovereign gear that might have instructions on hooking up the IR in/out or Data in/out connectors on the remote?

I love messing around with this stuff... (grin)

Mike

Originally posted by ScottF200
Dave, in my case the Axcess/Entre would loose internet connection but my hub (NexLand) has an option to renew every x minutes. When I told it to renew ever 1 minute the problem went away and it has no adverse effect on my other Internet access. Thanks for the reply, I don't have a hub
my connection goes through a modem to NIC. then to a second NIC to entre.

Since the changer update I have watched 2 movies front to back and never saw the layer change in either of them. Never thought this bothered me but sure is nice not to see them. Nice job KW.

I have no idea if this will work, but open up a command window and type like below, but using the entre's static ip address:

ping 132.34.98.1 -t

This forces the entre to respond and might keep your connection active.

Is there anyway to use some other kind of interface to do what the axcess does? If I wanted touchescreens on the wall, could they somehow do what the axcess does or could the axcess be taught to do smarthome stuff? Or, do I need both if I want home controls and multi-zone entre control?

I need some help. Time has come for me to get a couple of DVD changes and have read all I could find on the DV-5900M. I am not interested in the Entre at this time so I would like to know how well the units daisy change (since the firmware upgrade) as being able to control them (do they act as a since unit will all DVD titles showing)? As for the Entre I would prefer to use a HTPC running DVD lobby for the interface down the road so I can control the interface myself. With the new Sony DVP-CX777ES coming out next month should I waiting or does anyone have any details that they can share so I can make a educated discussion?

Thanks

How is it that i type in the name Dog Day Afternoon and the cover art found is Something like Dream on Gold

MKellyvich, I've had experience hardwiring powertouch remotes. You need a y-cable, its called an HW-1008, but don't call a kenwood parts distributor just yet they will tell you that part number is invalid. I have a technical bullitin from Kenwood with instructions that show how to make one. It can be done but its a real pain in the ass. the wires in those sub mini's are almost impossible to work with. I called Kenwood tech support but could only find one person who was familar with the HW-1008. His name is "Miguel". He was extremly helpful and sent one out to me. I currently am using 3 Powertouch 3's. 1 is in my main home theater room. 2 controls the equipment from zone 2 which is in my basement. 3 is hardwired in a wall in my garage so I have control and "feedback" from the pool area without having to come into the house. If you would like a copy of the instructions give me a fax number and I'll fax a copy asap.

i having been having problems with cover art as well. today it found "The Police: Every Breath You Take" dvd but didn't find cover art. I thought that is impossible. if it finds the dvd, it finds cover art no?

also been having problems with cd cover art. once it associates a cd with no cover art, you have to change the name so it can do a fresh lookup. otherwise it just keeps pulling up the generic cover art without doing a relookup.

also have another problem where a mp3 album shows up in the all category, but in the mp3 category, the mp3 album shows no information.

i am about to rebuild the indexes.

Danny,

Thanks very much! I won't have access to a Fax until Monday - any chance you can scan and e-mail the instructions? I'm guessing you plug into the IR Receiver In and IR Out/LCD Remote on the back of the VR-5900, with the signals combined plug into the IR In/out on the remote. Did you hardwire power to the garage remote as well (this looks like a straightforward DC power supply kind of thing, pinout is molded into the battery well of the remote). If you don't have a scanner let me know and I'll give you a Fax # for Monday.

Thanks again,

Mike

Thanks Slocko for answering.. let me know if it improves.. what does rebuilding the index do???

MKellyvich,

I do have a scanner, but after upgrading to Windows Xp, is is no longer compatible. I can fax on Monday no problem. Sorry. Yes I did hardwire the power also. You'll need a 4.5 volt 350-400 mA power supply. You are also going to need (3) stereo mini plugs.and a "micro (male) to mini (female) cable. The mini is the one that plugs into the back of the powertouch. (Ir in/out) I purshased all of the stuff at Radio Shack. If you do the same, they have grey male-male cables(stereo) that are pretty thick. These are much easier to use than the ones they sell with leads on them. just buy two male-male's and cut them in two's. Also when you set the powertouch up, you must use the power adapter. If you build the cable and try to use the powertouch with batteries it won't work. The data in/out is not used for hardwiring, it is only used to "Copy" the data from on powertouch to another. I am attaching a picture I took with my digital camera. If you still want the fax let me know on Monday!

P.S. You read my mind with the idea about the small monitor for Entre's menus. Although the server is down right now. Check out PartsExpress.com (http://www.partsexpress.com) they have head rest monitors made for car a/v. They also have the shrouds that go with them. Perfect for wall mounting, all you would need is a 12 volt adapter and a video cable from your Entre.

well using the backdoor to rebuild the indexes didn't work. reregistration didn't work either.

rebuilding the indexes is supposed to verify and fix any database errors in the entre.

i am now stuck with a ghost mp3 entry for one of the mp3 albums that I cannot delete because it doesn't show up in the delete screen.

doesn't show up in media manager either.

i have no idea why it can't find the coverart for a dvd that it looked up correctly.

Originally posted by Clingpeach
Thanks Slocko for answering.. let me know if it improves.. what does rebuilding the index do???

either something is wrong with openglobe where the entre can find dvd cover art, or something is wrong with my entre.

I put in another disc and it was found, but not the cover art. If i do lookup disc, it finds the disc but says no cover art available and hangs on that screen, even though you can cancel out of it.

i have given up on the ghost mp3 entry. i tried deleting the valid entry and rerecording, but all that did was record the cd and put multiple album names with individual tracks in them. So i had the album name repeat 10 times with 10 diffrent tracks. Deleted all tracks, rebuilt indexes, rebooted, nothing. launched media manager, but the ghost doesn't show up in media manager. something is corrupt on the entre. i am not about to back to defaults so i am going to have to live with the annoyance of seeing it there.

can someone post if they see the same problem with dvd cover art this weekend. thxs.

well it cant be your entre NOW im really scared to fool around with it...as i found nothing either..any others out there

Slocko,

Not the same but it failed all 4 DVD audios that i put in today. All came up as unknown.

Slock,

I could not get cover art for The Beatles;A hard days night. Entre' found all other info just not the cover art.

Check under utilities/system information, look at server entry, does it say "PROD". if not you'll need to have unit reregister. From setup screen use the 5555 and 64000 codes.

I know about 5555 but what is 64000 used for?

Originally posted by DannyFresh
I am attaching a picture I took with my digital camera. If you still want the fax let me know on Monday!

P.S. You read my mind with the idea about the small monitor for Entre's menus. Although the server is down right now. Check out PartsExpress.com (http://www.partsexpress.com) they have head rest monitors made for car a/v. They also have the shrouds that go with them. Perfect for wall mounting, all you would need is a 12 volt adapter and a video cable from your Entre.

Thanks for posting the pic - I can read the wiring diagram but not the connection information at the bottom of the page. Please check your PMs; I sent you my e-mail address and fax #. I plan to make a test cable this afternoon.

As for the monitor, my thought was to take the bottom off the Powertouch (most of the volume of the remote is consumed by the battery well) and mount the remote in the lower half of a hinged box with the LCD in the upper half. That way the remote and monitor can be mounted say in the center console or armrest of a theater recliner, there when you need it and out of sight and protected when you don't. I like the idea of putting one in the wall like you did for say a game room or kitchen.

Thanks again,

Mike

I don't know if they live in terror of me because I was going to sue them, or they just love me because I bought so much of their stuff. Bygones are bygones. They treat me like royalty. They sent me a gorgeous Jacket yesterday as a complementary item for being such a great customer.

I have started two separate threads, which explains my system, and provides pictures.

The thread for my Sovereign Music System is http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=293564

If you go through the various comments and images, you'll see what my system looks like.

The thread from my Sovereign Movie System is http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2583349#post2583349

But we need to keep pushing in this thread. Media Manager has to be developed for DVDs, and especially DVD-Audios. And, frankly, I'm ready for the DV-5900II which should also play SACD.

But I put some time into this presentation, because I believe in this product. I'll be interested in your thoughts. Now that I've yanked things out, I can provide a lot more screen shots, etc., as time goes by.

Can't wait to wear my Sovereign Jacket. For those who object to the favoritism, sorry. Buy two Entres, Six Changers, and threaten to sue them. Kenwood is coming through, and, maybe I won't be like Kathy Bates in that weirdo movie, but I'm their biggest fan.

Nick :cool:

Nick, your private message box is full. I was trying to ask you some questions in relation to this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=290091) thread.

Is there anyway for the Entre/Media Manager to NOT create a new album for each track that has a different artist performing the song? For example, it makes a different album for all my soundtrack MP3's because they all have different artists. So I have 13 8 Mile albums instead of one. If I manually consolidate them, it loses the different artists info.

That's great Nick, but I hope the kenwood koolaid doesn't brain wash you completely :) You are an entre failure away from knowing how painful it is to recover.

We need to press Kenwood on this issue. We need a way to backup our configurations. I now have an entre that is acting flaky with a mp3, most likely a corruption of the database. That makes me feel very anxious.

There is no way this can be considered high end without a backup solution.

Originally posted by Nick Satullo
I don't know if they live in terror of me because I was going to sue them, or they just love me because I bought so much of their stuff. Bygones are bygones. They treat me like royalty. They sent me a gorgeous Jacket yesterday as a complementary item for being such a great customer.

I have started two separate threads, which explains my system, and provides pictures.

The thread for my Sovereign Music System is http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=293564

If you go through the various comments and images, you'll see what my system looks like.

The thread from my Sovereign Movie System is http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2583349#post2583349

But we need to keep pushing in this thread. Media Manager has to be developed for DVDs, and especially DVD-Audios. And, frankly, I'm ready for the DV-5900II which should also play SACD.

But I put some time into this presentation, because I believe in this product. I'll be interested in your thoughts. Now that I've yanked things out, I can provide a lot more screen shots, etc., as time goes by.

Can't wait to wear my Sovereign Jacket. For those who object to the favoritism, sorry. Buy two Entres, Six Changers, and threaten to sue them. Kenwood is coming through, and, maybe I won't be like Kathy Bates in that weirdo movie, but I'm their biggest fan.

Nick :cool:

Is this a cd you are ripping or mp3s you are transferring?

Yesterday I ripped a cd to the entre's hard drive and it created different albums for most of the tracks. Another sign something is corrupt somewhere.

Originally posted by DerekFSU
Is there anyway for the Entre/Media Manager to NOT create a new album for each track that has a different artist performing the song? For example, it makes a different album for all my soundtrack MP3's because they all have different artists. So I have 13 8 Mile albums instead of one. If I manually consolidate them, it loses the different artists info.

Originally posted by slocko
That's great Nick, but I hope the kenwood koolaid doesn't brain wash you completely :) You are an entre failure away from knowing how painful it is to recover.

We need to press Kenwood on this issue. We need a way to backup our configurations. I now have an entre that is acting flaky with a mp3, most likely a corruption of the database. That makes me feel very anxious.

There is no way this can be considered high end without a backup solution.

Never fear that I'll be deluded by any run of success, such as I've been having. Everyone knows that no one refused to shut up more than me when it came to Kenwood's failures.

As far as I'm concerned, we are right now at the point with Entre/et al that we should have been on its release. Yes, it's late, but there have been too many outright abandonments in consumer electronics not to give Kenwood credit for making good, especially at the late stage it did.

That said, an Entre working at 90% addds an element of sheer glitz to a system that just is not available elsewhere. I don't want to debate the point of "high end," since that's a term that could mean many things to many people. It's certainly unique, and, to the extent that I have a reasonably high end system, I can only say that it fits in my system, and I wouldn't be without it.

For those, like you, that rely on the integrity of the hard drive to a large extent, I agree and support you. I don't want Entre to become anything but better, but . . . it is doing things now that no other product does, and now is the time to tout it. If more people buy into it, then it's going to get the additional features and the additional reliability that we both want.

Fair is fair. There is room for improvement, but its benefits now greatly exceed its problems, and its benefits greatly outweigh the benefits of many anything competitive--because there is nothing competitive. Let's hope that Kenwood's commitment to really advancing the product remains what they have only recently proved it was.

Nick :cool:

Hey if Kenwood is reading this list, I too am an atty that yelled and screamed. I would also llike a jacket, like Nicks.

Is anyone having a problem with DVD being looked up but not pulling cover art?

BTW, if anyone is looking for an extra unit, I've got a 5050M for sale in the HT marketplace section.

Slocko,

It is from MP3 CD's ripped to the Entre and those sent via the Media Manager. It is HELL on soundtracks.

Originally posted by wagncv
Is anyone having a problem with DVD being looked up but not pulling cover art?

Last night. The art is out there, it's Pulp Fiction. All other information on the disc was retrieved, except the cover art.

Nick:cool:

The cover art problem must be in just the last few days - I successfully added Trading Places and the Truman Show with cover art Tuesday night.

Mike

New problem for me. Three changers--two 5050's and one 5900, all upgraded. BTW—came back with both 5050’s eject not working, with greasy fingerprints in all over the inside of the case covers and one case cover badly bent. 5900 “seemed” to be working like a champ.
The problem—Before sending in for upgrade we had 300 plus DVD's in the 5900--all either looked up automatically or (about 30) looked up with help and only one cover art missing—and all played well, with the slow layer change. Now that I have it back, with the same 300 plus DVD's loaded in the same slots, about 50% of the DVD's won't play. When you select the DVD from the Movie menu you get the reading prompt but the player won’t go to the access mode. It then disc flips, tries the other side (even on one sided discs) and returns a message that says (I’m paraphrasing) “Player can’t read this type of disc, remove from player. Remember, this is the same disc that has a menu entry and cover art that was lookup up automatically before upgrade.
Anyone else experience this? Any suggestions?

I am having the same problem with one of my two 5900m's, about 50% of my disks, that were read before the upgrade are no longer read. I get the same message that the disk is the wrong format. When I put the "wrong format disk" in the other 5900m, it reads with no problems. I reported it to Kenwood and they have referred me to tecnical services. I just have not had time to call them yet.

My unit is not pulling cover art for dvd's either. I pulls for cd's though!!

First let me say, I am a big supporter of kenwood and this product, as I have said before... I have 3 entres, now 8 5900M dvd players and their highend receiver.

But over the last month, I have add one entre hard drive crash and the other two acting flaky... reboots, not finding DVDs that I have found in the past, doing look ups on its own then marking DVDs that is had found the first time as unknown now.

Do you think that there is a software issue or hardware... I ask because maybe escient is slowing getting everyone upset with the entre by introducing software problems so we all race out to buy their DVD solution when it is released in a few months...

If this is the case, it is working, because that is where I am at. I am about to punt these entres out the door!

Charles

Any time these players consistently can't read a disc, the unit is defective. It starts slowly and the problem just gets worse and worse until it can't read at all.

You need to take them to your nearest authorized center found at www.kenwoodusa.com and take it in for repair.

or scream at them for not repairing it while they had in their posession. maybe they will send you new units.

Originally posted by jsalsano
New problem for me. Three changers--two 5050's and one 5900, all upgraded. BTW—came back with both 5050’s eject not working, with greasy fingerprints in all over the inside of the case covers and one case cover badly bent. 5900 “seemed” to be working like a champ.
The problem—Before sending in for upgrade we had 300 plus DVD's in the 5900--all either looked up automatically or (about 30) looked up with help and only one cover art missing—and all played well, with the slow layer change. Now that I have it back, with the same 300 plus DVD's loaded in the same slots, about 50% of the DVD's won't play. When you select the DVD from the Movie menu you get the reading prompt but the player won’t go to the access mode. It then disc flips, tries the other side (even on one sided discs) and returns a message that says (I’m paraphrasing) “Player can’t read this type of disc, remove from player. Remember, this is the same disc that has a menu entry and cover art that was lookup up automatically before upgrade.
Anyone else experience this? Any suggestions?

last night i tried a lookup disc on a dvd that was already in my collection with cover art and it found the dvd but took away the cover art.

i cancelled out of the operation. i'm glad to see it's a system problem and not an entre problem. they probably have two databases and one of them is down or the link between them is down.

Originally posted by DannyFresh
My unit is not pulling cover art for dvd's either. I pulls for cd's though!!

If we are all having the same trouble with DVD's not being read and no cover art being downloaded, I would think the problem lies somewhere on the open globe side. I would doubt very much it is a software problem within the Entre.
I have my entre only a week or two and just the past few days has it been acting a little strange. I have experienced, for the first time a DVD message stating "This Type Of Disc Cannot Be Played......." but it has seemed to go away. It was "Toy Story".
My unit is scheduled to be sent to KW in cerritos this coming week. Is there any truth in the idea that if I send my unit 2nd day I will receive it back from KW 2nd Day?? Any Help Guys...

Nick I agree that the Entre is one very nice system and very nice to show off. Nothing exists like it right now out of the box and even when Escient joins the party, it will most likely be at a much higher price point. Kudos to Kenwood so far.

But I have to disagree with you when you imply that backup is only for us that rely on the integriry of the hard drive via mp3s. If you were lose the entre on your movie entre, i am sure it would be very painful. I have to believe that you re-categoried at least half of your collection and created new groups. Who knows how many dvds you had to manually look up.

It's a lot of work and if a high end custom installer had to deal with an irate client that just lost all that work, he would probably just stop selling the product.

David, can you let us know if configuration backup is on Kenwood's agenda?

Originally posted by Nick Satullo


For those, like you, that rely on the integrity of the hard drive to a large extent, I agree and support you. I don't want Entre to become anything but better, but . . . it is doing things now that no other product does, and now is the time to tout it. If more people buy into it, then it's going to get the additional features and the additional reliability that we both want.

Fair is fair. There is room for improvement, but its benefits now greatly exceed its problems, and its benefits greatly outweigh the benefits of many anything competitive--because there is nothing competitive. Let's hope that Kenwood's commitment to really advancing the product remains what they have only recently proved it was.

Nick :cool:

Danny,

The cover art issue is different from a disc not being read. When a disc cannot be read it's either dirty or the player is beginning to fail.

The problem starts with a disc not being read once in a while. Then it just gets progressively worse. Several of us have gone through this. You have to send it in. Otherwise you are going to have a guest over showing of your great system and suddenly the dvd cannot be read. Try another one, same thing. Pretty soon you wife will keep asking you how much it cost again :) Trust me, I have been there.

Since I had my player repaired, i have not had one disc not be read. it even tried to play a badly scratched disc that couldn't play on my trusty pioneer changer.

Originally posted by DannyFresh
If we are all having the same trouble with DVD's not being read and no cover art being downloaded, I would think the problem lies somewhere on the open globe side. I would doubt very much it is a software problem within the Entre.
I have my entre only a week or two and just the past few days has it been acting a little strange. I have experienced, for the first time a DVD message stating "This Type Of Disc Cannot Be Played......." but it has seemed to go away. It was "Toy Story".
My unit is scheduled to be sent to KW in cerritos this coming week. Is there any truth in the idea that if I send my unit 2nd day I will receive it back from KW 2nd Day?? Any Help Guys...

slocko,

Thanks for your insight. I did email them with the complaint, nearly two weeks ago. I'll start calling tomorrow.

Does someone have an idea whether Kenwood looks at these boards.. How can one explain Dog Day Afternoon coming up as Dreams of Gold on DVD lookup...We have been posting problems with dvd lookup since Thursday.. does anyone ever respond from Kenwood

I also have been having problems with movies being matched but NO cover art being downloaded. This happens even with movies that have been previously match (I just finished reloading my changer after the upgrade). I have been forced to look through the cover art on the Enter (what a pain) to match the older movies. Of course this does not help the new ones I am trying to match.

I will be contacting Kenwood first thing tommorow.

Anyone have any info from Kenwood on this issue???

I remember a while back someone noticed that the openglobe database had an incorrect title. It might have been that one you are talking about. Do a search on Dog Day Afternoon on this thread to see if it comes up.

I will be calling kenwood on Monday regards to this cover art issue. I only noticed it yesterday, else I would have called last week.

Originally posted by Clingpeach
Does someone have an idea whether Kenwood looks at these boards.. How can one explain Dog Day Afternoon coming up as Dreams of Gold on DVD lookup...We have been posting problems with dvd lookup since Thursday.. does anyone ever respond from Kenwood

THANKS SLOCKO for putting my mind at ease and that ive not gone nuts..it seems to be a known problem and of course NOTHING has been done to correct. Let us know what you find out

Clingpeach, Dog Day Afternoon has been misidentified for at least a year now.

Thanks for letting me know zinja.. again my question how long does it take to fix these issues. Does Kenwood every repsond to the problems on this board do they ever read them or are there other boards they read

Boards are apparently read by Kenwood. At one time a Kenwood rep used to actually respond until he realized that everytime he talked to us, we would gripe about the lack of multi-changer support. After getting his head chewed off innumerable times he quit responding and would only pm with nick (notice he got a jacket, and I did not). Now, David Bott on the otherhand is actually a kinda spokesperson for Kenwood and has appeared in several Kenwood ads. He's the real "go to" man with all the answers (although he has also been reluctant to respond since he too was mercilessly denigrated for his obvious partisan behaviour." In essence, we are all you get . . . and if nick says its so, its so, right nick (how do I get a jacket nick).

Originally posted by slocko
Danny,

The cover art issue is different from a disc not being read. When a disc cannot be read it's either dirty or the player is beginning to fail.

The problem starts with a disc not being read once in a while. Then it just gets progressively worse. Several of us have gone through this. You have to send it in. Otherwise you are going to have a guest over showing of your great system and suddenly the dvd cannot be read. Try another one, same thing. Pretty soon you wife will keep asking you how much it cost again :) Trust me, I have been there.

Since I had my player repaired, i have not had one disc not be read. it even tried to play a badly scratched disc that couldn't play on my trusty pioneer changer.

I'm going to have to disagree with your statement of progressively gets worse. I've had my 5900M for almost 2 years now. I don't even want to hazard a guess as to how many hours it has on it now but it is easily in the thousands of hours range.

Anyway since I've owned the unit I have periodically had the disk unreadable problem. I'll say about once every 100-125 DVD changes and that rate seems fairly constant. It's not a dirty disk problem as the DVD has gone from the package to the player and never removed. The one thing I have noticed tho is that it may be heat related. It seems whenever it happens I have neglected the room temperature etc. Once I open the door to my entertainment rack and turn the unit off for about 10-15 minutes when I power it on it is just fine. Also when I have attempted to play some scratched/dirty rental DVD's I've never encountered the disk unreadable error. It always manifests itself with green blocks/chapter skips/stuttery playback etc.

RClifton, I have had my 5900 for 8 months. You want to talk about hours on a machine. The unit literally runs constantly. My son is two and there is always one of his movies on. I can't tell you the last time I watched a movie from begining to end. Anyway it has only happened once. I hope this is not the start of the problems others have had. The Entre on the other hand is the coolest I have purchased to date. I do notice little annoyances everyday. I hope Kenwood doesen't abondon the unit and all of us loyal customers. By the way Does anyone know where Duran Duran Got its name from. HA HA HA HA .... Update the damn thing already!!!

Thanks For The Reply!!

i used to believe the same thing. it became a game to try and figure out the pattern. for about a year it was fairly consistent. about once a month it seemed. we were watching 3 or 4 movies everyday, so your figures sound about right.

i started by powering it off for 10-15 minutes. then an hour, and finally overnight. i lived for it about a year, before it just got worse and worse until the unit died. My units are next to my ac vents and have plenty of space on top for air to circulate, so i don't think it's heat. it is a defect.

another symptom of this problem is extreme senstivity to dirt and scratches. if you let the stutter continue you will get the disc unreadable error. after i got the error, it wouldn't play any more dvds. I remember scrambling to stop the movie the minute it began stuttering so i wouldn't get the disc error. i had many dvds that wouldn't play on the unit, but would play fine on my pioneer. as i mentioned before, after it was repaired, i had a scratched dvd that the player actually tried to play with much more success than the pioneer. that really surprised me.

new discs can be dirty and scratched. i don't think it's heat related. i don't know if kenwood can run diagnostics on your unit, but you might want to consider it since your warranty is about to run out.

that was my exact situation. at the time my 3 kids were very young and putting a movie for them was a way to keep them entertained. i have almost all the disney titles and little mermaid, peter pan, and pinochio were constantly playing. then at night after they were asleep we would a movie.

Originally posted by DannyFresh
RClifton, I have had my 5900 for 8 months. You want to talk about hours on a machine. The unit literally runs constantly. My son is two and there is always one of his movies on. I can't tell you the last time I watched a movie from begining to end. Anyway it has only happened once. I hope this is not the start of the problems others have had. The Entre on the other hand is the coolest I have purchased to date. I do notice little annoyances everyday. I hope Kenwood doesen't abondon the unit and all of us loyal customers. By the way Does anyone know where Duran Duran Got its name from. HA HA HA HA .... Update the damn thing already!!!

Thanks For The Reply!!