Originally posted by DerekFSU
You should also check out the Vision and the Vision Pro. Lots of info on them in the Scalers Forum.

Thanks. When I went looking for the Vision products I actually ended up doing a lot of reading on the new DVDO iScan HD. It's more than twice the price of the ADS unit, but its feature set and DVDO's reputation probably justify it.

Originally posted by K_Thompson
Thanks. When I went looking for the Vision products I actually ended up doing a lot of reading on the new DVDO iScan HD. It's more than twice the price of the ADS unit, but its feature set and DVDO's reputation probably justify it.

I'm betting that this is the product that will make the biggest splash of any video processor, ever. There is an ongoing thread in the Video Processor section which includes discussion from one of the DVDO principals, and, boy does this sound great.

If I had not recently upgraded from a Faroudja NRS to the new DVP-1000, I would have bought one of these. As it is, I'm wondering if I'll wind up selling the DVP-1000 and buying one of these anyway.

Nick :cool:

FYI, I just received the refurb 5050m changer purchased from audio_video_outlet on eBay. I will be daisy chaining it this weekend to my Entre and 5900m,, however I can confirm that this particular unit is upgraded to v.3 of the firmware. It arrived in an original box with all manuals and accessories in like-new conditions. The eject works, and the unit is a lot quieter than my existing 5900 when reading discs... Save for a small scratch on one side panel, the changer itself looks as good as new as well. So far, so good.

--
Umberto

I just received word from Jamal at Audio-Video-Outlet that the DV-5900Ms he listed on ebay are backorded from his supplier and he doesn't know when they will arrive. He has refunded my payment.

He indicated that he would notify me when he does receive his shipment. I expect I'll reorder one when they do come in.

How in the world did you find out that the entre had support for Sony DVD changers in that version??????????

Originally posted by NiteOwl


If I were you, I'd backup v1.1 first. Prior to v2, versions had support for Sony DVD changers. You never know if you will need that, specially now that Kenwood has "discontinued" theirs. FYI... Blocking outgoing port 80 from the Entre prevents it from obtaining an upgrade.

-NiteOwl

Slocko,

Several weeks ago I exchanged a few emails with someone on this forum. That person informed me that before v2.0 his Entre supported Sony Changers. He was asking if there was a way to revert to maybe v1.2 (I believe.)

Only thing I could think of was to use the 5555 code and do factory reset. Doesn't that take you to v1?

-NiteOwl

Originally posted by NiteOwl
Slocko,

Several weeks ago I exchanged a few emails with someone on this forum. That person informed me that before v2.0 his Entre supported Sony Changers. He was asking if there was a way to revert to maybe v1.2 (I believe.)

Only thing I could think of was to use the 5555 code and do factory reset. Doesn't that take you to v1?

-NiteOwl

Joe:

That will take you to version 1 (I've done it a few times). But I have strong doubts that this would then enable Entre control of a Sony changer. I don't think Sony changers, other than the most recent ones, even had a 232 port.

Even with the new Sony changers (I've got one), I don't see how you could control more than one. There's no daisy chaining ability with DVDs (only CDs) and even the Escient DVM-100 will need 3 232 ports to separately connect to three changers (that's the most it will control).

I don't think I'll try breaking one down to factory reset, but someone whose got little loaded in their Entre might give it a whirl.

Nick :cool:

NIte Owl, I finally downloaded your pet project. WOW it really worked, ever thought of asking kenwood for a fulltime job?

Question: I noticed that if I go into the edit mode, I can see which slot the dvd is in, but I have not found a way to sort or at least look at which slot the dvd is in without looking at each individual dvd in edit mode. Am I missing something and is there a way to view by slot?

Nick,

I don't own any Sony Changers, so I can't speak to the specifics on how it controlled it. I assumed they had a serial port as well. As I said before, someone on this forum (I'll try to dig up his name) told me that he lost the ability to control his Sony changer, after upgrading to 2.0. He stated he was using the Entre with a Sony changer for over 9 months. Since then, I have looked at the prp files and there are references to Sony changers -- so I believe it was/is possible. If the Escient product can do it, why can't the Entre (under the hood they are in essence the same - only modest changes on the Escient side)? I figured that Escient wanted the Entre to be specific to Kenwood products.

-NiteOwl

zinja,

Inorder to keep things simple, I wanted to minimize network traffic/queries to a minimum. For this reason, "for now" querying for information is on an "as needed" basis. Notice that I did state "for now". Unfortunately, when I query for DVD titles, the only information I can get is Title and Rating. I have to query for each individual DVD inorder to get changer and slot information. I am considering taking the MM route and importing all data into a database. Only problem is that it would take some time for it to sync up. Movie xml files tend to be at least 5x bigger than Music. So if it takes MM 2 minutes to sync my 125 albums, imagine how long it would take DVDedit to do say 400 dvds. I don't like how MM syncs everytime you load it... I would definately make that optional. Since we know if changes have been made on the Entre, I would leave it up to the user to sync the entire database.

This is definately doable and exciting. Like I said, just wanted to keep it simple and develop a working prototype/model. At this time, since most of the major bugs seemed to have been ironed out. I am thinking of adding music and radio support. After that is done, I'd like to focus on a backup/restore feature. Since that might encompass a database, adding the neat bells and whistles (sorting, subqueries, etc.) would not be far away.

-NiteOwl

Originally posted by K_Thompson
I just received word from Jamal at Audio-Video-Outlet that the DV-5900Ms he listed on ebay are backorded from his supplier and he doesn't know when they will arrive. He has refunded my payment.

He indicated that he would notify me when he does receive his shipment. I expect I'll reorder one when they do come in.

If anyone is interested I am going to let go of my DV-5900M and VR-5700.

The DV-5900M is about a year or so old and works perfectly including eject. My first DV-5900M had a problem and Kenwood sent me this one brand new as a replacement. I have the original boxes and etc. There is a small flaw in the plastic in the flat face above the DiscPlus buttons that was there when I got it out of the box. It's not very noticable and obviously doesn't affect the performance of the unit. The flaw looks like when a sticker is pulled off almost.

This unit was NOT upgraded so I'll help out a little on the price to offset the cost of the upgrade.

The VR-5700 is in perfect condition and I have the original boxes and paperwork, remotes etc for it as well.

I'd prefer a buyer in the Chicago area but will ship them if you want.

Make me an offer if interested in either one.. I'll probably list them on Ebay in a couple of weeks otherwise.

I will take a PayPal payment for either/both. I can ship this week or you can pick up if you want either/both.

Derek, get that $200 dollars ready. NiteOwl is going to give you the app you have been asking for months :D

I hope you guys have donated on NiteOwl's site. Shame on you if you haven't!

Before you go to the database route, can't you just build a dynamic array in memory and from the information you collect there fill out the grid control? I am not a programmer so I am just ignorantly throwing out development terms. Not sure how much processing time it takes for you traverse the entire structure opening up each file to grab information.

Originally posted by slocko
<snip>Before you go to the database route, can't you just build a dynamic array in memory and from the information you collect there fill out the grid control?<snip> If I followed...then the purpose of the database is not for the initial time you bring up the application but for the subsequent times. It is the subsequent times that he would ask the user if he wants the Entre "database" resync'd with the "local" database. The need for speed is the name of the game.

My money is ready and willing for a working version of MM or something like it. "I'm all in!" - leaving for Vegas tomorrow so I'm practicing the lingo.

Guys,

Quick question... I know a few people were getting incomplete DVD lists. I am wondering if it might have been related to the secondary lan settings. Can anyone please confirm that they are getting incomplete lists, even after fixing their secondary lan settings.

Thanks,
NiteOwl

I am having a problem with my 5900M. Forgive me if this has been discussed already, but I didnt want to read through 240 pages of posts. I tried the search, but didn't come up with anything.

Anyways, I have been using my 400 disc 5900M for about a year now with lettle problems. BUt today I tried playing Bruce Almighty (rented) and got the "This disc can not be played" error. I have seen that before, so I just thought the disc was bad, but now I can't even play my old disc's taht I know work. I powered off, and back on, tried Cd's, backups, nothing works.

Does anyone know how to fix this?

Thanks

you have to send it in for repairs to an authorized service center.

you can try leaving it off for half an hour and that sometimes makes it work again. but eventually the problem will get so bad, that it will just cease to function. several of us here have been through that already.

Passing Through Other (HD or Progressive) Devices Through the Entre

I don't know if this has been addressed before, I tried searching though this thread, with no success, so here it goes.

Has anyone tried to connect a Non Kenwood device ie: HD DirecTV, D-VHS or other device to the video and audio Daisy Chain connectors of their 'last changer' and see if the video signal will pass through the Entre if the Changers are off.

I am out of component connectors on my Denon 5803, and comcast now supprts HDTV in my neighborhood. I am looking to see if it is possible to connect the decoder box, which outputs 1080i or 720p component video and spdif/toslink audio, to the last 5900M video and audio in, in my Entre/5900M/5900M chain, and have the Entre pass the signal through when NOT playing a DVD.

Anyone try this?

Quick question, hopefully.

All my equipment is installed in the closet. I'm using PowerTouch in RF mode. Everything is working great with one exception. I can't control any of the menus in my DVDs. Is anyone else having this problem?

Originally posted by RichardSP
Quick question, hopefully.

All my equipment is installed in the closet. I'm using PowerTouch in RF mode. Everything is working great with one exception. I can't control any of the menus in my DVDs. Is anyone else having this problem?

I don't know if you are talking about the Entre's menus or the menus on the DVD itself. ie. "Jump To Scene" - "Audio Setup" Etc. If it controling the DVD menus then here goes:

The power touch III will not control the DVD menus because while you are on the Entre control screen the "Joystick" control sends comands used for the Entre not the 5900M. If your problem is controling the Entre's on-screen menus, check the ir repeater cable that goes from your receiver to your Entre..

Powertouch III as you know is completly customizable, I created another screen under the "More" option on the Entre control page. The added buttons were created to control the 5900M and were just learned in from the other remotes..

Thanks Danny! I was talking about the DVD menus, sorry for not being clear.

NiteOwl,
This program that you created is really cool. I keep having a few problems. I am using your version 2.38. When I double-click on an entry to edit it, I continually get an error 'Run-time error '91'; Object variable or with block variable not set. Does anyone else get this error? Sometimes it seems to work where I can change the cover art and even save it, but Entre doesn't update the information. When I try to re-edit the same disk, I get the above error message. Any thoughts?

Thanks
Jeff

Originally posted by jgraffeo
<snip>Any thoughts? Jeff, if your machine has hyperthreading then the end of this post applies. I don't there is an official version out yet but my beta one is working. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3149564#post3149564

Lars, BTW, thank you for the follow up on this problem with NiteOwl. I had stopped bugging him about it because I thought I was the only one on the planet having it. As time goes and and people upgrade more would have, tho.

I'm off work today working on the HT...yea!!! May actually get done before the summer projects kick in.

Jamal at audio_video_outlet on ebay has received his shipment of DV-5900Ms. I reordered one this morning. He says he should be ready to ship them out to buyers on Tuesday the 13th.

Nick,

Any news at CES re: Sovereign?

Originally posted by JonDeutsch
Nick,

Any news at CES re: Sovereign?

They say that they will continue with Sovereign, and that "new" models are going to be released. Alas, no specifics, and we know how reliable Kenwood is with specifics. He even suggested that a new changer would be universal. I'll believe it when I see it. There were no Sovereign products on display.

We will not be left in the cold, however--for a price. Here is what Escient's DVDM-100 looks like, in hardware and in practice. More pictures to folow.

Nick :cool:

Here's what the GUI will look like . . . er, does look like.

Nick :cool:

Nick,

What about Denon? Don't they own Escient or openglobe now? Do they have or will they have something similar to this gear?

Denon showed nothing to indicate that it will be in the changer market in any respect.

Nick :cool:

Originally posted by Nick Satullo
They say that they will continue with Sovereign, and that "new" models are going to be released. Alas, no specifics, and we know how reliable Kenwood is with specifics. He even suggested that a new changer would be universal. I'll believe it when I see it. There were no Sovereign products on display.

We will not be left in the cold, however--for a price. Here is what Escient's DVDM-100 looks like, in hardware and in practice. More pictures to folow.

Nick :cool:

Woah! He suggested a univeral changer??? That's the ONLY thing that I'm looking for to! Because I'm "stuck" with the Entre (in a good way), until Kenwood releases an Entre-compatible universal or SACD changer, I can't see myself buying a stand-alone system for the only remaining 5" disc made.

Oh, well, while I'm at it... Openglobe needs to support DVD-A in the MUSIC area of the Entre, d*mmit!

Tonight I daisy chained my "new" refurb 5050m changer to the existing Entre/5900m setup, loaded nearly 300 CD's in the new changer, including some obscure Italian stuff from the 80's that I never thought would be included in Gracenote's db. Turned everything back on and, 120-some lookup minutes later, I am stunned. EVERY single CD has been recognized (some cover art is missing but I can fix that), and mostly listed under the correct genre. The changer swapping works as transparently and efficiently as you guys said it would - and that blue light jumping from one changer to the other is really cool... I had to teach nothing new to my universal remote, Entre enables the appropriate changer automatically and only that changer responds to remote commands after that.

This is great integration, and a piece of cake to set up. You can't imagine the satisfaction of finally getting rid of 2 large trash bags filled with empty, slippery, dusty jewel cases that had been hogging space inside my media cabinet for over 15 years! ;) I am listening to stuff I did not even remember having, and it's all neatly listed on my TV screen. I love it.

--
Umberto

Originally posted by Nick Satullo
[B
We will not be left in the cold, however--for a price. Here is what Escient's DVDM-100 looks like, in hardware and in practice. More pictures to folow.

Nick :cool: [/B]

Nick... for a bigger price than I expected, actually. I read on the Escient site that you need a seperate DVDM-100 for each type of manufacturer's megachanger. So, my understanding would be that I'd need one to host the 5900Ms and another one to host the Sony SACD changer.

If I understand this correctly, it's kind of a bummer.

Hence my excitement over the potential of a universal Soveign compatible mega-changer.

Jon

Go with something like the Sony 777 DVD Changer and MainLobby to run the show over the Escient?

Huge savings in $$ and other benefits as well with other Lobby products.

Anyone who owns a PowerFile DVD changer knows what a b@tch it can be to deal with Escient and their various policies/service charges. Upgrades are a nightmare (Powerfile revision upgrades run a flat $500) and they charge for absolutely everything. If they could figure out a way to bill for even thinking about Escient I'm sure they would do it.

The RS232 control protocol on the 777 is about 50 times more robust than the 5900 and it also supports SACD since DVD-A seems to be becoming less and less popular for relatively new releases.

It's heartbreaking to go to BestBuy (or Amazon) and see the number of SACD titles vs DVD-A.

Mediastorm,

I think your right. I am not sure why more people who own DV-5900Ms dont look to the Mainlobby, DVDlobby software package via a HTPC as a replacement for the Entre or the Escient product (both at nearly $1500 to $2000) From what I understand, I do not have this setup but have tried to research, one can easily control both a DV-5900M and Sony 777 DVD Changer via a basic serial cable from the HTPC and the graphic interface is much better than the Openglobe variety. The flexibility seems endless and from what I understand, there is no longer need for the expensive slinke to integrate both changers into the system. Maybe I am mistaken, but the software, a basic HTPC, and a basic serial cable is all that is needed for both and basically you have all the services of the Entre and Escient product. Opportunities for upgrades also seems more reasonable with the DVDLobby software package. Has anyone had an Entre and the DVDLobby software to compare them with advantages/disadvantages of both?

I just purchased the Entre and after having issues with it registering just found this forum. What a great place! My Entre has version 1.0.0 of the software and I have tried dial-up to register it and I have tried a Linksys usb100tx adapter all with no luck. Does anyone know if Openglobe is still functioning for Entre registration or software updating? My connection times out everytime I try via dial up. Can someone pm me with the Earthlink info that Kenwood provided you with. I hate to wait until Monday to talk to Kenwood support, I'd love to get this thing up and running today. I have tried a 5555 and the 64000 that was in a previous thread, so I am thinking it is either Openglobe or my dial up connection. Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!!!!

Dial up should work if you have your settings aligned correctly (that is, you don't want to indicate that you're using an ethernet adapter--not until you upgraded to v. 2.08).

However, if you can get your hands on one of the CATC Netmate usb/ethernet adapters, that will do it. Once the upgrade is made, then you can use just about any adapter.

Nick :cool:

I finally tried adding the DNS settings and it updated the radio stations and I am currently waiting on the update package from Open Globe! Hope it all goes through ok. On a 56k dial up, how long does the update take? A couple hours?

Why not? I dunno... I don't know anything about MainLobby. And, I have an investment in my Sovereign system. Plus, I'm not keen on putting a PC in my family room/home theater. My home theater needs to balance functionality with ease of use and style.

For me, it's a balancing act, and for that act, I'm still shying away from a dedicated PC being added to my audio rack.

re: SACD vs. DVD-A. Sure, SACD has a better cohesive marketing campaign (easy - Sony runs it vs. consordium), but....

- The vast majority of SACDs are in stereo
- SACD materials still focus on jazz and classical over contemporary

Yes, there are a handful of SACDs that I want... but it's no larger than the handful of DVD-As that I own.

They're both still in their infancy, and there is no clear winner/loser in the format wars. DVD-A is going to intrdouce a CD hybrid later this year, which is why releases have slowed down.



Originally posted by MediaStorm
Go with something like the Sony 777 DVD Changer and MainLobby to run the show over the Escient?

Huge savings in $$ and other benefits as well with other Lobby products.

Anyone who owns a PowerFile DVD changer knows what a b@tch it can be to deal with Escient and their various policies/service charges. Upgrades are a nightmare (Powerfile revision upgrades run a flat $500) and they charge for absolutely everything. If they could figure out a way to bill for even thinking about Escient I'm sure they would do it.

The RS232 control protocol on the 777 is about 50 times more robust than the 5900 and it also supports SACD since DVD-A seems to be becoming less and less popular for relatively new releases.

It's heartbreaking to go to BestBuy (or Amazon) and see the number of SACD titles vs DVD-A.

Originally posted by kapsig
I finally tried adding the DNS settings and it updated the radio stations and I am currently waiting on the update package from Open Globe! Hope it all goes through ok. On a 56k dial up, how long does the update take? A couple hours?


Update usually takes about an hour or less !!!!

Is anyone having problems playing Finding Nemo...it keeps telling me my disc cannot be read..i have shut down the dvd 5900 and rebooted the Entre..

The only thing I got from the Kenwood folks at CES was that they were going to debut the new Sovereign line at CEDIA. Talked with a guy named Eric who "seemed" like he was somebody. Ironically, his MM had just started crashing the week before.

When is CEDIA?

Originally posted by DerekFSU
The only thing I got from the Kenwood folks at CES was that they were going to debut the new Sovereign line at CEDIA. Talked with a guy named Eric who "seemed" like he was somebody. Ironically, his MM had just started crashing the week before.

The guy I spoke with said nothing about CEDIA. Of course, when you pick an event that is a full nine months off, you can promise that that there will be Flying Saucer surround sound. 5.1 all the way to the moon.

Read between the lines, folks. Kenwood is committing not to commit. Sovereign may indeed return, but I think we've now hit the wall. Get your Entres and your changers while they last.

Nick :cool:

Clingpeach, my finding Nemo played once, and that's it. The DVD player says Finding Nemo and Lion King are bad. I'm going to take them back and try different DVDs to see if they work better.

Originally posted by RichardSP
Clingpeach, my finding Nemo played once, and that's it. The DVD player says Finding Nemo and Lion King are bad. I'm going to take them back and try different DVDs to see if they work better.

I've played both of these at least twice on a non-Entre'd 5900 with no issues at all.

Disney is notorius for not following the DVD specs which makes it more difficult to play their movies on some systems.

I hope that replacement discs will resolve your problem but it's odd that you'd end up with two problem titles so close to release dates of one another and both Disney titles.

Hopefully you just got some bum discs and there isn't more to this problem.

Have Both Lion King And Finding Nemo. Both have been played numerous times with no problems at all........

Originally posted by DannyFresh
Have Both Lion King And Finding Nemo. Both have been played numerous times with no problems at all........

Ditto.

Also, I don't own an Entre.

Originally posted by slocko
Okay, this just happened yesterday. I went to look at it, and it was completely dead with no lights on.

I think it's defective. Scott has had no problems with his. I'm going to send it in for repair.

Slocko, just wondering if you have had any news on the repair / replacement of your malfunctioning Axcess yet?

--
Umberto

AXCESS folks, can you play different songs in different places or does it just allow you to control the entre from different areas not in front of the TV? I am building a house and want the ability to listen to different tunes at the same time in different rooms- just wondering if I need to get all new equipment.

Derek:

I only have one Axcess, but (when it works...) I can play a stream through it and a different one simultaneously from Entre'. I am quite sure adding more Axcess units would allow you to play any available streams independently from other units and from your Entre', although the bandwidth of your internet connection would eventually come into play if, say, all units were to stream internet radio at the same time.

Keep in mind that you cannot control and/or stream any music from connected CD/DVD changers through Axcess, it is only for playback of MP3's stored on Entre's hard drive and net radio stations.

--
Umberto

Oh, Axcess can also play music from a connected auxiliary source, there is a L/R Aux input available (I used to have it connected to the Tivo in my bedroom).

--
Umberto

Originally posted by Turin2006
Derek:

I only have one Axcess, but (when it works...) I can play a stream through it and a different one simultaneously from Entre'. I am quite sure adding more Axcess units would allow you to play any available streams independently from other units and from your Entre', although the bandwidth of your internet connection would eventually come into play if, say, all units were to stream internet radio at the same time.

Keep in mind that you cannot control and/or stream any music from connected CD/DVD changers through Axcess, it is only for playback of MP3's stored on Entre's hard drive and net radio stations.

--
Umberto

Thanks Turin. I wish there was a way to substitute a wired touchscreen from Coraccess or something for the axcess. (Edit) That way it could be incorporated into a smarthome system as opposed to being a standalone controller.

Umberto,

I spoke with Kenwood. They don't repair Axcess units, they simply replace them. The address in California has changed for sending in the entres and the axcess units.

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

I haven't shipped mine yet, but hopefully soon.

I am very tired of my axcess and hardly use it anymore. everytime i want to listen to music, i have to wade through ip configuration screens before I can listen to music.

Originally posted by Turin2006
Slocko, just wondering if you have had any news on the repair / replacement of your malfunctioning Axcess yet?

--
Umberto

I just purchased an Entre from a friend who used a HPNA adapter for online. I would like to use a USB adapter, Which adapters on the market are compatible with software ver 2.0.0.8

Thanks,
Fred

I don't know the model numbers but there is a Belkin and the Netmate from Kenwood. The Kenwood website has a list of them.

I just wanted to thank everyone who offered help on my new Entre. It is now setup and running great with 2.0.0.8. The usb adapter (a Linksys USB100tx) was found right away and works great.

I also have all the Sirius streams and they all work great. I am really please with the unit and wish I would have gotten it sooner!

Another question, is there a way to delete old cover art that has been stored in the Entre. It seems like I have a few that are there but don't show as anything. How can I get rid of them?

to get anamorphic playback on the dv-5900m do all I have to do is set the TV aspect to 16:9? Some players if I remember have anamorphic mode settings you have to enable.

Also If I set component out to interlaced it shouldn't effect my sdi moded output or anamorphic playback, right?

Thanks everyone for the assistance. I decided to stop by CompUSA today after work and could not find the lynksys adapter mentioned. I looked up kenwoods phone# on the AOL intenet demo station and gave them a call. The support rep that answered gave me a list of compatible adapters and mentioned I most likely would not find these in my local computer store because they are older adapters.

So that there are no more newbie's like me in need of this info, here it is officially from Kenwood Support:

Linksys - USB100TX
DLINK - DSB650TX
NetMate - NETHNM02 (kenwood sells this one)
Belkin - F5v111
Belkin - F5D5050 (I found at CompUSA 01/16/03)



Oh Thanks Again!
Fz

I had an issue once with the 5050 and got the Netmate from Kenwood. The netmate has been perfect thus far (knocking on wood).

the good thing about the netmate is that it will always work, even if you go back to factory defaults.

Does anyone know where we can still get netmate adapters from? I have a Linksys but I need to plug it into a hub so that it works with my wireless bridge. None of the LEDs light up on the linksys, but it works. Seems to not be getting enough juice from the Entre.

for the HD Crowd, HD Tivo now available for pre-order:

http://www.*********************/avsTC.htm

they are an avsforum sponsor. i saw the banner ad on top of one of the forums and i clicked on it.

Originally posted by slocko
for the HD Crowd, HD Tivo now available for pre-order:

http://www.*********************/avsTC.htm

they are an avsforum sponsor. i saw the banner ad on top of one of the forums and i clicked on it.

Thanks Slocko, ordered mine.

no problem. i hope my order was among the first 350.

Does anyone know if the component output of the HD TIVO is compatible with the VR5900 receiver? That is 3 cable vs. 5 cable (VGA breakout). My DTC 100 has only a VGA output and when I try using the RCA VGA/3 component cable converter and run it to my G15u my picture does not fill the screen and the quality is lacking.
The other question I would have for the HD TIVO is: Are all outputs (component,s-video,composite) outputting when you are watching in HD. With the DTC 100 it is HD or standard output not both. This is frustrating if you are also distributing the signal to standard TVs since they will get a blank screen.

your best bet is to check the tivocommunity board for HD Tivo information. they seem to have the most information on the HD Tivo.

I am more than familiar with the occasional "unrecognized disc" error and disc flips, etc. Usually playing another disc and then switching back fixed this. But this is different.

Was in the middle of playing a movie, it stopped, and now not only will it not read that DVD but not even regular CD's or other DVD's?!

I recall early on some people had posted that letting it sit overnight mysteriously corrected the problem, not sure. Was wondering if others had experienced this.

Thanks,

BJBBJB

the occasional unrecognized disc always gets worse. usually it's progessively worse, but it sounds in your case it just died. you might want to open it up to make sure you don't have a stuck disc. usually you hear a lot of noise in that case, but you never know.

your only alternative is to send it in for repair. several of us have gone through this.

Slocko,

I was afraid of that. No discs stuck... it is spinning, switching, and reading. I was searching on ""upgrade"" (multiple quotes intentional )in this thread. I do not need multi-player support but would not mind the reduced multi-layer delay freeze (if that is really better). Did they fix anything else?

From what I can gather, they are now charging $75 for the ""upgrade"" plus shipping to/from? Are they only doing it in California? I saw some good comments on the New Jersey center, would not mind using them.

I assume the upgrade will also help the unrecognized disk problem I am having....


BJB

I noticed my Entre internet connectivity had disappeared. My server did not show PROD. I went through a 5555 with static IP selected. It has now been over an hour with the screen showing "Registering...Please wait" and the globe spinning but the bar has not progressed past 10%. I am not sure if it still working. I have an ethernet connection to my cable modem. I don't know how to safely stop the registering process. I had to do a hard reboot to get it to stop earlier today and it took forever to get it to come back on - I thought I really hosed it. Will this time out on its own? Any suggestions on how to get it re-registered for internet conncetivity?

thanks

if you use the native gui for entering your movies, i think with the upgrade you can now sort alphabetically. I think that was one of the upgrade features for non entre users along with the quicker layer change. If not alphabetically, they gave you one more sorting option.

if you send it for an upgrade, they are supposed to evaluate the unit and if it needs a fixin, they are supposed to fix it first and then upgrade it. for some of us, that process went awry even though they stated it needed to be repaired. i wouldn't count it.

my advice is to send it in to the NJ Kenwood authorized center. they stock all the parts. the sovereign warranty is 2 years. I was very satisfied with their service, even though I don't know if anyone else has used them. I can give you the address and number if you didn't pull it up in your search.

ocassionally open globe goes down. later i'll try and report if i have any issues hitting their website via the entre. i remember one time they were down for several days, and unfortunately i had gone back to factory defaults at the same time.

Originally posted by jt3461
I noticed my Entre internet connectivity had disappeared. My server did not show PROD. I went through a 5555 with static IP selected. It has now been over an hour with the screen showing "Registering...Please wait" and the globe spinning but the bar has not progressed past 10%. I am not sure if it still working. I have an ethernet connection to my cable modem. I don't know how to safely stop the registering process. I had to do a hard reboot to get it to stop earlier today and it took forever to get it to come back on - I thought I really hosed it. Will this time out on its own? Any suggestions on how to get it re-registered for internet conncetivity?

thanks

Several months my 5900dv did the "disk error" thing on about 1/3 of my dvd's. My second 5900m worked just fine with the "unrecognized" disks, so I know it wasn't a bad dvd, dirty dvd or scratched dvd. I called the CA support and they had me send it back for an exchange, which I received within 1 1/2 weeks (delay was caused by thanksgiving holiday). It works great and palys very nicely with the entre and its brother. No complaints from me about Kenwood. OK maybe a few, like 2 years to get multi-support, but in all fairness, no-one else had dvd multi-changer support either and as far as reliability, way above pioneer elite junk. Now the real problem is do I get a third dv5900m and how do I do that without the wife finding out.

Thanks guys. I will call the CA and NJ centers and see if they will exchange. Thanks for the info on the upgrade. I guess the alpha sort and shorter layer change delay is worth something.

Looks like the Netnamer software is the same version I've been using, no DVD support other than just typing in your own. Too bad. A real pain to manage DVD's.

I am looking at the new Fireball DVD-M100 to manage an audio server, since it controls the Kenwood Changer, perhaps that is the way to go. Or of course if you do not need a lot of hard disk storage I know the Entre could control the Kenwood. But eventually I think I'll have most DVD's and DVD-Audio in the Kenwood and regular audio CD's ripped on a server somewhere... Would be nice to have one interface to control both.

What do you think?

BJB

Originally posted by BJBBJB
Thanks guys. I will call the CA and NJ centers and see if they will exchange. Thanks for the info on the upgrade. I guess the alpha sort and shorter layer change delay is worth something.

Looks like the Netnamer software is the same version I've been using, no DVD support other than just typing in your own. Too bad. A real pain to manage DVD's.

I am looking at the new Fireball DVD-M100 to manage an audio server, since it controls the Kenwood Changer, perhaps that is the way to go. Or of course if you do not need a lot of hard disk storage I know the Entre could control the Kenwood. But eventually I think I'll have most DVD's and DVD-Audio in the Kenwood and regular audio CD's ripped on a server somewhere... Would be nice to have one interface to control both.

What do you think?

BJB

Although I'll be taking delivery of a DVD-M100 next week (and yet another chain of changers begins) its primary purpose will be for management of my SACD collection, stocked in my Sony DVP-CX777ES 400 Disc DVD/SACD Changer.

The first thing you need to appreciate is that you can't store MP3 media on the Escient, but you need the separate Fireball unit for that. While I am convinced that the Escient tandem is probably better than the Entre, it can't hold a candle to the versatility of the Entre, much less compare from a value standpoint.

My system is too committed to CD/DVD changers for me to consider anything else, and once you've experienced the ease of the Entre, there's not turning back. The Escient will be grossly underused for a while (though I have 125 SACD discs in the Sony . . . but I might start mixing in some DVDs just to make comparisons . . .) and it will be a while before I need a second changer.

Nonetheless, I fear so much that Sovereign is a thing of the past that I sprang for a refurbed Entre and DV-5900 from the fellow on eBay. I doubt I'll even open the boxes right away.

I'll make some comparative observations when I get it, and post some shots. I'm wondering if this thread is going to evolve into the Escient thread.

Nick :cool:

Nick,

Why such a fatalist about Sovereign? Kenwood said to you that they are not killing Sovereign, and that they are hinting at new products in the line.

Do you have other rumors/info that lead you to think that The End Is Near?

I had my unit upgraded a few months ago at the Western Service Center in Cerritos, CA. I beleive they are the only center doing the upgrades. A word of advice though, If you plan on doing the upgrade at all, do it now. If what was posted a short while ago, about the 5900M, 5050M being discontinued, I would wonder how much longer the upgrade will be available. I would imagine Kenwood would continue to repair defective units, under warranty or not, as long as the parts are available. I hope, as many on this thread do, that a replacement changer will one day be available, and will still be compatible with our current setup's. (Sovereign Receivers, Entre, DV Changers). By the way my upgrade went extremly smooth. Although they did mine under warranty, all I had to pay for was shipping to Cerritos, turn around time as very swift. I took less than a month to ship and receive my upgraded changer.

If the Entre had a large hard drive or you could add storage, it might be an option as a front-end to a DVD and audio server-type solution. As Nick said, the value and flexibility seems to be there.

It seems somewhat duplicative though to use the Entre to run the 5900 for DVD's and DVD-audio and then yet another box and interface to run an audio server.

Looks like more research to go...

BJB

Originally posted by JonDeutsch
Nick,

Why such a fatalist about Sovereign? Kenwood said to you that they are not killing Sovereign, and that they are hinting at new products in the line.

Do you have other rumors/info that lead you to think that The End Is Near?

No rumors. I reported what they said at CES, but, remember, Kenwood emphasizes that they speak only through press releases.

I guess that my fear is based on the fact that the first generation Sovereign has clearly lapsed, but there is nothing in the wings to replace it. Usually, when a product is going to have a successor, that successor is already being announced several months before it is available for sale.

I certainly hope that they stay in the Entre/Changer business. After my frustrations over lack of multi-changer support were cured, I became (and remain) a true-blue Sovereign supporter.

Nick :cool:

[i] Now the real problem is do I get a third dv5900m and how do I do that without the wife finding out. [/B]



I Feel Your Pain!!!!

i was having problems last night looking up dvds. sporadically it couldn't login to open globe. so they might be having issues. just keep trying.

Originally posted by jt3461
I noticed my Entre internet connectivity had disappeared. My server did not show PROD. I went through a 5555 with static IP selected. It has now been over an hour with the screen showing "Registering...Please wait" and the globe spinning but the bar has not progressed past 10%. I am not sure if it still working. I have an ethernet connection to my cable modem. I don't know how to safely stop the registering process. I had to do a hard reboot to get it to stop earlier today and it took forever to get it to come back on - I thought I really hosed it. Will this time out on its own? Any suggestions on how to get it re-registered for internet conncetivity?

thanks

i just keep telling my wife that they are sending me a new one because the other one was defective. she has lost track with all the boxes that used to get delivered :D

Originally posted by DannyFresh
I Feel Your Pain!!!!

Nick,

What if we think about it in market terms? Other than Escient (which arguably plays in a different market segment), who else is nipping at Sovereign' heels? Why rush to upgrade when there's really no advancement in the competitive marketplace directly targeted at their offerings?

Has someone else released a faster DVD-A/Faroudja megachanger or universal format mega-changer?
Has someone else released an Entre killer?
Has someone else released a receiver that attempts to integrate the entire entertainment experience?

Jon

Originally posted by Nick Satullo
No rumors. I reported what they said at CES, but, remember, Kenwood emphasizes that they speak only through press releases.

I guess that my fear is based on the fact that the first generation Sovereign has clearly lapsed, but there is nothing in the wings to replace it. Usually, when a product is going to have a successor, that successor is already being announced several months before it is available for sale.

I certainly hope that they stay in the Entre/Changer business. After my frustrations over lack of multi-changer support were cured, I became (and remain) a true-blue Sovereign supporter.

Nick :cool:

Let me tell this story in a way that attempts to capture the moment, my moment. The moment of the Escient DVD-M100.

From the beginning of Sovereign, I was there. Even before this thread started, I started the first Sovereign thread, declaring the product a winner.

As an experienced home theater enthusiast, with a relatively high end system, I scoffed at the high end single disc players, and I have had a few--Meridian, Pioneer Elite, even the recent Samsung HD1000.

But I had already migrated to changers with my cd collection, and, as my DVD library grew, I thought, "wouldn't it be great to have a DVD changer."

Then came the first one, the 200 disc Sony. I bought it.

Then came the Pioneer DV-F27. I bought three.

Then came the Sony 300 disc changers. I bought one of each.

All the while, however, I lusted after a glossy photo of the Escient. Ah, the Escient, with its ever-so-cool cover art scheme . . . but, even with some of the silly amounts of money I'd spent on these toys . . . no way.

Then came Sovereign. All who followed this thread knew the dilemma: the splendid interface, the wondrous possibilities . . . the failed promises. One of those promises (which has since faded into the background because of a Superhero named NiteOwl) was the alleged "DVD-Audio" database. Even when Entre and Sovereign performed as it should, when finally the multichanger control was introduced, this remained an unfulfilled ideal . . . the ideal of all our beloved media, high resolution video and audio, all to be plucked from that same ever-so-cool user interface that Escient kept from us with its exorbitant pricing.

And, for those who must have everything, and have it the way they want it, the one thing really missing from my Entre/Changer scheme was . . . one of my passions . . . multichannel SACD. It is a format to which I am so endeared, that I'll refer to one of the reviews I've scribbled, not so much as a shameless plug (though I suppose it's that, too), but merely to indicate the depths of my gushing, every now and then http://www.highfidelityreview.com/reviews/review.asp?reviewnumber=19939611

And, as Sovereign became a part of my system, and as I railed against Kenwood for not providing multichanger support, in a love-hate relationship that all of us felt to some extent, I still regretted the one piece that wasn't there, that I couldn't have . . . the changer, the changer that would play SACD. It perhaps would have been enough that only a changer would be introduced . . . that would have pacified me. But, no. At CEDIA, I saw a new product . . . from none less than Escient. Escient, the company that started this pig-lust in my brain for the glossy access to media . . . for the glitz and the glitter.

The marriage had been announced. Sony was introducing its 777ES DVD/SACD changer. Escient was introducing its "cooler" Entre, the one that would control either Kenwood or Sony (and, soon, we hear, Pioneer).

I got on the list for each product. Within days of the release of the 777ES, the good fellows at OADE Bros. had shipped me my unit. I stuffed it with 125 SACD discs, most multi-channel. Stuffed those discs, mind you, in a DVD/SACD changer whose user interface (Disc Explorer) was indisputably invented by a mad scientist, an expert in Audio Torture, someone whose evil genius understood the relationship between the listener's love for the medium, combined with the slow and excruciating retrieval method, all designed to maximize punishment to the listener, all because the listener wanted to choose a disc . . . to choose from a menu.

But help was on the way. Supposed to be released in November, I nevertheless pried and plotted to get one of the first of the DVD-M100 units (which really didn't get released until this past month). Now, finally, after years of being tantalized with the notion of a product that was clearly available at someone's fingertips . . . I could grasp it. I would not only have DVDs available with the glitz I thrived upon, but now, too, my precious SACD medium would be available . . . with all the same finesse, with the same element of High Cool that the rest of my system operated under . . .

Today, the Grand Piano arrived. The Escient DVD-M100. I could tell simply by looking at its rear panel that this was no mere Entre Sovereign, no, this was Enlightenment. This was Da Vinci Sovereign.

And so, with an even greater ease than any Entre was ever set up (for the DVD-M100 needs no USB/Ethernet converter, you just plug in to the router . . . ) I put the royal tool to work. Although I was clearly underutilizing its rare qualities (after all, a mere 125 SACD discs . . . come, come, this was Escient, I began the long awaited process . . . went into the setup menu . . . changer management . . . Lookup all . . I would soon have it all.

And now I've got it. 125 unknown audio cds, because, apparently, just like the DVD-Audio database we waited for, there is no SACD database. 125 unknown audio discs, with unknown cover art, unknown titles, and unknown songs (though the amount of tracks on each mystery disc is available).

Yes, I put in a DVD to see if there was a problem with the database. Yes, the DVD got looked up fine.

This is AVS Forum, and that was the funny thing that happned to me on the way to it tonight.

What a great product!!!

Nick :cool:

Nick,

I love your posts. Extremely informative, and often entertaining. Your last post was my favorite read in this Sovereign thread in a long time.

Kris

Nick,

That was a good post:)

By the way does the Sony have an I-link? I am looking for a I-link SACD player to go with my New Yamaha RX-Z9.

Nick, I'm sure if you hire NiteOwl he will give you SACD support for your new entre :D

If you follow Mark Rubin's thread on the dvm-100, I think he reported the same thing. One thing that puzzles me, is that he was able too lookup the sopranos season 4 with no problems, and i just tried the other day, with no luck. yet, it's the same database on the backend. the point is moot since I already updated it myself, but i was still puzzled.

Originally posted by slocko
Nick, I'm sure if you hire NiteOwl he will give you SACD support for your new entre :D

If you follow Mark Rubin's thread on the dvm-100, I think he reported the same thing. One thing that puzzles me, is that he was able too lookup the sopranos season 4 with no problems, and i just tried the other day, with no luck. yet, it's the same database on the backend. the point is moot since I already updated it myself, but i was still puzzled.

Interesting... my Kenwood Entre actually did lookup Sopranos Season 4 with no problems... so something is fishy with your unit/setup!?

Apparently, the DVD-M100 comes with its own built in "Niteowl" program. You can edit CD/DVD info, and you can upload cover art that's not available from OpenGlobe.

Nick :cool:

Originally posted by Nick Satullo
Apparently, the DVD-M100 comes with its own built in "Niteowl" program. You can edit CD/DVD info, and you can upload cover art that's not available from OpenGlobe.

Nick :cool:

That's news! Do you actually have this program in use now with your DVD-M100? Is that program downloadable or is it distributed on a CD with the DVD-M100? Any details about this program would be very interesting... I could not find any information about this program on their website. I also thought someone said this app would be released sometine in the future (but not confirmed).

I have not read these in detail, yet. But you would look here:

http://www.escient.com/supportdocuments/SuppDoc_AddingDiscInformation.pdf


And then you would look here:

http://www.escient.com/supportdocuments/SuppDoc_AddingYourOwnCoverArt.pdf

It may be that this doesn't quite get us to where Joe's program does, but at least it's some consolation to me. Since most SACD discs have counterpart CDs, I should get a lot of the information doing it like that, although I understand I'm going to have to enter song titles (a drag), but at least it gives me what I'm after.

Nick :cool:

I have the nagging feeling that when I put the sopranos in, the same day it was released, their signature was not recognized.

From playing with the entre, i have noticed that once that signature gets captured, the only way to get it to lookup properly, is to remove it and put it back in again. even doing, lookup disc, only looks up the cached signature, and doesn't scan the dvd again. in this case, the captured signature must have been incorrect. when you go get movie info, it even looks up signatures of discs you no longer have in your changer. this happens all the time with my netflix rentals.

i guess if i take it out and put them back in, it will probably look it up successfully.

like i said, the point is moot, since thanks to NiteOwl (sounds like a super hero) i updated it myself.

Originally posted by Lars158
Interesting... my Kenwood Entre actually did lookup Sopranos Season 4 with no problems... so something is fishy with your unit/setup!?

Originally posted by Mathazar
Nick,

I love your posts. Extremely informative, and often entertaining. Your last post was my favorite read in this Sovereign thread in a long time.

Kris

Kris, I actually clicked on your link My Home Theater (http://www.chapmanlakes.com/woolseyht.htm) and found this both informative and entertaining. I was wondering if you were planing to update your Kenwood 5900M Review-1 document now that you have a 5900M with the upgraded firmware? I'm trying to determine if I want to get a 5900M. The wifey wants to get rid of some of the AV cabinetry and the 5900M would definitely do the trick. However, I probably will not spring for the Entre at this time. So how many of your original "irks" are still around?

After reading your 5900M review, I had to smile when I read this in your AVS posting "The 5900M I've had for 2 years has the original firmware in it and runs great "

Thanks,
Rick

Hey all,

I have been a member for a while now however I was not very active, Until Now! I purchased an Entre, vr5700, and 5900M from a co-worker/avs-forum member. With the help of ScottF and NiteOwl I have learned quite a bit in the past week. I only have the Entre hooked up the changer and receiver are still in boxes so I don't have much to offer yet on look-ups.

I did however find all the graphics and replaced most of the GUI backgrounds for more pleasant ones. I will also be working on the elusive control over ethernet promised with Ver. 2.0 and later.

I hope to have time to fill in the details tomorrow.
See the attached file!

Fred

Originally posted by fz1234
<snip>I did however find all the graphics and replaced most of the GUI backgrounds for more pleasant ones. I will also be working on the elusive control over ethernet promised with Ver. 2.0 and later.
<snip>See the attached file!

Fred You are a tease!! You are *more* than welcome here. You may want to put the technical Entre stuff in the technical thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=311141&perpage=30&pagenumber=1) .

For those who are intersted in changing the look of your GUI see the technical thred. Use Scott's link above to get there if you do not know where it is.

Fred

I received my new...um, refurbished...5900M from audio_video_outlet on eBay yesterday - overall a very satisfying experience. The player was shipped in its original Kenwood box - no additional packing was provided. Even so, the player looks and operates like a brand new unit. The firmware has been updated to the latest version and the eject mechanism works just fine. Daisy chaining to my old 5900M was effortless and playback of DVDs is flawless. The unit is also virtually silent while in use. I'd probably buy another one from audio_video_outlet if I wasn't fairly sure that HD DVD would be available before I get this new changer filled to capacity.

this is conjecture in my part, but i wouldn't be surprised if those players are not really refurbs and are actually new upgraded ones. kenwood might be dumping them as refurbs to avoid having to give a 2 year warranty on it.

I cannot beleive this S*** !! My 5900M has come down with the can't read dics thing. It won't read any of the 200+ DVD's. I just started playing DVD+R's in it, anyone think that had anything to do with it????

i feel for you. try resetting the player (it's in the manual). maybe it's confused.

are you close to Denville? that is where the authorized center is. you drop it off with a copy of your receipt, and in a few days, you can pick it up again. you can also have them permanently glue the spring so it doesn't pop out.

Thanks Slocko, I have tried both, user file and library button resets, neither worked..... I am going to try a service center here in South Jersey I have used before..

the one in denville stocks pretty much all the parts which is why they can turn it around pretty quickly. But it is kind of North.

A friend of mine has come across a remote that would be perfect for Sovereign or other VR-Series receiver users, that currently of plan to in the future, use their receiver in a mulit room application. It is not a fancy remote but it is made by Kenwood and is perfect for use in "remote rooms" It is preprogrammed to operate VR-Series receivers dating back to a few years ago. The unit should operate the sovereign line also. I have owned a VR-2090 and VR-3100 in the past and know for a fact the basic IR control functions are still the same. The remote is also completly "Learnable" so configuring it to you needs is fairly simple.[

The Ebay Item# 3073405367 and attached is a photo..

From the technical thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3255656#post3255656)


Originally posted by rbienstock
Have you ever seen the Escient Fireball interface? It is essentially the same as the Entre, but it not only has a different color scheme, but also has a more 3D look. In, say, the music guide, the category (genre) tabs are rounded on top and the menu items have shading added. One would think that these were graphic elements, but perhaps they are excludive to the Fireball and don't exist on the Entre. I'm going to start by trying to get rid of the OpenGlobe banners, as this seems easy to do. This is very cool.

I don't think so. You can obviously telnet into it, but who knows what the UID and password are. I tried my OG UID and password, but they didn't work. Seems like we could speed up some research if someone here :rolleyes: has the fireball and would share the graphics that are in the equivalent directory (folder) on that machine as are in our Entres. Not to steal necessarily mind you but just to compare. You would then see what is possible. I'm sure Fred/Robert would love to take a look at them.

I have a fireball...I would be happy to share if you could tell me how to do it

My 5900M started working again.... let's see how long it lasts before the next disc read error

danny that is the classic symptom of a 5900 gone bad. bite the bullet and get it fixed asap. your wife might divorce you otherwise.

Originally posted by Clingpeach
I have a fireball...I would be happy to share if you could tell me how to do it Well we don't want to get anyone in trouble. The Escient stuff is probably copyright protected. You may or may not get PM'd...

Just got a second changer. I know this has been asked countless times
before, but how can I tell if the unit has the latest firmware? And yes I too have seen the Fireball graphics and they are very nice. Also, if anyone uses Crestron to control their Entre\DVD system, you can use the Escient Crestron module. Since Escient wrote the software for both the Escient and the Entre.

amargiot "If anyone uses Crestron to control their Entre\DVD system, you can use the Escient Crestron module. Since Escient wrote the software for both the Escient and the Entre."

I have been working on this for two days now! Escient says to use TCP port 226 but it is not open for business. Have you done this succesfully?

Fred

I have been working on this for two days now! Escient says to use TCP port 226 but it is not open for business. Have you done this succesfully?

I have seen it work. You have to connect to the Entre via HPNA. Going ethernet through an ethernect to usb adaptor will not work. I'm waiting for my HPNA adaptor show up. You do use port 226. You set this up in Crestron simple windows.

I'm having difficulty getting my universal remote control - Home Theater Master MX-700 - to power up both players and prevent the auto-play-last-disc-at-startup nuisance on both machines. My macro will stop the player that powers up in the Active state, but doesn't seem to be able to switch to the second unit in time to stop it from playing the last disc.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Ken

Originally posted by K_Thompson
I'm having difficulty getting my universal remote control - Home Theater Master MX-700 - to power up both players and prevent the auto-play-last-disc-at-startup nuisance on both machines. My macro will stop the player that powers up in the Active state, but doesn't seem to be able to switch to the second unit in time to stop it from playing the last disc.


Ken:

Your changers behave differently than mine. With my setup (5900 as Main and 5050 as Sub 1) the unit that was last inactive at Power Off will NOT start autoplay when both units are turned back on, with or without issuing a macro. Without the macro both machines go through their usual detection phase, then the active one starts autoplay while the other sits idle.

So, I have set up the main Power On macro to turn on the changers, turn on the TV and Entre/receiver, send a DVD Stop command, 0.5 second pause, send another DVD Stop command. Even with this macro, occasionally the active unit may still start playing, maybe 20% of the times. I have a HTM MX-800 (same as your remote, except it sends RF signals to an IR transmitter, instead of IR directly.) I have set flashers above the IR eyes of both changers to be safe (I have one on each side of a 65" RPTV).

I was going to leave the changers on 24/7, but since the above macro appears to be working pretty reliably, now I turn them off.

--

Umberto

This popped up on my googlealert e-mail this morning:

For years consumers have enjoyed the flexibility and control offered by Gracenote's music recognition technology, standard in almost all media players. With Gracenote VideoIDSM, you can now offer your customers the same powerful ability to organize and search their DVD collections and beyond -- all at the touch of a button!

Much like CDs, most DVDs do not contain identifying information unless the disc is played. Gracenote VideoIDSM uses state of the art recognition technology and access to Gracenote's massive media database to accurately identify and organize DVD libraries, enabling advanced features and functionality for DVD players, set-top boxes, and PC-based applications. link (http://www.gracenote.com/gn_products/video_id.html)

Originally posted by Turin2006
Ken:

Your changers behave differently than mine. With my setup (5900 as Main and 5050 as Sub 1) the unit that was last inactive at Power Off will NOT start autoplay when both units are turned back on, with or without issuing a macro. Without the macro both machines go through their usual detection phase, then the active one starts autoplay while the other sits idle.

So, I have set up the main Power On macro to turn on the changers, turn on the TV and Entre/receiver, send a DVD Stop command, 0.5 second pause, send another DVD Stop command. Even with this macro, occasionally the active unit may still start playing, maybe 20% of the times. I have a HTM MX-800 (same as your remote, except it sends RF signals to an IR transmitter, instead of IR directly.) I have set flashers above the IR eyes of both changers to be safe (I have one on each side of a 65" RPTV).

I was going to leave the changers on 24/7, but since the above macro appears to be working pretty reliably, now I turn them off.

--

Umberto


I must have possessed changers. If I issue a power on command by itself, both changers will power up and the Active player will start playing while the Inactive one sits idle just like yours. However, if I issue a DVD stop command, be it manually or within a macro, the Active player will stop, and the Inactive one will begin playing. Switching to the Inactive player within a macro (causing it to become the Active one) and issuing another DVD stop command has no effect. It seems that once a DVD stop command has been sent to one player, there's no way to force the other to stop as well.

I may just end up leaving my second changer off all the time until I need it. I don't like leaving the units on 24/7.

Thanks for your comments.

Ken

Originally posted by K_Thompson
I must have possessed changers. If I issue a power on command by itself, both changers will power up and the Active player will start playing while the Inactive one sits idle just like yours. However, if I issue a DVD stop command, be it manually or within a macro, the Active player will stop, and the Inactive one will begin playing. Switching to the Inactive player within a macro (causing it to become the Active one) and issuing another DVD stop command has no effect. It seems that once a DVD stop command has been sent to one player, there's no way to force the other to stop as well. First, you're lucky that you get a power-on stop macro to work. On my changers I've never been able to get teh changer to stop playing no matter how many times I send stop commands or pause. I've never even been able to get it to work manually, so I just leave my changers on all the time.

I think that the problem that you describe is caused by a timing glitch: basically, when both changers are turned on, the first thing that they want to do is to play a disk. When the Entre is connected to both changers, only one can be active and respond to commands. When you hit stop twice on the active player and the inactive player wants to do something, the Entre automatically shifts focus to the inactive player. Your inactive player is still in "play after power-on" mode, so it grabs the focus and starts playing. I don't know why it won't stop, except to say that it appears to be acting like all of my players always have and won't respond to the stop command. Although I got the Entre before I had 2 changers, things behaved like that when I had only one. I think that I was able to get the changers to stop when all I had was a stand-alone changer.

There might be a workaround to your issue though: usually (although not always, and I don't know why) if you are playing a disk and you turn on the Entre Movie Guide, playback automatically pauses. But in this mode, the changer still responds to transport commands. So perhaps you could insert a Movie Guide command into your sequence which would enable the stop command to get processed. I don't know if this will work, but it is worth a shot.

Thanks for your comments, Robert.

Unfortunately, I'm unable to take your advice as I don't currently own an Entre. Maybe in the near future. I'm beginning to rethink the idea of just leaving them on 24/7. It probably won't hurt anything.

Has anyone noticed the picture from their Sub1 changer looks noticeably dimmer then the Main unit - like the color and brightness levels have been lowered? I don't really see this while watching movies, but with the Kenwood graphic on the screen while switching from Main to Sub1 and back to Main again I can tell there's a noticable difference between the two. Maybe I just need better quality component video cables. I'll try relpacing the ones I have. Could it be that passing the signal through the Main unit is causing picture degradation?

Ken

Slocko, Anyone, Does any one know what service is actually performed when a unit is repaired for a "Can't Play That Type of Disc" error. I have open my unit to see if anything is blocking to optical lens of the 5900M. It does not look as if there is. It seems as if right after the unit is moved and opened up, the error goes away, only to return when it has been used for a few hours. I have removed the unit and am preparing to have it serviced, but I was wondering if there are actually parts replaced when the unit is serviced????

Originally by amargiot

I have seen it work. You have to connect to the Entre via HPNA. Going ethernet through an ethernect to usb adaptor will not work. I'm waiting for my HPNA adaptor show up. You do use port 226. You set this up in Crestron simple windows.

I have found that this is absolutly true.
This is important for all to know if you ever want to expand your control options over IP, Serial, PC etc. This is not just for crestron this could mean control from every pc in the house. This connection gives full access for browsing the database. It puts out all the disc, radio, genre, title etc info on command and allows for the sending of keyboard, remote and plenty other commands.

Fred

I hate to ask you this, but is their any way you can tell us exactly what data is feed out of the entre? things like track#, volume, dvd# that is playing, etc. It would be nice to have a complete list of feedback that is available via HPNA. thanks in advance.

Of course,

Anyone who has an interest may get the comptible External Control Protocol from:

External Control Protocol (http://www.escient.com/support_integration_crestron.html)

You may very well be supprised at what you find.

Fred

Originally posted by fz1234
Of course,
Anyone who has an interest may get the compatible External Control Protocol from:
External Control Protocol (http://www.escient.com/support_integration_crestron.html)
You may very well be surprised at what you find.
Fred Curious. I think that middle document has been talked about before here but I couldn't find the post. I think someone was sending those external commands to the serial port? or via telnet? They actually wrote a little application to do that as I recall.

Fred, have you asked KW about their protocol documents. We have been wondering about that for a while. I've brought it up several times like I brought it up here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2641470&highlight=external+control#post2641470)

ever since Brian (KW) mentioned it in his letter to us all here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2212298&highlight=external+control#post2212298)

Are we having fun yet. You betcha...but my HT progress has suddenly slowed down again...dang you Fred (BTW, thanks for re-energizing us!)

Uh oh... I could not connect to any Sirius radios last night (again!), so I tried downloading the updated radio lineup. After several tries, I gave up. Entre hangs shortly after downloading them, the globe stops spinning and I have to reboot to get Entre to work again. It appears Entre downloads the lineup, but crashes while installing it. Everything else appears to be working properly. Has anyone else experienced this?

--
Umberto

Just to clarify, the external control is via the Escient Fireball or via the
NEW Escient DVM-100 protocal?

Also, my sirrus radio was not working last night. Havent tried it today.

thanks,

ScottF wrote:

"Are we having fun yet. You betcha...but my HT progress has suddenly slowed down again...dang you Fred (BTW, thanks for re-energizing us!)"



Having Fun YES! Lots going on these days though! I work for a living during the day and work on my entre at night. I have had it for three weeks (what's sleep?) and I have done all the MODS I set out to do and more! I never even thought I could make it look better.

Oh by the way, I came home tonight and found it odd that my entre had turned off. I thought it had just rebooted.
NOPE! THE ADS ARE BACK! How do you turn off that darn daily auto update?

As far as EXTcontrol - I told you that you may find a suprise when you got to the link for the protocol! It is in fact the correct protocol however I believe there are some additional commands available for the entre and I hope to get these soon. I have a Crestron Webpanel running and my AV2 processor talks to the Entre over the LAN. Its a little slow but so is the onscreen interface! HPNA was the only way I could do this however I understand that a NetMate USB-Serial may be compatible. Anyone want to buy one and find out? I already have HPNA and USB-Ethernet.

As for Ports - The bottom serial port is a no go its Changer only as far as I can tell. The Top one is different because its the shell, however The only things I could do was play VR_5xxx and tell the entre I was turning off and it would too. You also have some volume, display in/control out, other than that its the shell and you see all the reports from the program running inside. There is access the the bash prompt during boot but you need a login and I suspect its the same login info you need on Telnet cause I tried that too. This port 226 is the real deal.

Happy reading,
Fred:cool:

DannyFresh, I had to send my dv-5900m back for the disk error problem. My understanding is that it is not the optics, but rather a circuit board that goes bad. KW was very good about it, since they simply exchanged my unit for a new one on the third attempt to fix it. The new player works just fine now. As you can read throughout this thread, once you start getting the dreaded "cant read" or "wrong disk format" it only gets worse. If the disc is not the problem than you should contact KW and send it back for repair. Dont wait too long, bite the bullet and unload all those other discs and just send it back.

It is some type of part that they replace. I suffered with mine until one day it just stop working. So it was easy for them to figure it out. Not sure what would have happened if I would have brought it in before it got to that point, since the problem occurred so randomly.

Speaking of that error, my new changer has twice displayed the infamous error. It's probably on it's way to dying a slow death. But since we don't watch many movies from that changer, I guess I will just wait some more.

Originally posted by DannyFresh
Slocko, Anyone, Does any one know what service is actually performed when a unit is repaired for a "Can't Play That Type of Disc" error. I have open my unit to see if anything is blocking to optical lens of the 5900M. It does not look as if there is. It seems as if right after the unit is moved and opened up, the error goes away, only to return when it has been used for a few hours. I have removed the unit and am preparing to have it serviced, but I was wondering if there are actually parts replaced when the unit is serviced????

Originally posted by Turin2006
Uh oh... I could not connect to any Sirius radios last night (again!), so I tried downloading the updated radio lineup. After several tries, I gave up. Entre hangs shortly after downloading them, the globe stops spinning and I have to reboot to get Entre to work again. It appears Entre downloads the lineup, but crashes while installing it. Everything else appears to be working properly. Has anyone else experienced this?

--
Umberto

I too have been having problems connecting to any of the internet radio stations. Upon hitting the options button and attempting to re-download the stations, the progress bar never reaches full completion before the Entre crashes and boots itself up again.

I had noticed the start of this issue about 10 days ago when the majority of my Sirius staions could not be accessed. Now none are accessible.

Originally posted by Turin2006
Ken:

Your changers behave differently than mine. With my setup (5900 as Main and 5050 as Sub 1) the unit that was last inactive at Power Off will NOT start autoplay when both units are turned back on, with or without issuing a macro. Without the macro both machines go through their usual detection phase, then the active one starts autoplay while the other sits idle.

So, I have set up the main Power On macro to turn on the changers, turn on the TV and Entre/receiver, send a DVD Stop command, 0.5 second pause, send another DVD Stop command. Even with this macro, occasionally the active unit may still start playing, maybe 20% of the times. I have a HTM MX-800 (same as your remote, except it sends RF signals to an IR transmitter, instead of IR directly.) I have set flashers above the IR eyes of both changers to be safe (I have one on each side of a 65" RPTV).

I was going to leave the changers on 24/7, but since the above macro appears to be working pretty reliably, now I turn them off.

--

Umberto


I too have the Sovereign system (Entre, DV5900M, vr5900) and recently purchased the MX800. The MX800 seems to work impeccably in IR line-of-sight; the MRF200 has however been a complete let-down; the RF functionality is dismal. Very erratic control of the components. Any advice on the consistent functioning of the RF mode with the MRF200 will be greatly appreciated

Originally posted by K_Thompson
Has anyone noticed the picture from their Sub1 changer looks noticeably dimmer then the Main unit - like the color and brightness levels have been lowered? I don't really see this while watching movies, but with the Kenwood graphic on the screen while switching from Main to Sub1 and back to Main again I can tell there's a noticable difference between the two. Maybe I just need better quality component video cables. I'll try relpacing the ones I have. Could it be that passing the signal through the Main unit is causing picture degradation?

Ken

Check the settings on both changers to make sure they're the same. I have noticed that, since the changers were upgraded for daisy chaining, I sometimes "lose" the settings and they revert to default (4:3 screen and 7.5 IRE, which would be the one that would affect this most).

What you could be seeing is unmatched settings in your setup.

Nick :cool:

Originally posted by fz1234
Anyone who has an interest may get the comptible External Control Protocol from:

External Control Protocol (http://www.escient.com/support_integration_crestron.html)

You may very well be supprised at what you find. Fred, you da man! The A/V integrator I've been working with maintains that because Kenwood never released the protocols, the only level of Crestron control available for the Entre was via IR blasters, and they'd have to do a custom interface. I told them that whatever they do for a Fireball should work for the Entre, but it never worked. All the testing we'd done on my Entre was via a USB ethernet adaptor. I'm now getting an HPNA bridge, and we'll try again. That Crestron interface is just super, and means that all the graphics work I've done is now irrelevent because I no longer have to connect my Entre to anything other than my changers (I don't use either the Music or Radio features), which frees up a precious analog and a digital input on my Lexicon. Yowza!

Is the Crestron interface something you can display on your video gear?

I alway thought it was just an interface for their touchpad remote controls.

Originally posted by slocko
Is the Crestron interface something you can display on your video gear? I alway thought it was just an interface for their touchpad remote controls. No, it is a system of touchpad remote controls, but from what the control brochures on the Escient web site indicate, once you get the serial control set up, you can display the database on the touch-screen. Thus you can pick movies from the remote without having the menus display on the screen at all. This will make a big difference in my new system because I have all the digital and analog inputs of my Lexicon filled, and keeping out the Entre frees up one of each.

so do you get the actual kenwood gui on the touchpad? or a crestron representation of it?

I'm using an Elan VIA Touchscreen system. I have the S video out on the Entre inputed to the video input of my VIA controller. Many people use a video input on their Creston or VIA for security cameras etc. I just came up with a different use for the video input.

My integrator then set up a "transparent" overlay which is used to control the Entre GUI. A tap in the upper middle of the touchscreen allows me to scroll up, a touch on the lower middle allows me to scroll down, a tap in the dead center means "play" (whatever is highlighted". A tap in the upper left corner takes me to the Entre sub-menu which displays the disc information.

For music, I do not have to turn on my projector, I just use the VIA screen. For movies, the Kenwood Sovereign logo generated by my 5900 appears. I can also have the Entre GUI appear by hitting the Entre Movie button (which is also programmed on a different VIA page) or just use the touchscreen...

My integrator ended up attending an Escient dealer suport seminar and he actually demonstrated my setup to them. This was about a year ago...

Originally posted by slocko
so do you get the actual kenwood gui on the touchpad? or a crestron representation of it? The latter, but it looks pretty good. Read all about it here: http://www.escient.com/supportdocuments/CrestronModuleDataSheet.pdf

Apparently this Crestron serial interface for the DVDM-100 and all Fireball Products allows two way communications with full GUI and even HTML support if you have the Crestron web server.

This pdf has some screen shots
http://www.escient.com/supportdocuments/CrestronModuleDataSheet.pdf

All you rich people with your crestron controllers and escient fireballs, please take your discussions elsewhere. Us poor folk who can barely afford the entre(s) and dv-5900m(s) do not wish to be subjected to this show of excessiveness. We are simply simple folk who want to watch our 800 or so dvds and listen to our dvd-audios without the extravagance of those over-priced universal remotes. I and others will boycott this thread until you elitists go away.

That being said, if anyone wants to make a charitable donation of their creston system just PM me. My wife just had our first baby - 6lbs 8 oz boy. I figure that with this new addition I will need all the donations I can get to maintain my electronic addiction.:D :D :D

congratulations!!!!!! was the baby born with a remote control in his mouth :D

strap in cause you are in for a big ride.

When I was born, My family was so Poor that if I wasn't born a Boy, I would have had nothing to play with....:D :D :D

zinja,

Congratulations on your new "entre" into the world!

I hope you enjoy mega-changing his diapers.

I hope you're prepared to give up your "sovereignty" to your new family member.

OK, I'm done. :)

Zinja, Congratulations!
My advice is to teach him at an early age how to control all of the PCs and HT equipment in the house. That way when your wife can't figure out how to turn on the "damn TV" your son can provide technical support with a high response rating. This, I have found, helps when your discussion inevitably turns to bringing in NEW equipment!

All the best....

Got a bad message on my DVD player tonight and I'm looking for some guidance. Selected a disc to load via Entre, and the 5900M didn't respond to load the disc. Instead, the door opened up and the display on the 5900M said CLOSE. At that point, no buttons on the remote or the unit are functional. Tried resetting power, and the door remains open. Did a Library/Initialize, and the error MECHA ERR 13 appears on the screen (and the door stays open). I'm stuck, and apparantly so is the 5900M.

Anyone else go thru this before? The changer has about 370 discs installed - man I'd hate to unload those. I've opened up the unit before to remove a disc that fell out and blocked the carasoul, so I'm not adverse to opening it up (tho it's a pain to get the unit out of the rack). I just hope I don't have to send it in for repair - my 2nd 5900M is still at Kenwood getting a firmware upgrade.

Help?

Thanx,
Kris

Originally posted by Mathazar
Got a bad message on my DVD player tonight and I'm looking for some guidance. Selected a disc to load via Entre, and the 5900M didn't respond to load the disc. Instead, the door opened up and the display on the 5900M said CLOSE. At that point, no buttons on the remote or the unit are functional. Tried resetting power, and the door remains open. Did a Library/Initialize, and the error MECHA ERR 13 appears on the screen (and the door stays open). I'm stuck, and apparently so is the 5900M.

Anyone else go thru this before? The changer has about 370 discs installed - man I'd hate to unload those. I've opened up the unit before to remove a disc that fell out and blocked the carousel, so I'm not adverse to opening it up (tho it's a pain to get the unit out of the rack). I just hope I don't have to send it in for repair - my 2nd 5900M is still at Kenwood getting a firmware upgrade.

Help?

Thanx,
Kris At a high level, you'd think the fact it has openned the front means it wants you to remove a disc. I've had this when I added a disc to a slot but that slot was already "in use" and the disc for it was in the middle of the player as the last one played. Doesn't sound like your issue. Potentially you do have a disc stuck.

Have you disconnected the RS232 when you were resetting using the library function? [Holding down the 'library' button (up and to right of big carousel rotation dial) and using the DV5900M power button]

I'm out of the woods, and it was worth spending 40 minutes extricating the 5900M from my rack system to open it up myself.

A DVD was on the transport, but off by enough that it wasn't fully seated and it wouldn't spin. I pushed on the edge of the DVD disc and it fell fully onto the transport. With the unit cover still off, I plugged in the unit, turned it on, and proceeded to do 25 disc load/unload tests. Seemed to be work fine, so I buttoned up the 5900M and put it back in the rack. Retested a few disc loads via the Entre, and it looks like I'm ok.

So, it sounds like MECH ERR 13 can be interpreted as some sort of Mechanical Error and, in my case (#13), it was a disc not fully seated on the transport.

Whew!

Kris

I just came across this, and I thought it might amuse some of you. You may remember that I had said that once I had an unreadable disc error and I had speculated that the error was caused by a rough spot on the edge of the disc had gotten caught in the slot. I believed that to have occurred because I specifically put the disc in the slot with the label copy facing straight up. After each failed attempt to read the disc, the label copy was still straight up. Thus I concluded that the disc never left the slot, which was why the disc couldn't be read. So I filed down the rough spots on the outer rim of the disc with an emory board, and, voila! it played. I don't know if this is a cure for all unreadable disc errors, but it did fix the one I had. In a way, it is consistent with the symptoms that some have noticed where the number of unreadable disc errors accumulate over time. If the "grippers" on the part that grabs the disc out of the slot and put it on the turntable start to fail, then eventually the changer won't be able to grab any discs at all.

In any event, when looking for something entirely different, I came across this device: http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0603/audiodesk.htm Think about it -- for only $500 you can buy a lathe and trim all your discs into perfect roundness! I'm gonna rush right out and buy one (NOT!) :)

I have always had the nagging suspicion, that some of the unreadable discs that I had, that all of a sudden became playable, were due to the fact when i put the disc back in to try again, months later, i purposely put them in so that the label was not aligned straight up.

you never know, but your theory makes sense.

Originally posted by Nick Satullo
Check the settings on both changers to make sure they're the same. I have noticed that, since the changers were upgraded for daisy chaining, I sometimes "lose" the settings and they revert to default (4:3 screen and 7.5 IRE, which would be the one that would affect this most).

What you could be seeing is unmatched settings in your setup.

Nick :cool:

Thanks for the tip Nick. I went through the settings once to make sure they were the same as my original 5900, but I wasn't aware that the changer could "lose" its settings. I'll go through and check them tonight.

I've got a new set of quality component video cables on order that should come today so that could make a difference. I'm currently using the component video cables that came with my HD cable box because they were all I had available to me when my second changer arrived.

I'll post the results tomorrow. Thanks again.

Ken

Well it looks like the low quality cables I was using were causing the discrepancy in picture quality between the Main and Sub1 changers. My new cables came today and now there is no noticeable difference between the two. If there's anyone out there that still thinks the quality of your cables make no difference, think again.

BTW, the settings on my Sub1 unit are as I originally set them and identical to my Main unit.

Ken

Originally posted by Turin2006
Uh oh... I could not connect to any Sirius radios last night (again!), so I tried downloading the updated radio lineup. After several tries, I gave up. Entre hangs shortly after downloading them, the globe stops spinning and I have to reboot to get Entre to work again. It appears Entre downloads the lineup, but crashes while installing it. Everything else appears to be working properly. Has anyone else experienced this? - Umberto Anyone called tech support on this?

I found this on the Sirius site. Not sure if related but sounds suspicious.

SIRIUS would be nothing without its devoted listeners, and so we take your feedback pretty seriously. On January 19th we introduced 12 brand-new streams to our already impressive lineup. We trust you will enjoy 8 exciting new music choices -- all of which are 100% commercial-free -- and our fresh entertainment and news streams. There's something for everyone.

The names and numbers of some of your favorite streams have changed to reflect their new musical styles. Don't worry: we've designed these changes with you in mind! Similar content is now grouped in a more intuitive manner, and finding the music you love should be easier than ever before. Just remember to reset your presets.

I had the Entre download the New channels a couple of days after Sirius Changed their line up and mine works. It changed all the channels.

Originally posted by Carbo
I had the Entre download the New channels a couple of days after Sirius Changed their line up and mine works. It changed all the channels. Thanks! I thought that last I heard it wasn't working and would cause a reboot so I was holding off for a postive "experience." Just worked for me as well.

Anyone know a local store that has a Kenwood Receiver ( 5900 ) floor model? 6th Ave was selling there floor models cheap wonder if anyone know anoy other stores doing the same.

I want to complete my Kenwood Setup...

How easy would it be for me to FTP into the Entre, download my custom iRadio entries, go and get the updated Sirius stations, and then go add my custom iRadio entries again to the new list?

It really stinks that updating the Sirius stations erases all of my manual iRadio entries!

I downloaded the Sirius stations and did not loose my iRadio entries.

Huh! That conflicts with other reports I've read. It's not that I don't believe you Carbo :), but is there something special you're doing to avoid resetting all of your stations? I even think the Entre warns you that by downloading iRadio sations, you'll erase your current entries.

Thoughts?


Originally posted by Carbo
I downloaded the Sirius stations and did not loose my iRadio entries.

I had to download the Sirius changes the other day and I still have the iRadio channels and Radioio channels. I downloaded Sirius with out thinking that I would lose the others and then checked and they are still there.

I have also lost channels in the past doing this but this time it did not.

Lucky you guys, I still cannot get the download to complete successfully. Entre Keeps freezing shortly after the download, while the screen says "Installing stations" or something like that. Rebooting the Entre restores everything back to normal, except that the Entre downloaded Internet stations (Sirius and perhaps some other ones I never listed to, such as Virgin) are gone from the listing.

I am not going to miss the Sirius stuff (it's low bandwidth and sounds barely decent anyway through my stereo), and thank goodness the Internet stations I had entered manually in the past (Radioio, etc) have not been wiped out and still work, but I wonder why this is happening to my Entre, while everything else appears to be working. There's gotta be a corrupted file somewhere, perhaps I messed it up while FTP'ing around.

--
Umberto

Does anybody's "Big 80's" stream actually work?? I used to listen to it but it hasn't seemed to work in a while..

Originally posted by sbonaparte
Anyone know a local store that has a Kenwood Receiver ( 5900 ) floor model? 6th Ave was selling there floor models cheap wonder if anyone know anoy other stores doing the same.

I want to complete my Kenwood Setup...


Check ebay there are always some pretty good deals. Use "Kenwood VR" in your search..

Originally posted by DannyFresh
Does anybody's "Big 80's" stream actually work?? I used to listen to it but it hasn't seemed to work in a while.. Absolutely. We listen to it regularly and I'm listening to it right now. Are your other Sirius stations working?

Scott, Some stations work and others say they are not available. I do an internet station download (Update) about once a week to see if the problem goes away. Big 80's, one of my favorites doesn't ever seem to work.

Originally posted by DannyFresh
Scott, Some stations work and others say they are not available. I do an internet station download (Update) about once a week to see if the problem goes away. Big 80's, one of my favorites doesn't ever seem to work. It doesn't make logical sense that you can listen to one and not another. Means your Entre internet connection would appear to be working. If you can click on this Big 80s link (http://www.sirius.com/asx/6lu9ladr/big80s.asx) and hear it then it is not your internet connection. Check that URL against what your Entre has when you edit that station via the Entre menu.

Scott, I got it fixed. It had to do with my DNS Server settings, they were incorrect and it seems as the connection was timing out when trying to connect to certain sirius stations.... When I ran a test connection it seemed to take an extremely long time to get a connection verification. I wonder if this is the reason it was taking a very long time to look up new disc's added to the changer. I'll have to wait til I get it back from service before I can verify this....

Mp3 Lookup problem

Has anyone run into this? For the past few weeks (after getting rid of ghosts, doing a 5555/64000, PROD...reset DNS to static, yada yada yada) now when I try to look up Mp3s for album art, it goes out to openglobe, then the artist and title turn to n/a and no album art is found. DVDs and CDs still work.

What's up wit dat?

This maybe a dumb question but here goes:

I have an Entre'/5900M. All digital audio from the 5900M is passed through the Entre' to my receiver via digital optical out Toslink. I select DVD on my receiver and it works great for Audio CD's and DVD Movies. I have the 6-channel audio running from my 5900M to my receiver. I select 6-channel on my receiver and DVD-Audios work great (THANKS to previous help on getting this right).

My issue is when playing MP3's that are stored on the Entre' hard drive I had to connect the Analog Play Out cables to my receiver. I connected them to CD In on my receiver. So when playing MP3's I have to select DVD to get video on the right input and then select CD to actually hear the music.

My question is, on the back of the Entre' there are both Coax and Toslink Digital In connectors. If I connect the CD Out (either Coax or Toslink) from my receiver back to the Entre' will this back feed the Analog signal being sent from the Entre' so I do not have to change to CD on my receiver to hear MP3's.

Or do I have something misconfigured, causing my MP3's not to be transmitted out over the Digital port?

THANKS in advance for your help !!!

My question is, on the back of the Entre' there are both Coax and Toslink Digital In connectors. If I connect the CD Out (either Coax or Toslink) from my receiver back to the Entre' will this back feed the Analog signal being sent from the Entre' so I do not have to change to CD on my receiver to hear MP3's.

If I understand you question correctly then consider this:

I do not think that running the signal back thru the Entre is the solution.
The entre inputs are selectable so you should not have a feedback loop, but I do not believe this will allow you to play an mp3 and hear an input at the same time. Defeating your purpose.

The answer all depends on your receiver. If your receiver has auto signal detection then you may run all audio types to the same input on the reciever and it will select the best available. If your reciever does not do auto sensing and your receiver does have an input with all three types, you may switch it manually. The other option is to use the entre zone2 composite video out, which is present all the time, to another reciever input that has video and analog audio for use during MP3 playback. If you are out of video inputs on the reciever then consider running the zone2 video to an open input on your display.

I hope this solves your problem.
Fz

from what I know, the entre will not play mp3s through the digital connection. only through the analog ports.

on the kenwood receiver, the entre automatically switches to the cd-r input on the receiver.

your only alternative is to use a remote control that supports macros so it does what you need automatically.

Slocko is 100% correct !!! The is no digital signal available when listening to mp3's.....You must use the analog connections.. The Sovereign series receivers automatically select what sound is output. i.e digital or analog....

Slocko/DannyFresh,

Thanks for the info. I kind of figured that, but it was worth asking. I guess I can try hooking up the Analog cables to the DVD inputs on my receiver (a Yamaha RX-V3000) and see if it will switch between inputs.

I am out of inputs and am trying to free up a digital audio in for a PlayStation 2 for the kids (I have an Xbox for me :D ). I have the video portion covered.

If the auto switch on the DVD inputs dosen't work I will move the Analog out of the Entre' to my MD/Tape input.

Now if only I can find time to reprogram my Pronto everything will be great.

THANKS AGAIN FOR EVERYONE'S HELP !!!

Opps ! :eek:

Forgot to thank FZ1234. SORRY !!!!

Thanks again for everyone's help.

I moved my Analog outputs from the Entre' to the Analog DVD Input (from the CD Input) on my Yamaha RX-V3000. And am am very happy to say that the Yamaha DOES detect the proper source and automaticaly switches from Analog to Digital as neeed. So no more input switching on the receiver. :D

Once again this forum has come through. :)

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP !!!

Anyone tried using an IPRONTO with the Entre?

5900M Can't Read Disc Error:

Does anyone know what is actually done when a 5900M is repaired for a "Can't Read Disc" error. I have had my unit serviced twice in the last couple of weeks and each time the said the unit was repaired and something mechanical was replaced. When I open the unit to see what is actually going on when a disc is being read, the display keeps flashing "READING" but the disc is not even spinning in the mech.....Any Help Would Be Appreceiated....

PS:

I have done both resets, neither helps......

Originally posted by DannyFresh
5900M Can't Read Disc Error:

Does anyone know what is actually done when a 5900M is repaired for a "Can't Read Disc" error. I have had my unit serviced twice in the last couple of weeks and each time the said the unit was repaired and something mechanical was replaced. When I open the unit to see what is actually going on when a disc is being read, the display keeps flashing "READING" but the disc is not even spinning in the mech.....Any Help Would Be Appreceiated....

That's very interesting... I also got back one of my 5900M's for the same repair, and I also have the same problem you describe - but only for some DVD's (e,g. Shrek). When I put in my Shrek DVD I get exactly that problem where the disk is loaded and then the player shows "reading" but the disk is not spinning (well, it is actually starting to read for a few seconds and then it stops). In addition, the player "hangs" in this stage so I will have to turn the player on/off to open the door and get the disk out. When this happen I do not get the blue "Can not read" screen, instead I just get a black screen. Very annoying... and I am soo tired of sending my players on and off to the Kenwood (NJ) service center.

Player NO#1
- Sent in for the Tier 3 upgrade
- Sent in to fix a problem with the player crashing after playing a disc for about an hour (get a blue screen and the DVD stops). Got it back and I still had the same problem.
- Sent back the player fro the same problem. Again, got it back and the problem was still there...
- Sent the player back yet again. Got it back with a new mainboard and the original problem was fixed - but now the firmware was back to v1 !!!!
=> I decided to not sent this poor player back a fifth time just to get a firmware upgraded for multi changer support - instead I want ahead and bought the FireBall DVDM-100 (with the FB the multi changer support works great without the v3 firmware)

Player NO#2
- Sent in the player for Tier 3 upgrade
- Sent in the player to fix problem with disk jam and the "can not read disc" problem. I got the player back and the disc jam problem was resolved, but now instead I have the new problem described above... I will most likely just live with this problem and put the discs this player can not read in my other Player

SO, in total I have sent my 2 5900M players to Kenwood service facilities 6 times and I still have problems with both players (ok - 2 times was to get the firmware upgraded)... Now that is a bad track record! Talk about crappy quality, and in particular poor quality control (atleast that is true for the NJ service center).

BTW - The DVDM-100 is a great upgrade from the Entre. I am extremely satisfied with this purchase! It also feels very nice to have one less piece of Kenwood equipment in my AV rack...

Change out plan (started Dec-03 due to developed bad taste of Kenwood for crappy quality and poor performance) - never Kenwood again... :
Kenwood MX-5000 : Changed out with a Sunfire Cinema Seven AMP [DONE[
Kenwood Entre : Changed out with the FB DVDM-100 [DONE]
Kenwood VR-5900 : To be changed out with a pre-pro [PENDING]
Kenwood DV-5900M's : To be changed out with ???? [PENDING]

Lars,

What heresy! Need we schedule an exorcism? :)

Honestly, I haven't had any issues with my Kenwood equipment. Only issue I have had is with Kenwood's policy of charging for the mega changer v3 upgrade. How stupid is that?! Charge us to fix their screw ups. If the DVDM-100 offered the same functionality as the Entre, I'd be there. I don't like the idea of having multiple pieces of equipment for what the Entre does by itself. My shelf space is limited... the less equipment the better!

Right now I am thinking about purchasing a Roku and developing the DVD changer code for it. Since its open source and has a serial port I think I can make it happen... Now if the Roku had a harddrive that would be killer! To get around this limitation, I am thinking of purchasing one of those network attached storage devices or maybe use the Windows MCE computer that is on its way. If MCE works out... I might develop a module for the changers.

Damn I wish Nick would adopt me! This hobby is expensive.

-NiteOwl

Originally posted by NiteOwl
<snip>Only issue I have had is with Kenwood's policy of charging for the mega changer v3 upgrade. How stupid is that?! Charge us to fix their screw ups.<snip>Damn I wish Nick would adopt me! This hobby is expensive. -NiteOwl Lars certainly has reason to complain. I haven't had that many issues either. I'm getting a 2nd DV5900M this week so hopefully I don't have any of these issue..knocking on wood.

Many of us only paid for shipping for getting the DV5900M there and the upgrade was free. All things considered that was pretty darn reasonable. They lost a lot of money on that...which is a so what except we want the sovereign line to still be supported so I was happy to pay that.

I've known Nick longer than you so I think I get first dibs (sp?) on the adoption.:D

I am a potty trained so Nick should adopt me!!!! :D

i actually have stopped buying dvds cause i didn't want to buy a third 5900m.

I know this the Entre Forum, but I've been having fun lately recording movies from satelite on my replayTV then sending them to my PC that has DVArchive and "looks" like another replayTV on the network. I'll still buy the cool dvds, but for general collecting, I'll just store them on the "server".

Originally posted by slocko
i actually have stopped buying dvds cause i didn't want to buy a third 5900m.

Slocko, One more changer won't hurt. If you don't have the room for it I'm sure your wife will let you store it in the china closet :D :D :D

not a bad idea :)

nah, i just don't want to invest anymore money on that platform. i want to switch to a htpc, just can't get motivated to do so.

I can't quite understand what happened, but my 5900M seems to have "kicked the habit". All of a sudden the damn thing started working again. I came home from work and my wife had my sons movies on. I couldn't beleive it. It was working. I used it most of Saturday and alot more on Sunday, and all seems OK (Knocking Wood). I really want to purchase at least on more changer.

Umberto, I saw you post about the 5050M you purchased for your CD collection and I have been wanting to do the same. Have you played and DVD's using the "chained" 5050M. Is the difference in image quality like "Night and Day" I was thinking about moving my sons movies over to a 5050M making more room for the "Theater" quality movies.

Any Advice Anyone????

slocko,

Investing on the changer is not a bad idea... even if you are thinking of going the htpc route. I purchased a WindowsMCE pc as well. It kicks ass! I was thinking ReplayTV but their lifetime activation bs just didnt fly with me. What business school did those schmucks go to? Pay them lifetime activation and in 2 years they go bankrupt. Then you are screwed. I hope to be able to control the changers via the htpc really soon.

Have you looked at DVDLobby? I think it controls the changers natively through the serial port via a plugin. It even performs dvd lookups via the internet. www.cinemar.com if you are interested.

DVD Lobby can be found at: www.cinemaronline.com

Originally posted by Adam Mrotek
Anyone tried using an IPRONTO with the Entre?

I have the IPronto with the Entre, and its is a great combo. The large screen allows space for all sorts of macros, from searching your library by letter to actual cover art macros( touch the picture of the Matrix, and the movie starts!) Very slick.
The only drawback has been the buggy software used to set it up, but most of the problems have been worked out.
I highly reccomend the IPronto, its great.

Fred,
Do you have full functionality with the IPronto as far as tthe Entre is concerned? Can you edit from it?
I have a VR5900 with the touchscreen remote that came with it. One thing I like about it is that it gives feedback from the reciever to the remote. Does the IPronto have this capability? I read that it has some sort of two way IR. Is this just for learning from other remotes or data input?

Adam, I am also using the "PowerTouch III" that came with my VR5900. I have tried using a couple of different "Pronto's". There is no other remote that I know of that has the capabilities of the PT III. I love the fact that I can actually pick music from a CD down to the title of a song right from the screen. This is something that I have seen nowhere else, without having to program macros for every album, song. I currently am using 3 PowerTouch's. I have a main unit set up in the room the receiver, entre and changers are setup, another in the basement which is setup as the B zone in a dual zone enviornment using the IR-9991 to communicate with the 5900. Lastly I have one mounted to a wall in my garage so I can control the system from the pool area. (This one is hardwired to the receiver using the IR in, IR out jacks on the rear of the 5900). In all the prontos are very cool remotes, but they are a pain in the a** to program, and when you change something in the system the whole remote has to be re-configured to control the new components or the system change. ie. changing a disc from on slot to another in the changer.

Danny,I am assuming you downloaded the cd's/dvd's from your dv5900m (up to 200 cd's or dvd's if I recall correctly)
I also have the IR-9991. I like getting the feedback for surround speaker setup and status (dolby digital,pro-logic,etc.). I haven't used the song selection capability yet as I have the entre. I suppose it would be nice in that you could make selections without having to project the gui on your screen.
You say that you have tried many Prontos. Have you specifically tried the IPRONTO?
What intrigues me about it other than what fredpd says about it is that it has wireless internet which may allow me to connect to the Entre. Of course it is also full color and can do home automation etc.

I have full functionality with both my iPronto and the Pronto TSU7000 in terms of editing and playback etc. The only thing lacking is feedback from the entre. This is something that "may" be possible in the future, but I wouldn't hold my breath. The two way ir is just for learning. It may have two way communication with RS232, but not yet. Two way communication can happen with a system like the crestron or amx, and is a future promise for the ipronto.
I do agree with danny, it is a pain to program, but once its done (or done for you) it isn't too bad to upgrade. And its a huge savings over the crestron and the like.
I choose to not do the powertouch because it is not as flexible or upgradable as the pronto line up.

FRED, with the rs232 possibility, it looks like the IPronto may be the right fit for the Entre.
You've got me considering it again since you say they have worked out most of the bugs-- this was the main reason that I discounted it (lots of disgruntled postings on Remote Central). Kinda like the sovereign, a work in progress.

Danny,

Is the remote reading the entre's list or the changers list? Is what you see what's on the entre or what is on the player?

I ask because i have nothing in the native library of the changer.

Originally posted by DannyFresh
Adam, I am also using the "PowerTouch III" that came with my VR5900. I have tried using a couple of different "Pronto's". There is no other remote that I know of that has the capabilities of the PT III. I love the fact that I can actually pick music from a CD down to the title of a song right from the screen. This is something that I have seen nowhere else, without having to program macros for every album, song. I currently am using 3 PowerTouch's. I have a main unit set up in the room the receiver, entre and changers are setup, another in the basement which is setup as the B zone in a dual zone enviornment using the IR-9991 to communicate with the 5900. Lastly I have one mounted to a wall in my garage so I can control the system from the pool area. (This one is hardwired to the receiver using the IR in, IR out jacks on the rear of the 5900). In all the prontos are very cool remotes, but they are a pain in the a** to program, and when you change something in the system the whole remote has to be re-configured to control the new components or the system change. ie. changing a disc from on slot to another in the changer.

Adam, I have not tried the IPronto with the Entre. At $1200.00+ it is a little to expensive for my blood. My DV-5900M is not used for CD's at all, it is strictly for my DVD collection. I have a Kenwood CD3280M (Produced 1998 - 1999) that I use for music. It has two CD transports which allows you to use the "All Disc Random" mode. In this mode the changer selects a random disc and plays a track, while that track is playing the second transport selects another track from a different disc. When the first track has ended the second begins. Alas there is no delay caused by the changer having to select another disc - track, the task has already been taken care of while the first disc - track was playing. The discs in that changer are all CDR's back up from my original collection with CD TEXT added to them and the filler songs removed. The changer reads the CD TEXT and I can download the info into the PowerTouch III. As for the PowerTouch reading from the Entre. That would have been the intelligent thing for Kenwood to do, but no dice, that doesn't happen

So much for "convergence".

I know from reading other posts that the Entre uses port 226 for connecting to Crestron or AMX touchscreens. I wonder if an IPronto could similarly communicate to the Entre unless there is some sort of proprietary software involved?
Now I'm in way over my head!

does Kenwood Dv_5700 /5900m
This soverign changer use mediametic decoder, does it scale AR like RP-91?

Originally posted by DannyFresh
Umberto, I saw you post about the 5050M you purchased for your CD collection and I have been wanting to do the same. Have you played and DVD's using the "chained" 5050M. Is the difference in image quality like "Night and Day" I was thinking about moving my sons movies over to a 5050M making more room for the "Theater" quality movies.

Any Advice Anyone????


Danny:

Sorry, I am on vacation... I have not played any DVD's off the daisy chained 5050, I have loaded that unit exclusively with CDs, including a bunch that were taking precious slots on the 5900. In fact, I did not even bother daisy chaining the video portion - I only hooked up the audio via coaxial, since Entre gives me all the info I need on my CD collection on the 5050. If you do hook up the video, Mr. Thompson a while back posted about the importance of using high quality component between units, although I think his setup involved two daisy chained 5900 units.

--
Umberto

Danny, I noticed no difference when mine were daisy-chained.(3 dv5900M'S)

I have them both (2 5900 and 1 5050) the picture quality is night and day. It is no where near as good on the 5900. It is not a bad picture though and if it is used just for kids they won't know or probably care about the difference.

But you will.

Thanks for the info guys I'm leaning towards another 5900M, just in case I run out of slots in the 1st changer. I already have a dedicated 3280m, but it is not compatible with my Entre.

Originally posted by Carbo
I have them both (2 5900 and 1 5050) the picture quality is night and day. It is no where near as good on the 5900. It is not a bad picture though and if it is used just for kids they won't know or probably care about the difference.

But you will.

Carbo

Are you saying the 5050 looks better then the 5900?

Originally posted by Wayne Zworld
Carbo

Are you saying the 5050 looks better then the 5900?

I would doubt that very much !! The 5900M is the unit with the Faroudja video chipset. I was thinking about purchasing a 5050M without the chipset, for my CD collection. If I know myself, I am not going to be happy unless I opt for the 5900M instead

No, the 5900 looks far better than the 5050. The 5050 is not a bad player, it just if you play them side by side you will notice a big difference. But for little kids cartoons or shows, they just won't care. I only use mine for cds.

Also if you have a outside video processor I am sure it would look good also.

Originally posted by Carbo
No, the 5900 looks far better than the 5050. The 5050 is not a bad player, it just if you play them side by side you will notice a big difference. But for little kids cartoons or shows, they just won't care. I only use mine for cds.

Also if you have a outside video processor I am sure it would look good also.

I have the 5050 and the 5900. Feeding the 480i interlaced signal into an outboard processor, they are identical.

Nick :cool:

Just curious, have you ever tried them with out the outboard and compared them in 480p?

Originally posted by Carbo
Just curious, have you ever tried them with out the outboard and compared them in 480p?

No. I'm assuming that the 5900 would have the "better" picture, although my general perception is that the differences among most DVD players are there, to be sure, but subtle. I'm not sure what type of processing chip is used in the 5050, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were a high quality one as well.

I use a Faroudja DVP-1000, and find 720p to be the sweet spot. 960p is also very good, but just a "touch" softer, which some prefer (not me).

Nick :cool:

I just feel lonely being the only one to have these both set up like this and being the only one with a response for people:)

Perhaps you should seek out some form of counseling, or maybe an internet group-therapy chat-room! Just kidding, where would all of us Sovereign orphans be without this forum?

I have a problem I hope you can help me with. My Entre was disconnected for 4 months due to a move and and building of my home theater. When I finally hooked it up dvds played fine but 250 cds worth of mp3s will not play. They show up in the guide and I can drill down to a single song but it refuses to play. I haven't hooked it up to the network yet but will shortly. I would hate to lose all the work I put into creating all the mp3s. I know you guys have figured out a way to copy them to a pc. Is there a guide somewhere on how to do this? Any help for either gettimg the mp3s to play or copying them over would be greatly appreciated.

I also posted this in the Entre technical thread but figured the more eyes the better.

Thanks
Rudmeister

Originally posted by Rudmeister
I have a problem I hope you can help me with. My Entre was disconnected for 4 months due to a move and and building of my home theater. When I finally hooked it up dvds played fine but 250 cds worth of mp3s will not play. They show up in the guide and I can drill down to a single song but it refuses to play. I haven't hooked it up to the network yet but will shortly. I would hate to lose all the work I put into creating all the mp3s. I know you guys have figured out a way to copy them to a pc. Is there a guide somewhere on how to do this? Any help for either gettimg the mp3s to play or copying them over would be greatly appreciated.

I also posted this in the Entre technical thread but figured the more eyes the better.

Thanks
Rudmeister

Did you remember MP3's will only play through the anolog outputs?

Wayne

Once again I've seem to have lost Ethernet connection to my Entré.

I sent my Entré in back in October for this exact same problem and they told me they had to give me another replacement Entré because my system failed Quality Control. It indeed has a new serial number.

So, one day I could no longer access the internet to download DVD info.
The light on my Belkin F5D5050 USB 10/100 Ethernet adapter was not showing any communication. I purchased another one and still have the same problem.

I contacted Kenwood Sovereign Support and went though all the normal tests. The system was set to Static IP.

Hit the #5 button five times on the setup screen and proceeded to reset the Entré to original defaults.

Now if my memory serves me right the software was downgraded to 1.0.2.6 or something and this does not support my Belkin Ethernet adapter.
(Why didn't they just add an Ethernet port to the back of this thing?!?!?)

So my real question is:

Does anyone know who makes an Ethernet adapter that is supported version 1.0.2.6 operating system on the Entré?

I recently moved and I cannot find the username & password for Kenwood's earthlink account for the dialup modem.

I bought my Entré on 11/21/02 and this would be the 3rd time I have had to send it in for repair.

I bought my DV-5900M in April of 2002 and I have had to send this unit in for replacement / repair 3 times now. I just got it back 3 weeks ago from a "cannot read disk problem" & firmware upgrade.

I am sick & tired of resetting up this Entré! When it works it is AWESOME! My family and I have become very comfortable using the system. My 6 year old can navigate the Entré without a problem. But the 5900M is a royal pain in the butt to use without the Entré.

I really don't want to send it in if I don't have to. And I can't wait to try Jose Sampo's DVD Edit software.

Thanks for the help guys and also for listening to me complain!

BChase. I am going to PM you with some info.

BChase, Did it work?

Originally posted by K_Thompson
I received my new...um, refurbished...5900M from audio_video_outlet on eBay yesterday - overall a very satisfying experience. The player was shipped in its original Kenwood box - no additional packing was provided. Even so, the player looks and operates like a brand new unit. The firmware has been updated to the latest version and the eject mechanism works just fine. Daisy chaining to my old 5900M was effortless and playback of DVDs is flawless. The unit is also virtually silent while in use. I'd probably buy another one from audio_video_outlet if I wasn't fairly sure that HD DVD would be available before I get this new changer filled to capacity.

Does anyone know what happened to audio_video_outlet on ebay? I was hoping to buy another DV-5900M and noticed this seller is no longer registered on ebay.

Does anyone know of a good place to buy the DV-5900M that already has the upgrade? The cheaper the better :)

Originally posted by princer
Does anyone know what happened to audio_video_outlet on ebay? I was hoping to buy another DV-5900M and noticed this seller is no longer registered on ebay. Does anyone know of a good place to buy the DV-5900M that already has the upgrade? The cheaper the better :) I think this was Jamal Ashraf [thelearner00@yahoo.com]. I recently did end up getting a unit from him. v3 and eject works. I don't have it hooked up yet. I canceled my first order because I got cold feet about the warranty then later decide it was a great deal and I'd take my chances. He was outstanding about the original cancelation and then later on following up with me after he sold out his stock then got more in. Seemed like a genuinely good person.

Originally posted by Adam Mrotek
BChase. I am going to PM you with some info. Did Adam help you out. If not e-mail me avsforum at fauque dot com.

Thanks for the info. I was suprised to see him no longer registered. His feedback (on ebay and this board) looked pretty good.

I'll try to e-mail to see if there are any more available.

Originally posted by princer
Thanks for the info. I was suprised to see him no longer registered. His feedback (on ebay and this board) looked pretty good.

I'll try to e-mail to see if there are any more available.

He may be back. I've seen times where the products disappear for a few days, then reappear.

Ahh, the irony of the writing on the wall. Sovereign is discontinued, just at the point where its userbase could begin to grow the product in the way that I'm sure Kenwood initially envisioned.

There were two key events which made the Sovereign scheme a great success: (1) the upgrade to permit Entre control of more than one changer; and (2) the unparallelled efforts of Joe Sampo in giving us the control that neither Kenwood nor Escient could provide. Up until July 2003, when the changer fix finally was implemented, we were dealing with a product whose attributes were addicting, but whose potential was vastly unrealized.

There's a lot of irony in that. For what it's worth (and I'm not saying this as self-congratulation), I'm absolutely convinced that Kenwood would never have implemented the multichanger support, but for the fact that I had put in motion the beginning steps of a class-action--they were months late by the time I'd given them a deadline, then, within a day or so of that deadline, they announced the upgrade program--an upgrade program which, by its terms, was designed to cost them as little as possible (remember them advising people that they may not need the upgrade, unless they intended to go to multiple changers?). Legally, however, that upgrade program was a defense to the types of claims that would have been brought (and for those who privately contacted me, and I'm sure that a Kenwood-In-Disguise was one of them, you knew I had already put things in motion).

That was the first big step, and then came Joe, who contributed something far more useful and innovative than the gun I put to Kenwood's head: He came up with a program that allowed us to maximize the use of our Entres in ways that Escient and Kenwood have still not figured out (and no one should forget that Scott was really the start of that, with his FTP/Axcess connection).

Now, many of us have multiple changers, and, purely by virtue of the passsing of time, as DVD/CD collections have grown, those who bought into the Sovereign scheme to begin with are either in need of at least a second changer, or more. More to the point, with multichanger support and DVDEdit (which, a bird tells me, may find a new name), there has never been such enthusiastic, interactive support for the product.

It's sort of like having a great time at a funeral.

Yes, I was given some noncommittal vagaries at CES, but you can't find any units for sale in current production. I snatched up two of Jamal's changers and an extra Entre unit, which remain in their box (my compulsiveness is not only a point of pride, but has served my compatriots on this thread well), but you won't find any in stock from an authorized dealer. Kenwood openly admits that the line has been discontinued, and the timing of it all is what is so disappointing: Just when the natural progression of things (read: We keep buying more DVDs and CDs and DVD-Audio discs) has reached the point that we're in a position to become the repeat purchasers that Kenwood must have wanted when it implemented the product . . . the church bells ring, but it's not for a wedding.

Maybe they will come out with something that steps it up a notch (the fabled "universal" changer). But, as someone who now owns the Escient DVD-M100, I can tell you that it doesn't compare in versatility and value to the Entre; and the Sony changer, while initially appearing to have a better build quality, is no better, and probably a notch down, from the DV-5900 . . . but, from a current product standpoint, these are the only games in town.

So I guess it's like we're in a ghost town, where there's still plenty of food and drink to have a good time, but supplies have been cut off . . . and we know how ghost towns ultimately wind up.

It's too bad. The Sovereign product line (thanks to Joe) is now the glitzy home theater product it was supposed to be, and the discussion on this thread has never been more interesting, more fun, and that's when they pulled the plug.

"Now small fowls flew screaming over the yet yawning gulf; a sullen white surf beat against its steep sides; then all collapsed, and the great shroud of the sea rolled on as it rolled five thousand years ago"

--Herman Melville, Moby Dick

Nick :cool:

Yippeee! He still has them in stock. He is having "account issues" so all will be well soon. I look forward to adding another 403 discs to our collection. ;)

All bow to Nick, the great and wonderous class action attorney. Without him, they would never have cancelled the sovereign line, WTG nick :D

Now the real question becomes, do I add a third DVD player or wait until the Blue and or red laser discs come out, with high definition. That way I can start my whole collection over again al la my 120 laser disc collection that just sits and gathers dust.

Any hoot, how much are the left over 5900m' selling for? I may have to get one to use as a spare until I hit the lotto and convert everything to hard drive (I already have 4 250 gig hard drives in this computer --- lets see, 4.7 gigs per DVD = 212 movies) hmmmmm

Originally posted by Nick Satullo
<snip> Sovereign is discontinued, just at the point where its userbase could begin to grow the product in the way that I'm sure Kenwood initially envisioned.<snip>Yes, I was given some noncommittal vagaries at CES, but you can't find any units for sale in current production. I snatched up two of Jamal's changers and an extra Entre unit, which remain in their box (my compulsiveness is not only a point of pride, but has served my compatriots on this thread well), but you won't find any in stock from an authorized dealer. Kenwood openly admits that the line has been discontinued,<snip>Nick :cool: Hmm...I was told by an authorized dealer that his KW rep told him that they were discontinuing the changers in the non-USA markets. He told me he could get me a new one. This was a month ago I think.

I thought they discontinued the Excursion as well but there was one of those dang things at the Chicago Auto show today.

Nick, I love you man (ahem...bud commerical...Nick has extra changers).

Hows the baby doing Zinga?

Since you already have 1g of storage space, I would hold off and begin looking at HTPC solutions. MikeMav converted his setup to a HTPC solution and seems to be enjoying it. You just need the time.

I think I will finish my HTPC when Scott finishes his theater :D

Originally posted by zinja
All bow to Nick, the great and wonderous class action attorney. Without him, they would never have cancelled the sovereign line, WTG nick :D

Now the real question becomes, do I add a third DVD player or wait until the Blue and or red laser discs come out, with high definition. That way I can start my whole collection over again al la my 120 laser disc collection that just sits and gathers dust.

Any hoot, how much are the left over 5900m' selling for? I may have to get one to use as a spare until I hit the lotto and convert everything to hard drive (I already have 4 250 gig hard drives in this computer --- lets see, 4.7 gigs per DVD = 212 movies) hmmmmm

I think I paid just over $700-something from Jamal, for the "refurb" unit (though I like the theory that Ken has expressed that this is really just what's left of the real stock . . . and Jamal's ability to continually get these suggests he may be right).

As for waiting for a new HD format to come out, well, life's short . . . and if it takes anything like what we've waited for on a standardized digital interface for DVD-Audio or SACD, or a thousand other things that get stopped cold in copy-protection limbo . . . you'll need the patience of a convict.

As for getting the Sovereign line cancelled, I can only say that I hope you got yours upgraded before it was cancelled ;) Hell, I got a free jacket out of it.

To those on the fence, my advice is this: there's nothing on the horizon with the feature set/price point offered by the Sovereign line, and that's especially true from Jamal, who's selling them cheap. If you're already in the changer camp, and if you think you can go back to something less than the Entre/DV-5900/DV-5050, then just unplug your Entre for one day, and you may rush to eBay, shouting for Jamal.

Of course, there's always laser discs . . .

Nick :cool:

Originally posted by slocko
<snip>I think I will finish my HTPC when Scott finishes his theater :D Depends on what "finish" means ;) . I have my floor done as you can see from this link in one of my post in the HT building forum (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=3281260&fullpage=1) (ignore the words).

Black Level Musings

I have never used the progressive scan capability on any of my changers, since I already had a Faroudja NRS in place with my prior changers. That particular model was the 720p, so there would be no point in using the 480p output resolution offered by either the DV-5900M or DV-5050M, both of which are in my system.

Nonetheless, I made certain internal settings on the players, including setting each player to 0 IRE black level, as it seemed to me to give the picture more "punch." However, a recent experience suggests that this may not be the way to go.

I replaced the Faroudja 720p NRS with the newer model, the DVP-1000 NRS, the principal difference being that the newer version offered alternative output resolutions that might be attractive (960p and 1080p, primarily). That required setting new convergence memories in my CRT projector, something I don't trust myself to do. Video Guru Chuck Williams was doing a NE Ohio "tour" for calibration and ISF'ing, and what have you, so Chuck was out to do the projector tweaking.

Chuck makes extensive use of the AVIA disc, and, in one of its advanced test patterns (I think it was the pluge or blacker-than-black test), noticed that some of the blacks were getting "crushed" by the players settings--as evidenced by the fact that the rectangular black bar, which moves horizontally across the screen against a black background (and requires adjustment from that point) could not be detected at all. I reminded Chuck that the player was set at 0 IRE, not the 7.5 default IRE (and he agreed that 0 IRE "should" be the setting), so we changed it and . . . there was the black bar. From that point, Chuck could set black levels appropriately.

Although the processor or even the projector could have had some responsibility in this regard, I wonder how many have checked their black levels using the AVIA disc? Anything similar to what we found a few weeks ago. PQ is still great, but the settings are different than they'd ever been.


Second Disc Musings

Although it may seem as if I should be the last person to be talking about available disc space, the reality is that I'm about 350 discs away from needing to start a fourth changer (and a third Entre), unless I want to use the Escient and the Sony player, which are already hooked up. But that raises the question: Those "bonus" discs that come with so many movies today--how many of you load them. Other than The Godfather with its deleted scenes, and a few others, I usually leave the bonus discs in the jackets.

I'm generally not interested in more than the movie. I suppose if I like the flick well enough, and want to get "behind" it to see "the making of," or whatever else might get bonused, I'd put the disc in. Otherwise, other than a choice few, the bonus discs remain in the jackets.

Nick :cool:

Originally posted by Nick Satullo
<snip>Second Disc Musings

Although it may seem as if I should be the last person to be talking about available disc space, the reality is that I'm about 350 discs away from needing to start a fourth changer (and a third Entre), unless I want to use the Escient and the Sony player, which are already hooked up. But that raises the question: Those "bonus" discs that come with so many movies today--how many of you load them. Other than The Godfather with its deleted scenes, and a few others, I usually leave the bonus discs in the jackets.

I'm generally not interested in more than the movie. I suppose if I like the flick well enough, and want to get "behind" it to see "the making of," or whatever else might get bonused, I'd put the disc in. Otherwise, other than a choice few, the bonus discs remain in the jackets.

Nick :cool: I generally load them but I am generally picky about movies I buy (more so than my wife <grin>). I think you lose something after you watch the making of because you "see" the movie differently. i.e. less being lost in the movie and the reality of it. After watching a good movie a few times then I don't mind watching the making of or voice overs. Then I think it ADDs to the movie. i.e. I really like Dante's Peak (me being from a small town in MT). I thought the making of it was pretty cool. Shrek and Toy Story x were pretty cool to watch the making of...amazing amount of non-computer related work in those movies (story boarding, etc).

Once my HT is done I think I will be rewatching most of my movies then I can see watching more bonus disk.

I can see that after watching the bonus disc material, however, that those would be slots that could be then used if I were getting close to running out of space.

Originally posted by Nick Satullo
Nonetheless, I made certain internal settings on the players, including setting each player to 0 IRE black level, as it seemed to me to give the picture more "punch." However, a recent experience suggests that this may not be the way to go.
...

Chuck makes extensive use of the AVIA disc, and, in one of its advanced test patterns (I think it was the pluge or blacker-than-black test), noticed that some of the blacks were getting "crushed" by the players settings--as evidenced by the fact that the rectangular black bar, which moves horizontally across the screen against a black background (and requires adjustment from that point) could not be detected at all. I reminded Chuck that the player was set at 0 IRE, not the 7.5 default IRE (and he agreed that 0 IRE "should" be the setting), so we changed it and . . . there was the black bar. From that point, Chuck could set black levels appropriately.

Although the processor or even the projector could have had some responsibility in this regard, I wonder how many have checked their black levels using the AVIA disc? Anything similar to what we found a few weeks ago. PQ is still great, but the settings are different than they'd ever been. OK, here's the deal: the standard black level for monitors is 7.5 IRE. When setting black level on your monitor using a pluge and a signal source that uses the 7.5 IRE standard (the Video Standard laser disc, for example), the pluge displays a bar at 7.5 IRE and a bar at 0 IRE. You reduce your black levels so that the 7.5 IRE bar and the 0 IRE bar look the same. When you do this, you have set your monitor for maximum blackness because you've set it to the lowest black level that your monitor can display. In this setup, the 0 IRE bar isn't being output at 0 IRE but at 7.5 IRE because that it as low as your source component can go (i.e., 7.5 IRE represents maximum blackness and anything below 7.5 will get crushed). But if that's the way your monitor and source components are set up, you won't lose any detail in the blacks because the blackest black that your source can output will be displayed at 7.5 IRE on your monitor and all other luminance levels will go up from that base. In other words, you could imagine that you've created a 7.5 IRE offset.

DVD introduced a new capability which is to display blacks down to the absolute black limit of 0 IRE. It doesn't rally add any extra blackness, but simply removes the offset. Now the blackest black would be 0 IRE not 7.5 IRE. You haven't added any additional dynamic range, just changed the set-point. But for this to work, you need to have a monitor capable of going below 7.5 IRE. If your monitor can't do that then anything from 7.5 and under will be displayed at 7.5 IRE. This is what appears to be happening in your system. Note that you're not missing any detail in teh blacks, but it does mean that all luminance levels in your system have a linear boost, so that your blackest blacks are at the level that has been the standard for the bottom for 60 plus years instead of at a lower level. This is the same, in a way, as what you would get if you calibrated the volume levels on your MC-12 to 80 dB on the meter instead of 75. All the music that you listened to would have the same dynamic range, but would be 5 dB louder at any given dB number on the volume control.

Now where this is coming from in your system is something of a mystery. Did you ever set the black levels when you had the NRS? If you had and it could display 0 IRE then, then I'd suspect that the new processor was to blame. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that the DVP has a setting that controls this. It is also possible that your projector has a switch to set its maximum blackness from 7.5 IRE to 0 IRE. Either way, when properly calibrated at the correct level, your PQ should be equivalent (though at a different offset).

Originally posted by Nick Satullo
Although it may seem as if I should be the last person to be talking about available disc space, the reality is that I'm about 350 discs away from needing to start a fourth changer (and a third Entre), unless I want to use the Escient and the Sony player, which are already hooked up. But that raises the question: Those "bonus" discs that come with so many movies today--how many of you load them. Other than The Godfather with its deleted scenes, and a few others, I usually leave the bonus discs in the jackets.

I'm generally not interested in more than the movie. I suppose if I like the flick well enough, and want to get "behind" it to see "the making of," or whatever else might get bonused, I'd put the disc in. Otherwise, other than a choice few, the bonus discs remain in the jackets. I thought that this is why they invented the rental slots. :) In any event, that's how I use them. I am someone who is a huge fan of special features, but I almost never watch them more than once (unless I have guests who want to see them). So here's what I do: I put the movie disc in the changer and the supplement disc in the rental slot. Once I'm finished with the supplement disks, I take them out and put them on the shelf. The only exceptions to this in my unit are disk 1 of Shrek and Who Framed Roger Rabbit which have games and/or cartoons that my kids like ot see, the supplement disk of The Beatles Anthology and the supplement disks for the Lord of the Rings expanded editions (which are so huge I still haven't finished watching them).

BTW, I don't store my supplemental features in their cases. I put them in to sleeves from MM Design that can be found here (http://www.discsox.com) together with the booklets. I use these not only for the supplemental discs, but also for the booklets that come with single disc sets, so that I have a nice file of plastic protected booklets that I can pull out as needed if I want to browse it while watching the disc. My empty boxes are stashed in cartons in my basement. Of course, these discs do have the inserts that make the generic keep cases specific to the particular movie. MM actually recommends taking these out and puting them into the Disc Sox (see the explanation here (http://www.discsox.com/faq/faq_dvd.htm)) but I haven't done that ... yet. It is actually a good idea because if you separate all the specific components from the generic ones, then you can get rid of the generic ones and not have to store them. I do this with my CDs where I put all the components of the CD into a Disc Sox DJ sleeve and I toss or give away most of the empty jewel cases.

was working fine. now cant connect to i-radio and internet test fails on "test web connection to openglobe". am using a hpna adaptor with dynamic settings.

thanks,
anthony

I think Openglobe is down.

I had to do a restore on my Entre and I could not get connected this weekend to update the software back to the latest version.

UGH!!!!

here seems to be more anectodal evidence that the sovereign line has been retired:

http://snipurl.com/4j4o

the seller states it in the description:

The following system is new, never used, in two boxes, one boxed opened only to take measurement for rack shelves. This system is part of a canceled system, being offered here below our cost to those who want the ultimate music/DVD library system. Again, these components are brand new and never used. Below you will find an in depth review of this system and it unparalleled video performance and navigational ability. Feel free to ask any questions you may have. Photos 2-5 are related to the text for the review.

Originally posted by slocko
<snip>This system is part of a canceled system, being offered here below our cost to those who want the ultimate music/DVD library system. <snip> Link doesn't work. Just because you read it on e-bay doesn't mean it is true for goodness sakes alive! Besides that probably just Nick making some extra cash :D

the lack of communication from Kenwood was never a good sign. they probably have been planning to kill it for a long time and only Nick's threat made them keep it alive until the upgrade could be implemented.

i'm sure an announcement that it was cancelled would have prompted Nick to proceed forward immediately.

found this on kenwood's website:

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/product/product.jsp?productTypeId=147&sortBy=price&productId=2357

MOVIEDB DVD-VIDEO MOVIE RECOGNITION FEATURES
- Available DVD Titles: 6,500+
- Downloadable Chapter Title Information
- Downloadable Genre, Rating, Cover Art Information

Is it possible that this thing can display chapter information but that it's turned off in the software? Jose or Fred?

i updated ebay link.

I think you are reading too much into the termed cancelled system. The seller is referring to his client having cancelled the contract to buy and install the it.

Originally posted by slocko
<snip>- Downloadable Chapter Title Information <snip> There you go again believing everything you read on the internet <hehehe>

In the DVD XML files there is title (chapter info) but it only contains frame information...which I find quite interesting. I do wonder what the XML files contain on the DVDM 100 (like Nick has <g>). Perhaps it is in their doc. Likely if it can do it then the Entre can. Seems like KW either had their hands tied by OG/Escients on what they could offer (i.e. crappy graphics) or did not have the developement time or resources. I read on the internet that they were going to add a LOT more features with the sovereign system but then got distracted with putting in support multi-changer support :eek: . Speaking of which...I have to go put that 2nd DV5900M in my rack...had to do some handy work on the rack and rearrange things. Those boys are a monster.

Example from a DVD XML file:

<title titlenum="1">
<name>Title 1</name>
<frames>71699</frames>
</title>
{snip}
<title titlenum="7">
<name>Title 7</name>
<frames>17405</frames>
</title>

Originally posted by rsatter
I think you are reading too much into the termed cancelled system. The seller is referring to his client having cancelled the contract to buy and install the it. We should see how many of us get the same answer: KW Sovereign: 1-800-536-9663, opt 1, then ext 8500. California time 10:30am - 6pm

hmmmmmmmmmm. i guess that is a possibility.

Originally posted by rsatter
I think you are reading too much into the termed cancelled system. The seller is referring to his client having cancelled the contract to buy and install the it.

As posted earlier I haven't used my Entre for 4 months so I haven't stayed current with the postings. I fixed my mp3s not playing problem. I had used the wrong input on receiver. Now I desperately want to make a backup copy of my mp3s but don't know how. Did anyone create a guide for this? If not could someone tell me how?

Also I just bought a multi-format 8x Sony dvd burner. Which format works best and do any not work at all on the 5900?

Rudmeister,

I have had much success with DVD+R's and DVDXCOPY Platinum. After backing-up most movies, the 5900 and Entre even recognize the back-up and downloads the info from openglobe... I have never tried DVD-R's. I did notice that my DVD writer seem to get better results burning at 4x speeds. When I use the unit to burn at 8x, with 8x certified media, I encounter errors 8 out of 10 times...... Good Luck!!!

Check This Out....Go to www.kenwoodusa.com and click on "Lounge" Check out the second entry about the sovetreign line.... LOOK AT THE DATE!

Originally posted by DannyFresh
Check This Out....Go to www.kenwoodusa.com and click on "Lounge" Check out the second entry about the sovereign line.... LOOK AT THE DATE!

Gasp! My pills . . . where are they . . . could it be that Kenwood is actually saying something different in print than it has otherwise represented, or is belied by its actions?

Not Kenwood. They would never do such a thing.

Guys, there is no interpretation necessary. Call Kenwood and ask if the Entre and the DV-5900 and the DV-5050 are discontinued. They will say yes.

Then, just look at the websites of any of the authorized dealers to see if anyone's got Sovereign products in stock. While I think Vanns still has some Axcess units, I can't find anyone that's got others (you've got to love Jamal . . . all new stock, all V.3).

The only questions are (a) will Kenwood follow up with a new "Sovereign" line (maybe . . . the guy at CES said he thought they would, and even with a universal changer . . . but these things are not meant to be secrets, so his info was dubious at best); and (b) will Kenwood continue to "support" the Sovereign line--they will say, "yes, absolutely, we will support it."

They just don't say what they mean by "support."

Read back to the beginning of this thread at some of the discussion that ensued over what was being printed on Kenwood's website, and what was actually occurring in the real world.

Kenwood will do what makes financial sense for them to do. If their experience has been that this market (the Controller/Changer Market) is not something that is worth their while, well, plan accordingly if you like the scheme too much to want to go back to a Home Theater setup without the Entre and the changers.

The reality is that only Sony and Pioneer keep making the changers. The new Sony is a slight improvement over what they've fed us for the last three years, but primarily because of its ability to get hitched to an Escient. Speaking from the experience of owning both setups, the Escient/Sony combo is a step down from what we've experienced with Kenwood. But I'm not seeing any rescue ships on the horizon.

Nick :cool:

Slocko, the new addition to the family is doing fine. However, mother and father are suffering from sleep deprivation. Maybe I can slip another 5900m into the house now and just tell her she is hallucinating.

Nick, yes, I of course took advantage of the very nice "free" offer from Kenwood to upgrade to v.3. However, I am really pissed off that I never got a jacket too.

Glad to see that the residual effects of replicating are proceeding as normal :D

If that is what you have to do to get a new 5900...well a man got to do what a man got to do!

Originally posted by ScottF200
<snip>Speaking of which...I have to go put that 2nd DV5900M in my rack...had to do some handy work on the rack and rearrange things. Those boys are a monster.<snip> I have the 2nd DV5900M installed successfully. I mentioned this to my son and he said what is the big deal, it is the same thing isn't it. To which I replied yes but the point is with the Entre interface it "appears" to the user that you only have one (1) 800 disc DVD changer...that is transparent as far as seeing what movies you have and selecting them.

This wasn't without a "scare" however. Initially I put in an audio CD and played it successfully. After that it was acting strange. It was more or less unresponsive and the door would studder as it opened (1" at a time). Jamal has a 30 day policy so I thought I better check this out pronto.

I decided to initialize it.

- On the front panel hold USER button while pushing the front panels power button. "INITIALIZE OK".

Good. Next try the one that sets it back to "factory" defaults (QA testing).

- On the front panel hold LIBRARY button (far right area) while pushing the front panels power button. Pause..."MECHA ERR 13".

Doh! Remove cover. Try both again. Both work. Put cover back on but keep screws on the side a bit loose (back off 3/4 turn). Put back in cabinet. Same goofy strange result. Remove from cabinet and remove cover. Try both again. Both work. Argh. Put cover back on but only put back top 3 screws in rear of unit. Sides were bowed out about 1/8" or so. Test both while on counter. OK both work. Put back in cabinet.

Move 2 or 3 disc at a time from changer 1 and put in changer 2. That is let Entre remove them from changer 1 before closing the door on changer 2...letting the Entre "find" them again. Did this for 10ish disc. All seems to be OK.

Perhaps this will help someone searching for MECHA ERR 13.

P.S. Also I put remaining screws in plastic bag and tape to back of changer 2. Then run a piece of black electrical tape on the underside of the side edge where there is the 1/8" gap. Lessen change of dust bunnies getting in.