Patriot Box Office 1080P High Definition Media Player PCMPBO25 - Page 6

Here's a few things i would recommend you try..

1) unplug the wifi adapter, and connect to your PC and notebook to see if a connection can be established.
2) if works, try plug the wifi adapter to the front end of the unit, and connect that again.
3) if failed, try reboot the device and see if the wifi connection can be established.

Tried all your suggestions and still no go. The adapter connected fine using a laptop. I have power cycled the unit and router numerous times using 2 different wifi adapters and both usb ports.

How far is your BO from your router? Mine will not pick up any SSID if I'm not fairly close, yet my PC with a Belkin G adapter, or my lappy with built in wifi both show very strong signals. Of course the BO shows a great signal when I tried it out since its only 4' away.

I've been monitoring this thread with great interest. Here is my report:

1) Video/Audio: it plays all formats I throwed in, MKV/RMVB/MPEG-4/FLV. Audio to LCD TV works well (HDMI LPCM output). I had one time issue that Preview played video, but full screen (normal play) had black screen. Pressed several buttons on remote in panic and it came through. Subtitle works great - font size/color/position flexible.

2) Fan noise: I didn't notice it at first night. But slowly I can hear the difference, particularly at night. If you turn volume up, the spinning fan noise can covered. But it is unpleasant at least. As a solution, I removed the cover and took the module out, and then disconnected the fan.

The fan covers an area with capacitors (power?), not over chip (it has heatsink). A little wired.

3) Network: does not work. I have un-broadcast SSID so PBO can not detect it. It does not allow me to input SSID and password. Consider it a bug in firmware.

4) UI and Firmware: UI is simple for normal use. Maybe the network part will be tough. No version indication on firmware. Consider a bug too.

Questions to Patriot Box Off:
I plan to use 3.5" HDD. I expose the board outside the cover to get air flow. Can the internal SATA connector have enough power to drive 3.5" HDD? Can I further disconnect the fan with 3.5" HDD attached?

It does pick up my SSID with good signal, it just does not connect. It makes no difference if I place it right next to the router. I even tried to reset to factory settings on the router with no security and still no connection.

I saw posted before from a Patriot person the following:

2) Does it support Blu Ray/ HD DVD ISO & menu?
Not the current firmware, BUT there will be a new firmware release at end of November which will.

Does this mean that it will support the full menus for Bluray ISOs?

I disconnected the fan, put in a 2.5" WD320GB drive with a screw (took it from another USB drive since the screws came with the box did not match), sit it vertical to improve natural circulation and the set up works well. Copied from my USB drive directly to the internal WD drive and played AVI files well without any heat issues with room temperature around 65 degree F. The casing did not warm up at all during copying and playing. The fan inside is really redundant if it plays well with HD materials at summer conditions.

Nice review on the Patriot Box off posted here with pictures of the OS and PCB.

Anyone know if the PCMPBO25 will downconvert DTS to stereo if it's simply connected to a TV via HDMI without a amp/decoder, etc? I currently have the Egreat M34a and that downconvert feature is very convenient as it's a very simple setup- media player & TV no other components needed.
For a bedroom- I'd like to simply connect the PCMPBO25 to a modern LCD TV via HDMI and still get (downconverted to stereo) from DTS MKV's etc over the TV's speakers.
Thanks,
Rob

Yes it will downconvert with a simple change in the audio settings.

Have been testing mine the last few days. Absolutely love the thing already. I am only using it to play DVD .iso rips, which it does so beautifully. Highly worth the $100.

Thanks for the quick reply Lewis!
That's good news for those of us that like to keep it simple

woot.. got it last week.. but was too busy to play with it. Had it setup last night.. took about a couple mins. Included HDMI cable was a nice bonus, didn't have any extra laying around. The wifi adapter seems too big to fit in the back, it dosn't go all the way in, but okay in the front. Had it setup on homenetwork. Playback on 720 over wifi wasokay, 1080P movies stopped a couple places but over all wasn't too bad. I have it hooked up to a land line, so works great after that.

played almost every files i had, BluRay MKV, divix, ISO, MPEG, mov .. no issues at all. The fan wasn't too loud at all, can't hear it from 5ft away. Have not tried BT yet.. gonna test it tonight.

This procedure works with my Vista Premium 64.

Now,
1) anyone find the date set in "system" is not retained and
2) the WAP will not retain the wireless key I put in is not memorized.

Anyone find similar problems?

I am glad to see that some official responds are happening here
Now I have gone through several Media players and have a few questions concerning annoyances I have been dealing with so far with devices I have tried:

To Patriot Box Offi and any current owners:
1. how responsive is the GUI? like scrolling through pages of of files, moving up and down folder levels etc. based on some feedback GUI seems to be the same as Asus O Play so can I assume it is the same performance? (I can find youtube reviews of the GUI for that)
2. I read and am glad to see that the preview can be disabled, but is there an option (or coming in the near future) to increase the number of files it can display each page? 6 is really too little and if running 1080P the option of a larger list would be great
3. can one scroll through lines of files but also by pages as well when dealing with the list? I do not see page up/down buttons on the remote but I hope the prev/next button performs this function?
4. I hope the file list is sorted by alphabet maybe even optionally by date (can you believe it my current player does it totally random?? seriously!!!!)
5. will sub-folders be sorted to the top of the list or treated equally with the files?
6. since the BO has a build-in webserver, would there be any chance that one could remotely create and update a playlist via a webinterface? (That would allow me to finally create an affordable Karaoke solution )
7. does the audio settings allow selection of left or right channels to be spanned over both channels for dual channel videos or karaoke?
8. what is the fastest fast forward speed (mine is a ridiculous 16x only!)
9. is there a bookmarking/resume function? will it be retained after going into sleep mode and a hard power off?
10. I assume the BO can be put into a sleep mode when using the remote power off button... will it also power down the USB ports for attached ext HDDs
11. is there an eject function for ext HDD so I can swap them without powering down the unit and fear of killing my drives?
12. since the GUI is possibly the same as the Asus O Play, can I assume that the GUI is provided by a third party? Do you (or us) have any means to influence their upcoming design and feature set?
13. are there any intentions to open up the platform to allow opensource projects for at least the GUI level? This will drive the demand up significantly and give your box a huge advantage!

Sorry for the long list but I hope I am not the only to benefit from the info

Actually if some of the new owners can ask some of the questions that be great.

i recently purchased one of these units and have found that it only plays ~70% of my x264 encoded files...on various MKV movies, i can view the preview fine, but when I try to play it, the screen just goes black and I have to power down the unit and power it back up to get it working again. This has happened with 1080p video AND 720p and has also happened with movies with DTS encoded audio and AC3...so there is no noticeable pattern. i have even stripped out everything from the MKV, only leaving the audio + video and English subs and the same thing happens.

any ideas?

two promises for firmware updates and very prompt and thorough reply on all the questions posted here ..!
This was enough for me to pull the trigger (5 minutes ago), can't wait to get my new Box Office ..

Thanks OP ..

Got my box today, and hope someone could answer my questions:

1. Do I need to install the software on the CD to browse the files on my PC? I was able to connect to my wifi (if the SSID is not hidden), but see nothing under the "NET". My other computers has no problem seeing the shared folders on my main PC over my wifi.

2. I have WEP for my wifi, and it seems I could only input the key in the Hex format? Is it possible for me to input the key as ASCII format?

Thanks ahead.

Hi,
Does anyone know if this is DLNA compliant to allow it to be used with the PlayOn media server (I use this with a WDTV Live for streaming Netflix and Hulu).

Thanks!

yeah same as the asus.. think all use RLTK stuff


there is an option you can disable preview. Although I kinda like it .


i tried using fast foward button and it works as page up and down, and if you go up instead of go down, it'll go to the last file in the folder.



wow.. you serious! haha that's painful .. yeah it's Alphabetical. I don't think there is any other way to sort it.


yeah folders on the top then files


dont' think it's possible out of the box.. but i think i saw a workaround to load playlist.


don't think it split this way.. unless you use your TV and move to all left audio .


32x.. there is a goto function you can input time and it will go straight to that part.


yes.. it will go back to where you stopped the movie.



yeah works so far for me.


don't think so.....


they mentioned some where got a new firmware coming.. not sure if they had done any thing on the design of it.. it's pretty simple now.. but that's about it.


diddo on that...

Simple question, but haven't been able to find the answer. When viewing photos, can you rotate the image with the remote, or does the photo need to be rotated on a pc before being played on this?

Thanks replay5040 for the detailed reply

I dun mind the preview but I prefer having a larger list to show more content as my folders at times have hundreds of clips and I already sort them into sub folders. I am glad to see that it allow to jump to a set time as that will be even easier though sometimes it's great to have a fast forward function that can go to 120x (e.g. on the PS3). As for Channel selection I currently use my amp to do it but it's hidden so deep I don't think she will ever figure out how to do it so I remain the dedicated DJ for her :P

Just realized I can "Push" data on to the hard drive installed on the Patriot from computers on the network. This is pretty nice for those of us who want to save files directly to the player on your network. (Would love to have a Gigabit Ethernet for this!)

i just got my Box Office yesterday and after half a day of playing with it, i'm not too happy with it.

fan is noisy:
similar to others, the hum from fan is easily audible 10-12 ft away and is somewhat annoying. what i found helped was to sandwich it under my A/V switch to stop/reduce the vibrations from the fan, but the hum is still annoying.

mkv's not playing:
also, similar to others whom have mentioned that the preview works, but the screen turns dark after it is played. i tried the mashing of buttons as mentioned by another member, but to no avail.

external dvd drive not found:
plugged in my Samsung SE-S084C and it was not found

gui / device is VERY slow:
very often it freezes momentarily when switching between menus (without video previews), and it's worst than waiting for my windows mobile phone to load programs.
this is what killed it for me, the slow response/freezing is just not tolerable.

otherwise, it works ok playing videos and music.
i had so much hope for this player too, with rmvb support, internal hd, and dvd menus. i hope some of my issues can be slowly be fixed with upcoming firmware updates.

My PBO has the similar problem. The unit crashes (or returns to the main menu after several 10 or 20 seconds) whenever playing certain contents via UPnP. It actually crashes when the browser highlights those contents. But all contents are played just fine if I put them onto the internal HDD. Those contents are 1080p MPEG-2 or H.264 contents with multiple audio codecs (e.g. DTS and AC3) in either mkv or ts container format. I also found that all the contents I recorded from broadcast streams (i.e. 1080i MPEG-2 with AC3 in ts container) are all fine no mater how they are played.

I didn't see the problem when I play those contents using other media players such as CinemaTube and Elektron EHP-606.

Did you use UPnP when you played those contents without any problem?

didn't use UPNP.. it's on my dlink 323, just browsed over through network. so far no playback issues. I'll try UPNP when i get home tongiht.

from what you said, it PLAYS on internal HDD? but not via streaming? that's weird....so the unit plays then?

The problem occurs only when streaming certain contents through UPnP. So it is either a bug in UPnP code, or that part of firmware in my PBO is corrupted. Does any one know where to get the current firmware and how to install it in PBO?

I have a few video clips that can not be played:

1. Video: Windows Media Video V8; Audio: Windows Media Audio 9, 64 kbps, 44 kHz, stereo (A/V) 1-pass CBR

2. Video: Microsoft MPEG-4 Video Codec V2; Audio: MPEG Layer-3, 40 kBit/s, 24,000 Hz, Stereo

3. 3GPP - this is a mobilde phone video format. I understand it is rare.

All these clips can be played on PC with Windows or VLC media player. PBO lacks certain codecs.

I can logon to Vista 64 machine OK with below steps but I cannot logon to Windows 7 machine to play the shared Library. I don't know how to edit Registry as outline below. Can someone help?

Freakfreak,
just purchased a Box Office. some answers to you:


I'm browsing media files stored on an internal HDD: I would say it responsive enough not to be a problem. The other thing I've noticed is interface response to be slightly slower when 'Russian' is selected as the interface language.


Don't see such option anywhere in the menu to configure. Would be nice to have it.

From the Remote Control:
- UP/DOWN keys - scroll list by one line
- NEXT/PREV keys - scroll through list by pages
- RETURN key - go one level up in the folders tree
- ENTER key - enter the selected Folder
- BROWSER key - jump to browser selection menu to choose from HDD, USB, NET, UPNP devices or PLAYLIST
- COPY key - jump to File Copy menu


Yes, files sorted alphabetically (A-Z, no other options)


Folders (A-Z) always sorted to the top of the list


The browser interface is to control only the P2P torrent that is built-in (you can access it by typing an IP address).
There is also some way to manage playlists using the remote ctrl, but I never tried to.


I believe there is no such option, but you can check the manual available on the manufacturer's web site (the manual does not provide a lot of information, but all available audio options are covered there)


fastest Fast Forward = 32X


Yes, yes, and I love it. The resume works with zero efforts required from you. The play position is retained after the power physically switched off on the back panel of the Box Office. When playing the movie next time, the Box Office will ask if you want to resume.


PWR button on the remote results "Services shutting down..." message on the TV and BO turned off few seconds after. Both, the internal, and attached USB HDDs are turned off. I just tested it.


Good question. The "eject" key on the remote control does not seem to do anything.
I just tested my PBO with external HD attached to the front USB connector. The is no definite information on this. As far as I know the USB is designed w/hot swap in mind. Just unplugging alone the USB HD will never kill it. There are some rare cases where you may end up loosing some data (1st case - when write cash is used by software, 2nd- if you pull the USB during that exact moment when it writes data. Modern file systems are journaled - meaning fewer data loss cases, and higher integrity of the data structure.

Thanks for asking. It would be nice to have an "eject" button on the remote control to be utilized and actually power down the external HD - for user's peace of mind.


I'm not familiar with Asus O Play. I actually don't know.


Agree this would guarantee wider customer acceptance in the market.
+1 vote

There is some interesting info:
the internal HD formatted by my Box Office has three partitions on it:
- "disk2s2" (recognized as Linux Swap) - hidden from user
- "disk2s3" (Linux partition) - hidden from user
- "Partition1" (NTFS) - yours to store all media files.
I assume that Box Office runs Linux inside and there should be enough developers capable to do many more interesting things with it.

Freakbreak,
thanks for your list of questions. It actually helped me to learn my PBO which I just recently purchased.