Argosy HV335T - Anyone know anything? - Page 11

I asked Argosy Support about the HV359T and if they would produce a model with an ATSC tuner for the USA and other countries that use that TV system. Here's the reply they sent, with my inquiry below it:
 

Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 9:02 PM
Subject: Argosy HV359T with ATSC Tuners in USA?

Argosy Support:

I've found an Argosy website for Europe in English that describes the HV339T as having a DVB-T twin tuner module, with timed recording and a program guide. I found a reference that said you might be working on an ATSC tuner version for the USA and other countries that use this HDTV system. Is this true and if so, what can we expect and when and what would its suggested retail price be?

Regards,
Steve McDonald

Edited by Steve McD - 6/21/12 at 1:18am

Why are some mkv's playing with bad pixelation?
Yet when they are put through mkv2vob, they are fine.
It's just not right!

HV339T not HV359T.
w w w .argosy.tw/product-detial.php?prod_id=171

"I will be a bit unhappy if I find that I bought something that will be obsolete in the near future."

Then you should buy no technology. By the time it is available for consumer purchase it is obsolete. Engineers are way ahead of the market.

Steve...

Looks like beta 1.35 is available for VR versions on Argosy's web site.

http://www.argosyusa.com/download.shtml?DefaultTab=0

I have one of the new 'VR' models I bought a couple weeks ago during the newegg sale.
Currently using firmware R1.1, which according to argosyusa.com is the "Same as V2.1c for HV335T VR".

I've been doing some research and wanted to try cross-flashing my HV335T with the A.C.Ryan PlayOn! firmware modded for the PBO that is supposed to work on the HV335T (playonx_r4824_rev4_pbo.zip found here: playon.unixstorm.org/installation.php).

I put the image on the root of my flash drive and told the box to update firmware, but it says "No image found". I've tried with the flash drive formatted in both Fat32 and NTFS; no go. I also tried official Argosy images for the non 'VR' unit, and it doesn't see those either. It does see the official Argosy images, specified for the 'VR' and installs no problem.

These new 'VR' boxes seem to have some kind of restriction built in (software or hardware, I don't know) and only will see the official 'VR' firmware images. Anyone else with a 'VR' unit care to confirm?

Any help finding a way around this limitation would much appreciated!

I had the exact same experience. A new firmware upgrade is scheduled to be available on April 22 for the VR model (Beta 1.35). We'll see how that works. Argosy says that NTFS is the format to use. It is very inconvenient for me that AVI video from DV recording is not supported for playback. I have to re-publish every one of them in MP4 and place them alongside in the HV335T VR, to have both the full 25 Mbps file to use as an editing source and another one that is playable in TV mode. I hope this is corrected with the next firmware.

Even with non VR models you had to go back to previous versions of the Argosy firmware before you could crossflash. Later versions prevented loading anything but Argosy firmware.

The logistics of crossflashing and then getting remote right, using programmable remote, etc., for the benefit of a different firmware made the value of crossflashing uncertain.

I noticed some of the sights with firmware to crossflash seem to be off line now as well.

This is true, but from what I have read, that previous version was V2.1c.
I am currently using firmware R1.1, which according to argosyusa.com is the "Same as V2.1c for HV335T VR".
It is evidently not EXACTLY the same

No they are not exactly the same. What you could possibly do is download 2.1C non VR firmware, flash that to your box first then crossflash to the other stuff from 2.1C. Of course messing around with firmware not intended for your specific box could cause problems so do it at your own risk

I think most posters just went over to the MPC Club forum as that other forum was getting full of spam.

Tried that. No go

I guess thats another difference. On my non VR unit, I flashed both R1.1 and B1.35 and was able to flash back to Argosy 2.1C with no problem. My USB stick was FAT 32 formatted BTW.

There are a couple of hardware tricks that can be used on the HV335T's to force firmware updates but you have to open up your box and do a little tinkering. And even then I'm not sure the same method would work on a VR unit.

Hi I am interested in this machine as well, but they didn't label the manual for this thing online, is the mms option available on the hv335t machine? Cause the manual is confused with the hv339t machine
Thanks
Ted

Does the HV335T operate as a network storage device, or is the network capability limited to streaming from other computers/devices? Can I copy/move files from my computer to the unit's internal hard drive as it it were a network storage drive, possibly even map the unit as a drive on my PC? Right now I'm using a WDTV with an external drive and it's become a huge pain because every time I add something to my PC I also have to add it manually to the WDTV's external drive.

I have a 2TB HDD on my PC that is full of movies, music, etc. and I would like to use a simple backup software like SyncBack to automatically update/mirror my PC's media drive to the HV335T's internal drive via my home network... so anything I add or delete from my PC's media drive is also done on the HV335T as well, as soon as the backup software does it's scheduled run. This would allow me to not have to leave my PC on full time for streaming purposes and also keep a backup of all my files, just in case.

Is this possible? If I have to move the HV335T to my PC and plug it in with the USB cable to change the content of the internal HDD it's not really any better than my WDTV. It would actually be worse since I would also have to grab the power supply for the unit instead of just taking a USB powered external drive to my PC.

The 335T appears as a normal network share. You can access it from any PC using UNC or map a drive letter. Also you can browse your PC network shares on your TV screen using the 335T. I don't know what you're getting at with the comments about backup. The 335T appears on the network just as if it were a PC, but AFAIK there is no "streaming" as you may be accustomed to with WMP.

Thanks, that's exactly what I was hoping for.

About the backup thing, basically I want to mirror the 2GB media drive on my PC to the Argosy's internal drive using an automated syncing/backup program... so the contents of both drives would always be identical. If I add/delete/move/rename a file on my PC's media drive, it would automatically get added/deleted/moved/renamed on the Argosy's drive when the backup software runs, so I only have to physically maintain a single drive.

Because right now using a WDTV box with an external drive, I always have to remember what I have added or deleted on my PC, then do it a second time on the external drive for the WDTV.

I must warn you though that network transfer is very s-l-o-w and you might be better off attaching the Argosy using the USB connection, which is about ten times faster. The network is okay for watching videos but file copies seem to take forever.

Well the speed thing is not an issue really, as I would set up the automated backup run at like 4:00 AM daily or something. Doesn't matter if it takes a long time if I'm sleeping. Obviously for the initial transfer of all the data on my PC's media drive I would go USB though, that's just common sense. But syncing a ~4GB file the the Argosy every few days, I don't really care if that takes some time.

I downloaded, unzipped and installed firmware upgrade B1.35 into my HV335T VR, using a USB flash drive. It went easily and it works. Now, I can play my MOV videos from a Canon SX1, but it still doesn't play DV-AVI videos. Also, I now have to do a two-part turn-off, using the remote and the front-panel button. Before, either would turn it off by itself. What else there is that's new from this upgrade, I have yet to discover. You can find this upgrade on Argosy's homepage under Support/Downloads. This is for VR models only, which have the "VR" added after the barcode on the ID sticker.

I'm waiting hopefully for Argosy to release a DVR version with dual ATSC tuners, like the model they sell in countries that use the DVB-T television system. I have a hunch this DVR would work a lot more dependably and be less expensive than the DISH/Channel Master ATSC HDD DVR.

was anyone able to get this working? custom firmware?

See my post above. The B1.35 firmware offered on the Argosy website is the only one you can use. Why would you want any other firmware?

i would like custom firmware because, like the name implies, its customizable! Has anyone worked with the GPL source?

w w w .argosy.tw/mana_php/prod/file/HV335T_GPL.zip

Hey everyone!

I would like to ask something to the owners of the HV335T:

Does anyone knows if Im going to be able to play full 3D Blu-Ray Isos to be able to play 3D movies on a Sony KDL-40NX711 3DTV?

Please let me know thats the only thing thats stopping me from buying it! thanks

As far as I understand they only released part of the source code of the firmware. The DVD player part of the firmware is where most of the magic happens and it is closed. Unless/until they release the full source code including DVD player source, what anyone could do with it will be limited.

I don't know if there are any boxes that will play full 3D Blu-ray ISOs right now. The Popcorn Hour A200, A210 and C200 are the only media players I know of that have some form of 3D support.

It's a shame that this box has problems playing mkv's due to pixelation issues.

Has anyone else here noticed?

I have played many mkv files and have not experienced any problems with play back.

Please can you download this sample file & let me know whether it has pixelation on your unit...as if it plays without pixelation it must be my unit is faulty.

Thanks very much


http://www.sendspace.com/file/eypgjt

or

http://www.mediafire.com/?6wp49lxd1ecind4

I downloaded the file and it played fine with no pixelation on my Argosy. Have you tried playing the clip off your computer hard drive to see if there is pixelation?