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Boxee Box Owner's Thread - Reviews, tips, tricks, bugs and feature requests - Page 220

post #6571 of 9557
4/27/11 at 9:27am
I have a new question about wireless performance. Up until now I have been using the RJ-45 port in the back of my Uverse STB to get an internet signal, that goes to a simple router, and gets a signal to all of my components in the living room, including the Boxee. I honestly have no idea what the speed of this connection is, but it seemed to be better than the previously used Wireless G. I have tried to stream the birds files to my Boxee, and even the Birds50.mkv file stuttered substantially.

Anyhow, I'm considering switching back to Comcast for my TV and internet, which will basically force me to go back to wireless with the Boxee and my PS3 and such. I do understand that I can get a free Wireless-N router from Comcast. My Father in Law has this, and I was actually kind of impressed at the speeds I was getting at his house. The router would be VERY close and on the same level as the Boxee, just 2 rooms away with no walls in between.

Any ideas on whether this will be adequate? I do NOT stream BD content, only DVD rips and the occasional 720p video.
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post #6572 of 9557
4/27/11 at 9:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post


it's free for 30 days. It's not freeware anymore, trust me.

Isn't it free for DVDs, but BD costs you $50?
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post #6573 of 9557
4/27/11 at 9:28am
I would say you will be fine, as long as there isn't a TON of space between - N is notably faster but also weaker in signal than G.
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post #6574 of 9557
4/27/11 at 9:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post

it's free for 30 days. It's not freeware anymore, trust me.

Still free, you just have to re enter the code after the 30 days. This applies until they move out of beta

http://www.makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1053
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post #6575 of 9557
4/27/11 at 9:29am
My guess is it's about 18 feet of distance, with no solid walls in between.
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post #6576 of 9557
4/27/11 at 9:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by met_fan View Post

Isn't it free for DVDs, but BD costs you $50?

he asked about BD, but I still believe there is no differentiation between the two. It's one program, it doesn't discriminate. www.makemkv.com/faq
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post #6577 of 9557
4/27/11 at 9:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dbone1026 View Post

Still free, you just have to re enter the code after the 30 days. This applies until they move out of beta

http://www.makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1053

ah, neat. didn't know about that.
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post #6578 of 9557
4/27/11 at 9:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post

it's free for 30 days. It's not freeware anymore, trust me.

As Damian said, it's still free on a month to month basis. When the beta key expires, goto the forum to get the new key for that month. Of course, one of these days he will stop giving out the keys and start charging... but not yet.

BTW, it IS free for DVDs and will remain so, even after he starts charging for BluRay support.
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post #6579 of 9557
4/27/11 at 9:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck_IV View Post

As Damian said, it's still free on a month to month basis. When the beta key expires, goto the forum to get the new key for that month. Of course, one of these days he will stop giving out the keys and start charging... but not yet.

BTW, it IS free for DVDs and remain so, even after he starts charging for BluRay support.

gotcha. it doesn't seem to promote that fact well in the program. Just says "your trial period is up in X days"
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post #6580 of 9557
4/27/11 at 9:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post


he asked about BD, but I still believe there is no differentiation between the two. It's one program, it doesn't discriminate. www.makemkv.com/faq

Maybe so, but it stopped ripping blu-rays for me after the 30 days and a grace period of I don't know how long.
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post #6581 of 9557
4/27/11 at 9:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by met_fan View Post

Maybe so, but it stopped ripping blu-rays for me after the 30 days and a grace period of I don't know how long.

still rips DVDs though?

either way, look up and go to that link for the current beta key.
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post #6582 of 9557
4/27/11 at 10:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trebby View Post

And if anybody could recommend a good tool for ripping BD-discs I would appreciate this too.

Here are some useful links and I have used these software's with great success on Boxee Box and other media players: How to Convert Blu-ray to MKV

If you want to convert blu-ray m2ts file to smaller mkv file, I am recomending these freeware's: RipBot264 and HandBrake and HandBrake has the upper hand over RipBot264. RipBot264 is the easiest for a beginner.

For more complex blu-ray movie (especial movie with multiple m2ts files for main movie), I used BDInfo to compile MPLS files.
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post #6583 of 9557
4/27/11 at 10:04am
the only issue I've run into with MakeMKV is sometimes there are 2-3 tracks with the same size and number of chapters. Everything is seemingly the same, so I just pick one and hope it's fine. Has always been fine, but I wonder why that happens.
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post #6584 of 9557
4/27/11 at 10:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post


still rips DVDs though?

either way, look up and go to that link for the current beta key.

Already made the purchase, but yes, it continued working for DVDs before I bought it. It's possible I bought before it stopped working for BDs because of the message, but I think what ultimately prompted me to buy it was it not letting me do a BD. Oh well
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post #6585 of 9557
4/27/11 at 10:25am
oh well. You'll always have access, and it's a great program. I can rip a 35GB file on my firewire BD burner (12X) in under 20 minutes.
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post #6586 of 9557
4/27/11 at 10:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post

the only issue I've run into with MakeMKV is sometimes there are 2-3 tracks with the same size and number of chapters. Everything is seemingly the same, so I just pick one and hope it's fine. Has always been fine, but I wonder why that happens.

Some are 4:3 versions for DVDs. I've been burnt by that before, easy fix though to re-rip. Annoying though if I don't check afterwards.
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post #6587 of 9557
4/27/11 at 11:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post

the only issue I've run into with MakeMKV is sometimes there are 2-3 tracks with the same size and number of chapters. Everything is seemingly the same, so I just pick one and hope it's fine. Has always been fine, but I wonder why that happens.

More likely a seamless branch disc with multiple versions. Toy Story 3 is a perfect example. There are 3 main movie playlists, all identical except for the language (not the actual spoken language but the language such as shown in the opening credits). That is my check, get to the opening credits and you will know. I got lazy with Toy Story 2, my son hasn't asked yet why the credits are in French!
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post #6588 of 9557
4/27/11 at 11:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Irishdoom View Post

My guess is it's about 18 feet of distance, with no solid walls in between.

As long as you set the channel width to 40MHz and use WPA2 encryption you should be fine. But if you have a wireless g device accessing your router you will not get wifi n speeds.
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post #6589 of 9557
4/27/11 at 11:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post

the only issue I've run into with MakeMKV is sometimes there are 2-3 tracks with the same size and number of chapters. Everything is seemingly the same, so I just pick one and hope it's fine. Has always been fine, but I wonder why that happens.

That is nothing compare to Death Race 2. The main movie contained several m2ts files, and it is not in numerical order either.
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post #6590 of 9557
4/27/11 at 11:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by new04quest View Post

That is nothing compare to Death Race 2. The main movie contained several m2ts files, and it is not in numerical order either.

This shouldn't be an issue as most ripping programs will look at the playlist, not the number of m2ts files
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post #6591 of 9557
4/27/11 at 11:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dbone1026 View Post

More likely a seamless branch disc with multiple versions. Toy Story 3 is a perfect example. There are 3 main movie playlists, all identical except for the language (not the actual spoken language but the language such as shown in the opening credits). That is my check, get to the opening credits and you will know. I got lazy with Toy Story 2, my son hasn't asked yet why the credits are in French!

that's kinda what I gather, but if they're all say 25.6GB, then how would you know without ripping?

Also in RE: to the "DVD version" reply - it wouldn't be the same size
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post #6592 of 9557
4/27/11 at 11:44am
I received my boxee box a few weeks ago and just wanted to comment on how much I am enjoying it. My use is really more for local content with BD rips in MKV format. Right now I store everything on a desktop PC with an internal 2 TB drive, and then stream (hardwired) to the boxee. The NAS will be a future purchase, but right now I'm just going the cheap route to get a feeling for this.

I do experience the occasional audio dropout with the HD audio tracks - it's only a split second, but it is distracting. They aren't too frequent - I think I experienced maybe half a dozen while watching Avatar the other night. And to the poster above who was concerned about Avatar specifically, there were no stutters or anything during playback. Everything played smoothly.

A few minor issues/annoyances - 1. sometimes while watching a movie the sound will go out completely on an HD audio track. My receiver shows it's not receiving a signal. If I hit the left arrow to skip back in the movie it will come back on and play fine. This has happened a few times during Braveheart, and once during another movie (can't recall which one it was). Could be the mkv's and I will likely just re-rip them, although as I said skipping back in time seems to solve this. It's distracting and a little annoying, but has only happened a few times.

2. the remote has that cool factor with the keyboard on the back, but I own a Harmony One and would love to have IR control over the boxee. It's annoying to be back to multiple remotes to operate everything. My wife has commented on this too, and immediately felt intimidated when she saw me with a remote in each hand. There is a boxee remote thread where people are experimenting with usb IR sensors, but I don't see where anyone has come across something that works 100% yet. Is there an IR solution for the boxee yet?

3. The UI is decent enough, but when I see screenshots of YAMJ (with the various skins) and other programs with all of that extra movie art and info it leaves me wanting more from the boxee. I'd love some of that extra pop to the appearance of the UI. I thought there was some initial talk from boxee about letting users customize or skin the UI, but maybe I'm confusing it with another media player out there. Has anyone heard anything from boxee about the possibility of this?

All in all I'm really enjoying the boxee - these are just minor annoyances. It's really cool to be able to just browse through your movie collection so quickly, and then pop over to netflix if I want to. I give it a big thumbs-up.
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post #6593 of 9557
4/27/11 at 11:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by new04quest View Post

That is nothing compare to Death Race 2. The main movie contained several m2ts files, and it is not in numerical order either.

I think that's the movie telling you that you shouldn't bother watching it
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post #6594 of 9557
4/27/11 at 11:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post

that's kinda what I gather, but if they're all say 25.6GB, then how would you know without ripping?

Unfortunately trial and error. I would rip and then once down immediately open up the mkv and look for any signs (i.e. opening credits or other) to confirm if I had grabbed the correct version
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post #6595 of 9557
4/27/11 at 11:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post


that's kinda what I gather, but if they're all say 25.6GB, then how would you know without ripping?

Also in RE: to the "DVD version" reply - it wouldn't be the same size

I've had pretty good luck just using the first one.
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post #6596 of 9557
4/27/11 at 1:53pm
appreciate all the helpful answers ! ordered my boxee box a couple hours ago, just shipped and expected tomorrow morning yeeha :-)
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post #6597 of 9557
4/27/11 at 2:04pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post

gotcha. it doesn't seem to promote that fact well in the program. Just says "your trial period is up in X days"

I agree, when my trial expired I could not find a new beta key so I just registered it.

I would feel better paying for it if he would fix basic things like setting the forced flag on for forced subtitles, etc.
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post #6598 of 9557
4/27/11 at 2:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dbone1026 View Post

This shouldn't be an issue as most ripping programs will look at the playlist, not the number of m2ts files

I haven't find any video converter that can do this other than DVDFab8.
Please try to convert Death Race 2 from blu-ray to mkv file, please let me know what other video converter that can compile the correct m2ts main movie files to a single mkv.
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post #6599 of 9557
4/27/11 at 2:07pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by usace View Post

I received my boxee box a few weeks ago and just wanted to comment on how much I am enjoying it. My use is really more for local content with BD rips in MKV format. Right now I store everything on a desktop PC with an internal 2 TB drive, and then stream (hardwired) to the boxee. The NAS will be a future purchase, but right now I'm just going the cheap route to get a feeling for this.

I do experience the occasional audio dropout with the HD audio tracks - it's only a split second, but it is distracting. They aren't too frequent - I think I experienced maybe half a dozen while watching Avatar the other night. And to the poster above who was concerned about Avatar specifically, there were no stutters or anything during playback. Everything played smoothly.

A few minor issues/annoyances - 1. sometimes while watching a movie the sound will go out completely on an HD audio track. My receiver shows it's not receiving a signal. If I hit the left arrow to skip back in the movie it will come back on and play fine. This has happened a few times during Braveheart, and once during another movie (can't recall which one it was). Could be the mkv's and I will likely just re-rip them, although as I said skipping back in time seems to solve this. It's distracting and a little annoying, but has only happened a few times.

2. the remote has that cool factor with the keyboard on the back, but I own a Harmony One and would love to have IR control over the boxee. It's annoying to be back to multiple remotes to operate everything. My wife has commented on this too, and immediately felt intimidated when she saw me with a remote in each hand. There is a boxee remote thread where people are experimenting with usb IR sensors, but I don't see where anyone has come across something that works 100% yet. Is there an IR solution for the boxee yet?

3. The UI is decent enough, but when I see screenshots of YAMJ (with the various skins) and other programs with all of that extra movie art and info it leaves me wanting more from the boxee. I'd love some of that extra pop to the appearance of the UI. I thought there was some initial talk from boxee about letting users customize or skin the UI, but maybe I'm confusing it with another media player out there. Has anyone heard anything from boxee about the possibility of this?

All in all I'm really enjoying the boxee - these are just minor annoyances. It's really cool to be able to just browse through your movie collection so quickly, and then pop over to netflix if I want to. I give it a big thumbs-up.

1. HD audio dropouts are annoying everyone. Hopefully they can fix this.

2. USB IR support as far as enhanced key-mapping, etc, is pushed out to 1.1.1.

3. I think the chances of Boxee allowing users to customize or skin the interface, or for it to take advantage of fan-artwork, etc, are precisely zero. The UI seems to be a branding thing that they are reluctant to screw with. The official request for UI enhancements and customization is "deferred" and not closed, which means they could revisit this in a future version like 1.2, 2.x, etc.
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post #6600 of 9557
4/27/11 at 2:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post

I think that's the movie telling you that you shouldn't bother watching it

I'm not a fan of Death Race 2 either, but I helped a friend to backup his blu-ray disc to mkv file. It is a pain to backup this movie. It's not just this movie that has multiple m2ts files for main movie this way. There are some other blu-ray movies that have very similar m2ts files in a single movie.
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