HiMedia HD900B Full 3D Media Streamer (Realtek 1186-based) - Page 50

I finally got an answer on the new remote from Himedia.

The HD900C has a new remote that allows you "learn" codes from other remotes so you can turn on your TV, change the input and control the TV volume from this remote. It has has numeric pad at bottom (much nicer than HD900B remote). I wonder if they will start offering this anytime soon with their other units.

Good news is the new firmware has stopped the stutter on my Andromeda Series in 2D--It was bad and now quite smooth and happy with that now
would be great if DUNE EXPLORER or a compatable jukebox to run on both my Dune and 900b
Well have been watching Andromeda the last 2 nights and the stuttering in 2D is definitely better but not as good as the dune plays it--bugga
Edited by denass - 7/24/12 at 10:32pm

Does anyone have issues playing 3d iso files in 2d? It seems to play them fine in 3d but if I put some in 2d such as Tangled the picture freezes at one spot every time. I can go right past it and continue on but it is annoying.

Does anybody have 2D 1080p BR .iso playback working over the network properly on this? I just replaced my PCH-A210 with a HD910B with the latest firmware, and it's just as bad as the popcorn hour. I've tried both SMB and NFS with zero luck, constant stuttering.

Everything worked perfectly on my old HTPC, but these streamers seem to never work. I have no interest in an internal HDD or USB HDD, it defeats the purpose of a networked media streamer.

Should I just ship this back?

I just tested with a crossover cable directly to the my storage server, and I'm having the same issues. It's better, but there is still stuttering every once in a while. It's definitely not network related.

Exactly the same experience here. Even with custom firmware. It will only not stutter if the iso is on an internal HDD or a USB HDD. Like you said it defeats the purpose.

I have an older Bivex BV8088 that streams BD iso's much better with less crashes when using full BD menus.

The WDTV Live SMP streams iso way better than this pile of junk, just a shame the WD does not do full BD menus.

The only thing the Andriod does is slow it down on load, it has zero practical use. The only thing vaguely interesting is the HiTV.

Hi mr. denass
I have a question for you if you have the time;
I am thinking of ordering the new Himedia Hd910b wich is probably pretty much the same as the one you have.
But I am also considering the Dune HD TV 301. Mostly because the older Dune Hd max has so many users
saying hd max is the most stable player out there. Maybe a little boring but definetely the most stable. I have now tried
boxee box and popcorn hour a-300. Boxee box was very cool and easy, and played everything I had. But the picture
quality was not up to par when I`m using my projector. The a-300 had a little better picture quality and played almost everything,
but is full og bugs and annoyances. It plays large mkv files nice, but for example dvd iso playing is full of errors.
Pq is the most imprtant for me, second is stutterfree playing and things like that. Especially dvd iso`s.
I am wondering which dune do you have, and how does the picture quality on dune compare to the himedia? And of course if you know; witch
player out there do you think has the best picture quality, (and also useable)
Thank you if you can answer this
Regards from Norway!
Jan

Hi Jan
I have the dune base 3.0 --its an older model that plays everything I have thrown at it---it is in the same look as the max without a bluray player in it.
I have had no problems at all with it--I use Dune Explorer for the jukebox and love having pictures to pick the movies which with the himedia 900b you can only using a list. and as of yet no jukebox software that works
I have a fairly new DLP projector and the picture thru the dune is stunning on a 8 feet wide screen and the video very smooth--better then my LCD tv
I hate the himedia because it has minor stutters on some 2D stuff like my ANDROMEDA series and was very annoying yet played fine on my Dune and my mates Dune Prime
If you are looking for perfect play back the himedia or any Realtek based chip player is not a good choice.
I am waiting on a new dune player with 3D capabilty which hopefully will be out in a year
I cannot give you any feedback on 3D as I havent a setup for that yet
You have had 2 players already and think once you try a dune you will be very happy
I would not suggest a new smart series dune if you are looking to use an internal hard drive as they get hot inside and heat does shorten the life of the Harddrives
I could say a good way at the moment is to get a Dune H1 etc and connect a docking station to it --
You can read alot on these forums about the different players
If you can wait awhile and research maybe a good one might come up

I use dvddecrypter for doing dvd's to iso---its an old program and free and easy to use--and I converted all my dvd collection 900 dvd's to iso with all playing perfectly on the dune
I use DVDFAB to convert bluray's to iso and all play fine on the dune
I am hoping dune will bring out a 3D PLAYER SOON and if it is not full of bugs will get it
I hope this is of some help and like you many here have bought different models and makes of players--we are all looking for stable players

Yes thank you very much it was helpful !
I am even more confident now that the Dune`s are
the deal. But I am very interested in these pretty new Dune tv 301 and 101.
One user says it has better picture quality than the Dune Hd Max, and that
is very interesting to me. http://www.iboum.com/pr/dune301.php
Do you or anybody have any experiences with these,
picture quality and playability and so on? It is a Dune isn`t it?
And thank you again if you answer this too!
Actually sunny in Oslo today...

I find it not very believable that the picture could be better
I can only say how things are with the harddrives inside my units
With the forums maybe its best not to take just one persons point of view--you really need a forum where many people have the units to review
If someone hasnt setup their unit correctly or connected it the right way you will not get an accurate view of how that unit works
It all comes back how you are
1 connecting the unit
2 the type of files you are using
3 the firmware
If you spend quite alot of time reading thru forums you will get a good idea of the plus and minus of each unit
this is the best way to guage a product

How are you looking to connect your unit
are you going to network or using a harddrive in or connected to the unit
Some units wont give you full lossless audio/DTS MASTER AUDIO--TRUEHD
how is your audio connected and does it do lossless audio
thanks
You could always try different ones and if you dont like it sell it off
I am waiting for 3 weeks time to see whats new coming at the IFA in berlin and to see what dune have to say
http://www.biztradeshows.com/trade-events/ifa-berlin.html
They have been held up with new models because sigma the chip manufacturer they use hasnt released a new chip and holding things up
Edited by denass - 8/3/12 at 9:59pm

Yes I know, absolutely not everybody know`s what they are doing. Several people are highly satisfied with the boxee box, even with clearly lesser picture quality than for example popcorn a-300, and my older Lg blu-ray Bd 390. I guess I have taken for granted that those people that are commenting, are using the best connections, which of course are digital. I use one external WD usb connected hardisk next to my home cinema system in the livingroom, and a cat5 cable to my pc in the "computer room" so I can view from all the external harddisks connected to my pc. All this works fine. And for audio I use of course coax or optical. And everything is passthroug so my excellent "old" harman/kardon AVR 7300 beast can handle the sound. (But it doesn`t handle the new audio`s like true dts or whatever they are called.) And Hdmi to my 1080p dlp projector.
It`s difficult when people have different preferances of what they call good picture quality and bad. One guy in the electronic shop here said that boxee had very good picture quality And I bought it. But it has not good picture quality, it`s blurry and pale compared to my Lg. (And of course every setting adjusted/optimized correctly.) Now it`s 2012 and my old Lg blu-ray Bd 390 is my reference. This is an Eisa award winner, and are actually a budget player! Jackass 3 (2D) on blu ray disc is so sharp that it can`t be possible to get it any sharper... And the Lg also plays some files like mkv. and avi and mp4 files too. And those are also incredibly well displayed, clearly better quality than the a-300 managed. I just tought it isn`t to much to ask for that a dedicated media player in 2012 has at least the same picture quality. But it evidently was. The Lg bd390 supposively have a companion chip from the Gennum VXP line, also used in the higher end av scalers eg Crystalio 2. Because the bd 390 use the same old chip 8642 as the popcorn a-200 does. But with much better picture quality. http://www.networkedmediatank.com/showthread.php?tid=40052
The problem is the Lg is very picky even with the .mkv`s avi`s and mp4 files. And of course it won`t play iso`s and many other files.
When you say it`s not very believable that the picture could be better, I read it as the picture quality is very good at the "older" Dune`s, and I find that very comforting. Because of the stability of those are higly recognized and well known. The hd tv 301 is also much more difficult to get a hold on here in this boring country. The hd tv 101 I can order from a Norwegian netshop, but this unit doesn`t have coax of optical output for the audio, and my H/K doesn`t have hdmi inputs. And composite are of course out of the question.

Finally after 3.5 months in transit, in testing, then replacement, replacement tested twice, then back in transit to me, my new HD900B is here and working fine on my standard encoded mkv content. 3D content to be tested next.
Interestingly enough, remuxed.mkv's stutter.....fawk as if there isn't enough bandwidth on my gbit network. tested networkspeed always shows 66,000 kbits/s, damn network
Edited by casscarr2002 - 8/14/12 at 7:48pm

i apologize if this has already been touched upon, but i got tired wading through 50 pages of posts. i have an HD910a and while i am very happy with the fact that it has played every video format i have thrown at it so far, i do have a problem. i cannot seem to get it to play dolby, DTS, etc, in digital surround mode. it always resorts to a 2 channel sound and the recceiver (onkyo 805) resorts to a generic audio mode instead of digital. it acts like it is set to PCM or if i used analog cables but i am running HDMI to the onkyo. i have tried numerous audio options on the Himedia but can't get the right solution. where am i going wrong?

david

yes, i started on RAW. since then have tried other settings. nothing works yet.

thanks for that pic. i had gone back to my RAW settings to double check and remembered that i hadn't switched AAC to RAW beacause i was unsure what it was. i switched it and tried an ISO, some x264, and a DTS audio BD. they all played digital audio so thanks, i think we're good to go.
i noticed it wouldn't play an audio cd i had ripped in WMA lossless the other day. is that possible? i thought everything played WMA's. my whole library is ripped this way, hope that's not going to be a problem.

David

So, however I still haven't tested the 3D material as yet, I do have the new unit working. Upgraded to firmware 1.0.4.20 (considering the custom 1.0.4.7 OllyP firmware)

Few items to point out which are consistent with the previous unit I had to return due to faulty hardware (USB ports didn't work and HDD would not show up)

Current issues.

scenario 1 : the unit is connected hard wire into ethernet connection in the room, running down to the basement to an 8 port switch connected to a DLINK DIR-655 to the 40TB media server, all Gbit.
Issue is, when I transfer a movie via the network to the media server (this happens every time and also did with the previous unit) somehow after that transfer is done, the 900B gets all confused. I try to go into the Movie or File Management tab to log into the short cut or directly into the menu tree to filter down to my HDD of choice (on the media server that is) with movies and I have to re-enter the credentials user/pass which it always responds with "Logon Fail". The only way I can fix this and use the box again is 1 of 2 things, either reboot the media server or hard power off (unplug the power cable) the router and restart it, I haven't nailed down which it is, I just do both and bam, turn the HiMedia off then back on and everything works great and no need to re-enter everything. I am not walking downstairs to perform the hard router power off/on every night or more frequently, that's just ridiculous.

scenario 2: the speed of the network gets buggered every once in a while, just random, no particular network change where the "testing network speed" shows while browsing movies that it's just too slow to play and the preview (while in file mode) stutters and shows 1200-3000 Kbytes speeds and obviously it's just way too slow to play any files. It's like the unit has lost it's handshake somehow with the network, which leads me to believe there is a correlation with the above issue.

scenario 3: MKV remux'd BD's just don't play, stuttering, as if the network bandwidth isn't there, tested with no other impeding transfers at various hard wired locations in the house, the unit just doesn't seem to support the speed it needs.

Any insights would be appreciated, otherwise I will communicate back with Focalgadgets & HiMedia directly again with these issues.

Thanks folks.
Edited by casscarr2002 - 8/17/12 at 6:51pm

3DBD Iso of a certain recent release works great, stutter during the tesseract activation bringing Loki in for a few seconds, somewhat concerning but could have been my wired network, although it's only picking up the DTS core and not the DTS HD audio for some reason.
Edit, just remembered I did not change the Audio from DTS Core to 7.1 HD Audio in the menu prior as I had it set to core for upstairs.
What I am curious about now is how to get either my wireless keyboard/mouse combo to work with the browser or add my dinovo Mini and have that work, I can then actually remove the monstrous media server from the cabinet to move in the basement rack and just have the HiMedia control centre there as the replacement.
Edited by casscarr2002 - 8/21/12 at 7:18pm

Guys, I have a major problem with my HD900B

First, I cannot get the machine to recognize my NTSF hard drive. I reinstalled the same 1 TB hard drive back into my previous Argosy HV335T media player and it works fine. When I reinstall it back into the HD900B, whether I go to MOVIES, MUSIC or FILE MANAGER, it picks up nothing.

Second, I cannot use the USB 3.0 cable (be it the one that came with the system or the one that came with the Argosy HV335T) as the PC will not pick up the internal hard drive either. I went by the (stupid) instructions (turn on player, wait for HOME to come up, plug in the USB, let it reboot for 1 minute or more... and then pray). Nothing works.

So essentially I have a fairly expensive brick (so far), as it won't pick up the hard drive directly or through the USB 3.0 cable for access on my PC.

What am I doing wrong?

I was told to reformat the HDD inside my 910B (Is the 900B internal) and that worked for me.

However, my 910B is on its way back to Himedia as it was always unreliable. Replacement awaited as it was great when it worked.

There is some confusion regards drives and the Himedia devices. After formatting mine inside the device, it was seen by the PC for the first time.

However, it often failed to save information on reboot and others say do an NTFS format in the PC and *Not* inside the himnedia. Confusing.
I'm certian the random issues I had with storage (BT and 'net transfers) were all due to buggy hardware, as the player worked flawlessly otherwise.

You'll have to dig around, but please let usknow how you resolve it.

Regards,

David.

I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to. The Hi-Media australian site has plenty of emails for contact, but answer you once a week if ever. I tried formatting a hard drive (2 TB) while inside the machine, and nothing happened. Even so, it was already formatted to NTSF for an Argosy HV335T, and had over 1 TB of movies and music. When I re-installed the hard drive back into the HV335T, it worked like a champ: started right up and when plugged into my PC with the USB 3.0 cable, it only took a few seconds for the PC to recognize the hard drive.

When I put it back into the HD900B, the machine just would not recognize the hard drive. No sound or anything.. it is if the connector is broken (it simply slides into and out of the hard drive, correct? I noticed there is a small button by the connection lever, but I have no idea what to do other than push the connector lever into the hard drive once it is in the internal mounting). I cannot access my PCs being that, despite the wi-fi working and accepting my IP address, it keeps asking for a network user ID and password in order to access my PCs. When using UPNP, I can see my PCs again, but cannot access the hard drives. Even when hooking up the USB 3.0 between the PC and the HD900B there is nothing (no doubt because the HD900 is not even picking up the hard drive, which tells me it could be the physical connection).

Hi,

That sounds like a hardware problem. You should feel a little resistance as you slide the drive in, similar to any push-connect.

I don't have that button on the 910B, but try leaving it alone as it may be an "eject" for the SATA interface: I don't have one to check.

Does it work with the external SATA? If so, the internal port is probably faulty and a warranty return is likely.

David.

I just recently purchased a KDLINKS HD700 which I have not received yet but it is supposed to do what you are looking for at about $140.00 on Amazon. When I get it I can come back and give you my opinion. It is supposed to be plug and play-ish, just run a HDMI from it to your viewing source and the hard drive attached that contains the video/music files you want to view/listen. It claims to support an endless set of formats like ISO, VOB, AVI, MKV and so on. It can also be added to your server or wireless system via CAT cable. If you want me to give you my opinion please PM me your email address and I will let you know all the details (I rarely go to this site as of late).

Hi all,
i'm new on this forum, and i'm thinking to buy the Himedia 900B player.

i've red all the 50 pages of this thread, expecially about the stuttering problem.
What i'd like to know, is if this problem is related ONLY to 3D BD, or is present in ANY kind of video, eg 2D BD, DVD, DIVX......

Anyone can help?
Thanks for your attenction, Luciano

I would be really interested in seeing how well this version works. If you don't mind, would it be possible to take pictures of the GUI on the HDTV screen to show what it looks like (as well as any review of how well it works)?

I have this unit. I don't have any pictures, but I'll post them later if I get a chance. I hate to bring another unit into this thread, but I'll do it for the sake of demo.
From what I've seen so far from the Kdlinks compared to the HiMedia's is that they are a little more stripped down. They don't contain Android & a few of the menu options.
I have't tested 3D(don't own a 3d tv yet. Bought my tv right before 3d release). I have tested mkv's, dvd iso, Blu-Ray iso & folders, avi's, mp3's, flac, & YouTube.
All settings were set to pass-through(raw)
The player was able to play everything I through at except mp3's. For some reason it can't pass mp3's. So I set audio to auto & it sent it as pcm(no big deal)
In auto mode it passed all HD audio to my receiver.
The only other issues I noticed was, when a video is paused it doesn't flag the screensaver to pop up(it maintains the static image that is paused) &
of course it doesn't flag the subtitles, It defaults to on & plays whatever is first(When playing a Blu-Ray Iso).
The menu is comparable to the Micca, which I also purchased. Couldn't get the unit to pick-up a decent ir signal from my remote9Harmony One), so I sent it back.
I got a feeling that Kdlinks isn't going to release any firmware updates either. Contacted them about the issues above & they offered a refund or a Amazon GC.
Only if there was a perfect unit under $150....one day...one day

I had similar problem. Internal HDD is not recognized (I am a bit lucky in that it "sometimes" do, like 20% of the time), so I basically just use the included SATA cable and connect that way. This is much more reliable, and also people are saying that the internal case had limited airflow so it is actually not good to use anyway. Hope this help.

Hello, can You please explain what is the difference between HiMedia HD900B and HD910A? Which one is better?

I bought Samsung Smart TV ES7000 and now I need player that can play Bluray 3D ISO movies from PC. I found Himedia product to be most popular with that.

I also saw Xtreamer Prodigy Black. What do You think about that product?

Is there any Bluray player on market that can play Bluray 3D iso files? I am asking because if I get some movies on Bluray disk I will have to buy bluray player separately. Is it possible to buy Bluray Rom and connect it to HD900b/910a or Xtreamer?

I also saw Dune products, but as I see they can't player bluray 3D iso files yet.

What do You suggest, what should I purchase? Thank You!

I believe the only Blu ray players that can play an BR 3D ISO might be the Oppos, but if I recall they killed that ability in a recent fw update?

You cannot connect a BR Rom drive to any of these players (HiMedia, Xtreamer, etc...).

The latest Mede8er is another player that can play back 3D Blu Rays, and probably out of all the players the one I would recommend based on the community and company support.