Micca EP950! - Page 6

mkoss, I haven't tried to play an ISO yet with the 1.0.3.5 firmware, since it is too stuttery to watch going through my router and it won't connect to my pc. But I will give it a try this weekend and see if at least starts to play the ISO.

mine would freeze 1 second in each time when I tried to play an iso. Played timeless taiwan sbs fine. couldn't set video to hdmi auto. went back to 1.0.26 I will try tonight

Jack, I just had an idea relating to the issue I discovered when trying to figure out why my captures were playing choppy at 24hz. I posted this in the HiMedia thread but I wanted to post it here because I'd love to see this implemented in the settings if possible:

What would be great is if when I am in 1080p@60hz mode (or whatever your default video output setting is) and I played a sbs/over-under file and switched to 3D mode, it would ask if I want to send over the video as 720p@60hz or 1080p@24hz. When I stop the video playback it could just revert back to 1080p@60hz again (or whatever my video output is set to under settings). This would make it so that I wouldn't have to constantly switch back and forth in the video output settings whenever I wanted to watch a sbs/over-under video. Like when it asks if you want the ISO menu to be BD-Lite, BD 1.0 or direct-play.

Is that something that can be done maybe? A simple pop-up question when you start the video would make it more automated and at the same time give me a choice of how I want the output, instead of me having to remember to go to settings and change my video output to 720p@60hz every time I want to watch sbs/over-under. Or maybe just having an extra setting for default sbs/over-under output? I like the idea of the pop-up choice myself. Again, the idea is this way if I played a sbs/over-under file that is 24fps, I could choose 1080p@24hz, but if I played a file that has a different framerate like my captures, which caused problems when playing at 1080p@24, I could just choose 720p@60hz instead and avoid the choppiness.

mkoss, I just tried setting my video output to HDMI Auto and it went fine, and I just tried to play an ISO file over lan cable and it played ok.

HokeySmoke also mentioned something to me in the HiMedia thread that could be implemented as well that would improve sbs/over-under playback:

When playing sbs/over-under video in 2D mode, not 3D, the player could generate a separate left and right osd when playing such files so that when you switch to 3D mode on the tv, the player's menus, video navigation bar, etc. will be displayed correctly on screen. There's also some discussion about maybe sending over a 3D flag with the sbs video to trigger the tv to go into 3D mode automatically, but we would need a choice or option to send it over as either frame-packed or sbs/o-u with 3D flag.

Maybe an option in the menu or an expanded pop-up like I mentioned above, so when you play the file and go into 3D mode, it simply asks how you want to send the file? You could have a pop-up box with some choices like:

- frame-packed 1080p@24hz
- frame-packed 720p@60hz
- sbs 1080p@60hz with 3D flag
- over/under 1080p@60hz with 3D flag

This would allow us to choose each time we play a file how we would like it to play, thus giving us more choices to allow a wider variety of files to play back smoothly at different resolutions and framerates, all without ever having to go into the settings screen and change video output modes.

As far I can see the Media Library can only scan file on the local harddrive. Is there a way to add media files from remote sources? (Upnp or share network) The file manager does not give me any options other then copy to harddrive.

Thanks.

Will it void my warranty if I cross flash my EP950?

I read on the futeko website that cross flashing can be dangerous because of bootloaders being different. Claims that for example using iconbit firmware may turn your unit into an expensive paper wait because of the differences in bootloaders that jack talked about above.

Exactly. This guy is trolling all over AVS telling people it's safe to cross-flash their media players with firmware from different devices, even though he admittedly doesn't own any of the units. I recommend sticking to information from reliable sources such as Futeko.

Umm, Jack is from Micca. How is he trolling? Jack said specifically that using HiMedia firmware is ok as long as you do not mess with the bootloader, which won't happen if you simply flash with HiMedia firmware.

I'm talking about Richard Adams, not Jack. As Jack stated in his post, you have to be certain that the firmware you are trying to flash does not overwrite the bootloader. Richard Adams seems to think that all players using the same Realtek chip can be flashed with each other's firmware, since they use the same chipset.

As I report specifically what others have written, including providing the links to the sources, what exactly is it that you are objecting to?

Hey Jack@Micca, bought this player last week and I'm having 3D issues. I have the player connected to a Vizio passive 42" 3DTV through my Pioneer Elite VSX-40 via HDMI and every time I try to play any 3D content the TV switches to an unsupported mode and would not play at all, it just plays sounds. Now, if I connect the player directly to the TV, the 3D plays just fine. Please note that I also have a Sony and LG 3D Blu-ray players connected the same way to the receiver via HDMI and I have no 3D issues at all. It seems as if the EP-950 has some handshake issues with the pioneer receivers.

I will definitely pass this along.


All three issues have been passed along.


As others have mentioned, you would need a crossover cable for this to work. Perhaps the other player you tried has an automatic crossover feature - this would be quite rare.

A switch is very inexpensive, you can probably find ones for less than $10 with 5 ports. It really is the best way to connect multiple devices together on the same network.

I know that for HiMedia firmware, they would clearly indicate if a firmware update include a change to the bootloader. In fact, I believe flashing the bootloader requires some additional files. While it is iffy to cross-flash with different devices, the EP600/EP950's recovery button can be a real life saver here. It is generally safe to cross flash Micca players with HiMedia firmware.


You are correct, this is a limitation of the firmware, unfortunately.


I did a quick search and it seems that DirectTV users also have similar issues going though Pioneer receivers for certain 3D channels. Do you have other 3D files to try and see if different 3D types may work better? In any case, I will pass this report along.

Thanks for the response, Jack. Do you think there's any possibility that you could pass along my idea above about popping up some options for 3D modes and resolution when selecting a 3D mode? I believe this would be a great feature to avoid having to constantly switch video output modes every time I want to play a sbs/o-U file in say 720p@60hz rather then my usual 1080p@60.

I think I asked earlier but maybe it was in the HiMedia forum, but does anybody know what the jpeg bug was that was mentioned was fixed in a recent HiMedia firmware beta? I'm curious because I'm wondering if the Micca firmware also has this "jpeg bug" whatever that was.

Jack, I have Directv but is not connected to this receiver, its somewhere else in the house. As to other 3D files, I have tried them all, SBS, TB, frame packed and wont play at all.

In another kind of request, could this player add support for MKV3D container, this way whenever is playing a 3D SBS or TB file it tell the TV to switch automatically to the 3D mode is flagged with.

But I am using a CAT5E Crossover Patch Cable - the Iconbit plugged directly into the pc and detected my homegroup, the Micca will not - it says "Test Failed" when trying to set up AUTO DNS. It works through my router but not directly to the pc.

Just received and connected the EP950.

The unit does not see anything installed in either of the usb.2 ports.

The usb sticks are formatted fat32 (default).

I also tried a Rosewill usb wireless adapter (RNX-N180UB), and it is not seen either. It is on the list of supported units.

Help please.

I bought this off Amazon for the features, internal hard drive, etc... to replace my media center PC that essentially does the same thing for me as this streamer advertises, to save on electricity. I knew it was 3D capable, but does it require a 3D capable TV? I hooked it to my standard 42" Vizio 1080p HDTV and i get the splash screen thru HDMI but when the box goes to "Home" on the display I get "no signal". If I hook it up via Component, it looks ok in NTSC, i can see the menu and everything... it's just crappy quality because its not high resolution. I can turn it up to 1080p over component but the screen is all blurry in all resolutions besides NTSC, like it's trying to do 3D. What gives? I want it to work off HDMI because I am wired through the wall for HDMI and my component connections are in use by my Wii.

Right I figured that, but is the box 3D only? I was hoping it would be backwards compatible. I couldn't find anything online before I bought it stating either way other than it would play 2D content. If it's 3D only I guess I will be returning it.

Thats not exactly what I'm asking... what I'm trying to ask is will it only connect to a 3D TV over HDMI? And are all the GUI menus in 3D if it's set to anything other than NTSC (which my TV reports as 480i over component connection). I'm going to be a bit heart broken because i bought this unit specifically for the flexibility of storage (I have no use for 3D right now) and the gigabit ethernet. I was hoping to just use it strictly as a 2D box.

Go to the video settings and while connected via component disable the 1080p 24Hz mode, then change the resolution to the maximum allowed by your TV. This should work.

I have several questions about EP950 - it has firmware 1.0.2.7 flashed several days ago.

1. EP950 cannot detect my 3.0TB Seagate GoFlex Desk external hard drive, even it can detect 1.5TB Seagate GoFlex portable hard drive. They are connected to EP950 through USB 2.0 cable. The external hard drive doesn't even spin (or I cannot hear noise) at all. Is it a Seagate issue or an EP950 issue?

2. Windows 7 cannot see EP950 under file explorer "Network". I had Samba and BT turned on, and I rebooted the EP950 several times already just in case it needs to reboot to take the ON/OFF for BT/Samba to work. I remember saw "VENUS" appeared once on my Windows 7 under "Network" several days ago, I could even access it. Later I saw the "EP950" appeared, and "VENUS" gone. But when I click on EP950 icon, it only pops up the property dialog. However, now neither "VENUS" nor "EP950" is listed.

3. EP950 can see my workgroup's name under its file explorer's Network menu, it also shows another item named as "WORKGROUP". Inside my workgroup, there is no computer name - again, I saw my computer name before and I can even access my entire folder under "Users" from EP950. Now it is gone. Also, there is a item named "VENUS" inside "WORKGROUP" and I realized it is actually the mirror of the local hard drive attached to USB 2.0 port (1.5TB one).

4. The device looks good, play good - I just want to feed it a bigger hard drive. I also want to drop big files into the EP950 device through home network instead of through USB cable. I haven't tried UPNP but I do hope EP950 can streaming video to other devices (PC, Tablet within home network). Can Samba server do it? I had DLSN DRM enabled on EP950 as well.

By the way, I tried HD900B 1.0.2.16 firmware before flash back to EP950 1.0.2.7. I'm not sure if I confused by HD900B firmware experience with the Micca firmware. Thanks.

Hi! I have two questions.

1. Can I play MK3D (SBS) files?
2. Is there an option to change the default font of the subtitles?

Thanks!

After my troubles trying to get the Micca to connect directly to my pc's 2nd gigabit ethernet port, I got myself a gigabit switch and connected my pc and Micca using cat5e cables. I then tried to play a 3D ISO off my main C drive, and it played for about 2 minutes, then started stuttering and then lost audio and froze up. I paused and unpaused the playback, and it started up ok again until it started doing the same thing less than a minute later. After stopping and restarting playback from the beginning, it played better, though still stuttered every minute or 2 a tad bit. My gigabit switch confirms I have a gigabit connection.

I'm beginning to think that streaming 3D ISOs from my pc is a bad idea with this device. Obviously it can't handle the bandwidth of a 3D ISO file. I don't know if it is an issue with the Micca, or that Windows 7 is just being obnoxious, maybe running updates, checks, etc. which might utilize the hard drive and result in stutters while Windows is accessing the drive, but either way, streaming full 3D ISOs does not seem to be a good option. Later I'm going to see if I can find a spare hard drive to put inside the Micca, since this might be the only way to play a 3D ISO smoothly.

I'm using the basic file manager to play the ISO. Do others have this issue with trying to stream 3D ISOs?

Seems to be a lot of confusion over this unit........it is a 2D hi-def unit at heart, but it can handle 3D just fine...It plays 3dmkv sbs files perfectly for me.
If you are having trouble with a file....remux it...if that sounds like too much work you shouldnt be fooling with big files at all then

I dont use the networking aspect of the unit although i tried it out using PS3 media Sever and it worked just fine.....I deal with thousands of large mkv files and the whole concept of streaming is out of the question for my purposes.....

Just bought a Samsung PC-Bluray dive for it plugged into the side sata port..works perfect...
Dont even use Media Library.....reminds me of the usual playlist aspect of whatever pc-player people use.....I prefer to just go to whatever file of folder I want....this unit has excellent navigation

Cant comment on DVD menus or ISO files....My LG Bluray is used for SD files
I would suggest running MakeMKV on any troublesome ISO and be done with it... Do you really need a menu with a movie?

All in all the 950 satifies me and Im damn picky !!

As far as my choppy streaming ISO playback, it's not just one troublesome ISO - it's all my ISOs. And they are only troublesome because they won't stream smoothly. As I said, it may play smoother when I drop a spare drive into the unit, but as far as streaming goes, it's way too choppy even with my gigabit switch. It might have to do with Windows using the drive for other tasks at the same time, I don't know. I'm not multitasking when playing ISOs but there are always tons of processes running in Windows, so maybe it's just too much for the drive to play smoothly when Windows decides to access it for something else while playing. I really don't know.

And the menu is not simply to play the movie itself - many (if not most) Blu-Ray discs contain extras - sometimes tons of them, which I want to view. That's the whole point of ISO playback - to play the menus which will enable easy access to the extras (deleted scenes, documentaries, etc) as well as the feature itself, all in full quality. When playing a 3D ISO you have to do direct-play with no menu option, but if you want to see the extras after, which are usually in 2D, you can just restart the ISO with the 1.0 menu and you have access to the extras.

Also, makeMKV won't do any good for those of us who want to watch 3D ISOs, since you can't make a 1080p frame-packed mkv. If you want full 1080p/24 playback at full Blu-Ray quality, you need to be able to play the ISOs (or BDMV folders). So ISO playback is important for alot of people. It's not just about playing the movie. It's about playing the whole disc.