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Official Ceton Echo Extender Info Thread - Page 199  

post #5941 of 7721
2/19/13 at 1:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gtgray View Post

Yeah the announcement will probably be the immediate availability of unlimited numbers of $49.95 tested open box units witth 30 day warranites.

I will raise you $30 and say they will be offering them at $79.95 refurb/open box or $99.95 new. Much closer to there true value.

Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #5942 of 7721
2/19/13 at 2:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roginator View Post

After limited testing, I am dubious whether this is better than simply using the 30-second forward skip and 10-second backward skip on the media remote.

I use comskip on SageTV. Sometimes it works great. Sometimes its terrible. I can't really tell why its fails sometimes.

It's pretty dependent on good configuration settings. I wish the comskip community was a little more active at sharing configuration settings. You could probably go a long way with channel-specific configuration settings, but I'm not good enough to come up with them myself.
post #5943 of 7721
2/19/13 at 2:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by reggie14 View Post

I use comskip on SageTV. Sometimes it works great. Sometimes its terrible. I can't really tell why its fails sometimes.

It's pretty dependent on good configuration settings. I wish the comskip community was a little more active at sharing configuration settings. You could probably go a long way with channel-specific configuration settings, but I'm not good enough to come up with them myself.

When it fails does it destroy the original file or do you still have it?
post #5944 of 7721
2/19/13 at 2:38pm
Not sure about SageTV but with NextPVR, all comskip does is create a list of timestamp markers and does not actually modify the recorded file. That list is read by NextPVR and it automatically skips at the marked points. Pressing 999 on the remote will disable the auto-skips.
post #5945 of 7721
2/19/13 at 2:52pm
Okay. I was just wondering if when it "fails" as said above it actually nukes the original file or if it just fails to have the expected results whereas it doesn't actually skip the commercials.

Does comskip make the files into an mkv?

And what does this have to do with the echo?
post #5946 of 7721
2/19/13 at 2:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

Okay. I was just wondering if when it "fails" as said above it actually nukes the original file or if it just fails to have the expected results whereas it doesn't actually skip the commercials.

Does comskip make the files into an mkv?

And what does this have to do with the echo?

Obviously what it has to do with the Echo is that we are bored smile.gif

Comskip doesn't make files into MKVs, but MCEBuddy will integrate tools together that do both.

xnappo
post #5947 of 7721
2/19/13 at 3:01pm
So it puts markers in it that trigger >>>> and then > at the commercials then. Is WMC able to recognize these markers or is it just other PVR software?

I suppose if it works with WMC then it would work with the echo. Making an mkv is only useful for copy freely *.wtv's. Otherwise I'm pretty sure that comskip cannot even read the file.
post #5948 of 7721
2/19/13 at 3:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

So it puts markers in it that trigger >>>> and then > at the commercials then. Is WMC able to recognize these markers or is it just other PVR software?

I suppose if it works with WMC then it would work with the echo. Making an mkv is only useful for copy freely *.wtv's. Otherwise I'm pretty sure that comskip cannot even read the file.

You use the Commercial Skip addin here:
http://babgvant.com/Wiki/view.aspx/DVRMSToolbox

I think RecordedTVHD also has this functionality built-in.

As you guessed, it doesn't do any good with protected files, which is why I don't bother anymore.

xnappo
post #5949 of 7721
2/19/13 at 3:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

When it fails does it destroy the original file or do you still have it?

I don't use anything to actually remove the files- comskip just generates files that tells SageTV what parts to automatically skip over. I can use the remote to tell it to go back and play a portion it skipped over.
post #5950 of 7721
2/19/13 at 3:24pm
That is fine, So sometimes it fails to properly mark the commercial locations. It doesn't grenade the file when it fails. I doubt it works with wtv's though, right?
post #5951 of 7721
2/19/13 at 3:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

And what does this have to do with the echo?
The skip commands don't respond fast enough on the Echo for me. The stupid 7 second skip back setting is annoying. When I hit the skip back button it takes a couple of seconds for it to start playing again just to see if I went back far enough. That means each skip back operation takes two seconds and only nets 5 seconds. To go back 30 seconds it takes 6 key presses and 12 seconds. Lately I've just been pressing the 3 key before the skip back key to get me about 20 seconds. The skip back setting is one of the first things I changed in the registry on the PC. Too bad that setting doesn't carry over to extenders. Thankfully the seek bar timeout does. I have that set to 1/10 of a second.

I used comskip with dvrmstoolbox and dtbaddin for a while to do automatic commercial skips. It worked OK most of the time but it not good enough to make it worth my while. Earlier today I edited the commercials out of the shows I'm planning on watching on the Echo tonight with VideoReDo. I get to watch commercial-free zombies on The Walking Dead.
post #5952 of 7721
2/19/13 at 3:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

That is fine, So sometimes it fails to properly mark the commercial locations. It doesn't grenade the file when it fails. I doubt it works with wtv's though, right?
It works with wtv. It's been a long time since I did it but the way I remember it, it would convert the wtv file to a dvrms copy in a temp directory. Comskip would then read the dvrms file and generate another file with information about where the commercials are located. When finished it would delete the temp dvrms file, leaving the wtv file in the original location unmodified.
post #5953 of 7721
2/19/13 at 3:55pm
I'm not seeing that amount of lag. Could it be latency in your network?

So WMC7 can read dvrms in addition to wtv files?
post #5954 of 7721
2/19/13 at 4:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

I'm not seeing that amount of lag. Could it be latency in your network?

So WMC7 can read dvrms in addition to wtv files?

Maybe it's latency. I'm on a 10/100 switch.

Win7 Media Center can read dvr-ms files, but you don't need to play the dvr-ms files. It only makes a dvr-ms working copy that will be automatically deleted after processing.
post #5955 of 7721
2/19/13 at 5:05pm
Comskip appears to now work on (non-copy-protected) .wtv files*. In conjunction with DVRMSToolbox it creates a list of suspected commercial blocks. Then a Media Center add-in called DTBAddin is the handy interface which controls how the commercials are skipped while you are watching. On the media remote there is a selection wheel that has left, right, up and down. Typically, if you hit the right button it's supposed to skip over the commercials. The up button might turn commercial skipping on, while the down button might turn it off.

Luckily for me, my cable provider has few copy-protected shows -- possibly none. The few I've seen could be recording glitches.

*This applies to the donater version.

I've only been using this a day. There are several options on how it skips commercials while watching. One is to manually click the right button at commercials. Another is to automatically skip over them while showing the timeline bar, etc.

I was worried it wouldn't cleanup all the small files it creates, but by default it's SUPPOSED to delete those after 7 days. We'll see.
Edited by Roginator - 2/19/13 at 5:11pm
post #5956 of 7721
2/19/13 at 5:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roginator View Post

I was worried it wouldn't cleanup all the small files it creates, but by default it's SUPPOSED to delete those after 7 days. We'll see.
It sounds like they've made some changes since I last used it. I just checked my TVscanfolder and I still have over 2,400 files taking up just over 300MB. I guess I should delete them.
post #5957 of 7721
2/19/13 at 5:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by reggie14 View Post

I was holding out for announcement/update, but my patience ran out. I just dropped off my Echo at the UPS Store, so I expect to see a "State of the Echo #3" update today or tomorrow with some exciting news.

Good luck.

You and me both, mine is being dropped off tomorrow.

I wish everyone hanging in there the best of luck with their Echo. eek.gif
post #5958 of 7721
2/19/13 at 6:06pm
Pretty soon it's going to be Sammy in here all alone trying to convince himself there is nothing wrong with the Echo smile.gif.
post #5959 of 7721
2/19/13 at 6:20pm
I don't need convincing. There's stuff to fix but it isn't a huge deal for me at all.
post #5960 of 7721
2/19/13 at 6:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crbaldwin View Post

Pretty soon it's going to be Sammy in here all alone trying to convince himself there is nothing wrong with the Echo smile.gif.

ROFLOL!!!
post #5961 of 7721
2/19/13 at 6:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roginator View Post


Luckily for me, my cable provider has few copy-protected shows -- possibly none. The few I've seen could be recording glitches.

Geez - lucky! The majority of my pain in setting up a decent whole-home system is the stupid TWC overzealous CCI settings.

xnappo
post #5962 of 7721
2/19/13 at 7:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crbaldwin View Post

Pretty soon it's going to be Sammy in here all alone trying to convince himself there is nothing wrong with the Echo smile.gif.

Hahahaha! "But guys, the local CSPAN looks great on all of my displays smaller than 19", with SDTV resolution!" biggrin.gif
post #5963 of 7721
2/19/13 at 7:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crbaldwin View Post

Pretty soon it's going to be Sammy in here all alone trying to convince himself there is nothing wrong with the Echo smile.gif.

Haha! So true!
post #5964 of 7721
2/19/13 at 7:57pm
Man, I can't wait for all the refurb units wink.gif to put in all of my throne rooms..
post #5965 of 7721
2/19/13 at 9:52pm
Perhaps, there are hardware issues or setup-user issues:) Sammy is not the only one happy with his Echo, there are others posting good reviews at Newegg and Amazon using later released firmware. I know many of you aren't happy with your Echos but there is no need to take it out on Sammy2 or Ceton. Ceton is a small company pushing a rope up a hill so to speak with the lack of Microsoft support. While it's true they should have not sold this unit in the state it was but some of that could have been out of their control. Ceton being one of the few companies that are in our WMC court that so many of you are using, doesn't need to be run down. Just return the units and move on.
Edited by Haba - 2/19/13 at 10:06pm
post #5966 of 7721
2/19/13 at 10:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Haba View Post

Perhaps, there are hardware issues or setup-user issues:) Sammy is not the only one happy with his Echo, there are others posting good reviews at Newegg and Amazon using later released firmware. I know many of you aren't happy with your Echos but there is no need to take it out on Sammy2 or Ceton. Ceton is a small company pushing a rope up a hill so to speak with the lack of Microsoft support. While it's true they should have not sold this unit in the state it was but some of that could have been out of their control. Ceton being one of the few companies that are in our WMC court that so many of you are using, doesn't need to be run down. Just return the units and move on.

It is not the lack of Microsoft Support. It is a poor implementation probably as the result of an unproven SOC.

5 year old WMEs work well. I can't say my HP x280n is perfect but the video is superb. Remember if it came to market 5 years ago it was desinged two years before that.

The HP never had much in the way of after launch software maintenance. It you look at the video performance of the HD 300 which is likely a five year old design at this point you have a benchmark device for video output. That SOC worked very well. Either Ceton cheaped out on the BOM, or they got cut on the bleeding edge with a beta SOC. Best guess is they did not want to pay the price for a top of the line SOC even though the part in the Sage extender was probably only $20 a pop at this point. They gambled and apparently lost. Maybe they sincerely thought they were buying the latest and greatest. A proven SOC and andmature SDK for would have served them better than they got whatever their motivation was for making the choice they did.

February is fast coming to an end and as I said once before the silence from Ceton is deafening!
post #5967 of 7721
2/19/13 at 11:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crbaldwin View Post

Pretty soon it's going to be Sammy in here all alone trying to convince himself there is nothing wrong with the Echo smile.gif.
I think there are many of us here that are very happy with the current state of the Echo but we are not as vocal as Sammy is...
post #5968 of 7721
2/20/13 at 4:20am
I can't say that I'm unhappy with the Echo, but I will say that I'm somewhat disappointed. In any case, I'm sending mine back today. I'm on my 2nd unit and both have had issues with frezing and pixelation. The 2nd unit was far better than the 1st and was watchable to a greater extent. Still, I found myself turning it on only about once every week or two to see if there was a firmware update. Once it took the update I'd play with it for a bit and then shut it down. I kept trying to force myself to use it, but when the freezing started up and the image got pixelated I turned it off and went back to my WMC PC to watch it directly. Aside from these issues, it seemed perfectly fine for use as an extender.

Truth be told, I've never been a big fan of extenders. I don't like the lag in the menus and remote response has never been as good as it is on the source PC. I was hoping the Echo would be a huge step up, especially with respect to playing mkv files of Blu-Ray rips. I think a lot of us were hoping this would happen. In Ceton's defense, they never stated that this would be a feature of the Echo, but they also never said it wouldn't be either. If I had to choose between the Echo and an X-Box I'd have to pick the Echo, even though I don't have the same issues with the X-Box that I've experienced with the Echo.

I used to think there was a problem with my network since I'd see the dreaded "Network Issue" message show up on occasion. What puzzled me is every time I'd run the Network Tuner after seeing the error message it would always pass with flying colors. I beefed up the NIC in my HTPC with an Intel PCI-e EXPI3901CTBLK card and transfer rates are better to and from my HTPC than any other PC in my house, yet I still got the message. I used to get this with other extenders from Linksys, X-Box, and HP so it is extremely perplexing to see this with the Echo after the changes I made.

I'm currently using individual SFF HTPCs at several TVs and I was hoping the Echo would replace one of them and provide the same capabilities. Unfortunately, the lack of mkv support for BD rips and the other issues has removed it from consideration. I really had high hopes for the Echo and I still hope that Ceton can turn it into the product we were all hoping for. It's just not there yet, IMHO.
post #5969 of 7721
2/20/13 at 5:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dabretty View Post

Hahahaha! "But guys, the local CSPAN looks great on all of my displays smaller than 19", with SDTV resolution!" biggrin.gif

I didn't even connect it to the smaller display until two weeks ago when the echo finally produced a good enough picture to be located in my kitchen for use. It was connected to the 40" 650A Samsung HDTV in my HT prior to that. BTW this 19" TV is a 720p LED TV.
post #5970 of 7721
2/20/13 at 5:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by captain_video View Post

I can't say that I'm unhappy with the Echo, but I will say that I'm somewhat disappointed. In any case, I'm sending mine back today. I'm on my 2nd unit and both have had issues with frezing and pixelation. The 2nd unit was far better than the 1st and was watchable to a greater extent. Still, I found myself turning it on only about once every week or two to see if there was a firmware update. Once it took the update I'd play with it for a bit and then shut it down. I kept trying to force myself to use it, but when the freezing started up and the image got pixelated I turned it off and went back to my WMC PC to watch it directly. Aside from these issues, it seemed perfectly fine for use as an extender.

Truth be told, I've never been a big fan of extenders. I don't like the lag in the menus and remote response has never been as good as it is on the source PC. I was hoping the Echo would be a huge step up, especially with respect to playing mkv files of Blu-Ray rips. I think a lot of us were hoping this would happen. In Ceton's defense, they never stated that this would be a feature of the Echo, but they also never said it wouldn't be either. If I had to choose between the Echo and an X-Box I'd have to pick the Echo, even though I don't have the same issues with the X-Box that I've experienced with the Echo.

I used to think there was a problem with my network since I'd see the dreaded "Network Issue" message show up on occasion. What puzzled me is every time I'd run the Network Tuner after seeing the error message it would always pass with flying colors. I beefed up the NIC in my HTPC with an Intel PCI-e EXPI3901CTBLK card and transfer rates are better to and from my HTPC than any other PC in my house, yet I still got the message. I used to get this with other extenders from Linksys, X-Box, and HP so it is extremely perplexing to see this with the Echo after the changes I made.

I'm currently using individual SFF HTPCs at several TVs and I was hoping the Echo would replace one of them and provide the same capabilities. Unfortunately, the lack of mkv support for BD rips and the other issues has removed it from consideration. I really had high hopes for the Echo and I still hope that Ceton can turn it into the product we were all hoping for. It's just not there yet, IMHO.

IDK, I've had no issues with pixelation with CableTV content for at least a month and have never had network errors. I even have mine connected using a Trendnet TEW-680MB wireless bridge right now and have very good network tuner results.. Well above what is required for HDTV.
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