POPCORN HOUR A-400 is coming soon - Page 9

I'm pretty new to the whole htpc and media streamer tech, so I'm wondering, when these media devices have issues with stuttering and audio drop outs, is it because they are being streamed from your local network and not from say an attached usb or internal hdd? I think so, but wanted to verify. I'm asking about the 3D iso's which I will start ripping once I find a discount or coupon for AnyDVD HD I just want to make sure if I attach a drive to the media streamer, that it will not have any issues with playback at all, even at high bit rates for some 3D iso's.

If I decide to pickup a 2TB USB 3.0 or internal HDD and attach to the media streamer, when I rip the 3D iso's on my PC, will I be able to transfer the files from the PC to the USB or HDD on the media streamer? OR do you have to transfer them from your PC to the USB or HDD and then unplug and attach to the media streamer? I'm assuming you can just move the files from the PC to the USB or HDD attached to the media streamer if they're on the same local network, which for me is on a gigabit network with cat5E cabling.

Is it better to get a USB 3.0 drive vs an internal HDD? Which one is faster in transfer speeds b/c copying huge 3D iso's will probably take awhile. I guess USB 3.0 would be good b/c you can just unplug and plug into another media streamer if you have it. Now that I think about it, if you have a USB attached to the media and it had the scrapper to pull up artwork, etc., when you disconnect the USB and reattach it later, does it have to redownload all that info and if so, I guess it depends on how much content you have on how long it will take?

Also, when you all purchase from say Diamond Designs, do they ship right away or is there usually a backlog when new versions come out? Once I hear some reviews from you all, I'd like to purchase right away, and as of now, it's either the Mede8er 1000x3D or the PCH A400.

Thanks,

Depends. It could be due to the limitations of the chips and/or the firmware implementation. In the case of Blu-ray 3D (Mede8er 1000X3D or other Realtek 1186 players), it has to do with network streaming and the player choking on high bitrate stuff. In this case, local HDD or USB (2.0 is enough) avoid the issue. Best to transfer files to local by attaching them directly to your computer, then moving them to the player. We'll see if PCH A-400 performs fine for these over network (namely SMB).

For non 3D discs there should be zero issues. My three year old C200 plays my BD ISOs without any isse.

With regard to NMJ (which I definitely want to get into more because of its accompanying iPad app), I've read through Werner's tips here, but some questions...

For TV shows:

• Is Show Name s01e05.jpg the videoimage for the episode (comparable to Show Name s01e05.videoimage.jpg in YAMJ)?
• Is the main folder for a show where tvshow.nfo goes (as with YAMJ and XBMC)?
• Where and how do you place/name the show fanart (don't need season fanart), plus the main and season posters?
• Are show and season banners supported?

For movies, are sets supported? Werner's posts (via link above) seem to suggest they do, but his example appears to apply to parts of a movie (like LOTR:FOTR part 1, part 2), not different movies in a set (like the 'Alien' saga). Any ideas?

I am actually thinking about just moving my 3D BDs to an external USB drive. They won't be played that often, so its not a big deal. We will see what the A400 brings to the table as well. With the Mede8er at least it is easy to just switch over to NFS via the jukebox for 3D playback, but for the PCH you can't just do this via the jukebox

If this is for the A400 might be wise to wait a bit, The A400 has any updated DB that should support more in terms of tv shows at least, The specs have not came out yet as to what is what.

1. wait till a400 is in hands to mess with how tv shows work.
2. yes the main folder would be say you have /fmaily guy/Season.01 season.01 is showname.nfo But this changes a little if you run bdmv as for some reason the bdmv root is the actual root of the filesystem. so if you have tv/family guy bdmv/ the nfo would go in /tv/
3. again for tv wait to see how they have changed from the old NMJ
4. No banner support in NMJ
5. sets are support but only for same movies. Not different movies at this time, But I think ROMS NMJ manager will let you do sets its a nifty tool and adds some things to NMJ,

Thanks, I was just figuring I'd set everything up this weeked and let A-400 scan my movie/TV shares next week. I'll monitor NMT forums to see what people post, but would be nice if Werner updated his posts on NMJ use. I'll PM him I think. However, he never got back to many of us who sent him test files for A-400, so I wouldn't expect him to address this anytime soon.

Lol Don't expect much anytime soon. Werner is actually the Manager for all of the EU stuff syabas does in that part of the world, So his hand is deep in the cookie jar during launches, But usually a few days after the A400 launch is when things get updated on the forum, Message ROM on the NMT forums he has had a copy of the A400 DB so he might be able to shed some light how it works now.

Yep! This is is exactly what I have done. I put all of my 3D movies on four 2TB drives and use an external enclosure with my Oppo 93. I have a feeling more and more that trying to stream 3D blu ray's is going to be problematic. Inmy case it wors well because the only 3D device I have is my Panny 7000 so it would be silly to be sitting on the server..

Thanks for the info! Hopefully one of the devices will solve the streaming issues you all have had for good...hopefully

Thanks. Even though I have 2 3D TV's, I mainly only use one which has better audio equipment attached to it. So I may just buy an old non 3D streamer for the living room, but knowing me, I prefer newer gadgets, so we'll see there.


Same here. I probably won't replay my 3D blurays much at all so moving them to an external USB drive is probably the better option. This will ensure no stutter or audio drop outs with 3D iso's and I can move between players if need be. Also easier w/o having to open my pc and switch out the HDD's, but just plug in via USB.

What about the 400LB Cinavia in the room ?

Will it play Cinavia ISO's or not?

- Rich

Because it does not support menus, bdlive, BDJ they did not have to get a bluray licenses, So there is no cinavia in the box. Your ISO files would be played using BDlite a custom made menu like anydvd lite menus,

I use a Thermaltake "BlacX" dock. I place an "internal" hard drive in it. They come with esata, usb 2.0 and 3.0 and hold 2.5 and 3.5 drives up to 3TB. I rip 3d iso's to them from the computer. I use AnyDVD HD or DVDFab to rip to the hard drive. I have a micca EP600. I can stream to it but 3d iso's stutter so I have another BlacX box sitting next to it connected by USB. I remove the hard drive from the box that sits next to the computer and then place it in the one that is next to the Micca. I have the Micca connected by HDMI to my 3D television. I would like to know if the Popcorn hour can handle multiple hard drives from an external enclosure and how the Jukebox will handle this. If I were to use my current Thermaltake dock with one hard drive at a time, will Jukebox remember all of the movie titles once I remove the hard drive? Can it handle an external enclosure that can hold multiple hard drives?

I use docks also - Icy Dock. Load them up at the PC and move to the PCH.. Don't fool with movie walls though.

I actually have a 'BlacX' dock, but I don't recall if it has usb 3.0 or not. Even if it did, my old pc converted to an htpc doesn't support usb 3.0 and only allows sata I speeds, I believe. I've already used up all the ports for an SSD, 2 extra HDD, a bluray player, gigbit nic card, and video card. Maybe it's time for an upgrade b/c transferring those huge 3d iso's will probably take me forever Anyhow, I didn't think about using the dock, but that's a good idea to use this device as I occasionally use it to backup my data to another external drive.

Nice, these look cool. Wonder if you can use an internal 3 bay drive as an external one since they look better than having the drive stick out vertically like the BlacX ones. Probably not b/c you would need to power them somehow. Otherwise I like the designs and may just look into their external bays even though a little more pricey for me. I like the way you can convert your pc's 2 5.25 drive bay to a 3 3.25 drive bay. But that won't work for me as I use one 5.25 bay for the bluray drive.

Anyhow, I'm not familiar with PCH, but are movie walls like the artwork that displays for the movie covers when you select and scan your library? So those are placed in a folder location and you point them to where your files actually are? I'm also wondering about switching out drives and how it affects PCH and the library, like does it have to rescan everything and pull up the artwork again or is it cached, and say when you try to play it just says the file is not there? I probably won't be doing this often as it would probably take awhile to fill up a 2 TB drive with 3D movies.

BTW, what is an average size of a 3d iso? I know there's probably a range and it will depend on if there are special features or whatever on the disk. I don't recall but when I saw the Lion King 3D in MakeMKV I think it was like 30 or 40 GB's, so I assume iso would significantly bring it down.

Lastly, are there any places which offer AnyDVD HD other than slysoft? Or any discounts that have come up recently?

Thanks,

My Thermaltake BlacX USB3 dock reads 4TB drives fine FWIW.

Bill

My 3D iso's are between 44GB to 48.877 GB. These are exact copies. Its possible to remove the extras using both AnyDVD HD and DVDFab copy but I have not used this option.

I have a PCH A110 w/11 drives connected to it. You do have to run the Jukebox program if you unplug/move a drive since it maps the drive letter to the poster art. It's easy to do and you can create your own images and there's a website dedicated to YAMJ boxart etc. I preordered the A400 which will use a different type of jukebox and I'm expecting it to ship out to me next week. SO I know what I'll be doing over the holiday weekend (that's IF it arrives before then).

For those that ordered from diamond design I just received this email (I inquired due to customers already receiving their units):

We do not have our units. They've not been released to US yet. I know when I get cases in (not the individual boxes but the big cases), they have all kinds of checkboxes on the side for the region (like USA, EU, AUS, etc.) and they come with different power cords, etc. I don't know if they put the US units in production after Europe or what but ours haven't shipped but we hope they are shipping today or tomorrow. We were told shipment would happen this week. Our freight forwarder is DHL Express which is one of the fastest methods there is through air and customs. We have a blanket import bond which helps with U.S. Customs too.

The customers that got there units should not have. And i think its why there is only 1 or two people saying they have them. All resellers were told not to release stock until the final firmware is out. Werner said its still in QA so no one should be shipping units yet.

There is a update page for the A400.

http://www.popcornhour.com/download/A400/firmware-A400.html

So I guess they are now released to be sold? I hope I get mine by Wednesday. I only did ground shipping so I hope they can get shipped out Monday.

Thatsonly if your retailer got them, diamond as of the last update in the NMT forum, said they ahvent received them yet, but as soonas they did, they would be out.....Werner said as soon as the final release firmware gets released that it would be officially available to ship, sicne that happened last night, we could only assume that they are now officially available

Does anyone know as far as the NMJ for the A400 does each movie have to be in its own folder? I have several dunes. My movies are on my Nas in iso format(one folder with all the iso images). Does the nmj need to install images and text files in each folder(Software like Yadis and Zappitti just scan the movie folders and place the info in it own directory)?

Reading through (at NMT forums) all the known issues and fixes with today's (11/16) firmware, looks like we're in for a bumpy ride. Just hoping not as bad as previous PCH launches, but gotta keep expectations in check. My biggest thing was being able to stream 3D BD-ISO's over SMB w/o stuttering, but alas, that's seems a no-go, for now at least. As Damian noted earlier, maybe 3D ISO's must just be on locally attached hard drives.

So we look to be on track for the usual pch launch of doom..
great, I had hopes that this would be the one...

I'm afraid so. Still hoping I'll be proved wrong after I get the player (next week hopefully) and install the next firmware (which 'promises' several key fixes).

next week, next firmware, key fixes. Good luck with that.

Yeah, idk what to do with the 3D Blu Rays. NFS seems to be the best option if it is an option for some. I just have a feeling 3D BR streaming over smb is not going to be a reality anytime soon with any of these media players, and since it is such a small part of my library, using a portable hdd may just be the best option.

I don't mean to be a negative Nancy around the A400 launch, but I just saw too many people with fairly high expectations off the bat. I sure hope that this time I am proven wrong, and I personally don't have an issue wading through bugs (since typically any new media player I buy first starts as a test unit before I even consider bringing it in to full time use). Hopefully everyone who preordered has the expectations in check or gets a pleasant surprise.

I would not say that. Depends if there is any issues outside the known issues. Most of the known issues are all the same thing, ts,m2ts/bdmv no trickplay and hanging means they are having issues with files that dont have headers pretty standard issue for most media players that come out as stock software looks for header if no header it has to build a fake one. Should be a simple enough fix, they fixed it on all the past versions as well, The A100 and the c200 both had the issue but were fixed, Hopefully im right, hopefully i get my hands on au nit before thanksgiving otherwise wont have one for two weeks.

Also seems like the people that got there unit first are close to first time users, Lots of complaints without posting in real world tests just I get stutter and explain nothing in there setup,
Edited by halfelite - 11/16/12 at 8:42am