Yes, the 00 CF, or CF CF is the customer ID. Just a very long shot that it might be the same for the two boxes.

Does the Z9s have the power down options like the X9s that I referred to in my other post? That is, you can select power down or standby power down from the setup menu.

Yes it does, but with caveats - Standby doesn't play nicely with either IP or Serial control - it only seems to work with the IR <power_toggle> command - or at least it did last time I looked at it - I use discrete serial commands for power <on> & <off> and don't use standby..

Gotcha... understandable and that makes sense.

But then @chiquito3 should be able to use the Power Off/Standby setup option from the Z9s menu to program his UCR MX-880 remote for discreet On/Off. I don't see how this would be different from from a Harmony or Pronto IR unit.

Because there's only one IR command for <Power_Toggle>

This will only toggle states and not perform discrete commands. I assume he's wanting to program macros to switch the system On and Off - so for example, if the Zidoo happens to be <off> and you send a <room off> macro that includes the <power_toggle> command, you'll end up turning the Zidoo back on again!

That is exactly what I want to do. Program system macros to Power On and Off all my devices?

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

For reference - Zidoo X9s v2.1.28 firmware.

Click on the power tile in the home screen. You will be presented with a power option screen with three round "buttons" labeled POWER OFF, STANDBY, and REBOOT. You can scroll to each "button" using the arrow keys on the remote. As you scroll to each "button" it will highlight/change color with a "remark" above and below the "button". If you make a long press on the highlighted "button", that action will be saved for the <Power_Toggle>.

In other words, highlight the POWER OFF "button", save the action with a long press of the OK button on the remote. This will make a Discreet Power Off of the unit when the <Power_Toggle> button is pushed. If you press the <Power_Toggle> again, the unit will power on and boot.

Highlight the STANDBY "button", save the action with a long press of the OK button on the remote. This will switch the unit into a STANDBY state when the <Power_Toggle> button is pushed. If you press the <Power_Toggle> again, the unit will power on from the STANDBY state, no re-boot or system boot as it's already in that state.

By setting the POWER OFF button as the default power setting, the <Power_Toggle> button press on the remote will facilitate a discreet Power Off of the box with IR control. The box will "Boot" with the next button press of the <Power_Toggle> button. I use this feature with IR remotes with activity based macro programming switching between five different source boxes turning ON/OFF each box when switching between sources feeding a display and AVR. TV Cable Box - Zidoo X9s - Dune HD Solo/D1 - Oppo Blu-ray.

Yes, I guess it's only a toggle of status. But as there are only two states and you can assign a real POWER OFF for one the other state can only be ON. It seems to work well enough in a macro.

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On a remote you really only need a <Power> button but in an automation system you need separate <Power_On> and <Power_Off> otherwise the system can get out of sync.

Say the box is already on for whatever reason (from the remote or from a TP screen etc) and you send <Power> as your <Power_On> command, the box turns off. <Power> simply changes state.

<Power_On> will only turn the box on regardless of its state, so if it's already on, it ignores <Power_On>. Likewise with <Power_Off>.

Yes you could use <Power> in macros, but it's not foolproof and a home automation system must be foolproof under all circumstances.

At the moment Zidoo are saying they can only add <Power_Off> and not <Power_on>.

I think this is because they've simply incorrectly allocated the name <Power_On> to the Power Toggle in firmware, but as you can appreciate there is a small language barrier, but I'm trying to explain..

If we get only <Power_Off> then there is a workaround.

Obviously "Power Off" would simply be <Power_Off>

But "Power On" would have to be <Power_Off><Delay><Power> to guarantee it turns on every time regardless of state. The value of <delay> depending how long the box takes to shut down - can't remember off hand.

Well I'm afraid I have to throw in the towel with this one...

After Zidoo saying:

"Only power off could be added as power on is occupied with 0x4d."

which is incorrect since 0x4d is occupied by <Power_Toggle> and not <Power_On>

and..

"There could be only have one value for <Power on> at the same time, so it could not be added more."

Which again implies that they think <Power_Toggle> is the same as <Power_On>

they now say:

"Zidoo don't support <Power_On> and <Power_off> separately"

I'm sure this is incorrect since it is implemented in the serial protocol (but I had to ask for it to be added!) and other similar boxes also implement in IR (Dune as an example)

So it looks like we'll only get discrete <Power_Off> by IR.

So I'm afraid if you want true discrete control, you have to do it by serial comms.

Mark I completely understand that it is not the same as having separate discreet power off - power on commands.

"Yes you could use <Power> in macros, but it's not foolproof and a home automation system must be foolproof under all circumstances."

Here is where I would disagree. While it would be nice to be foolproof under all circumstances, I've yet to encounter such a device. IP or RS232 serial commands are no doubt more robust but not foolproof under all circumstances. In my day job I work with machinery forming metal at 2400°F using IP control and we have overrides because IP control is not foolproof.

I would agree that what I've suggested it's not foolproof under all circumstances, but in my experience, it's working 99.8% (wild ass guess) of the time. A Harmony IR remote has a built in help function that will correct the button state and literally walk the user through the problem with a couple of button pushes if the device fails to turn on/off. I've programmed similar "escape" options into Pronto's and iRule/blaster type remotes for my wife or other users when this problem is present. Zidoo is for sure not the first manufacture to not offer discreet ON/OFF codes.


Well... the Power button is truly only a toggle in my example and simply changes state as you suggest. If the box is already on, and I want it on, why would I send the on command again?

I do truly understand that it's not the same as having two discreet ON/OFF commands and the value of having such commands. But in the case of the Zidoo unit, being able to select a Power OFF or Standby state and programming a macro with logical sequence in mind does work quite well. Perhaps not "foolproof" but much better than a stick in the eye or not being able to program anything at all.

I do hope that Zidoo could correct this but for the time being, you do have IP/serial control for discreet codes and what I've suggested works for most any IR remote with activity based macro setups.

I'm just a bit of a perfectionist (my wife would use other adjectives!!) and although I don't use IR, it would have been nice for Zidoo to provide the same functionality for IR users - I know it's an easy fix.

To be fair, I had to give up on IP codes too for kind of the same reasons - language barrier and I think in that case it was a hardware issue too, but discrete IP commands, although available, do not work due to the NIC switching off in "Off" mode and the IP command for <on> simply not working in "Standby".

I used to own a CI business (sold it 9 years ago) so this kind of thing is close to my heart.

And in case you ever want to play with one, if it's programmed well, a Crestron system (which is what I use) is utterly foolproof under all circumstances.

I think this is a great idea that I can live with. I'm not sure that I know exactly how to do it, but will try it. If I get stuck I will ask for your assistance.
Thanks in advance.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Hi all,
I considering buying the Z9 to connect my WD Easy Store HDD's to my system.
I currently have to connect one hdd to my new TV...Sony 950G and the other to my DVD player...LG 90. While they work fine, one hdd is 4tb, the other is 5tb, I'm less than impressed with the GUI's of both devices and would rather use one device.
I'll be connecting the Z9 to my avr and let the arc system connect it to the TV.
I use MakeMKV and like it quite a bit.
I primarily have old movies, b&w-Sherlock Holmes, William Powell, Freddie Bartholomew, etc. as well as a variety of movies many of which are BD. I generally prefer to play 4k disks in the LG player. It is just so easy to access my movie collection via the hdd.

Does Logitech, I use a Harmony Home Elite, control the Z9S?

I see Amazon is showing two versions of the Z9S. One is $20.00 higher and states it's using the latest version of Android. I'm aiming at this model.
I've read several reviews and also the Zidoo site info and this seems to be the media player that will suit my needs perfectly.
Any info, advice and/or suggestions are welcome.
I'm also reading the posts in this thread to learn all I can to make it easier to install, setup and use.
Thanks for all your input.

Pulled the trigger and bought the latest version of the Z9S...be in my grubby hands by Friday...woohoo!

Yes it works well with the Harmony elite.

Thank you.
I did a search on the Zidoo forum and found the same answer.
Very pleased with that.
Looking forward to having fun setting it up Friday.

UPS delivered the Z9 as Amazon said they would, but I had to wait until 7:30PM...argh, and I had the day off lol.
It's a great piece of kit.
Connecting it took 5 minutes. I had my Harmony Home Ultimate remote already programmed so once it was connected and power restored to my system, one tap on the screen and it was up and running.
It took 10 minutes to connect to my wifi and set it up.
I have 2 WD Easy Store hdd's connected...1/5TB and 1/4TB. It is so easy to connect to them. I like the GUI for the "Movies" method but I found some shows misnamed and with unconnected images...1 show has a "Care Bears" image and it is an episode of the Big Bang Theory...anyone care to explain what went wrong and what to do about it?
But the vast majority show the correct image.

Using the "Media Files" icon works great, allowing me fast and easy access to the folders of TV shows and movies.

I see I can also add my own background images but haven't gotten that far yet.

I look forward to reading all the posts in this thread to learn more.

The search logic can be a bit freaky sometimes, but it's easy to fix.

In HT2 you can just long-press <ok> on the offending poster and select "Rematch" and edit the search criteria from there.

On a PC you can go to http://<Ip_Address>:9528 to get to the web portal which is easier if you have a few to edit.

I also find attaching a USB keyboard handy sometimes if editing stuff directly on the box.

Thanks for the info.
What is "HT2"?

Nevermind...read about it on Page 7.

Hi,
Is it possible, and how?, to change the background image in the Music app?
I don't dislike the image of the female playing an acoustic guitar but it is on a plain gray background.
Thanks.

I see I have some oddly named movies that are incorrect. I know it's my fault in how I have named them when using MakeMKV. This is only a problem using the Movies app/wall and is only a problem with some of the TV shows I have on the hdd...Phryne Fisher murder mysteries, etc. I may try to fix the problem but as I can easily read the correct names in the Media Center app I'm in no great hurry.

I'm really happy with the Z9S. After a couple days of playing with it I'm thrilled at how fast it starts, how nice it shows my varied media files whether on USB of HDD.

Money well spent in my opinion.

One problem I did encounter. I was watching "The Quiet Man", John Wayne/Maureen Ohara, and the image is quite grainy and the colors are very over saturated. I'm going to compare with the original dvd I have to see if it is the same via my LG UBK90 player and if not I may rerun it using MakeMKV...any tips/suggestions on how to desaturate? I'd guess in the Zidoo setup I could reduce the colors, etc. using the sliders...didn't do it or think of it while watching it. It also froze once in the middle of the great fight scene and I had to restart Zidoo to get it to play properly...any reason for this?

I'm on page 21 of this thread, starting from the last page, to learn all I can about this device...thanks to all the posters.

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All Blu-rays I've ripped with MakeMKV look like that, while the source Blu-rays look great on a LG C9 OLED. Clearly I (and you) are using an incorrect setting on the Zidoo or in MakeMKV, because I find it hard to believe anyone would find the picture quality I see acceptable.

Something's wrong somewhere - ripped blurays are indistinguishable from the original discs. Even if I encode and crop after ripping (using StaxRip) I can't tell the difference...

DVDs, which is what I think @Kai Winters is talking about are a different kettle of fish - the Zidoo is not the best at SD...

I've no complaints with the BD movies I've stored using MakeMKV. The look great and sound fine too.
For 4K or my favs I still prefer the disk.
I generally use MMKV to store old movies, especially old B&W films as well as DVD's that aren't available on a higher format or I don't care about the format.

Thanks for the input.

I think the big problem with DVDs is that back in the day we were watching them at their native resolution or thereabouts so they looked great. Having to scale to 2K was bad enough, but these days, viewing on a 4K display with all the associated anamorphic expansion and upscaling required, they really take a hit.

I've never tried SD content on the Zidoo but I tried it last night and it does seem to handle it very oddly.

With the resolution set to 4K23 playing SD material meant that it was upscaled to 4K despite having auto resolution on.

With the resolution at PAL or 576p the menu display was predictably terrible but not only that, it still scaled SD to 720p.

It also mapped SD BT.601 colour into Rec.709 which isn't really a problem as the primaries are very similar.

Usually I'd recommend setting resolution to 4K23 if using a lot of 4K content (reduces resyncs), but if you use a lot of DVDs I'd suggest setting the resolution to 1080p23 (oddly, other refresh rates aren't as sharp) with "Frame rate mode" set to <Switch frame rate and resolution>

This means all 2K and 4K videos output natively and SD material is only upscaled to 1080 which actually looks ok.

Menus etc are rendered internally at 2K anyway, so setting the base res to 1080p23 actually looks better than 4K23.

Oddly (again!), the SD upscaling is interlaced so it's 1080i, but that won't matter with film material since it's a progressive source so there won't be any interlacing issues - both fields are the same.

I'm a complete noob. So, please bear with me. I plan to utilize a Seagate Slim 5TB and connect it directly, to the Zidoo. I'm primarily a Mac guy. Do I have the format the Seagate in FAT32, NTFS, or exFAT ??

Al ..

As I spend more time working with the Z9S I continue to learn.
I was able to tone down the oversaturation of the movie "The Quiet Man" by using the individual settings for this movie and reducing the color, etc.
Looked great. Still a bit grainy but that is due to the film and the size of the image on my screen, Sony 65X950G. I experimented with the varied screen sizes available and the "original" is the best but is a very small image. "Fit" was the best overall.

I also watched the BD version of "A Knight's Tale" and it looks fantastic. I use MakeMKV for my backups and Zidoo does a great job.

I'm still struggling with the renaming/rematching of TV shows...whew not an easy chore.
I name them...01_First Episode...and Zidoo matches it to whatever seems close but is always wrong. I realize this is my fault for my naming method. When watching a show from a TV series I just use the USB folder rather than the movie app. It is much easier to just go to the folder and episode rather than scrolling around. Zidoo does a great job with movies though I've found a few errors that were very easy to rematch.
I got a bluetooth keyboard the other day and it makes it so much easier to change names, rematch, etc.

I'd still like to change the background when playing music. I've no complaint of the guitarist buy I'd like to perhaps overlay a slide show, etc. That would be cool.

Overall I continue to really enjoy the Z9S.

NTFS. I believe it comes that way from the factory too. It's usually just plug and play.

FWIW - I've found the best approach was to tweak the color, contrast, etc. in Zidoo's unit as my displays are calibrated.

"The Quiet Man" is one of my favorite films too. Have had the good fortune to visit some of the filming locations in Ireland. "The Quiet Man" is one of those Technicolor saturated color films that has not had the best transfer authoring with the various video formats in my opinion. The color always seems to be off and vary throughout the movie to me. I wish some one like Criterion would re-issue it but I think the films time may have past for with regards to demand in modern times.

With regards to naming, when I've run into problems I've always reverted to the name used at IMDB. So far, it's worked every time.

Zidoo has HT2 more or less working with TV shows now. There's a learning curve but it seems to work with some success.

You've got a keyboard now but one of the Bluetooth Android air mouse remotes are cheap and have the keyboard built in. I picked up one on ebay for less than $10 and it works great. Look for MX3 Android remote on ebay.

Thank You, sir ..

I really like the Zidoo z9s, but having ongoing issues with movies (MKV’s) freezing randomly at random locations in the files. Only tested 4K movies, but watch these mostly. Involved factory since early Oct. but suggestions of no help. Finally sent video clips weeks ago of problem; no suggestions yet.

File setup: NAS with three files: 4K, 2K and DVD. When z9s opens it displays all these files together, but with Filter the 4K movie wall can be displayed. This is my “home base”.

Symptoms:
• Not common to any one movie or movies. Can occur at any time in movie.
• Same movies play fine on Oppo 203, Dune HD Pro 4K
• Power cycling required to clear freeze
• Playing test movies that froze again 10 times had no freezes. Froze another day.
• Happens on both z9s players, each connected in different systems common only to NAS.
• When frozen, pressing Return goes back to 4K movie wall; pressing Return again does not go back to the default movie wall.

Question:
Anyone with similar multiple movie files using Filter to select a file? Any issues?? Am running out of ideas and wondering if it is a bug in z9s since when movie freezes, pressing Return goes back to 4K movie wall, but will not go back to 4K/2K/DVD default wall.

This is a weird one - I use 4K MKV from two NAS drives using SMB and I can honestly say in the last 50 movies I've watched, I've not had a single glitch.

I know this because sadly I keep track - there was a firmware version months and months ago that caused an issue with DTS files and since then I've noted each one I've played just in case it rears its head again - it hasn't, but it's become a bit of a habit to make notes now...

So your case is rather surprising.

Couple of questions:

1. Do you use NFS or SMB
2. Which firmware are you usings
3. Are all switches between the Z9S and NAS 1000base-T? (and of course, is the NAS 1000base-T??)

The freezing is the concerning thing, particularly the Z9S crashes too - that can be indicative of an unrecoverable halt in the network.

Gut feeling, particularly since you say the behaviour is the same on two Z9Ss is that it's a network issue...

Name you TV series as follows - below is for West World, Sseason 2, Episode 5 and is an MKV file.

West World.S02E05.mkv

HT2 will find that fine.

I'll try that, thanks