XMS-888 - Mpeg4 - Firmware?

[jokiin]

This is yet another issue that needs to be resolved with the xms firmware, reading header information of an audio data stream is not enough at least reading a few frames of the audio stream will allow a better choice in the selection of the playback codec.

Don't expect firmware to fix issues relating to files not encoded properly, incorrect header info has nothing to do with firmware

[buts]

OK, on the 3iVX issue, YES, if you use 'Nic's Mini AviC Four CC changer', and change the 4cc code both Description and Used code from 3iVX to XVid the file plays perfectly. (takes all of about 5 seconds to do)
Hi, andw. Tried to google on "Nic's Mini AviC Four CC changer" with no useful
results. Could you send a link, please ?

[andw]

Hi, andw. Tried to google on "Nic's Mini AviC Four CC changer" with no useful
results. Could you send a link, please ?
ok, it's part of this apparently http://nic.dnsalias.com/XviD_Install.exe , but I got it on the "k-lite codec pack" do a search on that, it'll turn up.
- although I just tried the XviD_Install.exe url above, and this does actually install it (under Start - All Programs - Xvid - AviC (Four CC changer))

[himem.sys]

So with the issue of the firmware without messing with that image file thing i can just put the single .rom file onto a cd/cdrw and burn it and then chuck it into the player to upgrade?

[andw]

Yes, just make sure you do what it says in the .txt file...(and burn slow - finalise the disc - cdrw ok)
Once it has upgraded, it will power off the player (standby).
Switch off at the power switch, wait 5 seconds, switch on, hit eject immediately to get the disc out before it starts trying to write the image again. (if it does start again, leave it until it has finished - DO NOT interrupt it)

[HoochieMamma]

^ actually you dont need to finalise the disk (i didn't and it worked fine)

[pepito]

Anybody know if there's a limit to how many files the XMS will read from the root directory of a disk?

I put about 14 divx files on a DVD-R the other day and noticed that only the first 12 files can be viewed. ie. Pressing down arrow on the 12th file wont scroll down any further.

[jokiin]

^ actually you dont need to finalise the disk (i didn't and it worked fine)

The disc should be finalised, please don't advise otherwise. I already had someone kill their player because they didn't burn the file to disc correctly.

[jokiin]

Anybody know if there's a limit to how many files the XMS will read from the root directory of a disk?

I put about 14 divx files on a DVD-R the other day and noticed that only the first 12 files can be viewed. ie. Pressing down arrow on the 12th file wont scroll down any further.

I don't know of any limit, but I havent tried that many divx files although one of the discs that I use for testing has more files, but multiple types. Did any of the other keys on the remote get you to the other files? Some of the functions aren't documented too well in the manual. Andw might know???

[andw]

I know that a very large number of .jpg's worked fine, (my photo backup disc).
Approx 43 directories in the root, and 20 .jpg files. Each of these directories has multiple files.
What happens if you put the files into a folder of the root folder?
Do all of the files have a recognized extension, as if 2 files' extensions aren't recognized, it will not list them.

[andw]

Just tried a cdrw with 14 avi files (13 short 2 minute ones and 1 48min one).
All files listed in the root folder, no problems... ?
Haven't got a DVD burner as yet, so can't test on DVD-or+R's, perhaps someone else has got one and could try (although I can't see why it should be any different).

[pepito]

Actually I forgot to say that some of the files were in folders.

Something interesting I found was if I arrowed down to a folder that contains a divx as well as a zip file (which I wouldnt expect the XMS to do anything with) the player locks up completely.

That is by just arrowing to the folder, not getting as far as entering it.

Doesnt worry me too much. And may even have something to do with using a re-writable DVD-RW instead of a single use disk.

But I'm beginning to understand why the regular manufacturers appear hesitant to release MPEG4 capability in their players. I dont think they like the idea of their customers being able to easily lockup their players solid :p

I'm still pretty happy with this player. A bargain for what it does. Now if I could only work out how to turn off those bright LEDs on the front. :cool:

[andw]

Philips have released a MPEG-4 player (DVD-737) (also based on ESS chipset it would seem). That's one 'regular' manufacturer, more to come I would say.
I don't think you will be able to turn off the lights until it's out of warranty (wire cutter job I think)

[Pocket]

I have been using the XMS for a while now and theres a lot of things that the hand comes up for. On example is if you try skip to the start of the movie with the previous button, it brings the hand up. Subsequently, all other buttons are disables and you are forced to turn the player off and on again.

This sort of dodgy behavious is indication that the porson who wrote the firmware really doesnt know how to white a state machine. There seems to be a lot of "if this goes wrong then that will be inactive" problems. So my question is why dont the makers of the XMS 888 release the firmware as opensource. That way, the professional consumer can taylor the firmware to suit their own needs. Having written many such menu applications in my line of work, I know that I could do a darn sight better job!

I guess Im just _another_ frustrated consumer. And to think that the manager at the Adelaide branch had the nerve to say that I was getting a bargain and that this player should be $100 more! With these bugs its not worth $20 and no professional establishment would put up with it.

XMS = eXtremely Mediocre Stuff


Hey
Just wondering how can you edit firmware?? even open source firmware??
is it done in VB? or C++??
sounds interesting, is there anyway the firmware can be 'hacked' into and decompiled onto a pc for re-editing???
sounds a great idea! :dD
Pocket

[andw]

Philips have released a MPEG-4 player (DVD-737) (also based on ESS chipset it would seem). That's one 'regular' manufacturer, more to come I would say.
I don't think you will be able to turn off the lights until it's out of warranty (wire cutter job I think)
Samsung, that's another regular ... http://www.cdfreaks.com/news2.php?ID=8641

[davidf]

Don't expect firmware to fix issues relating to files not encoded properly, incorrect header info has nothing to do with firmware

Header information in relation to vbr audio is treated differently by each encoder it is not a matter of header information being incorrect it is a matter of how many headers are recognised by the player. An mp2 file that is encoded with lame is still an mp2 file the difference is most pc decoders will read beyond the header to ensure that there is no 'extras' that will upset the stream being decoded correctly. The fact that the xms has audio sync and playback issues means that the firmware is at this point not smart enough to deal with the wide range of acceptable parameters for mpeg4 audio. I was not trying to go beyond expectations for future firmware but trying to reiterate comments made much earlier in this thread relating to the issues of mpeg4 not haveing a fixed set of standards for audio. The best way to deal with the unknown is to make your interpreter(pre decoder) as generic as possible then use a 'best guess' algorithm to improve the selection of decoders that fall within the header encoder group.

This is the easiest way to put it, the xms reads a header gets it wrong and starts playing the audio from the wrong frame. end result lack of sync or lack of audio.

[andw]

The tv show that I mentioned earlier that uses VBR, can get out of sync sometimes.
I find that if I use the 'skip back' < key, followed by the 'skip forward' > key, I arrive back at the same spot, but the audio is back in sync.
Usually gets out of sync after a pause. (only noticed it on these files, now that I think of it, and these are the only ones I have used with VBR)

[davidf]

Hey
Just wondering how can you edit firmware?? even open source firmware??
is it done in VB? or C++??
sounds interesting, is there anyway the firmware can be 'hacked' into and decompiled onto a pc for re-editing???
sounds a great idea! :dD
Pocket

Any firmware can be reverse engineered if you have the knowledge, that is the easiest part. If you are not familiar with the instruction set of the processor you are editing code for you won't have much success reprograming. Embedded code looks simple on the surface but it is a bitch to work with unless your knowledge of the hardware is up with your coding skills.

[davidf]

The tv show that I mentioned earlier that uses VBR, can get out of sync sometimes.
I find that if I use the 'skip back' < key, followed by the 'skip forward' > key, I arrive back at the same spot, but the audio is back in sync.
Usually gets out of sync after a pause. (only noticed it on these files, now that I think of it, and these are the only ones I have used with VBR)

And there you have the answer :)

Becuase the xms approach to audio is to simplistic you need to give it a manual shake up which allows the audio and video stream markers to sync themselves.

[skaman]

Hey
Just wondering how can you edit firmware?? even open source firmware??
is it done in VB? or C++??
sounds interesting, is there anyway the firmware can be 'hacked' into and decompiled onto a pc for re-editing???
sounds a great idea! :dD
Pocket

There are no open source firmwares for these machines. The ESS Firmwares are MIPSX based. The ROM contains a loader and several GZIP compressed data/code blocks. Disassembling the ROM is possible using 6SRC - get it from the MIPSX SRC Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mipsx_src

Once the blocks are decompressed you can analyze the MIPS code and make changes. We've added a bunch of stuff to the ESS 43x8 (non-DivX) code, take a look at the OneFirmwareForAll Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/onefirmwareforall

There is a small bug with the current 6SRC version 6.0.3 where it drops one of the data blocks. You can get the data_01.bin by using version 6.0.1 and renaming the code_01.bin to data_01.bin (then delete the rest of the 6.0.1 output).

I've been working to get our main patching utility, Patcher, compatible with these DivX ROMs and I think the current version 2.0.8 should work okay. Otherwise, you can edit the data/code using a hex editor and recompress the blocks using GZIP.

Late!