XMS-888 - Mpeg4 - Firmware?

[andw]

Hi jok11n,
for .wma and .wmv files, just use the samples that come with Windows Movie Maker 2 and the creativity fun packs.
I think it would be safe to say that those files should be 100% compliant with the .wma and .wmv formats (although with Micro$oft, you never can tell...)
However, I have found any .wma files only play for 1 minute.
Video formats I have tried have been fine - except for .wmv (although aspect is all out on Widesceen tv (unless you use anamorphic widescreen source, but this is really 4:3 just squished) needs for 16:9 original to be able to be made to fit).
I have had no lock ups with avi's, anybody else?

[RareWare]

I think i may have just f'ed up something. I am unable to set the player to region 0 after the firmware update.

Is there anyway i can flash back to the old firmware ?


Thanks for your time.


EDIT: No need for any help peeps :) ... It ended up that the batteries were near dead so after changing them i can play normally.

[davidf]

I have a new problem since the introduction of the 1.1 firmaware upgrade. This is with straight DVD's not MPeg4. If I switch the audio to dts the player stops then jumps at chapter changes if I switch back to straight 5.1 the problem remains. Reseting the machine is the only way to get it back to normal.

[homerp1au]

Thanks for the fast work guys, you rock. the xms888 now is a real beast.
I encouraged a mate to buy one which he only did after the v1.1 firmare appeared. He's found a couple of avi's that won't play so far, i'll find out the details and post

[jokiin]

I have a new problem since the introduction of the 1.1 firmaware upgrade. This is with straight DVD's not MPeg4. If I switch the audio to dts the player stops then jumps at chapter changes if I switch back to straight 5.1 the problem remains. Reseting the machine is the only way to get it back to normal.

Are you changing audio tracks while it's playing, or do you have a problem with DTS playback if the DTS track is selected in the menu when the disc is inserted?

[davidf]

Are you changing audio tracks while it's playing, or do you have a problem with DTS playback if the DTS track is selected in the menu when the disc is inserted?
DVD is in and playing when I change to the dts audio track.

It actually misses about 5 secs of the chapter it skips to.

I watched a 33 chapter movie from the beginning to see if it would do it all the time and sure enough 2 hours latter every chapter point caused the player to pause then jump about 5 secs.

[andw]

did it / does it with the old firmware?
jok11n, could you put firmware v1.0(b?) up on the ftp site, so people can check when these sort of problems happen?

[jokiin]

DVD is in and playing when I change to the dts audio track.

It actually misses about 5 secs of the chapter it skips to.

I watched a 33 chapter movie from the beginning to see if it would do it all the time and sure enough 2 hours latter every chapter point caused the player to pause then jump about 5 secs.

Most players don't allow you to change between DTS and Dolby Digital sound tracks during playback, which is why I asked if that is what you were doing. I'll try it out tonight and see how it goes. If playback is fine unless it is changed during playback I'll see if I can have the ability to change to DTS during playback removed.

What was the movie that was skipping, it may be a dual layer problem also if it is happening so late in the movie.

[jokiin]

did it / does it with the old firmware?
jok11n, could you put firmware v1.0(b?) up on the ftp site, so people can check when these sort of problems happen?

I didn't want to put previous firmwares up to avoid confusion, if anyone needs the previous one I'm happy to email as required.

[wakeboardandy]

I noticed if you push the pbc button the movie will pause at all chapter intervals.

Have you tried selecting DTS from the menu and if so does that do the same thing?

[center link]

All i would like to see is support for lower bitrate files with less then 128k

Got several old files that play fine,pic is fine just got no audio.
as said by other posts. I dont/shoulnt have to re encode these files if it had support in the first place.

[center link]

Has anybody tryed files encoded with ogg vorbis audio codecs?

Just wondering if it works fine or not.

[andw]

Has anybody tryed files encoded with ogg vorbis audio codecs?
Just wondering if it works fine or not.
Just converted an .mp3 to .ogg - does not list the file on the file list.
Tried renaming it to .mp3, and it listed it with a ? in a bubble - did not play.
Interestingly, it lists .srt subtitle files with a ? in a bubble as well. Does this mean that a '?' in a bubble means "I recognize the file extension, but the format is all wrong"?

[GeeJay]

Left field question for the technofiles...

I've just bought my missus one of the new Hitachi DVD DV Cams for Christmas. It can write directly to 8cm DVD RAM disks. This is probably a long shot but has anyone tried the 888 with either DVD RAM disks or 8cm DVD-Rs. If the tray only ejects about half way can you even get an 8cm disk in it?

I'm still a noob at this DVD ripping/encoding lark but I've already learnt heaps just from this thread...thanks everyone. :dD

[andw]

Can't say about DVD-Ram, someone above said that DVD-R's were ok.
The tray has the usual indent to take 8cm discs, the tray actually pokes out about 75%, and the 8cm indent is actually fully exposed, so it's probably easier to get the smaller discs in. (After you have put a few full size discs in, you get used to it, and don't even think about it.)
The manual does not mention 8cm DVD's, but does mention 8cm CD's. I think though that the manual is about normal for this sort of thing (pretty poor) and doesn't actually tell you much.
My guess would be that at least 8cm DVD-R's would be ok. not sure about DVD RAM.
Take a couple in to the local Strathfield store before you buy to be sure.
Unless anyone has tried them, and can answer more directly..?

[malcez]

I would agree with andw

when i bought my xms888 i took in about TEN DISCS!

the poor girl at brisbane car sound (strathfield's northern partner in qld) watched in amazement for 5 minutes as i took different formats and carefully watched each one play, CD, CDR, MP3, DVD (bought), DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R with 7 .divx's. They are pretty good at allowing you to try before buy. i would ***think*** that the 8cm dvd's may work but you should take a few along just in case.

other nuisance issues i found which should be addressed in firmware 1.2:
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(1) when pressing "goto" button - display comes up as 255255255 etc. it does not cause any problems, and the function appears to work, but it is aesthetically unpleasing
(2) sometimes i have to try 4-5x to get a LARGE sized divx on a CDR to play, this requires multiple cold restarts of the player too. it will usually eventually play, but it is frustrating. i never had problems with divx burned to DVDR funnily enough. therefore it must be a software/firmware issue.
(3) i have NO idea how to get that equalizer to work - the manual is useless. it seems to toggle through different modes but is a bit unstable.
(4) maybe we can ask andw and jok11n nicely to do us up a .PDF xms888 manual in the queen's english for the next firmware and put it at the same website

[andw]

andw is just a regular user like you trying to get problems with the player sorted out.
I agree with the manual, I think most manuals (even name brands) are useless. They don't tell you anything you couldn't figure out in 5 minutes with the remote control.
I would like to know things like "what do the different picture modes do?" - that sort of thing is what I like manuals to have, but they never do.
I would rather get a lot of the issues sorted out than have a 'good' manual though.
I haven't had any problem with large Xvid files (800MB). What do you define as large divx files?

[andw]

Additional things I have tried
no support for .ogg (not listed in file list)
no support for .wav (listed with "mpeg-4" icon but does not play
no support for quicktime (some downloadable movie trailers come in this)
no support for .wmv (shows microsoft windows logo, but when you try and play, you get "codec not supported" also used for movie trailers (e.g. shrek2 small from the shrek 2 site))
Any chance they can speed up the disc load time?

[mlui888]

Also, .rm and .mov files use mpg4 compression. .mp4 files use mpg4 compression by definition.

mlui888

[andw]

Also, .rm and .mov files use mpg4 compression. .mp4 files use mpg4 compression by definition.

Do they work if named .divx or .avi?
Is it the extension that the .mp4 files have that is confusing it, or the format?