Announcement XMS888 firmware v1.2

[jokiin]

The latest firmware version 1.2 dated 17/02/04 is now available for download, ftp.jokiin.com or www.xms888.tk there are still some known issues to be resolved such as handling of low frequency audio and others which have been delayed due to having to supply sample files to the factory for them to be able to duplicate the errors reported, these issues are known and well reported throughout the original thread.



What I would like is feedback from anyone that uses this new firmware and considers that issues that they had in previous firmware versions are resolved or significantly improved, some issues are immediately obvious such as the on screen display defaulting to off (as it should have been) while other issues are not so obvious. Given the wide variation of files that fall under the mpeg4 banner it would be appreciated if some individual feed back could be posted as to what results are achieved so as to develop a concise list of outstanding issues for the factory to concentrate on.



Thanks

A big thanks to andw who has put in a lot of effort troubleshooting this player, he has already pointed out the following fixes in this release.

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FIRMWARE V1.2 DF002A Bug List

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Release date 17/02/04
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Improvements
-------------------------------
1. Version Number in 'hidden menu'
2. Disc scan has been fixed when viewing .jpg's (was introduced broken in last 'beta')
3. Disc loads faster
4. Timer issue fixed on VCD and SVCD's
5. OSD off by default
6. Fixed 'ugly' 255255255: when pressing 'goto' in avi files
7. 'title', 'menu', 'goto' etc keys no longer locked out on DVD's after having played an avi file.

[andw]

I've posted up at www.xms888.tk, the new firmware, and also a list of improvements (listed above by jok11n), and current bugs and wants that are still to be resolved from previous versions.
The firmware version is now visible in the 'hidden' region change menu. (DF002A).
As bug reports come in, I will try to add them to the list on the website.
(plus, I'll try and tidy up the website when I get a chance)
Good luck everybody.

[redbears]

Looks like this hobby has turned into an obsession!! :p

BTW good work boys, things are looking very professional.

[lat3ralis]

Looks like this hobby has turned into an obsession!! :p

BTW good work boys, things are looking very professional.

Good work guys. No more infernal OSD every time I play a file :D

lat3ralis

[bwg]

great work jokiin and andw (do you guys ever sleep??? :) ), I'll be getting this as soon as I get home this afternoon. Looks like a lot of the minor glitches have been tidied up.

Jokiin: Do you now have enough of a range of sample files as examples of the issues which are on the list of 'wants' for the next firmware? or do you still need more?

Andw: Item 7 in the 'wants' list for next firmware (ie support for Real Audio and Quicktime) may be a long-shot. Although these are mpeg4, I think they are both different container formats to avi, and from what I've seen so far, this player is only designed for the avi container. Support for other containers (like mp4, ogm, rm, mov, etc) would be extreeeeeemly nice, but probably a bit too much to hope for in this current player. Don't let this disuade you from asking for it though! :dD

[jokiin]

great work jokiin and andw (do you guys ever sleep??? :) ), I'll be getting this as soon as I get home this afternoon. Looks like a lot of the minor glitches have been tidied up.

Jokiin: Do you now have enough of a range of sample files as examples of the issues which are on the list of 'wants' for the next firmware? or do you still need more?

Andw: Item 7 in the 'wants' list for next firmware (ie support for Real Audio and Quicktime) may be a long-shot. Although these are mpeg4, I think they are both different container formats to avi, and from what I've seen so far, this player is only designed for the avi container. Support for other containers (like mp4, ogm, rm, mov, etc) would be extreeeeeemly nice, but probably a bit too much to hope for in this current player. Don't let this disuade you from asking for it though! :dD

Hey it looks like we never sleep, but we are in different timezones (3 hours apart) so it just looks like we're always here.

I have plenty of samples now, and seem to have a sample of everything that has been a problem but if you come up with something new that you think may not have been covered let us know. I think you are right with some of the other file formats, we have asked and have not received a definitive response but I think some of these come down to licensing issues (I think if you want to play Quicktime, Real Audio etc there are licensing fees to pay) I don't think you will see this in entry level players any time soon as they wouldn't be able to get the price down low enough. If the chipset manufacturers do it though it may filter down into the cheaper players eventually, I don't think they see it as a priority right now though.

[V205]

Great work guys!

[V205]

Is it a hardare issue or firmware issue that the player wouldn't open the tray via the player's open/close button when in standby mode? Is this something that can go on the to-be-fixed list?

[andw]

Is it a hardare issue or firmware issue that the player wouldn't open the tray via the player's open/close button when in standby mode? Is this something that can go on the to-be-fixed list?
My guess is that it could be done in the firmware.
It depends on how far 'asleep' the Vibratto II chip is, and whether the 'eject' button can be monitored or not.
It's possible that the chip has a 'wake-up' interrupt on input from the remote, that then checks to see if the 'standby' button was pressed, before either going back to 'sleep', or waking up entirely.
I've added it to the website list just in case.
As for Quicktime / RealAudio/Video etc, That would be nice, but is just hopeful.
I think jok11n is the one that never sleeps, I get an extra 3 hours on him, and he still seems to be up and around all the time.

[pepito]

Well done guys.

You'll be rewarded in heaven. :dD

[basshead]

Massive thanx jok11n & andw.
Now if we can just get subtitle support.........

[jokiin]

Massive thanx jok11n & andw.
Now if we can just get subtitle support.........

The factory originally replied that subtitle support would be in this release, I haven't worked out yet wheather they have done it and I just don't know how to access it or it's still coming. I have read somwhere that subtitles need to be selected before you try and play the file but I'm not sure on that, going to have to have a bit more of a play with when time allows, I was up until 1am this morning with it as it was. I'll see if I can get some instruction from the factory as to the procedure also.

[andw]

Massive thanx jok11n & andw.
Now if we can just get subtitle support.........
My biggest wants for this version were...
1) Widescreen aspect ratio issues fixed for avi files
2) subtitle support
some others added in
3) audio issues - those being
3a) Low frequency not playing
3b) wma files to play more than 1 minute
4) 3IVX support
5) OSD to be off by default
and other things

Unfortunately none of those (except 5) have been addressed in this release.

Yes, subtitle support was supposed to be going in this version.
'smart' they reported it would be?!? - I cannot find a key that allows you to select it, or turn it on or off. (the 'subtitle' key would be good)
Other ESS based units have subtitle working (philips, yamada), considering the back and forthing and waiting for info between them and ESS, it should be going. (perhaps they just need to tell us how to turn it on?)

I personally havn't had any need for 3IVX myself as yet, I have only done test encodes on this, but I know others have lots of 3IVX files, and that's why we were pushing for it.
I would like to know if those that have 3IVX have any luck playing these, as I just get 'codec not supported' unless the 4cc bytes are changed to fool the player into thinking it is an XVID file.
Considering that we told them an easy quick fix way of getting 3IVX going (i.e. get the player to use the XVID decoder when it sees a 3IVX file), the least they could have done out of that list was get 3IVX to work.

At the moment, there have been no major changes, only fixups to small things like timer display issues, I can't see any major differences.

I am really hoping that they get these other issues sorted out from the files we sent them, and quickly.

[davidf]

THe only test file I kept that screeched when the equaliser was on, now works without drama. All seems well with the exception of disc loading. I don't really use CDRs so I cant do I comparison but DVDR takes for ever to load up now and the dreaded clicking, during loading, from the loader is back. I had kept the same set of files since the first upgrade which has given me the chance to see if there were changes.

These are some of the things that seem to have improved (all XVID avi's) on my test files :

Screech from equaliser on has been fixed.
Sync problem no longer there.
fast forward now works on all the files (2x etc)
Incorrect playback size/display on some files no longer an issue
Quick forward always jumps to the next frame ( was erratic before)
OSD - wonderful :)
OSD - now displays time remaining for files that it didn't before.
OSD - seems to give the correct time lengths for played and remaining.
Remote control works better than it ever did.

As i've said before in this forum I don't care for things like low quality audio and files that push the limits of 'standard' mpeg4 everything I use, to my way of thinking, doesn't try to stretch to far from the 'norm' so my satisfaction with this latest upgrade will probably be much higher than the net download brigade.

[[w00t]]

1. Version Number in 'hidden menu'

how do i get in to hidden menu

also it made a weird noise afte the flash when the player went in to standby mode

[andw]

It's the region change hidden menu.
http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~wweb/xms888/multireg.htm

[jokiin]

THe only test file I kept that screeched when the equaliser was on, now works without drama. All seems well with the exception of disc loading. I don't really use CDRs so I cant do I comparison but DVDR takes for ever to load up now and the dreaded clicking, during loading, from the loader is back. I had kept the same set of files since the first upgrade which has given me the chance to see if there were changes.

These are some of the things that seem to have improved (all XVID avi's) on my test files :

Screech from equaliser on has been fixed.
Sync problem no longer there.
fast forward now works on all the files (2x etc)
Incorrect playback size/display on some files no longer an issue
Quick forward always jumps to the next frame ( was erratic before)
OSD - wonderful :)
OSD - now displays time remaining for files that it didn't before.
OSD - seems to give the correct time lengths for played and remaining.
Remote control works better than it ever did.

As i've said before in this forum I don't care for things like low quality audio and files that push the limits of 'standard' mpeg4 everything I use, to my way of thinking, doesn't try to stretch to far from the 'norm' so my satisfaction with this latest upgrade will probably be much higher than the net download brigade.

Good to see that a lot of your issues have improved, if you think that the clicking is hardware related contact me off list and I can make arrangements to have your player swapped.

[buts]

Hi,
Could anyone help me with a new Nero Express ver. 6.3.0.2 ?
I used ver. 5.5.9 before with all those clickable menus for ISO
image, i.e. Mode 1 or Mode 2, Joilet enabled or not etc.
Now with 6.3.0.2 I don't see where to set up all those options
and to choose ISO image ... I just click on "Make data disk" and
get Nero Express window with "Add files" button and then "Burn".
Where can I set all those mutliple options presented in earlier versions ?
Don't want to burn the disk in the wrong format and kill the player.

[HoochieMamma]

great news, flashing as we speak!!

[andw]

Hi,
Could anyone help me with a new Nero Express ver. 6.3.0.2 ?
I used ver. 5.5.9 before with all those clickable menus for ISO
image, i.e. Mode 1 or Mode 2, Joilet enabled or not etc.
Now with 6.3.0.2 I don't see where to set up all those options
and to choose ISO image ... I just click on "Make data disk" and
get Nero Express window with "Add files" button and then "Burn".
Where can I set all those mutliple options presented in earlier versions ?
Don't want to burn the disk in the wrong format and kill the player.
Start up 'Nero Burning ROM', instead of 'Nero Express' from the start menu.
(unless you only have Nero Express)