XMS-888 - Mpeg4 - Firmware?

[andw]

edit: This thread is now closed...
Read it entirely (warning: VERY long), or for a brief rundown on topics discussed, where to get firmware etc.
go to www.xms888.tk



Hi, I got a XMS-888 new dvd from Strathfield today ($188 - minus Virgin Mobile discount of 5% - approx $178).
Anyway, apears to be working well, does progressive scan if your TV does, Audio via Optical, Coax, 5 rca for surround or 2 rca for stereo.
Plays MPeg4 AVI's, MPG's, MP3's, JPG's, DVD's, SVCD, VCD, CVD subtitles work as well.
Nice enough menu for navigating these files.
There is a couple of small bugs I have found so far though...
1. When playing AVI's, you cannot turn off the On-Screen-Display, it sits there ticking over happily all the time.
2. When playing MPG files, if you turn off the On-Screen-Display, it stops the display on the unit from updating.
These 2 do not seem to be a problem playin dvd's or vcd's.
3. When playing back AVI at 640x350, on a Wide Screen TV, the picture is offset to the right of the screen, leaving you with a black bar down the left hand side of the screen.
Also, although the AVI video footage is "Widescreen" (1.82:1 640x350) there appears to be no way of telling the box to make it "fit the screen" which would be nice (Same as when they broadcast letterbox on 4:3 format on analogue tv).
4. Some "clever" designer decided to put 6 small red LED's across the bottom of the DVD drive. They don't appear to do anything, but be an annoying distraction when the lights in the room are low.

Anyway, the manual nicely tells you how to upgrade the firmware, but neglects to tell you where you can get these firmware upgrades from.

Does anyone know where you can get firware upgrades from XMS (or whoever they really are) from?

Other than those small problems, it appears to run fine.

[rimmeroz]

Got one as well....noticed the same "bugs" as you. But I also founf it can play a few crappy cd's I had burned with avi and mpeg movied my xbox had trouble playing.,,, So far it has played EVERYTHING i can throw at it (except DVD+R) I own a pioneer dvd 105 and have tried 15 movies and no jitter. And the voice sync is perfect. Not a bad little divx for the price.

[andw]

I emailed Strathfield last night, hoping for firmware upgrade. Hopefully they can point me in the right direction.
I previously had an XMS-150 dvd player, had no problems with it, however it seems impossible to find out who actually makes this brand or find any information out from them.
Has anyone else had voice sync problems, as I have, but it is early days, and I have to do more experimenting.
(Would also be nice if on DVD's you could do a 1.1-1.2X zoom, to "fill the screen" on the VERY widescreen movies. (the ones that still have black bars even on widescreen tv's))

[andw]

Phoned Strathfield local store. - No Idea
Phoned Strathfield 1800 number on bottom of reciept (hehe), they put me through to supplier.
Supplier put me through to the service section. They haven't even seen one yet. (I sympathize - I have worked in service sections - this always happens).
Anyway, service said "ring back in a couple of weeks", by then they should have seen one, and should know where this model comes from, and therefore where to get updates from.

As you can probably guess, XMS is rebranded for Strathfield.
If anyone hears anything sooner, please let me know, otherwise I will repost here when I find out anything.
Main chip is ESS Vibrato II (ES6688FAD) - which according to reports from ESS is an all-in-one DVD decoder chip. Runs the DVD Drive, decodes everything and displays it.

[mikef]

I have just bought one today. And so far same bugs as andw mentioned.

that on scrren display on avi p*sses me off

as well i would really like some 1.x or 1.2x zoom cos that 2x zoom is just too big

on the other hand this thig reads everythink i put into it

im quite happy now im just looking for som firmware upgrade for that OSD and Zoom

[wakeboardandy]

Yeah I bought one today and was bloody trying to get the OSD off for ages... Glad it is normal... Hopefully a firmware update fixes it..

Also does all your xms-888 drive only half stick out when you open the drive?

[andw]

Yes, my tray only half sticks out. (a quick peek inside the box reveals a pc type DVD drive, minus all the control boards (as these are handled by the super chip))

I agree with mikef, it would probably help if everybody who has one hassles Strathfield about it, and back to their suppliers. (check the bottom of you reciept for 1800 number)
I ended up with "Samantha" when I called, and she forwarded me through to the suppliers.
This way they might at least get something done.
Another thing, I noticed that the front of the manual mentions the firmware upgrade file being named "bank30". A google of "bank30" seems to come up in reference to the "Sampo" brand firmware. If it is, we could be in luck, as it appears that they have been quite good in the past with firmware upgrades etc. (no mention I can find on their web pages regarding MPEG-4 player).

[wakeboardandy]

When you took a peek inside was there a way to disable the led's. ie. unplug them. They even stay on in standby. I thought they were cool at first but now they are just annoying. Would a firmware upgrade allow them to be disabled?

[andw]

Ok, LED's - there is a small circuit board holding all 6 led's together. Running to it is a two wire cable(power and ground).
This cable comes from the back of the main display board and is soldered on.
There does not seem to be any reason why you could not cut this wire off.
At the moment though, I am waiting until I get a firmware upgrade before I cut it, as this may turn them off, or maybe they flash them when they are reprogramming the Firmware or something.
As far as I can see, there is no logic on the LED board at all, so it would appear that they would either all be on, or all be off (hopefully off that is). So it would appear that they can't be used for telling you how far along the firmware flash is or anything useful like that.

[andw]

Karaoke -
You may have seen this function on the setup menu.
On the "main board" there is a plug header marked...
+12V -12V Gnd MicL MicR
Now I might be jumping to conclusions, but it would appear that the main board at least supports Karaoke function.
Also, behind the front panel, there are mounting risers, and 4 holes, that look like they would house a circuit board comprising 2 x Microphone Jacks, and 2 x Volume controls.
I don't actually know what needs to be on the board that would go there apart from these items. (maybe a small preamp circuit or something) So if anyone knows, it seems that it would be quite easy to upgrade it to Karaoke functoin.
The actual boards / dvd drive etc take up only about 2/3 of the floor space in the case, so it would appear that they could have easily made the unit the same width as my vcr. Then it would have looked better sitting at the top of the Amp / VCR / DVD stack.

[andw]

Has anybody had any problems with it locking up?
Not while playing as yet, but try for example playing an AVI, and part way through eject the disc...
Black screen, cannot reinsert tray via eject button on remote or unit, cannot even use the remote to put it into / out of standby. Have to turn unit off / back on again.
I have also had this problem playing back some MPG1/2 files, even when just hitting stop. - does not go back to the menu, unit has to be switched off/on.
Hopefully firmware upgrade will fix this.

-Also, as I am using on a Widescreen TV, it would be very nice if the first press of the Zoom (or View) button would stretch an AVI file that is 16:9 Vertically, so that it fitted the 16:9 screen. (think i've already mentioned that.)
But only a 2x zoom is useless.
(no zoom on MPG1/2 files it would seem)

- Who decides where the buttons get put on these units?
The stop button on the unit is stop if you press the right hand side of it, but press the left hand side, and the unit toggles between stereo / mono left / mono right.
How many people desperatley need to switch stereo to mono? And combining it with the stop key!?!
Really conveniently placed on the remote is the Pal/NTSC switch key. That's something we are all desperate to play with while watching a movie. (aaaghh)
- Has anybody had any luck with the manual? For example, try following the manual to shuffle mp3 files (or just try shuffling them at all.
- And whats with the equaliser? Can't adjust it, can't choose anything but "standard".
- Has anyone else tried contacting Strathfield about these problems yet?

[malcez]

WHAT IS THE 'REAL' BRAND OF THE XMS-888?

Yes. I got all the same problems as you.

Notwithstanding, not a bad machine for experimental DivX in Australia.

In addition, i have successfully played many other format movies such as [TMD] and so on for the VIDEO stream, but not audio streams.

I wonder whether it is possible to upload audio codecs to this XMS-888 player to allow playback of the other format multimedia.

Also, I would like to know the REAL brand of the XMS-888 so we can search on patches and updates.

By the way, the karaoke function in the menu does not bother me, i don't use it. Better to use karaoke through your amplifier.

I have also noticed "freezes" after .AVIs where the only solution is to do a cold reboot.

I congratulate you folk for setting up this thread. Keep up the good work.

Cheers

[andw]

I have had a problem playing MP3 encoded at 224khz (not any others as yet).
Strange thing is, it ticks over the time as tho it is playing, and if you bring up the graphic equalizer, by pressing the 'eq' button on the remote, the diferent frequency bars bounce around as tho it is working.
Only tried thru stereo and tv, don't have 5.1 amp, so maybe it's just my setup.
Anyone had any luck with .wmv files.? I have only tried one so far, it recognizes the file format, but does not play. .wma files aren't even listed.
The zoom and On-screen-display fixup are my main wants at the moment.
If we can find out who actually makes it, we might be able to lobby them for update.
When I spoke to the service guy at Strathfield's supplier, he said he would try and find out, as he thought only "the director" would know who it was. Suggested if I called back in 2 weeks he might know.
Also, I havn't tried, but the Lite-On Divx player is getting updates from what I've seen that allows it to use subtitles with DivX / AVI files.
They need to be in the same directory and have the same name as the original file, but of .srt format (and .srt as the file extension of course)
e.g. Movie.avi Movie.srt

[andw]

Ok, it would appear that there is a thread running on Whirlpool forums regarding this as well http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum...42&p=-1#bottom .
Center Link has posted a fix to multi-region it there (which appears to work, I've tried it), it is...
1. Press setup on remote
2. Press Stop button on remote
3. Pres prev and next arrow buttons on remote on remote (menu will display)
4. Select region ID
5. press Enter
6. Select 0 on remote to multi zone
7. Press enter
8. Press setup button to quit.
They have spoken regarding the timer issue as well, so lots happening...

[center link]

Hi all

Ive found one way to remove the timer while playing mpeg4 files (divx/xvids etc)

Burn your .avi file with a .mpg file. The mpg file can be just any small file.

After you pop the CD in and the menu displays play the mpg file first. As soon as you highlight the .mpg file and press enter/play on the remote press OSD until you see OFF.

After the mpg file has stopped now you can watch your .avi file without a timer.

Yes i know this is a bad way to do this but ..until there is a better fix i will be doing this.

Sometimes the avi file is too large to fit on the CD with a mpg file use virtualdub and re encode it with a lower audio bitrate. I can explain how to do this if anybody wants to know. Fairly simple

Appart from a few bugs and sometimes annoying red leds under the CD tray its a decent DVD player.

[dastasha]

Hi,
I am a DVD 'newbie'. I bought the XMS-888 from Strathfield also, for its abilility to play the DivX format. I intend to follow this forum, it appears I may find your comments useful and informative, particularly regarding firmware upgrades.

My problem would hopefully be a simple one for an experienced DVD enthuthiast. The machine is connected to a 5 channel surround sound unit (XMS-900) which I know is working correctly, and the rca leads are all in the right places. However, I only have a left and right front channel. The subwoofer is working. There is no audio coming from the XMS-888 for the center or rear channels.

I think it is just a setting in the setup menu. Could anyone assist me? Thanks.

[rimmeroz]

I had the same problem......make sure that you set up the 888 for dolby and then try it. When I set mine up the first time I tried the tone test on the 888 and it only came out the fr and fl and centre. Now it comes out all. Dont try the tone test as I am not sure it works.
Try that and let me know......p.s. I just boght the xlogic 9096 pakage from the new store Makro in Perth and they sold it including a set off stands for $119. GREAT price as strathfield want $246

[malcez]

i can't log in to that whirlpool forum - private room for registered members - so i registered - still can't get in

searched for xms 888 on forums.whirlpool.net.au and ZERO returns

pls help

[andw]

Try this link http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum...42&p=-1#bottom

[andw]

On playback of AVI's, it seems to go to known 'normal' screen sizes e.g. 720x576, 352x288, 480 x 576 etc.
So for example if you play back a file that is say 640x350 (approx 16:9), the player appears to put the screen to 720x576, and then center the 640x350 picture. (resulting in a picture smaller than the screen - black bars top/bottom & left/right)
Zoom only has 2x in this mode (avi playback), which is of no use, a better zoom function would be to make the picture zoom to the edges of the screen at least.
Perhaps the 'view' button could make a 16:9 picture stretch to fill the screen for people with Widescreen TV's, thereby filling the screen properly on a widescreen TV, and leaving the zoom key to function as per normal.
This would also then allow people with 4:3 screens to have the standard black bars top and bottom when viewing a widescreen picture.
Does anyone know how the Lite-on 2001/2002 units handle zoom/ image resizing etc.?