Ah .. good start of the week ..

Just released through official channel (internet upgrade) CFULLHDMA firmware version 1.09.25.06

Posted in Life 8 Comments »

Yesterday withdrawn the 1.10.02, but now releasing 1.09.21.06 where the changes made in 1.10.02 are applied, but only keeping the 2.4 Kernel.

The 2.6 Kernel release needs some more time to test / debug before releasing.

Release notes: check the 1.10.02 entry

1.09.21.06 will be released officially soon, beta testers have been informed for the download

Posted in Work 1 Comment »

I saw a request (but cannot find the e-mail anymore) from someone asking if it could be possible to separate the power ON and power OFF for the CFULLHDMA

Unfortunately, the Power ON/OFF is not only controlled by Firmware. the IR codes are, next to firmware, also controlled by another micro processor (a very small IC on the PCB) so therefor it’s not supported. I’ll keep it in mind.

If you want to have the IR codes: find them here

Posted in Work No Comments »

Based on a new Linux kernel I am releasing a new beta firmware version with following fixes/changes:

v01.10.02

1. Updated: support changing audio track (Lang Key) for MKV files.
2. Updated: language translation.
3. Fixed: sound disappears after fast forward for playing some wmv files.
4. Changed Linux Kernel 2.4x version to 2.6.15.
5. Fixed: iMedia list restore issue after power down.
6. Fixed: NFS shares cannot resume and play.
7. Fixed: DVD menu issue.
8. Fixed: MKV subtitle disappeare issue.
9. Fixed: DVD [LANG] key issue.
10. Fixed: AVI mutltiple language srt issue.

Known issues:

• Some jpeg images cannot be shown correctly.
• no support for Video file auto detection (4:3 / 16:9 issue).
• Some DVD’s still do not allow switching audio or subtitle by remote.
• Some DVD’s will give a hickup during switch chapter.
• Some TS files do show wierd encoding artefacts when playing.

there are more issues not written in this list but you can find them here

The new firmware is only available for beta testers.

Posted in Work 4 Comments »

We promised ourselves to start or end a good day with Champagne or a Cava ;-)

We are again busy with firmware(s) … it never stops ;-)

People do not know what ROT13 is .. I wrote somewhere a sentence, but no-one did notice it yet .. It has a easter-egg / feature / functionality hint in it ..

Testing some features/ functions of the CFULLHDMA after some feedback users

I’ve received some new files which are not playable … it’s good to get a lot content to see if it’s playable yes or no ..

Let’s make it available to some people .. ;-)

Posted in Weblog related 4 Comments »

What to be expected to be fixed in next beta firmware?

• Fix NFS is not able to resume and play files after stopping playback.
• Fix DVD menu issue
• Fix MKV subtitle disappear issue
• Fix DVD [LANG] key issue
• Fix AVI mutltiple language srt issue
• Reproduced but probably not fixed  yet: DVD Chapter issue (stuttering)

Posted in Weblog related 3 Comments »

For beta testers released today:

Release notes:

• Updated MKV parser.
  this means that many issues reported about MKV files should be fixed. Please test / use your files and share your info.
• Updated the Translation table.
  This means that we have fixed some language issues. Some items were not translated correctly in some languages

Posted in Work 16 Comments »

Announcement:

v1.09.14

• 1. Solving the artefact issue on MKV files caused some issues at the On Screen Display: fixed.
• 2. CFULLHDMA could not work with Twonky Media Server on Music Level due to usage of M3U by Twonky. CFULLHDMA used it as PlayList, Twonky has other purpose for it, so things got messed up: fixed.
• 3. Issues with playing DVD’s and subtitles. It could not switched correctly (manually) and when selected it did not start at the beginning of the video. Fixed.
• 4. IMedia entries (like NFS) could not be edited after saving it. Fixed.
• 5. In the background errors on NFS could be created. An error causes the device to crash: fixed.
• 6. Files with for instance dvsd codec type crashed the codec engine: dvsd is not supported, crash fixed.
• 7. Certain movie files could not played properly (freezing video): fixed.

only available for beta testers (Check your mail. gmail accounts: it can be in your spam mailbox, Hotmail accounts are totally unknown if they get it .. Unreliable email host.

Posted in Generic, Work 37 Comments »

Although I like the articles on MPCCLUB I do not always agree what is written.

Today I read a story about: Media Players: ‘2 cents from a stranger’.

Quote:

Another example is the network connection on many of the media players today. People would expect them to have high throughput GBIT or minimum 10/100 network connections for transferring files to a media player which has an internal hard drive. What‟s not transparent is that media chips used (mostly Sigma Designs) have limited I/O performance that deliver nowhere near what you’d expect from GBIT or 10/100 network as you experience daily on a PC. Limitation by the chipset‟s performance is about 4-5 Mbit for 10/100. Did the manufacturer lie to you in any of both cases? No. The network connection is GBIT or is 10/100, it‟s just a name; only, it does not perform as you’d expect, due to limitations of the processor but it does not change the fact the player has a GBIT or 10/100 network connection.

In this story it is stated that the I/O performance of SD 8635 is limited and it’s performance is about 4-5Mbit (10/100) and that Gigabit is no use. Without any further explanation other than ‘limitation of chipset’, This is ‘true’. But if such statement is told over and over again, you can think that Gigabit is impossible and only a marketing trick and totally cannot get better performance than 10/100.

So I think I have to correct some things… Prepare for some technical details:

Standard MediaPlayers do use the MII connection of the Sigma Designs chipset which is indeed capable of 10/100 Network PHY with throughput speeds up to 4~6, maybe 7 Mb/s. 

Normally it is common to use RMGII or PCIe and not PCI to connect to a Giga PHY since the throughput of PCI is ‘too’ slow for a real Gigabit connections. Gigabit need a lot of processor power from the CPU side. As the clock of SD8635 is only 300MHz you can imagine that 100% Gigabit speed is impossible (60 to 110Mb/s).

When I check the Conceptronic CFULLHDMA, which has Gigabit, you can wonder why they choose for Gigabit rather than 10/100 not only being it a ‘marketing trick’ when you read this article.

The reason is very simple: they did not use the MII interface but connected the Gigabit PHY to the PCI interface. This will result in a higher speed for the Gigabit PHY but not the full speed as explained before. (you should use RGMII or PCIe).

During long time testing I got a steady 11Mb/s throughput speed. 

We can discuss about the fact that certain movies will not extend the speed of 10/100 but I’ve seen that a Gigalan can and will achieve better performance using Gigabit rather than 10/100 especially when playing ’critical’ high bitrate HD content.

Yes, 11Mb/s is not a full gigabit speed but is giving just that extra boost. So writing that Gigabit is ‘impossible’ or a fake marketing trick is not correct. (as long as you implement it as described above).

Note: the part about UPnP servers not capable of supporting subtitle files is also not totally true..  The Conceptronic CH3SNAS in combination with C54WMP or CFULLHDMA can do that .. It has all to do with ‘active-request’ for the SRT file rather than being passive waiting for it, what is common for UPnP AV based Players.

note: this message is my personal opinion .. nothing else..

Posted in Generic No Comments »

v1.09.11
1. speed up switch embedded MKV subtitles
2. fixed: MKV subtitle control code issue
3. fixed: Some mp4 could not be played.
4. Improved: some MKV files with artefact issue

You need to be a beta tester to get this beta-firmware. Put a comment under this entry with your real e-mail address and I’ll put you on the beta-testers list. note for GMAIL & HOTMAIL users: maybe my mail will arrive in your SPAM inbox.. check it !

Posted in Weblog related 34 Comments »