**** BEGIN LOGGING AT Tue Jun 17 02:59:57 2008 Jun 17 08:37:50 http://unknownblogger.livejournal.com/129845.html Jun 17 08:38:16 hahah, i came across that site 2 days ago Jun 17 08:38:19 looks like matthewc's serial ttl converter Jun 17 08:38:25 :) Jun 17 08:38:30 mine has 2 resistors in it too Jun 17 08:38:45 i would have taken a photo but it is wrapped in electrical tape now Jun 17 08:38:59 hehe Jun 17 08:39:18 I no nothing about electronics I just bought a premade unit Jun 17 08:39:37 I'll have to see if I can get it running on my NAS Jun 17 08:39:41 it was originally used as a computer reader in my car, with a 12V to 5V regulator on it, I bypassed the regulator and it works like a charm, presumably you have seen my post on the forum Jun 17 08:39:48 so I too can have always on serial access Jun 17 08:40:00 yeah Jun 17 08:40:38 bbl Jun 17 08:40:52 yep, i originally had a null modem cable going fron the pl2303 usb-serial adapter on the slug to the toppy Jun 17 08:41:06 but now i have my home grown job going into the wiz from the pl2303 adapter Jun 17 08:41:21 and a home grown microcom compiled (now it is a package) Jun 17 08:41:40 this guy knows a lot: http://www.lundman.net/wiki/index.php/LimHD:EXT2 Jun 17 08:41:58 look at the other pages, i am reading this page to see his binary hacking tricks Jun 17 08:44:12 * rwhitby just uses cheap usb phone data cables from throwout bins Jun 17 08:45:08 i started to look at that option, but i dunno if it had any protocol stuff in it (FBUS cable for Nokia 6120/6130) Jun 17 08:45:40 the nslu2 serial page has a list of known working cables Jun 17 08:45:54 ahh, good Jun 17 08:46:36 http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/HowTo/AddASerialPort Jun 17 08:46:39 that lundman guy has clearly got his hands on the toolkit for a 8623 player Jun 17 09:01:28 * peteru tried the mobile phone usb cable and after spending $49.95 at DSE could not get it to work :-( Jun 17 09:02:25 mine looks about 95% like the link Eric shows, but hard wired on the unit (and DB9 hard wired to the perf board) Jun 17 09:02:44 Turns out that the stupid cable had some shift register circuit that needed the serial number supplied with the mobile phone management software to send anything down the wire! Jun 17 09:02:45 no usb Jun 17 09:02:52 Bloody copy protection! Jun 17 09:02:59 yep, the later Nokia FBUS cables need that Jun 17 09:03:35 (later=6120/6130 lol, this must be almost 10years old) Jun 17 09:04:25 the earlier Nokias (5110/6110) just had level shifters, and in fact my cable started as an FBUS cable for my Nokia before it was modded to be a cable for the car, and now finally a serial port for the Wiz, it has had some history Jun 17 09:05:09 I was povo back in 1997 and did the home grown MAX232 solution rather than spend whatever crazy price they wanted for the Nokia serial cable. Jun 17 09:08:15 LOL, my old bigpond page is still alive Jun 17 09:08:50 http://users.bigpond.net.au/tony_h/nokia/indexbod.html Jun 17 09:09:19 This is the adapter in the Wiz, without the switch and plastic bits Jun 17 09:09:56 and power taken from Wiz rather DB9. Jun 17 09:25:05 I've got a bunch of components plugged into a breadboard around an Intersil chip. Unlike the Max part, it can be used in 3.3V as well as 5V circuits, so it's good in all sorts of devices. Jun 17 09:25:48 if you look at my ckt diag on the website, you will see it is ok with 3.3V due to having zeners in the design Jun 17 09:26:30 However, the choice of capacitor technology is more important than the Max parts. Wouldn't work the first time, until I replaced some of the electrolytics with tantalums (or the other way - con't remember) Jun 17 09:26:48 oh, yeah, i used tantalums for size Jun 17 09:26:55 I'm talking about VCC being either 3.3V or 5V, not the TTL. Jun 17 09:27:07 good point Jun 17 09:27:25 the max232 will sometimes work at 3.3V.. but it is not spec'd that low Jun 17 09:27:57 i hacked the back of the wiz a bit too Jun 17 09:28:18 i sliced it down to the 3rd(??) WLAN input (which is a plugged hole) Jun 17 09:28:32 and drew the cable thru there so it is fully screwed up Jun 17 09:28:55 strange it has 3 holes for the WLAN antennas Jun 17 09:29:00 this is the S1 Jun 17 09:29:01 Isn't there plenty of perforated metalwork (like the 3rd antenna hole) to run the serial cable out? Jun 17 09:29:17 yep, that is what i am talking about Jun 17 09:29:44 but i sliced it to the top of teh case so i can slide the cable up/out without chopping the connectors off it Jun 17 09:30:02 Should be able to thread the cable through that hole without any case mods. Jun 17 09:30:09 would have been nice to run it to risers like in the link eric sent, would have been more flexible then Jun 17 09:30:27 yeah, but it is all soldered, I would have to butcher the cable to get it out Jun 17 09:30:46 instead I butchered teh wiz LOL Jun 17 09:30:49 Oh, I see - the joy of pre-existing circuits :) Jun 17 09:31:15 like I said, that adapter I built years ago has gone thru 3 generations of mods now Jun 17 09:31:57 but it would have been nicer to have riser pins and a cable that can be slid onto the pins (4 seperate connections) Jun 17 09:32:25 I think that they have 3 holes because the case was designed for 802.11n, but in the end the technology could not be grafted into the unit. Jun 17 09:33:08 after reading more pages of that thread I told you about a few days ago, it seems that beyonwiz have done a very good job in getting the wiz to do what it is currently doing Jun 17 09:33:24 that limHD thingy looks way way more buggy than the wiz Jun 17 09:33:32 but they have ram problems doing anything Jun 17 09:33:34 802.11n roll out has been very slow and I am not aware of any ucLinux 2.4 drivers for the new chipsets, such as intel AGN parts. Jun 17 09:34:05 i have a 5port 10/100 switch coming tomorrow to finally get away from wireless Jun 17 09:34:13 i wish I got a P1 now, they look a lot sexier Jun 17 09:34:39 and from that limHD thread, there is no way in hell 802.11G is capable of streaming HD Jun 17 09:34:51 mind you, they are streaming blueray and hd-dvd rips lol Jun 17 09:35:03 Beyonwiz seem to have done a good job of adding DVB support to the SigmaDesign core, which is something that SD have not had. Even with the 8634, Sigma DVB sucked. Jun 17 09:35:32 also even samba doesn't keep up, and they recommend (and their curacao gui supports) nfs mounting for HD streaming Jun 17 09:36:33 all we need is for beyonwiz to fiddle at the microcode level a bit now, to fix those nagging issues like aspect ratio probs, motion adaptive de-interlacing etc Jun 17 09:37:37 i have been streaming HD test patterns to the WIz and I think it does have some interlacing issues Jun 17 09:38:08 The decode pipelines in the 8623 and 8634 are very similar, so any improvements that Sigma make for the current generation should be back portable to the existing platforms. Jun 17 09:38:19 god i hope so Jun 17 09:38:39 i am about 2/3 of the way thru that 150ish page thread, and they are at approx Nov2007 Jun 17 09:39:29 and some sample 8634 boxes were in a few of the testers hands with similar issues for the higher bitrate H.264 in MKV 1080p streams that the 8623 had probs with Jun 17 09:40:10 but a few people that seemed to be in the know said that the 8634 has a lot more potential with proper mmu, and the gui etc toolkit was a lot better Jun 17 09:40:24 I had a quick skim through, but did not spot anything very exciting. Let us know if you discover any gems. Jun 17 09:40:45 (well, active icons, will support video thumbnails etc) Jun 17 09:41:04 that thread is a giant slanging match between 2 or 3 people about 60% of the time which makes it a bit tedious Jun 17 09:41:26 The major attraction with the 8634 is the change to a modern CPU core and mmu, which is required to start implementing BlueRay functionality, since it requires a virtual machine. Jun 17 09:41:44 it reminds me of Ian vs... dunno, but one of the posters is a lot like Ian, defending it massively despite its major issues Jun 17 09:44:22 Hmmm, beats me why Ian tries so hard sometimes. Let's face it, the extra bits in the S1 don't work properly. The P1 is THE Beyonwiz to have, S1 is pushing the hardware and software past it's abilities and the H1, well, the H1 is not very exciting at all. Jun 17 09:45:30 i won't know what to do if a dual tuner dvb-t 8634 unit comes out with better playback specs to the wiz Jun 17 09:45:37 could be a bit pricey Jun 17 09:46:34 The H1 may have been a slightly more interesting product if it used a different IR command set, just to get that extra tuner into your setup, but the inability to have them side by side is one of the most common design shortsightedness examples I've seen. Jun 17 09:47:08 yeah, if they use their brains they would realise "we can sell more units this way" Jun 17 09:47:13 Ziova/Zensonic were planning one, but it looks like Sigma may have let them down. Jun 17 09:47:37 interesting, i saw that brand being mentioned in the mammoth thread also Jun 17 09:47:43 http://www.ziova.com/cs615.php Jun 17 09:47:54 actually, i remember they had a divx player years ago come to think of it Jun 17 09:48:20 I've talked to them when I was looking at OEMing a platform. Jun 17 09:48:47 They're in Adelaide, which was very attractive as opposed to Korea, or Hong Kong or China. Jun 17 09:48:49 ah, flac and ogg Jun 17 09:49:10 dvd iso too Jun 17 09:49:57 They also have a 8623 based player and have a GPL release, but is only available if you provide a serial number and matching MAC address Jun 17 09:50:23 oh, that would be good Jun 17 09:51:20 Picture Slideshow Support Jun 17 09:51:21 Transition effects between pictures Jun 17 09:51:31 must not have the 862x Jun 17 09:51:58 or it transitions, goes to black for a few seconds, and transitions to the next lol Jun 17 09:52:33 The 8623 has a 2D accelerator as well as truetype font rendering acceleration and JPEG decode acceleration, but Beyonwiz don't appear to use any of that. Jun 17 09:52:34 network bookmarks and id3 tags too Jun 17 09:53:48 The Ziova stuff looks great on paper and is pretty expensive. I have no idea how it stacks up, but so far they have only released media players - no DVB-T support. Jun 17 09:53:50 apart from that, not much stands out yet, although if they do it well, then it could be ok Jun 17 09:54:47 When I talked to Ziova about a year ago, they were planning on having a prototype with DVB-T tuner or two in testing by Dec 2007. Jun 17 09:55:25 They used to have a combined DVD/media player as well, I think. Jun 17 09:55:41 CS505 Jun 17 09:59:42 BTW: The VFD on the front of my P1 is suffering from fairly obvious burn-in. That's after about 8 months :( Jun 17 09:59:56 yeah, did you see Jani's Jun 17 10:00:01 terrible Jun 17 10:00:12 Mine is at least as bad. Jun 17 10:00:17 so you haven't hacked rc.local to reduce the contrast? Jun 17 10:00:26 micomparam? Jun 17 10:01:06 I have, but the burn in is caused by the clock in standby. In particular, the AM PM has the segments in M lit up about 18 hours a day. Jun 17 10:01:48 so this is at the default brightness... wow, because i see on bootup everything gets brighter Jun 17 10:11:42 Interesting - what's the exact model of the EPO DVD loader in the Beyonwiz? Jun 17 10:12:02 and the firmware version? Jun 17 10:13:04 not sure Jun 17 10:13:15 i screwed the lid back on Jun 17 10:13:34 Ziova use the same loader and have several firmware upgrades available to resolve issues with their player :-) Jun 17 10:13:40 http://www.ziova.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2666 Jun 17 10:14:02 wealth of detective work info you are Jun 17 10:14:34 We need to find someone with a Ziova player and get them to download all this stuff for us! Jun 17 10:14:56 ok, i wonder if I can get this info out of the drive thru the shell Jun 17 10:14:56 They have a toolchain and source release too. Jun 17 10:15:07 i have been trying to compile a busybox with the works Jun 17 10:15:20 Try "cat /proc/ide/hdb/identify" Jun 17 10:15:27 but i got a linking error which has got me stuffed Jun 17 10:15:42 hex file Jun 17 10:17:39 only annoying thing about my current setup to the wiz is microcom quits with ctrl-c Jun 17 10:17:58 but when i type something that needs crtl-c on the wiz, i am stuck Jun 17 10:18:23 i think i will stick with telnet for main stuff Jun 17 10:23:18 bingo Jun 17 10:23:26 ide-cdrom version 4.59-ac1 Jun 17 10:23:33 cdrom Jun 17 10:23:33 EPO EPO-LDR DP-306D Jun 17 10:23:33 name value min max mode Jun 17 10:23:33 ---- ----- --- --- ---- Jun 17 10:23:33 breada_readahead 4 0 127 rw Jun 17 10:23:34 current_speed 67 0 70 rw Jun 17 10:23:36 dsc_overlap 1 0 1 rw Jun 17 10:23:38 file_readahead 0 0 2097151 rw Jun 17 10:23:40 init_speed 67 0 70 rw Jun 17 10:23:42 io_32bit 0 0 3 rw Jun 17 10:23:44 keepsettings 0 0 1 rw Jun 17 10:23:46 max_kb_per_request 8 1 127 rw Jun 17 10:23:48 nice1 1 0 1 rw Jun 17 10:23:50 number 1 0 3 rw Jun 17 10:23:52 pio_mode write-only 0 255 w Jun 17 10:23:54 slow 0 0 1 rw Jun 17 10:23:56 unmaskirq 0 0 1 rw Jun 17 10:23:58 using_dma 1 0 1 rw Jun 17 10:24:17 Sounds like the EPO loader is quite common and most vendors have been forced to provide firmware upgrades. Jun 17 10:24:37 it was in the zensonic z500 Jun 17 10:24:46 Snazio, Zensonic and a whole bunch of others come up in Google. Jun 17 10:25:35 I guess one way of getting some answers as to where some of the issues come from would be to replace the EPO loader with a known good PC DVD drive and see if things get better. Jun 17 10:25:46 hehe Jun 17 10:25:53 i wish i had one Jun 17 10:26:05 my pioneer 8x reader laser died Jun 17 10:26:07 I suspect that the media compatibility would improve, but the software compatibility, such as crashes in menuless DVDs will remain Jun 17 10:27:41 Well, they're only $30 or so - I don't have a S1, but perhaps one of the complainers can get proactive and "provide proof" Jun 17 10:28:02 ide-cdrom version 4.59-ac1 is the version of the Linux driver Jun 17 10:28:04 i still reckon we can make your p1 an s1 Jun 17 10:28:21 i am deciphering the hex code to determine hte version now Jun 17 10:28:29 You can get the DVD drive firmware version with: Jun 17 10:28:29 Jun 17 10:28:29 cat /proc/ide/ide0/hda/identify Jun 17 10:28:29 Jun 17 10:28:29 and a little bit of hex to ascii conversion ... it's in the last 4 hex digit group of the 3rd line and the first of the 4th Jun 17 10:29:06 58DI Jun 17 10:29:57 oh, that is only part of it, hang on, decoding the rest Jun 17 10:31:56 Seems that Ziova had firmwares up to 588H Jun 17 10:32:34 deciphered: DVD-R.M F/W 00258DI EPO EPO-LDR DP-306D Jun 17 10:33:07 i think i typed a char wrong, will double check Jun 17 10:33:26 (have to type the ascii in as hex in a hex editor to convert to ascii :-)) Jun 17 10:35:29 one lot is (with terminating 0000000s) DVD-ROM F/W 002 Jun 17 10:35:41 second lot is: 58DI EPO EPO-LDR DP-306D Jun 17 10:35:53 so i wonder if it is 00258DI Jun 17 10:36:31 Well, if it is 258DI, then it may be well behind what is show here: http://www.ziova.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2666 Jun 17 10:38:12 Either way, it may be worth doing some DVD performance tests, then upgrading the firmware (assuming we can get a copy of the firmware image from somewhere) and then trying the tests again. Jun 17 10:38:41 If it turns out bad, just ask Jai to swap your unit ;-) Jun 17 10:38:50 what kind of tests? throughput for one? Jun 17 10:39:33 Well, if you have any disks you know cause problems, see where they fail and how often. Jun 17 10:40:06 I guess you could also use dd and a stopwatch to see how long it takes to read a "tricky" dvd. Jun 17 10:40:19 just use "time" maybe Jun 17 10:40:32 yep, time is on there Jun 17 10:40:35 Sure, if time is compiled into the Busybox binary Jun 17 10:40:41 it is in mine Jun 17 10:40:52 well, in that case you are set :-) Jun 17 10:41:16 this is the abysmil perf of the hdd: Jun 17 10:41:22 # time ls Jun 17 10:41:22 IR.bin hello ntp smbmount Jun 17 10:41:22 IR2.bin helloworld.o ntp.conf test Jun 17 10:41:22 IRREMOTE.bin identify ntp.log testparm Jun 17 10:41:22 IRREMOTE2.bin install.tar ntpd testparm.gdb Jun 17 10:41:23 beyonwizrecfix ir rc.local tests Jun 17 10:41:25 bin irreal rc.localnew wizdvp Jun 17 10:41:27 busybox lib reboot.sh wizremote Jun 17 10:41:29 castle.iso linuxrc sbin Jun 17 10:41:31 etc modules smb.conf Jun 17 10:41:33 real 0m 4.40s Jun 17 10:41:35 user 0m 0.03s Jun 17 10:41:37 sys 0m 1.23s Jun 17 10:42:06 oops, it appears that the busybox ls is the culprit Jun 17 10:42:13 # time /bin/ls Jun 17 10:42:13 IR.bin hello ntp smbmount Jun 17 10:42:13 IR2.bin helloworld.o ntp.conf test Jun 17 10:42:13 IRREMOTE.bin identify ntp.log testparm Jun 17 10:42:13 IRREMOTE2.bin install.tar ntpd testparm.gdb Jun 17 10:42:13 beyonwizrecfix ir rc.local tests Jun 17 10:42:15 bin irreal rc.localnew wizdvp Jun 17 10:42:17 busybox lib reboot.sh wizremote Jun 17 10:42:19 castle.iso linuxrc sbin Jun 17 10:42:21 etc modules smb.conf Jun 17 10:42:23 real 0m 2.32s Jun 17 10:42:25 user 0m 0.04s Jun 17 10:42:27 sys 0m 0.65s Jun 17 10:42:36 (it has nice colours though, which the stock wiz doesn't have) Jun 17 10:43:07 Are your binaries compressed? Jun 17 10:43:15 um... Jun 17 10:43:31 don't think so Jun 17 10:43:39 That would be a big penalty. Each time you run busybox, it gets loaded into memory, decompressed, relocated and then executed Jun 17 10:44:01 it only seems to be anything related to the hdd which is a tad slow Jun 17 10:44:17 even the wiz itself, e.g. pulling up the recording list is slow Jun 17 10:44:33 Might just be becasue they chose vfat Jun 17 10:46:48 Looks like the CS510 can be had for about AUD$300 - a bit too much to pay for access to a toolchain that Beyonwiz should have provided :-( Jun 17 10:47:33 300? for the whole toolchain, including i presume binaries for anything not open sourced? Jun 17 10:48:05 I doubt it's that good. Jun 17 10:49:20 My main requirement is for a DVB-T PVR, which is what the P1 does pretty well. Secondary need is a good media player, which the P1 is so-so. Jun 17 10:49:45 got 588i f/w Jun 17 10:49:55 Where from? Jun 17 10:50:03 from 1st link here: http://www.mpcclub.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=8321 Jun 17 10:50:17 The German site? Jun 17 10:50:30 yep, they link to a german download Jun 17 10:50:47 with "improved sacd support' according to this 588 info Jun 17 10:50:48 If you read the thread, there was at least one person that killed their drive. Jun 17 10:50:56 i am reading now Jun 17 10:51:04 Probably didn't follow the instructions. Jun 17 10:51:08 Look here: Jun 17 10:51:25 i read, it says "don't eject the sucker if it sucks the disc back in" Jun 17 10:51:31 http://www.ziova.com/helpdesk/index.php?action=kb&article=20 Jun 17 10:51:36 i.e. it will initiate a new upgrade Jun 17 10:52:50 Well, it say take the disk out when it spits it out. Jun 17 10:53:08 Then wait Jun 17 10:53:16 yep Jun 17 10:54:14 huh, that release is march 2006 Jun 17 10:54:40 this DVDROM Firmware update only applies to DP-306D drive revision, no surprise your DP-306A drive did not like it.... Jun 17 10:54:40 they surely wouldn't leave a version on *that* old would they? (2xx to 5xx) Jun 17 10:56:05 Not sure - perhaps an email to services@epo.com.tw is the best option Jun 17 10:57:36 What does cat /proc/ide/ide0/hdb/model say? Jun 17 10:57:42 If it exists. Jun 17 10:58:01 EPO EPO-LDR DP-306D Jun 17 10:58:15 And are there any other handy files in /proc/ide/ide0/hdb/* ? Jun 17 10:58:31 yep, all the bits i copied up earlier Jun 17 10:58:52 apart from i didn't copy the hex file to irc Jun 17 10:58:59 Oh I see. Jun 17 10:59:00 ascii hex file Jun 17 10:59:10 here is a bit of it: 85c0 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 Jun 17 10:59:10 0000 0000 2020 2020 4456 442d 524f 4d20 Jun 17 10:59:10 462f 5720 2030 3032 0000 0000 0000 3538 Jun 17 10:59:10 4449 2020 2020 4550 4f20 2020 4550 4f2d Jun 17 10:59:10 4c44 5220 2044 502d 3330 3644 2020 2020 Jun 17 10:59:11 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 0000 Jun 17 10:59:13 0000 0b00 4001 0400 0200 0006 0000 0000 Jun 17 10:59:15 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0107 0007 Jun 17 10:59:17 0003 0078 0096 00e3 0078 0000 0000 0000 Jun 17 10:59:19 0000 0004 0009 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 Jun 17 10:59:28 actually, that is 90% of the useful stuff Jun 17 10:59:37 0400 0900 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 Jun 17 10:59:37 081f 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 Jun 17 10:59:48 the rest of the useful stuff, everything else is 0000s Jun 17 11:00:44 Seems like most other vendors out there have firmware revs in the 588 D-I range and some 586 range Jun 17 11:01:23 258DI seems strange Jun 17 11:01:37 maybe i buggered up the D and it is meant to be a number, hang on Jun 17 11:01:54 nope Jun 17 11:02:13 3538 Jun 17 11:02:14 4449 2020 Jun 17 11:02:25 is 58DI Jun 17 11:02:32 sp sp Jun 17 11:02:47 I suppose you don't have a picture that could tell you when the drive was manufactured? Jun 17 11:03:03 Perhaps they are from an ancient batch with crappy old firmware. Jun 17 11:03:14 no, i didn't take one of that (it is such a plain boring horrible drive) Jun 17 11:03:47 the wiz i do though, dp-s1 main rev.1.3 date: 2006.12.01 Jun 17 11:03:56 screen printed Jun 17 11:04:30 anotehr code also: MEP-ZPM-6DPS1-130 Jun 17 11:05:12 Well, as with any firmware upgrade, there is a risk and this one looks like it is a one way trip. Jun 17 11:05:35 i will have to pull out some discs to give it grief firstly Jun 17 11:05:47 So, don't let me push you into it if you have doubts. Jun 17 11:05:51 it is kind of ok for me, a bit sluggish Jun 17 11:06:04 i will certainly look for a sticker 1st Jun 17 11:06:31 But, if you do decide to try it, having soem before and after results to quantify any differences would be good. Jun 17 11:06:42 yep, will do Jun 17 11:07:13 It may be that Beyonwiz can address a lot of issues by making an official firmware image available for download. Jun 17 11:08:22 If you do come up with some positives, I suggest that you get on the blower with Jai and tell him about the adventures and your suggested solution. I'm sure he would be delighted to hear about a possible solution. Jun 17 11:08:23 hmm:I managed to bring a dead 306A back to life with mtkflash, so it does work Jun 17 11:09:01 He may even remember to send you some pressies at Christmas time ;-) Jun 17 11:09:12 hehe, not bloody thongs again Jun 17 11:09:28 although the ap-u1 was ok i suppose, a good spare to have Jun 17 11:09:53 Well, it's the thought that counts. How many people can say that they got anything at all for posting in some forums? ;-) Jun 17 11:10:01 i know! Jun 17 11:10:21 and a wiz for a price that it is worth, rather than the price it is sold in shops for Jun 17 11:10:39 http://bingobill.thruhere.net/306D.rar Jun 17 11:11:01 deadlink Jun 17 11:11:07 Bummer Jun 17 11:11:41 http://www.mpcclub.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=61292#61292 Jun 17 11:12:31 that is the thraed i am reading Jun 17 11:12:35 Sounds like the recipe is to replace the crappy EPO with a better drive :-( Jun 17 11:13:52 i might give mtkflash a go, it can dump the f/w from the drive too Jun 17 11:14:52 Excellent idea, if you can take a backup it's a no brainer. Jun 17 11:15:09 rpc1.org is down though Jun 17 11:15:33 cdfreaks has it Jun 17 11:24:19 lol Jun 17 11:24:37 this is the guy that has been causing all the dramas on that mother thread, but he is knowledgable Jun 17 11:24:44 Hi-Jack Jun 17 11:24:44 Site Admin Jun 17 11:24:44 Jun 17 11:24:44 Jun 17 11:24:44 Jun 17 11:24:44 Joined: Nov 17, 2003 Jun 17 11:24:46 Posts: 17614 Jun 17 11:24:48 Location: Brussels I would not order a 306D drive right now, it's wasted money. Jun 17 11:24:50 According to Snazio* they are close on launching a new DVD drive. We are still waiting for the drive to arrive for tests... Jun 17 11:24:53 Jun 17 11:24:55 It will fix the most issues reported and have high throughput... Jun 17 11:24:57 If you can wait, wait. If not, just try not to brake stuff Jun 17 11:24:59 Jun 17 11:25:01 Jun 17 11:25:37 he is a reseller, everyone keeps hassling him that he has vested interests in competitors of the limHD, but he just claims he wants the best out of whatever media player will finally come up with the goods Jun 17 11:34:29 Yep, like most resellers, he wants something that works and will try to sell whatever causes the least hassle. Jun 17 11:34:35 That's a good thing Jun 17 11:35:17 Forget the spec sheets and manufacturer claims; don't worry too much about the profit margins either. Just make sure that people want to keep the product they bought from you. Jun 17 11:35:56 i will do the mucking about with the dvd loader on the weekend Jun 17 11:36:04 i will pull it out and benchmark it in the pc Jun 17 11:36:29 I'd much rather be told that I should buy a separate PVR and DVD player than buy an S1 and then regret it. Jun 17 11:36:43 yep, i think so Jun 17 11:36:56 the dvd player i use I found on the side of the road Jun 17 11:37:26 it had one dodgy capacitor, is one of those $50 coles specials, works better than the wiz drive Jun 17 11:37:35 Yeah, would be nice to to get some definitive numbers - perhaps even one of those "read-errors over surface of disk" graphs with before and after firmware revisions. Jun 17 11:38:16 anyway, watching a bit of tv now Jun 17 11:38:37 I don't really do DVDs at all. I've got a hardly used Xbox with XBMC that gets used about 20 hours a year, if that much. Jun 17 11:39:50 Our collection consists of about 5 disks - the only DVD I bought was Shrek2 while visiting the inlaws last year and there was noting to do at Christmas. Jun 17 11:40:00 same here, i have been pondering a blueray for a couple of weeks though Jun 17 11:40:16 esp with all the depressing posts about the HD quota dissapearing soon Jun 17 11:40:17 The rest seem to be freebies like Tropfest disks Jun 17 11:40:47 "HD quota"? What's that? Jun 17 11:41:01 hehe, i have 7 or 8 unwrapped dvds that i thought would be good to buy that i haven't touched yet Jun 17 11:41:35 Surely they have been exceeding the mandated HD content since the introduction of the alternative HD channels Jun 17 11:41:39 when they open up for the 2nd sd channel, the hd quota is supposedly getting thrown out the window too, which could mean commercial broadcasters do 3 SD channels Jun 17 11:42:06 (2nd hand info only) Jun 17 11:42:24 Thus breathing more info into all those old SD tellys. Jun 17 11:42:52 I think the commercials now have to stick with SD, because Foxtel are going HD. Jun 17 11:42:59 http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=67264 Jun 17 11:43:37 i thought they would want to compete by offering hd? once you have seen a few HD shows in true HD, you don't want to go back Jun 17 11:44:05 i was really pissed off that the Supernatural series return was only SD, because that show looks fabulous in HD Jun 17 11:44:44 I'll take good quality SD with proper sound any day, when the alternative is overcompressed HD with really badly "remixed" pretend AC-3 Jun 17 11:45:03 ooh, don't get me started with Nein's treatment Jun 17 11:45:31 BTW: Can't follow the DTV forum link - seems the site is down. Jun 17 11:45:33 sillly dtvforums just died Jun 17 11:46:03 i got as far as the index page to copy/paste the link but when i went to follow it to remember how the thread started... cactus Jun 17 11:46:26 the govt pulling dtvforum/dba funding has seen the death of that site also Jun 17 11:49:47 I was just pricing decent hosting options today: $400 - $1,500 a month :-( Jun 17 11:50:12 for them you mean? Jun 17 11:50:20 That's for a dedicated server, as opposed to just a few hundred MB on a virtual farm. Jun 17 11:50:40 Nah, not for DTV, just in general. Jun 17 11:50:59 yeah, there is no way that the dtvforum would be able to survive on a multihosted machine Jun 17 11:52:07 But, I think the problem with DTV is the software they run - seems buggy enough to get itself into serious trouble about once a week. Jun 17 11:52:27 good point Jun 17 11:53:02 ok, i did say i was going to watch tv.. cu Jun 17 11:55:43 Bye. Jun 17 11:55:52 I'd better go and source some food. **** ENDING LOGGING AT Wed Jun 18 02:59:56 2008