# HR20 Media Sharing; WMP11 How-To (Consolidated)



## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

Ok....I just enabled media sharing via Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 & HR20. I do *NOT *have a ViiV computer....my home PC is Intel P4 3.0Ghz, 2GB RAM, ATI Gfx card, XP Pro SP2 (_5/9/08 Update: XP SP3 Installed_) w/all updates...including..obviously WMP11. All the items below are in many posts. I wanted to consolidate for either newbs are others doing many searches. All it takes is one item/step missed for this not to work so wanted to try to be thorough. I want to give credit to all the origional posters of this info....I'm just a consolidator. The below assumes you already have the HR20 working on the Network....if not go to TIPS & Tricks and setup networking first. *I highly recommend setting a static IP address for your HR20*....this can save alot of headaches when connections unexplainably go away and you are wondering why....when in fact only your router has re-assigned a new DHCP IP address. Please check the networking guide or other posts for details but simply put find the address range in your router's config page of DHCP and assign (write down) and IP address above the Gateway address in the Router and below the DHCP start address. Place this static IP address, along with the router Gateway IP, Router Submask IP and your ISP providers DNS IP addresses in the Setup>Networking>Advanced page of the HR20. Additonally, the below assumes you're PC literate and WMP11 is installed and you've already imported your pics/music/video to it. Well, here goes....(I wont' explain why all the steps...just they are well documented and needed...if needed just ask and I'll explain why).

1) Right click on Desktop, select *Power*, go to *Advanced* Tab and make sure all states *do not *allow Standby modes. Go to *Hibernate* Tab and disable.
2) Go to *Device Manager *under Control Panel>System. Highlight *Network Adapters *in list and Right click, goto Properties. Go to *Power Management *Tab and uncheck (disable) all boxes that are power down/standby modes.
3) Go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs. Click on Add/Remove Windows Components on right. Scroll down to *Networking Services*, highlight it, click on *Details*. Scroll down and make sure *Internet Gateway Device Discovery and Control Client *AND *UPnP User Interface *are checked.
4) Go to Start Menu, *Admin Tools*, then *Services*. Scroll down and highlight each of these services, double lick on them, make sure they are running and also are set to automatic. You'll see the button to *Start* and the dropdown box to select *Automatic* for each.
==>a) *SSDP Discovery Service*
==>b) *HTTP SSL*
==>c) *Universal Plug & Play Device Host*
5) Make sure *UPnP Framework* and *Windows Media Player Networking Sharing Services * is enabled in your Windows Firewall....look under *Exceptions* Tab. For these you should add or make sure the following ports are listed....highlight and select *Edit*.
*UPnP Framework* 2869 TCP & 1900 UDP
*Windows Media Player Networking Sharing Services * 10280, 10281, 10282, 10283, 10284 all UDP & 10243 TCP.

Here is also what WMP11 says in Help on Sharing & Firewall............
_Your devices must be on the same subnet as your computer. Most home networks consist of a single subnet. However, if you have multiple routers attached to your home network, you probably have multiple subnets. If you have multiple routers in your home and you have trouble sharing your media to certain devices, try connecting those devices to the same router that your computer is connected to. To share media to other devices, several firewall ports on your computer must be open. If you are using Windows Firewall, the required Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) ports are automatically opened when you turn on media sharing. If you are using a different software or hardware firewall, you might need to open these ports manually. The following table shows the firewall ports that must be opened if you want to share media to other devices.
*Port* *Protocol* *Scope*
1900 UDP local subnet only
2869 TCP local subnet only
10243 TCP local subnet only
10280-10284 UDP local subnet only_

I have Norton Firewall turned ON (Norton SystemWorks 2005) and thus my Windows Firewall is turned *OFF*. For my Norton SystemWorks 2005 I only need to make sure Windows Media Player is enabled as a Program Exception in Norton's Firewall configuration.

6) In your router config enable *filter multicast *and *UPnP.*
7) Go To *My Network Places *(usually on Desktop), on right side select *Show Icons for UPnP Devices*.
8) Turn *Off* any screen saver on PC.
9) Reboot the PC. Make sure HR20 is on. 
10) Open WMP11. Click Tools>Options>Library>Configure Sharing. Check the Select the *Share My Media*. WMP11 should find the HR20 and show as an *Unknown Device*. Highlight the *Unknown Device*, check the *Allow *box, open *Settings* and make sure all items to be shared are checked.
(_5/12/08 Update: Unknown Device now Shows as *DirecTV Plus HD DVR*_)
11) It is important to note, all be it obvious, you need to enabling sharing on the PC folder(s) with your target content and point within WMP11 in Tools>Library>Monitor to *ADD* those folder(s) which will import the music/pic/video file(s) into WMP11 library. The HR20 *won't see your media items *if you don't import them into WMP11 library....even if they are on the PC and in shared folder. It's any easy mistake...don't make it !
12) Exit WMP11 
13) User Menu on HR20 and do a device reset (*ONLY* a reset). Once the HR20 comes back up under *Menu* you should see *Music & Pics, etc, *item. Go into this menu item and select items to play/show.

*Problem #1: You Also Want To Access Shared Folders on Other PCs thru the one running WMP11*
You can use Windows Media Player 11 to share media files that are located on other computers on your home network. However, additional steps are required so that these remote files will play on the devices you are sharing them with. On the remote computer, the media files must be in shared folders. For information about sharing folders, see Windows Help and Support. On the computer that contains the library you must grant users permission to access remote folders, modify registry key values, and monitor the shared folders located on the remote computer. 
Here is Microsoft website FAQ which contains this and other details. Scroll down and open the question:
_"Why can't I play files that are shared by one computer but located on different computer?"_
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/faq/sharing.mspx

The below is for Windows XP.

This first procedure enables remote content sharing on the computer that contains your WMP11 library.
1) Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2) In the registry tree expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SOFTWARE, Microsoft, MediaPlayer, Preferences, HME.
3) Right-click HME, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4) Type EnableRemoteContentSharing, and then press ENTER.
5) Right-click EnableRemoteContentSharing, and then click Modify.
6) In the Value data text box, type 1, and then click OK. Value of 0 is disable.

This second procedure grants anonoymous logon permission to access the shared remote folder. This means that any user can access the folder; it does not distinguish between user accounts. Perform the following steps on the computer that will host the remote folder.
1) In My Computer, click Tools, and then click Folder Options. 
2) On the View tab, clear the Use simple file sharing check box, and then click OK. 
3) In My Computer, right-click the folder containing digital media files you want to share, and then click Sharing and Security. 
4) On the Sharing tab, click Share this folder. (Remember the share name. You will need it later in this procedure.) 
5) Click Permissions. 
6) Click Add. 
7) In the Enter object names to select text box, type ANONYMOUS LOGON, and then click OK. 
8) On the Share Permissions tab, click ANONYMOUS LOGON. 
9) In the Permissions for ANONYMOUS LOGON box, on the Read row, select the Allow check box (if it is not already selected), and then click OK twice. 
10) Click Start, and then click Run. 
11) In the Run dialog box, type cmd.exe, and then press ENTER. 
12) Type cd /dpathname, where pathname is the location of the folder you want to give access to. 
13) Type cacls . /e /t /r "NT AUTHORITY\ANONYMOUS LOGON", and press ENTER. 
14) Close the Command Prompt window. 
15) Click Start, and then click Run. 
16) In the Run dialog box, type gpedit.msc, and then click OK. 
17) In the group policy tree on the left, expand Computer Configuration, Windows Settings, Security Settings, Local Policies, and then Security Options. 
18) In the list pane on the right, right-click Network access: Shares that can be accessed anonymously, and then click Properties. 
19) On the Local Policy Setting tab, press ENTER, type the share name that you specified in step 4, and click OK.

*Problem #2: Communication Blocked*
If so, in your Windows Firewall Exceptions you may not have *UPnP Framework* and *Windows Media Player Networking Sharing Services * enabled in your Firewall at all.....see above....or not all ports set correctly. So, first unplug DSL line or Cable modem to your router. Next, turn off your Windows Firewall and see if communication establishes.....reboot PC & reset (via Menu) HR20 if needed. If the Music&Pics show up ion the HR20 and work then with Firewall *STILL OFF* go to your HR20 and under Settings & Info go to Info and see what the HR20 IP address is listed as....mine is 192.168.1.100. While there go ahead and connect to the PC and launch a song or few that will last awhile....so communication is actively going between PC & HR20. Go back to your PC and launch Command Prompt (DOS Window) and type in *netstat -a* (just gives network info). Scroll down to find the HR20 IP address. Next to this IP address is the port the HR20 is using to connect to the PC.....over to the left on this line is the port that the PC is using. Go back to Windows Firewall under Exeptions and add a *Windows Media Player Networking Sharing Services * for each of these ports #s (TCP). Turn your Firewall back on !!!!!!!!!

Also, one other connection debug * TIP * is you can confirm the PC sees the HR20 by sending a PING command from DOS Command prompt from the PC. Just open a DOS Prompt Command box (START>RUN>COMMAND) and type in *C>Ping *followed by your HR20's IP Address. This can be found under the HR20 Menu section for Networking under Advanced. If you've already put in a STATIC IP address (which I recommended) you should know it. The Ping will respond back serveral times showing connection response, etc....else you will get a timeout if no connection.

*Problems #3: No Unknown Device/DirecTV Plus HD DVR in WMP11 Media Share*
Open Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Viewer, then System. Scroll down the list and see if there is an error (red* X*) with WMPNetworkSvc in the source column. After double clicking on the error see if this is the following error description:
_A new media server was not initialized because WMCreateDeviceRegistration() encountered error '0xc00d2782'. The Windows Media DRM components on your computer might be corrupted. Verify that protected files play correctly in Windows Media Player, and then restart the WMPNetworkSvc service._ 
If you see this error message, there are two things you can try.

1) Following this linked procedure from XBox 360 site: http://forums.xbox.com/1/7738641/ShowPost.aspx#7738641....below are the steps.........
_==>a) Make sure your 360 is on.
==>b) Goto Start -> Run: Type in "services.msc" without quotes.
==>c) Find the service called "Windows Media Player Network Sharing Serivce", Right-Click on it and select Stop. Close the Window.
==>d) Double Click "My computer", Select Tools -> Folder Options.
==>e) In the Folder Options windows, select the "View" tab.
==>f) Select "Show hidden Files and folders", and UNcheck "Hide protected operating system files".
==>g) Hit Apply, Hit Ok.
==>h) Double-Click on your C drive. If you see a folder called DRM then goto step g.
==>i) Double-Click the "Documents and Settings" folder, double-click the "All Users" folder.
*If you still cant find your DRM folder, Goto Start -> Run , Type in "regedit" without quotes. Expand "HKEY Local Machines" -> Expand "Microsoft" -> Expand "DRM". Double Click on the file in the right side of the window called "DataPath". In the new window called "Edit Binary Value" it should list the datapath to your drm folder along the rightside, itll look kind of scrambled. *
==>j) Double-Click the "DRM" folder, Click Edit -> Select All. Then Delete.
==>k) Select Tools -> Folder Options.
==>l) In the Folder Options windows, select the "View" tab.
==>m) Select "Do not Show hidden Files and folders", and check "Hide protected operating system files". Select Apply, Select OK.
==>n) Goto Start -> Run: Type in "services.msc" without quotes.
==>o) Find the service called "Windows Media Player Network Sharing Serivce", Right-Click on it and select Start.
==>p) Go into Windows Media Player 11, and make sure your 360 is detected and "Allowed" to share.
==>q) Goto your 360, Select Music or Pictures, Select Computer, Select Yes, and hopefully your pc will now be found. _

2) Or you can try from the start menu: select Run and type in services.msc <enter>
==>a) Double click on Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
==>b) Select the Log On tab
==>c) Select Local System Account and checkmark the Allow service to interact with desktop. 
==>d) Within WMP11, turn off media sharing then turn it back on.
==>e) At this point, the "Unknown Device" appeared.

*Problem #4: You've updated your local and/or remote items with more content but cannot see updates *
If you add, delete, or change media items that are on another computer, these changes might not appear immediately if you are using Windows Media Player to browse and play media files from a library that is shared from another computer. To see the changes, refresh the library in Windows Media Player.
To refresh the library
1) In the Navigation pane, right-click the library you want to refresh. 
2) Click Refresh.

*Problem #5: You have Norton Internet Security 2008*..._thanks to Nivek_
*How to configure Norton Internet Security 2008*
_Symantec has made some changes to the way Norton Internet Security 2008 works and requires a few more changes._
1) Start the NIS 2008 Protection Center.
2) Click on the *Norton Internet Security *tab.
3) Click to expand *Settings*.
4) Click to expand *Web Browsing*.
5) Click on *Personal Firewall*.
6) Click on *Configure*.
7) On the left navbar, click *Advanced Settings*.
8) Under General Rules, click *Configure*.
9) Uncheck the following rules:
==>a) _Default Block Windows File Sharing_
==>b) _Default Block UPnP Discovery_
==>c) _Default Block SSDP_
10) Click *OK*.
11) Configure WMP 11 as posted above, if not done already.

*How-To: Video & (DVD VIDEO*)
Well, as of 0x1EA we now have video on HR20....BETA...but video still !!! Thanks DirecTV !!!
First, a Disclaimer........Ripping DVDs you do not own is *Illegal* !!!!!! This information is for those (like me) who backup their purchased DVDs in order to play thru Home Theater electronics. I will not discuss the details of ripping, etc....below gives a simple How-To. Questions on that subject should be directed to the CDFreaks Forum provided below. The below assumes you own your content !!!!

1) First the HR20 only currently supports *TRUE *MPEG-2...not just a file that is .mpg or .mpeg. In order to find out if your file is true MPEG2 and audio codec use GSpot to open and see............GSpot 2.70a http://www.headbands.com/gspot/
2) Now, for those of you who want to backup a *owned *DVD to your PC and share you'll need to do this.......
==>a) DVD Fab has a Forum for it's util that allows you to copy the DVD files to a HDD. Just launch DVD Fab, choose *Main Movie*, let it do it's thing. You now have a movie HDD directory with Video_TS.IFO and .VOB files. The VOB files are 1GB chunks of the movie. Also, the audio is AC3 (5.1). 
Forum: http://club.cdfreaks.com/f116/
DVDFab Download: http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm
3) Since HR20 *only* plays MPEG-2 container we'll need to consolidate and convert all the VOB files. This is pretty straight forward.
==>a) Install MPEG Streamclip: http://www.squared5.com/svideo/mpeg-streamclip-win.html
{You will need Apple Quicktime http://www.apple.com/quicktime/ already installed. You don't need the Apple MPEG-2 plugin...assuming your PC already has MPEG-2 decoder...eg. PowerDVD, TheaterTek, etc. The only thing is you won't see the video within MPEG Streamclip software...no biggie. However, if you really want you can buy the Quicktime Pro MPEG2 decoder from http://www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/ or use the freebie alternaitve Quick Time Alternative 1.61 http://filehippo.com/download_quicktime_alternative/?362}
==>b) While in MPEG Streamclip go to HDD movie directory and highlight *ALL* of those 1GB VOB movie files and open. It will give you a timecode error but allow it to fix...this will take a few minutes. 
==>c) Now in MPEG Streamclip go to File Menu and choose "Convert to TS". Note, there are other output file options like _Convert to MPEG with MP2 Audio _, _Convert to TS with MP2 Audio _...but these can cause audio hickups on the HR20 with current codec. So, again use/select the "Convert to TS". The result is one xxx.TS file. Now, exit MPEG Streamclip and rename the xxx.TS file to xxx.MPG.
4) Go To WMP11 and point/import the new xxx.MPG file you just created in the Options>Library>Monitor Folders section. You may need to reboot PC and/or HR20 but you should see these .MPG files under the Menu Section of HR20 for Pics/Music/Video....expand all video.
*Note:* If for some reason the audio does not play in WMP11 (HR20 is OK) then the issue is your codecs on your PC. While whatever DVD MPEG2 codec you have installed that WMP11 is using (located in WMP11 Help>About>Tech Support...scroll down) it does not support "streaming". To support this I went ahead and paid for the Elecard MPEG-2 codec plugin for WMP11: http://www.elecard.com/products/products-pc/consumer/mpeg2-decoder-plugin/......only $25.

Note, there is no FF, RW...only PLAY, PAUSE and one bug I found which is known is movie length is not correct. I have 1hour 53minute movie that shows on HR20 as 59 minutes. When I play the movie it hits the :59 on the scroll bar and stays...but movie still plays on.


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## Resq911 (Nov 17, 2007)

Thanks for this. Excellent Document After 5 weeks of frustration, I finally have my HR21 sharing.


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## cdc101 (Jan 9, 2007)

Excellent info!

I vote this go to sticky _and _FAQ! :grin:


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

Resq911 said:


> Thanks for this. Excellent Document After 5 weeks of frustration, I finally have my HR21 sharing.


You are welcome !

Also, welcome to DBSTalk !!!!


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## Milominderbinder2 (Oct 8, 2006)

I just added this to the links in the Info Resources:

Networking Your HD DVR+ (HR20/HR21) 

Nice work!

- Craig


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## Spanky_Partain (Dec 7, 2006)

I love new doucmentation that helps.

Thanks, added link into the network help link in my signature.

Good work!


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## starbiker99 (Feb 23, 2005)

Yupper I now can view Music & Photos on my R21! I still like it better on my PS3, but you can never have to many things to play with.


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## WashDCHR20 (Apr 11, 2007)

Thanks very much for this document. I also don't have a ViiV computer, so appreciate this info and I'm going to give it a try. Thanks again for sharing how you got your computer to work with the HR20!


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## MIJBFAN (May 27, 2007)

That is some great info. I however have found another way. First you need to start messing with you computer until you have no option but to do a full re-install of windows. After it is all done everything works. Now how simple can it get?:bad_nono:


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

MIJBFAN said:


> That is some great info. I however have found another way. First you need to start messing with you computer until you have no option but to do a full re-install of windows. After it is all done everything works. Now how simple can it get?:bad_nono:


Ugh.....I hope you did a REPAIR install of the O/S to save all your items and not a new from-scratch INSTALL ?

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm

Also, not to get off the beaten path of the thread but I would highly recommend this new software called RollBack RX. I've used Norton GoBack in the past to roll back my machines but this new RollBack RX is really slick...you can quickly roll your machine back to previous states....it's worth the read and the few $$$.

http://www.horizondatasys.com/169614.ihtml


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## jschramm (Sep 12, 2007)

I was able to get WM11 to stream to the HR20. My questoin is if WM11 can stream videos with the latest CE (which I dont have) or is Tversity the only one that will stream video to the HR20. Thanks.


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## robdec (Jul 13, 2007)

I was wondering the same thing. Does WMP 11 stream videos . I cant get Videos to work in Tversity.


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## jschramm (Sep 12, 2007)

Well the latest national release of the HR20 software (0x1EA) has video sharing included. Staggered release started yesterday.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=115284

We will see soon.


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## 1charmedlife (Feb 21, 2007)

First off, thanks everyone for all this information in these threads. Now that I have installed WMP11 (on a fresh install of XP SP2 with all updates), I'm able to pull up the server on the HR20.

However, when I click on "Music" the HR20 says it "cannot access the media." 

I have the music on an external firewire drive hooked to the server. It is fully shared, and oddly enough, when I select "pictures" ON the HR20 menu, it sees and will play ALL of my album art and pictures just fine. It also looks into my currently empty video folders.

The only it won't do is access the MP3 library, any help would be greatly appreciated.

(A few other specs)
WRT54G Router in use, server is 10/100 hardwired in - UPnP and Filter Multicast are enabled.
Firewall is currently OFF - just to check if that was interfering, but no joy
NOT running any current anti-virus or additional firewalls.

Thank you for any help!


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

1charmedlife said:


> First off, thanks everyone for all this information in these threads. Now that I have installed WMP11 (on a fresh install of XP SP2 with all updates), I'm able to pull up the server on the HR20.
> 
> However, when I click on "Music" the HR20 says it "cannot access the media."
> 
> ...


Do you have the remote sharing regedit added ? Not sure if this is it since it is firewire and not network but may be worth adding and trying.

Also, to eliminate any other issue put some MP3s on your PC HDD and access/poin-to in WMP11 and see if HR20 sees and plays those....this way you know it is not a WMP11 or local PC item.


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## 1charmedlife (Feb 21, 2007)

thekochs said:


> Do you have the remote sharing regedit added ? Not sure if this is it since it is firewire and not network but may be worth adding and trying.


Sorry to leave that out - yes I did do the EnableContentSharing registry addition...

One other note, the library is about 80 gigs of MP3's - around 13,000 songs. Not sure if that's a problem from the spotty things I've read? I've also tried moving a few things off the firewire drive to the local mx directory and disconnecting the external drive. That didn't change things either


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## homerdodge (Sep 9, 2007)

1charmedlife said:


> Sorry to leave that out - yes I did do the EnableContentSharing registry addition...
> 
> One other note, the library is about 80 gigs of MP3's - around 13,000 songs. Not sure if that's a problem from the spotty things I've read?


What about THEKOCKS" other question, "Also, to eliminate any other issue put some MP3s on your PC HDD and access/poin-to in WMP11 and see if HR20 sees and plays those....this way you know it is not a WMP11 or local PC item."

Did you try that? It's important to know whether WMP will play those files at all. 
Are they true mp3 files or perhaps iTunes m4a files.

We have just recently, after a sequence of several steps, managed to get our 160GB library of mp3/m4a files playing 95% reliably throught TVersity to the HR20-700. They're stored on a Terabyte Pro 1TB NAS.


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## 1charmedlife (Feb 21, 2007)

homerdodge said:


> What about THEKOCKS" other question, "Also, to eliminate any other issue put some MP3s on your PC HDD and access/poin-to in WMP11 and see if HR20 sees and plays those....this way you know it is not a WMP11 or local PC item."
> 
> Did you try that? It's important to know whether WMP will play those files at all.
> Are they true mp3 files or perhaps iTunes m4a files.
> ...


Yes, I've tried moving files to a local folder, and they playback on the pc just fine, but still are not accessible on the HR20.

I did just run a netstat -a check, and seems to something weird here. The results I get are ALL local address names (mxsvr is what I named the computer, and that's what shows up in all the TCP and UDP port listings).

I did look at the network address on the HR20, which is 192.168.1.102, but I cannot ping the box from the PC (which has an IP of 192.168.1.100).

I don't see an IP assigned to the HR20 at all. Though the HR20 DOES show up in the sharing setup of WMP11 and the HR20 does see pictures from the comp.

Hmmmmm. Odd.


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## homerdodge (Sep 9, 2007)

1charmedlife said:


> Yes, I've tried moving files to a local folder, and they playback on the pc just fine, but still are not accessible on the HR20.
> 
> I did just run a netstat -a check, and seems to something weird here. The results I get are ALL local address names (mxsvr is what I named the computer, and that's what shows up in all the TCP and UDP port listings).
> 
> ...


The HR20s won't respond to ping, best I can tell.

I'm assuming you can see the individual music files listed on the HR20, such as going to audio|album or whatever, but then the HR20 indicates it cannot access the indivudal music files. From my experience, that is an issue with the encoding of the files, such that the HR20 isn't able to play them as currently encoded.

The WMP11 has to be set up to transcode the mp3 to wav, as I recall, although LPCM may also work.

UPDATE: Actually, I see from your prior posts you can't even access the Music menu to start with. Try sharing the mp3s you put on your local HDD and see if the HR20 can access those.


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## 1charmedlife (Feb 21, 2007)

homerdodge said:


> The HR20s won't respond to ping, best I can tell.
> 
> I'm assuming you can see the individual music files listed on the HR20, such as going to audio|album or whatever, but then the HR20 indicates it cannot access the indivudal music files. From my experience, that is an issue with the encoding of the files, such that the HR20 isn't able to play them as currently encoded.
> 
> The WMP11 has to be set up to transcode the mp3 to wav, as I recall, although LPCM may also work.


OK, good to know about the PING.

I actually can't even "see" music files at all on the HR20 - when at the Music/Pictures/Video menu, when selecting Music, it times out and gives the "can't access media" message.


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## diat150 (Nov 7, 2007)

anybody have a list of video file extensions that are supported?


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## homerdodge (Sep 9, 2007)

1charmedlife said:


> OK, good to know about the PING.
> 
> I actually can't even "see" music files at all on the HR20 - when at the Music/Pictures/Video menu, when selecting Music, it times out and gives the "can't access media" message.


Yea. I updated my prior post but you already had responded apparently.
As I suggested above, if you hadn't already tried it, try sharing the mp3s you put on your local HDD and see if the HR20 can access those.


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## 1charmedlife (Feb 21, 2007)

homerdodge said:


> Yea. I updated my prior post but you already had responded apparently.
> As I suggested above, if you hadn't already tried it, try sharing the mp3s you put on your local HDD and see if the HR20 can access those.


Thanks Homer - I did try that with a few albums, clearing the library and rebuilding with just local files. Still not working.

Ahhh, technology. Wonder if it'll be better, or worse, when it just does what we want it to do instead of what we're telling it to do...


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## homerdodge (Sep 9, 2007)

http://www.dbstalk.com/archive/index.php/t-75287.html

This post talks about having a similar problem with WMP11 and a large mp3 library, and ultimately went to TVersity.

If you do try TVersity, turn off the sharing in WMP11 first, as it will interfere. Make sure the HR20 doesn't see the WMP11 instance, then load TVersity.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

homerdodge said:


> The WMP11 has to be set up to transcode the mp3 to wav, as I recall, although LPCM may also work.


Out of curiosity how do you "setup" WMP11 for transcode ?....I thought it kinda did this automatic ?

Also, I thought the HR20 only played LPCM.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

1charmedlife said:


> Thanks Homer - I did try that with a few albums, clearing the library and rebuilding with just local files. Still not working.
> 
> Ahhh, technology. Wonder if it'll be better, or worse, when it just does what we want it to do instead of what we're telling it to do...


Couple things.......
1) I assume you looked at the beginning of this thread and checked to make sure all items listed above on your PC are set ? I'd run thru the list and double check.
2) Also, try to reboot the HR20 (using the HR20 Menu with Receiver Reset) while the PC is booted.

UPDATE: Lastly, I moved a few MP3 files to my USB connected HDD...went into WMP11....library....pointed to folder...it did search and found and brought into library. I then went to HR20 after a few minutes and it was there and played.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

I have a question....I've seen some folks on other thread mention thumbnails of what I assume is coverart. My MP3s ID tag has embedded coverart and each folder has a JPEG. I do NOT have the new CE...waiting for the national release to come my way....but I've never seen a coverart. I do them them under Pictures section but I assumed there would be some kinda thumbnail under music ? Is this only a Tversity thing or WMP11 ?


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## 1charmedlife (Feb 21, 2007)

OK, I gave up on WMP11, which seemed to keep having problems with over 5000 songs. 

I installed TVersity and, like many others, had music playback on the HR20 within about an hour (took a long time to scan the 1500 album folders.

Now, an oddity, it seems that any folders that have an ampersand (&) in them, don't allow the music files within them (even though they are MP3, just like everything else) will not play - the song files have zero run times, and x's next to them. 

Is this a problem with the character "&"?

Otherwise, while the GUI is lacking, it seems to be seen by, and serving properly to the HR20. It takes a tic for it to start streaming, but that seems ok.

On another interesting note, I can log into the TVersity GUI page within my other computers web browsers in different places in the house and stream the music to them, which is pretty darn cool (though it too, takes a while...)

So for now, I guess it is TVersity for me too...


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

1charmedlife said:


> OK, I gave up on WMP11, which seemed to keep having problems with over 5000 songs.
> 
> I installed TVersity and, like many others, had music playback on the HR20 within about an hour (took a long time to scan the 1500 album folders.
> 
> ...


The ampersand thing has come up before:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=1250577&postcount=775



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by tuff bob
> Hey --- can anyone that has it working, can you see if a music file to have an ampserand causes the file to be unplayable?
> 
> ...


Since the content is sent to the HR20 in XML format - I wonder if maybe updating the MSXML engine might fix that ? It may be that the ampersand is not being marked up correctly.

You can update the core MS XML from here and give it a shot.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...2c-368b-4ce1-9dab-3e9827b70604&DisplayLang=en


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## lucky13 (Nov 27, 2006)

I finally gave in and ditched Norton 2006 for 2008.
I had numerous problems with 06, some documented at this site, dating back to TiVo to Go through WMP11 and Slingbox.

The Sling wouldn't open on the computer with 06 once again. I upgraded to 08, and Sling now works works fine. (Still showing it as a Shortcut and not on the LAN, but it connects nonetheless.)

I have 2 HR20s. Both find my other networked laptop, but don't show the one with N08. When I open WMP11 on the laptop running N08, it shows 2 unknown devices (the 2 HR20s). So I believe the WMP settings are still OK.

Anyone familiar with N08 who can tell me where the settings are that I need to change? The look of 08 is significantly different from 06.

Thanks.


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## maccur (Dec 7, 2005)

Since the last national release, I have lost the option of shuffling my playlists via my HR-20. Shuffle doesn't even show up on the on-screen HR-20 menu. Shuffle seems to work on windows media player on my computer. I did a reset of the HR-20, but no change. My computer and HR-20 are hard-wired to a Linksys router. I'm not using any other software for sharing music files.


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## sbcale (Aug 19, 2006)

Fantastic information!! Thank you for consolidating it all into one easy to follow thread!!! Much appreciated!!


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## oenophile (Dec 1, 2006)

I'm successfully using WMP11 to play videos (MPEG-2), music and pictures. The only problem I have is that when I try to do a shuffle play of a large number of songs, folders, etc., it chokes completely. (I know I've seen this posted about a dozen times at least, even once above in this thread.)

Anyone know: Is there a solution to the large # of files problem with WMP? (Yes, I know, I can install Tversity....wondering if fixable within WMP.)


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

oenophile said:


> I'm successfully using WMP11 to play videos (MPEG-2), music and pictures. The only problem I have is that when I try to do a shuffle play of a large number of songs, folders, etc., it chokes completely. (I know I've seen this posted about a dozen times at least, even once above in this thread.)
> 
> Anyone know: Is there a solution to the large # of files problem with WMP? (Yes, I know, I can install Tversity....wondering if fixable within WMP.)


The basic problem is the library WMP uses - it is extremely prone to corruption. Its a terrible solution and that is the nicest thing I can say for it. If you take a peek at the library (wmdb) in a text editor - you will realize it is not even actually a database - its xml with extra crap. In all fairness - the WMP team did try to fix some of the problems with the library that have existed since day one.

<SOAPBOX state='ON'>
_But contrary to the Microsoft's own recommendations - the media player team chose not to use SQL Server Express Edition (formally known as MSDE) - which probably would have eliminated most - if not all - of these issues.

Dr. Evil has much to say about this: "Why must I be surrounded by frickin' idiots?"_
</SOAPBOX>

The best *fix* is usually to delete the database file and re-build it. That will *fix* it temporarily.

But there is some pain doing that - because the library database is a collection of all the metadata contained in your mp3, wma, etc files - each time you delete it - it has to re-parse the tags from each file.

If you are committed to using wmp, you might try creating a backup of your newly created database - then when your library corrupts again - you can delete it and restore the data without having to invest hours in re-scanning the files.

The basic steps for WMP11 would look like this:
Close WMP
Run the following command based on your operating system.

On Windows XP:

Open Start menu, select Run, type %userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Player, and then select the OK button.

On Windows Vista:
Open Start menu, select Run, type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Media Player, and then select the OK button.

In the Media Player folder that opens, select all the files (not the folders - except maybe the content of the transcoded folder  ), right-click and then select the Delete command.

Restart Windows Media Player and rescan your library.

Now open the folder same as before and copy those files somewhere safe. Next time it starts acting up - you can restore them quickly


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## BigSey (Oct 18, 2006)

I know I've seen this somewhere on the site but can't seem to find it at the moment. My issue is that the Photos, Video, etc. (can't remember the exact title) seems to disappear a few days after an HR20 reboot brings it back. Can anyone provide the fix to keep it from going away?

Thanks in advance for the help.


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## oenophile (Dec 1, 2006)

bhelton71 said:


> The basic problem is the library WMP uses - it is extremely prone to corruption. Its a terrible solution and that is the nicest thing I can say for it. base file and re-build it. That will *fix* it temporarily.


Thanks for the advice (and the laugh). I hate the way they make things at MSFT sometimes (most times?).


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

Does WMP11 with new firmware show pic thumbnails ?


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## quikone (Sep 16, 2007)

Thanks for the GREAT info, I tried for two days to get WMP11 to work, I followed the info for TVersity, it works great, thanks again!!


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## holemania (Nov 8, 2007)

i can pull over pics & music fine using wmp11. i can also pull over video titles, but most have an "x" preceding the video title and the videos will not play.

a few videos have a "video symbol" preceding the title and the video will play, but with no audio.

anyone else experience this or have a resolution? thanks for any ideas!

dave


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

In WMP11 I've only been able to play "true" MPEG2 video....not just files that have .mpg or .mpeg on them. I was reminded these can be MPEG1. If you really want to know what the file you have is you can download and use these utils....they are easy. They also let you know the codecs you have installed on your PC......

GSpot 2.70a http://www.headbands.com/gspot/
or........
AVICodec http://www.videohelp.com/tools/AVIcodec

I think my answer to the above is that "video" playback whether WMP11 or Tversity...let's call it uPNP via the PC....is still *very* BETA level for the HR20.


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## slideaway (Aug 20, 2007)

diat150 said:


> anybody have a list of video file extensions that are supported?


On the HR20-700:

I've only had success with MPEG2 files, mpg or mpeg extension. I tried a vob, renamed to .mpg, it played but without audio. No luck on Divx yet, sucks since majority of my video is in this format.

I'd really like this to work with a flood of other formats since my wife would like just ONE device to watch stuff on.

Video
.mpg
.mpeg

Audio
.mp3
.wma

Could be more, could be less, this is what's worked for me thus far.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

slideaway said:


> On the HR20-700:
> 
> I've only had success with MPEG2 files, mpg or mpeg extension. I tried a vob, renamed to .mpg, it played but without audio. No luck on Divx yet, sucks since majority of my video is in this format.
> 
> ...


I think the reason the audio does not play is HR20 needs AC3 audio codec which the VOB is playing. I have not yet but I'm going to try the MPEG Streamclip suggested in this post: http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=1391744&postcount=43

If you try let us know....audio works as well ?


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## chris_h (Mar 19, 2003)

I am seeing my shared mpg2 videos with the video symbol, but getting the error message that the video could not be displayed successfully. I have done everything in post 1 of this thread which did not help. I did not expect it to help, since those steps seem to be mostly for getting networking setup right, which I already have. I am thinking that my two videos may not be true mpeg-2. I have not yet looked at them with the tools thekochs suggested in post #41.

Is it possible for someone to post a short video here that is known to be capable of playing on the hr20 via WMP? A pointer would be fine too. My preference would be for something humorous, and rated PG or so (just stay away from x-rated since that is likely against forum rules). Thanks in advance.


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## scott.d.davis (Feb 2, 2008)

First, thanks for all the info here...I just joined the Forums. 

I've follwed all the instructions, and still can't get WPM to show my HR20 in the sharing list to 'allow" it.

I've set my IP address on the HR20 to 192.168.0.2...when I run netstat -a, this IP address does not even show up!

In the Info tab on the menu on the HR 20, I'm connected to the net, and there are two network items in My Computer: a networked Maxtor MMS II, and a Media Share.

In Music and Pics on the Menu, I can see the MMS II, but every folder says there are no files. Sometimes it just says simply that it can't access MMS II. the Mediashare is not listed in Music and Pics.

In WMP, I have toggled on Sharing, but the dialog for "share my media with" never populates with any data.

I tried the Twonky route yesterday, but that didn't work either. What I really want is to access all my media on a NAS Maxtor Shared Stoage II without having to have a computer on, or even connected to the network. I use a laptop, and don't want to leave it docked and on the network all the time.

Maybe I should just buy a Sonos system to stream music. But I would really like pics and video streamed to my HDTV as well!

Ahy assistance would be appreciated!


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

DVD Video Playback Added To How-To At Beginning of Thread


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## slapshot1959 (Jan 24, 2006)

Any tips in how to get Vista to the HR20?
I can get my XP pc to connect fine,Vista though has been a real pain.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

slapshot1959 said:


> Any tips in how to get Vista to the HR20?
> I can get my XP pc to connect fine,Vista though has been a real pain.


I'm only XP...sorry....maybe others.


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## DocTauri (Oct 30, 2006)

slideaway said:


> On the HR20-700:
> 
> I've only had success with MPEG2 files, mpg or mpeg extension. I tried a vob, renamed to .mpg, it played but without audio. No luck on Divx yet, sucks since majority of my video is in this format.
> 
> I'd really like this to work with a flood of other formats since my wife would like just ONE device to watch stuff on.


One option (doesn't exist but could be written) would be if the hosting software (TVersity or some open source product), could transcode the AVI into MPEG2 much like TivoServer uses ffmpeg to transcode AVI to the modified Tivo MPEG2 format during the transfer.

Doc


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

DocTauri said:


> One option (doesn't exist but could be written) would be if the hosting software (TVersity or some open source product), could transcode the AVI into MPEG2 much like TivoServer uses ffmpeg to transcode AVI to the modified Tivo MPEG2 format during the transfer.
> 
> Doc


TVersity does transcode whatever video/audio codecs that are in an AVI container to mpeg2 with layer2 audio for the HR2x. It uses ffmpeg as well.


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## NO1B4ME (Jan 29, 2008)

Excellent info! Talk about detailed. Thanks ......


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## DocTauri (Oct 30, 2006)

bhelton71 said:


> TVersity does transcode whatever video/audio codecs that are in an AVI container to mpeg2 with layer2 audio for the HR2x. It uses ffmpeg as well.


I've never used it, but there you go then. You should be able to use TVersity to host the AVI's and still view them on the HR20 even though it has the mpeg2 restriction. Hmmm, I may have to load it up as well now...

Thanks,
Doc


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## DocTauri (Oct 30, 2006)

I just checked out Tversity's web site, seems pretty interesting, but does anyone know of a similar app for Linux?

Thanks,
Doc


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## DocTauri (Oct 30, 2006)

FWIW: I just loaded TVersity on one of an XP machine and was watching transcoded AVI's on my HR20 in about 20 min. Pretty slick. I think the Viiv video playback needs some work, but it certainly has potential!

Also, they say they're going to be putting out a Linux version of TVersity in the future for those who care ;-)

Doc


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## keithl1967 (Jan 21, 2007)

OK...I am planning on ordering 2 D-Link wireless gaming adapters to connect each, HR20 in the basement and my HR21 in the Living room to my network (more for media sharing thatn for ON demand)...

My computer (that I am connecting to with all of the media files is running windows vista, and I have gone in to network places and enabled Media sharing...I also have all of the media in "Public folders" on the network). Does any of the information on page one of this thread (how to connect) change because I am running a Vista Machine, as opposed to XP?


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## sauccee (Aug 17, 2007)

I was working through these fabulous direction and ran into a small issue that I am hoping a work around exists. At the point where I am to enable *filter multicast* and *UPnP* on my router I find that there is nowhere to do so.

I have a 2Wire DSL Gateway 2701HG-B modem/ router combo. Many searches lead me to find the the 2Wire does not support the enabling of this filtering or the UPnP. With that, I am unable to get WMP11 to talk to the HR20-700.

Does anyone have any experience with this issue? Is there a known work around?

Can I add any hardware to circumvent this (router, switch, powerline adapter, etc?)

Looking for any option to get this to work just shy of going back to the original modem and adding a router to that. If that is my only option, please recommend a router that would work to enable this. Right now I am reading that a Linksys WRT54G is a workable option.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

sauccee said:


> I was working through these fabulous direction and ran into a small issue that I am hoping a work around exists. At the point where I am to enable *filter multicast* and *UPnP* on my router I find that there is nowhere to do so.
> 
> I have a 2Wire DSL Gateway 2701HG-B modem/ router combo. Many searches lead me to find the the 2Wire does not support the enabling of this filtering or the UPnP. With that, I am unable to get WMP11 to talk to the HR20-700.
> 
> ...


WRT54G is correct. As you summized....if your router does not allow uPNP then you are blocked from sharing. However, do NOT take my word for it....go to the Gateway site and/or Linksys Forum sites and ask questions. I'm sure the experts there will help.
http://forums.linksys.com/linksys?category.id=Routers_and_Access_Points


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## gcisko (Sep 27, 2006)

Awesome info. Luckly I got media sharing to work without most of it  For example I did not edit any registry stuff at all. Also your doc answered a video question I had. That is the video format supported. I am looking for it to do mpeg and AVI files like my PS3 does. Is there any chance it will happen? 

Also I was on a 2 week vacation and took 370+ pictures and several 30 sec AVI videos with my digital camera. When I view them on the PS3 everything is shown in the order they were taken like I want when I am explaining the vacation. When I use the HR20 to view the pictures they are sorted in a seemingly random way. Is there a way to sort them by name? The way it is now is just bizzarre. Hopefully the HR20 can some day do media sharing at least as good as the PS3...


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## sauccee (Aug 17, 2007)

Thanks for your response. In short, the 2wire site states that they do not support UPnP. Here is the answer from the 2wire site:

UPNP & the HomePortal
Question
Does the HomePortal support UPNP(Universal Plug & Play)?
Answer
Currently 2Wire does not support UPNP.

2Wire customizes all gateway products and software to the requirements of our ISP partners, and if support for UPNP became a requirement, that functionality would then be added to the system.

Also, UPNP allows for the OS to control the configuration of the firewall, which could have an adverse effect on any systems running behind a firewall that is being controlled by malicious software operating on a LAN-based computer.


I would like to avoid purchasing another router if there is a work around. Can I add anything downstream from this router? Is there another DSL modem/ Router combo option?


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## David MacLeod (Jan 29, 2008)

my setup is WRT54G dsl modem\router single cat6e going to ----> netgear vpn firewall \ router then single cat6 cable going to ------> gigabit swtches that patch panel feeds into. 

this might not work for you though since I am running a domain and ip addresses are not handled by the WRT54G. server 2003 handles dhcp and dns.


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## seemenewd (Dec 19, 2007)

keithl1967 said:


> OK...I am planning on ordering 2 D-Link wireless gaming adapters to connect each, HR20 in the basement and my HR21 in the Living room to my network (more for media sharing thatn for ON demand)...


I have no idea about vista (although that's where WMP11 was "back ported" to XP from, so I'd imagine it working there) but the D-Link wireless gaming adapters work fine. I already installed one as a test and just got my second one yesterday and I'll get it hooked up in the next day or two. Assuming we're talking about their $50'ish turbo-'G' one (I got them at Provantage who seemed to have a good price+shipping price, although the second one was about a dollar more after only a week or so).

I'm currently using TVersity and except for Video (HR21 just got the ability yesterday) has been working okay other than for lack of photo display control (slideshow speed, etc). I've used Twonky as well and it's spiffy but costs money so I'd prefer TVersity if I can get it to work adequately. WMP11 (XP SP2) works on and off too, but it seems to disappear semi often -- and seems to forget about the sharing settings after a reboot (making me have to go through it all over again).


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## keithl1967 (Jan 21, 2007)

I have now set up mr HR 20 for media sharing/the internet/etc...
does anyone know of any upgrades planned for the D* interface (meaning a search ble list of songs, pictures, etc)?


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## itzme (Jan 17, 2008)

I finally connected with wmp from my laptop. Now where are those threads that helped those getting an 'x' by the video file name?


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## Nivek (Sep 21, 2006)

*How to configure Norton Internet Security 2008*

Symantec has made some changes to the way Norton Internet Security 2008 works and requires a few more changes.


Start the NIS 2008 Protection Center.
Click on the _Norton Internet Security_ tab.
Click to expand _Settings_.
Click to expand _Web Browsing_.
Click on _Personal Firewall_.
Click on _Configure_.
On the left navbar, click _Advanced Settings_.
Under General Rules, click _Configure_.
Uncheck the following rules: _Default Block Windows File Sharing_, _Default Block UPnP Discovery_, and _Default Block SSDP_.
Click _OK_.
Click _OK_.
Configure WMP 11 as posted above, if not done already.

Hope this helps. I tried figuring this out for a week and even contacted worthless Symantec support. Their solution was to trust my entire network. Bad idea as this would leave me unprotected from any internal attack.

/Kevin


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

thekochs said:


> I think the reason the audio does not play is HR20 needs AC3 audio codec which the VOB is playing. I have not yet but I'm going to try the MPEG Streamclip suggested in this post: http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=1391744&postcount=43
> 
> If you try let us know....audio works as well ?


OK...I've done some playing around with outputs of MPEG StreamClip. I've found that..........

1) Convert to MPEG with MP2 Audio => Can cause Audio Breakups
*2) Convert to TS => Solid, but must rename the out file to .MPG*
3) Covnert to TS with MP2 Audio => After renaming to .MPG can cause audio breakups.

I updated the How-To in the first of the thread.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

Anyone have any idea what this means on new 0x1FE release ?

*"* Video over media share improvements"*
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=119540


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

Nivek said:


> *How to configure Norton Internet Security 2008*
> 
> Symantec has made some changes to the way Norton Internet Security 2008 works and requires a few more changes.
> 
> ...


Kevin, thanks...I'll add to beginning of thread.


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## rkhobbit (Oct 3, 2007)

I'm using WMP11 networked to my HR20-700... Is there any way to view photo's (SHUFFLE mode - like a screenssaver) and listen to an XM channel simultaneously?


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## lucky13 (Nov 27, 2006)

Kevin,

Finally had a chance yesterday to configure N08.
Went downstairs to the DVRs, and 2 of the 3 showed the Norton computer. (There other one isn't showing any media share since the last CE, so that's a different problem.)

As a bonus, I got a popup on the laptop that TVersity was running. I downloaded that after Norton blocked WMP11.

Thanks for doing the research on this, and a big thank you for taking the time to PM me.

L13



Nivek said:


> *How to configure Norton Internet Security 2008*
> 
> Symantec has made some changes to the way Norton Internet Security 2008 works and requires a few more changes.
> 
> ...


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## alzibob (Feb 19, 2008)

scott.d.davis said:


> First, thanks for all the info here...I just joined the Forums.
> 
> I've follwed all the instructions, and still can't get WPM to show my HR20 in the sharing list to 'allow" it.
> 
> ...


I'm having the exact same problem, i have no idea what i missed I've tried the setup 3 times now and i still get nothing to share.
Using a Dlink Router, with the HR20 and the PC both connected into it.
The HR20 does not show on network places, but every other device on my network does.
And when i go into WMP11 there is nothing in media share.
All firewalls have been disabled (Just in case).


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## 5 ACES (Dec 27, 2007)

What could be causing this? I have two computers on my network. Both of them Vista with WMP11. One has an Intel ViiV and the other don't. Both computers show up and everything looks and acts fine, until I go to play something from either of the computers using WMP11. The pictures, songs show up on the TV, then everything turns black. I go to view something and it ends up freezing the HR21. I then have to reboot the HR21, or nothing works, even the HR21 itself. When I play something from the Intel ViiV Media Server, everything works great. Why would WMP 11 be causing this and how can I fix it? Thanks!!


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

5 ACES said:


> What could be causing this? I have two computers on my network. Both of them Vista with WMP11. One has an Intel ViiV and the other don't. Both computers show up and everything looks and acts fine, until I go to play something from either of the computers using WMP11. The pictures, songs show up on the TV, then everything turns black. I go to view something and it ends up freezing the HR21. I then have to reboot the HR21, or nothing works, even the HR21 itself. When I play something from the Intel ViiV Media Server, everything works great. Why would WMP 11 be causing this and how can I fix it? Thanks!!


So, is the non-ViiV unit a desktop or notebook ? I'm not sure where HR21 vs. HR20 is in differences or same of media share....thought HR21 firmware was lagging...but since one works and other doesn't then I suspect it's something on the non-ViiV PC....not HR21, not WMP11...that's causing it. I'm an XP person so I'm stepping outside my bounds but is the Vista Firewall settings all the same ? Have you checked all the power management items, ports, etc. ? It's not a hardware issue....it boils down to either the physical connection from this non-ViiV is mucking things up or there is a setting on the non-ViiV computer that is different/missed. I'd eliminate the first by moving the non-ViiV to the connection the ViiV has...same IP Address if you can swing it. If it still locks then I'd take the first post in this thread and start a side-side compare of system settings between the two machines.


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## Jerry Birdwell (Nov 14, 2007)

I am still trying to improve the quality of the JPG pictures from a Windows XP via wired network to the HR20-700 and a display with 1080i. The pictures on a computer monitor are very crisp and excellent quality, but not good on the HD monitor. I have not changed the JPGs and send them with the original Nikon 10meg resolution. Should I reduce the pictures to an HD size to get better quality?


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## HDNut (Aug 28, 2006)

I have played SD video clips without any problems, but HD clips are played back without the audio. Has anyone successfuly playback HD clips with audio? Thanks!


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

HDNut said:


> I have played SD video clips without any problems, but HD clips are played back without the audio. Has anyone successfuly playback HD clips with audio? Thanks!


What kind of HD clips ?


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## HDNut (Aug 28, 2006)

bhelton71 said:


> What kind of HD clips ?


Clips of HD recording of various shows I recorded using a MyHD tuner card that I have in my PC.


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

HDNut said:


> Clips of HD recording of various shows I recorded using a MyHD tuner card that I have in my PC.


You are getting working video though ? If it is recording the straight MPEG2 transport stream the audio should work. I say that because the audio should be A52/AC3 already and WMP does not transcode.

You might also double check the file to make sure the recording software did not monkey with the stream.


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## HDNut (Aug 28, 2006)

SD video clips playback without any issues. HD clips start playing for less than a second and then stops and the displayed window returns to the list of clips. I also have a Pioneer Elite Blue-Ray Player, and its Hom Media Gallery has NO problems playing back the HD clips WITH sound. That insludes the same HD clips that the HR20/21 are unable to play back. All files are MPEG 2. Thanks for your help.


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

HDNut said:


> SD video clips playback without any issues. HD clips start playing for less than a second and then stops and the displayed window returns to the list of clips. I also have a Pioneer Elite Blue-Ray Player, and its Hom Media Gallery has NO problems playing back the HD clips WITH sound. That insludes the same HD clips that the HR20/21 are unable to play back. All files are MPEG 2. Thanks for your help.


Ok - thats what we are all experiencing - high bitrate video seems to 'conk out' after a few seconds - nothing wrong with your setup. I have been playing around with 1280x720 - but very 'bit-starved' so to speak and that is working somewhat. Haven't been able to find a magic number but roughly in the range of 6-8Mbps will kill it.


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## keithl1967 (Jan 21, 2007)

Hoping someone can help me out....I recently lost the Media share options on my HR 20 (My HR21 is working just fine with WMP11)...I've tried resetting everything (including the D-link wireless bridge). My HR 20 connects to the internet, and shows as a device on my network (router page, "attached devices"), but the media share does not show on the menu. IN an attempt to reboot everything, I "removed" the HR20 form the WMP11 sharing screen in hopes that a reboot would "re-find" the HR20 and would start working again; however, WMP11 has not ofund the HR 20 as an "unknown device" again--the HR21 is still there (I never removed that one). 

How can I get WMP11 to find this "unknown device" again?


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## heaphus (Oct 30, 2006)

I'm using WMP 11 to share music and videos to my HR20-100, and it works fine. However, there is one thing that is driving me crazy with music. All songs are listed in alphabetical order, instead of by track number. They show correctly in WMP and they are arranged by track number in the folders which they reside. Does anyone know how to change this?

BTW, they show up correctly listed by track number when using Tversity. However, I have other problems with tversity and can't really use it.


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## keithl1967 (Jan 21, 2007)

keithl1967 said:


> Hoping someone can help me out....I recently lost the Media share options on my HR 20 (My HR21 is working just fine with WMP11)...I've tried resetting everything (including the D-link wireless bridge). My HR 20 connects to the internet, and shows as a device on my network (router page, "attached devices"), but the media share does not show on the menu. IN an attempt to reboot everything, I "removed" the HR20 form the WMP11 sharing screen in hopes that a reboot would "re-find" the HR20 and would start working again; however, WMP11 has not ofund the HR 20 as an "unknown device" again--the HR21 is still there (I never removed that one).
> 
> How can I get WMP11 to find this "unknown device" again?


OK...I even tried downloading Tversity, thinking maybe my issue really is with WMP11, and not the HR20...Tversity sharing showed up on my HR21, but still no media sharing menu on my HR20...this is frustrating!


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## jbs1136 (Nov 28, 2006)

I finally got around to putting ethernet in the living room and now have my dvr (HD20) networked. Read and followed this thread (first post) and have my laptop set up to play on the tv. Thank you very much for the consolidated post. Made it a lot easier to follow and set everything up.

I do have two questions though. 1) what video formats are supported? I have some mpg and some mpeg. One of the mpeg works, nothing else does. Several of them were shot with the same camcorder as the one that does play. What should I transcode everything to to make sure it plays. 2) Is there any option to use Linux as opposed to XP and WMP? My main os is Zenwalk (slackware based). I have my laptop dualbooted because it came with windows media edition but prefer the Linux. Any suggestions?

john


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

jbs1136 said:


> I finally got around to putting ethernet in the living room and now have my dvr (HD20) networked. Read and followed this thread (first post) and have my laptop set up to play on the tv. Thank you very much for the consolidated post. Made it a lot easier to follow and set everything up.
> 
> I do have two questions though. 1) what video formats are supported? I have some mpg and some mpeg. One of the mpeg works, nothing else does. Several of them were shot with the same camcorder as the one that does play. What should I transcode everything to to make sure it plays. 2) Is there any option to use Linux as opposed to XP and WMP? My main os is Zenwalk (slackware based). I have my laptop dualbooted because it came with windows media edition but prefer the Linux. Any suggestions?
> 
> john


So, prior to 0x22x firmware only true MPEG2 or MP2 transport stream worked. Now, looks like video is not working on new firmware. 

Look at beginning of thread and download GSpot util. It will tell you what the real file format is of your .mpg file.....could be many things....example MPEG-1. You can use MPEGStreamclip outlined in the beginning of the thread to change the file format to transport stream .ts then rename to .mpg. Use the "Convert to TS" only in the option.


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## jbs1136 (Nov 28, 2006)

Thanks, I must have missed that. Tried to scan through all of the posts but there was a lot of info. Old eyes and old mind aren't as sharp as they used to be:lol: 

john


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## rpl47 (Aug 20, 2006)

I'm not sure if this is where I need to post my question, but here it goes...

I have a Dell XPS 420 ViiV computer. I am going to network my two HD DVR's to my PC. First, I am going to run a direct line from my family room HR20-700 to my PC upstairs via an ethernet cable...simple enough. My other HD DVR, an HR20-100, is currently hooked up to an old analog TV in my office room. I want to sh*t can the old TV and run my HR20-100 to my PC. 

Here is the question....my PC does not have a video card, yet. Which video card should I purchase that would allow me to 1.) watch shows in HD on my PC, 2.) record shows in HD on my PC, and 3.) remove current recordings from my HD DVR to my PC and maintain them at HD quality...is this possible? are these recordings encrypted?

I have a ton of NY GIANTS recordings (thanks to the NFL Network) that I would love to be able to burn on DVD thru my PC...plus, these recordings have consumed over half the hard disc space on my DVR...

Any help will be greatly appreciated...


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

rpl47 said:


> I'm not sure if this is where I need to post my question, but here it goes...
> 
> I have a Dell XPS 420 ViiV computer. I am going to network my two HD DVR's to my PC. First, I am going to run a direct line from my family room HR20-700 to my PC upstairs via an ethernet cable...simple enough. My other HD DVR, an HR20-100, is currently hooked up to an old analog TV in my office room. I want to sh*t can the old TV and run my HR20-100 to my PC.
> 
> ...


This thread is merely to *enable* media sharing *FROM* your PC *TO* your HR20 where the HR20 serves/displays the pics/music/video located on the PC. You are more stating to use the PC as the video display client. If so, that is more a HTPC. One version is to have the media local on the PC...the other is to serve video from the HR20 to the PC.

*Check there threads out:*
Cutting Edge...Media Share PC
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=128528&highlight=htpc
Cutting Edge...Building a HTPC
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=127780&highlight=htpc

Also, the real defacto forum for HTPC's is AVS Forum
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=2&forumid=26&x=11&y=11


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## keithl1967 (Jan 21, 2007)

Hello...I recently doubled the size of my music library on my PC...it is now about 65 gigs. Since I added a significant amount of music, my HR20 will no longer share music. (when I select the "music" menu from the mediashare menu, nothing happens). I can still select photos, as they still show when I select "pictures" on the menu, so I know that the network is still functioning properly. Is this normal? What is the fix?


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

keithl1967 said:


> Hello...I recently doubled the size of my music library on my PC...it is now about 65 gigs. Since I added a significant amount of music, my HR20 will no longer share music. (when I select the "music" menu from the mediashare menu, nothing happens). I can still select photos, as they still show when I select "pictures" on the menu, so I know that the network is still functioning properly. Is this normal? What is the fix?


I'm not sure but I think the HR20 may be trying to "map" the music directory...which in your case at 65G may take an eternity....or never. This is only a guess because I have a large photo gallery and it takes forever for the HR20 to map all the thumbnails to the screen. Thus, I think the firmware for mediashare still has alot of tweeks before it is ready for prime-time. I've heard that "playlists" solve alot of problems. My suggestion is to "keep" your 65GB as-is but in WMP11 create some music playlists and see if you can run music from them. Let me know.


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## keithl1967 (Jan 21, 2007)

I know this is the WMP11 thread, but after reading a couple of other threads, I downloaded and installed Tversity. Through the Tversity software, I am able to see and play all of the audio content. Not sure why the HR20 might handle the media servers differently, but Tversity worked like a charm for all of my audio...

Any thoughts? I would love to use WMP11, but do not necessarily want to be limited to what I have added to a particular playlist...


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## bryancpa (Jul 13, 2007)

I have two HR21-100's both running 0x0230 and both connected to the network via powerline adaptors. Both DVR's are seeing the internet and can download DOD but only 1 of the DVR's can do media share. I am using XP and WMP11 on my PC. In WMP11, I can see both HR21's listed as devices but am not seeing the media share option on the main menu on one of the DVR's. I have tried rebooting the router, PC, and both HR21's with no luck. I have verified that the HR21's have different IP's. I also tried disconnecting the DVR that is working and rebooted everything again but still no media share option in the main menu on the other DVR. Any suggestions?


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

bryancpa said:


> I have two HR21-100's both running 0x0230 and both connected to the network via powerline adaptors. Both DVR's are seeing the internet and can download DOD but only 1 of the DVR's can do media share. I am using XP and WMP11 on my PC. In WMP11, I can see both HR21's listed as devices but am not seeing the media share option on the main menu on one of the DVR's. I have tried rebooting the router, PC, and both HR21's with no luck. I have verified that the HR21's have different IP's. I also tried disconnecting the DVR that is working and rebooted everything again but still no media share option in the main menu on the other DVR. Any suggestions?


Try Tversity.


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## bryancpa (Jul 13, 2007)

I tried Tversity and it worked for a few hours but now the media share ("Music, Photos, & More") menu option is gone again. I also tried Twonky but the menu option never appears. My other DVR always works just fine with WMP11, Tversity, or Twonky. Maybe need to replace the DVR?


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

bryancpa said:


> I tried Tversity and it worked for a few hours but now the media share ("Music, Photos, & More") menu option is gone again. I also tried Twonky but the menu option never appears. My other DVR always works just fine with WMP11, Tversity, or Twonky. Maybe need to replace the DVR?


Before you do that I'd try some experiments. Take the good DVR off the network and use the bad DVR on the same connection, etc. as the good DVR was. In other words try to isolate any variables that might be the problem instead of the DVR itself. If just changing the bad DVR to the good DVR RJ45 (remember to reboot everything) works....then go ahead and while the bad DVR is on the good link and works....connect the previous good DVR to the bad connection (reboot). See if the previous good DVR exhibits the issues. Then maybe you find it is link, connection, something other than DVR itself.


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## torose (May 19, 2008)

Was successfully sharing media with DVR, then because it was killing PC performance, I turned off media sharing in WMP11. 

I wanted to share media again and went back to WMP 11, shared DVR and the DVR now shows the network computer name, I clicked it the computer name, it shows the first level of folders(Pictures, Music, Video). The problem is that when I click any folders, it will not display the next level where the content is. I rebooted the PC and started from scratch, same results, I can see the Computer, I can click open initial folders, but cannot get to lower level folders where content is. 

Any suggestions??

Thanks in advance!


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

torose said:


> Was successfully sharing media with DVR, then because it was killing PC performance, I turned off media sharing in WMP11.
> 
> I wanted to share media again and went back to WMP 11, shared DVR and the DVR now shows the network computer name, I clicked it the computer name, it shows the first level of folders(Pictures, Music, Video). The problem is that when I click any folders, it will not display the next level where the content is. I rebooted the PC and started from scratch, same results, I can see the Computer, I can click open initial folders, but cannot get to lower level folders where content is.
> 
> ...


How large is your content directories....pics, music, etc. ? With the latest fimrware my "bottom" directory does not show and locks if I try to get/map there but my content shows on the directory above....but takes awhile to show up...pics especially. Try this....put a few pics and music in a playlist and see if you can access that ? This may not be something you've done but the regression in playability of the firmware versions.


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## torose (May 19, 2008)

thanks for speedy reply, music directory is 16 GB and Pictures are 4GB, they have not changed in size since I got to work the first time.


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## torose (May 19, 2008)

Tried your suggestion and created a couple of Playlists, 1 has 1 song and 1 pic, the other has 3 songs. DVR appears to try and access the folders but then comes back with "Unable to Access Media" error message. My firmwire is 0x22d, installed 5/13 which is about when I turned off Sharing. So is firmware upgrade the culprit?

Many thanks for the suggestions!


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

torose said:


> Tried your suggestion and created a couple of Playlists, 1 has 1 song and 1 pic, the other has 3 songs. DVR appears to try and access the folders but then comes back with "Unable to Access Media" error message. My firmwire is 0x22d, installed 5/13 which is about when I turned off Sharing. So is firmware upgrade the culprit?
> 
> Many thanks for the suggestions!


I'm not sure...kinda shooting in the dark here......next attempt. Go ahead and move some pics and music in different folders that are not shared. Then go into WMP11 and unshare the current folders and share/point to the new ones. Also, besides in WMP11 I also turn on sharing on the folder itself in Windows Explorer. Highlight folder, right click, properties, sharing tab....check share this folder.

Mine works with 0x22d but not well....previous_* recent *_releases were totally dead.


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## oenophile (Dec 1, 2006)

torose said:


> Tried your suggestion and created a couple of Playlists, 1 has 1 song and 1 pic, the other has 3 songs. DVR appears to try and access the folders but then comes back with "Unable to Access Media" error message. My firmwire is 0x22d, installed 5/13 which is about when I turned off Sharing. So is firmware upgrade the culprit?
> 
> Many thanks for the suggestions!


 I've had recent similar issues (and didn't before). Its likely the revised firmware. Can't believe how difficult this is for them--this is pretty simple stuff to do...


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## torose (May 19, 2008)

Finally threw in the towel and installed TVersity. Works 1000% better, folder displayed very snappy, plus Tversity didn't kill performance on PC side.


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## avm7030 (Nov 12, 2006)

I need help with Mpeg Streamclip. I select all VOB files for my movie. It then processes the movie which takes the same time as the length of the movie.

1. Should it take 1hr 23 min for a movie that is 1hr 23 min?

2. When it does finish and I save the file as XXXX.mpeg. Is this correct?

3. When I access on DVR it plays first 5 seconds with audio then stops, jumps back to menu and says "unable to access media".

I have installed the alternate apple quick time, I am using Tyversity. All other music and pics play perfectly using WMP11 or Tyversity. Are there any tweeks I need to do or am I missing a step when using streamclip. I chose "convert to TS" as indicated on the first page of this thread. I have converted and the movie twice and still no luck.

Please any help is appreciated!


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

avm7030 said:


> I need help with Mpeg Streamclip. I select all VOB files for my movie. It then processes the movie which takes the same time as the length of the movie.
> 
> 1. Should it take 1hr 23 min for a movie that is 1hr 23 min?
> 
> ...


I'm not sure what you mean by "process" the movie ? You select all the VOBs.....it asks you if you want to fix the timestamps...you select YES...then the import takes few, maybe 5-10 minutes tops. However, I've also had the same issue with the movie starting and stopping...on one that previously worked. Try a different movie and see. Also, I assume you rename the file to .MPG after TS conversion/output ?


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## avm7030 (Nov 12, 2006)

thekochs said:


> I'm not sure what you mean by "process" the movie ? You select all the VOBs.....it asks you if you want to fix the timestamps...you select YES...then the import takes few, maybe 5-10 minutes tops. However, I've also had the same issue with the movie starting and stopping...on one that previously worked. Try a different movie and see. Also, I assume you rename the file to .MPG after TS conversion/output ?


No, I hit "control" to highlight all 4 VOB files and then hit open. Then streamclip says "loading". I then go to "File" and select "Convert to TS". It then proceeds to convert the files and join them together, but it takes 1hr 23min which is how long the movie is. It starts at 0% and goes to 100% through the entire movie and coverts it, but it still does not play. Every post I have seen makes it seem like it should only take a couple of minutes to convert.

Am I doing this completely wrong ?


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

avm7030 said:


> No, I hit "control" to highlight all 4 VOB files and then hit open. Then streamclip says "loading". I then go to "File" and select "Convert to TS". It then proceeds to convert the files and join them together, but it takes 1hr 23min which is how long the movie is. It starts at 0% and goes to 100% through the entire movie and coverts it, but it still does not play. Every post I have seen makes it seem like it should only take a couple of minutes to convert.
> 
> Am I doing this completely wrong ?


No, it takes long to convert...just a few minutes to import.

Did you try another movie to see if that worked after conversion ?


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## avm7030 (Nov 12, 2006)

thekochs said:


> No, it takes long to convert...just a few minutes to import.
> 
> Did you try another movie to see if that worked after conversion ?


Yes, I did try with another movie and it only played the first 5 seconds or did not play at all. I will rip another one of my personal movies and try again. Thanks for clearifying that it does take a long time to convert, it just sounded like it should be a quick process from what I have read in other posts.

Thanks again and I will post my findings!


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## boilerjt (Jan 12, 2007)

avm7030 said:


> Yes, I did try with another movie and it only played the first 5 seconds or did not play at all. I will rip another one of my personal movies and try again. Thanks for clearifying that it does take a long time to convert, it just sounded like it should be a quick process from what I have read in other posts.
> 
> Thanks again and I will post my findings!


Playing the first 5 seconds typically means the bitrate is too high. The HR2x seems to have a maximum bitrate of 6-8 Mbps.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

boilerjt said:


> Playing the first 5 seconds typically means the bitrate is too high. The HR2x seems to have a maximum bitrate of 6-8 Mbps.


Hmmmm.....that would be good explanation but I had the movie *300* playing fine and then after some new firmware updates it stopped after 3-5 seconds. I re-imported then re-created the TS file, renamed to .MPG and it runs fine. I'm not sure what the Bit Rate was since I don't have the source...have the DVD but would have to re-backup. However, I have a couple of videos that currently work on the HR20. I went into MPEG Streamclip and loaded these clips and went into *File> Show Stream Info * in Streamclip to see the details of the movie/file.

See below..........all below 8Mbps ? I've searched thru several moives and can't find any above 8Mbps. avm730.....what is your bit rate of your movie ?

Stream: The Protector, Hapkido, ts.mpg
Path: D:\Videos\The Protector, Hapkido, ts.mpg
Type: MPEG transport stream
Duration: 0:03:01
Data Size: 154.30 MB
Bit Rate: 7.15 Mbps
Video Tracks:
224 MPEG-2, 720 x 480, 16:9, 23.975999999999999 fps, 9.80 Mbps, upper field first
Audio Tracks:
128 AC3 3/2, 48 kHz, 448 kbps
Stream Files:
The Protector, Hapkido, ts.mpg (154.30 MB)

Stream: Bad Boys, ts.mpg
Path: D:\Videos\Bad Boys, ts.mpg
Type: MPEG transport stream
Duration: 1:58:47
Data Size: 3.64 GB
Bit Rate: 4.39 Mbps
Video Tracks:
224 MPEG-2, 720 x 480, 16:9, 23.975999999999999 fps, 9.80 Mbps
Audio Tracks:
128 AC3 2/0, 48 kHz, 192 kbps
Stream Files:
Bad Boys, ts.mpg (3.64 GB)

Stream: Ashley's Christmas Pagent 2002, ts.mpg
Path: D:\Videos\Ashley's Christmas Pagent 2002, ts.mpg
Type: MPEG transport stream
Duration: 0:02:39
Data Size: 55.68 MB
Bit Rate: 2.93 Mbps
Video Tracks:
224 MPEG-1, 352 x 240, 29.969999999999999 fps, 2.40 Mbps
Audio Tracks:
192 MP2 stereo (joint), 44.100000000000001 kHz, 224 kbps
Stream Files:
Ashley's Christmas Pagent 2002, ts.mpg (55.68 MB)


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## boilerjt (Jan 12, 2007)

thekochs said:


> Hmmmm.....that would be good explanation but I had the movie *300* playing fine and then after some new firmware updates it stopped after 3-5 seconds. I re-imported then re-created the TS file, renamed to .MPG and it runs fine. I'm not sure what the Bit Rate was since I don't have the source...have the DVD but would have to re-backup. However, I have a couple of videos that currently work on the HR20. I went into MPEG Streamclip and loaded these clips and went into *File> Show Stream Info * in Streamclip to see the details of the movie/file.
> 
> See below..........all below 8Mbps ? I've searched thru several moives and can't find any above 8Mbps. avm730.....what is your bit rate of your movie ?
> 
> ...


If you are take a VOB from a DVD, it will often be greater than 8Mbps. Also, many HD video files you download will be greater than the maximum. If the video is encoded VBR (variable bitrate), it's even less predictable. I've seen video with an average bitrate of 5Mbps stop playing because the actual bitrate of a few frames goes above the maximum.  My solution is to transcode "on the fly" to an mpeg2ts with a constant bitrate between 6-7 Mbps using an ffmpeg script in MediaTomb. This maximum bitrate has been around since the first of the year (maybe earlier).


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

boilerjt said:


> If you are take a VOB from a DVD, it will often be greater than 8Mbps. Also, many HD video files you download will be greater than the maximum. If the video is encoded VBR (variable bitrate), it's even less predictable. I've seen video with an average bitrate of 5Mbps stop playing because the actual bitrate of a few frames goes above the maximum. My solution is to transcode "on the fly" to an mpeg2ts with a constant bitrate between 6-7 Mbps using an ffmpeg script in MediaTomb. This maximum bitrate has been around since the first of the year (maybe earlier).


Thanks....but as FYI I've looked at 30+ movies/VOBs and none are bit rate of 8Mbps. They are all about 5-6 Mbps from the ones I checked.


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## boilerjt (Jan 12, 2007)

thekochs said:


> Thanks....but as FYI I've looked at 30+ movies/VOBs and none are bit rate of 8Mbps. They are all about 5-6 Mbps from the ones I checked.


Believe me, there is video out there (especially HD video) that is greater than 8Mbps and the HR2x chokes on it after a few seconds of playback. This has been reported by many people on these forums. Looks like you're lucky you haven't run across any of them yet


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

boilerjt said:


> Playing the first 5 seconds typically means the bitrate is too high. The HR2x seems to have a maximum bitrate of 6-8 Mbps.


Unfortunately, I'm betting the 6-8Mbps limit is hardware in the MPEG decoder...not firmware change-able.


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

thekochs said:


> Unfortunately, I'm betting the 6-8Mbps limit is hardware in the MPEG decoder...not firmware change-able.


Actually this relates to how it was figured out that the HR2x supported ac3 in ts - Bobnielsen reported he was getting 5.1 audio when none of the rest of us could. Between him and trevorst - they figured out he using an atsc recording and that was the secret of 5.1 audio.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=113036

I can 100% say that I was able to play non-transcoded ATSC material with bitrates of ~19Mbps on my HR20 - then within a couple of builds I could not. I was also able to play transcoded (AVC to MPEG2) material that was about 30Mbps and that also stopped working. And I know several other people who had the same experience.

What I don't know is whether that was a conscious design decision to remove that capability or impose some limits in the software - but definitely there is no way it is a hardware issue. Also consider the HR20 has ATSC tuners - which precludes that possibility as the HR20 has no problem decoding those streams.


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## boilerjt (Jan 12, 2007)

bhelton71 said:


> Actually this relates to how it was figured out that the HR2x supported ac3 in ts - Bobnielsen reported he was getting 5.1 audio when none of the rest of us could. Between him and trevorst - they figured out he using an atsc recording and that was the secret of 5.1 audio.
> 
> http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=113036
> 
> ...


Bill,

Another thing I found out is that it's not just video bitrate that is limited, it's a combined video and audio bitrate I am seeing when sending a transport stream. For example, if I mux in mp2 128 kbps audio, I can specify a video CBR of 7Mbps and it plays on my HR20. If I mux in a 6 ch AC3 640kbps, I can only specify 5.9Mbps CBR. Could it be more a bandwidth issue than a bitrate issue?


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

boilerjt said:


> Bill,
> 
> Another thing I found out is that it's not just video bitrate that is limited, it's a combined video and audio bitrate I am seeing when sending a transport stream. For example, if I mux in mp2 128 kbps audio, I can specify a video CBR of 7Mbps and it plays on my HR20. If I mux in a 6 ch AC3 640kbps, I can only specify 5.9Mbps CBR. Could it be more a bandwidth issue than a bitrate issue?


You are right - to be completely accurate it is a combined bitrate - but still the question remains why only 7-8Mbps ? Thats not even 10% of 100Mbps.

So as a network bandwidth (since we know the box can at least handle 2 x 19Mbps thru the decoder) limitation - wouldn't that mean that they are consciously limiting the ethernet input to an HR2x in some way? I guess one could do some sort of QOS setting to limit what is available to mediashare - but then I would ask what the motivation would be to do that on 100Base?

Thats the confusing part to me - I can't think of any reason to knowingly limit video playback thru mediashare so are they really limiting it or not - or could it a s/w issue that is (or is not) being worked on? Or even possibly to guarantee bandwidth availability for other as yet unseen network applications (3 letters starts with M  )? Keeps coming back to the 'what is the end game ?' conversations I guess.


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## boilerjt (Jan 12, 2007)

bhelton71 said:


> You are right - to be completely accurate it is a combined bitrate - but still the question remains why only 7-8Mbps ? Thats not even 10% of 100Mbps.
> 
> So as a network bandwidth (since we know the box can at least handle 2 x 19Mbps thru the decoder) limitation - wouldn't that mean that they are consciously limiting the ethernet input to an HR2x in some way? I guess one could do some sort of QOS setting to limit what is available to mediashare - but then I would ask what the motivation would be to do that on 100Base?
> 
> Thats the confusing part to me - I can't think of any reason to knowingly limit video playback thru mediashare so are they really limiting it or not - or could it a s/w issue that is (or is not) being worked on? Or even possibly to guarantee bandwidth availability for other as yet unseen network applications (3 letters starts with M  )? Keeps coming back to the 'what is the end game ?' conversations I guess.


The thought of QOS entered my mind as well. Maybe they are not basing it on 100Base, but basing it on the lowest common denominator, the power line adapters they sell or even wireless. They may have allocated M*V some bandwidth, set some aside for DOD, and let Media Share have what is left over. I'm hoping it is a software bug and eventually Media Share will get the bandwidth back


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## ohpuckhead (Dec 15, 2007)

thekochs said:


> Ok....I just enabled media sharing via Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 & HR20. I do *NOT *have a ViiV computer....


I have read through this and many threads all afternoon. Here is my problem. After not showing up for months, the "Movies, Photos and More" item appeared on my HR-21 -700 (x235 last update) menu. It finds "Orb computer name" and all of my shared music files. (I did not download Orb separately, it came with Winamp remote.) However, there is an X next to each song and none of them will play on the DVR. I have not even tried to get to photos or video yet.

Other details: HP AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+ running Vista Home Basic. SP 1

I will spare the other network details at this time since all files are showing up on the DVR.

WMP 11.0
Winamp 5.54 x86

??????:shrug: :roundandr


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## boilerjt (Jan 12, 2007)

ohpuckhead said:


> I have read through this and many threads all afternoon. Here is my problem. After not showing up for months, the "Movies, Photos and More" item appeared on my HR-21 -700 (x235 last update) menu. It finds "Orb computer name" and all of my shared music files. (I did not download Orb separately, it came with Winamp remote.) However, there is an X next to each song and none of them will play on the DVR. I have not even tried to get to photos or video yet.
> 
> Other details: HP AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+ running Vista Home Basic. SP 1
> 
> ...


The HR2x will not play MP3 files. It requires the server application to transcode (convert) the MP3 to either WAV or LPCM and then stream it to the HR2x. If I recall, Orb does not transcode audio for the HR2x, but does work with video. WMP11 will transcode MP3 correctly.


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

boilerjt said:


> The HR2x will not play MP3 files. It requires the server application to transcode (convert) the MP3 to either WAV or LPCM and then stream it to the HR2x. If I recall, Orb does not transcode audio for the HR2x, but does work with video. WMP11 will transcode MP3 correctly.


Just as a tip for anyone who went through what I did:

If, for no apparent reason, WMP11 no longer works for Music and Photos (the menu doesn't appear in the sat receiver), consider TVersity. I went over two months with no media share, and doing nothing more than turning off WMP11 and installing TVersity brought back media share on both my HR20-700 and HR21-200. I tried every tip in this thread and none of them worked to get WMP11 to work again (and I had been using it for many months...and no I didn't change anything in my network)

Media Share is not perfect...there are sub-folder issues, but at least it works at a rudimentary level, which was not the case with WMP11/WinXP home/Intel Core2 Duo/2 gigs ram.

(I'm not trying to hijack the thread...just letting someone who might be desperate what ended up working for me)


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## doob (Jul 31, 2008)

I've followed all the steps. I can link to the DVR in WMP11. But nothing have ever appeared on the DVR.

my home PC is Dell Optiplex GX280 Intel Pentium 4 3.0Ghz, 3GB RAM, Intel Extreme Graphics , XP Pro SP3 w/all updates. Router is Linksys Wireless-G WRT-54G w/ latest firmware. Bridge is Linksys WET11. Directv on Demand works fine.

I've restarted both PC & DVR multiple times.

Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong?

Neither WMP11 or TVersity can get through to the DVR...

HELP!!


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

hasan said:


> nothing more than turning off WMP11


Out of curiosity how do you "turn off" WMP11 ? I think in WMP11 you can uncheck mediashare ?...is that what you mean ? I thought the only way to get rid of WMP11 was to uninstall it.


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## doob (Jul 31, 2008)

doob said:


> I've followed all the steps. I can link to the DVR in WMP11. But nothing have ever appeared on the DVR.
> 
> my home PC is Dell Optiplex GX280 Intel Pentium 4 3.0Ghz, 3GB RAM, Intel Extreme Graphics , XP Pro SP3 w/all updates. Router is Linksys Wireless-G WRT-54G w/ latest firmware. Bridge is Linksys WET11. Directv on Demand works fine.
> 
> ...


I still can't get the network to communicate w/ the DVR. I'm stumped. I can actually access th network files on my laptop. So it's there...

hmmmm


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## groove93 (Jun 10, 2008)

For XP users using both WMP 11 and Tversity, make sure that the "Services" for these programs are running. You will need to go to the Services section of Administrative Tools within the Control Panel. Within the list you will see the Tversity and WMPServer services listed towards the bottom of the window. Make sure these are running, if now turn them on.

In your Router's device listing, be sure that you are able to see your DVR as well as the PC running the Server Software. Pinging both devices will not help.

If you're using TVersity, check the "Status" section a couple of times to be sure that the HR2x is displayed properly in the window. Once you see it listed within Tversity, check to see if Media Share is working on your DVR.

Also, refresh your shared folders once in a while to be sure that all the media you want to view or listen to is listed properly.


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

doob said:


> I still can't get the network to communicate w/ the DVR. I'm stumped. I can actually access th network files on my laptop. So it's there...
> 
> hmmmm


One thing you can check is is if you can access the files using UPnP. If you download Mezzmo - its basically a free software based UPnP player so it will connect the same way the DVR does.

This is the link for Mezzmo - just download and install the media player on your laptop 
http://www.conceiva.com/products/mezzmo/default.asp

When you start it - you will see an open button - click it and select network media. 
This will search for all UPnP/DLNA servers on your network. If they show up and you can play a song for example - then you can be reasonably sure your network and computer is setup correctly.


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## rjf (Mar 9, 2007)

hey there -- i had to restore my laptop from a backup and can't get WMP11 media share to work. (it did work prior to the restore.) TVersity is working fine, and WMP is working fine on my desktop, so i'm pretty sure all settings are fine in the router and HR20. seems to be an isolated glitch in WMP on my laptop. i double checked all my settings were right via the instructions here. the glitch manifests as 1 of 3 things --

1) when i click "Media Sharing" i get this message: _Media sharing has been turned off because a required Windows setting or component has changed. For additional assistance, click web help._ Web help takes me to this link I tried the suggestions there, including uninstalling and reinstalling WMP11, but no improvement.

2) i click on Media Sharing, check the box to share media, and it detects my 2 HR20s. i choose Allow to share with both devices, but then sharing still isn't initiated. if i click Media Sharing again, i get the message in #1 above.

3) i click Media Share, get the check box to activate sharing, and it just hangs there, never going to the next step where it detects my HR20s.

any ideas as to whats wrong and how to fix it? i'm liking TVersity more and more, but would still like WMP working just in case. thoughts??

PS -- might also be worth mentioning that i installed Service Pack 3 for XP. possible it might be the culprit


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## Erniem (Aug 30, 2007)

I am having a issue where I see my content (music, photos etc) but when I select the song to play it tells me it cannot access the content. But I can access the same content via my Xbox 360 without any issues. I am using WMP11, any ideas would help.

Thanks


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

rjf said:


> hey there -- i had to restore my laptop from a backup and can't get WMP11 media share to work. (it did work prior to the restore.) TVersity is working fine, and WMP is working fine on my desktop, so i'm pretty sure all settings are fine in the router and HR20. seems to be an isolated glitch in WMP on my laptop. i double checked all my settings were right via the instructions here. the glitch manifests as 1 of 3 things --
> 
> 1) when i click "Media Sharing" i get this message: _Media sharing has been turned off because a required Windows setting or component has changed. For additional assistance, click web help._ Web help takes me to this link I tried the suggestions there, including uninstalling and reinstalling WMP11, but no improvement.
> 
> ...


Not advised to run them both on the same PC - but what has most likely happened is TVersity turned off a service.

To run WMP sharing - look in your services - verify
1) TVersityMediaServer is stopped
2) SSDP Discovery Service is running
3) Universal Plug and Play Device Host is running
4) Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service is running


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## rjf (Mar 9, 2007)

bhelton71 said:


> Not advised to run them both on the same PC - but what has most likely happened is TVersity turned off a service.
> 
> To run WMP sharing - look in your services - verify
> 1) TVersityMediaServer is stopped
> ...


thanks for the reply. i gave it a shot but the result was the same. i understand it's not advisable to run them both, but it worked before, and still does on my desktop. i think something else is wrong here because turning off TVersity had no effect and WMP media share is still dead.


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## mrdobolina (Aug 28, 2006)

thekochs said:


> 13) User Menu on HR20 and do a device reset (ONLY a reset). Once the HR20 comes back up under Menu you should see Music & Pics, etc, item. Go into this menu item and select items to play/show.


Thanks for the documentation! I'm learning a lot about my home network as I do this. So far I've had success seeing everything you've pointed out (I'm trying to use WMP 11), but I am not able to get the "music, pics etc." to show up on my HR20's menu. For the instruction quoted above, do I need to do a FULL reset that will reset the box to factory condition? If I recall correctly, there are 3 choices under the reset menu...RESTART the box, RESET DEFAULTS, and RESET ALL. Do I need to RESET ALL?? Won't that delete any shows I have saved/recorded??

Thanks again!


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

mrdobolina said:


> Thanks for the documentation! I'm learning a lot about my home network as I do this. So far I've had success seeing everything you've pointed out (I'm trying to use WMP 11), but I am not able to get the "music, pics etc." to show up on my HR20's menu. For the instruction quoted above, do I need to do a FULL reset that will reset the box to factory condition? If I recall correctly, there are 3 choices under the reset menu...RESTART the box, RESET DEFAULTS, and RESET ALL. Do I need to RESET ALL?? Won't that delete any shows I have saved/recorded??
> 
> Thanks again!


Restart is just a reboot.
Restart to defaults sets all factory defaults back.
Restart ALL is like a reformat....yes all is lost.

Just do a RESTART only.


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## mrdobolina (Aug 28, 2006)

Thanks! 

It looks like I have a little more troubleshooting to do, though, since I did do a restart already, and the music and pics option does not come up as a choice on any of my menus. 

I'll figure it out.


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## daveriv (Jan 10, 2007)

Can you stream internet radio stations from WMP11 to the HR20 like others are doing with Tversity?


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## rjf (Mar 9, 2007)

in case anyone's having the same issue, i was able to fix it. apparenly the database was corrupt. just delete the db file and rebuid it and it works as it should. here's the info: click here





rjf said:


> hey there -- i had to restore my laptop from a backup and can't get WMP11 media share to work. (it did work prior to the restore.) TVersity is working fine, and WMP is working fine on my desktop, so i'm pretty sure all settings are fine in the router and HR20. seems to be an isolated glitch in WMP on my laptop. i double checked all my settings were right via the instructions here. the glitch manifests as 1 of 3 things --
> 
> 1) when i click "Media Sharing" i get this message: _Media sharing has been turned off because a required Windows setting or component has changed. For additional assistance, click web help._ Web help takes me to this link I tried the suggestions there, including uninstalling and reinstalling WMP11, but no improvement.
> 
> ...


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## r1ga (Apr 4, 2006)

I have been unable to get Media Sharing to work with my HR20. I do have the Music & Photos menu item, but when I choose it and then choose My Computers all I get is Azureus - which it says contains no files. (I am running the Azureus bt program on an XP laptop with WMP11) I cannot get to the MyDocs folders, which I have shared in WMP. It is clear the HR20 is communicating with the laptop b/c when I turn off Azureus it does not show up under My Computers. Even if I could find this Azureus folder (have looked) I could get by. I have been thru thekochs tutorial. Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.


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## Rugged (Sep 16, 2006)

I'm also having trouble networking with WMP11. I am on the network and getting On Demand no problem. I also have no trouble listening to music from my shared folders. Pictures just aren't working. It says "unable to access media".

any thoughts on what i'm doing wrong.

thanks


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## Erniem (Aug 30, 2007)

"Unable to access media" is the same error I am receiving for all content music and pictures. Any ideas would be helpfull.

Thanks


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## kaa1954 (Sep 23, 2006)

Erniem said:


> "Unable to access media" is the same error I am receiving for all content music and pictures. Any ideas would be helpfull.
> 
> Thanks


Same here.


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## Rugged (Sep 16, 2006)

Rugged said:


> I'm also having trouble networking with WMP11. I am on the network and getting On Demand no problem. I also have no trouble listening to music from my shared folders. Pictures just aren't working. It says "unable to access media".
> 
> any thoughts on what i'm doing wrong.
> 
> thanks


Still can't get pictures to work...anyone know what I can do?

I'm using powerline adapters.


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## daveriv (Jan 10, 2007)

Erniem said:


> "Unable to access media" is the same error I am receiving for all content music and pictures. Any ideas would be helpfull.
> 
> Thanks


+1 - I can access my media just fine on my PS3 but not on my HR20-700.


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## thumperyz69 (Feb 12, 2005)

I have sharing up and going but is there any way I can refresh the content out on my share from the HR20. From what I can see the HR20 does *one* check of the content in the shared folders after it is restarted and that is it. If I add new content to the folders it is not recognized until the HR20 is restarted.

Is there a work around???

T


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

thumperyz69 said:


> I have sharing up and going but is there any way I can refresh the content out on my share from the HR20. From what I can see the HR20 does *one* check of the content in the shared folders after it is restarted and that is it. If I add new content to the folders it is not recognized until the HR20 is restarted.
> 
> Is there a work around???
> 
> T


Not following - when you add content and force a WMP library refresh - the next time you access MediaShare the new content should show up. The HR20 only maintains data for each 'session' for history primarily - so it is very limited.


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## thumperyz69 (Feb 12, 2005)

bhelton71 said:


> Not following - when you add content and force a WMP library refresh - the next time you access MediaShare the new content should show up. The HR20 only maintains data for each 'session' for history primarily - so it is very limited.


OK...if I add content to my PC that is sharing content using TVersity my HR20 doesn't see the new files until I restart the DVR. Maybe I just need to "refresh" using TVersity???

I'll look at that...


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## EMoMoney (Dec 19, 2005)

daveriv said:


> +1 - I can access my media just fine on my PS3 but not on my HR20-700.


Same for me.


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## thumperyz69 (Feb 12, 2005)

thumperyz69 said:


> OK...if I add content to my PC that is sharing content using TVersity my HR20 doesn't see the new files until I restart the DVR. Maybe I just need to "refresh" using TVersity???
> 
> I'll look at that...


thanks for that tip. The refesh worked but what a fool I was I updated TVersity and now it doesn't transcode avi's. ;-(
I'll have to work on that.

T


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## sabusch (Sep 1, 2008)

I have done all the steps you listed, except the Router changes.
I have XP home SP2, and a Vonage (D-Link) router, which Vonage TS offers no help with this request. 
I noticed the HR20 when WM11 asked if I wanted to share w/ it, and surfed till I found this post. I can see the HR20 in the WM11 Media Share tab, but after I reset the HR20 I don't see the new menu item.
How essential is the "enable filter multicast and UPnP" step, and what does it do? perhaps I can coerce the router some other way.
Thanks for you time.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

sabusch said:


> I have done all the steps you listed, except the Router changes.
> I have XP home SP2, and a Vonage (D-Link) router, which Vonage TS offers no help with this request.
> I noticed the HR20 when WM11 asked if I wanted to share w/ it, and surfed till I found this post. I can see the HR20 in the WM11 Media Share tab, but after I reset the HR20 I don't see the new menu item.
> How essential is the "enable filter multicast and UPnP" step, and what does it do? perhaps I can coerce the router some other way.
> Thanks for you time.


I am no router expert but Universal Plug-n-Play is required for items to share. Thus if the router does not allow tis or blocks then this will stop things. My Linksys router has these settings. Perhaps others can help on D-Link router ?


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## booyaa (Sep 11, 2008)

I'm using WMP11 on my WindowsXP with and HR20. Hooked everthing up and seems to be working just fine. The only issue I have is the music is playing at about 1/4 speed. Very slow motion.

It can't be the connection speed, because the photos refresh and show up at a decent speed. 

Is there a setting on WMP11 that I am missing? Checked this site and tons of others, but don't see anyone else with this issue.

Thanks in advance!!
DC


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## LotusJPS (Feb 26, 2007)

I had several computers media sharing with my HR20 working great. Then I "upgraded" my main PC to Vista. Now my computers with XP still work fine, though I can't get the HR20 to see my Vista machine (though the HR20 still shows in media player 11). Also possibly related. I recently purchased a PS3 which interfaces with my xp machines just fine, but my doesn't even show up on my Vista one. Both the HR20 and the PS3 are networked through a wireless router, the vista pc and one of the xp pc are connected to the router by cable.

I've tried going through the steps again on the vista machine but still no joy. Any ideas?


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## scab (Sep 30, 2008)

I've been reading through this thread for the last day, and I am still not able to get WMS working with my HR20. I believe I have followed all of the steps on the first posting.

I am using an XP laptop with WMP v11, and connecting wirelessly to the network. I am able to see and allow media sharing with DIRECTV PLUS HD DVR. I enabled sharing for "My Pictures" and "My Music", and have the folders monitored.

My HR20 has a wired ethernet connection to one of the open ports on a Netgear wireless router. VOD is working. I can see the "Music, Photos & More" option in the menu. In the My Computer menu option, I can see that the HR20 is seeing the network because it is picking up the 2 Sonos zone players, only one of these has a wired connection to the same router.

After 2 restarts of the HR20 and various laptop reboots, I still can't get the HR20 to find the laptop.

Any help would be great!!!!!


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

scab said:


> I've been reading through this thread for the last day, and I am still not able to get WMS working with my HR20. I believe I have followed all of the steps on the first posting.
> 
> I am using an XP laptop with WMP v11, and connecting wirelessly to the network. I am able to see and allow media sharing with DIRECTV PLUS HD DVR. I enabled sharing for "My Pictures" and "My Music", and have the folders monitored.
> 
> ...


OK...sorry for the dumb question but you say above that the HR20 on Menu shows the "Music, Photos & More"....if so I think this means it sees the PC/Notebook...assuming this is the only one on the network. When you click on this and it says Computers I assume there is nothing or is the computer there but not the content ? If the latter, besides just "sharing" in WMP11 don't forget ti import your content from the shared folders into WMP11.


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## scab (Sep 30, 2008)

thekochs said:


> OK...sorry for the dumb question but you say above that the HR20 on Menu shows the "Music, Photos & More"....if so I think this means it sees the PC/Notebook...assuming this is the only one on the network. When you click on this and it says Computers I assume there is nothing or is the computer there but not the content ? If the latter, besides just "sharing" in WMP11 don't forget ti import your content from the shared folders into WMP11.


Prior to trying to share media from my laptop, I noticed the "Music, Photos & More" menu on the DVR. I believe this is because I recently connected/installed a Sonos system in the house. One Sonos zone player has a wired connection to the same router used by the HR20, and the other wirelessly connects back to the wired unit. When I click Computers from the HR20 menu, I see both Sonos units. Because the Sonos system is mapped to my laptop's shared music folder, I can see folders when drilling into the Sonos "computers" but nothing plays (and I didn't expect it would). What I can't see is my laptop, which I'm assuming will be a third entry in the HR20 "Computers" list.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

scab said:


> Prior to trying to share media from my laptop, I noticed the "Music, Photos & More" menu on the DVR. I believe this is because I recently connected/installed a Sonos system in the house. One Sonos zone player has a wired connection to the same router used by the HR20, and the other wirelessly connects back to the wired unit. When I click Computers from the HR20 menu, I see both Sonos units. Because the Sonos system is mapped to my laptop's shared music folder, I can see folders when drilling into the Sonos "computers" but nothing plays (and I didn't expect it would). What I can't see is my laptop, which I'm assuming will be a third entry in the HR20 "Computers" list.


Well, yup....connection issue.

1) Is your notebook hardwired to the router ?...I think you said no. I assume the Sonos is hardwired ? This would be easy to try to take the wireless out of equation from notebook to router.
2) Next, can you run a hardwire connection to your HR20 from router...either move it or get long RJ45 cable...try then return after ?
I think I would focus on trying to get the router hardwired connected and also check the router configs...although the Sonos shows.
3) After that, any other PC in the house you can try to enable WMP11 on and see if it is seen ? Basically, try to find one that works and look at the variables.

Just some thoughts.


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## Crypter (Jun 21, 2007)

Does the HR2X support AC3 in the mpeg files when playing back video? I have a HUGE library of MPEG2 movies already on my netowork and shared with WMP11 and I can see them and open them fine on my HR2x but there is no audio and the movies only plays for about 10 seconds then says there was an error playing back the audio,. All my files are MPEG2 with AC3 (5.1 Dolby digital).

Any ideas?


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## boilerjt (Jan 12, 2007)

Crypter said:


> Does the HR2X support AC3 in the mpeg files when playing back video? I have a HUGE library of MPEG2 movies already on my netowork and shared with WMP11 and I can see them and open them fine on my HR2x but there is no audio and the movies only plays for about 10 seconds then says there was an error playing back the audio,. All my files are MPEG2 with AC3 (5.1 Dolby digital).
> 
> Any ideas?


http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=144722


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

Crypter said:


> Does the HR2X support AC3 in the mpeg files when playing back video? I have a HUGE library of MPEG2 movies already on my netowork and shared with WMP11 and I can see them and open them fine on my HR2x but there is no audio and the movies only plays for about 10 seconds then says there was an error playing back the audio,. All my files are MPEG2 with AC3 (5.1 Dolby digital).
> 
> Any ideas?


As posted in other thread..............

_MediaShare will only natively play:__
1) MPEG2 Program Stream (AC3 doesn't with HR2x)
2) MPEG2 Transport Stream (AC3 works)
Also, there is a limit on the video bitrate and it will not play anything reliably with a bitrate over 8Mbps._

See beginning of *this* thread to convert your MPEG2 to Transport Stream thru MPEG Streamclip....not hard.

Also, for audio HRxx only decodes LPCM so MP3s are transcoded via WMP11 (or MediaTomb, Tversity, etc.) to this format.


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## JGL (Aug 3, 2007)

Appreciate the consolidated post...I was able to get some music and pictures on my HR20. But, I'm having trouble with the video. First of all, DVD Fab would crash on me after reading the DVD. But then I installed the K-Lite Codec pak and it seems to be working now.
Before I got DVD Fab working, I used DVD Shrink 3.2 to get the .vob files from the DVD, so those are the ones I'm working with now.
My problem now is with getting the MPEG Streamclip software to work. It crashes as soon as I load in the .vob files.
I initially had Quicktime installed, but when I ran Streamclip, it told me that the mpeg2 codec component was not installed and it recommended to uninstall Quicktime and use Quicktime Alternative 1.81...so that's what I did, and now it crashes after loading the .vob's.
I'm a little confused about what is supposed to be installed...in the first post it says you need to have Quicktime installed, but in the Streamclip readme file, it says to not install both (Quicktime and Quicktime Alternative 1.81). And I did make sure the 'Additional Quick Time plugins' was checked when I installed.
Do I need to be using Alternative 1.61 for this to work, or is 1.81 ok?
I do have TheaterTek installed....how do I make sure the mpeg2 codec component is started?


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## Crypter (Jun 21, 2007)

I have a weird issue.... 

I have MPEG-2 encoded HD movies on my Media Server all in Mpeg ProgramStream containers (.mpg). All my videos are 1920x1080i/p with AC3 audio. Right now the Media Share feature will begin to playback the video perfectly (no audio) for about 15 seconds before it goes back to the menu and says it encountered an error playing back the video. 

Now I followed the instructions above about converting my MPG files to Transport Stream files (.ts) and renaming back to mpg. All this did was cause the video to look all garbled and still no audio. So I have still not gotten my videos to work on the HR20's. 

Anyone else have any other ideas?


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## Crypter (Jun 21, 2007)

BUMP..... no one had any suggestions for my problem above?


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

Crypter said:


> I have a weird issue....
> 
> I have MPEG-2 encoded HD movies on my Media Server all in Mpeg ProgramStream containers (.mpg). All my videos are 1920x1080i/p with AC3 audio. Right now the Media Share feature will begin to playback the video perfectly (no audio) for about 15 seconds before it goes back to the menu and says it encountered an error playing back the video.
> 
> ...


Not an expert but I think there is HRxx limit (8Mbps) to bitrate.....perhaps these exceed ? You can use GSpot util to find out.


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## JGL (Aug 3, 2007)

Anyone have any ideas why I can't get the Streamclip software to work (see post 155)? Is there another free .vob to mpegII converter I could try to get the same result?


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## JGL (Aug 3, 2007)

bump - no ideas?


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

JGL said:


> Anyone have any ideas why I can't get the Streamclip software to work (see post 155)? Is there another free .vob to mpegII converter I could try to get the same result?


Here is the best converter http://www.riverpast.com/en/prod/videocleaner/ I found but not free....it does the best job of quality conversions....alot of free ones quality is poor. However, this one does not combine the VOBs into one MPEG file like Streamclip does so in my option for this function it is worthless. The install post and use of this thread works for sure....many use it. I would try to uninstall all the items, delete old directories associated with them, run a reg cleaner....then re-install. Something has gone wrong with all your installs...must be some conflict somewhere....very hard to tell. Is there another system you can first try this on....to convince yourself it works ? I recommend because everyone seems to use this package and keeping with the mainstream is always a good idea.

As far as TheaterTek it installs the MPEG decoders from nVidia. You can run TT and go info config and look in the info tab to see the decoders there.
Can you double click on the Video_TS.IFO files associated with VOBs and the movie runs ?....TT should launch....plus if you ALT-Tab out to Desktop while movie/TT is running you should see the nVidia decoder running in the system tray at bottom right of screen...you can even click on it to see the nVidia config. But if this is running then the VOBs are OK and the decoders are working. If not, then there is some type corruption in the VOBs....trash those versions...start over. As I stated above...uninstall DVD Fab and delete all directories, run a reg cleaner then reinstall latest version....it should work fine: http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm


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## JGL (Aug 3, 2007)

thekochs said:


> Here is the best converter http://www.riverpast.com/en/prod/videocleaner/ I found but not free....it does the best job of quality conversions....alot of free ones quality is poor. However, this one does not combine the VOBs into one MPEG file like Streamclip does so in my option for this function it is worthless. The install post and use of this thread works for sure....many use it. I would try to uninstall all the items, delete old directories associated with them, run a reg cleaner....then re-install. Something has gone wrong with all your installs...must be some conflict somewhere....very hard to tell. Is there another system you can first try this on....to convince yourself it works ? I recommend because everyone seems to use this package and keeping with the mainstream is always a good idea.
> 
> As far as TheaterTek it installs the MPEG decoders from nVidia. You can run TT and go info config and look in the info tab to see the decoders there.
> Can you double click on the Video_TS.IFO files associated with VOBs and the movie runs ?....TT should launch....plus if you ALT-Tab out to Desktop while movie/TT is running you should see the nVidia decoder running in the system tray at bottom right of screen...you can even click on it to see the nVidia config. But if this is running then the VOBs are OK and the decoders are working. If not, then there is some type corruption in the VOBs....trash those versions...start over. As I stated above...uninstall DVD Fab and delete all directories, run a reg cleaner then reinstall latest version....it should work fine: http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm


Ok...I tried running everything on another system and had no trouble with the software. DVD Fab worked ok, and Streamclip didn't seem to have any problem converting the .vobs to a .ts file.
The only thing is....I can't get this .ts file (renamed to .mpg) to play in Media Player. When I look at the file in windows explorer, I see the file size as about 4.7G...but in Media Player 11 the file size is 0.
I'm still having problems with seeing video files on the HR20....getting the 'can't access the media' errors. My pictures and music play correctly, though.
So is there any thoughts on why Media Player isn't seeing the movie file correctly?

I can play the movie file in TheaterTek, but it doesn't play smoothly...seems like it's skipping a few frames here and there.

JGL


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

JGL said:


> Ok...I tried running everything on another system and had no trouble with the software. DVD Fab worked ok, and Streamclip didn't seem to have any problem converting the .vobs to a .ts file.


Good........so now clean up your *other* system and see if you can get this to work there....you've got something mucked up with all the installs.



JGL said:


> The only thing is....I can't get this .ts file (renamed to .mpg) to play in Media Player. When I look at the file in windows explorer, I see the file size as about 4.7G...but in Media Player 11 the file size is 0.


Maybe your mpeg codec used in Windows Media Player does not support Transport Stream. In Media Player you go to HELP, Support Information which will open web/HTML page and scroll down to mpeg codec and you can see which codec is installed for the decode. Below is an example from mine.....I bought Elecard since was cheap and runs TS streams in WMP11 great. http://www.elecard.com/products/products-pc/consumer/mpeg2-decoder-plugin/ However, I think TT runs TS stream so go to their forum and ask first....TT uses NVidia codecs.

*MPEG/DVD Filters
Type Name Binary Version 
video ffdshow Video Decoder ffdshow.ax 1.0.5.1750 
video Elecard MPEG-2 Video Decoder em2vd.ax 1.1.4586.0 
video NVIDIA Video Decoder nvviddec.ax 4020.185.0.0 
video CyberLink Video/SP Decoder CLVSD.ax 5.0.0.2226 *



JGL said:


> I'm still having problems with seeing video files on the HR20....getting the 'can't access the media' errors. My pictures and music play correctly, though. So is there any thoughts on why Media Player isn't seeing the movie file correctly?.


If you can't see the movie files *at all *then perhaps you did not import the video into the WMP11 library...delete if they show and re-import, or the directory is not shared, or perhaps they are not truly TS container files thus HR20 cannot see/ID them. Install GSpot util per the first How-To and open and point to your video .MPG clip (TS) to make sure you truly *converted* video to TS stream per the instructions on first of thread....Gspot should show the file as a Transport Stream.
_==>c) Now in MPEG Streamclip go to File Menu and choose *"Convert to TS"*. Note, there are other output file options like Convert to MPEG with MP2 Audio , Convert to TS with MP2 Audio ...but these can cause audio hickups on the HR20 with current codec. So, again use/select the "Convert to TS". The result is one xxx.TS file. Now, exit MPEG Streamclip and rename the xxx.TS file to xxx.MPG._



JGL said:


> I can play the movie file in TheaterTek, but it doesn't play smoothly...seems like it's skipping a few frames here and there.


This can be another problem....go to their forums but I think the default in TT is not *Overlay* but VMM9 which takes much more horespower and can cause skipping since it is software based. You can check your video config in TT and see...change to overlay since it uses Gfx controller hardware.

The above are seperate issues potentially. Hope some of this helps.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

Bump...shameless.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Actually, I'm going to close this one. Look for an updated thread in the Information Resources subforum in the General forum.


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