Phoenix Gold Phorum

So a little over a year ago I bought a PC-P3LWG/DVD made by Buffalo, essentially a DVD player with a media link built in. Well I never used the media function much as it was slow and a little awkward to navigate. A few weeks ago I downgraded to Vista x64 and low and behold the manufacturer did not make nor do they plan to make a server side software that is compatible with Vista.......now a useless device.

I did some digging and found reference to an open source server that in all appearance has far better capability. I installed it and it doesn't work on Vista x64....back to the drawing board.

I found the root server portion of wizdxp (server app) is an ongoing project and the server app itself does not get updated as regularly as the core files (cygwin) so I downloaded the core files and stripped the primary driver (cygwin1.dll) out of the installer and moved it to the install files of wizdxp........


Now my media unit is faster than before and as an added bonus I can play .iso files without converting them to a recognized video format.


If you have a computer and $99 (or less) this is a pretty decent media playback device as long as you don't use the manufacturer supplied server software.

Sounds pretty cool...

I just snagged one up off the bay for $50.

Wait, what?

Why wouldn't you just use Windows?

It appears that this would be another server-side software alternative. They have Windows binaries available (among others).

Francious70 wrote:Wait, what?

Why wouldn't you just use Windows?

huh?

Francious70 wrote:Wait, what?

Why wouldn't you just use Windows?

Windows for what are you kidding? Media Center is only compatible with MCE devices, UPnP services on windows does not play back files that windows can not handle natively, nor does it provide book marking of where you last stopped on any media. An open source media server app allows more capability, and oddly enough a DVD played directly on the unit comes across as 480p while a ripped DVD streamed to the unit plays at 1080i.....

fuzzysnuggleduck wrote:It appears that this would be another server-side software alternative. They have Windows binaries available (among others).

Wizdxp plays ISO files, which means a full rip of a DVD no stripping files out or converting it to a compatible type. Full menu's and audio still intact if I ever choose to burn to disk.

I've been wanting a new DVD player, but access to files on my pc with Vista x64 on it is icing on the cake.

Yaay...just got it today, in excellent condition.

my god, how the hell do you setup wireless on this thing....
everytime I try to enter my WPA key it doesn't work or it says it's too long...wish there was a way to hook up a keyboard or upload the key via USB Flash...

I've been playing around with it quite a bit....it's pretty cool.
I tried TVersity out on it as well, either it just doesn't have much content...or I haven't figured it out yet.
WizdXP works great though, I like how you can have secret folders...

I ended up setting up a separate access point just for the LinkTheater (had one laying around). Gave it a 20 char WPA key instead of 63 (much easier to type in), and put the MAC address on the allow list.

I hate entering the WPA key to. I just hard wired mine. Noticeably quicker to navigate folders.

Yea, kind of giving up on this thing...the interface just isn't that great...and I'd like to be able to watch Hulu videos etc on the tv, which I haven't been able to figure out a way to do it on this thing.

So I'm gonna build an HTPC....

New media server app found will be trying soon, it should support HULU youtube netflix etc.....Not certain if the device actually supports the service.


PlayOn Media Server


another server app that I found is Siamese, it works and seemed pretty cool but it was more intense as an application on my PC as it ran a SQL database on the back end. Additionally it allows for a media app plugin that functions similar to the pandora music webservice, but uses your local media. I ripped it out because the navigation menus were not really friendly.

Already tried that....

http://www.themediamall.com/node/391

Mine is just sitting on a shelf.

oh...i just read the new posts...maybe it will work...

VW337 wrote:

Francious70 wrote:Wait, what?

Why wouldn't you just use Windows?

Windows for what are you kidding? Media Center is only compatible with MCE devices, UPnP services on windows does not play back files that windows can not handle natively, nor does it provide book marking of where you last stopped on any media. An open source media server app allows more capability, and oddly enough a DVD played directly on the unit comes across as 480p while a ripped DVD streamed to the unit plays at 1080i.....

fuzzysnuggleduck wrote:It appears that this would be another server-side software alternative. They have Windows binaries available (among others).

Wizdxp plays ISO files, which means a full rip of a DVD no stripping files out or converting it to a compatible type. Full menu's and audio still intact if I ever choose to burn to disk.

Just a quick note-Native commercial dvd movies are 480i. The video processor in your dvd player allows the progressive format.