[C-200] Firmware 02-03-100821-21-POP-408 (02-03-100427-21-POP-408 Apps) (26.08.2010)

[eastsydneyboy]

I've been trying this new firmware for a couple of days now, but I've been experiencing choppy playback on an MKV file. It's not a network problem, as exactly the same choppiness happens when played from the local hard drive.

The choppiness isn't random, and seems to happen at exactly the same places in the video file.

I've reverted back to the May firmware, and everything is playing normally now.

[micaradu]

(09-02-2010 12:00 PM)coiken Wrote:  I don't know if this has been reported or not... don't wanne read through the 36 pages.

The resume function does not work anymore, this is a quit annoying bug, i don't get how this good slip through the final version without being noticed! Maybe you guys should start using monkeys as beta tester, they might succeed to report more bugs

Seriously, how stupid is this, this was working flawless in the previous versions... For me this is a really import function, please give us back the resume functionality!

You got it all wrong......Actually, we are all beta testers. The others just check to see if the archive containing the firmware isn't actually porn or mp3's. )

[jj666]

(09-02-2010 12:00 PM)coiken Wrote:  I don't know if this has been reported or not... don't wanne read through the 36 pages.

The resume function does not work anymore, this is a quit annoying bug, i don't get how this good slip through the final version without being noticed! Maybe you guys should start using monkeys as beta tester, they might succeed to report more bugs

Seriously, how stupid is this, this was working flawless in the previous versions... For me this is a really import function, please give us back the resume functionality!

Before calling the beta testers stupid, you may want to re-read your post.

Let us know what type of files you're using then it can be checked for the resume ability by other testers. Personally, I've not had any issues with the resume functionality.

Cheers,

-jj-

[Franck B]

hello, I'm french and new in the world of c200.
I have a big issue with the new firmware for the month of August.
the update work fine, but after rebooting, I have no output hdmi. analog output works well.
I tried all the tricks of the forum and nothing works.
I tried 3 different HDMI cable, live on TV or across the amp, with and without CEC.
I have a TV Sony KDL-W4500 and a denon avr-1909.
I handed the firmware of May that it works very well for the HDMI output

[Willem53]

@Franck B Pls check this thread:

http://www.networkedmediatank.com/showth...?tid=43747

[Nabbet]

(09-02-2010 10:51 AM)spe Wrote:  My C-200 is one of a pair from the first publicly shipped batch. the second unit has sat in its box for the past 11 months. Until yesterday.

My C-200 has done the same thing as yours, Err022, but it waited 4 days after installing the firmware and first refused to boot, demanded a firmware recovery USB image be inserted, then reported the Err022 error whilst loading that image and all others that I have tried.

There is a wiki entry about recovering using a jumper on the motherboard, this has no effect on my issue but it may work for you. Its worth a try anyway.

From other posts I see that its likely that the NAND flash needs re formatting to clear a newly tripped over bad block.

This flash format can only be done at the moment by an RMA, which will take weeks to deliver to the US and return to the UK.

Because there is a bootstrap operating in the device at the time of the failure, I can't see why Syabas can't put together a mini kernel and flash application that could do this re-format from a USB stick. It would save and restore the resident key files to the USB stick as it goes, inserting a new key if the original was affected by the dead block(s).

We shouldn't need to RMA boards so regularly for a failure to cope with this in the software.

Werner, can we possibly ask Syabas to investigate the creation of a re-flash utility to be run from a USB stick please?

Although I suggest that it be made available initially as a USB based utility in order to recover currently disabled units, there may be room to insert the functionality into a later firmware release and allow for auto-recovery from bad flash blocks without further user action. Now this really would be consumer oriented product development.

Warranty is not out for the first public release yet, although the order went in on 27th August 2009 the shipments didn't get sent until later. Late September if memory serves.

Anyway its still valid today and mine has had an RMA allocated without any hassle, your's should too.

You will need to raise an issue through the PopcornHour web site and explain the sequence. You will also need to first register your unit and then repeat most of this information in the report. But don't get frustrated, once you are past this daft double-entry stage of the process just wait 24 hours and you should get a positive response.

I now realise that the C-200 has a limited lifespan denoted by the flash rom life. When my newly unboxed C-200 dies in the same fashion it will likely be roughly a year from now and I don't expect Syabas to be so forthcoming with an RMA. So I hope that a software solution can be found well before then.

Werner, is there any possibility of publiclly recognising the flash issue and extending the warranty period for these failures?

Thanks for your careful response. I, like you, have tried with and without the jumper with no sign of difference. But somehow mine won't even reach the recovery boot anymore and is stuck at the 'Popcorn Hour loading'-screen. But it seems like the exact same problem.

Checked my receipt, which was handled by Divx.nl through the pre-purchase via mpcclub, and was in luck - it's dated the 16th of september. I will try contacting them first and hear their approach to RMA.

But Syabas (Werner) you should urgently clarify the terms of warranty regarding flash-failures as the first public units are nearing expiry. And like spe suggested, give us some tools to actively fix it ourselves.

Because when I will receive my unit back sometime in the unforeseen future my warranty will definitely be up ... and then what. Stuck at whatever firmware my unit ships with. Not good enough.

[coiken]

(09-02-2010 01:21 PM)jj666 Wrote:  Before calling the beta testers stupid, you may want to re-read your post.

Let us know what type of files you're using then it can be checked for the resume ability by other testers. Personally, I've not had any issues with the resume functionality.

Cheers,

-jj-

i didn't call the beta testers stupid... I just suggested some clever monkeys might be better in finding bugs :-) (that was a joke mate ;-) )

I have this with my mkv files... all of them!

So, you say you've tested this and you don't have this issue? So you can start your movie, stop it and when you start it again it resumes from the point you where before?

ps: yeah, ok there are some stupid spelling mistakes in my post... thanks for pointing that out mommy

[Nabbet]

Perhaps you should issue a warning to those with 'first generation' C-200 to wait until everything is sorted out. And for what it's worth it should be considered whether upcoming revisions to the hardware should include a dual-bios.

[benji99]

I updated last night! I first completely shut down the C200, unplugged my HDD, rebooted. Updated firmware from USB. Firmware update finished and rebooted. Shut down C200 again, attached HDD again, then updated Apps.

All good here. No issues with errors, firmware failure, bookmarks, etc ... Didn't get a chance to test a whole lot more than that yet!

[neil3504]

The C-200 is directly connected to the samsung lcd. I also tried to switch it to a different HDMI port.

Im currently using the previous firmware now, im afraid i might brick my unit due to continuous firmware upgrade and downgrade.

Thanks!

(09-01-2010 12:46 PM)cheaper_popcorn Wrote:  Hi again...

Afraid I only have general advice as I am not sure of the exact cause of the handshake problem.

- I assume you are using a direct connection from C-200 to your Samsung LCD, right? No switches or adapters in between? If you do have anything in between, try eliminating that step and see if it changes anything.

- If you have more than one HDMI port on the TV, try the other ones. (on some LCD screens, the HDMI ports are intended for different types of devices, so one is for computer input and another is for BD player etc.)

- Try to switch on the C-200 and TV in a different order (in the hope that this might cause the handshake to execute differently, it has worked for some people in the past)

- Check with your TV vendor or Samsung support whether there are any firmware upgrades available for your TV.

- If it still does not work... downgrade the C200 firmware to a version that works, or use the C-200 with component cables while waiting for the HDMI issues to be fixed.

[LexRoss]

There is no audio output over optical connection in network applications after upgrade. Analogue output works fine. Could anyone check this out to confirm the issue? You can try Youtube Videos and Live Station -> Euronews from //Apps menu for instance. Zoom button does not work either on those programs.

There is also no sound via optical output on MKVs with DTS sound tracks. This one has been around for couple updates now.

[dmeerpa]

(09-01-2010 03:47 AM)GumbyQc Wrote:  +1
It's also the best way I found on my side. There's a ton of collisions, but it's a little better this way. ...but I don't know if it's because this lot of collisions, but after a while (between 5 and 10 min later), the bandwith is slowing down and I still can't play a full BD-ISO movie finaly... (I'm looking at the Network tab in the Task Manager to see that happens on my PC sharing with SBM)

I also have problems with some full BD-ISO movie playback since this latest firmware. This was working great with the previous firmware, but I have again the same problem like the early firmware versions.

My NAS is connected directly to the Gigabit switch, then a cable is going upstairs where I have a 10/100Mbit hub. My desktop, PS3 and C200 are connected to the HUb.

I already restarted the NAS and C200 but no improvement. I will try a rollback to see if it's really the firmware or my network infrastructure.

[deggie35]

(09-02-2010 10:43 AM)VelvetPaw Wrote:  So, as far as I know, hubs themselves don't actually cause collisions. Collisions are really caused by two or more network devices talking at the same time on the same network segment, since hubs send every little 'quack' to every network device connected to it at the same time. That's what is causing collisions. So in this case the network device itself needs to determine, whether the information sent is meant for it or not. A switch on the other hand is always aware of which network device is connected to it and should know its MAC address (and/or its IP address), so the switch knows where the data is meant to be sent to, which means, that multiple network devices can 'quack' at the same time without causing collisions, which also means, that your overall speed should be higher than with a hub.
As for Windows SMB shares, I really have no experience with those, since I cannot share data from my Win 7 Ultimate machines for some reason (I'm guessing it's my firewall, but I haven't analyzed this any further, since I have my Linux server hosting all my files).
If your PCH is the only device having issues, then maybe it is just not compatible with the switch/hub. Computers usually are far more tolerant to network switches than the PCH seems to be. Do you perhaps have a managed gigabit switch (like a Netgear GS108Tv1 or GS724Tv3 or similar) that you can test with your network?

You're definitely right about the nature of collisions, hubs don't cause them, they just see them. Switches can also see them when a device is connected at half duplex and trying to communicate over one pair of wire instead of utilizing the second pair for bidirectional communication.

Unfortunately the only managed switch I have is a Cisco 2950 (not really gigabit though it does have two gig ports) along with an unmanaged US Robotics gigabit switch both of which are 2 floors below my home theater running the heart of my network. The problem is that I only have the one cat6 cable run in the room. Trust me, that's the first thing I wanted to try. But if it will preserve my sanity and allow me to watch a movie without complications I may just bite the bullet make a new run. But first I have to find a way to test and make sure it will actually improve the situation.

It just blows my mind how an Ethernet device can be "not compatible" with another Ethernet device. I've never seen such a thing before. It defies the whole purpose of the 802.3 standard. I'm convinced that the PCH network adapter's firmware or driver is just broken, especially given the number of users out there also experiencing simliar issues.

(09-02-2010 10:50 AM)accident Wrote:  there's a little more to the switch/hub but it doesn't matter in this case..

If your using a switch and seeing collisions, its usually a sign of a duplex mismatch between the 2 devices connected by the same wire. Theres a few things I would check if we're talking a managed switch but 99% of the time, its a bad cable that has enough wires still good to work at a reduced duplex/speed, but not enough wires to fully work and its confusing one of the devices.

AKA: your cable is bad, change it.

EDITED TO ADD: another common sign of this is copies that go faster in 1 direction.. so testing a copy to and from one of them will be dramatically different in speed. Again other reasons it might be this but generally its a sign of a bad cable somewhere

This is something I had considered as well, and I did try different cables just in case a had a bad pair. But that wasn't the problem. I think the issue is that I am actually using a hub as was originally suggested, so it's not directing traffic. 95%+ of the time it's not really an issue, but I did have a little bit of problem with very high bitrate scenes on bluray.

[jj666]

(09-02-2010 03:18 PM)coiken Wrote:  So, you say you've tested this and you don't have this issue? So you can start your movie, stop it and when you start it again it resumes from the point you where before?

Resume from .TS and .MKV works perfectly fine here. Please note that's with files I created myself.

Cheers,

-jj-

[Skud]

(09-02-2010 04:53 PM)deggie35 Wrote:  It just blows my mind how an Ethernet device can be "not compatible" with another Ethernet device. I've never seen such a thing before. It defies the whole purpose of the 802.3 standard. I'm convinced that the PCH network adapter's firmware or driver is just broken, especially given the number of users out there also experiencing simliar issues.

I know exactly what you mean. I've tried a number of different switches from cheap $50 gigabit switches up to $2000+ layer 3 switches. None will properly pass traffic when the C-200 is set to auto and tries to link up at gigabit speeds. Even one switch (the GS105e) won't work properly at 100mb speeds.

This is on the previous firmware, and the latest. For the life of me, I know I saw a post some time back about another appliance from another company using the same ethernet chipset and having the same issues..

Switches
========
Netgear GS105 (works, 100Mbit only)
Netgear GS105e (links up, but very choppy video)
D-Link DGS-3200-10 (works, 100Mbit only)
3Com 3870 (this is a $2,000 switch) (works, 100Mbit only)
Dell 2724 (works, 100Mbit only)