DSM-520 (DLink) problems playing video, questions about AVI

[willshakespeare]

Guys,

I don't know where to look. I think I have to accept the video files I have won't play on my DSM-520, but I need to know why, and how I can covert my files for best quality. Also so I can search for "good" file (compatible) in future.

Essentially I have downloaded some avi's. They play fine in Windows Media Player on my Laptop, using standard K-Lite codecs, etc.

However, when I try to play them through my DSM-520, it says "Unable to Play". So I looke din the manual and it says this about avi: MPEG4 layer only, does not support uncompressed AVI

Now, I know tehse aren't uncompressed, because they are 42 minute long videos, and are about 350-400MB per file. 30 seconds of uncomprseed AVI is like 500MB!!

So, this says that maybe they are not MPEG4 layer AVIs, but I don't know what that means. I thought MPEG4 and AVI were different!

can someone give me some enlightenment so I can move forward on this, please?

thanks.

Will

[willshakespeare]

Doing a bit more searching, I did find out that I can use something called Nero Recode to code my AVIs to MPEG4 layer AVIs. But Is till want to know how I can tell the files are not MPEG4 layer AVIs, or indeed if the files I have ARE MPEG4 layer, and the DSM-520 is not working as it should (then I can do an RMA with it).

Thanks in advance for explaining MPEG4 layer AVIs and what these compare to "normal" or "other" AVI files.

Will

[willshakespeare]

Hmm... turns out a useful utilioty called AVIcodec allows me to view the details from an AVI file. I will have a look tonight and see what it can tell me.

I'd appreciate any guidance on what i am looking for though.

thanks again,

Will

[Dj Petro]

Basically the only Avi files you will be able to play with that 520 are Avi's using an Mpeg 4 type codec (Divx/Xvid).

You can convert the Avi's that don't work to either another format... (wmv, mpeg, avi(Divx,Xvid)).

Super is a good utility for converting between formats.

_

[willshakespeare]

Funny thing is, when I put these AVIs (which AVICodec said were MPEG4) on a USB key, they work! When I connect the laptop to the 520 via hardline Ethernet, I can see the files, but when I hit play I get "Unable to play this file".

I know the file works, because I play them with my USB, but I'm a bit annoyed at having spent £170 on something to play USB files!!!

Especially as when I plug my USB Hard drive (Maxtor 500GB) the USB won't recognise. It tells me to try unplugging and plugging back in...

I wonder if there is something wrong with the device?

[KBeee]

Most players will only see an external HDD if the disk drive is powered externally via a power brick and are formatted to FAT32.
You could use MPEG4Modifier to check your AVI's for packed bitstreams etc.

[willshakespeare]

I did mention the HDD is powered in my post, but one thing is that all my media HDDs are NTFS. Maybe that's the problem.

It'll be a pain to fix!! But I think I can manage.

I'll let you know if this works.

[buzzny]

I know this is a old thread but I thought I might be able to help WillShakespeare a bit. I too own an Dlink DSM-520. What firmware version is on it?
It seems that it is picky about how the avi files have been ripped. Most of my library play fine but a few will not. Either I get the "file format not supported" error or the file starts to play in slow motion then locks up. I have found that if I rip a video file using AutoGK they always work fine. I know , AutoGK is an old program and it takes a longer time to rip compared to the newer programs out ther but it works. I could not put my finger on just why there is issues with avi files on this media player. I have tried ripping using various other programs and played with the sample rates and different avi formats endlessly.
If any other members have similar issues even with other brand network media players and have found fixes please let us know! Will, your USB HDD issue I'll address in an other posting.

[jman98]

I know this is a old thread but I thought I might be able to help WillShakespeare a bit.

Or not. WillShakespeare hasn't logged in to this site since June 10, 2008. This is one of the problems with posting to old threads - the guy you are trying to "help" may not read this site anymore and may have either given up or found some sort of workaround for the original problem.

Welcome to the forums, but we generally discourage posting to old threads. To be fair, your post isn't the completely inappropriate here, but adding to old threads is generally frowned upon.

Divx/Xvid playback problems on any device are usuallyt the result of some encoding option and should have nothing to do with what you use to rip. Here's a sticky message that lists things to avoid for best results when trying to play Divx/Xvid files on various playback devices. As others have hinted about in this thread, one or more of these options are likely the cause for WillShakespeare's playback problems.
https://forum.videohelp.com/topic352457.html

[buzzny]

Thank you for the info.

[willshakespeare]

Hi Ya,

I haven't posted in a while, but still kicking around. Unfortunately I sold my DSM-520 at a bit of a loss, but got hold of an Archos TV+ instead, and while the Archos TV+ is NOT what it said on the tin (HDTV is my biggest gripe) it has been an awesome tool for watching movies and storing them, playing almost all avi's I throw at it. It is an integral part of my AV setup. I can stream files to it from my laptop, or even watch them wirelessly, and I can download movies from online services directly.

Archos need to work on them seriously, though I was thnking about getting an Archos 5 with HDMI dock station to replace the TV+. It's a bot of an expense though...

Thanks for replying though! I do appreciate people trying, even if well after the fact. Sometimes Others who have problems and read threads just to see new posts on similar topics can be helped this way.

Will