Philips DVP5960 and USB

[Fearnot]

it doesnt support usb HUBs but you can use the hub to power it by using one of those double ended usb cables. One of the ends you plug in the hub to power the drive and the HD goes to the DVD directly with the other.

Of course the HUB needs to be powered ...


Matt

[Pettersson]

Allright, damn, I just bought the HUB.
A USB-stick dosent work in the hub either, but if I dont use the hub the USB-stick works.
I gonna borrow my gf hub and see if that works.

edit : @ Matt, where can I get one of those cabels? I live in Sweden and the to orders from USA is rather expensive.

[TBoneit]

I doubt that the Philips will play through a hub, Caveat is I never tried it. I have a DVR with a USB port that works with a drive direct but not through a hub. These devices are not computers. They run special software and I'm pretty sure that software isn't written to be able to handle hubs as that would also mean it would have to navigate multiple drives.

[Fearnot]

Allright, damn, I just bought the HUB.
A USB-stick dosent work in the hub either, but if I dont use the hub the USB-stick works.
I gonna borrow my gf hub and see if that works.

edit : @ Matt, where can I get one of those cabels? I live in Sweden and the to orders from USA is rather expensive.

check ebay and order the cable from hong kong or the cheapest device with one from hongkong ... this shouldnt cost more than $10 altogether ...

You may be able to make your own cable if you are versed in that sort of thing

Matt

[BodieCI5]

Does anybody know if there's a Mac version of the program 'Foldersort'? I really want to get my AVI's to be displayed in alphabetical order and can't find a way of doing it.

Any help would be gratefully received!

[glennbkelly]

Cable Discovery! - "The long and short of it"

I've been wondering what it took to get the DVP5960 to work with an external HD, so first and foremost thanks to all you who have posted good info here.

I had an old 40GB laptop drive in a NexStar enclosure to turn it into an external USB drive.
It was formatted NTFS so the first thing I did was delete the partition using the built-in WinXP Disk Management by right clicking My Computer > Manage > Disk Management. I deleted the partition and then created a new one without formatting it to NTFS and then used fat32format.exe ( http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/ ) to format it to FAT32.

I located an AC adaptor for my drive (though later found out I didn't need it) and copied a video that I knew worked with the 5960 from previously playing from USB stick or burning to data DVD or CD.

I plugged in the AC adaptor, then USB (I just grabbed the closest USB cable which happend to be a short little 6" cable) , then fired up the DVP5960 (the recommended order I've seen listed in previous forum messages), and I was thrilled that it worked. But here's the suprising discovery...

I then went to work copying several videos to the drive, grabbed the longer USB cable I was transfering video files from my computer with so I could place the drive where I needed it, and ran through the boot up order to see if all the movies showed up on the DVP5960 display. I was disapointed that it didn't work. I tried various things with the boot up order, the AC adaptor, etc... nothing worked. So I just figured copying all those videos on the drive did something.

BUT... on a whim I decided to try that short USB cable (as if a USB cable would make a difference) and to my surprise the drive worked with the player again! Then I tried it without the AC adaptor and it still worked, then I tried leaving the DVP turned on and ignored the boot order and it still worked. I could plug it in all by itself with no external power while the player was on and it worked just like a USB stick! I'm soooo glad I tried that short USB cable again.

Can anyone guess why using the short USB cable made the drive work perfectly without any external power and be hot swappable without needing to power down the player? Both short and long cables work between my external drive and my computer so the long one is not a bad cable.

[acid_burn]

Hello this file plays on my PC perfectly, but when I try to play it on the Philips the video is fine but there is no audio, here is info on the audio:





any way to fix this, so I can get audio?

Thank you.

[Squash]

acid_burn,

The Philips doesn't decode DTS audio, but it should pass it through to a DTS-capable receiver if you have one, but apparently that depends on which firmware version you're using. I haven't really kept up with which ones work and which don't. If the current one at Philips' site isn't working for you there are several custom firmwares for the 5960/37 at Phunkyfish's site
http://www.phunkyfish.com/article/4/philips-dvp-596012
The key phrase to look for is "fix for Multichannel output via coaxial out when connected to HDMI". Note that these firmwares may cause jerky playback of avi files encoded with 2 or more consecutive bvops.

Google philips 5960 dts for more info.

If you don't have a DTS-capable receiver, and assuming your file is an avi, you could convert the audio using Avidemux. You'll need to download the Extras add-on pack from:
http://rapidshare.com/files/47541079/avidemux_2.4_addons_win32.zip.html

It contains a DTS decoder. Unzip and copy the dll files into your Avidemux folder. Then load your file and leave your video in Copy mode so it won't be re-encoded. Change the audio to mp3 or ac3 and save the file.

I'm sure there are many different ways to do this conversion, so if it sounds like too much trouble just search on how to convert DTS and you'll find other methods.

[acid_burn]

Thanks for your reply, I found a very easy way to convert, I downloaded a free program called PocketDivXEncoder, for video i chose direct stream copy, for audio there are not to many options I just chose best quality, it only took a few minutes and the output file had mp3 audio, tested the file work perfectly on the player, it's a good program to convert DTS without having to download extra programs, it's also portable, no installation, the only downside is not many options as far as selecting output audio, just a slider for quality.

Thanks again.

[webshield]

Hi guys,

I am new on this forum and I am coming with a problem. I bought a Philips DVP5980/12 and I tried to play some DivX files; the result was that the player is hanging up (not in the same point) after a few seconds and the only solution is to cut off the power. I tried with an old .avi file and worked but with my lates downloaded files doesn't want to work; is freezing

Do you have any idea why is freezing and what shiould I do? The firmware is the talest available on Philips website.

I need your help; much appreciated!

[acid_burn]

My files never freeze up, I never updated the firmware, fearing I might mess the player up somehow, post the file info here, that might reveal something.

[webshield]

@acid_burn: it seems that only XVID files are freezing up. Do you have any suggestion?

[jagabo]

http://divxtest.surdvd.com/sommaire.php3?lang=en
http://www.jarnot.com/twiki/bin/view/Public/DVP642LisaBsAVIGuide

[joey33]

I cant seem to play a few of my divx files on the player.

One is a 1.3gb movie with following VLC info:

stream 0
codec: DX50
Resolution: 352 x240
Frame rate: 25.0000

stream 1
codec: mpa
channels: 2
sample rate: 24000hz
Bit rate: 56kb/s

Other info from gspot:

File Length Correct
Multipart OpenDML AVI (2 parts)
(302948 frames in first part, 0 frames follow)
Note: MPEG info in AVI stream header.


Is there any thing i need to do to get it playing and how would i go about it?

[jagabo]

stream 1
codec: mpa
channels: 2
sample rate: 24000hz
Bit rate: 56kb/s

You probably need to convert the audio to 44100 KHz, 128 kbps MP3. With VirtualDub:

1) File -> Open Video File
2) Audio -> Full Processing Mode
3) Audio -> Conversion... change to 44.1 KHz, 16 bit, stereo, high quality
4) Audio -> Compression... select an MP2 or MP3 encoder and set the bitrate
5) Video -> Direct Stream Copy
6) File -> Save as AVI

It should only take a few minutes.

[abid_123]

Can sum1 plzz let me know asap which screwdriver do u use to open the philips dvp5960
plzz let me know asap thanks

[st_nick5]

Hey sorry if this has already been posted but I don't really have time to read through 22 pages and a lot of it is probably out of date anyway ^^.
I have this DVD player but when I try to play a .avi file from the USB port it lags like hell. The video and the audio stutters like mad and makes it unplayable. I have read about upgrading the software but I have no idea how to do this or what version I should get. I think I have version 12.06.36.40. Could someone tell me what I should do to fix it? When I opened the .avi files I am trying to play in MPEG4Modifier it said "Packed Bitstream: No". Thanks to anyone who can help me out

[jagabo]

I have this DVD player but when I try to play a .avi file from the USB port it lags like hell. The video and the audio stutters like mad and makes it unplayable.

This issue has been covered many times. If the same file plays off a DVD then the bitrate of the file is just too high. The USB 1.1 port on the player can only sustain a little over 4000 kbps. If you are using an old flash drive it may be even slower.

[tj1182]

Has anyone tried the Western Digital My Book Essential 2.0 WDH1U3200N 320gb USB version with the DVP5982?

I want to purchase this drive, but before I do, I want make sure it's compatible.

[showbizkid]

Alright, I've scrolled through all 22 pages and I seem to have a different problem than anyone who's posted here...

I've got the Philips 5982 and a LaCie 250 GB hard drive (with its own power supply), formatted in FAT32 with only 1 partition (I'm on a Mac but you can format FAT32 with Disk Utility).

When I plug in the HD, it shows up, but the folder that my Divx files are in appears empty. I select it and nothing is there, only giving me the option to go up to the top directory.

Can anyone give me any pointers? The Divx folder did have a lot of subdirectories, so I'm going to format the HD again and only put a single Divx file in it to see if that helps.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[MJA]

try to format the drive with PC using swissknife .the software is free,and u have nothing to lose

http://www.compuapps.com/download/Swissknife/swissknife.htm

[lowellriggsiam]

Just as a test place an mp3, a wma, or a jpeg file on the usb hdd and see if that shows up. I have a feeeling the model you have may not play divx files from a usb hdd. I have an RJtech that does exactly what you are describing.

[showbizkid]

Ok, so I formatted my HD again yesterday (I think the first time I just partitioned it with one partition) and threw on just one Divx file and one .jpg. Both appeared and played, so that problem was solved.

Now my problem is that Divx files, no matter if on disc or on the HD, have fuzzy, echoing audio. I had a previous Philips model (not sure of the model but it was a bit older) and didn't have any issues with audio, but when I play those same discs that worked fine in the older model, they all get that echoing sound in the new player.

Is there a setting on the player that I need to change?

[jagabo]

Now my problem is that Divx files, no matter if on disc or on the HD, have fuzzy, echoing audio.

Check the audio modes. Make sure all of them are set to Off.

[t3rm3y]

hi, i have been reading for quite some time, but havent found my answer
I have the phillips DVP5960 and a seagate freeagaent GO 160 gig external pocket drive, it comes with a USB lead that splits - one end is for the drive, at the other "split end" one says "power & data" the other "power"
the dvd player only has the one port -
please help me - firstly do i need to convert the drive , or format it to work with the dvd player, and second, will i need to get a usb AC adapter, like some people have for mp3 players? to power the drive, and the "data/power" end goes into the dvd player im guessing?
really want this to work, as fed up with dvd'rs laying around.
Thanks in advance.
T

[jagabo]

You may need to format your drive with FAT32 if it's currently NTFS or something else.

I believe the FreeAgent GO series uses 2.5" drives (low power) so the 5960 might be able to power it via the single data/power connector. If not, you'll need one of those USB A/C power adaptors.

[autotrox]

This is my first post, so before say something, hello everybody.

I bought this player and now i try to use the USB capability, and i connect a 320GB IDE HDD using a external box, formated in FAT32 using fat32format.exe, and seems to work fine.
Except when i try to watch this release "I.Am.Legend.DVDRip.XviD-ARROW.avi". After a few seconds the image begin to "jump" and the sound after a while do the same thing, till it's impossible to see anymore. I already try with other and the problem it's the same.

Where can be the problem? The bitstream? The size of the HDD? The file size?

I would like to know what your opinion.

Thanks.

[t3rm3y]

i have tried the usb power ac plug, it fires up, and the dvd player sees the drive, but wont find files on it, havent converted to fat32 - is there a quick way of doing that?
cheers

[jagabo]

havent converted to fat32 - is there a quick way of doing that?

Quick format. But you will loose any data that's currently on the drive. Windows XP includes a FAT to NTFS converter that works without losing files but I don't know if there are any programs that will work the other way around.

Converting NTFS to FAT32: http://faq.arstechnica.com/link.php?i=1820

[Billf2099]

autotrox,
its probably the bitrate, its not the HDD. This player is USB not USB2. So the max bitrate is pretty low. Unfortunately the only real solution is to burn the file to a dvd-rw and play it off the dvd platter. Use a RW so you can erase it and use it again.