Philips DVP5960 and USB

[victoriabears]

are you powering the Lacie (Poor brand btw) from an external power supply as it will need it.

[tomago]

are you powering the Lacie (Poor brand btw) from an external power supply as it will need it.

Lacie has its own built-in power supply, so all I need is to plug it to electricity. So I do, but I am afraid it stays off until detects connected device as there is no button for manual switching on/off.

[Grunged]

Hello All.
Well I've read a majority of the 24 pages of posts and have yet to solve my problem.
I recently purchased a 1TB WD My Book. It came formatted in Fat32. Crossed my fingers and plugged it into my DVP 5960 hoping it would work out of the box. No Luck... "Disc not compatible", and it doesn't show any files or folders on the drive. I deleted the partition and reformatted as a single partition in fat32 using Fat32formatter. I first tried using Swissknife but after the partition, (would only allow 429 gigs) it caused problems with the drive being recognized by XP. Finally got that straightened out by re-formatting with XP's 'Computer Management' Tool into NTFS, then back to Fat32 with FAT32Formatter. Plugged it back into the DVP 5960 hoping it would work finally, but still says the same thing... Disc not compatible and no files or folders show up. The only thing i haven't done yet is upgrade the firmware on my DVP 5960. I've had no problems with watching any of my divx/avi's off DVD's and my thumbdrive so I'm a little hesitant about changing it. Has anyone had this same problem with a 1TB WD My Book? Or has anyone gotten one to work? Can anyone confirm that i need to update the firmware to get the external HD to work? What am i missing or do 1TB WD My Books simply not work with the DVP 5960?
Any help would be great. Thank you in advance.

[AllPurposeNothing]

Think I'm going to lose my mind.

Have been using a WD 160 GB drive with the player for two years, no problems whatsoever.

Decided to upgrade to a 320 GB Maxtor One Touch (with power supply). Moved all of my files over but forgot to check the drive's format. Sure enough it was NTFS. By now, I had already reformatted the old drive for use with my kids' Wii, and with limited space on my other hard drives, I decided to give Acronis Disk Director a go.

I partitioned the free space on the drive to FAT32, moved files over, then partitioned that space until all the files were in a series of FAT32 partitions. I then formatted the empty part of the drive to FAT32 and then merged all of them together. Took forever and a day, but eventually I had all of the files in asingle 320GB FAT32 partition.

Hooked it up to the DVP-5960 and voila...it showed the drive and the root folder structure. Only problem is that if I select any of the folders, they show up empty. No files, no subfolders...nothing. I just don't get it. They show on my PC.....just not on the 5960.

Not sure what to do at this point. I really don't want to have to run out and buy another drive and I definitely don't want to be left having to burn all of the files to DVDs or DVD-DLs.

Is there anyway to do this with Swissknife (which it appears many have had luck with) or some other program without having to format the whole drive and lose 160 GBs of data???

Any advice is welcome.

Thanks in advance,

TAPN

UPDATE: Must have been a problem in the piecemeal nature of moving things around. Had to move everything off of the drive and do a full format, but everything shows up via the 5960 now. Unfortunately, due to space limitations, I had to say goodbye to about 1/4 of my collection. Thankfully, their deletion wasn't in vain.

[MJA]

Hello All.
Well I've read a majority of the 24 pages of posts and have yet to solve my problem.
I recently purchased a 1TB WD My Book. It came formatted in Fat32. Crossed my fingers and plugged it into my DVP 5960 hoping it would work out of the box. No Luck... "Disc not compatible", and it doesn't show any files or folders on the drive. I deleted the partition and reformatted as a single partition in fat32 using Fat32formatter. I first tried using Swissknife but after the partition, (would only allow 429 gigs) it caused problems with the drive being recognized by XP. Finally got that straightened out by re-formatting with XP's 'Computer Management' Tool into NTFS, then back to Fat32 with FAT32Formatter. Plugged it back into the DVP 5960 hoping it would work finally, but still says the same thing... Disc not compatible and no files or folders show up. The only thing i haven't done yet is upgrade the firmware on my DVP 5960. I've had no problems with watching any of my divx/avi's off DVD's and my thumbdrive so I'm a little hesitant about changing it. Has anyone had this same problem with a 1TB WD My Book? Or has anyone gotten one to work? Can anyone confirm that i need to update the firmware to get the external HD to work? What am i missing or do 1TB WD My Books simply not work with the DVP 5960?
Any help would be great. Thank you in advance.

is the WD USB/FIREWIRE or USB only?

I think the 5960 doesn't like combo drives

[adalect]

Hi there.

So I skimmed through this thread and noticed some guy said that you can't play files with high bitrates with an external hard drive, because of the USB port.

I currently have a Phillips DVP3960, which I use to watch anime on burned CD-Rs (I don't have a DVD Burner).The bitrates I usually use are around 1100kbps. I would like to know if these bitrates would work with external hard drives on this newer Phillips model. If not, I would appreciate it if somebody told me what the max bitrate is that is playable.

Thanks.

[jagabo]

The USB port on the 5960 is limited to about 4000 kbps total for the audio and video. 1100 kbps won't be a problem unless you have peaks that extend over 4000 kbps. I tested this myself by creating 640x480 CBR Xvid files in 1000 kbps increments, each with 384 kbps AC3 audio. When the video hit 4000 kbps (4000 kbps video plus 384 kbps audio) playback started to jerk occasionally.

If you want to be sure not to have problems get a Philips 5990 or 5992 which can handle in excess of 15000 kbps via USB (I've personally tested this too). Actually, just get the 5990 or 5992. They're better players all around. They two models are pretty much the same player in different cases. They can be found for about US$60.

[jbond994]

Got piss with my Philips 5960 because of the USB 1.1 issues. USB HD don't work on 2 HD. lousy file index and play back, fast forward, etc.
Went to Wally and spend $69 on Samsung 1080P9 and BAM - all my problems went away. USB work on any HD ( self power or not) and picture is smooth even in search mode. Try it on mpg and avi - flawless. This dvd also work on mpeg-4 supposedly. Anyone know where can I find some mpeg-4 sample files? What is the file extension for mpeg-4?

[jagabo]

The MPEG 4 specification contains two video compression standards:

MPEG 4 part 2 includes Divx, Xvid, and others. This is usually found in a .AVI container but can also be in .MP4, .MKV, .TS, or other containers.

MPEG 4 part 10 includes h.264, x264, AVC etc. This is less likely to be found in .AVI and more likely to be found in the others.

I suspect they mean Divx and other MPEG 4 part 2 codecs. Probably in .AVI and maybe .MP4 containers.

Please report back with what you find with the Samsung 1080P9.

[LuckyLyndy]

Alright...
I am at my mom's home. I bought her a 5960 two years ago and it has been great. I now have it hooked up to the Vizio
1080p TV. She has lost the manual, but not the remote.
First question is the "video upscale" button on the front. If I have the menu setting for auto and not 1080i, do I need to push that button? Is it a gimmick?
2. On my 5990 at home, it reads my Western Digital Passport and RUNS it with no problem. On the 5960, the light comes on but it is not reading it. Does that mean the 5960 does not contain a "hot shoe" to power the drive???
Crap. I brought all my files on the HD and nothing on a thumb drive. If you guys tell me that is the case, I guess I'll have to run it through my laptop, and get some cables from somewhere to hook up the VGA, and some audio splitters. Crap.
Also, is there a firmware update for the 5960 that is worth my time to download?
My drive is in Fat32, and the files are in basic AVI.
Thanks!
Lyndon

[jagabo]

You'll have to compare the 5960's upscaling to the TV's upscaling to see which is better. I believe the 5960's upscaling only works when connected with HDMI cable.

The USB port on the 5960 supplies power but not as much as a PC or the 5990. Enough for a flash drive but not a hard drive. You need to use a hard drive with its own power source.

[LuckyLyndy]

Figured it was the situation.
What about any worthy updates (firmware) on the 5960?
Lyndon

[Oleg212]

I have a 500gb WD My passport. The Phillips DVP 5960 does not read the DIVx files stored on it. It is formatted in FAT32 file format. I did the same thing to a external 60gb HDD and it worked why does this one not work?

[shobuddy]

How do you convert .mkv files into .avi files so they can play on this player via USB? I've tried using Avidemux but the player says it does not recognize the codec. I've also tried using iWisoft Video Converter with both the Divx and Xvid options but I only get audio and a message saying resolution not supported.

[Ai Haibara]

Which codec? Video, or audio? AVIDemux should recognize most of the common codecs used in MKVs, I believe. Or are you saying the DVD player doesn't recognize the codecs you're using in the resulting AVI?
If it's the original MKV that's not being properly recognized by AVIDemux or otherwise, run the MKV through MediaInfo, in text mode, copy the information and paste it here. Someone may be able to tell you what the issue might be.

Also, as you're converting to AVI for play on a DivX/Xvid-capable DVD player, the 'issues' in this post might be good to keep in mind.

[shobuddy]

Hi Haibra, thank you for the response. Yes, I meant the Philips DVP5990 doesn't recognize the avi file after I convert it from .mkv. Both the mkv and avi files play on the computer fine.

[Ai Haibara]

Which video and audio codecs did you use for the AVI? The 5990 (and the 5960) generally only recognizes a DivX/Xvid video stream and an MP3 audio stream (and optional subtitle streams) in an AVI container, as I recall.

[shobuddy]

Using iWisoft Video Converter I tried both Divx and Xvid, both with the same results. I get audio but no video on the DVD player.

[jman98]

shobuddy - First of all, don't dig up old threads. Yes, your post is related to the topic at hand unlike most people who dig up old threads, but maybe with 700+ posts here it's more than past time to just let this thread die.

Second of all - do you REALLY want help or not? Because I think you do not. Ai Haibara told you what to do. Install MediaInfo and post back here what it says. But post from the AVI file. What your MKV source has is irrelevant to your problem. And the "resolution not supported" is the hint that you are ignoring as to what is wrong. My guess is that your AVI file is larger than 720x480 and that's why it won't play. Either post back what MediaInfo says about the AVI file or make sure your output is under 720x480 or don't come back. Posting more about stuff not working is really not very helpful.

[shobuddy]

Below are the Mediainfo specs from three avi files, they are from the same mkv file using different conversion options. All have the same issue of not playing video on the DVP5990, audio works.

First File
General
Complete name : C:\Users\Desktop\xvid.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 8.86 MiB
Duration : 43s 259ms
Overall bit rate : 1 718 Kbps
Writing application : Lavf52.31.0

Video
ID : 0
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Simple@L3
Format settings, BVOP : No
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263)
Codec ID : XVID
Codec ID/Hint : XviD
Duration : 43s 110ms
Bit rate : 1 580 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 544 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.35:1
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.076
Stream size : 8.12 MiB (92%)
Writing library : XviD 1.2.1 (UTC 2008-12-04)

Audio
ID : 1
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Mode : Joint stereo
Mode extension : MS Stereo
Codec ID : 55
Codec ID/Hint : MP3
Duration : 43s 259ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 676 KiB (7%)
Alignment : Aligned on interleaves
Interleave, duration : 26 ms (0.78 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration : 26 ms
Writing library : LAME3.98.2


Second File
General
Complete name : C:\Users\Desktop\divx.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 8.60 MiB
Duration : 43s 259ms
Overall bit rate : 1 667 Kbps
Writing application : Lavf52.31.0

Video
ID : 0
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Simple@L1
Format settings, BVOP : No
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263)
Codec ID : DX50
Codec ID/Hint : DivX 5
Duration : 43s 110ms
Bit rate : 1 529 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 544 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.35:1
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.073
Stream size : 7.86 MiB (91%)
Writing library : Lavc52.20.0

Audio
ID : 1
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Mode : Joint stereo
Mode extension : MS Stereo
Codec ID : 55
Codec ID/Hint : MP3
Duration : 43s 259ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 676 KiB (8%)
Alignment : Aligned on interleaves
Interleave, duration : 26 ms (0.78 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration : 26 ms
Writing library : LAME3.98.2

Third File
General
Complete name : C:\Users\Desktop\avi.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 9.05 MiB
Duration : 43s 259ms
Overall bit rate : 1 755 Kbps
Writing application : Lavf52.31.0

Video
ID : 0
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Codec ID : MP42
Codec ID/Info : Microsoft MPEG-4 v2 (pre-standard)
Codec ID/Hint : Microsoft
Duration : 43s 110ms
Bit rate : 1 618 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 544 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.35:1
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.078
Stream size : 8.31 MiB (92%)

Audio
ID : 1
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Mode : Joint stereo
Mode extension : MS Stereo
Codec ID : 55
Codec ID/Hint : MP3
Duration : 43s 259ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 676 KiB (7%)
Alignment : Aligned on interleaves
Interleave, duration : 26 ms (0.78 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration : 26 ms
Writing library : LAME3.98.2

[Ai Haibara]

At the very least, the resolutions for all three files are too large.

First File
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 544 pixels

Second File
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 544 pixels

Third File
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 544 pixels

DVD players that can play DivX/Xvid are, for the most part, limited to DVD resolutions and below (SD): 720x576 for PAL material, 720x480 for NTSC material. You'll need to make sure your videos are at least 720x480 (just to be safe) or lower.

Edit: And another reason why the third video won't play correctly:

Codec ID/Info : Microsoft MPEG-4 v2 (pre-standard)
Codec ID/Hint : Microsoft

The video has to be encoded using DivX or Xvid.

[shobuddy]

Aaah, I was not reading the "1" in the width column. Thanks Ai. Can you recommend a free conversion software? I have Avidemux and iWisoft but I don't see where I can set the resolution in these programs when doing a conversion.

I tried instructions here: http://www.ehow.com/how_8562014_use-avidemux-change-resolution.html
But I get a "video must be transcoded to apply these filters" message.

[Ai Haibara]

Well, at the moment, I use both AVIDemux and VirtualDub (AVISynth frameserving method). I can't recommend either of those if you're looking for a simple/easy converter, though. AVIDemux may not work with all MKVs, and generate out-of-sync video/audio (the 2.6 branch may be better, in that regard, though I haven't tried it, yet). The VirtualDub frameserving method requires you to know quite a bit of AVISynth, and the code may need to be changed for each MKV you want to convert.

There IS an MKV (input) plugin for the more recent versions of VirtualDub, however, but I don't know how well it works. Do not use VirtualDubMod for MKVs, as its support is quite limited and dated.

You might try XMedia Recode (only use the portable versions) or Freemake Video Converter.

A quick attempt to provide a 'simple' guide for how I convert MKVs with AVIDemux:

Open the MKV. If you're given a warning about h.264 video and switching to a less frame-accurate mode, click No.
If it asks you to rebuild the index, click Yes.

Under Video on the left side of the window, change the drop-down from 'Copy' to 'MPEG-4 ASP (Xvid).' Click on the Filters button below the drop-down.
In the Video Filter Manager, highlight the 'Transform' category on the left, then pick either the Resize or MPlayer Resize filters by double-clicking on them. Their options should pop up (you can also get to the filters' options in the Active Filters list, if you want); go to the Resize Dimensions section, and change the Width and Height to whatever you want (or drag the slider to resize by percentage). Click OK to add the filter to the Active Filters list, and then click Close to go back to the main window.

Change the drop-down in the Audio section from 'Copy' to 'MP3 (lame).'
For the Format drop-down, make sure it's set to 'AVI.'

Click on the Save Video button in the toolbar (or use Ctrl+S, or File > Save > Save Video). Navigate to the folder where you want to save the video, and enter a name for the video. Be sure to give the video an .AVI extension, as AVIDemux will not add it for you. Click Save.

[shobuddy]

Ai, thanks again for the response. Following the instructions you provided, I click no to the h.264 warning. When I click yes on the rebuild index message, I get the following message, "no audio decoder found for this file. save will generate bad avi. save audio will work". I click ok to this message. In the next step, MPEG-4 ASP (Xvid) is not one of the options for me in the Video drop down menu. I have MPEG- requant and YV12 (raw).

I've gotten the results above on two different mkv files. I posted one of the mkv files below in case you can see if you get the same results as me. It is a small file I downloaded for testing purposes just to make sure the issue wasn't with the mkv file I was working with but I get the same results with those one too.

http://www.4shared.com/video/vb2rv5x_/ISample-053.html

Thanks again.

[Ai Haibara]

Why not try one of the other converters I mentioned, or another converter in the VideoHelp Tools/Software and Downloads section like them? I can't guarantee AVIDemux will work with any and all MKVs.

Which version of AVIDemux are you using? I believe (I'm not at any of my systems with it installed) all my versions are 2.5 installs. Where did you download it from? You might have downloaded a version that doesn't have everything the normal/full version includes (someone could have stripped support for some codecs or filters from the package, for example).

But do try a different converter, for the moment. Save yourself some headaches.

[shobuddy]

Success! I had v2.5 but not the normal/standard version. After installing the standard version and following your instructions, the file plays on the DVD player. Thanks a lot for your help!