I need help with a new MP4 player, won't play any vids

[Carrigon]

Can anyone please help me figure out what format I need to convert to to get my videos working on this player? I've tried everything and it just keeps screaming that the format is wrong. This is the player I bought http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170483664652
It came with one .avi that works. But none of MY .avi's work with it. I tried reconverting the files to .avi and I still get the format error. It won't play any of my .amv's And the info file says that the player only takes amv's which is totally wrong cause the one avi works. I really need help with what format I need here. I've uploaded the one .avi file that works. Can someone please see what format this is? I don't know how to tell exactly what this is. The .avi is about 18megs to download. http://hotfile.com/dl/42940480/1733a96/Matsuura_Aya.rar.html
I analyzed the sample video it comes with that it plays. This is a screenshot of the specs.


I have converter programs, I just have no clue what I need to set them at to get my videos to work with this player. And I've already tried alot with several programs. I also downloaded sample avi's and none of them will play with this. The software disc that came with the player was useless. None of it even worked.

My firmware version number is:
13.00.10.1018.0904

None of the sample videos work. I have no idea why. And I've tried converting with the same settings as the sample video it came with and nothing works. I just can't get it to play any of my vids no matter what format I try. There has to be some combo of it to get it to work.

[Baldrick]

Have you tried with mencoder or a gui for it like https://www.videohelp.com/tools/MPlayer#download

[classfour]

Probably plays .amv format - you'll need to read the manual to find the screen resolution before encoding. Or- you need to put the video in the correct file to get it to play.

[Carrigon]

Mencoder didn't work. What else can I try? There has to be something that works for this.

[Carrigon]

Probably plays .amv format - you'll need to read the manual to find the screen resolution before encoding. Or- you need to put the video in the correct file to get it to play.

I've tried with .amv it refuses to play them.

[ulapines]

Unusual fps (22) in the sample, maybe that is max the player can handle.

[jagabo]

Try duplicating all these settings: Xvid, no b frames, 22 fps, 320x240, 500 kbps, mp2 audio at 128 kbps.

[Carrigon]

Try duplicating all these settings: Xvid, no b frames, 22 fps, 320x240, 500 kbps, mp2 audio at 128 kbps.

What program should I use for the encoding to dupe these settings? I think that's part of my problem, I don't think I'm using the right one.

[jagabo]

I would VirtualDub. But any encoder that gives you full control of the video properties and Xvid settings should work.

I would start with your file that plays properly. Try reencoding just the audio or just the video. Try to match all the settings in the sample file. Does the new file play? Try changing one or two paramters. Does it still play? Repeat that until you've determined what it can and can't handle.

[Carrigon]

I'm having no luck. The problem might be something with the weird audio codec they use. Here's a screenshot of the info from Virtual Dub on the sample vid. Look where it says the compression is unknown. I've had that problem with all the converters I've tried. Something is going on with it.

[Carrigon]

I did a file analysis of the video the unit records and plays back. Here are screenshots of that. It's using a German MP3 audio codec from Fraunhofer.

I need a program that will do an Xvid MPEG4 with the same kind of MP3 audio codec. Any ideas on what might work? If you look at these settings, they are totally different from the sample file. And these are from videos I made with the unit.

[poisondeathray]

your 1st example had MP2 audio, the 2nd had MP3 audio. If both worked, then your device likely supports both (but maybe limited sample rates and bitrates)

jagabo pointed out no b-frames, but also the container might be important, the videos that work use AVI 1.0 (i.e. not 2.0 or open-DML files)

check to see if this works (both audio & video re-encoded in avidemux, xvid, no b-frames, mp2 audio, AVI 1.0, mp2 audio)

[Carrigon]

check to see if this works (both audio & video re-encoded in avidemux, xvid, no b-frames, mp2 audio, AVI 1.0, mp2 audio)

Still doesn't work. It's just so maddening. I don't understand what its looking for that everything that's tried doesn't work. We know it plays video, it does the sample and it does its own recordings. I just don't know whether it's looking for specific settings in the files or what.

[jagabo]

Some players are picky about exactly where data chunks appear within the file. Try a simple remux of the file that does play. In VirtualDub:

File -> Open AVI file
Video -> Direct Stream Copy
File -> Save Old Format AVI

If the resulting file doesn't play it's not a matter of codec settings but the way data is multiplexed within the file.

[jimdagys]

I have a AVI converter that came on a small disk when I got a mp4 player. I used this converter to convert a video clip (set "Resolution" to 320x240, leave everything else as default) and posted it here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/387902533/testclip.avi.html
If this plays in your mp4 player, (first play with computer to verify good download) here is a link to the AVI Converter that I used:
http://rapidshare.com/files/387907492/AVIConverter_Setup_5.0.exe

[Carrigon]

I have a AVI converter that came on a small disk when I got a mp4 player. I used this converter to convert a video clip (set "Resolution" to 320x240, leave everything else as default) and posted it here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/387902533/testclip.avi.html
If this plays in your mp4 player, (first play with computer to verify good download) then I can post a link to the converter and you're in business.

Tried it, still screams file format error. But thanks for posting it. I still don't know why I can't get it to work. I've tried so many combos of settings. I've been trying with Format Factory. Nothing works. I set it for the right size, I tried both mp3 and mp2 for audio and tried both high and low quality settings. Just can't get a combo that works.

[jimdagys]

The only thing I can say is look carefully at the small disk that came with the mp4 player. There should be a software exe maybe called AVI Converter that is used to convert a standard AVI to something that your mp4 player can play.
I will say that it is easy to buy mp4 players that play standard AVIs (no converting required and also display srt subtitles). Mp4 players that require AVIs to be converted are old technology and are not worth much.

[Carrigon]

Okay, after all these zillions of hours, I got a working video. I'm going to post everything. I'm just testing a few things out. I had to use a newer version of the CHN-ENG AviConverter, 320x240 with High and Full set. But that was NOT the problem. I think this is a hacked unit with false 32GB memory. I think it only has ONE GB. As soon as I took off half my music, that's when I got the videos to work. My first clue was that it wouldn't let me make a new folder. Everytime I tried to make a new folder, I'd get weird replicating files. I'm converting a bigger movie and I'm going to test out what happens when I go over the 1GB and see. The unit does have a mini SD slot to add more memory. I'll have to look into that. I'll post back after I try out this bigger movie file. I'm just waiting for it to finish converting. The smart thing would probably be to scream at the seller and get my money back, but I like the unit. I like the working videocam. I think I'm better off getting a mini SD card and just adding more memory, or seeing if I can hook up my stick flash to it.

[jagabo]

It's not unusual for players to have a 1 GB, 2 GB, or 4GB file size limit.

[jimdagys]

I heard that 90% of Ebay USB memory sticks and mp4 are way short of displayed memory.
It's a great business. With some simple free software, you can make the device show any amount of memory that you desire. Why don't you hack it up to 256GB?
See:
http://fixfakeflash.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/fc8308-vid-0001-pid-7778-repair-fake-flas...rive-solution/
By the way, where did you get the newer version of AVI Converter? And what version is it?

[Carrigon]

I'm using AviConverter CHN-ENG Version 5.1.6 You can get it just by Google, it's up on one of the file sites. I'm also using Freeze FLV to AVI and Format Factory 2.3, but I don't think Format Factory matters. You just need to get the file into an Xvid MPEG format, then you reconvert it with AviConverter. That's what does the trick of it.

It gets more interesting. There may be a Vista 64 thing going on. See, I started all this on Vista, wouldn't work. Then I went and used my older WinXP computer. Somehow that worked. However, when I brought it back in here to my Vista 64 pc, as soon as I plugged it in, it asked me if I wanted to scan and fix the new drive. It thought it didn't look right. And yet, it's working now. I didn't let it mess with it. My guess is, maybe Vista 64 wasn't reading it right to begin with, and that screwed me up.

I have no idea how much memory is really on here. I'm over the one GB and it's still working. The unit is supposed to be 32GB. I so I guess I'll just keep adding stuff till stops going.

It's working perfectly now, I just put Cabin Fever 2 on it.

I'm going to write out a thing with instructions and see if I can put something together and post it so no one else has to go through this hell. To begin with, it came with all the wrong software and claimed it would only do amv's when it really only does Xvid. And it's probably really good that I did go through this because I ordered a Netbook that also claims it can only do a certain file type and my guess is, it probably does the same Xvid as this. I'll post back when I write up a walkthru.

[jimdagys]

To check real capacity of USB memory/mp4, use this software:
http://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/h2testw-14-gold-standard-in-detecting-usb...erfeit-drives/

[Bjs]

Simplest method to find the true available space is to connect it to pc and format it ... After this it's true available space will be known.

Also check http://mympx.org which has a lot of information about hacked firmware with such devices.

[jimdagys]

Simplest method to find the true available space is to connect it to pc and format it ... After this it's true available space will be known.

May not work in all cases.

[Carrigon]

Okay, I've written a four page guide on how to get the videos working and I've included a copy of the correct version of CHN-ENG AviConverter 5.1.6 with it. This may also work for the newer 7 inch netbooks. The manufacturers are already claiming they do xvid, so I'm guessing this is it.
http://hotfile.com/dl/43194183/251492e/CHN_ENG_AVICONVERTER516.rar.html
Thanks for helping me. I hope my guide will help others with this problem.

[bat999]

Hi
I've read your guide.
Glad you got it sorted.
But have you figured out what the difference is between 'before' and 'after' a file is processed by the CHN-ENG AviConverter 5.1.6 program?
If you already have the file encoded with Xvid/MPEG4 and MP3 in AVI container and the correct picture size what is the difference when you analyze the before and after files with Gspot?
If you can see what changes are done by the CHN-ENG program then maybe you can incorporate them in your original file conversion so that the file doesn't need to be processed twice.

[Carrigon]

I'm really not sure what the difference is. I think it's so subtle, some setting that has to be an exact number, something specific. There's something they are doing to the chinese format of a file that is different from ours. And it's just enough to screw up trying to do it any other way but to use their converter. Maybe someone else can figure that one out.

[jagabo]

Like I said earlier, the difference may have nothing to do with the encoder settings. It may have to do with the way the data is packed within the AVI file. VirtualDub has a hex editor with a RIFF chunk tree viewer that can show you the internal structure of the AVI.

[Carrigon]

Well, that's probably it, I don't know why they would do it differently, but they do. And it causes alot of us hell trying to figure out how to get it working. The thing I'm most mad about is that they gave me the wrong software and the wrong manual. The manual doesn't even remotely look like my unit and neither does the screenshots of its software. And the software they did give me was either in chinese, the wrong version, and just plain the wrong thing. If they had given me the right stuff to begin with, I wouldn't have had to spend days trying to get it to work.

[Carrigon]

Well, it's not entirely solved. After putting about ten videos on it, it now screams the same format error and won't let me do anymore. Don't know if this is a memory problem, Vista problem, or what. I guess I should be grateful I got the few on it that I got on it. There is some problem with the memory, I just don't feel like delving into it. But if you try and add a new folder, it will replicate all the files on the drive. It's a sign of a memory overload. Either I reached the capacity and it's a hacked up false memory, or it just thinks I've gone too far. I'm not sure. I'm at about 3.5GB of stuff on it now.

There is a Vista thing going on. I let Vista run a scan on it, said it fixed errors, but everytime I plug it back into Vista it still says it detects errors. I don't get that on my WinXP at all.

So, not fully solved, but other than trying a few more times during the week to get a few more vids to work, I'll probably leave it be.