Using Hex Editor to Alter Displayed Name ?

[Seeker47]

Problem: a certain portion of downloaded videos have been "messed with" in one way or another, with the result that their I.D. shows up in the WD-Live player as something else, and not as the file name. (And the file name -- as it is seen by a computer's OS, can always be revised to something more readable or correctly descriptive.) Said files might be .Avi, .Mkv, .Wmv, .MP4 -- whatever. I am thinking these file display anomalies must be due to some header info in the video files, which a player like the WD latches on to. I have a fair amount of prior experience with the use of a hex editor, but none where the target is a video file. It has also been quite awhile since I made use of a hex editor. My concern is not to damage the playing or functionality of the video. I halfway recall some other file types where in changing the header name info inside the file it was essential to replace only with the same number of letters, in the same location ?

I'm wondering if there might be some guide or detailed 'How To' someone can suggest for this ? Otherwise, it might come down to some extended trial and error experiments with copies of such files -- something I'd rather not get into. Also, what free hex editors can take on rather large files ? The one I would normally use is built into my file manager, and it might not be up to such a job.

[Seeker47]

* b u m p *

[poisondeathray]

Does mediainfo (view=>text) show the same info as your WDTV live in one or more of the fields ? There are tags that can be edited for some containers and formats, and others have metadata fields. First you have to identify what is being "read"

[aedipuss]

got an acceptable example that's postable? could be added tags if it's mkv or it's harder but you can change things inside some video's with atomic parsley. the hex editor in virtual dub tools should work fine.

[vhelp]

Does this issue happen in any media player besides WD ?
Can you reproduce the problem in the Windows software Media player ?
If so, can you just cut a very small section and upload it ?

I've never heard of the WD re-writing or over-writing the metadata. I believe it creates a database on the memory stick or external drive its connected to and uses that to display metadata, otherwise loadup time would be the same, long and tedious, I would guess. Anyway. I don't know where my WD media player is at the moment. Though I do have my Netgear NeoTV media box connected to my laptop at the moment.

[jagabo]

Generally, when using a hex editor you have to fit the new text in the same space as the old text. You may be able to terminate the new text early with a zero. Otherwise you have to fill with spaces.

[Cornucopia]

Yeah, better to use tools that are designed with metadata/tagging in mind. They should be able to correctly modify without breaking the structure (which COULD happen with hex editing). Where hex editing comes in handy for media files is In-Place editing, particularly where there has been corruption.

Scott

[Seeker47]

Thanks for your replies. I did not discover them for several days, but now I'm headed out of town again. I'll look into these ideas and report back, when I get the chance. Right now I can tell you that some websites like to repackage video with their own site name (must be there inside the header, as well), and I think this is what the WD was picking up and reflecting. Even though these videos did not originate with them, they put their hands on it, did something to it, and want to claim some free advertising whenever it is played. (I suppose this is less annoying than those video watermarks, which I also run into.) I'll see about other desktop software players, but I think that VLC is doing what the WD Live player was doing.

The particular, distinctive and descriptive file name shows up just fine in a regular file manager, on the computer. The thing with the site-name or other such substitution for the displayed video name in the player is that it reduces a bunch of videos to the same generic name showing up in the files directory of the player, with no easy way to differentiate between them. I just wanted to see the actual file name, as it would show up in a file manager. The vast majority of videos will normally do this, so long as they have not been messed with.

Cornucopia wrote: "better to use tools that are designed with metadata/tagging in mind."
Any particular recommendations in such tools ? The files in question will range from .Wmv to .MP4 to .Mkv.

[aedipuss]

wow. i've never run into any media player that showed anything other than the filename for the video. try some thing else?