FreeAgent Theater and GoFlexTV

[bodhi78]

Please feel free to reply to this thread to include any link to old posts and include a simple description of the problem (if possible) to describe what's in the link. Hopefully this will make it easier to search for known problems.

[tony55]

 Ver 1.26.. Volume control worked.  Ver 1.45  No vol control on remote.  No work around

[bodhi78]

FW 1.45 - Problem with loosing audio after rewind/fast forward a video (any codec). Happened sometime with local GO drive. Happened very frequently with videos streamed from network folder.

    - Workaround: press STOP and then PLAY, or Left Arrow and then Right Arrow. Either way will regain audio.

http://forums.seagate.com/t5/FreeAgent-Theater/no-sound-in-second-video-in-playlist/m-p/52706#M3207

FW 1.55 or older - Problem with HMDI - Fixed in FW 2.20 or newer

http://forums.seagate.com/t5/FreeAgent-Theater/HDMI-problem-after-1-55-upgrade-please-help/m-p/57773...

    - Workaround #1: great tips from Zelpheriz

http://forums.seagate.com/t5/FreeAgent-Theater/HDMI-connectivity-issue-with-Denon-AVR-1909-LCD-Samsu...

    - Workaround #2: (not much of a workaround), however, using Component Video will eliminate a lot of problems that seem to show up only with HDMI.

FW 1.45 and older - Problem with files sorting over network, Mostly Fixed in FW 1.55 as reported here and here

      - In FW 1.55 and later: Network Files sorting works in alphabetical order. Sorting by Earliest/Latest order still does not work.

FW 2.20 and older - Problem with thumbnails for network files, never worked since the first release.

     - Partially fixed in FW 2.23. However, it does not use thumbnails for folders, only files. So navigating the folders still a chore (i.e. each network folder only shows its name and a generic icon). Each movie is displayed with thumbnail, but the JPG file itself is also shown! so it looks like a double thumbnail, but it's not. Switching to Menu->Show Movies (to avoid showing JPG thumb) does not work, it will reverse to plain generic thumbs in this mode.

FW 1.45 - Problem with playing MKV anamorphic wide screen

http://forums.seagate.com/t5/FreeAgent-Theater/FAT-FW-1-45-proplem-playing-MKV-files-with-Anamorphic...

FW 2.20 and older - Problem with USB keyboard. The only thing works is: entering text when presented with a text box (as in entering a search string, or user name). None of the other keys on the keyboard works. For example, left/right/up/down/Enter do not work for list navigation.

      - Work around in FW 2.23 (Partial): the iPhone/iPod/iPad apps (US iTunes store) for FAT+ remote control  has fully functional keyboard.

FW 1.45 - Problem with video codecs or subtitles while streaming from network media servers

   - Workaround: Stream directly from the network folders.

http://forums.seagate.com/t5/FreeAgent-Theater/FAT-not-reading-SUB-subtitles/m-p/52408#M3121

FW 1.45 and older - Problem with accessing network share on Windows 7 and XP

   - Work-around: See Tinwable's thread for guide on Windows settings:

http://forums.seagate.com/t5/FreeAgent-Theater/FREEAGENT-A-Guide-to-get-the-most-out-of-your-FAT/td-...

FW 2.20 and older - Problem with recognizing MP3 files. The FAT+ does not recognize certain MP3 files.

  - Work around: convert the MP3 files to the same format. This seems to get rid of some abnormal info inside the MP3s and allow the FAT+ to read and recognize them.

FW 2.20 - Slideshow freezing. - Fixed in FW 2.23

See this thread.

  - There is no work around. Stay with FW 1.55 if you don't need Netflix.

FW 2.23 - Navigate Network folders take a very long time

  - Downgrade to FW 2.20 (using USB method from the menu).

FW 2.23 -- New bug in FAT+ iPhone app

In keyboard mode, the OK key sometime got stuck in a repeat loop! for  example, if the "a" letter is highlighted on the on-screen keyboard, and we press "OK", a repeated string of "aaaaaaaa" appear on the textbox, and the iPhone app display shows that this "a" key is transmittted repeatedly (LED light flashing like crazy). This problem would be alleviated if there is a way to clear the tex box (provide a "clear" key on the iPhone app keyboard) so that it can overide the repeat OK and clearing the text box.The only way to stop it now is to exit the iPhone app.

If available, the "clear" key is extremely handy when users are presented with the usual "Realtek_guest" loging prompt.

FW 2.23 - Thumbnails for local USB files in Browse mode

     - Partially implemented in FW 2.23. However, it does not use thumbnails for folders, only files. So navigating the folders still a chore (i.e. each folder only shows its name and a generic icon). Each movie is displayed with thumbnail, but the JPG file itself is also shown! so it looks like a double thumbnail, but it's not. Switching to Menu->Show Movies (to avoid showing JPG thumb) does not work, it will reverse to plain generic thumbs in this mode. This capability  works the same way for Network files.

     - This seems like a bug in the way thumbnails are created in Browse mode for both local USB files and Network files.

[bodhi78]

FW 2.23 - Thumbnails for local USB files in Browse mode

     - Partially implemented in FW 2.23. However, it does not use thumbnails for folders, only files. So navigating the folders still a chore (i.e. each folder only shows its name and a generic icon). Each movie is displayed with thumbnail, but the JPG file itself is also shown! so it looks like a double thumbnail, but it's not. Switching to Menu->Show Movies (to avoid showing JPG thumb) does not work, it will reverse to plain generic thumbs in this mode. This capability  works the same way for Network files.

     - This seems like a bug in the way thumbnails are created in Browse mode for both local USB files and Network files.

[noobie]

bodhi78 great idea  

I just hope it will be used by Seagate...

[bodhi78]

Files sorting over network bug has been fixed in Fw 1.55 (mostly)see here and here.

[noobie]

---

bodhi78 wrote:

Files sorting over network bug has been fixed in Fw 1.55 (mostly)see here and here.

---

Like Tinwable pointed out, FAT+ currently supports text sorting not numeric sorting, which I can see may cause problems with MP3s and such.   I do agree that changing FAT+'s default sorting to numeric would make more sense.   I dunno if you would consider this to be a bug or feature request

[noobie]

Weather widget needs to be fixed so it allows to enter Canadian locations.   At the moment FW1.55US allows only to enter US and European cities.

[quasar515]

I'm somewhat new to this forum so I apologize if these issues are found in other threads. I have searched to verify, but can't find anything that exactly matches (and if it did match, no one provided any feedback).

Here are the top issues that bring me grief and that I'd consider "bugs".

1) Unresponsive to hitting the power button on the remote. This happens ALL the time. I'll push the off button and the unit won't do anything. Pushing it again and again doesn't do anything either. I actually have to unplug the unit each time this happens.

2) Cannot login to YouTube. This was documented in another post, but there were no replies to it.

3) This next one may not be a bug per se, but why if you can see thumbnails by clicking on the main movies link, you wouldn't able to see them when you're in browse mode. Browsing is the only way to see folders (which is crucial to categorizing collections of movies), but then looking at the contents of those folders, thumbnails don't display. What my kids wouldn't give to have the thumbnails display when browsing.

Other issues were just connecting via the network to my Win7 machine and being able to "see" everything that I had set to share. Reading endless posts on that, and having nothing work quite right, I simply connected my 1.5 TB drive directly to the FAT+. Not very convenient to update as I have to unplug it all, take it back down to my computer and then transfer the new files over. But I was getting to discouraged having it work through my network.

[bodhi78]

---

quasar515 wrote:

I'm somewhat new to this forum so I apologize if these issues are found in other threads. I have searched to verify, but can't find anything that exactly matches (and if it did match, no one provided any feedback).

Here are the top issues that bring me grief and that I'd consider "bugs".

1) Unresponsive to hitting the power button on the remote. This happens ALL the time. I'll push the off button and the unit won't do anything. Pushing it again and again doesn't do anything either. I actually have to unplug the unit each time this happens.

2) Cannot login to YouTube. This was documented in another post, but there were no replies to it.

3) This next one may not be a bug per se, but why if you can see thumbnails by clicking on the main movies link, you wouldn't able to see them when you're in browse mode. Browsing is the only way to see folders (which is crucial to categorizing collections of movies), but then looking at the contents of those folders, thumbnails don't display. What my kids wouldn't give to have the thumbnails display when browsing.

Other issues were just connecting via the network to my Win7 machine and being able to "see" everything that I had set to share. Reading endless posts on that, and having nothing work quite right, I simply connected my 1.5 TB drive directly to the FAT+. Not very convenient to update as I have to unplug it all, take it back down to my computer and then transfer the new files over. But I was getting to discouraged having it work through my network.

---

- Regarding #3, it's the thumbnails bug.

FW 1.45 and older - Problem with thumbnails for network files, never worked since the first release.

The main Movies link does not index any of the movies stored in network shared folders (while the user manual states that it does). So I have worked around it by creating 2 identical thumbnails! one stored inside the folder for a movie, and the other at that folder level. It's not real thumbnails because you can't click on them and start the movies. But at least you can see the thumbnail right next to the movie folder, and you can bring up the jpg file to see the cover art for that movie. I know, this is a ridiculous bug, since it's so easy to make it work. All Seagate has to do is to provide an "Index" command in the menu pull-down and let users choose the folders to index from. Indexing from the network is slow, but it's the choice we make if we are willing to wait for it to complete.

- Regarding #1, I think it's the remote controller problem.

You can try to use a universal remote and teach the buttons to that remote. If you use Harmony remote then this FAT+ device is already in the database, just program the Harmony to choose the device. Non-Harmony remotes can be purchased for $15-$25, but you will need to teach it the FAT+ buttons. Harmony remotes are more expensive, but refurbished Harmony remotes are available from $35-$90 (any of the Harmony remote would work), and these refurbs are practically brand new (returned by customers).

[bodhi78]

---

tony55 wrote:

 Ver 1.26.. Volume control worked.  Ver 1.45  No vol control on remote.  No work around

---

@Tony

Have you tried to use a universal remote? see if it works. The FAT+ remote is a little flaky sometime.

[Salvo]

FW 1.45 : Black screen with subtitle SUB/IDX with 1080p resolution (resolution of the subtitle) !

[cosmita]

Hello,

There is still problem with polish subtitles FAT+ with 1.45 firmware still have problem with some characters:

ążźćśłńóę ... so i cant watch my movies

pls fix that problem in new firmware cuz from before problem still exist

best regards

c.

[bodhi78]

New  bug in FW 2.20: slideshow freezing. See this thread.

[prairiedog]

Need to increase the timeout value for media servers, such as PlayOn.  See this thread about ESPN3 not working on the FAT+ via PlayOn.

Also affects NHL Gameday. 

[sheriar]

Just a question on the last point :

" FW 2.20 - Slideshow freezing.

See this thread.

  - There is no work around. Stay with FW 1.55 if you don't need Netflix. "

Is this likely to be fixed in the next FW update? I hope so, as one Key reason for my buying FAT+ is the slideshow of photos.

2ndly, any idea when the next FW update is expected anyway?

Thks for yr help in advance.

[bodhi78]

Since the FW 2.23 has been officially released, this is the continuing post of problems and work-around

- Slide show freezing problem has been fixed in FW 2.23.

[-user-]

A list of features from another thread which details features which should be a no-brainer when designing a good media player firmware.

Most if not all are applicable to FAT+ because they run the same firmware I believe and have almost identical HW.

http://forums.seagate.com/t5/GoFlexTV/Wishlist-of-features-for-next-firmware-update/m-p/67552/highli...

[aquaholik]

2.23 improvements over 1.55.

The scratchy distorted audio seems to be gone completely. I thought it was an HDMI handshake issue but obviously it was not since it was fixed by the new firmware.

It now recognized Blue Ray disc folder correctly(meaning I can chapter skip .m2ts file). With 1.55, I could not chapter skip .m2ts file. However, while 1.55 will play .ts file, 2.23 does not recognize my .ts file. No biggie, simple rename fixed the problem.

I get the windows 7 checkdisk prompt every time I connect the hard drive to the FAT+ and back to my windows 7 machine.

I love the Iphone app and despite that checkdisk problem, I am keeping this firmware.

Both 1.55 and 2.23 had problem with high bitrate remux mkv blue ray file. It stutters. I am now backing up my blue ray disc to blue ray folder since it does not stutter with high bit rate .m2ts file.

[not-so-1337]

what iphone app???

[rts11]

After update to FW 2.23 EMEA the FAT+ plays m2ts files not proper: artefacts and stuttering video.

I go back to FW 1.55 (US) and playing m2ts works fine. But it's a US FW and tv norm is ntsc (PAL is not

available).

[bodhi78]

New Bug in FW 2.23

- Navigating Network folders takes a very long time. Work around: not much of a work around, but can downgrade FW back to 2.20 to avoid the problem. We'll need telnet access to the box running FW 2.23 to see what's causing it, unfortunately it's not possible any more in 2.23.

[bodhi78]

Bug partially fixed in 2.23

FW 2.20 and older - Problem with thumbnails for network files, never worked since the first release.

     - Partially fixed in FW 2.23. However, it does not use thumbnails for folders, only files. So navigating the folders still a chore (i.e. each network folder only shows its name and a generic icon). Each movie is displayed with thumbnail, but the JPG file itself is also shown! so it looks like a double thumbnail, but it's not. Switching to Menu->Show Movies (to avoid showing JPG thumb) does not work, it will reverse to plain generic thumbs in this mode.

[bodhi78]

FW 2.23 -- New bug in FAT+ iPhone app

In keyboard mode, the OK key sometime got stuck in a repeat loop! for  example, if the "a" letter is highlighted on the on-screen keyboard, and we press "OK", a repeated string of "aaaaaaaa" appear on the textbox, and the iPhone app display shows that this "a" key is transmittted repeatedly (LED light flashing like crazy). This problem would be alleviated if there is a way to clear the tex box (provide a "clear" key on the iPhone app keyboard) so that it can overide the repeat OK and clearing the text box.The only way to stop it now is to exit the iPhone app.

If available, the "clear" key is extremely handy when users are presented with the usual "Realtek_guest" loging prompt.

[cosmita]

Hey,

There is still problem with playing mp4 files from media server - they dont play.

[bodhi78]

FW 2.23 - Thumbnails for local USB files in Browse mode

     - Partially implemented in FW 2.23. However, it does not use thumbnails for folders, only files. So navigating the folders still a chore (i.e. each folder only shows its name and a generic icon). Each movie is displayed with thumbnail, but the JPG file itself is also shown! so it looks like a double thumbnail, but it's not. Switching to Menu->Show Movies (to avoid showing JPG thumb) does not work, it will reverse to plain generic thumbs in this mode. This capability  works the same way for Network files.

     - This seems like a bug in the way thumbnails are created in Browse mode for both local USB files and Network files.

[cycmark]

hi I'm new here, sorry for the bad english. Recently I updated my FAT+ to 2.23 (first time Updating my FAT+ bought it 2009 philippines) , I follow all the instruction in intalling the update but the FAT+ won't start to work , the led won't stop flashing orange light. Is there any way to Fix this ??

[FLHTHEMI]

I don't see in this thread any mention of this so....

V2.23 Seems to have fixed the Netflix problem of turning the FAT+ back on.

Here's what USED to happen, turn on the FAT+, watch a Netflix movie, exit Netflix, turn OFF FAT+, wait about 30 seconds and FAT+ turns itself back ON.

Well, mine don't do dat no mo! Yippie!

[sheriar]

Hi again. Was just wondering if any1 has any idea yet on when Seagate is likely to release the next firmware upgrade? One is definitely due given the plethora of bugs that exist in the current one!

[azazel1024]

I've been wondering the same thing. I stupidly upgraded. I had no issues in the earlier firmware, but I figured, hey why not?

Well, I don't have any serious issues now, but when I open my movies folder on my USB drive it takes forever. Maybe 35-45 seconds to load the folder contents. There are around 160-180 files in the folder and about a dozen sub-folders. All other folders open quickly, just the big main movies folder. Previously it took maybe 5-8 seconds to load the folder.

So question, how do you roll back your firmware to an earlier version?

Thanks.

[azazel1024]

Never mind, I found bodhi78's steps on how to roll it back.

Thanks.

[TheUnicorn]

Hi all!

Just would like to submit the bugs I experienced with FW 2.23 (Europe):

All following problems occur within the UPnP-Client - I stream from a NAS running Mediatomb. Up to FW 2.20 everything worked fine (more or less), after upgrading to 2.23 there suddenly started a little bug-a-palooza...

- MP3 playback frequently crashes the machine completely - after a couple of titles playback suddenly stops midway through the song and the FAT+ reboots(!) completely! Happens with random MP3 files throughout my entire collection, so I don't think this an file-related-issue. This really bugs me, since I use the FAT+ for MP3-streaming a lot!

- HD-Movies (h264-MKV with 720p or higher) don't skip in 20min-steps anymore. The skipping works fine when playing the same file directly from the network-share. (This problem also occurs in 2.20!).

- When streaming from mediatomb, all files suddenly have the same length (03:00:00) in the "Info"-display. Not severe but strange and IMO a hint, that the Streaming-Client in 2.23 is buggy all over.

Of course, there is always the workaround of not using the streaming client at all, but then I'd lose the convenience of the mediatomb library, so in the long term this is not an option. So: Seagate, please! Finally fix and finalize this streaming client! There are people out there using it!

A problem not restricted to the streaming client is a general lack of stability since the upgrade to 2.23 - I have random freezes and spontaneous reboots frequently, no matter what I'm doing - browsing network shares, playing mp3-files etc., even the home menu suddenly disappears into a blank screen from time to time. I already had this every now and then with 2.20, but it seems to have doubled since the upgrade to 2.23

As a "big workaround", I made a rollback to 2.20 now to eliminate the most severe problems (mainly the MP3-bug), but I'm still a little bit p****d about Seagates ability to enrich the bug list with every new FW-version...  I mean, this is a simple mediaplayer, not a space-shuttle, so how hard can it be, for heaven's sake? *sigh*

[sheriar]

I fully agree with u - it is EXTREMELY frustrating to find Seagate end up Introducing new bugs with every upgrade rather than fixing the old ones. As a customer who bought this product over other similar ones because of Seagate's brand name behind it I cannot tell u how much my blood boils!

Is any1 from Seagate listening (or r we all just rambling away here while they never chk this forum)? 

[plarsen]

There is a new bug due to Netflix changes grouping all season episodes together. The FAT+ seems to have a software limit of listing only 100 episodes.

Now that all season episodes are listed together, many seasons exceed 100 episodes. A firmware fix is needed to increase this limit to at least 200-300 episodes.

More on this issue here:

http://forums.seagate.com/t5/FreeAgent-Theater/Netflix-streaming-won-t-show-more-than-100-episodes-p...

Netflix streaming won't show more than 100 episodes per title

[Rocky Pham]

Using FW 2.23, SSD Hard drive 128GB formatted in exFAT / Western Digital Essential Book 1TB formatted in exFAT.  My FAT+ does not detect any of the hard drives.  The hard drives are working fine on the computer.

It works fine for USB sticks (4GB).  Is there any limitation on the disk capacity?  Any work-arounds?

Thanks

[gejones]

Install 1.55 then instal 2.20.  2.23 fw is too buggy. It takes forever to access big hard drives. FAT+ works fine with 2.20 fw.

[Stevegolf]

Hi

Have you heard of anyone having a problem with their Goflex TV turning it's self off within 5 minutes of watching somthing recorded and stored on a 2TB external hard drive? I have seen posts of the Goflex TV over heating so have resulted in  standing unit on it's side in order to combat this issue. Not only does it turn it's self off while watching something, it sometimes turns off then on a few times each time indexing content everytime.

Hope you or someone may have an idea.

Regards

Steve 

[bodhi78]

Steve, try these (in this order) to troubleshoot:

1. First, to make sure there is no IR inteference in your set up (epecially if you have plasma TV), after the video started playing, use a piece of black electrical tape and tape the IR receiver eye on the FAT+/GoFlex TV.

2. Then if that did not help, use an external HDD with its own power source, play the same video. See if it plays without shutting down.

3. If still not successful, then plug the external HDD into different USB port.

4. Last resource: reflash the FW using cold method.