GoFlex Satellite

[AskTheLeaf]

The new iOS GoFlex Media app is now available on the iTune App store, version 1.1.0.74. 

Additions:

• Photo swipe
• Fixed issue where no audio on videos when slider is muted (KBA 219891)
• Added languages for Europe and APAC.
• Minor bug fixes

No new sort options yet, but those are coming. 

The swipe feature acts more like the native iPad photo viewer by giving the user the ability to browse their photo library by swiping the photo left to right or right to left, but keep in mind that the photos are loading over Wi-Fi rather than local, so there is some natural delay. 

When you click a photo it will open a thumbnail, then it will show a progress bar and about a second or two after the progress bar completes, it will show the image full screen. 

Thumbnail / progress - appears when photo opened. 
Full screen image appears after progress bar completes. 

Navigation options appear if you touch the screen. 

Swipe right or swipe left to navigate without using the menu. 

[delirious]

Picture swipe feature is a nice addition.

[SusiBiker]

Shame it doesn't fix the "Open In" selection bug that causes the iOS GoFlex App to crash 100% of the time.

Actually, it's rubbish, because I can't even get Seagate Support to talk to me seriously and keep sending me stock replies!

[Hook'em_Horns]

Seagate, Go check out the JetStream HD companion app for a nice user interface, that excites the user. Until SG comes up with an interface approaching the JS HD app, people are going to continue to yawn.

Now to the app... It does not really give the user any benefits over accessing the HD from Safari. In fact, in one aspect, it's actually worse. In my hotel, I connected my iPad via WiFi to my GoFlex and then my app via HDMI adaptor to the windscreen LCD in my room.  When using the app, I could never get the app to enlarge to full screen. I had letterboxes on both the top AND bottom of my picture. I then decided to access my content via Safari and voila!  Full screen access!  This is a bug that needs fixing.

Also, the app NEEDS to be able to create media playlists (music, photos, and movies). Searching for content by lists is cumbersome.

The hardware portion of your implementation could improve by providing some sort of Internet pass through. If I'm using this with my iPhone, I should still be able to connect to the Internet without having to kill wifi. If I can tether via wifi, why can't I access it will connected to the GoFlex.

Keeping working and you can make a good product into a great one!


[hef]

hook'em - tethering on a phone is very different from setting up a "passthrough" situatuion like we would need to for this to work the way you want it to.

a phone has two distinct network adapters - the wirless adapter and the 3g modem. they operate seperately and tethering is essentially just setting up a network bridge between the two.

this device only has one network card. a single wirless adapter and thats it. unless the adapter was specifically designed to allow its use as a repeater then it's gonna be extremely hard to do an "internet passthrough" like you wish. doesn't mean its impossible. jsut means its not gonna be an easy or fast thing to achieve so be patient.

there are people here in the community working on these ideas and thinging about how to implement them if they are even possible.

[Gabriel James]

It is clear from the community forums that most users want to be able to use the internet and the Satellite at the same time.

It is important to deliver a product that meets user expectations. 

[Jeffrey Tan]

Yes. That is one of the number feature that many users have asked. It is a chore to toggle between 2 wireless.

These guys figured it out already . bit.ly/niDIyn

[born2mow]

To Seagate: Please try to "provide an AirPlay output device picker" (http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/AudioVideo/Conceptual/AirPlayGuide/Introductio... for the iOS app. People with AppleTV2 could redirect the stream wirelessly from the app to an HDTV but the app needs to do full screen or it will be useless for movies.

[DudeDad]

Just got my GFS yesterday....when selecting the Music tab, then Artists, it would be nice to see the ALBUMS rather than all the songs.  I can see the albums in the File Viewer and start playing music from there.  Seems to me that when you go inot the Artists under Music, you should be able to toggle between seeing all the songs under that artist or an album listing....

[AskTheLeaf]

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DudeDad wrote:

Just got my GFS yesterday....when selecting the Music tab, then Artists, it would be nice to see the ALBUMS rather than all the songs.  I can see the albums in the File Viewer and start playing music from there.  Seems to me that when you go inot the Artists under Music, you should be able to toggle between seeing all the songs under that artist or an album listing....

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Thank you so much for your feedback.

We have periodic beta tests for various devices. If we have another coming up for the GoFlex Satellite, would you consider participating?

[DudeDad]

I would be happy to do so....but I'm new to the goflex and Posted the following on this site today, and awaiting some guidance:

Picked-up the GFS to put my 400+GB apple lossless music on it to stream to my iPhone in the car.  I installed the iTunes exporter (I use a Mac, Lion, up-to-date) but found that when I tried to move ALL of the songs at once, only some of them made it.  Fine, I moved them in smaller batches so that all 18,000+ songs are on there.  I understand that it has to index them, so I turned on the iPhone and the GFS and it started to do so. After about 1.5 hours, only around 1,000 songs have been properly indexed.  The remaining songs (17,548) are listed in the Artist view in the iPhone app as "Unknown" with only some of the artwork showing; however, if I navigate to file view, I can see each artist and each album properly labeled (one advantage to using file view is that if you want to go to an artists and peruse the ALBUMS, you can; in the Music tab under Artist you get ALL songs from ALL albums) -- but in the file view, no artwork appears, even with you play songs from there.

So...my first question is about indexing....perhaps 18,000 songs is a bit much to index at once...thinking about removing all the music, moving songs over in 1,000 song batches, connecting to my iPhone to index, then repeat with additional 1,000 song batches?  Thoughts?

Also....I would like to have my iTunes playlists on the GFS.  When I used the iTunes exporter, I received error messages.  I have not tried to do that again since I moved all the music over (perhaps that is an issue).  Thoughts?

And finally (thanks for reading this far)....once I have it all set up with the 18,000 songs, artwork, etc.....can I now use the software to do a sync from my music file so that whenever I add songs, then connect the GFS, it will just add those songs?

[DudeDad]

I tried moving files in smaller batches, but to no avail.  Moved them all again and found out that the music view would show NON-apple lossless files, and put all the lossless files in the "unknown" category under "U".  Any purchased or other MP3 files were properly identified.  However, from the file viewer, I could drill down and find all the music, and I could play it from there (w/o artwork), even the lossless files.  So, here's what will make this a great item for music:

1.  Ensure that large libraries can be identified quickly, but once the unit/software identifies all of the music, no need to rescan unless there have been additions/deletions from the library

2.  Ensure that the user can, from the Music tab, drill down to the artist, then choose either song view or album view -- right now, you can only drill down to the song view...if you want to just play the album, you have to go to file viewer and drill down

After my experience with a large library, and the fact that the wifi went out in two days and the unit could not be turned off (even the reset button failed), I returned it....I'm still on the firmware email list and will keep the iPhone app to monitor updates....perhaps I will purchase it again when it can handle large music libraries and provide better functionality.

If you need someone with a large library to test a unit with the updated firm/software, I'd be happy to demo a unit and the software and run it through the ringer...I really want this to work (I have to say that streaming to my iphone, which plays through my car's stereo, was great....solid streaming, no hiccups and great sound....but no album art and most of the songs not recognized was a problem.

....Ian [Edited: Removed personal information per the community rules and regulations.]

[DudeDad]

There's a new iOS update for the app...any chance the issues I've raised have been resolved?  I'd love to repurchase this device once it can handle large music libraries.  The new app moves the movies from the GoFlex to your device....hopefully, that won't happen with the music....kind of defeats the purpose of having the GoFlex!

Thanks.

[Clandestiny]

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DudeDad wrote:

There's a new iOS update for the app...any chance the issues I've raised have been resolved?  I'd love to repurchase this device once it can handle large music libraries.  The new app moves the movies from the GoFlex to your device....hopefully, that won't happen with the music....kind of defeats the purpose of having the GoFlex!

Thanks.

---

For what it's worth, I experienced the exact same issues (and frustrations)  you did with a library of some 12,000 items prior to the new firmware update.

Today I updated everything, recopied my music library to the Satellite, launched the firmware-based browser app, got it started scanning data, crossed my fingers, and went to sleep.

It's about five hours later. I'm pleased and relieved to announce that the Satellite scanned the entire library, and now sees EVERY item, and accurately lists the title, artist, genre and album, and displays all the cover art. The only items still marked "Unknown" are the ones that were marked that way to begin with in my iTunes library.

 By the way, as far as "moving files to your device,"  gotta admit, this mystified me. I don't know where you got this idea.

Yes, both the current and previous versions of GoFlex Media (for iOS, anyway -- I haven't used any others) are capable of moving files to your device if you specifically tell it to. But it doesn't do this by default and, as far as I know, never has.  The files stay on the Satellite until you select them and press the Download button.

[DudeDad]

Good to hear....what is the date on the new firmware download?

Does it scan the library at each power up, or just initially?

Also, how did you move the music?  The iTunes plug in was a failure, so I did it with the other software provided.

Did your playlists come over as well?  Can you shuffle them?

With regard to moving the items to the IOS device, the information provided with the iPhone app update said that there is improved battery life by allowing the user to download the movie from the GoFlex to the iOS device....to me, that defeats the purpose of having your media stored outside of the viewing/listening device....I would hate for them to do that with music -- it would be like iCloud....not a real streaming service because you have to use space on your device.

[Clandestiny]

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DudeDad wrote:

Good to hear....what is the date on the new firmware download?

Does it scan the library at each power up, or just initially?

Also, how did you move the music?  The iTunes plug in was a failure, so I did it with the other software provided.

Did your playlists come over as well?  Can you shuffle them?

With regard to moving the items to the IOS device, the information provided with the iPhone app update said that there is improved battery life by allowing the user to download the movie from the GoFlex to the iOS device....to me, that defeats the purpose of having your media stored outside of the viewing/listening device....I would hate for them to do that with music -- it would be like iCloud....not a real streaming service because you have to use space on your device.

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1. The new firmware was released yesterday.

2. It seems there's a still a startup scan every time you power the Satellite on, but it (to me) doesn't seem to take anywhere near as long as it used to, nor does it treat the existing library as if it has to be completely rescanned.

3. I moved the music using a third-party Mac app called Carbon Copy Cloner. If you're on Windows or Linux, I'm sure there are plenty of equivalents. The Satellite doesn't require any special software to copy files, just something that will copy them. You could even do it by drag-and-drop.

4. I don't use playlists.

5. Yes, of course it improves the battery life by copying files to the iPad. The Satellite uses more power if you stream continuously. Nowhere does it say that you have to copy files to the devices, nor does it imply (nor have I found) that the battery life is terrible if you stream.  You can just save more of it by copying files locally, that's all.

[DudeDad]

Excellent.  Thanks for the info....I bought the unit a few months back and was disappointed that 90% of my library was "unknown"...I could drill down to the artists in the file view, but that was not easy to do.  Then my unit locked up, so back it went.  Given the new firmware and your confirmation that large libraries can be seen, I think I'll repurchase it and give it a shot again.  I, too, am in the Mac world....I found that the mediasync software did a pretty good job of moving the files (I use Super Duper for backups/copies).

Rescanning for new content is fine....

Again, thanks for responding so quickly.

[Clandestiny]

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DudeDad wrote:

Excellent.  Thanks for the info....I bought the unit a few months back and was disappointed that 90% of my library was "unknown"...I could drill down to the artists in the file view, but that was not easy to do.  Then my unit locked up, so back it went.  Given the new firmware and your confirmation that large libraries can be seen, I think I'll repurchase it and give it a shot again.  I, too, am in the Mac world....I found that the mediasync software did a pretty good job of moving the files (I use Super Duper for backups/copies).

Rescanning for new content is fine....

Again, thanks for responding so quickly.

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Cool. I hope you have a better experience this time.  Don't forget to update the IOS app, too—a new version came out the same day as the firmware.

[DudeDad]

Bought it again, updated firmware, moved 19,000 songs from iTunes....18,000 were "unknown" after several hours...drilled down to the files in File Viewer and opened various albums to force the artwork to load....the unknown numer is coming down slowly...

One thing that would be GREAT...when you use the iOS app and his "Music" then "Artist", rather than just seeing the number of songs, you should be able to toggle to an album view of that artist to play just an album.  I know you can go to Albums instead of ARtist, but if you are in the mood for a specific artist, it would make more sense to go to Artist then Albums for that artist.  I know you can drill down in File Viewer to the Artist, and it lists the albums and there it will actually play the songs in theiir original order, rather than alphabetically.

C'mon, Seagate, this one's a no brainer!!!

[Donaldo1]

I had the same issue of wanting to get a full screen image on my flatscreen TV when transmitting from the GoFlex Satellite to the iPad which I had connected directly to the TV with the Apple HDMI adaptor.  MrMatthew's suggestion of by passing the "GoFlex Media" app and accessing the content via Safari worked!!  I am able to view the movies from the GoFlex Satellite full screen on the TV - just the same as if the movies were on the iPad.  Just open Safari after connecting to the GoFlex Satellite wifi and the correct URL will come up or change the URL to anything and and it will refresh and bring up the correct URL.

BTW, I called Seagate Tech Support about this first and was told that I wouldn't be able to get a full screen image even though I connected the iPad by HDMI cable to the TV.  The tech support person never mentioned the possibility of accessing the movies via Safari and getting a full screen image.

Thank you MrMatthew - this solution is what I wanted!.  Otherwise the drive was going back to the store!!

[TylerThomas]

Hello, This is directed to the people at Seagate. In your next update of the iOS application please include the ability to export the media to various apps that can further utilize it. This would be good for certain kind of video because it could be used in iMovie and other apps that edit and utilize video. It would be good for music because it too could be used in iMovie and other apps that you can edit and use audio with. It would be good for pictures because you could e-mail them, post them to Facebook, edit them in photo editing apps, etc. It would be good for documents and office files because you could e-mail them, upload them, and edit them and such. This is a much needEd feature that would make an already great product even better. I hope you all read this and work on this kind of update soon. Thanks, Tyler

[themarshall]

I purchased the drive as a means to keep all my movies and TV shows in one place to watch when I'm on vacation.  For playing on the airplane and directly to the iPad it's been fantastic.  I really like how easily it is to get things working (my 6 year old has no problems.)  The challenge comes with wanting to watch this on a TV.

1) - HDMI out - Does not work from the app.  I discovered, as many others did, that there is a workaround using Safari.  It's not ideal but I can live with it.  So at this point I can use an HDMI and digital out adaptor.

2) - Component out.  The most common use of this for me is to let the kids use their iDevices to watch TV/movies in the car (via component out to the car system.)  This should be fairly straightforward, it works fine for playing videos from the built-in Videos apps but does not work from the Seagate GoFlex media app.  For the iPhone it works via Safar but for the iPad it does not.  Please fix this so the native app can play video out, for both HDMI and component.  As I look to evangelize this product to my friends I can't recommend it so long as I can't tell them they can use the in-car screen to stream their movies.

By the way, you can make it work with BuzzHD but it's really cumbersome.  However it does work.

One other item, I use MetaX to fill in the metadata information for movies, TV, etc.  It's awesome for letting people pick movies via thumbnail.  However for some reason some of the thumbnails don't show up.  I can't make head nor tails of it and can't find any documentation on this.  My instinct is that there's a file-size limit or size limit with pixels (ie 500x500.)  Seagate can you please publish this.  It's not a request for a change, just information so I can make them work.  Looking across your movie selection via the Movie Covers is MUCH more attractive than the generated thumbnails that look like the first frame of the movie.

Also, I know the requirements for this are a newer IOS but I can't figure out why Safari on my old iPhone 3 won't work.  None of the items show up, it's just blank. I can select a folder or movie (just can't see what I'm selecting) and if I can somehow pick the right movie it'll play, but the landing page when you open the IP of the GoFlex media is completely blank.  Any ideas?

Thanks for a great product, this is really fun and works well, please continue the development!

[Cube211]

I was unable to store my personal video rips in the GFS because I also share the access with my young children and there were no mean for me to control the content. Now the unit only store cartoons and home video which only cover less than half of my library. Please include function that allow me to manage access of different contents.. Even the really crude one would do. Thanks