FreeAgent Theater and GoFlexTV

[orangepop]

Hi I tried to locate anything about this on these boards and haven't found anything that can give me an idea of how to solve this issue I have with some files I have. They are avi videos that this issue crops up. It does not happen to all avi but only to some. I am wondering if they are having this issue due to a bad copy however on my computer (both mac and pc) the files run properly. 

When I play these avi movies there is a banner up top that states Unsupported  GMC and the video skips and is all blocky - basically not viewable through the player even if the very same file works fine on the computer. 

Any help would be much appreciated... on another note, maybe related I'm not sure but I notice that with some of my my HD wmv files, I get a banner up top that states unknown audio format. Again these work on my computers perfectly but not the player. All files are on a seagate freeagent 500GB drive which was bought new for the sole purpose of use with the player. 

[bodhi78]

Most likely that the AVI files actually contain the video stream format that this FAT/FAT+ does not support.

Usually, the media players on PC, whether Windows or Mac, are much more capable than this media

player, in term of codecs supported. To verify, use a media player like VLC (check this website), or a video

conversion tool like Mediacoder (http://www.mediacoderhq.com/dlfull.htm) to see that type of video codec

being used in the files, and then comparing that with the list of supported video codecs by the FAT/FAT+.

P.S.  Same about unsupported audio format.

Message Edited by bodhi78 on 01-21-2010 07:23 PM

[mweinc]

I have been running into this Unsupported GMC problem with several of my media files. I have checked the formats, Video/Audio codecs, and bitrates. I can play a MKV file with 640*480 .h264 - 192K mp3 just fine and a file with the same specs it starts to block up. Right now it seems random for the files but its the same files. I have tried moving them from one drive to another to see any change and nothing works. Does anybody know if the next update will expand the codec ranges or will I be stuck converting 6TB of video to the same vid/audio codecs and bitrates?

[orangepop]

Since nothing really can be done when you get that "unsupported GMC" and these same files seem to work well on my PCs, the only working solution to get them to work on the media player is to reconvert the file. I've done this with the files that come up "unsupported GMC" and the ones that come up with the banner that says "unknown audio format". I usually just the same conversion as the original file (bitrate, size, audio, etc) and it seems to work so far. Not the best option but may be the only option.

[bodhi78]

orangepop,

Could you elaborate a bit about what you did? did you convert your video files to a *different* video codec for files with "Unsupported GMC "? and did you convert your video files to a *different* audio codec for files with "unsupported audio format" ?

Thanks

Message Edited by bodhi78 on 02-14-2010 07:30 PM

[orangepop]

Its simple really. Take the file that you are having the GMC issue with, whether it be an WMV or AVI or whatever and take any video converting program like AVS Video Converter and use it to recreate a file that basically the same as the one with issues. For instance if I have a movie with the following specs:

 Res: 700x400

 Bitrate: 1030 kbits/s

Aspect Ratio: 1.76:1

Frame rate: 24

Codec: x264 H.264

etc

I basically keep everything the same as the problem file and just "reconvert" it back into a new avi file with the exact specs as (or whatever the file is). I think this GMC issue is more of an issue with the file and not with the player (I think) because once you create a new exact reconverted file it works perfectly. I have also converted files from one format, ie avi to wmv or mkv, etc. You can use any video converter and I think some have full working trials and I think there are one or two that are free downloads. In any case you just have to re-create by using a converter that file you are having the GMC issues with. Once you have the new created file you will be able to play it on the player without the Unsupported GMC message and without the chunky blocks.

[bodhi78]

Thank you, that what's I thought. The problem is with the video files, not the player which does support the format without problem. My guess is the video conversions for those files were not done properly, and most of the PC media players deal with the errors successfully. So you did not see them until playing on the FAT+, which probably did not handle the errors as well as the PC media players.

[Zelpheriz]

which firmware are you on ?

i am surprised to see an unsupported format error , this is so rare , if anything FAT+ pride itself upon , is the ability to read whatever curve ball you throw at it...

I would re-flash again the FAT+ with playdude's or 1.27 firmware using cold method

http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/message?board.id=fatheater&message.id=1511#M1511

[orangepop]

Hmmm that's interesting. Thanks. I have updated (cold update) with the 1.27 firmware twice but still had that issue. I recently saw I have another movie with this issue and before I reconvert it, I'll try that other firmware since it sounds kinda cool.

I'll report back of my findings.