211 replies to this topic

[Nick - LG Training]

I have a new firmware file with Media Link updates. ST.8.79.900. It works well for me, but I haven't been able to test it much. AVI with Xvid are the only files I tried that didn't work. I didn't get any reboots or anything. Some plug-ins still don't work. I will be out of the office for a few days, so I went and ahead and posted it on the web today. You can try it if you want to. I will send The programmer issues I found today...and them more when I get back tuesday. I wasn't able to test DTS with Media Link. For some reason my PMS won't see my sample files. But DTS works with USB and DLNA.

Download the new firmware if you want to try it

Just copy the ROM file to a USB and insert it while the ST600 is turned on.

<updated>
Here's the pre-release of the new firmware. It is version 187.

ST600: ST.3.79.187
- Add Media link support for AVI and MKV.
- Fix reported playback issues with premium apps.
- Add LG Apps Store for:
: Hongkong / Singapore / India / Indonesia / Taiwan / Malaysia / Vietnam / Philippines

Release date: Sept. 30th

Note...current issues from my testing:
1. 1080p files stop and buffer frequently. The buffer icon pops up every 10 seconds.
2. The resolution listed when playing Media Link files is incorrect. It shows 1024x768 for all resolutions.
3. Sometimes Media Link screen shows servers that are not turned on. Refresh of server on PC fixes it.
4. Photos do not work. I can see thumbnails, but get error “The Request cannot be processed.”
5. .Sub and .idx subtitles do not work .SMI does work.

ST600: ST.3.79.187
Beta software...Do not use if your ST600 is outside the 90 day warranty.

New 901 beta

ST600: ST.9.79.901

Increased buffer memory - slightly.
Files will now buffer longer before they start playing.
Overlay that always said the res is 1024x768 was removed.
Supported subtitles = .SMI (CineCanvas, SAMI, Timed Text)

Photos issues are still being researched.

[novellover]

Hi Nick

Followed your steps firmware loads on my ST600 here in Australia

box rebooted successfully

guess what it played one movie that has not played previously this is looking very promising

will do more testing over the weekend

As Nick says gang there is a risk it MAY brick your unit only update if you are prepared to take this risk.


many thanks

John

[stjeanb]

I just tried the firmware update and it now plays my files but as mentioned in a previous post the video plays for a bit then stutters till the buffer fills again. All my media is 720P so it should be able to handle it. My other devices ipad, apple tv all play media from my plex server with no stutter. The LG device is on a wired connection not wireless. So I think some additional buffer time needs to be added. Right now it plays but is not viewable as it buffers every 30 seconds to a minute.

Thanks

Brad

[pmcd]

I tried the firmware. Oddly, my mp4/m4v files (H.264) do not play but mkv files do as do most avi files ( even the xvid files). You don't get the same options when press ion the menu button as before. Basically you can only turn off or on subtitles. Previously you could go to various times in a file, select audio, subtitles, etc ... But at least it's working to a point where one can imagine how nice it might be.

The mkv files were 720p files. They played with no stuttering at all. They take a bit long to start up.

Thanks for this. I do hope this is a sign that all is not lost.

philip

[gadgetkid]

I am in the UK and i thought i'll take a chance on whether it will brick my box and to my surprise it works i can play my 1080p mkv films with just the odd sound cuttung off now and then and it also can play back the subtitles, so i just like to say thanks Nick for giving us the chance to test the firmware and at last LG are making good progress on the media link

[Jeff Schallenberg]

Another happy camper here.

Thank you, Nick!

I would dearly love to learn what was the fix, and who fixed it - LG or Plex? Whatever, we now have a device that does what it says on the box.

[perrin]

I just tried the firmware update and it now plays my files but as mentioned in a previous post the video plays for a bit then stutters till the buffer fills again.
...
Right now it plays but is not viewable as it buffers every 30 seconds to a minute.

Nick, just wanted to say thanks for your dedication to keeping us updated as to the happenings with these firmware updates and for posting this 'beta'.

I just updated mine and tested a variety of media. On 720p movies with a DTS soundtrack (mkv), there was frequent pausing as it buffered. There were a few times when it didn't pause, but the audio cuts out and it has the blue circle over-top of the video. When the video is playing, it's using between 6.5 & 6.7Mbit of traffic. During one point, the LG screensaver came on while it was buffering.
The same video plays back without any issue on CIFS & DLNA, so the device might be hitting some sort of CPU/memory limit. When playing back the same video over CIFS, the bandwidth used fluctuates between 5 and 13Mbit.
Playback of a 624x352 xvid file (2 channel audio) was good.


I noticed that in the upper left corner of the display, it shows the video title with 1024x768 below it. That number doesn't change, regardless of what video content I'm playing back.

I also noticed that the FF and RW buttons don't advance/rewind the video. Using the left/right sides of the D-pad moves the playback indicator along the timeline but it takes quite a while to restart playback (it frequently hangs with the spinning circle, at which point I hit stop and then play to resume).

This is all running on a wired 100Mbit network. Plex server is running on an unraid nas.

Looking forward to seeing additional progress.

[neilbay]

I'm from Australia and basically had nothing to lose in trying the firmware.

I've updated to the new firmware and all looks good so far. Needed to restart the Plex PMS before it would though

Thanks Nick for your efforts in pushing this.. From the sounds of it with a bit of fine tuning we are going to get what was promised from the outset

Cheers

[TorontoSteve]

I too appreciate your efforts Nick, but my avi's would not play through MediaLink

[pmcd]

I too appreciate your efforts Nick, but my avi's would not play through MediaLink

Odd as mine play though the video quality doesn't appear to be as good as through cifs or on another media player. mkv files have all played except for one. It is a bit odd that the ST600 displays 1024x768 as the resolution no matter the video. I doubt that this is the actual resolution it is playing as that would mess with the aspect ratio.

As it stands, the beta is not reliable though it is light years ahead of the situation just last week.

For some odd reason none of my mp4 files play. Even the ones that used to play stopped playing. If I move the video and audio into an mkv container then they play. Weird.

philip

[MLCDI]

ran the last software upgrade and not getting .avi files streaming via PMS v9.3.4 however I do get some buffering issues and the odd pixelization (i think buffering again). playing itunes and all via MediaLink. Only issue now is subtitles....how do I get rid of them?

[Bonobo]

I gave up on the ST-600 since the Apple TV I bought to replace it works so much better. Sold the ST-600 on eBay and got much of my money back. Nick, I know the ST-600 SNAFU in NOT your fault or doing but LG truly needs to test their products better in R&D and QA.

[Nick - LG Training]

I too appreciate your efforts Nick, but my avi's would not play through MediaLink

What is the codec and res?

[cushy44]

I know this thread is focusing mostly on the .mkv, .m4v and .avi files not playing and after installing the new firmware from Nick, it seems to work.

HOWEVER, my home movies (.mpeg and .mov) and my pictures (.jpeg) can not be accessed through media link. Everything is loaded up on the computer, I can see the files on media link but, once again, they cannot be viewed.

Any help on this would be appreciated.

[TorontoSteve]

What is the codec and res?

Most are XVID, framerate 23.976024

[Nick - LG Training]

I know this thread is focusing mostly on the .mkv, .m4v and .avi files not playing and after installing the new firmware from Nick, it seems to work.

HOWEVER, my home movies (.mpeg and .mov) and my pictures (.jpeg) can not be accessed through media link. Everything is loaded up on the computer, I can see the files on media link but, once again, they cannot be viewed.

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Do you know what codec the mpeg files are using? And the resolution. I will try some different jpegs and see if I have a problem.

mov files are not supported.

[Nick - LG Training]

Most are XVID, framerate 23.976024

Soem xvids are not working, asd you found out. The programmer knows about it. I sent them a test file.

[pmcd]

@Nick

Why would h.264 videos with AAC audio in mp4/m4v containers not play while they play in mkv containers?

philip

[JohnnyCanuck]

Hi Nick,

Thanks for this file and all your hard work.

The only issue I am having using Plex is some buffering (periodic macroblocking and occasional stuttering) with 720p mkv files or better. The files are not an issue as they play without difficulty over DLNA. I have three ST600s (two connected via wired LAN the other through Wireless N and the problems are on all three so it's not a connection issue.

Would love to hear that your programmers are working on better network performance with Plex so that it plays as well as it does over DLNA.

Thanks again.

[Jerms]

I can view certian files that are encoded specifically in .mkv and .avi using H264, when i try playing any of my other media i get error : Cannot Play Media.

I also encoded my entire library at this point of 1400+ movies, when i am in the movie folder, NO files will play regardless of compression.

Is there something about the size of the folder that is crushing the limits of the ST600? My LG tvs play the files with no trouble, as well as all my mobile devices.

Just a bug i found, something to look at.