Anyone know anything about hard drives?

[Bananalad]

As in computer related hard drives not taking your car out for a hard drive

Have a multimedia hard drive which i have a few movies on in avi format.. Ive noticed a couple i have put on recently will play on the laptor but not on the hd.. Sometimes it doesnt show up in the folder on the hd when hooked up with the tv but will show up in the folder when hooked up with the laptop.. Some movies are there but when i play it comes up "error: codec not supported" although they look similar to movies that will play..

Anyone have any ideas?

[cully]

youve answered your own question!
you need to install a good codec pack!

[Toby]

If it is your TV which is playing the files then you may not be able to update its codecs, unless the manufacturer can supply a firmware update.

You may have to convert the unsupported files into a different format

[Bananalad]

This is the one i have here http://iomega.com/about/prreleases/2008 ... nplay.html

Where would i look for a codec pack and how do i install it? thanks!

[Bananalad]

Why can i play some avi files and not others? :?

[Toby]

Why can i play some avi files and not others? :?

Avi files can contain many different codecs within them (xvid, divx etc), they are not all the same

[Scott]

.avi is the container for the file, the codec will probably be XViD which should play okay on your TV. I have a feeling you've probably grabbed a couple of videos which have the DiVX codec which is proprietary. Either that or you've got .mkvs which will be in the x264 or h264 codec

[Bananalad]

So to get these files to work on my tv, can i change the codec? Or can i install a codec pack as mentioned above?

[Scott]

I'm going to assume you made a copy of a disc that you own for backup purposes, so you can just make yourself another copy of the same disc but making sure that the codec you use is XViD rather than DiVX

[cully]

you need to know what formats the media player plays
then you probably will have to download or convert your avi files to that format
if you pc plays the files on the media player when it sees it as an exturnal hardrive you dont need the codecs

you can only update the player codecs on your pc
the media player will be set unless there is a firmware update

also if the media player hardrive is formated to FAT32 or Fat it wont show files bigger than 4.5gig you will get a file system error...the harddrive needs to be NTFS but the mediaplayer might not suport this look in the manual

[Bananalad]

I can play all the files on my computer with vlc player, its when i move the files from the computer to the hd so i can watch on my tv the problem is, how can i check what format the file is? And lastly can anyone recommend a program to change the format or is there a way to do this when im moving from my pc to the harddrive? Thanks for the help everyone please be patient with me

Just read what you wrote cully lol ill have a look what formats the media player plays now.. Do you know any good programmes to convert them to the correct one?

[Scott]

In VLC there's an option for 'video inspector' or something like that, and it'll tell you the codec of the file. Do a quick google of your TV model and that will tell you what codecs/formats are compatible.

As said, it'll be .avi (with XViD codec) and maybe a couple of others. You can reencode the videos using a number of programs but it takes a really long time and quality will be even worse.

[Bananalad]

Oh so its my tv that wont play some codecs/formats? I thought the problem was with the hard drive

[Bananalad]

H.264, WMV, RMVB (SD), MPEG-1/2/4 (part 2, ASP), VC-1, DivX®, DivX Plus� HD (MKV), Xvid

File Types - .avi, .asf, .iso, .vob, .ifo, .mp4, .mov, WMV, FLV, .mkv, AVCHD, M2TS

Thats what my hard drive can support

[Scott]

Ah I just looked at the drive. Are you playing it through HDMI from the hard drive, or connecting it via USB to your TV and making your TV play it that way?

[Toby]

Like Scott said, re-encoding video takes a serious amount of time.

You may be better off investing in a way to use your TV as a monitor? Defeats the point of having a hard drive, but works well.

[Bananalad]

Codec: MPEG-4 Video (XVID)

Thats one of the movies that shows up as an empty folder on the tv but is there when its on the pc..

[Bananalad]

Im connecting the hard drive directly to the tv through the red,yellow,white cables i only got it so i dont have to use the laptop

[Bananalad]

I have a tv with a usb connector.. Would it work through that?

[cully]

if the media player file names are too long sometimes they wont be seen what format is the hard drive ntfs fat? and how big is the missing file 4.5gig >

i have some files on my media player that dont play just CBA to rencode them
programs i use to rencode are
VirtualDub.exe
ConvertXtoDvd.exe
FairUse Wizard 2
DVD Decrypter
DVD Shrink 3.2.exe

[Ruan]

Handbrake FTW.

[Bananalad]

if the media player file names are too long sometimes they wont be seen what format is the hard drive ntfs fat? and how big is the missing file 4.5gig >

i have some files on my media player that dont play just CBA to rencode them
programs i use to rencode are
VirtualDub.exe
ConvertXtoDvd.exe
FairUse Wizard 2
DVD Decrypter
DVD Shrink 3.2.exe

There only movies so under a gigabyte.. Just noticed one is 1.78 GB for a movie thats an hour and a half..

[Bananalad]

Handbrake FTW.

I agree

[Bananalad]

Im going to buy a new one can anyone recommend one? Was thinking about buying this -> http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/8931257/ar ... ifi-n.html