DVD/BR-ROM support on Q5/Q10 Pro

[afss]

Hi everybody, I am a very happy Q5 Pro user so far.

Despite it not being officially supported, I went and connected my Pioneer BD-ROM drive to an USB port with a DVD-ROM media (containing an MKV movie file), and guess what - it worked !!  The media player does not report the drive, but if you go on the file browser it is there - click on the name of the drive/file and voila, it plays the movie normally.

Now if I try with a BD-ROM media (also with MKV files recorded), it does not prompt with the drive name inside the file browser. I wonder if there is something to do with the Bluray UDF file structure not being recognized by Android - does anybody know how this could be resolved (maybe via an app ?)

Regards.

[Nice Monkey]

More interesting is to see what happens if you put a real DVD into it? If that plays too would be very nice (still dearly missing good DVD Folder/ISO support).

Probably indeed is a matter of support for UDF which is missing for BD.

[afss]

More interesting is to see what happens if you put a real DVD into it? If that plays too would be very nice (still dearly missing good DVD Folder/ISO support).

Probably indeed is a matter of support for UDF which is missing for BD.

I will test this later on, but my key question is since the Optical-drive support seems to be already part of the code, it may be a simple fix to add also BD-ROM support (on top of DVD-ROM support). I have a large library of MKV movies recorded on Bluray midia (as UDF data).

[Nice Monkey]

Changed myself a couple of times between burning and using HDD. The last move was back to HDD using a 4-Bay USB Plug & Play Docking Station for BD ISO's  + Internal 8 TB HDD for photos , Music and DVD.  Very happy with this setup, despite Samba Sever on Q10 pro being a bit slow.

Finding an Android APP reading BD-ROM drives is not easy as it is not exactly a natural fit.

[afss]

Ok, so I tested again and BD-R is also working fine !

It's not totally stable to start working, but once it does it is fine. I have been able to play a data BDR (with mkv file), along with a non-encrypted bluray via the Pioneer optical drive.

I think this is awesome news, and  if Himedia develops an eject buttom function, this feature can be clearly advertised as an exclusive thing that no other Android player supports at this point !

Regards.

[Nice Monkey]

 

Ok, so I tested again and BD-R is also working fine !

It's not totally stable to start working, but once it does it is fine. I have been able to play a data BDR (with mkv file), along with a non-encrypted bluray via the Pioneer optical drive.

I think this is awesome news, and  if Himedia develops an eject buttom function, this feature can be clearly advertised as an exclusive thing that no other Android player supports at this point !

Regards.

Waw; that is a real surprise indeed . Start up problems are probably timing as these drives have several wait states which are  much longer using optical discs.  This probably can be fixed? You tried the MENU button on the USB ICON for this drive to do an Eject (should do a drive Eject not Disc)?

Which model Pioneer are you using as maybe others with AVI/MKV on data discs like to try it too?  Would be nice to hear from others with different brands/models if these all work?

As long as there is no Full Menu support for BD / DVD I currently personally prefer the real thing using a dedicated BD/DVD/SACD-Player.

[akurej]

I tried with my Transcend portable DVD drive TS8XDVDRW-K.
It works fine with MKV written on DVD disc. But when I put a DVD-Video disc the drive did not show up!

[futeko.com]

My understanding is that DVD / BD drives will work if they are designed to operate as USB external storage.

This will result in data formats being readable but not DVD / BD video discs. But I'd be happy to be proved wrong on this point!

[Nice Monkey]

My understanding is that DVD / BD drives will work if they are designed to operate as USB external storage.
This is even new for me and not mentioned anywhere. Some already will be very happy with this.

This will result in data formats being readable but not DVD / BD video discs. But I'd be happy to be proved wrong on this point!
We are talking Video discs which are not encrypted/protected in any way.
I understood that such an unencrypted BD Video was working on the Pioneer too? afss to confirm

[afss]

Unencrypted DVD and BD standard discs play fine indeed (of course, data DVD/BDs containing video files also play fine).

Awesome news for the Q5 Pro - I think Himedia should leverage this capability and advertise it, as no other Android device apparently does it.

Regards.

[akurej]

I just realised that Transcend portable USB DVD drive attached to Q10 Pro is not absolutely plug and play.
Which means that each time I change the disc I need to reboot Q10 Pro. Otherwise it still shows data from the previous disc.

Also I cannot plug in DVD drive while Q10 Pro is already booted. The DVD doesn't show up in this case.
So I need to connect DVD drive and the reboot or boot when it is already connected.

Encrypted DVD-Video (region 1, 2 etc.) does not play. "It says video problem (confirm)" 
Unencrypted DVD-Video plays well!

I do not have BD ROM drive to test.

UPDATE
The DVD drive does show up when plugged in with Q10 pro booted. It takes a longer time though (approx 30 secs).
It even says "Install the equipment success"
So when I change discs I just need to reconnect the USB DVD drive to refresh the disc content, instead of rebooting!

 

[Nice Monkey]

I just realised that Transcend portable USB DVD drive attached to Q10 Pro is not absolutely plug and play.
Which means that each time I change the disc I need to reboot Q10 Pro. Otherwise it still shows data from the previous disc.

You tried the (undocumented and in Chinese Pop-Up) USB Safe Eject feature pressing the Menu button on the remote for the corresponding ICON?

Congratulations, It apparently works.  Both of you together proved Futeko/Himedia to be wrong.  They indeed should do something with it.
Encrypted discs require a matching certified video player. That will not work obviously.

[akurej]

I am using File Manager.
Safe eject does not work for me with "menu" option. It only gives me greyed out option for "Operation, New, Search) and none work.
Same for the 2TB HDD attached on USB3.0.

[Nice Monkey]

I am using File Manager.
Safe eject does not work for me with "menu" option. It only gives me greyed out option for "Operation, New, Search) and none work.
Same for the 2TB HDD attached on USB3.0.

You seem to press MENU on the wrong place apparently. Go back to the Top menu of Media Center showing the big icons for each I/O source on a horizontal row (USB, HDD, SD-CARD etc). This is before in fact starting File Manager which makes sense as the device should not have any open handles. Highlight the desired device and next press MENU here instead of OK to start File Manager. It is the only panel where Safe Eject applies.

It for sure works on any USB HDD/stick and for the SD-CARD slot. Located it also with help of somebody on this forum and finding it is not really intuitive. As nobody found it, the menu is still in Chinese.

[akurej]

In the MediaCentre when I press "Menu" for HDD and then "OK" in Chinese popup, it ejects the HDD.
But the DVD drive never shows up here. It is seen only in under File Manage app, if disc is inserted.