Chris Lanier's Blog

I am updated my two extenders right now!

Anyone else wind up with a pink overlay after the update reboots the dma?

Way cool to see my name on the blog!  Thanks for your help chris.  I was pulling my hair out wanting that firmware so bad to see if it fixed the issues that I have been hitting over the last month with regards to the codecs that might or might not work.  Don't know who you talked to at Linksys to get the firmware update feature working but thank you!

E:  Nothing like that showed up for me (Pink overlay issue).  Everything about this firware is better on this extender to me.  Menu's are snappier, file formats play, etc.

LOVE IT!!!  This is the experience I have wanted to see from the start.  So nice to have the file format options now...  Now on to my backup project.

Sadly I had to return my loan Extenders back to Linksys so I can’t test the updates Linksys has put out

Pingback from  Ian Dixon's Blog : Linksys DMA2100/2200 Extenders get a Firmware Update

It still does not allow setting a resolution manually when using an HDMI->DVI adapter....

The only real problem I have with the Linksys 2100 is that it will sometimes lock up while you're browsing through the menues for about three minutes and then speed through any key presses you made during that time once it starts responding again...very annoying.

I hope this fixes that.

Scream:  I had the same issue as well, even running over a LAN (gigabit, although the extender is 10/100).  No recordings or anything else going on with the PC that I could tell either.  I haven't run into anything like that with this firmware rev although haven't spent more than an hour with it since flashing.  Hope that error goes away as well.

Turned it off and left it for a few minutes and it seems to be back to normal (Pink screen issue)

Nice to see my AppleTV format videos work now! (H.264 with AAC + AC3 sound) Not sure if the 5.1 works yet but at least they play.

Hi Cris

I have a us version of dma2100

do you think that it is possible to upgrade it to firmware  version 1.1.5 an it will become "European"?

Ok I know this may seem a non issue to most, but what about this parity bit remote control issue. Has anyone else run into the absolute horror it is to try and learn the codes from the original remote into a nicer Universal remote???

I am trying to spec these into Custom Installs and the only solution I have reached as of now is to make each button a macro (fires off ir code, then an unused code to realease the buffer), which results in sluggish commands.

On a VMC PC you simply make a reg edit to disable debounce, is there a way to do this on the DMA-2100 or DMA-2200 via a service menu?

And does anyone know if the reg edit to  display the DVD gallery on the host computer results in the ability to play back VOB via the extender?

Sorry if this has been discussed previously and I missed it.

John - I totally understand your frustration on the remote code issue.  I thought that I had just learned the code incorrectly.  I have not tried what you have tried, but I will need to work on it a little.

As for the .VOB issue.  The Regedit will not allow DVD library to show up on the extender.  I have heard a rumor that they will be able to be played with the next media center update, but it is an unconfirmed one.  

There is a hack that allows you to get the DVD library to work, but it does not play the .VOB files, only mpeg2 files.  Chris wrote a blog entry about it at the end of April this year.

I don't an option for the update it says I am already running the current version even though internet access is working fine.

Maybe linksys aren't allow IP addresses from outside the US, I am in Australia.

Chris, if you can find out how to use the ISO on a DMA2200 that would be great.

I too am in Australia and haven't been able to download. If we could find out how to install the update via USB that would be great.

On the stability issues.. I get freezes when I change live channels without stopping playback first. Other than this it is pretty good.

Yep, sadly, there's no way to set the HDMI resolution manually and no way to turn off the HDMI autosense.

I was really excited when going through a Linksys website faq today and in a screenshot showed a menu option to turn HDMI autosense off. Must have been that last minute feature they turned off originally...

Downloaded the update to three DMA 2200 extenders...very easy and straight forward.  Did start to have problems tonight with the DVD player flaking out (poor broken sound, poor broken video) after 90 minutes of playing. cleaned the DVD....same result. I will try to run the same DVD on the other players to see if they have the same problem.

Also, I still run into the extender losing TV Video and Audio (Music) error after the extender has been working together with the DELL 420 server after 3-4 days. (unknown reason - all firewalls, Dell support etc are turned off) The Media Center on the Dell still has its video working, but the audio is lost with My Music.  (Also found the Media Player also lost its sound...very strange, but yet the Creative tab still shows it as working - downloaded updated drivers tonight to hopefully solve that problem).  

reboot of the server...all is well, however the Hi Dev channels do not display on either the Extenders or Media Center on the Dell 420.  Time to call Comcast....again....  

Thanks for responding, relieved to hear I am not the only one trying to use these with a real remote control system ( i.e. MX-980 and MRF-350 in my case)and thanks for clarifying the DVD library regedit's functionality or I guess lack therof via the DMA-2100 or DMA-2200. Well unless something changes with the VMC update these two issues are pretty much a deal breaker for the Linksys in my designs. Couple that with the fact I can build a mini Media Center PC for just a few hundred dollars at this point and avoid the version two extenders all together and it renders the DMA-2100 and 2200 DOA for my purposes. I've got several of these out in the field from earlier this year and they have been nothing but a constant rebooting scenario, telling a client to reboot them constantly quickly erodes their confidence in the product. The interface runs so sluggish on the Linksys extenders anyway it is turning people off of them, especially when you see how slick it operates on a PC. It sure would have been nice to emulate the interface across the home for a couple hundred dollars or less, but at this point unfortunately they really dropped the ball on this one in my opinion and I'm going with additional PC's.

You can get the DVD library to show up in the Extender's main menu, but of course, you still won't be able to play .VOB files over the extender, so there's really no point in doing it.

You can do the NTFS hard links renamed to MPEG, in that you retain the DVD menu structure and playability on the Media PC, but the extender will of course only play the MPEG file - which means no menu, and worse in my case, no fast forward or rewind.

John,

I have an MX-900 with the MRF-300 (replaced standard antenna with an RFX-250 antenna) and my DMA2200 works fine.  I don't remember exactly which code I used, but I'm pretty sure I used the code from the MX-900 Editor software (not learned from the remote)

Can the MX-980 use the mxg file from the MX-900?  If so, I can send you mine.

Does it improve xvid playback at all?  They work on my DMA2200, but there's no fastforward or rewind, just play, stop and pause.

I understand that this is a limitation of Vista Media Centre, but is there any way to get these functions to work on the Linksys box?

Thanks for the comment Surge, The remote I was referring to at a client's huse was indeed the MX-900, but at the time I programmed it earlier this year there was no Cide set in the IR database for the xtenders as they were brand new. I will have to see if someone got around this and update the Database on my next visit to see if it works for me as well. It would be nice to eliminate the macros I created for every button ( I had to learn the code then string an unused button to release the buffer to get around it)

I have an MX-980 at home but I don't use extenders with my system because DVD across the network is more important to me.

Richard I have dfound that I can fast forward 5 seconds wehn playing xvid encoded avi's by hitting next chapter button instead ofhte fast forward button.

Update: If you are using Universal Remote Controls like the MX-980 or MX-3000 it appears as though Codeset 252 under AUX/Microsoft/Vista Media Center will work the Linksys extenders and get around the parity bit issue in the editor.

Now if they would just support .vob files.

I know quite a few people who have authored their own home movies to unencrypted DVD format, and love the menu structure etc. So I think it's time for Linksys to realize that there are loads of non commercial DVD's out there that people would like to access via the extenders.

How to install from the ISO?

John - are you using the installers version of the MX-3000 remote software?  If so, can you tell me where to get it?  I downloaded the software from the URC website and it does not have the Vista Media Center option in it.

Thanks

any luck with the iso ladytoast ?

I am in Italy. Network update doesn't work. Anyone have figured out how to update via CD or USB?

I already have dowloaded the ISO.

I am in Germany, trying to update 2 DMA2100s - doesn't work at all. Extender hangs while searching for update. It even needs a cold reboot to come up again.

2Days after my post, the update was available via the standard procedure. Both extenders received the update now.

Is there a way to bypass a computer running Media Center? For instance, I just ordered a QNAP TS-109 NAS which has a UPnP media server. The XBOX 360 is able to bypass a media center computer completely and browse the NAS. Is there a way to get the 2100 to do the same???