Outlook by the sound : Toys

How does a SBS network connect to my shiny, new HD DVD player?

OBTS — Sat, 26 May 2007 23:21:57 GMT

Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:07:07 PST
Subject: How does a SBS network connect to my shiny, new HD DVD player?
From: Hollis Paul
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs

My HD DVD player has an Ethernet connection with which they expect to download firmware update. How would I go about setting this up on my SBS2003 network, with ISA 2004 running?

I guess that it would be similar to how NAS volumes are accessed; with the exception that NAS volumes usually do not call home and expect to chat with a server.

The device will also use a NTP server to acquire time, but that should only mean talking to the SBS2003 server box, no?

--
Hollis Paul
Mukilteo, WA USA

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From: "Russ Grover $SBITS.Biz$" <support atREMOVETHISDOTSBITSTODBiz>
Subject: Re: How does a SBS network connect to my shiny, new HD DVD player?
Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2007 21:04:06 -0700
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs

Well Downloading stuff Usually doesn't matter it's only if the unit would Upload or share itself to the net.

Most NAS units can update firmware by you downloading them saving them to some drive and then updating it.

The Time sync of this unit you won't probably use the SBS since you don't
login to it.
But one of the ones below
time.nist.gov
clock.isc.org
timekeeper.isi.edu
usno.pa-x.dec.com
tock.usno.navy.mil
tick.usno.navy.mil"

And there are many others, however I don't know if it will pass on the time sync through ISA?
(Someone else may help because I've never had to sync something with an external Time source through ISA)

You may have to open port 123 through but I'd try to see if it synced first.

And what kind if DVD Player has a Ethernet port? Is this a Game system thing or a business related item?

If this is the XBox thing, just bring it home to download the Firmware.

Russ

--
Russell Grover
SBITS.Biz
Microsoft Certified Small Business Specialist.
MCP, MCPS, MCNPS, (MCP-SBS)
support @ SBITS.Biz
Remote SBS2003 Support
http://www.SBITS.Biz

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Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 07:57:40 PST
Subject: Re: How does a SBS network connect to my shiny, new HD DVD player?
From: Hollis Paul
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs

Thanks, Russ. I never really paid attention to when I could download stuff. But I do recall that the Win2k3 wants to check for upgrades even before the other stuff is installed.

--
Hollis Paul
Mukilteo, WA USA

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From: "Brian Cryer" <brianc@127.0.0.1.activesol.co.uk>
Subject: Re: How does a SBS network connect to my shiny, new HD DVD player?
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:42:24 +0100
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs

Never had a dvd player that would connect to a network, interesting. If its only for a firmware update I'd be inclined to never plug it in unless I found I needed a firmware update.

I would have thought it would pull down its IP address and more importantly gateway and ntp server information (if any) from your DHCP server. In which case it should just be a case of plugging it into your network and letting it get on with whatever it does.

Whether ISA will cause a problem ... I've no idea. Sorry.
--
Brian Cryer
www.cryer.co.uk/brian

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Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 07:57:40 PST
Subject: Re: How does a SBS network connect to my shiny, new HD DVD player?
From: Hollis Paul
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs

Thanks, Brian. I did neglect to say that I don't run DHCP, but use fixed IPs. But, wouldn't the device have to log into the domain to get that info from the DHCP? I can specify it manually, so I will stick with the fixed IP, but if the list of internet savy devices grows larger, I may rethink the matter. I wonder if a DVD player would require a CAL to do this. I shouldn't think so, as it normally would live off-line, with the TV, unless I carry it up to the computer room. I suspect that the scenario they envision is an internet connection through cable. But then, why would one need a DVD player of the cable connection can download video content.

--
Hollis Paul
Mukilteo, WA USA

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From: "Jeff Teel" <jdteel atRMoveThis sugardogdotcom>
Subject: Re: How does a SBS network connect to my shiny, new HD DVD player?
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 08:07:27 -0400
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs

This may or may not help you but I had a similar situation when plugging in a D-Link Media player into an SBS (Premium) network. The player was assigned an IP address by DHCP but it also needed access to the Internet to be able to download firmware updates ect. In order to allow that to happen I had to make a new rule in ISA that gave Internet access to the media player. This rule dealt with just the media player so it would now give Internet access to just anyone that plugged into the network.

The rule looks like this when viewing it in ISA 2004 list of policy's:

Name: D-Link Media Internet Access
Action: Allow
Protocol: All Outbound Traffic
From/Listener: D-Link Media
To: External
Condition: All Users

The rule is placed towards the bottom of the rule list just above the SBS Internet Access Rule. I can't remember if I had to put it there to make it work or that is just where it ended up but I (think) I had to place it there!

Jeff

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Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 07:57:40 PST
Subject: Re: How does a SBS network connect to my shiny, new HD DVD player?
From: Hollis Paul
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs

This does sound like what I will have to deal with. There are parameters to specify where to get proxy services and dns services. Thanks, Jeff.

--
Hollis Paul
Mukilteo, WA USA

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Date: Sun, 20 May 2007 07:54:48 PST
Subject: Re: How does a SBS network connect to my shiny, new HD DVD player?
From: Hollis Paul
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs

Turns out I didn't have to do anything with SBS. I just had to tell the HD_DVD player where the sbs, dns, and proxy servers were. It was a piece of cake, though slow, to download the 37 parts of the upgrade. Alas, it did not solve the interface problems with the HDMI cable. It seems that the player used a later version of the HDMI spec than did the TV. Bummer. But the component video cable (RGB) worked and prodvided a HD signal.

--
Hollis Paul
Mukilteo, WA USA

Posted using

The pit-falls of trying for Hi-Def TV only 5 years after its push to the public.

OBTS — Sun, 20 May 2007 19:39:00 GMT

The saga ends–1940’s standard rescues 2007 units Sunday, May 20th, 2007 RCA component video/audio standard to the rescue.The saga of the hookup of the HD-DVD player to the High Def TV unit had ended. I called Toshiba, the maker of the player, three times. Downloaded the update. HDMI still would not connect. But in the course of the last conversation, when I was suggesting that both units needed to be returned, the support engineer mentioned that I could still get high-def output using the component video connection. So I went out and got a 3–wire component video cable and Lo and Behold! I got picture, with indicators that it was high def. But, no sound. Checking the manual for the TV unit, I found that the audio inputs for the component video were different from the audio inputs from the S-video. Makes sense if you are trying for several permanent lashups between separate source boxes. I switch the existing sound cable end-points and now I have high-def pictures and sound. But it is still low-def sound. There are outputs for 5–track threater sound, but I don’t have a such an amplifier. Don’t imagine I need one.So, where to get the component video cables. The Ultra Brand S-video cable at Best Buy was about $35. So, I suspected that the component video cable would be similar. Looking for a lower price, I went to the local Rite-Aid drugstore. They had Ultra Brand RCA composit cables (6 feet) for under $10. But no component video cables. I mention the composit cables, because that is the cable you will probably have to buy for the audio, and just not use the yellow vidio line. At Home Depot, the 6 foot composit cable, also Ultra Brand, were $17.99. (Ultra Brand is made in China, probably with tainted copper, and the units will probably die a horrible death because I use them. But they are everywhere and are priced at how upscale are the customers that the store manager feels his store can attract.) DeepSurplus.com is well below the local suppliers, even including the shipping. You just can’t walk into their store when you need something. Bummer! I never like to plan ahead. And I have Comcast delivering boxes for three rooms in two days. Sigh. But, do I want a 25 foot cable bundle when I will really only need 6 feet? You can’t exactly cut out a 19 foot segment from the middle.

25ft 5 RCA Component/RGB Audio/Video Cable 75ohm impedance for maximum signal transfer and high purity wide band audio transmission. EMI-RFI protected double high density aluminum shield. 5 RG59 95% copper braid shield conductors. 99.99% pure oxygen free copper wire. 24k gold plated hevy duty RCA connectors. Color is ivory.

Quantity	Price
1	$23.74
2 – 3	$23.50
4 – 7	$23.17
8 – 11	$22.91
12 – 19	$22.62
20 – 29	$22.15
30 – 39	$20.23
40 – 59	$19.63
60 – 99	$19.18
100 – 199	$18.71
200 – 299	$17.57
300 +	$17.09

P/N: CB376-2-25

Condition: New
Mfg: Abergetty
P/N: CB376-2-25

{Imagin the picture of a 5–wire RCA composit Video/audio cable. This is proof positive that WordPress handles pictures better than Community Server!}

http://www.deepsurplus.com

Pain, Video upgrade, and more pain

Saturday, May 5th, 2007

One would think that the tax man hath cometh and carted us all off to jail. I was hoping to be able to distract myself from my back-pain/sciatic nerve flashes by reading the exciting happenings from the family. But no. There is nada but my own words out there, and they are two weeks old. But, at least I am through the first round of mowing. Of course, Ann thinks I should have started the second round already, but I think I should let the poor spinal cord rest a bit, and perhaps the swelling will subside. So. Why are you all so quiet?The saga of our entertainment equipment is proceeding. In our last episode, I had just taken the remote back to the store and found out I had fat, slow, thumbs and was holding down the buttons too long so menus and functions would flash on the screen and disappear. With that lesson learned from the obviously teen-age salesman, though in reality he probably was married with two babies at home, I came back and was able to set up the TV properly. We decided that the television stations, and the DVD’s we were getting from Netflick were not getting processed in widescreen. People all appeared fat. So, we either display that material in normal or Zoom mode. Normal leaves black borders on the sides, and Zoom doesn’m show the edges. But, in zoom mode, the people are not fat. We were viewing one movie with occasional sub-titles. We finally tumbled to the fact that we were not seeing the second line of the sub-title. So we had to switch that back to normal. In any case, the video experience was less than the stellar we expected from the wide screen set. I had been watching the HD-DVD stuff, and Costco came up with a good price on the Toshiba unit, so I jumped for it.Getting the Toshiba HD-DVD player turned out not to be a solution so much as an addition to the problems. First, the few DVDs we had were so old, that they did not have the codes to allow the set to up-convert the video to “near” HD quality. So, we are still at just ordinary TV with everything we own, and much of what comes from Netflick. One improvement, the Toshiba player does do the wide-screen business correctly. Video hookup was another problem with the Toshiba. I had the choices of analog video, S-Video (analog video on steroids), Component (RGB) video, and HDMI cable. Well, I did not have an S-video cable, I only got a No Signal message with the HDMI cable. So the only connection I could get was plain-old analog. I thought the reason HDMI might not be working was the fact that we did not have a HD-DVD disc. So, I went out and bought one, plus a S-Video cable. I could get video through the S-Video cable, but still have to use the analog sound cable. The picture through the S-Video cable looks nice, but I don’t think it is Hi-Def. The HDMI cable still did not work. Bummer. I called the Toshiba support line and they said there was a new version of the operating system for the Toshiba’s old, slow computer was coming out within a week, and they would mail it to me on disk. They would have given it to me right then if I could have downloaded it through an ethernet cable. I have since ordered a 50-foot ethernet cable so I can connect the Toshiba to my network hub, and use it to download the next version. I have also ordered a HDMI-to-DVI adapter so that I will be able to send video directly to either of the two wide-screen monitors we have. That would allow me to bring the Toshiba player next to the computer and use the monitor to run the menus to do the downloading. Or just play a DVD when Ann is watching TV. Not too likely, as it is difficult to redo the wiring lashup with the TV. But it can be done.So now I am in a wait state. What are you people doing?Hollis

Why or why is everything designed for the 18 to 34 year-olds going on 15?
Saturday, March 31st, 2007
The world of TV is back to normal. I took the remote with me to Best Buy and asked to test the device with their sets. When I tried it, I had the same problem. Mute doesn’t happen, and the menu flashes up and disappears. The seemingly teenage salesman asked of the remote to try his hand, and had no difficulty. It appears that it is designed for happy finger text-ers, who have grown used to thumb texting at rapid speeds and game players, who can blast monsters as fast as they appear on screen. So I was pressing the button long and hard, so that the device got the message, and it was treating it as a double pulse. Hence, the menu flashes up and then off, because the off switch is the same button. Same for mute. It is a crazy world.So, I made it into the menu where the widescreen parameter was set, and changed it to “normal”. The actors are skinny, the noses are merely generous, and there are black bands right and left of the picture because the source is 4 by 3, rather than 16 by 9. Now, all I need to do is sign-up for digital TV service, and tune to the HDMI versions of the station, set the screen back to wide, and enjoy the picture as it is supposed to be. And, as Ann says, start watching for a reasonably priced HDTV player. That may take a while. But life will be wonderful about the time I kick this mortal coil.

Hollis

There must be a beginning to this, but I can’t find it. Must be something about accepting an open-box return from Best Buy, and the subsequent difficulties. One of which was cutting the horizontal self out of our custom built TV and LP storage unit.

Tags: Toys