[CountOfGamble]

I can confirm that the app will play ALL .mp4 files. The other formats receive the error that I mentioned in my previous posts. The only way to start playing the other formats is to initiate a download to the PlayBook, upon which you can click on the file and it will open in the native video player.

[hackerguy]

Returned my Goflex Satellite and Seagate replaced it under warranty. Copied all my movies, songs and pictures to the new drive and it is working just fine so far. None of the problems I was having with the old one. So we will see.

[CountOfGamble]

See my previous posts in this thread for the background on this problem. Update to my problems of connecting to Goflex Satellite since upgrading to OS 2. I ran across a reference to a known bug in OS 2 that caused Bluetooth to interfere with connecting to unsecured networks. I turned off Bluetooth on the PB and can now connect and stream normally. Tried turning bluetooth back on after connecting and it drops the connection. Happy to find this out but the downside at least for me is that I had just bought a really nice set of bluetooth earphones specifically to use with watching movies streamed to the PB. Maybe RIM will correct this in a future update. Maybe this will help someone who is having similar problems.

Well, I started having the same problem as you. I was using the Bold 9900 as a remote through bluetooth and the stream on the Playbook from the GFS started stuttering. The moment I turned off the bluetooth connection, movie continued playing normally. I tried to toggle the connection a few times and it keeps reoccuring. Can you let me know if this is the case with your new drive when you use the bluetooth headset? I hope the new drive works for you better than the last one. RIM beeter fix this bug in the next update.

[elshaman]

Just bought one.

Problem is is that this drive is not recognized by my Win7 Pro Dell laptop -- had the same issue with a non-WiFi Seagate drive a month ago.

However, since i did get the drive to work through connecting it to a VM XP machine, on that same laptop, i thought that i could deal with the stupid workaround of loading up the drive through my VM.

Anyways, the uploading of files onto the drive is slow -- i'm not using USB3, however, it's still slow. Loading up of about 50 Gb of data took more that 5 hrs. That should not be the case, i feel.

Once done uploading, i picked up the latest firmware from the Seagate website (1.2.0.0.12, if memory serves me well), installed that.

Switched on the drive, connected my laptop to the SSID that sounded like it was the Satellite. And i was on.

It comes with a basic web interface, in which you can navigate through folders, or use the media server's pages to navigate through movies, music, documents, etc.

Then switched on the PB (running OS2), connected to that same SSID. Selected a movie from the list of movies (more later about navigation :-/ ) and voila, the movie streaming onto my PB. No jutters, stutters or any connection issues. Watched for 40 mins without interruptions.

Now, about navigating around the Satellite, using their web interface.

It's almost impossible to scroll up / down within larger collections - there's simply no place to touch and drag, that results in vertical scrolling in lists.

Other than that -- it works. But slightly annoying when trying to navigate on the PB (same issue using the Remote Control over Bridge).

There's another website that offers a different firmware that you can buy for USD35 -- comes with ssh, a newer version of media server software i guess. People are happy with it, especially the ones that did not have the latest Seagate firmware installed.

Edit:
funny, right after i typed this post, hooked up to the goflex, and there was nothing but stutter in streamed movies. The overall performance of the goflex's website was poor as well.

Am not in a controlled environment (staying in hotel for work), so not sure what the deal is. Could be multiple reasons, such as a conflict with multiple networks trying to use the same wifi channel, etc. Will keep you posted on my progress...

Edit2: after restarting the goflex using the power button (rather than the option on the settings screen) everything is cool again.

One word of caution: certain videos that play directly from the pb do not stream. I have a bunch of ripped dvds, as m4v - these are not being streamed :-/

Edit3: after renaming m4v to mp4, these are now streaming as well. Apparently these types of files are using the same internal type, the extension m4v is used by Apple to tell players there's aac encoded audio in the file. Or something like that...

A little out of the subject, but what software you used to rip the movies to mp4?

[hackerguy]

A little out of the subject, but what software you used to rip the movies to mp4?

I used Foxreal.

[hackerguy]

I am wondering if the Goflex Satellite will work with an internet ready TV. I have the Goflex but not the TV. If anyone out there has both and could try it, I would like to know. I am in the market for a new TV and this info would help me make my decision. Seagate says that the Goflex should work with any device that can access a wireless network. if this would work I could stream movies directly to the TV.

[TheRealRoland]

I use HandBrake. There's a couple of threads already on this forum about the specific settings, but so far pretty straightforward.

Don't have a lot of experience with internet-enabled TVs; my guess is that if your TV can accesss through WiFi a wireless network, you can have your TV connect with the GoFlex Satellite. Then i'm guessing (again) that you would use the remote to move the pointer around on the screen.

Which is kinda what we're doing when we connect the Playbook to the GoFlex.

But, best to try it out first, keep the receipts, etc.

[hackerguy]

Noticed something in the latest Goflex firmware version 1.3.5.015. You now have the ability to upload files wirelessly to the Goflex Satellite. This is not mentioned in the firmware update information. Tried it a few times on documents and pictures but not with a movie. It seems to work OK.

Unfortunately for me, after a few times the replacement Goflex Satellite that Seagate sent is having the same problems the other one did. About 10 min into a movie it will consistently drop the connection. It works fine on my MacBook Pro and I don't have any IOS or Android devices to test it on. I have tried it with and without Bluetooth enabled and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Very frustrating because otherwise this is a great device.

[EWY]

I am wondering if the Goflex Satellite will work with an internet ready TV. I have the Goflex but not the TV. If anyone out there has both and could try it, I would like to know. I am in the market for a new TV and this info would help me make my decision. Seagate says that the Goflex should work with any device that can access a wireless network. if this would work I could stream movies directly to the TV.

I tested my Sony Internet TV - NSX-32GT1 � 32 with the Goflex Satalite and it works. My Sony has built in Wifi and it connects to the Goflex Satellite without any issue. Normally, I use the search to launch the Chrome browser but Search did not work. I finally found out that the Spotlight app would launch the browser. It redirects to the Goflex Satellite app and I was able to use it as if it was a PC or a tablet. Clicked on a movie and it streamed without any issue.

[eds817]

Noticed something in the latest Goflex firmware version 1.3.5.015.

Do you know if this latest firmware release allows you to connect the GoFlex to your network and then see it with your PB or another device as opposed to creating its own network?

[hackerguy]

I tested my Sony Internet TV - NSX-32GT1 � 32 with the Goflex Satalite and it works. My Sony has built in Wifi and it connects to the Goflex Satellite without any issue. Normally, I use the search to launch the Chrome browser but Search did not work. I finally found out that the Spotlight app would launch the browser. It redirects to the Goflex Satellite app and I was able to use it as if it was a PC or a tablet. Clicked on a movie and it streamed without any issue.

Thanks for the info. That is what I wanted to hear.

[hackerguy]

Do you know if this latest firmware release allows you to connect the GoFlex to your network and then see it with your PB or another device as opposed to creating its own network?

I don't think so. You must allow it to create it's own network before it can connect to your network

[EWY]

That is correct. Connects to the GoFlex Satellite first, and there is an option on the lower left column "Enable internet Browsing". Click on it to set it up. My experience is that the connections is not very stable, I found myself dropping out of the GoFlex Satellite and the Playbook reconnects to my WIFI directly sometimes. However, this does not happens all the time and I have not use this function enough to say it is good or bad. The issue is that it works and reconnecting is not much of a hassle.

[CountOfGamble]

I had to switch back to 1.2.0.012 firmware. After using 1.3.5.015 for a few days I started experiencing problems where most of the HD files would stutter every 2 seconds. The older firmware that didn't work for me very well in the past is functioning properly now. I'm officially confused as to why the problems appear or disappear out of nowhere. For all of you that are running 1.3.5.015, in the the list view you can press and hold the small movie icon in front of the 12 character file name in order to display the entire file name.

I brought the drive to work today and tested it using the new iPad 3 that my colleague just bought. It seems to be more stable than when I use it with the PlayBook. The seeking option is instantaneous on the iPad and the ability to use the newly updated app is very nice. On the downside, I was only able to play the .mp4 and .m4v demo files that were on the drive. All of the .avi and .mkv files renamed to .avi that would run on the PlayBook were unsupported on the iPad. The GFS still seems to be a work in progress. Great potential but not quiet there.

[EWY]

........ For all of you that are running 1.3.5.015, in the the list view you can press and hold the small movie icon in front of the 12 character file name in order to display the entire file name.

......

Actually if you sort by Size instead of the default Name A-Z, the Movie name tag would display with more characters. In fact any sort other than Name A-z would do the same.

[JBond_Playbook]

So what's the verdict on this? Has anyone gotten this to play smoothly on their playbook? I'm still very much on the fence about this.

[EWY]

So what's the verdict on this? Has anyone gotten this to play smoothly on their playbook? I'm still very much on the fence about this.

It streams HD smoothly on my playbook and my Sony Google TV. It does not stream HD as smooth on my EXOPC tablet. It is the issue of the tablet not the GoFlex Satellite.

[CountOfGamble]

So what's the verdict on this? Has anyone gotten this to play smoothly on their playbook? I'm still very much on the fence about this.

It's unclear. It seems to run smoothly and then the problems appear out of nowhere. I'm back on the 1.2.0.012 firmware that wasn't working for me at all in the past. Second time around, the 720p 1.5 hour movie played flawlessly. Today that same movie hit 10 buffering points (the green circle on the PlayBook). It didn't bother me much since it was half a second for each point. The question is why is this happening with the same file? Yes, the GFS is half a meter away from me in both cases. I don't feel like watching the same movie twice in two days but I have gone to that length to get to the bottom of this. I understand Seagate has mentioned that it's not optimized for PlayBook use. The way I see it, if the movie plays fine once, it should play fine every time.

[CountOfGamble]

EWY, what firmware are you on and how large are the HD files you are streaming? Another observation I made has to do with the file size of the movie. The 5 GB movie that I placed on the GFS shows as 5 GB when the drive is connected to the PC. In the PlayBook browser that same file shows as 520 mb. It runs fine and I'm able to seek to the end of the movie. When I try to download the file to the PlayBook, it's not complete. It gives me an error when I try to seek in native video app and it cuts out after 20 mins of viewing. Other SD files that show as 700 mb on the PC and PlayBook browser download to the PlayBook normally.

[EWY]

CountOfGamble,
Don’t have the Satellite with me so I cannot look what is the software version but both the Satellite and the Playbook have the latest OS version. I stream 2 MP4 movies about 2-3 GB long. I think they are 720P H264 movies. Both of them stream fine as if the movies were on the Playbook. I was able to forward the movies with the progress bar at the bottom. It is not instant but it only took a second or two to start playing again.
When I stream one of them on my EXOPC, the movie did not stream as smooth. The movie seemed to stream better the longer it was playing. I did not play the whole movie as it was not streaming well.
I only stream about 20 minutes on my Sony Google TV as I was just trying to see if it would work via the built-in WIFI on the TV. It did stream smoothly for 20 minutes. I did it to answer hackerguy’s question. Normally I have a WD media player and a Hard Drive plugged into the TV.

[hackerguy]

After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, my Seagate Goflex Satellite seems to be working as it should with my PB.

I bought it last year when they first came out and had problems from the first. It was very erratic and would stutter and finally drop the connection after 10-20 min. Finally, it would not connect at all. I contacted Seagate and they replaced it. The new one worked better but was not consistent. Finally I reformatted it and that seemed to help.

I have 198 movies on it all mp4 format and ranging from 1 to 3 GB in size. They were all created with Foxreal using the same settings. I have a set of Sony DR-BT50 Bluetooth head phones that I use with it. I have found that it works much better if it is not in the same room with my router. The info from Seagate says that you may experience interference from a stronger WiFi signal. I also discovered that changing the maximum number of allowed connections from the default 7 to 3 seems to help. I have the latest firmware and have OS2 on my PB.

Finally, I am able to use it the way it is intended and enjoy it. Hopefully, my experiences will help someone who may be having similar problems or is trying to decide whether to buy it or not. I am planning to buy a new "smart" TV in a few months and look forward to being able to stream my movies to it.

[hackerguy]

I checked out the operation of my Goflex Satellite after today's PB OS update. The connection is much improved. This is probably related to the indicated browser improvements in this update. I tested it with several movies and it played flawlessly, never dropping the connection or even hesitating. One of the movies was ripped from a Blu Ray DVD and is 4.25GB and displays at 1260x780 resolution.

[McCsiz]

I have been following this thread with a great deal of interest. I recently bought the GoFlex and have successfully attached it to my PlayBook. I connect to the GoFlex through my browser.

I purchased the GoFlex in order to stream lossless .wav files to my PlayBook. So far, all is wonderful but for ONE thing: If I make a playlist and save it, the PlayBook says it can't find the app. Oddly enough, if I select one song at a time. the PlayBook has no problem playing the tune.

What am I doing wrong?

Cheers,
Loyd

[hackerguy]

I use it just for movies so I am not familiar with the music player. However, next time I use it I will see if I can come up with something.

[McCsiz]

Thanks Hacker. This is really important to me

Cheers, Loyd