Playing AVI and WMV Files.

[GenesisNZ]

Hello all :-) I've just purchased a iPaq 3850 and I was wondering if it was possible to play WMV or AVI files? Ive tried installed PocketMVP for only for it to crash every single I time I try to use it. And for some reason my Windows Media Player wont play some WMV files.

I've spent about 3-4hrs looking for alternative but can't find any. Please help!

[g0097]

what version of pocket mvp are you using? I do not know if the newer version of pocket mvp will work on the 3850. As far as why Media Player is not playing all of your video's (it has been a while since I owned a 2002 machine so forgive me if I am wrong) but I believe that there is a setting underneath Tools in WMP where you can tell it to attempt to play unsupport videos and audio. I thing it is by default set not to attempt to play videos and audio encoded too high. I could be totally off on this....so take my word for what its worth...but I swear I remember an option like that underneath Tools in 2002. Try it and see if it helps any! :D

[GenesisNZ]

Do I need Windows CE.NET for MPV to work?

[KayMan2k]

PocketMVP runs on Windows CE 3.0, 4.1, or 4.2. Pocket PC 2002 is built in 3.0 and Pocket PC 2003 is built on 4.2. so yes you need WinCE.Net, but PocketPC uses the same kernel.

[GenesisNZ]

So if its running the same kernal then it should work with out CE.NET? (Sorry - Complete PDA n00b :P)

Also - g0097, Ive tried what you suggested but still no luck. Apparently the codec for the WMV file is for Windows Media Player 9 =\ Is there anyway to update my Media Player to 9?

If there isn't - How abouts to I go about updating my OS?

[Buddha]

There is not yet an upgrade to ppc2003 available for the 3850 this will probably be available in the fall. But changing to 2003 is absolutely not necessary in order to watch movies on your ppc.

You may encounter some problems with playing WMV files encoded in WMV9 but using PocketMVP you should definitely be able to watch DivX avi's. That doesn't mean every file that has the extension .avi can be played. AVI is just a container for video and audio in a certain format, depending on which format of video and audio are put in the container PocketMVP will or won't be able to play it. These days 9 out of 10 avi's you download will contain some sort of mpeg-4 format (like for example divx or Xvid) which is compatible but wait, there's more:

Another requirement in order to play avis on your 3850 is to make sure the movie you're trying to play has been made specifically for playing on a PocketPC otherwise it might not play or do other weird things.

When does PocketMVP crash? At the beginning of the video or much later? Does the vid play at all or does it already crash when you start PocketMVP Also, are you playing the movie from the ppc's internal memory or from a CF or SD card? How long is the movie you're trying to watch? Does it play on your desktop? Have you tried with different avi files?

For playing avis (DivX) or WMV there aren't any real alternatives than pMVP for avis and WMP for WMVs.

[GenesisNZ]

I'm trying to play a .avi file encoded in DivX. This info was found out using g-Spot:

FourCC: div4/DIV3
Codec: DivX 3 Fast-Motion
Vendor: DivX

It works fine when playing on my desktop - but just crashes when trying to play it on my PPC. Also I STILL cant play this WMV9 File, can Pocket MVP play it? If so how do I do this?

The Pocket MVP download place thingie is very confusing - which would be the right file for me to download?

Argh! What a damn headache!

[Buddha]

It sounds like you file was encoded with divx 3.11 this can be a problem when trying to play it on your ppc. What is the resolution of the movie? it has to have a resolution of max. 320x240, bigger is useless.

What I suggest you get your hands on (or make yourself) is a movie encoded with DivX 5.02 at a maximum res. of 320x240. Usually movies you download from somewhere cannot (unless stated otherwise) be played correctly on you PPC. Most of the people that watch stuff on their PPC make it themselves by converting their dvd's or converting a movie-clip from another source e.g. their DVcam or TVcapture card.

PocketMVP doesn't play WMV files only Windows Media Player (WMP) can do that.

On the download page of PocketMVP you need to download this one:
'All Color PocketPCs'

Don't let this 'learning curve' put you off, once you get the hang of it you'll be happy (probably :mrgreen:) you kept trying to get it to work.

Good luck!

[tomtiguy]

Ok, ok ok. Enough of this mess. Now I don't know what DivX or .avi files are, but I do know that PocketTv has played every video I've ever tried to play. I tried PocketMVP and it froze most of the time. Then, when compared to PocketTv, it's quality wasn't better ... or at least to the human eye the framerate per second seemed the same.

So get PocketTv. I never have problems with it and I view .mpegs all the time. It also takes less memory to run I found out.

[hollis_f]

Ok, ok ok. Enough of this mess. Now I don't know what DivX or .avi files are, but I do know that PocketTv has played every video I've ever tried to play. I tried PocketMVP and it froze most of the time. Then, when compared to PocketTv, it's quality wasn't better ... or at least to the human eye the framerate per second seemed the same.

So get PocketTv. I never have problems with it and I view .mpegs all the time. It also takes less memory to run I found out.Well, that is a solution. But it's a restricted solution.

DivX is a different type of compression to the mpeg you're using. It produces files that are quite a bit smaller. That means you can carry more and longer movies around with you.

Yes, pMVP does have some problems which require some user input to circumvent. But a lot of people reckon it's worth the effort to be able to carry the whole of The Matrix around on a 256MB card and watch it on their PPC.

[tomtiguy]

Thanks hollis_f, but I have another question. Is there a way I can convert an .mpeg to a DivX? Or, where can I get videos in DivX format?

[SHoTTa35]

http://www.dvdrhelp.com lern converting techniques there...

[Buddha]

Tomtiguy,

Usually when you want to watch a video in the DivX format you need to make it yourself. There are a lot of places where you can download videos in the divx format but most of these movies were not made for use on a PocketPC, this means that, once downloaded, you still need to convert the movies to a smaller divx file using 'ppc friendly settings'.

Pocketmovies (http://www.Pocketmovies.net) has some nice movies on offer that you can copy straight away to your PPC but they are in MPEG (a format which can be played with PocketMVP aswell) BUT like Hollis_f pointed out, MPEGs use a lot more of your precious space...

[hollis_f]

Thanks hollis_f, but I have another question. Is there a way I can convert an .mpeg to a DivX? Or, where can I get videos in DivX format?For conversion I'd look at two programs -

DrDivX (http://www.divx.com/divx/drdivx/) is a commercial application ($19.99) that really tries to make the conversion process as easy as possible.

VirtualDub (http://www.virtualdub.org) is free and can do a lot more - but it's not very simple to use.