N800 not suitable as a portable media player? - Page 3 - maemo.org

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	Benson	2008-01-23 , 16:20
	Posts: 4,930 \| Thanked: 2,272 times \| Joined on Oct 2007	#21

Originally Posted by cashless

Here's a simple synopsis of the things that SUCK about the NIT's media capabilities or rather lack thereof:

1. Nearly every video must be converted to some mysterious unofficial spec that Nokia never once has made public.

OK, here's how to transcode a movie to the spec (using mplayer on your linux desktop):

Code:

mplayer -ao null -vo aa:driver=stdout:width=80:height=30 movie.avi > movie.cat

This gives you a .cat format file, which may be played with the undocumented movie-player 'cat' (from an Xterm only, unfortunately).

2. Navigation is horrible for most apps. I'm not basing this on iTunes/WinAmp navigation as someone suggested. I don't have iTunes nor WinAmp installed on ANY of my computers. I use VLC for all media. M3U's (which I rarely use) and just plain old directory structure are the best options for any one with as much media as someone like myself.

3. Many of these apps are not very robust at all. Prime example, Canola (Did someone say heresy?). Canola wants to be your iTunes for Maemo. I think I could go on a major rant on why Canola needs a major revamp, but since it's still a beta, all is forgiven.

For audio, at least, you might try mpd & mmpc. Quite robust, and operates on directory structure.

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	cashless	2008-01-23 , 16:32
	Posts: 159 \| Thanked: 21 times \| Joined on Jan 2008 @ Houston, texas	#22

Originally Posted by Benson

OK, here's how to transcode a movie to the spec (using mplayer on your linux desktop):
Code:
mplayer -ao null -vo aa:driver=stdout:width=80:height=30 movie.avi > movie.cat
This gives you a .cat format file, which may be played with the undocumented movie-player 'cat' (from an Xterm only, unfortunately).

For audio, at least, you might try mpd & mmpc. Quite robust, and operates on directory structure.

Thanks for the tips. I liked MMPC, in the same way that I like the built in media player, but it seemed redundant with Media Player that I uninstalled it. I'll give it another shot.

I'll also install MPD, which I never heard of previously.

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	GeneralAntilles	2008-01-23 , 16:35
	Posts: 5,478 \| Thanked: 5,222 times \| Joined on Jan 2006 @ St. Petersburg, FL	#23

Originally Posted by cashless

Thanks for the tips. I liked MMPC, in the same way that I like the built in media player, but it seemed redundant with Media Player that I uninstalled it. I'll give it another shot.

I'll also install MPD, which I never heard of previously.

mmpc is for controlling playback (typically) on another device.

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Serge	2008-01-23 , 16:43
Posts: 503 \| Thanked: 267 times \| Joined on Jul 2006 @ Helsinki	#24

Originally Posted by cashless

I have had Mplayer installed on my N800 since the day I got it. And no, it often doesn't recognize the format of my avi's.

Please submit a bug with the detailed information (information about what audio/video codecs were used for these .avi files is most interesting).

It doesn't even play mp4's converted in the Nokia Converter without major chopping.

MP4 format and H.264/AAC codecs support on ARM is a known limitation of MPlayer (these codecs don't have ARM-specific optimizations in mplayer/ffmpeg yet). MPlayer is best used with MPEG4 ASP (DIVX/XVID) videos at the moment. Other formats and codecs may be also used with mplayer more or less successfully, but some have less optimizations than the others. Some codecs are buggy or disabled. Adding/verifying their support is based on users' feedback.

If you you are not interested in watching DIVX/XVID videos and prefer other formats, mplayer may not suit your needs well. It is hard to please everyone.

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	Benson	2008-01-23 , 16:46
	Posts: 4,930 \| Thanked: 2,272 times \| Joined on Oct 2007	#25

Originally Posted by GeneralAntilles

mmpc is for controlling playback (typically) on another device.

Yeah, it controls mpd on this or another device. Most common use is to control another device. But with mpd installed on the tablet, the 2 are a full-function audio player (and album-art, I guess) solution.

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lad	2008-01-23 , 16:57
Posts: 112 \| Thanked: 5 times \| Joined on Dec 2007	#26

I'm happy with at least the general video playback on my N800. Yes, it's not 24-bit color, but the screen is bigger and brighter than other comparable players. I wish it could player faster/higher-res files and also had video-out. But, it has relatively nicer stereo speakers and a built-in stand which makes it more like a little-TV set. The size/screen/form-fit/expandability is a pretty nice compromise for pocket video.

As I wrote before regarding audio, I still prefer a physical / tactile wheel over a touch screen anyday. And none of the media software, so far, is as versatile for playback. But the N800's sound w/ good headphones is pretty decent.

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ascherjim	2008-01-23 , 17:54
Posts: 450 \| Thanked: 16 times \| Joined on Mar 2006	#27

Originally Posted by Benson

Yeah, it controls mpd on this or another device. Most common use is to control another device. But with mpd installed on the tablet, the 2 are a full-function audio player (and album-art, I guess) solution.

How do I get and install mpd on my N800? I tried the command "apt-get install mpd" from root in my xterm as instructed in their "http://www.musicpd.org" website, but that didn't work. I also tried to install directly to my N800 from their download screen on their website, but Application Manager wasn't able to handle it. I'd welcome other suggestions. I've already installed the mmpc front-end.

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DJames1	2008-01-23 , 18:38
Posts: 215 \| Thanked: 44 times \| Joined on Dec 2007	#28

If you don't think the N800 is a good media player for the money, try the Cowon Q5W at twice the price: http://reviews.cnet.com/portable-vid...ml?tag=bubbl_1

Superficially similar, but looks like Cowon got it wrong.

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	GeneralAntilles	2008-01-23 , 18:42
	Posts: 5,478 \| Thanked: 5,222 times \| Joined on Jan 2006 @ St. Petersburg, FL	#29

Originally Posted by ascherjim

How do I get and install mpd on my N800? I tried the command "apt-get install mpd" from root in my xterm as instructed in their "http://www.musicpd.org" website, but that didn't work. I also tried to install directly to my N800 from their download screen on their website, but Application Manager wasn't able to handle it. I'd welcome other suggestions. I've already installed the mmpc front-end.

~~I'm not aware of an ARM port of mpd, but you might check the Debian ARMEL repos?~~ See below. Honestly, there's not much benefit to running mpd on the tablet locally, the other audio players kind of outstrip it. mmpc is really meant to act as a front end for an mpd running on another computer.

Last edited by GeneralAntilles; 2008-01-23 at 19:41.

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	Benson	2008-01-23 , 19:16
	Posts: 4,930 \| Thanked: 2,272 times \| Joined on Oct 2007	#30

There's one around somewhere, I know because I'm running it. I'll find it...

edit: Found it, just went to gronmayer.com/it, searched for mpd. Which is really a better place to start than the debian armel stuff... Anyway, add the repo by running this install file.

Honestly, there's not much benefit to running mpd on the tablet locally, the other audio players kind of outstrip it.

Honestly, I like it, it's simple and works well. Not sure in what way the other players outstrip it. Can you control $PREFERRED_MUSIC_PLAYER with display off & locked using the hardware keys? If so, it might be nice.

The others have better eye-candy, and play movies as well. Neither of which I care about. When I want to play a video (not all that often), I'd rather open one that handles video. But I'll keep one that works well for audio, for the other 98% of the time.

Regarding the screen-off controls, I had that with mpd & powerlaunch, in OS2007. Still haven't gotten around to powerlaunch since the upgrade...

Last edited by Benson; 2008-01-23 at 19:27.