Recommended Settings and other useful stuff for RTD 1619DR Players

I use a Logitech Harmony Elite linked to my Echo to control all my devices. A lot easier!

 

Docker was a bit of a learning curve for me, once i figured out and managed to get pretty good at it on my synology NAS, the rest became somewhat familiar. I have also set up home assistant as well which works great as well for home automation. That require even more a dive but was worth it in the end. I am not a spring chicken either and while I get less tolerant of network issues, and failure of equipment, i still manage to keep up with things as it is somewhat expected by my better half to make things "work" lol. If you happen to get a synology NAS just make sure you have one that supports docker indicated by the + sign in the model number. Of course you can build one and use unraid or make your own xpenology server, based on synology DSM. Lots of ways you can go. I think you can even run docker on a ubuntu linux install as well. Many options. Of course the best about a server is that they can be low power consumption and run 24-7 with great expansion capabilities. I serve everything to Zidoo, Oppo, Shield, and even ATV via NFS. While some argue SMB/Samba is better, i have no issues with NFS and it does away with user name passwords and nags. It just works serving 3D, UHD,BD MKV MP4 everything in either ISO or BDMV format.

On another note: I use my harmony elite in a virtual machine running android apks on Windows 11 Beta Editions. Works great. Works with my Eero Mesh network as well. It does not have 100% compatibility but my wife has a dummy remote for our living room that runs off the harmony elite, and its just easier for me to just click activity on my notebook which is usually always in my living room at arms length. It presents a way to run smart device only apps, ( ie. apps that not have an IP interface by design, hue, eero, harmony etc. in a window on your notebook or ms tablet running win11.

Let me know what you decide to focus on.

 

Harmony Elite integration into home assistant . This is my living room scene. Great when the remote battery is dead. Just basic activity changes here. Nothing more needed from arms length. I basically use the elite as a switcher. I still prefer my tivo remote, shield remote, and even my zidoo remote. The delay on the elite is too much for me when you are doing housekeeping activities with zidoo , kodi, etc. I do have some nice macros set up on the elite to change ratio to zoom in for logos etc for my oled and swap displays through my HD Diva from HD Fury. It all works great once I got the timings down on menu changes. and found some discrete codes for LG settings. I am a big harmony elite fan though, have 3 of them and a couple home companion remotes. and a few backup hubs.

 

Damn right! Unfortunately though Logitech has stopped producing these hubs/remotes and the cost of ones still available have rocketed, which was reported elsewhere recently.

 

Logitech have a nasty habit of buying cool tech companies, getting everyone to rely on the products, and then dumping it from a great height - they did that with Slim Devices (Squeezebox) and Harmony.

 

Yea I've heard that too. My existing Harmony setup won't last forever which I'm interested in Docker etc

 

@Markswift2003 Hi Mark, with this setting: Display/Color Settings/HDMI Range: 16-235

Some of local contents I watch when I check the MediaInfo, it shows colorspace as Full Range instead of Limited, would setting it at limited range effect the color reproduction of these content. Would auto be a better fit? Or should I just manually switch between Limited and Full. Or just leave it as 16-235. Running an LG C1 so the Black Level in DV is Auto and greyed out and cannot be changed on the TV side.

Thank you.

 

I'm afraid that's true and it makes me to dismiss buy a Logitech Harmony Elite. I'm still working around to find RC hub to control my 5-7 devices set.

 

I'd be very suspicious of any such files being truly Full Range (0-255 or 0-1024) and I'd expect them to have originally been encoded in the correct "TV" range of 16-235/64-940. There are many reasons why they may report Full Range from either being encoded from a 16-235 source at 0-255 in which case they just clip at 16 and 235 or simply poor metadata.

So personally I'd always leave it on 16-235 but there's no harm in trying "Auto" as well. It also depends on the TV and how that handles ranges.

The safe option is generally 16-235.

Edit - sorry, I should have mentioned here that in the case of Dolby Vision Profile 5, because there is no compatibility layer as there is in Profiles 4, 7 & 8, they are encoded in full range but in that case VS10 takes care of it so the HDMI range control doesn't (or shouldn't!) matter.

 

Thank you for this and yes the encode that showed full range was a profile 5 but if VS10 will take care of it I'll just leave at 16-235.

 

Just a nice relaxing night with home assistant, my Zidoo , some popcorn, sour patch watermelons, and The Batman

View attachment 8968

 

I have been experiencing freezing on everything I have been streaming from my NAS. Doesn't matter if it is a movie or TV Show everything freezes.
I play the same files on my Shield TV Pro without any issues.
Why does the Z1000Pro freeze??
Does anyone else suffer the same problems?

 

Are you using wifi from the NAS?
I've had a buffering issue at times from a NAS (not total freezing) that appears to be wifi related, as it is generally after watching a full movie from attached HDD.
Perhaps the wifi goes into power saving mode or something if unused and does not resume correctly?
I find a simple reboot of the Z1000 Pro will normally fix the issue and things play again without a problem.

 

My NAS has 2.5Ghz NICs and I only use wired connections for all my media gear so I am pretty sure that is not the issue.
This problem is very random in that it doesn't matter if it is a file that has been downloaded or a file I have ripped using DVDFab.
It is frustrating that my Shield does not have the same problem only my Z1000Pro.
The Pro is supposed to be a higher end product but is frustrating me with issues like this. It has some great features but in my time of life, I want something that is less troublesome.
It almost to the stage that I will be looking for other options??

 

Does your unit do any freezing with the same files when played from USB or internal HDD?
This could narrow down your issue to something within your Samba network. Have you updated to the latest firmware?

 

Have the latest firmware.
Connect via NFS on NAS, not Samba.
As my NAS has two NICs I unmounted all sources from the original NIC and mounted all sources through the second NIC just to test and see if this sorts the issue out.
BTW, nothing freezes on my Shield TV Pro. Kinda leads me to think the issue is with the Z1000Pro.

 

Then consider switching on Samba in the Zidoo and test using Samba?

You did not confirm if freezing happens when playing the same files from USB or internal HDD?
Have you fully switched off power to the Zidoo since updating firmware? This has been noted in firmware threads as helping a lot of minor issues after updates.

 

I have seen numerous sporadic posts from users stating that using NFS can be dodgy with Zidoos.... not sure the reason... but SMB is rock solid.

 

Is there something wrong in downgrading to Z9X_P_v6.0.19_202008072201_usb-install.img from 6.3.92 (I have a major network issue, and I want to check if it's firmware related) ?
Thanks for any help.

 

Not really but it's not without risk of bricking the device (which is usually recoverable but a real PITA).

If you do it follow the instructions absolutely to the letter.