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Adding a Hard Drive... To Your DVD Player?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the why-the-hell-not dept.

El Puerco Loco writes "Area 450 has several guides to adding hardware to the Sampo DVE631CF DVD player. Even if you don't own this model, the firmware for it has been ported to many, many other models (with annoyances like macrovision and region locking removed). This player had built in support for an IDE device (a flash card reader) so a standard IDE drive can be slaved to the dvd drive and the player can read from a FAT32 formatted disk. The player decodes mp3s and VCD files, so it's possible to turn it into a cheap mp3 jukebox, or store movies in vcd format. I hope that when DiVX support becomes more common in DVD players one of them will be able to support a hack like this. It would be really cool to have 100+ movies built in to my dvd player."

37 of 185 comments (clear)

  1. Annoyances? by OpenSourced · · Score: 5, Funny
    (with annoyances like macrovision and region locking removed)


    Annoyances? I thought they were bugs.

    --
    Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
    1. Re:Annoyances? by Dizzo · · Score: 5, Funny

      Annoyances? I thought they were bugs.

      Bugs? I thought they were features.

    2. Re:Annoyances? by An+Ominous+Cow+Erred · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually, it's quite the opposite. DVDs just have image data encoded, not the vertical blank area (which is where Macrovision type 1 is encoded).

      Instead there is just a "Macrovision bit" which tells whether or not the content creator has paid Macrovision their royalties for type 1 Macrovision, or type 1 and type 2 Macrovision. Your DVD player's firmware actually generates the macrovision signal ITSELF, on command. Removing Macrovision simply means adjusting your firmware so it never turns it on.

      (For the curious, type 1 Macrovision works by creating flashing bars in the vertical blank area. Your VCR's auto-gain circuit looks there to try to figure out how black black is (so it can record with the greatest dynamic range -- important for a crappy format like VHS) and sees the bars and gets convinced that white is black... If you've ever seen Macrovision at work, where the image fluctuates in brightness, it's flashing in time with the bars in the vertical blank. Those "image stabilizers" you see that remove Macrovision type 1 just strip out the vertical blank and replace it with its own. Macrovision type 2 isn't used as often. It works by mucking up the chroma signal in a composite signal. Avoiding it is as easy as not using the composite output. :-)

  2. How about XviD support? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Xvid is taking over from divx in the release scene. Hopefully a dvd player will come out that will support xvid, vobsub, ac3, etc.

    BTW your XBoX can be modified to play divx already, and you can hack it to upgrade the hard drive or it can play off your computer's hard drive too.

    1. Re:How about XviD support? by Cyno01 · · Score: 3, Informative

      dreamcasts can play divx to, without modding to the unit itself http://www.dcemulation.com/soft-dcdivx.htm

      --
      "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
  3. I can see it now... by swordboy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Columbia House will be selling these things with a hundred movies pre-installed for a penny. All that one needs to do is buy another six over the course of three years (*).

    (*) Movie-of-the-month will automatically be downloaded unless you send back this reader service card indicating that you do not want to receive it. Tax, shipping and handling extra.

    --

    Life is the leading cause of death in America.
    1. Re:I can see it now... by British · · Score: 3, Funny

      People use thier phones for accessing their media collection. Sure that's a good idea? "Welcome to movie-on-demand phone! Make your selection at any time!" "Press 1 for...Saving Private Ryan" "Press 2 for..JDG'z DIVX rip of The Ring" "Press 3 for..Triple X" .... "Press 4932 for The Santa Clause 2" "To hear these options again, press #" Eh, I'd prefer an on-screen menu.

  4. Makes you wonder ... by JSkills · · Score: 4, Interesting
    If this is so easy to do, why haven't the various consumer electronics manufacturers shipped DVD players with a hard drive on board?

    It would certainly be an advantage to be one of the first to market with something like this, not to mention the hordes of geeks (like myself) who would be compelled to go out and get one immediately.

    1. Re:Makes you wonder ... by dabadab · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "If this is so easy to do, why haven't the various consumer electronics manufacturers shipped DVD players with a hard drive on board?"
      It might be easy to connect a hard drive as a piece of hardware but it may be troublesome to get it integrated into the system - and embedded systems are more costly to develop than applications because of the higher expectations of quality (releasing patches is not an option) and the limitations of the hardware.
      The HDD itself is also expensive - I see DVD players that cost just as much as a 80GB HDD so adding a HDD would dramatically increase the player's price.
      And in the end it is hard to justify these costs - average consumers just could not make any use of the HDD and the geeky kind (e.g. myself :) rather builds his own HTPC.

      --
      Real life is overrated.
    2. Re:Makes you wonder ... by monkeydo · · Score: 3, Informative

      If this is so easy to do, why haven't the various consumer electronics manufacturers shipped DVD players with a hard drive on board?

      Um, they have. Panasonic and others have made DVD players that can record to either DVD-R or internal hard drives. They also use the hard drives for PVR like functions.

      It would certainly be an advantage to be one of the first to market with something like this, not to mention the hordes of geeks (like myself) who would be compelled to go out and get one immediately.

      Go get it then.

      --
      Si vis pacem, para bellum
      The only thing more annoying than a Libertarian is an (un|mis)informed Libertarian
  5. DivX Player by Gaggme · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The real question is though, by the time Divx player become common, as in afforable enough for a majority of /.'rs, will blue ray dvd be the next big rave?

    With "potential" *couph vaporware couph* to contain some 15+hours of video, why not just have 10 movie ondemand on one disk. The entire series of Star Trek Movies that you can switch with a single press of a button.

    It is my beleif that we will see less and less of these players that have the capabilites of manipulation as DRM locks down in a deathgrip to hold onto its business model. Sad but true.

    --
    My ignorance is a perfect shield against your logic.
    1. Re:DivX Player by Patersmith · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It is my beleif that we will see less and less of these players that have the capabilites of manipulation as DRM locks down in a deathgrip to hold onto its business model. Sad but true.

      saying it doesn't make it so. Look at the great products out there right now, today. Just a couple of years ago you couldn't get a DVD player that would play discs from outside your region. Today you can get players that will do burned CDs, MP3s, burned VCDs, OGG...hell, there was a review on slashdot a few days ago of a device that has a hard drive and a DVD burner.

      Consumers are telling big tech what they want, and big tech is going to build it no matter what Hollywood says unless the US enacts some strong legislation to the contrary. Want to make a difference? Write your politicians. And, above all, visit your local Sony Store (or other retailer) and tell them what features you want and tell them *why* you will never buy their regional-encoding-encumbered, macrovision-havin, no-burned-cd-playin, no-fast-forwarding-thru-the-intro player.

    2. Re:DivX Player by Lumpy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      why not just have 10 movie ondemand on one disk. The entire series of Star Trek Movies that you can switch with a single press of a button.

      because the movie studios will NEVER do that. right now you should be able to get 6-8 episodes of a tv series on a DVD instead we get 2... what the HELL is that? simple.... you get to pay more by buying more.. and that will never EVER change....

      they have greater profit from selling 12 single movie discs at $12.95 each instead of selling 1 discs with 12 episodes for >$120.00

      because they will never give you a deal just because it's on one disc and saved them $1.95 each movie... they want all that cash per episide/movie..

      unless you are making them yourself.. (Hell DVD burning is unreliable and flaky right now,, this "blu-ray" will be as horrible for the first 3 years also.) you will never ever see your desired all movies on one disc from any legitimate company.

      rpofits and how much money they can bilk out of you is important... why do you think SA-CD came about? another reason to make you spend all you money replacing all your audio CD's again for a small quality increase.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    3. Re:DivX Player by handorf · · Score: 3, Insightful

      IMHO, the true potential of Blu-Ray isn't 15+ hours of video... as others have said, there are economic reasons that won't happen.

      But 2-4 hours of full 1080p HDTV resolution at 30 fps? THAT'S a decision I can live with!

      --
      -- IANAEG - I am not an elder god.
    4. Re:DivX Player by merlin_jim · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't think we'll ever see a 10-album-on-one-disc release.

      Why? Cause I currently see companies that try to make as many discs as possible for a series, because customers equate discs to value.

      Example 1: Blue Sub No. 6. 4 22-minute episodes. It could've easily fit on 1 disc. But it was released as 4 discs, each only 22 minutes long. At $30/disc (I know you can get it cheaper; I was satisfying my impulse-shopping drive at the time) it was not cheap. As a matter of fact, I can't remember the last time I spent more than $1 / minute for any for of entertainment. Possible exception being on the phone last night. (j/k)

      You see this kind of thing all the time in anime; a series that could be compressed and sold on less discs is instead spaced out as much as possible in order to increase revenue. While, for instance, all the star treks or all the Aliens on one disc (or even an entire season of B5) would be awesome, I don't think we'll see it...

      --
      I am disrespectful to dirt! Can you see that I am serious?!
  6. Oh my god... by MagicFab · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...another way to get 4096 free AOL hours!

    --
    Notepad specialist & FAT administrator, group training available
  7. What kind of business could come of this? by Anonymous+Custard · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ok, so the RIAA/MPAA doesn't like when new technology takes away from their business, but over the decades most recording technologies actually turn out to be profitable for the music/movie industry.

    What kind of business models might be derived from DVD+LargeHardDisk players? And not just for the geeks --- this has to be useful to your average joe-can't-set-his-vcr-clock. How can we utilize this technology, so customers get cooler services, the industry still makes money, and we all get a better movie experience?

    --
    $8.95/mo web hosting
    1. Re:What kind of business could come of this? by Apreche · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The business model that comes is this. First you connect the dvd player to the internet. Then you sell movies for a resonable price. Cable TV's Pay-Per-View seems to be reasonable enough that people use it. The only difference is that when someone pays to view they save the movie and can watch it as many times as they want. DivX format would probably be optimal for this kind of service. It uses the least bandwith to transfer the file and more of them can be stored on the drive. And since it is lower quality than an actual DVD people will still go out and buy their favorite movies on optical media.

      This would be especially awesome if they have a large database of old movies that are relatively cheaper to download and if they also provide newer movies that were just in theatres, even at a slightly higher price, so you don't have to wait for DVDs to come out (even though the waiting time has greatly decreased).

      I see many people spending a dollar a day watching all the movies they always wanted to see and never did.

      --
      The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
  8. Proud owner by greatsasuke · · Score: 4, Informative

    I own this DVD player (the 631CF) and it was the smartest electronics purchase I've ever made. I think it cost something like $130 total from Amazon and it looks like they're running a rebate special now. The player plays everything I've thrown at it, SVCD/VCD/MP3/DVD/CD, with no problems. The hard drive mod is as easy as described on area450, and it's totally worth it once you download a movie, play it, and delete it quickly and painlessly. The other major hacks, region-free and de-macrovision, are easily applied via a simple firmware patch and are also very worthwhile. I'd highly recommend this DVD player to just about anyone. Also, I'm completely unaffiliated, just a happy user.

  9. macrovision by dizco · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Or is this just for the pirated movies? The fact that it blocks macrovision suggests this may be the case.

    I'm glad you have all modern components. My TV has only a coax input. my dvd player has only composite and svideo out. If it weren't for the fact that i can disable macrovision in my dvd player, i would need to buy a new tv. instead, i disable macrovision and use my vcr to convert from composite to coax. why should i have to buy a new tv because the industry doesn't trust me?

    1. Re:macrovision by El+Puerco+Loco · · Score: 3, Interesting

      on some sets, the picture looks better using the rf inputs than the composite or s-video inputs. a lot of sets are too sharp and unless they have a control to soften the picture, using the rf input can soften it enough to reduce the annoying effects of edge enhancement and compression artifacts. the picture on my tv definitely looks better if i use the rf input. if you have a top of the line digital monitor, that's different, but with most tvs rf input is at least adequate.

    2. Re:macrovision by Digitech · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Sigh, you are forgetting that most people don't care that much about quality. There are a lot of audio- and video-philes around Slashdot, but the common person just wants to watch a movie. He/she cares more about the story than about the quality of the video. I just recently bought a DVD player, and I was in the same boat with no Composite inputs on my TV. Since my VCR has composite, I tried to do the same thing as the person above, but failed when trying to play DVD's because of macrovision. It made me furious when I found out that the messed up picture was intentional. I don't care that much for quality, but the movie (StarWars Episode 1) was basically unwatchable. It kept going from light to dark and the sound was messed up too. I bought an RF modulator to solve the problem, but I should not have had to. I have warned all my friends and family about this and none had heard of such a thing and were as upset about it as I was.

      My suggestion is to tell your friends and family about it, and have them tell THEIR friends. Once enough people understand these "features," maybe things will change.

  10. nice, but where's my media server? by splateagle · · Score: 5, Interesting

    much like the various TiVo mods and hacks out there this seems like another step toward tape/disc-less video archiving - hurrah say I!

    Music's already gone this way, and since digital media came to video (DVD) later than to music (Audio CD) it makes sense that video is lagging somewhat in this next evoloutionary step.

    Of course the really neat thing will be when these puppies start being able to be plugged into a home network enabling centralised mhome media archives...

    incidentally I think those posters asserting that these devices can only be intended for pirates are forgetting the phenomenal amount of physical space that a decent movie collection currently occupies, not to mention the headache of keeping track of them! - my housemate's a movie buff and her room is piled to the rafters with (legit) cassettes and discs - the selection is great but it takes almost as long to find the film you want to see as it does to watch! digitising the collection when it's possible will solve both the storage and retreval headaches in one!

    personally I can't wait.

  11. DivX support? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This basically goes for all players, but for DivX support i surely hope they will have an easy way to upgrade the codecs. Seeing how many different ones there are now.. divx 3.x, 4 5, divx with AC3 sound codec, now the XviD stuff. DivX isnt exactly "one standard" anymore.

  12. Re:uh!? ;-) by McFly69 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Your question is off topic, but I will be willing to answer your question. You have several options. but before I get into them, I am going to ask you this. Why are all your PCI slots full? Post me what you have installed on the unit.

    First lets assume you have an older system (P-166 and below) and your PCI slots are full (as mention and does not have USB ports. You can install yourself a nice ISA IDE or SCSI controller. Depending on which IDE/SCSI controller you get, will depend on how many items you can use. If your sound car is a ISA card, you may consider replacing it with a Sound Blaster Pro or 16 ASP. Those cards came with a standard IDE port which you can connect two additional IDE devices (from the sound card). You can also purchase an external 1 or 2 gig Jaz Drive by Iomega. These units are SCSI but they also came with SCSI to Parrell printer port converter. so this woudl allow you to conenct the device and have it working VIA printer port. Of course you will take a slight performace hit but it will work just fine.

    Lets say you have a newer system (P-200 and higher). Cahnces are that you have USB. So you can get an external USB drive. Basically it is an IDE drive installed in a USB case. If you do nto need a large size drive jsut something small/portable get a USB memory stick reader and a big memory stick. It will work faster than a regular hard drive. Some units (NEC, DELL, AST, and Toshiba) have infer-red ports that can be used for this. If you haev one, do soem more research on your own.

    --



    NO! NO! Please don't mod me, I'm too young to die a troll. *click* Oh the pain, the pain...
  13. IDE. by 13Echo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A lot of these inexpensive DVD players have standard IDE drives inside. I could pull the drive from my Apex AD-660 for instance, and pop it right into my PC if I desired to.

    These are some of the most flexible and hackable DVD players on the market, and their price point is pretty low. I love my region-free AD-660.

  14. DIY by rekulator · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Why wait for DVD-player's to get features you need? We're building a DVD player with my friend which can do DVD, VCD, DIVX, OGG, MP3.. actually everything xine can. And it has 132X64 graphical lcd, custom joystick for buttons, remote control, hard drive, possibly net access for cddb and streaming video and audio. Most of you probably say "nay, this bloke's just another troll or something", well go check out pics

  15. Cheap Media Player by NetJunkie · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Another good device for this is an XBox. Just chip it and put in a 120GB hard drive. You can play almost any media with the XBox Media Player software off the HD or streaming from a networked PC. It works really well and is easy to do.

  16. DVD player, Hard Drive and Network capabilities by McFly69 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I have no seen anyoen yet talk about this kind of hack in the responses. Has anyone heard of such a hack? Why you may ask I wish to have Network capabilties? So the DVD player could rip the movies directly on my network server (or HD to transfer later) and play them back from that server. Would be a sweet utility program.

    Yes I am aware that some computer PVR's already do this, but the problem is with the fact it is a computer. I take time for bootup, and the OS has the abiltiy to crash. The bootup sequence so not only be immediate but also on a more perm state; a eprom.

    Any hacks or maybe devices like this, I would be interested to hear about.

    --



    NO! NO! Please don't mod me, I'm too young to die a troll. *click* Oh the pain, the pain...
    1. Re:DVD player, Hard Drive and Network capabilities by leeet · · Score: 3, Funny

      I just bought one. It's awesome... I heard it's called a "PC"

      --
      -- Leeeter than leet
  17. Xbox by Jagen · · Score: 3, Informative

    A chipped XBOX is the coolest thing for this. With the chip you can multi region dvd player for dvd goodness (with RGB out and 5.1 digital sound with appropriate connectors) then stick xboxmediaplayer on it and play all your divxs, vcds, mp3s and loads more, either streaming it from another machine using the built in networking, or dump them on the harddrive (built in ftp server in the evoX bios). Not forgetting that you can put bigger hard drives in it too.

  18. Google Cache by pro-mpd · · Score: 4, Informative

    Google cache links for various pages:
    Article link:
    http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:xTNcBn kYSi0C: www.area450.com/thesampozone/articles/connectindex .htm+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

    Add-a-HDD page:
    http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:EwQdBO Dch-8C: www.area450.com/thesampozone/articles/harddrive.ht m+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

    Hard Drive Preparation:
    http://www.google.com/search?q=cache :eIK7PXDIR3wC: www.area450.com/thesampozone/articles/harddrivepre p.htm+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

    Hard Drive Power:
    http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:yVisV CJbkysC: www.area450.com/thesampozone/articles/harddrivepow er.htm+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

    Lots more articles on the page linked in the article, but those are the ones of interest... hmmm... I think maybe the Google cache just got Slashdotted (!!??!!) cause its loading reeeaaal slow here...

  19. dvd player that plays divx encoded cd's by ozzy_cow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    what about my collection of divx CD-Rs?

    check this out: http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/021022/047810.html

    i think ill be getting one of those :-)

  20. Re:Cool project! Anyone with a source? by El+Puerco+Loco · · Score: 4, Informative

    i think they've withdrawn this particular model but the firmware runs on a ton of other players, and the support for an extra ide device is built into the firmware. it runs on the ubiquitous apex ad-660, which can be had for under $100. just make sure you get one with a flash rom that's flashable with a cdr.

  21. RCA Makes Something Link this. by borkus · · Score: 3, Informative

    The RCA Scenium DRS7000N is a combination DVR/DVD-R. The DVR uses the old Gemstar GUIDE Plus+ GOLD so you don't have to pay a subscription or have a phone line attched to the unit. The HD can store both video and MP3's. Lastly, you can burn off video to DVD rather than have to hook up a VCR. Last I checked, Circuit City had them.

    Of course, it's not as fun as rolling your own.

  22. Qcast Qcast Qcast..don't bother with DVD HD by droopus · · Score: 5, Informative

    At the risk of sounding like a broken record (I've posted on this software a few times and even tried to post it to /. as a story but ...oh well.)

    Qcast is the media server people are wishing they had in a few dozen posts here. You don't need to add a hard drive to a DVD player...all you need is a PS2.

    Qcast is a two-disk installation. Install Disk 1 on your PC, loaded up with movies and tunes (mpeg1,2,4, xvid, divx, svcd, vcd, mp3.) Then load Disk 2 on networked PS2 (cheaper than Sampo DVE631CF and hard drive) and bingo! You have a spiffy Flash interface on the PS2 for all your PC-based content, which then streams over your network on demand.

    No taking apart DVD players..if you need more space, add an IDE or Firewire drive to your PC in about five minutes.

    And even better...you can use multiple PS2s to stream different content from the same PC all over the house. Not only that but you can point the PS2 to multiple drives. This blows away a HD-equipped DVD player, since the PS2 plays DVDs natively anyway.

    Disclaimer: I neither work for, nor have any financial interest in Qcast. I just think it's cool as shit and no one knows about it. Well you do now.

    --
    "The pie shall be cut in half and each man shall receive.....death. I'll eat the pie."
  23. Re:What he really means... by MyHair · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "It would be really cool to have 100+ movies built in to my dvd player."

    Translates to:

    "I am cheap, and I would really like to borrow my friends movies and rip permanent copies without actually compensating the people who made the movie."

    Do you use your remote control, or do you always go to the TV to adjust the channel and volume?

    Do you own a CD changer? Isn't it nice to have your favorite CDs at the ready?

    Have you used a DirectTV-style schedule/menu to watch TV?

    Well, now with hard drives we can have even better convenience and menu selection with our movies and music. Plus it's cool to do it this way. Why do you assume this is about piracy?