Can I revert the current FW to an earlier FW?

I have a v1 Fuze that started out playing 3rd party videos. Since a FW update, video playing is limited to SMC files. Is it possible to revert back to the good FW?

@lewislink wrote:
I have a v1 Fuze that started out playing 3rd party videos. Since a FW update, video playing is limited to SMC files. Is it possible to revert back to the good FW?

If you had the earlier one saved, or if you could find a link to it, you should be able to do a manual install easily enough. I’m not sure where to find a link to earlier versions though, at least not off the top of my head.

@lewislink wrote:
I have a v1 Fuze that started out playing 3rd party videos. Since a FW update, video playing is limited to SMC files.

Are you sure that’s an accurate statement?  AFAIK, SMC has always been the only way to get videos to work on the Fuze.

Even so, I’d hold out a while longer.  The latest FW is hugely superior to the older ones and sansafix has stated that they are working on removing the requirement for SMC.  Not clear if that’s for this release or not, but at least it’s on the radar.

@skinjob wrote:


@lewislink wrote:
I have a v1 Fuze that started out playing 3rd party videos. Since a FW update, video playing is limited to SMC files.


 

Are you sure that’s an accurate statement?  AFAIK, SMC has always been the only way to get videos to work on the Fuze.

 

Even so, I’d hold out a while longer.  The latest FW is hugely superior to the older ones and sansafix has stated that they are working on removing the requirement for SMC.  Not clear if that’s for this release or not, but at least it’s on the radar.

 

SMC has always been the only way to add videos since before the fuze. What you may have run into is that the 3rd party video, just so happened to meet the spcs the fuze needs/

lewislink wrote:  Since a FW update, video playing is limited to SMC files. Is it possible to revert back to the good FW?

When I had my old Fuze with the firmware it came with, I had to use SMC anyways. I don’t think Sandisk would release an update to screw up the video format support, but whatever. I would say that you should wait for ROCKBOX, and see if that does anything. There isn’t a release date for a Fuze version yet but the version is in development.

@pringles wrote:


lewislink wrote:  Since a FW update, video playing is limited to SMC files. Is it possible to revert back to the good FW?


When I had my old Fuze with the firmware it came with, I had to use SMC anyways. I don’t think Sandisk would release an update to screw up the video format support, but whatever. I would say that you should wait for ROCKBOX, and see if that does anything. There isn’t a release date for a Fuze version yet but the version is in development.

Pringles it will probably be a year or so before you see Rockbox. It is more likely that SMC will disappear because SanDisk makes it before you see rockbox.

All I can tell you is the MPEG4 video files I converted with “FLV to AVI MPEG WMV 3GP MP4 iPod Converter” or Any Video Converter play just fine on my View and and they also played just fine on my Fuze. Here’s the specs for the files:

Also, I will mention, I had to initiate video file compatibility and playback by using SMC. I had to convert a video file in SMC, any video file would do no matter how small, and once on the View, all of the other non-SMC video files would play.

Message Edited by lewislink on 03-31-2009 05:38 PM

@lewislink wrote:

All I can tell you is the MPEG4 video files I converted with “FLV to AVI MPEG WMV 3GP MP4 iPod Converter” or Any Video Converter play just fine on my View and and they also played just fine on my Fuze. Here’s the specs for the files:

 

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x51/lewislink2/Videoinfo.jpg

Message Edited by lewislink on 03-31-2009 05:31 PM

Thats why they work. Im not 100% but those like like the specs the fuze likes. Basically you did what SMC should do. 

Not at all. SMC will turn a 200MB file into a 900MB file. The files I use on my View range from 200MB to 400MB. And they play on my Sony DAPs and Zunes as well as all the DAPs I have4 that are compatible with MPEG-4. Those very same files converted in SMC range from 700MB to over 1GB.

Here’s the current file sizes:

Message Edited by lewislink on 03-31-2009 05:47 PM

@lewislink wrote:
Not at all. SMC will turn a 200MB file into a 900MB file. The files I use on my View range from 200MB to 400MB. And they play on my Sony DAPs and Zunes as well as all the DAPs I have4 that are compatible with MPEG-4. Those very same files converted in SMC range from 700MB to over 1GB.
Message Edited by lewislink on 03-31-2009 05:41 PM

Thats not what I meant. What I meant was that you converted the file to meet the size (dimensions) and format that the Fuze takes. the Explosion in size is one of the bugs that is part of SMC. You did what SMC is SUPPOSED to do. I guess what I am trying to say is what ever you did to make the files that used to work may very well be the key to finding a way to do video without SMC.

But Sandisk clearly changed the Fuze way of playing video files. This is clear by the addition of the secondary file. My Fuze didn’t originally need this secondary file and the older version of SMC didn’t make it. However, CNN reported some time ago that Sandisk and eventually Zune and others would severely restrict video file format compatibility on its PMPs because of collaboration with the movie industry.

What this means is Sandisk knew their PMP were playing non-SMC files and deliberately stopped it.

@lewislink wrote:

But Sandisk clearly changed the Fuze way of playing video files. This is clear by the addition of the secondary file. My Fuze didn’t originally need this secondary file and the older version of SMC didn’t make it. However, CNN reported some time ago that Sandisk and eventually Zune and others would severely restrict video file format compatibility on its PMPs because of collaboration with the movie industry.

 

What this means is Sandisk knew their PMP were playing non-SMC files and deliberately stopped it.

I guess. I had not heard that about the restriction. And despite what CNN says I dont think Microsoft would do that with out a fight, it would cost them too much money.