Neil Young News: Archives Technical Questions Open Thread

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Archives Technical Questions Open Thread

Post your Neil Young Archives comments and concerns regarding:

- Technical Blu-Ray, CD & DVD playback, setup, optimization, etc.

Please do not post here ordering, shipping & handling, damaged goods, MP3 download issues, etc. Please post those in these threads:
- Archives Commentary Open Thread
- Archives Ordering Questions Open Thread

Please follow each thread's topic guidance to keep this resource useful.

Got a question? Drop a comment below. No registration required.

Also, see The Neil Young Archives for FAQ's and tutorials. Another source of good answers to questions is good old fashioned search. There is a search box on right about midway down. If you include "Archives Guy" (with qoute marks) and your question, it might just come up.

And -- as always -- see Everything You've Ever Wanted To Know About The Neil Young Archives But Were Afraid To Ask.

If you like what we're doing here, please consider using Amazon links on right. Thanks! You'll be helping to support Thrasher's Wheat and keep the servers cool now that hell has frozen over.)

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83 Comments:

At 6/13/2009 09:15:00 PM, Anonymous said...: How do we find and open the secret tracks?
At 6/13/2009 11:03:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Look for a feather clipped to the side of the file card.
At 6/14/2009 04:55:00 AM, UKStevo1971 said...: Thrasher as a man of experience and also all other BD Live users out there please help as I am tearing my hair out!!

I put in disc 0 on my PS3 it says a message from Neil - download and click yes - it takes about 6 minutes to donload and then the blue pin (I wonder) appears on the timeline - when I click it the pic of the squires comes up but the audio is all 'broken' i.e. it sounds interrupted stop/start as if a bad download. What have I / am I doing wrong - is it my brodband download speed? Or did I download when too many are using the local broadband service? Or is it a corrupt file or settings on the PS3? All my other PS3 downloads work - its just this. I've deleted by download manager and tried again but same thing! PLEASE someone help (even AG if youre still poking around!) - please as Im worried the key csn video content coming soon (or MR Soul) may react inb the same way and thats not right having spent over £600 on PS3 and Archives box set.

ALL advice welcomed please!!

UKStevo1971 (gilmourstephen@hotmail.com)
At 6/14/2009 05:38:00 AM, UKStevo1971 said...: GOD HELP ME - ANOTHER technical problem - had played Disc 0 fine yesterday in PS3 today when putting disc in it shows a 80029940 ERROR - saying disc can not be played - please can ANYONE with a PS3 help me - someone posted something similar a while back I think and it got fixed - please help - cant download the blue pin and play properly and now cant play the disc at all!!!
At 6/14/2009 06:18:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Secret tracks can be found in time line with the pins e.g. Riverboat DVD has The Loner & Cinammon Girl acoustic live film
At 6/14/2009 06:20:00 AM, Anonymous said...: When viewing photos during play, the music stops for a second? Does it with anyone else?
At 6/14/2009 07:27:00 AM, zejt said...: UKStevo1971 said
GOD HELP ME - ANOTHER technical problem - had played Disc 0 fine yesterday in PS3 today when putting disc in it shows a 80029940 ERROR

I have the same problem with Early years call WB and ask for a new copy. I have the same problem using a brand new PS3.I'll report when I get my new copy.
At 6/14/2009 01:17:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Audio question....I am playing the Archives on my PS3 and using a Westinghouse HDTV.....I would like to hear this amazing collection in surround sound but not at a price that is too expensive. What would you suggest I purchase? Do I need an amplifier and how would one hook up the system once I get it? Does the speaker system plug into the PS3 or the TV? What special cables would I need? What set up functions would need to be changed on the PS3 or the TV once the speaker system is plugged in? I am pretty much of a novice at this (as you can tell) so any simple technical advice would be appreciated.
At 6/14/2009 01:20:00 PM, Anonymous said...: 80029940 errors indicate potential problems with your drive, cracks in the disk (often invisible to the eye) and dirty disks.

I'd try and clean your disk with a non-abrasive cloth (not a paper towel) and some mild soap. Wipe from the center of the disk to the egde, never in a circular motion.
At 6/14/2009 03:40:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Surround Sound question:

Only the JTTP disk has surround sound via DTS-HD Master codec. Any receiver with an HDMI input would play it since you have a PS3 which can do the decoding.

All the other disks are two channel stereo, which means no surround.
At 6/14/2009 03:54:00 PM, Anonymous said...: continued from last post, I highly advise you to upgrade to at least a 2 channel stereo setup if you don't want to splurge on a 5.1 speaker configuration so you're not listening through your tv speakers, which are probably awful.

As I said, pick up a new receiver with an HDMI input and output.
You connect your PS3 to the receiver using an HDMI cable, then connect the receiver to your tv with a 2nd HDMI cable. Everything then runs through the receiver.

Make sure your PS3 is setup to transit the signal via Linear PCM (not bitstream) for optimal sound and audio.

I recommend Onkyo. I've got a 705 which is now discontinued, but the 505 would work. $344 on amazon, but you'd also need to buy speakers. You could look into bundled receiver/speaker sets.

Check AVSforums for user product reviews for more opinions on all brands

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=90

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-SR507-5-1-Channel-Surround-Receiver/dp/B001VEI290/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1245009101&sr=1-3
At 6/14/2009 03:56:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Lastly, don't over pay for HDMI cables. They're all the same. They're digital, so it either works, or it doesn't. Check out www.monoprice.com for cables under $10 shipped.

Afterall, it's all just zero's and one's
At 6/14/2009 03:57:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Lastly, don't over pay for HDMI cables. They're all the same. They're digital, so it either works, or it doesn't. Check out www.monoprice.com for cables under $10 shipped.

Afterall, it's all just zero's and one's
At 6/14/2009 07:37:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Has anybody had this problem? The only way I can get BD-Live is through my PC. I am using PowerDvd 9. Everything plays fine except for the download. The blue push pin is on the timeline. It shows the info on what the push pin is, but if I open it there is no sound,which is a key ingredient in listening to music. If anybody else has had this problem or can fix it, please post a solution. Thank You
At 6/14/2009 07:39:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Thanks for all the audio info and advice.....Could you use an optical cable from the PS3 to your receiver for sound (and get the same sound quality through your 5.1 speakers) and use a separate HDMI cable running from your PS3 to your HDTV for video? I bought a Samsung HD/reciever 5.1 surround sound system with speakers for $200 and the person at the store said I would only need an optical cable......I am now able to hear the archives in surround sound but would the sound be better with another HDMI cable instead? It sound great but could it sound better? Boy,am I getting spoiled.
At 6/14/2009 09:58:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I'm using an optical connection from the PS3 to my Denon receiver. The optical can carry the 24/192 signal up to two channels which happens to be how the Archives are encoded. My receiver is set to Direct (or Stereo) and I see I am getting the full audio resolution from the Blu rays.

The optical cannot carry a 192kHz signal for more than two channels (i.e. Dolby 5.1, DTS 5.1, etc)
At 6/14/2009 10:00:00 PM, Anonymous said...: You can use HDMI from your PS3 for video only. Just make sure you select optical output under the audio settings of your PS#.
At 6/15/2009 04:57:00 AM, Painter said...: Problem: after downloading the first bd-live track ("I Wonder"), I played the disc some hours later but THERE WAS NO MORE the pin on the timeline.
why?
is it because this time the ps3 wasn't connected to the internet? but the content is in the hard disk.
At 6/15/2009 05:43:00 AM, UKStevo1971 said...: Hey guys - ive found the two hidden tracks on disc 0 - but cant find any easter eggs - am i searching in vain or arent there any on there - i ask cos in the filing cabinet the two red dots for sugar mountain and peggy have a black smudge on the red tab which im sure means something - does it - or should i head to disc 1 - thanks all!!
At 6/15/2009 06:57:00 AM, It's... said...: Painter - The PS3 has to be connected to the internet for the download to play.
At 6/15/2009 09:31:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Optical cables CANNOT do 24/192, even in stereo. It maxes out at 24/96. It doesn't work (ideally) with the JTTP's DTS HD Master codec. You may get sound, but it's won't be optimal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toslink
At 6/15/2009 10:19:00 AM, Anonymous said...: "Optical cables CANNOT do 24/192, even in stereo."

My PS3 is displaying the output signal at 192kHz. The optical out is connected to my Denon AVR-3801. I was told that the optical cable could pass a 24/192 signal up to two channels. Could you tell me what is going on? I can easily switch audio to the analog outputs if necessary.

Thanks
At 6/15/2009 11:21:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Follow up: I switched to analog outputs on the PS3 and I detect no difference in sound. In both analog and optical modes the display from the PS3 reads 192kHz.

I don't know what this all means but since I do not have a HDMI capable receiver I guess its as good as its going to get. Confusing as hell, though.
At 6/15/2009 10:07:00 PM, Anonymous said...: TOSLINK, aka optical cables, was created by Toshiba, here's a link to their product page. Do a search on kHz. Page 10 says it can only go up to 96kHz, but who knows how often that's updated.
http://www.toshiba.com/taec/components/ProdLineGuide/toslink.pdf

However, various other sources via google searches say it can now handle 192kHz. Archives Guy said 92kHz in an earlier post, which is what I based my original comment on in addition to the other various, perhaps outdated, sources I found using google
At 6/15/2009 10:08:00 PM, Anonymous said...: http://www.toshiba.com/taec/components/ProdLineGuide/toslink.pdf
At 6/15/2009 10:27:00 PM, ronbow said...: So, my Sony BDP-S300 (firmware 4.50) causes the audio to drop-out whenever I make an item selection in MORE.

Has anyone else withe an S300 experienced that? Is that addressable? Is there a selection I can make for audio?

(Also, any word on the 320 mp3's?)

Thanks
At 6/15/2009 11:10:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Thanks for the additional info on the optical. Until I need to replace my fairly decent receiver I will have to live with what I that type of connection gives me. It sounds great anyway.
I recognize that although the PS# display read 192kHZ the signal reaching my speakers could be down sampled.

For ronbow, the 320 mp3's are up at leat since yesterday.

Cheers!
At 6/15/2009 11:17:00 PM, steve from upstate ny said...: Hello
Archives is not working on my sony vaio operating Vista Home Premium on a blue ray drive with intervideo dvd plus blue ray software. Each disk is recognized, starts, chapter one with the warnings shows up, then the 45 rpm record hole filler spins with no access to content or menus. Am I doing anything wrong?
Steve in Upstate NY
At 6/17/2009 01:12:00 AM, Alfonz said...: Like some others in this thread, I also get a distinct glitch/interruption to the audio anytime I make selections such as viewing photos or memorabilia or lyrics from the individual song / more sections. Have only tried one disc so far (only got it yesterday ... in Australia).

Can anyone confirm if they get a smooth transition or don't notice audio dropouts when looking at photos etc.? And what settings are you using?

I'm using a Panasonic BD60 with latest firmware. HDMI to TV, analog outs from BD60 to stereo receiver.
At 6/19/2009 04:07:00 PM, Kim said...: I have just got The Archives (Blue Ray edition) and now I want to buy a Blue Ray player (not PS 3), and since I don’t know anything about it I have 2 questions. They may have been answered during the last month or so, but if that is the case it has passed my attention.

Question 1: How much storage/harddisc capacity will I need on the Blue Ray player – 1 GB, 2GB or more? When there can be 25 – 50 GB on one Blue Ray disc 1 or 2 GB is not much. There will be even more downloads when the next volumes arrives and I don’t want to buy a new player when vol 2 arrives in a year or two (hopefully).

Question 2: Is it possible to connect an external hard drive to a Blue Ray player through the USB port and place the downloads there. If that is possible it will make things a lot easier.

Can anybody help with these two questions?

Thank you.

Kim
At 6/19/2009 07:18:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I`m having problems with the download card , I downloaded all songs but in 256 kbps, then I tried again to get the 320 kbps but I received a message saying that my access is denied. Please someone help me with this problem.

Sergio
At 6/21/2009 05:57:00 AM, Luc said...: I know this must have been answered already; but I can't find it again.
I have a brand new PS 3 and a Samsung HDTV, connected with a HDMI cable.
When trying to set audio output settings to 24/192, I do not find that option in the menu.
Can anyone explain me (step by step) how I have to do that, or do I have automatically the 24/192 output ?
At 6/21/2009 08:29:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Luc,

While I'm not an expert, a few questions.

1 - do you put the HDMI into an audio receiver or th TV ?

If into a receiver, when a SONG is playing (not a menu), hit the square button on your PS3 controller or remote.. at the top it will tell you the output, which is probably 192...

Hope this helps..

Jammincrowe
At 6/21/2009 03:17:00 PM, Luc said...: Jammincrowe,
Thanks for the help. My PS3 is connected to the TV (Samsung le32b653) with a HDMI cable.

I now have a real problem. Disc 0 plays all audio tracks without any problem. Disc 1, 2,...no sound when playing the songs. But, when I play hidden tracks, or do listen to audio files (those with the microphone) I do have the sound.
Is it possible that it has anything to do with the downloed of "I wonder" ? because the problem didn't exist before downloading that. Also, that pin stays blue.
At 6/22/2009 05:00:00 PM, Luc said...: We're one step further on up the road : if I put the audio output on "automatic" everything just plays fine.
When I switch it to 192 : no more sound.
Could it be a problem with the cable, or is something wrong with the TV set ?
At 6/24/2009 11:05:00 PM, ronbow said...: OK - repeating my plea for help.

I'm using a Sony BDP-S300 (firmware 4.50), and whenever I make an item selection in MORE (the files), it causes a momentary audio drop-out.

Has anyone else with an S300 experienced that? What do i need to do to resolve that?

Thanks
At 6/26/2009 06:46:00 PM, Anonymous said...: ronbow,
I have the Sony S300. The current firmware is 4.90. It still has that problem with the stopping. We will have to wait for a high firmware
At 6/27/2009 04:03:00 PM, Anonymous said...: My local Hifi shop kindly gave me a Panasonic BMP-BD80 (with the latest firmware) to try out over the weekend and I have the same problem with audio drop-outs when I select another option inside a folder. Are there any players that do not have this problem?

Minne
At 6/27/2009 04:17:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Should have read the FAQ first of course.
It clearly states that the Panasonic's Secondary Audio needs to be set to the OFF setting to prevent stuttering. It works great now. Something similar with the Sony players perhaps?

Minne
At 6/28/2009 11:22:00 AM, ronbow said...: Then we S300 users may be SOL for a bit. I had just updated firmware to 4.50, and just requested 4.90.

I've set all the output configs to PCM, and are using analog outs to receiver with HDMI to Sony Bravia.

I have not found any config corresponding to the Panasonic's Secondary Audio that Minne mentioned (thanks.)

You would think there is a sufficient install base on the first Sony BD player such that NY team is aware of issues and attempting to address with Sony, via firmware, wouldn't you?
At 7/03/2009 03:25:00 PM, Anonymous said...: on the river boat dvd i go to timeline but i dont see any pins to open for loner and cinnamon girl is there a trick to open this help
At 7/04/2009 04:59:00 AM, punkdavid said...: Just got the message for the second download from BD-Live.

I'm running ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre 3 on a PC, and have had no problems prior to today.

The download seemed to go fine, but when I went to check it out, the only thing that had been added was the NYA Post Informer icon on the old "I Wonder" download that was available a month ago, and now I can't even play it!

It crashes the program every time. I uninstalled the TMT3 program and reinstalled (including deleting all of the old BD-Live content), and it did the same thing.

So basically, I have LESS than I had before I downloaded this most recent "update". :-\

Can I please have my old version back, or get the Archives team on a fix for this? Last thing we need is to have a silly thing like the NYA Post Informer (which is available to read on the website) mess up the REAL BD-Live material.

Before we start criticizing my running this on a PC, let me reiterate that everything worked perfectly fine before today.

Thanks,

--PunkDavid
At 7/04/2009 05:52:00 PM, punkdavid said...: Sorry, was a bit cranky last night about this. Any help would be deeply appreciated.

--PunkDavid
At 7/05/2009 04:24:00 PM, Dan in Sedona said...: To PunkDavid:
I Just downloaded the new Post Informer. Opened the file. First page says "Welcome First Edition". Lower right hand corner has "back" and >> (right arrows). Click on right arrows to 2nd page "I Wonder". Look to lower right hand corner, and scroll up to "play", and hit "enter". Then the alternate version of "I Wonder" will play. Hope this helps.
At 7/06/2009 07:53:00 AM, lordsuperfred said...: I have bought the dvd version but will buy a blue ray player in the future .When voulume 2 comes out will the extra features that I have missed on vol 1 be avail if I buy the blue ray version of volume 2
At 7/06/2009 03:01:00 PM, punkdavid said...: @ Dan in Sedona,

Unfortunately, my computer crashes when I try to open the Post Informer itself. I never even get to the point of seeing the menu you describe.

I go to the timeline, and I see the pushpin and I can read the "info" description (which now has the Post Informer as the icon, unlike before), but when I click on "open", the program crashes.

Like I said, it always worked before the PI was integrated into the download.

--PunkDavid
At 7/07/2009 01:13:00 AM, old man emu said...: Confirmation requested

At 6/14/2009 06:18:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Secret tracks can be found in time line with the pins e.g. Riverboat DVD has The Loner & Cinammon Girl acoustic live film.

Can anyone confirm this / provide more info ? I have the Blu-Ray version and cannot locate !

Gary
At 7/08/2009 11:52:00 AM, AussieJoel said...: Does anyone know if the BD Live content can be downloaded if I'm overseas? I imagine that because its over the internet, it doesn't matter where you are - but you never know.
At 7/10/2009 02:43:00 AM, D.I. Kertis said...: Yes, there are secret tracks on the time line. They're yellow pins. When you get to the timeline, if there's a pin, it should be already highlighted. Hit enter. About Cinnamon Girl/The Loaner-- that's on Topanga 3's timeline. I'd know since I was watching it earlier this evening.
At 7/13/2009 12:16:00 PM, Sgarrup said...: I've buyed the DVD set, but I don't find where is the mp3 download card.
Please help me to find it
At 7/13/2009 06:16:00 PM, It's... said...: @Sgarrup

It's in the secret black box.

You can see it at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvGrss85R3A around 4'50"
At 7/14/2009 02:43:00 AM, Sgarrup said...: Thanks a lot
At 7/18/2009 12:23:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Has anyone else had trouble with the links not working on the blu ray discs? I can get to the file cabinet and open a folder, but then when I click on play, or back, or lyrics, nothing happens. I've been searching all over the place and can't figure it out. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
At 7/18/2009 12:31:00 AM, Anonymous said...: In reference to the above, I forgot to say that I'm using a laptop and PowerDVD.
At 7/18/2009 09:17:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Ok, I figured out that you have to use the arrow keys to get around the folders and hit Enter to select. The tutorial on neilyoung.com said you just had to click, so it was pretty confusing for me. Oh well. Hope this might help someone else along the way.
At 7/20/2009 02:57:00 PM, Anonymous said...: And also, I had to upgrade to Power DVD Ultra from the Dell version of Power DVD that was preinstalled on my laptop, and update it with the patch. A lot of rigamarole to go through, but fortunately Mr. Young is worth it.
At 7/23/2009 10:50:00 AM, dabl said...: I'm having the same issue with Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre and the updated "I Wonder" bd-live download that punkdavid posted about earlier on 7/04/2009 04:59:00AM

I'm running Arcsoft v3.0.1.140
v2 + the .130 patch works fine with the updated "I Wonder" bd-live download.

Dan in Sedona, re: your reply of7/05/2009 04:24:00 PM

Can you please confirm the version of TotalMedia Theatre you're running?

I posted about this problem in a couple of other places including the Arcsoft forums. It would be extremely helpful for any other users with this problem to reply in that thread.

Arcsoft Forums Post

AVS Forums Post

Is anyone aware of an official email address to forward technical problem reports for the Neil Young Archives set?
At 7/23/2009 08:01:00 PM, punkdavid said...: Hallelujah, dabl!!! I'm not crazy!

Thanks for the links and the moral support. I'll see if I can help you too, and if any solutions come up anywhere else, please be sure to post them here.

--PunkDavid
At 7/26/2009 01:10:00 PM, dabl said...: PunkDavid,

cool man, yeah I had the same reaction when I saw your post 'cause I thought I was the Lone Ranger on this one.

Definitely please do email Arcsoft tech support.

The good news is I did at least get the below reply from them from my problem report (which referenced your post here).

The bad news is if they don't provide a private test fix for us and instead wait to include this in the next update, we may be waiting quite awhile.

Meanwhile I'd like to figure out a workaround.

Sadly it's impossible now to run both v2 and v3 TotalMedia Theatre with the latest v3 .140 update.

It would be helpful to know the version of Cyberlink PowerDVD known to work for this bd-live download for reference.

Perhaps user 'Anonymous' will see this and confirm?

--Don

================================
Responser(Joe) 7/24/2009 2:43:43 AM

Hello Don,
Thank you for using our products.
We would have our engineers test it. We would contact you as soon as any info is available.
Thank you for your understanding and interest in our product.

Regards,
ArcSoft Support
At 7/28/2009 01:54:00 PM, dabl said...: ps looks like it *may* be possible to run both v2 and v3 TotalMedia Theatre with the latest v3 .140 update.

I had tried this and failed but not using the below referenced method.

Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre v2 + v3
At 8/02/2009 05:39:00 PM, dabl said...: BUG REPORT

arcsoft totalmedia theatre v3.0.1.140

Neil Young Archives blu-ray bd-live download play fail July 24 2009 "Here We Are in the Years"

same track plays fine with arcsoft totalmedia theatre v2.0.6.130

to reproduce this problem:

using neil young archives disc 1 download "Here We Are In The Years"
nya,timeline,navigate to blue pin at '1969 Dec',see 'Neil Young album released,navigate to 'Info'
see Post Informer Volume 1 #2 July 24 2009 "Here We Are In The Years" mix by Neil Young 161 MB
navigate to 'Open'
see readable article with 'play/back' button
navigate to 'play' button
see still photo of reel to reel

BUG: get no audio,arcsoft totalmedia theatre v3.0.1.140 interface is hung,can no longer navigate with remote

NOTE: same track plays fine with arcsoft totalmedia theatre v2.0.6.130

nya,timeline,manage downloads,Post Informer Volume 1, 21 "Here We Are In The Years" 161 MB
Post Informer Volume 1, #1 "I Wonder" 76.1 MB

TO REPORT THIS BUG TO ARCSOFT

login at www.arcsoft.com
register your product
go to 'my product list'
email support

ARCSOFT WON'T FIX THIS IF USERS DON'T REPORT IT

NOTE TO NYA ARCHIVES GUY

DO YOU HAVE ANY PULL WITH ARCSOFT?

YOU SHOULD AT LEAST ALERT USERS TO THIS IN THE FAQ

CURRENT ARCSOFT V3.0.1.140
PLAYS NEITHER OF THE OF THE TWO AVAILABLE BD-LIVE
DOWNLOADS

Post Informer Volume 1, 21 "Here We Are In The Years" 161 MB

Post Informer Volume 1, #1 "I Wonder" 76.1 MB
At 8/06/2009 04:49:00 PM, CK said...: I thought some other people might find value in the experience I just went through troubleshooting a BD-Live problem. I read about there being a new update last week, but was out of town. When I got back home, I threw in an archives disc as soon as I had a chance to get the new download.

Sure enough, the "You have received new material" screen popped up, but after clicking on download, I got an error message. It wasn't very intuitive, something like "There is a problem downloading, try again later". So, I went to the timeline and tried downloading by clicking on the yellow pin. Same thing. The Info option actually gave a more descriptive error: "While there may be new BD-Live content available, your player cannot connect to the internet."

So, I spent a lot of time troubleshooting my home network: rebooting modems, routers, and switches, trying different cables, etc. No luck. I was leaning towards re-installing firmware on my blu-ray player, but then remembered the other part of the bd-live equation: the persistent storage.

My player, Samsung BD-P1500, requires at least a 1GB USB drive for BD-Live to work. It was plugged in snugly, so nothing seemed wrong at first glance. I tried to re-format the drive from the player's menu, but it never showed the files on the drive being erased. I took the drive out and plugged it into my computer. After clicking around some of the folders, I got several "This file/folder is corrupt and cannot be read" error messages. It seems that, somehow, some files had been corrupted, which was preventing the player from downloading the new content.

So, I reformatted the USB drive from my PC (FAT32 format). Plugged it back into the blu-ray, loaded archives disc, and was now able to download the new content, as well as the old content from June, with no issue this time.

I hope this is helpful to someone, someday!

CK
At 8/08/2009 03:32:00 PM, ground flyer said...: I just purchased the DVD box set of Neil's archives. The guy at the record store told me they would play on my stereo just like a CD. When I try it I get no sound. Have I been bamboozled or am I doing something wrong?

Ground flyer
At 8/09/2009 01:27:00 AM, D.I. Kertis said...: Ground Flyer,

DVDs don't play in CD players. Period. There has been nothing whatever that I have read about the Archives DVDs playing in a CD player. That wouldn't make much sense anyway, since a CD edition is available for those who'd rather just enjoy the music.

Simply put, the guy at the store either had incorrect information or was pulling your leg for no discernible reason. (I suspect the former.)
At 8/09/2009 05:39:00 PM, punkdavid said...: @ ground flyer:

Did you put the DVDs in a DVD player or in your CD player?

--PunkDavid
At 8/18/2009 08:57:00 PM, Babbo said...: Well, wouldn't you know it - the Sony BDP-S560 wireless player finally comes out so I get one (for $280 through Provantage) and congratulate myself on saving all that money compared to the PlayStation - and now the $100 PS3 price drop is announced today!

I figure I'm still ahead given the extra $50 I would've had to spend for a PlayStation remote (and a special component video cable, since my TV doesn't do HDMI). Then again, it turns out I have to buy extra dedicated storage for the 560; I had planned to use a spare external HD that I also use for music file backup, but the manual says 1) you have to use flash storage (though I still wonder if an external might work) and 2) if your flash drive has any other non-BD Live files on it, they might get corrupted by plugging it in (which I wonder is maybe what happened to CK above). So I played it cheap and bought a 16GB stick for $30; guess we'll see how long that lasts (not that Neil has exactly been deluging us with BD-Live downloads so far).

Anyway, all that aside, the 560 looks great, runs quiet, loads quick and plays the Archives without a hitch (no music hangups when you navigate around the photo/document files) - I'd definitely recommend it, though you do need to take the storage issues into account.

Babs
At 8/27/2009 08:59:00 AM, Robot427 said...: I've got the Blu-ray edition running on a Panasonic DMP-BD30, and all is fine. However, I want to be able to access the BD-live content, so am thinking of swapping the BD30 for the new Panasonic DMR-BS850 - a Blu-ray recorder which has a LAN ethernet connection. I know nothing about ethernet - do I just buy a standard ethernet cable and link my pc directly to the BS850? Can anybody advise?
At 8/28/2009 03:54:00 PM, punkdavid said...: @robot427:

Probably you'll want to buy a router if you don't already have one. You can one that isn't for wireless connections for about $20. It allows you to share an internet connection between several devices.

So, it's cable in from the internet, into the cable modem, out into the router, and then out of the router to the computer with one LAN cable and to the BD player with a second LAN cable.

Easy, peasy.

--PunkDavid
At 8/29/2009 08:09:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Is there a way to navigate while playing the song in the Post Informer? It seems I can either read or listen, but not both...What am I missing?

Thanks in advance.

-GregInTheDesert
At 9/07/2009 09:36:00 PM, lou said...: Has anyone had any luck getting the Archives to work well on a Sony Vaio laptop? I know it is not ideal but I am no techie and bought this laptop in anticipation of the Archives since it has Blu-Ray. I bought the Total Media Theatre 3 software, have updated the firmware, etc. It functions OK for the most part with occasional "freeze-ups" that require a hard turn off to escape. Also have been unable to get the downloadable items to work. Any ways to improve performance? Do I not have enough memory? Is this just not going to work for me?
At 9/11/2009 05:48:00 PM, punkdavid said...: The BD-Live errors seem to be a software problem with Total Media Theatre 3.

After trying for about 6 weeks, I FINALLY got TMT 2 to work on my computer and I just got to hear the new "Here We Are In The Years" mix for the first time. I got it recorded in case I lose function again.

I'm afraid we're just going to have to wait until ArcSoft fixes the bug. See the post in the thread by "dabl". He's got instructions on how to contact ArcSoft with bug reports. The more reports, the quicker they'll fix it.

Good Luck!

--PunkDavid
At 9/19/2009 02:04:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Panasonic just released firmware update v2.0 for their DMP-BD60 Blu-Ray player. It seems to fix the stuttering audio problem when viewing NYA pictures/memorabilia with Secondary Audio=on. Hopefully this fix will be available to the rest of their BD players. Thank you to everyone who complained to Panasonic!
At 9/27/2009 04:53:00 AM, punkdavid said...: TMT 3 Platinum upgrade 3.0.1.160 seems to have fixed the BD-Live problem. I don't know when this was released, because I had been using TMT 2 recently in order to get the BD-Live to work. Today, TMT 2 decided to stop working entirely on me, so I reinstalled TMT 3 and DL'd the most recent software upgrade.

And what do you f'ing know? BD-Live downloads worked!!!

Hopefully this won't jinx it...

--PunkDavid
At 9/27/2009 01:41:00 PM, Carson I. said...: Is anyone else having problems with the audio on some of the songs on the North Country disc? I am getting awful bass distortion on "Harvest" as well as the barn video of "Alabama". I have tried changing the speakers, my receiver, my headphones, everything. I have boiled it down to a problem with the disc, or perhaps the PS3? Anyone have any solutions?
At 11/23/2009 10:34:00 PM, RGH said...: Why do I only get 9% of the MP 3 files when I attempt to download them?I'm running Vista and IE 8.I've tried several times and have had support reset the download for me.
At 12/17/2009 02:52:00 AM, Anonymous said...: we are buying this blu ray set as a christmas gift to my mother. she is the ultimate neil young fan. we are in kind of a spat with my brother about whether to buy her a PS3 or the samsung blu ray player...so here is the question...DO YOU NEED A PS3 TO GET THE UPDATES? any help would be greatly appreciated as christmas is coming up very soon and we are at a crossroads as to which unit to buy (and we really want my mother to have the full experience).
At 12/20/2009 02:11:00 AM, punkdavid said...: You do not need a PS3 to get the updates. You just need to make sure the BR player is "BD-Live" compatible. It should say right on the box.
At 1/04/2010 09:46:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Anyone have problems with the Topanga 3 BD and Blu-ray Live downloads from that time period? After I tried to download the files my PS3 no longer recognizes any of the BDs and says they're "not valid." No problems before this and I got the other downloads fine.

mcwada
At 1/13/2010 06:26:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Using a Sony BDP-S560, connected via Wifi to my Mac, when I try to download the BD-Live material, I get a message saying, "There has been a problem with the content. Please try again".

Why is that? How can I correct that?

Thanks,
Jack
At 1/16/2010 12:33:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Folks - have a setup question. I have an Oppo 83SE running optical to a Chord DAC64, and HDMI to an Integra 9.8 Pre/Pro. Both streams are fed into a Rotel amp and B7W CM-7s. Two questions:

1. from which signal path should I expect the best sound - my ears tell me the Chord DAC route, but what would it be technically speaking

2. I can set the Oppo optical output to either LPCM (with option for 192) or Bitstream. What should I set at?

Thanks!

Sanj
At 1/18/2010 09:37:00 PM, Anonymous said...: hey guys, my topanga 2 disc won't play the videos properly. They skip and go back to the menu in a few seconds. any ideas?
At 2/02/2010 09:08:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I have found a cool jem that could be considered a BD Live update for the Archives, circa summer 1969.

Is there someone to whom I might communicate this idea to?

Thanks,

Paul
At 2/03/2010 10:45:00 AM, Thrasher said...: Paul,

Email me:
thrasher@thrasherswheat.org

thnx