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:^( XPS M1210 & Blu-Ray....
:^/ I've upgraded my XPS M1210 by replacing the existing CDRW/DVD-ROM combo drive with a Matshita BD-CMB UJ-120. This one is supposed to add the ability to write DVD's and to play Blu-Ray movies. Nero recognizes it and burns DVD's correctly, but Blu-Rays are another story.
At first Windows® would not even recognize when Blu-Ray discs were inserted into the drive, but a quick Internet search turned up the appropriate drivers, so now my XPS M1210 can mount Blu-Ray disks and explore them without trouble.
The trouble is with MediaDirect. The version installed currently reports the internal version number 4.7.2912. I have no idea what the external version number is, but I've learned that they don't match the internal numbers. Why Dell chose to do it this way is beyond me. The copyright date is given as ®2007, for what that's worth. This version cannot recognize Blu-Ray discs, reporting instead only that there is no DVD disc in the drive.
There is an update to version 4.7, which is demonstrated to support Blu-Ray, so I suspect it's an external version number. This would be the latest release, but it will not install for me. It complains that it needs MediaDirect BDPack version 3.5 installed first. An Internet search fails to turn up even mentions of MediaDirect BDPack version 3.5
A less recent release of MediaDirect has the external version number 3.5 (with no mention of Blu-Ray), but the restore disk I've located for that only wants to install on the models M1330 and M1530. Again, Dell's reasoning is beyond me. The normal scheme of things has the application talking to the operating system, which in turn talks to the hardware through the drivers. Thus, the same application can be run on any hardware running the same OS. How can an application (other than diagnostic software) be platform-specific?
To illustrate the concept, let's look at, say, Micosoft Office, Internet Explorer, and Outlook Express. Would we accept versions of these that ran only on one hardware model, but not another? Imagine that Photoshop ran only on the M1210, while Nero ran only on the M1330 and PowerPoint ran only on the M1530. How usefull would it be to be required to lug three laptops around everywhere? You get the idea....
:^/ Soooo, I need either an M1210-specific version of MediaDirect 3.5, or prefferably an M1210-specific version of MediaDirect 4.0 or 4.7. Or ideally, a hardware-agnostic version of same.
Any links to a suitable .iso or .nrg file?
Mr._Pseudonym
315 Posts
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August 29th, 2009 15:00
:^/ Well, now my opinion of PowerDVD 9 is mixed. Some movies play correctly, such as Iron Man, Ratatouille, and Fantastic Four, Rise of the Silver Surfer. I bought the full version of Ultra PowerDVD 9 based on that.
However, for other movies, the video plays only for the menus or movie itself, but not for the introductory bits ahead of them. These include Pursuit of Happyness, Spider-Man 3 and Superman II, the Richard Donner Cut.
Other movies still will play the movie itself properly, but only if we manage to blindly navigate the pitch black menu screen to launch the main feature. These include Pirates of the Caribbean, At World's End. Finally, some movies don't play the video at all, even if we manage to blindly navigate the menu. These include Space Cowboys and Stranger than Fiction.
CyberLink has a patch, which may help some of these. I'm downloading it now, so we'll soon see.
[Edit]
:^( The "patch" was a different copy of the executable, which installed over the original. No improvement has been noticed yet.
[Edit]
:^/ Well, I've figured something out. It seems that out of my nine Blu-Ray discs, the only two that play no video ever are also the only two that use MPEG-2 encoding. The rest all use MPEG-4, or VC1. Maybe an updated video codec or something will fix it....
[Edit]
;^) Ahhhh, that's more like it! After writing to CyberLink, they sent a bunch of suggestions, only one or possibly two of which were necessary. The resolution needs to be no more than 1024 × 768 × 16 bits for Mpeg2-enocded discs, while Mpeg-4 and VC1 work fine at the M1210's native 1280 × 800 × 32 bits. Also, I installed Direct X 10, though it may not have been needed. Since I cannot unilstall it again, I cannot test its necessity.
Anyway, other M1210 owners can now safely add Blu-Ray drives, secure in their ability to view the movies.
Mr._Pseudonym
315 Posts
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March 26th, 2009 16:00
:^/ Well, I've written to Dell to determine whether the product I want is available for my XPS M1210 laptop before ordering it. However, the automated system decided that because I'd categorized my question as a "Pre-Sales/Sales Question," Dell sent an automatic mail to inform me that because I was inquiring about software to support the hardware, I'd need to contact Tech Support, instead:
"Because you selected "Pre-Sales/Sales Question" as your Issue Category when you submitted your inquiry, Dell's automated response system is sending you the following information on how to obtain product specific information.
Dell does not currently offer e-mail support for pre-sales questions. However, there is a lot of information available on our web site and other contact alternatives."
:^/ Soooo, I wrote another message, directed to Tech Support, instead. The result? Dell sent me another automated message, instructing me to contact the Sales Department, because I was interested in placing an order:
"To place an order, please contact our sales department at: Toll free phone-1-800-289-3355 Monday through Sunday 8:00 am CST to 9:00 pm CST. For compatibility issues and for assistance, please contact our Tech Support Department toll free at 800-624-9896."
:^/ The long and the short of it seems that I'd have to buy the disc before I can find out whether they have one. As it happens, though, I've called Dell and learned that they do not wish to sell install discs for MediaDirect 4.0. Instead, only restore discs are available and then only for laptops that had the software installed from the factory.
YMT218
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April 16th, 2009 09:00
I made my M1210 to work with Matshita BD-CMB UJ-120 Blu-ray ROM.
It play movies fine with MediaDirect 4.0.
The ONLY Problem is with M1210 you won't get the full HD Standard
OK Now
Let talk about the hardware......
Let talk about the software
So I installed the BR-ROM and then installed the Boardcom HD Video Decoder in to the Laptop PCI-e Slot of WWAN.
after installing MediaDirect 4.0 with Blu-ray 0.1 Profile and Cyberlink HD Player, (Make sure update the Media Direct 4.0 to the newest verison)
then, make your display setting to 800X600. above that like 1024X768 or 1200X800 they won't work, it will be like lagging video.
However, 800X600 is very good image, It will look like 720p HD
Mr._Pseudonym
315 Posts
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June 25th, 2009 13:00
;^) Thanks for taking pity upon me and offering such excellent advice, sir.
I've located suitable hardware on e-Bay, but as it uses the WWAN slot, I'll have to remove my Sprint Mobile Broadband card (hacked to Cricket Wireless, by the way) in order to install the HD Video decoder.
As for the image resolution, I really only want this so that I can bring my Blu-Ray movies over to a buddy's place and output the video signal from my M1210 laptop to his NTSC television, so a lower maximum resolution than HD is no worry for me.
:^/ I am curious about the software, though. If I cannot buy it for the M1210, where could it be gotten? Obviously it's available for later models, but which one should I get?
Thanks again....
Mr._Pseudonym
315 Posts
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August 28th, 2009 15:00
Months later....
;^) There is good news for any M1210 owner who wants to upgrade to Blu-Ray. I recently demoed and then purchased the latest Cyberlink PowerDVD9, and it plays Blu-Rays without any additional hardware. You'll need a Blu-Ray drive, of course, but the add-in Boardcom BCM970012 Mini PCI-e HD Decoder card mentioned above is no longer necessary.
Cyberlink's own support pages mention the nVidia G-Force 7600 as minimum, but it seems that may be conservative. The M1210's native G-Force 7400 turns out to be good enough, even in full screen mode.
:^/ I haven't tried outputting the video to HDTV because I don't own one, so I don't know it'll work, but the video plays on the laptop's screen at 1280×800, so I'm happy. I've also upgraded my RAM to four gigabytes, and that may or may not have helped make the difference.
Also, Media Direct isn't involved, so I think it doesn't matter which version is installed.
The demo I used is PDVD9_BD2CH_OEM_DVD090622-02.zip, but I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to share the URL, so I won't. Just write to Cyberlink and ask.
;^) I look forward to learning other M1210 owners' experinces with this....
khodyazmoon
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February 26th, 2012 12:00
Outside of testing a blue-ray CD, how may I determine if my XPS M1210 supports blue ray?
The Windows 7 device manager indicates HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GSA-T11N ATA.
ejn63
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February 26th, 2012 13:00
If you mean, "does my current drive support blu-ray", the answer is no - it does not.
khodyazmoon
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February 26th, 2012 14:00
Thanks ejn63!
Any recommendations on what UJ-120 blu-ray drive I should acquire for the XPS M1210 laptop?
ejn63
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February 26th, 2012 15:00
I wouldn't bother - the system is relatively old, and the video chip is weak - that, with the outdated processor will make for something less than optimum blu-ray performance.
If you need portable blu-ray, buy a standalone player - it'll work far better.
www.amazon.com/.../B0054MOBAY