So I had purchased a blueray movie the other night, and it comes with a digital copy. So I pop in the disc and go through all the motions and essentially it downloads a 450MB or so “portable version” and a 1000MB or so PC version. They ever show an illustration of someone connecting and transferring it to an mp3 player.
So as I’m about to download it, I chose the Window Media Player instead of iTunes, and as mentioned above I get two .wmv files. So then I know that the Sansa only seems to play .avi files, which the Media Converter normally handles this, I’ve converted bunches of wmv’s into avi’s via the Media Converter in the past, but for some reason this wmv will not convert, giving me some prompt about the codec.
I’ve tried dragging and dropping it into WMP underneath the column on the right so I could sync it to the unit, I get errors, I tried draggin and dropping it into a folder on my mp3 player and I get the “will only be on here for storage purposes” (which I fully expected)… and when I tried to convert I get the error about the codec.
Anyone have any luck putting a movie onto one of these things?
You will HAVE to use Sansa Media Converter (SMC) to put it on your player. (Until they get rockbox working on the v2…)
People have played with other ways to get video onto the v2 but it hasn’t worked.
Try both versions of the ‘digital copy’ but I’m guessing they have some kind of encryption to prevent you from copying it over and over?
You might try putting the smaller version through www.anyvideoconverter.com and THEN through SMC. (Then if you REALLY have time to burn, try the 1000MB version.?)
The link you posted up sent me to a search engine, and not a website… Is that the actual name of the program? If so I could do a search for it, but the search result it took me to, took me to a bunch of options and none really matched the name.
The part that confuses me the most is on the little pamphlet that came with the digital copy, that has the authorization code and all that, it has a little illustration showing the CD, and a computer and hooked up to it is a media player… and underneath each one respectively it said “Download” “Transfer” “Watch”.
Why would they advertise you can throw it onto a media player, and turn around and not make it possible? Or is this a case of “if I had any player BUT a Sansa I’d be able to play it”?
Unless I’m missing something, these are the known facts surrounding the recent “digital copies” content on commercial movie discs:
The studios include a heavily-DRM’d copy tailored for use on Apple Ipods…only.
Sandisk, whose main competitor is Apple’s Ipod, has begun selling movie discs and promoting the “digital copy” feature, but (unless their promotional material has been updated since I saw it), does NOT point out that this is an Apple-only feature.
Most companies try to do things that benefit THEIR operations, rather than those of their COMPETITORS, to their own detriment. Sandisk seems to be working off a different playbook.
In a world in which every vendor and his brother is supporting Apple’s product, Sandisk comes out with an arguably better device, but hamstrings it with A) lousy software, B) total lack of content support (can you buy TV shows for download to put on your Sansa?), and C) no indication that this is going to change, but, instead, they devote finite resources to supporting – and thus, enhancing the perceived value of – their COMPETITION – and therefore *harming* the perceived value of their OWN products.
Someone explain this logic to me. I’m just an old country programmer, Jim.
@gwk1967 wrote:
Interesting. However, I notice that the “How it works” help video makes no mention of SMC. Try using the transfer software that comes with the movie to copy the movie to your player.
I haven’t heard of any other software (but the “converters” which SMC is based on,) working on the Sansas. I doubt the movie software would work, but who knows?!?!
@gwk1967 wrote:
Interesting. However, I notice that the “How it works” help video makes no mention of SMC. Try using the transfer software that comes with the movie to copy the movie to your player.
I have no URLs at the tip of my frontal lobe, but I know it’s been tried, and not worked. The SMC ain’t rigged to swallow Applesque DRM. I suspect if you build a google query using a few relevant terms like “sansa” and “digital copy” you’ll find scads of hair being pulled out on the various forums.
<<1- Try UNinstalling Sansa Media Converter (SMC.)
2- Install quicktime (OR the quicktime codecs, of you like internet searching and are more tech savvy.)
3- Re-install SMC.
4- try the different movie formats in SMC.>>
No good… and I know my firmware is up-to-date. And it IS a v2. Whether it’s not working because it’s not going to on a v2, or because I did something wrong.
But in the process of removing SMC in the beginning, I noticed there’s a program on my computer (from the company) that’s called “Codec Pack All in 1”, so maybe that thing is dictating things.
@gwk1967 wrote:
Interesting. However, I notice that the “How it works” help video makes no mention of SMC. Try using the transfer software that comes with the movie to copy the movie to your player.
The “software” that came with the movie is nothing more than a means to access the movie files, once the file has successfully been saved to a location, the program just sits there and the only option you got is to click the “X” in the upper-right corner.
It was looking pretty encouraging at first because they ASK you if you want it in iTunes version or Windows Media Player version. But it went downhill from there after the files were downloaded.
It was looking pretty encouraging at first because they ASK you if you want it in iTunes version or Windows Media Player version. But it went downhill from there after the files were downloaded.
Windows Media Player supports DRM’d video. The Sansa does not. I do not think you will find any portable player that can run these things other than the Ipod (unless there’s a “pure” Windows based player (i.e., something running Windows CE (or whatever they call it these days) WITH a portable version of MS’s Windows Media Player, with DRM built in.)
The whole “Digital Copy Included!” thing is aimed at ONE market segment-- Ipod owners – which leaves me completely baffled as to why SANSA would be pushing them. I’m sure APPLE is getting a chuckle out of it – just as Sansa would be smiling if Apple came out with a program that allowed people to effortlessly put videos onto their Sansas, but couldn’t work on their own Ipod products. (Not that THAT’S ever gonna happen…)
Wow, I stand corrected. Looks like you can play them on more than just Ipods. They are also “compatible with all Archos 4 and 5 Series Portable Devices and the SamsungP2.” (from http://www.zunerama.com/forum/index.php?topic=12717.0 which I found via that google query)
So, there are two more companies that can thank Sansa for helping them by supporting their products with media that won’t run on Sansa’s players.
@autobahnsho wrote:
Try uninstalling the “software” that came w/ the Movie?
I didn’t have to install anything, it was like a self-extracting “autorun” sort of thing.
It opens up, asks you for what country, you put United States, the English auto-fills, then hit “Next”, it asks you for your code, and you hit next, then it starts downloading two versions, a “portable version” and a “PC” version. At some point before the download it begins a browser window pops up for you to locate your files, and then after that it starts downloading, you see both files and the progression in the “Download Manager”, once they’re complete, you’re left with no choice but to close out.
This ■■■■■, because I guess Sansa just flat-out does not support it. And I highly doubt there’s going to be a firmware update since this model has been discontinued.
Digital copy movies are copyright protected. You won’t be able to use SMC to transfer the movie to the player. you will have to transfer it using Windows Media Player 11 on MTP mode. i don’t know if it will work for the e200 v2 but it worked for my view. digital copy movies are not compatible the the fuze… hope this helps
It’s definitely an encryption issue… I can’t even play the video without my authorization code. Not a big deal if you sit at a computer to view it, but I can see why a media player would have issues.
