Asus O!Play Air – Firmware Updates
Asus has definitely been busy. Since my last review of the Asus O!Play Air, Asus has released a few firmware updates for it. The most notable is firmware v1.09 which surprisingly adds Internet accessible content to the O!Play Air. While it still does not add Youtube support (Asus, please, add YouTube support!!), Asus has provided apps to give access to such sites as Flickr and Picassa.
Here’s a list of what FW 1.09 brings you:
Internet service:
1. Over 20,000 internet radio stations
2. Over 100 internet TV channels
3. Flickr
4. Picasa
5. Weather
New functions:
1. Add BD iso navigation and subtitle identification
2. Add BD/DVD direct play by folder
3. Add hue and saturation tuning in video setup menu
4. Add Brazil language support
5. Add power saving function in system setup menu
6. Add WiFi manual configuration
7. Add My shortcut edit function
Fixed bugs:
1. Fix UPnP bug: wrong data information
2. Fix Timezone setting bug: can’t stop issue
3. Fix Clear key does not work when key in encrypted string
4. Improve JiPin 8042 HDMI compatibility
The lastest update (v1.12) fixes HDMI compatibility issues with some Toshiba TVs. It basically just adds support for the 16×10 aspect ratio for some of their TVs.
To get the update, go to http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=aLsLIiFYl0Jw0H9Q and hit up the Download tab. Remember, since the O!Play Air itself runs off of Linux, you’ll need to download the Linux version of the firmware. As well, be sure to unzip the downloaded ZIP file but DO NOT uncompress the resulting INSTALL.IMG file. Copy the INSTALL.IMG file to a flash drive, plug the drive into your O!PLAY AIR, and perform a System Firmware Update.
[…] (Editor’s note: With newer firmware available Dave has taken another look at the functionality of the O!Play. You can catch the newness that is the update here…) […]
Thanks for yr review on the Asus O!Play Air. Good stuff!
As for the update to that enables internet content, have u tested out the internet TV/Radio stations? Does it require an additional subscription?
Another question is that I had read some where that the processing power for 1080p videos of the Asus is not as good as the WD TV Live. Do u have any opinion on that?
Gladya liked the review. And sorry for the late reply.
Yes, I’ve tested out the Internet Radio/TV and they work very well. And no, they do not require any additional subscriptions as those Internet Radio/TV stations are freely available online.
As for the processing power for 1080p videos on the Asus, while technically it does use an older processing chip, the WD TV Live is only slightly faster than the Asus. I’ve played tons of 1080p videos on the O!Play Air and they played back in realtime without any stuttering, so I don’t consider the speed difference an issue. If you plan on streaming from your PC’s hard-drive wirelessly, make sure that you have a 802.11n router that transmits in the 2.4GHz frequency. The Asus O!Play Air does not support the higher frequencies.
Cheerz.
Have an Oplay Air. I love the quality and excellent smooth playback with my eSata 1.5 Tb hard disk . I still cannot get it to connect wirelessly though despite being able to see the network with very high signal strength,sharing folders etc and allowing it to be seen in the wireless setup table. A lot of other people are having issues with this too – the main selling point of this particular device ! Asus need to improve the setup directions for the wireless part of things(ie…for starters… PRINT the wireless MAC address on the player PLEASE ! ) and also bring out an update to the firmware to fix what looks to be a WiFi connectivity problem. If a Linux (Android) phone can work first pop out of the box then this should too….
Ya, I’ve heard the same complaints from other O!Play Air owners. However, I’ve not had an issue with connecting my O!Play Air unit to my WiFi router. Been able to connect from Day 1 because I have an old Belkin 2.4GHz WiFi router. Remember that the O!Play Air uses the old 2.4 GHz WiFi freq. Anything above that and the unit will not be able to connect using WiFi.
Hope this helps.
I am having trouble with the settings and procedure to listen to Dolby or DTS sound. Currently, I am using RCA. Any help would be appreciated.
Hi ScottyThai,
You cannot get Dolby or DTS sound through the RCA ports. They will only give you stereo sound. To get Dolby Digital or DTS sound, you have to use either the TosLink (S/PIDF) optical port or the embedded digital audio in the HDMI port on the back of the O!Play Air.
Hope this helps,
King-Pin
Wow, that was fast!
Ok, I bought an optical cable and hooked it up. No sound at all. I tried
changing the various audio settings but no happiness. I am playing MKV
files of hi def movies. I don’t know how to tell what the sound is in the
recorded movie is, but, the video is just excellent. The stereo sound sucks
and I want to hear better conversations.
Do you have any additional info on how to get sound out of the player?
Thanks in advance,
Cliff
Retired in Chiangmai Thailand
In the Setup menu, did you change the audio output setting to SPDIF? Do not use the RAW setting because that’s only for Digital RAW audio processors. That’s how I have mine set up for digital sound through the optical port and it works fine. Let me know how your unit is doing.
Mr T5…
Thanks for all your help. A friend and I got it working last night. The
tip on SPDIF LPCM was a key bit of information too.
There were a number of issues which make any trouble shooting more
difficult. Mine was that I have an older Samsung amp/player HT-XQ100, and
we had to change a setting on it to: Dolby prologic II. It does not have
HDMI input either, so, the optical option is my only choice.
If and when I update to a new amp, I guess I will have to fiddle with this
setting again.
I was set to buy another media player and am happy that I did not have to do
it. My friends have different ones, WD and Dune and have very good sound.
I am happy with this set up though. At this point, I don’t see any
advantage to owning anything but the ASUS particularly because of the good
price.
Being retired in Thailand is great but sometimes access to specialized
technical knowledge is hard to come by. Finding an optical cable was a
challenge too. Here, they call it “optican cabon”.
I am new at this media player technology but am quite happy with the access
to HD and Blu-ray movies that I can obtain here. I have a 2tb samsung disk
full and will buy another one in a couple of months.
Once again, thanks much for the tip!
Cliff
I really appreciate your post and you explain each and every point very well.Thanks for sharing this
information.And I’ll love to read your next post too.
Regards:
NABH