getting video to play
 

I have just purchased a MP3 player with a video screen from Philips, model sa3245/37 to be exact. I'm able to move music into the music folder and get it to play just fine.

I can't get the video to work. Vista Business can run the automatic conversion program no problem. I want to know how to manually convert the file online using a site like zamzar or media-convert.com.

Has anyone else got this to work?

The problem is that the video that I move doesn't show up in the menu, so I can't even see if it will play.

I have no experience with this player, but Google seems to say that it should work with simple drag+drop file adding. It sounds to me like you simply need to get the video into a supported format first.

If that's the case, then why do you want to want to mess with an online conversion site? Linux tools like ffmpeg or avidemux should be able to do the job easily. In any case, if you want to use an online site, you'll have to read their instructions on how to use their services. As for what video format(s) and settings you can use, you need to look at your player's documentation.

Dragging and dropping files works in a pretty straight forward manner. The player handles wma and mp3 files perfectly. However, it doesn't handle mp4 files or flash or avi at all. Therefore, one must first transform the files. The smv format isn't there.

As I said, you need to determine the formats your player can handle, then find out how to get your video into those formats. You need to look at your player's documentation first and see what video formats it can actually use, including things like acceptable sizes and bitrates. Please post them here if you can.

SMV seems to be a restricted, proprietary codec without much, or any, linux support yet (god how I hate all these "new" codecs and systems that are nothing more than attempts to lock you into certain formats and brands). You may be out of luck regarding local solutions. Hopefully your player is capable of handling some more open formats as well. We could even work with wmv, bad choice that it is. Or failing that, perhaps one of those online converters will work, or maybe you can run a windows-platform converter under wine.

Again, Google is your friend. Do your research.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in General and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Nod Note: not a specific, Linux technical question, so it's better off in General

According to the manufacturer's webpage, .smv is the only video format. Are there any decent conversion tools or am I just wasting my time? I may be stuck using M$ for something until a decent online web-app emerges.

Here is another interesting question. Can you make a bootable drive out of it with puppy linux without damaging its functionality?