me...
with archos 605 wifi, recording with dvr-station
ARCHOS 604 wifi :Copy Protected Video File?
Another thing you'll be really thrilled with is that an Archos recorded Copy Protected file will not play on any other device but that specific one. It won't even play on a replacement of the same model!
Here's another fun fact you may or may not know...you can't play your Copy Protected videos through any output other than the built in screen!
Also, transiting Venus needs to be in Trine aspect to your natal Neptune but only while transiting your 5th house!
Just kidding about that last one.
Poor Sony has conflicts of interest when it comes to copy protection and has only recently appeared to rise above a level of mental retardation (after many years of banging their heads against a wall) in this area--think MiniDisc, SonicStage. Their tactics my very well be to blame for your buggy situation involving their equipment.
Do other Archos owners with non-Sony equipment have Copy Protection invoked on their own content?
Here's another fun fact you may or may not know...you can't play your Copy Protected videos through any output other than the built in screen!
Also, transiting Venus needs to be in Trine aspect to your natal Neptune but only while transiting your 5th house!
Just kidding about that last one.
Poor Sony has conflicts of interest when it comes to copy protection and has only recently appeared to rise above a level of mental retardation (after many years of banging their heads against a wall) in this area--think MiniDisc, SonicStage. Their tactics my very well be to blame for your buggy situation involving their equipment.
Do other Archos owners with non-Sony equipment have Copy Protection invoked on their own content?
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redrocketrally
- Archos Novice
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2008 4:55 am
Re: ARCHOS 604 wifi :Copy Protected Video File?
Please tell me there's a solution to this by now?
Over the weekend I used my Archos 605 to record an in-car camera in my rally car during a race. Some (not all, which is weird) of the videos come up as "COPY PROTECTED VIDEO FILE Can only play on the original device" when I try to load them up on my computer.
This is so bogus! The input was a camera on the dashboard of my car, recording me. What's going on here? Now I can't use half a days worth of recordings. Is there any way to rescue my videos?
Over the weekend I used my Archos 605 to record an in-car camera in my rally car during a race. Some (not all, which is weird) of the videos come up as "COPY PROTECTED VIDEO FILE Can only play on the original device" when I try to load them up on my computer.
This is so bogus! The input was a camera on the dashboard of my car, recording me. What's going on here? Now I can't use half a days worth of recordings. Is there any way to rescue my videos?
Re: ARCHOS 604 wifi :Copy Protected Video File?
I've got almost exactly the same problem with my AV500, but was when I was trying to copy some really old home vids onto it.
From what I can gather, its a Macrovision style protection, and I cant find any way of removing it from the avi file. Virtualdub cant remove it, neither does ripping/converting.
Its really annoying!!! (diplomatic phraseology)
Digital Video Recorder ? More of a viewer only isnt it ?!!
Grrrrrrrrrr..........
From what I can gather, its a Macrovision style protection, and I cant find any way of removing it from the avi file. Virtualdub cant remove it, neither does ripping/converting.
Its really annoying!!! (diplomatic phraseology)
Digital Video Recorder ? More of a viewer only isnt it ?!!
Grrrrrrrrrr..........
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aerodesigner
- Archos Novice
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2008 2:52 am
Re: ARCHOS 604 wifi :Copy Protected Video File?
A few weeks ago I had a bullet camera mounted on a plane and the first time recorded about 1.5hrs (through a DVR travel adapter). That was split into two files (by my 605 WIFI), one of which is now copy protected the other one isn't.
Yesterday I took a few more of those videos and out of 5 recordings again one is copy protected.
I sent the problem in to Archos already twice but did not even get an acknowledgement they are looking at it. So if anyone gets a solution for this I would be happy to know.
Yesterday I took a few more of those videos and out of 5 recordings again one is copy protected.
I sent the problem in to Archos already twice but did not even get an acknowledgement they are looking at it. So if anyone gets a solution for this I would be happy to know.
Re: ARCHOS 604 wifi :Copy Protected Video File?
I have borrowed an Archos 704WiFi from a friend that gives the same problem.
When I copied the .AVI file from the Archos to my PC and loaded it into VirtualDub, the 'AVI Information' shows that the Frame Length of the Video Stream is just 1 Frame, i.e. the single frame that displays the 'Copy Protected Video File' message.
Hence, when you try to play this .AVI file on any other video player, it just displays this message frame while the audio stream is playing. On my PCs, this happens with Windows Media Player 9 and WMP11, WinDVD and PowerDVD. (VLC Media Player doesn't display anything !).
Inside the Archos, the software must detect this and then compare something hidden within the .AVI with a unique number for each Archos, e.g. its Product Key or MAC Address. If it passes this test, a second video stream must be found that has the correct Frame Length of the full Video Stream.
I don't know enough about the .AVI file format to know if editing the Frame Length value will bypass this protection.
In the case where the Macrovision wrongly detects that a camera source should be copy protected, it is very likely that the problem is caused by the video signal from the camera. This would occur if the timing gap in the analog video signal is slightly longer than what is assumed to be 'standard' (that's how Macrovision protected video works!). A camera that works correctly on the ground could go 'out of spec' if it gets too cold at altitude.
The solution is either to buy a different camera, keep it warm perhaps, or buy a dongle to insert between the camera and the Archos that beats the Macrovision protection by re-transmitting the video signal with adjusted timing (it's legal if the Macrovision is wrongly inhibiting the recording of a personal video camera).
When I copied the .AVI file from the Archos to my PC and loaded it into VirtualDub, the 'AVI Information' shows that the Frame Length of the Video Stream is just 1 Frame, i.e. the single frame that displays the 'Copy Protected Video File' message.
Hence, when you try to play this .AVI file on any other video player, it just displays this message frame while the audio stream is playing. On my PCs, this happens with Windows Media Player 9 and WMP11, WinDVD and PowerDVD. (VLC Media Player doesn't display anything !).
Inside the Archos, the software must detect this and then compare something hidden within the .AVI with a unique number for each Archos, e.g. its Product Key or MAC Address. If it passes this test, a second video stream must be found that has the correct Frame Length of the full Video Stream.
I don't know enough about the .AVI file format to know if editing the Frame Length value will bypass this protection.
In the case where the Macrovision wrongly detects that a camera source should be copy protected, it is very likely that the problem is caused by the video signal from the camera. This would occur if the timing gap in the analog video signal is slightly longer than what is assumed to be 'standard' (that's how Macrovision protected video works!). A camera that works correctly on the ground could go 'out of spec' if it gets too cold at altitude.
The solution is either to buy a different camera, keep it warm perhaps, or buy a dongle to insert between the camera and the Archos that beats the Macrovision protection by re-transmitting the video signal with adjusted timing (it's legal if the Macrovision is wrongly inhibiting the recording of a personal video camera).
Re: ARCHOS 604 wifi :Copy Protected Video File?
After some more detective work, I have found out how to play the AVI files on a PC that were created on the Archos from your camera.
It seems that the four character code at the head of each chunk of video stream that should be "00dc" (zero,zero,d,c), has been replaced by a different code (except for the first video chunk). Also, it has been changed for each corresponding entry in the index at the end of the AVI file.
This four character code has been the same 'Akks' on a few different Archos', but to find out what yours is:-
1. Install and Run VirtualDub on your PC.
2. Go to 'Tools/Hex Editor' and open the AVI file.
3. Select 'Edit/RIFF chunk tree' to create a tree of the tags in your file.
4. Expand the tree until you see Chunks 0-999
5. Your four character code will be in the line for the "unknown" tag (immediately below 00dc).
To change the chunk headers and index entries:-
1. Open the AVI file using an editor that can handle large files and has a "replace all" feature (not VirtualDub Hex Editor).
2. Change any existing instances of 00dc to an unused stream number and unknown type, e.g. 99xx.
3. Change all instances of your four character header code to 00dc.
(the four characters used for AVI tags should be case-sensitive, human-readable)
4. Save the file.
5. Hopefully, this new file will be viewable on your PC using VLC Media Player.
Note that it will not play correctly in Windows Media Player with the latest free codec from DivX.
It seems that the four character code at the head of each chunk of video stream that should be "00dc" (zero,zero,d,c), has been replaced by a different code (except for the first video chunk). Also, it has been changed for each corresponding entry in the index at the end of the AVI file.
This four character code has been the same 'Akks' on a few different Archos', but to find out what yours is:-
1. Install and Run VirtualDub on your PC.
2. Go to 'Tools/Hex Editor' and open the AVI file.
3. Select 'Edit/RIFF chunk tree' to create a tree of the tags in your file.
4. Expand the tree until you see Chunks 0-999
5. Your four character code will be in the line for the "unknown" tag (immediately below 00dc).
To change the chunk headers and index entries:-
1. Open the AVI file using an editor that can handle large files and has a "replace all" feature (not VirtualDub Hex Editor).
2. Change any existing instances of 00dc to an unused stream number and unknown type, e.g. 99xx.
3. Change all instances of your four character header code to 00dc.
(the four characters used for AVI tags should be case-sensitive, human-readable)
4. Save the file.
5. Hopefully, this new file will be viewable on your PC using VLC Media Player.
Note that it will not play correctly in Windows Media Player with the latest free codec from DivX.
Re: ARCHOS 604 wifi :Copy Protected Video File?
As well as hiding the video stream, it seems that the video data is deliberately corrupted by the Archos software to cause playback errors on other devices (but not on the Archos that knows how to reverse the corruption).
This could be done very easily, for example, by inverting every n'th byte.
The effects of this corruption are less noticeable when using the decoder in VLC Media Player.
Also, this corruption is less noticeable when playing black & white videos.
Interestingly, this corruption is more noticable if the edited video is played back on the Archos, especially after the Archos is updated to the latest firmware (presumably this has a revised codec).
This could be done very easily, for example, by inverting every n'th byte.
The effects of this corruption are less noticeable when using the decoder in VLC Media Player.
Also, this corruption is less noticeable when playing black & white videos.
Interestingly, this corruption is more noticable if the edited video is played back on the Archos, especially after the Archos is updated to the latest firmware (presumably this has a revised codec).
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clunk1234567
- Archos Novice
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:21 pm
Re: ARCHOS 604 wifi :Copy Protected Video File?
It's called DRMBrian1066 wrote:As well as hiding the video stream, it seems that the video data is deliberately corrupted by the Archos software to cause playback errors on other devices (but not on the Archos that knows how to reverse the corruption).
This could be done very easily, for example, by inverting every n'th byte.
The effects of this corruption are less noticeable when using the decoder in VLC Media Player.
Also, this corruption is less noticeable when playing black & white videos.
Interestingly, this corruption is more noticable if the edited video is played back on the Archos, especially after the Archos is updated to the latest firmware (presumably this has a revised codec).
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djfujiyama
- Archos Novice
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:00 pm
Re: ARCHOS 604 wifi :Copy Protected Video File?
Brian1066,
Thanks for the tips. I have a bunch of home video footage that was encrypted with the DRM and this trick worked. Only problem is that the footage is still half-garbled even after changing the hex codes around.
Has anyone found a way to truly decrypt the macrovision/archos DRM and get the original-quality picture back? Archos tech support is worthless.
I've offered several hundred dollars on elance for a solution but no one could find me one. Any ideas?
Thanks for the tips. I have a bunch of home video footage that was encrypted with the DRM and this trick worked. Only problem is that the footage is still half-garbled even after changing the hex codes around.
Has anyone found a way to truly decrypt the macrovision/archos DRM and get the original-quality picture back? Archos tech support is worthless.
I've offered several hundred dollars on elance for a solution but no one could find me one. Any ideas?
Re: ARCHOS 604 wifi :Copy Protected Video File?
This is just crazy. I've just run into the same problem. I am recording from 8mm tape to my archos and I'm using both analog and digital tapes with both analog and digital camera. All tapes were recorded with the same 2 cameras. Both are piece of crap sony's. I'm using the rca plugs to connect to the docking station. Red White and Yellow. How the heck is it possible that most of my video's are now copy protected and can only be viewed on a 5 inch screen? I will never buy another archos device or sony if I find that this is deliberate.