I need a M4V to MP4 Conversion Program

[Daninski]

I've looked around and even downloaded a couple but so far no go for a FREE quality program. One did work but took 4 hours and reduced the image quality to crap. Another one I just tried got flagged by my virus protection even though it was on CNET. A lot of times movies are posted as MP4 then I find them to actually be M4V so my WD system can't play them. I tried to flash my WD media center box but it won't display the flash tab I need to do the flash. Help?

[Nd4SpdSe]

I've looked around and even downloaded a couple but so far no go for a FREE quality program. One did work but took 4 hours and reduced the image quality to crap. Another one I just tried got flagged by my virus protection even though it was on CNET. A lot of times movies are posted as MP4 then I find them to actually be M4V so my WD system can't play them. I tried to flash my WD media center box but it won't display the flash tab I need to do the flash. Help?

M4V files are Apple/iTunes files, but guess they're mostly based off of Mp4, reason why some work, some don't. People take file extensions too seriously. The extension just determines what program is associated with it. Whem the movie player opens the file, it reads the codec information stored within, and grabs the codec needed, it doesn't care on what extension the movie is. You could call it .AVI, .MPG, .MP4 or even .DAN, as long as it opens it in media player, it takes care of the rest, you just need to make sure the required codec is installed. That's for a computer (PC), media devices probably handle extensions and file types differently.

There's a good program to verify the codecs needed for media files. I used G-Spot (ya, wonderful name, really don't see the connection), http://www.headbands.com/gspot/, and it'll let you know exactly which codec is needed.

You probably already came across these, but there's some info related to your specific needs and devices, with recommendations on software:
http://www.aimersoft.com/itunes-drm/itu ... -live.html
http://wdtvforum.com/main/index.php?topic=10372.0
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?fo ... icid=96583

You have 2 issues,

1) M4V as a file type is just H.264 MP4 which is playable by your WDTV,

2) However what you bought from the Itunes store is an MP4 that is DRM'd up the wazoo and will only play via itunes- Welcome to the world of copy protection.

If you don't have the Flash tab, I want to guess it's related to Administratitive privilidges, maybe you need to login as an Admin with that permission. Best to contact WD for help with that issue, unless someone here had that problem with that specific issue, and it should be an easy question for them to answer.

To update the firmware via a USB device:
1. Go to http://support.wdc.com to download the latest firmware update compressed file for
your WD TV Live Hub Media Center.
2. Click "Downloads" then the product name (or photo).
3. Extract the four files (.BIN, .BI2 .VER, and .FFF files) to the root (top level) of a
portable USB drive.
4. Connect the USB drive to the WD TV Live Hub Media Center's USB port.
5. Press HOME, and then select the Settings bar.
6. Select the firmware upgrade icon, and press ENTER.
7. You are prompted to perform the firmware upgrade.
8. Select OK on the firmware update prompt, and then press ENTER. This will restart the
system.
9. After restarting, the system automatically enters firmware upgrade mode.
10. Once the update process is completed, the WD TV Live Hub Media Center will restart
again.
11. Once the WD TV Live Hub Media Center restarts, the new firmware is automatically
loaded.
Important product update notes:
Make sure the only USB drive connected to the WD TV Live Hub Media Center contains
the product update files.

To update the firmware via the online update tool:
Once firmware is available through the online update tool, you will be automatically prompted to update. Simply click “Okay,” and the update will be downloaded and applied. Alternatively, users may manually check for an online update at any time by going to the “Check for updates” section within the device settings menu, while the device is connected to the Internet.

If you have acquired these movies from the Internet, sometimes it's jut easier to just redownload them. I don't even convert my own movies, I just download them, so much easier, lol.

If you need codecs, my favorite pack is the K-Lite Codec Pack
http://www.codecguide.com/download_kl.htm

[Daninski]

Ya I don't get the Update firmware icon. Some times the only good copy is a M4V. Kinda like if you downloaded them from torrents I'll look at a couple of the links you provided, thanks.

[stepchyld]

I've had good luck with SUPER media converter. It's SLOW, and doesn't handle multiple files very well, but it's free and did work for me. It was created by eRightSoft. It passed Norton360, but Avast flags it as 'possibly suspicious' - fyi

[kareoacke]

Hello, you want to play m4v files on your car or other? Well, some programs can do convert m4v to mp4, I just know ADORESHARE M4V CONVERTER GENIUS. I haven't used it and I just heard it. It should be great