DeviceGuru

Boxee has released a bug-fix update to the Boxee Box’s firmware. Version 1.2.1, a mandatory upgrade, deals primarily with issues relating to SMB (Windows shares) functionality, syncing, and streaming, according to its release notes.

“We’ve really focused on issues that we’ve been hearing from the community on this one so we’ve invested a lot in SMB sharing issues, syncing, and streaming issues.,” says Boxee. “We know there’s still issues to conquer, but we feel this release is a huge step in the right direction.”

In case you haven’t received the forced update yet, you can obtain it manually by following these instructions.

Upgrade details

Here are further details regarding what has changed in this release, as listed in the version 1.2.1.20451 release notes:

• Networking & File Playback bug fixes:
  • Inconsistency when trying to access a password protected share of Windows7 via SMB
  • SMB mount fails with Invalid argument error
  • SMB fails to mount with error “Key has expired”
  • Fail to access or create SMB password protected shares when the password contains special characters
  • Mounting SMB CIFS password protected share is missing the domain parameter
  • SMB shares are only mounted to hosts which are found by boxee network discovery
  • SMB browsing into WORKGROUP fails
  • When adding an SMB password protected file source manually, boxee writes the password and user name in the log
  • SMB shares cannot be accessed on a Synology NAS when disabling the guest account
  • Using wrong credentials to access a SMB password protected share will fail and prompt user and pass dialog until reboot
  • Browsing into password protected SMB directory fails with error Operation not supported
  • Fail to access or create SMB password protected shares when the password contains special characters
  • Users is prompted for pre-defined password when accessing protected SMB sources
  • Subtitles show up as “unknown” instead of the proper language with embedded subs in MKVs
  • MKV playback over UPnP drops out after ~ 48 minutes
  • Cannot seek in MKV videos on UPnP
  • 2 channel FLAC always converted to 48 Khz PCM on HDMI interface if EDID is disabled
  • Boxee will only output 96Khz and 88.2 Khz PCM over HDMI if EDID is enabled in the Boxee settings
  • 88Khz FLAC and WAV files result in silent playback
  • Subtitles timing problem causes overlay
  • Song title in upper OSD disappear only every second select click
  • AC-3 Audio volume is lower than previous version
  • MPEG4 with packed bitstreams didn’t work
  • WMV streaming out of sync
  • Small ISO files would not fast forward / rewind
  • WMV/MMS streaming issues
  • Dropouts on AC-3 audio
• Apps:
  • UStream Lounge search/browse features stopped working
  • The Gymbox application not loading workouts
  • Accuweather App – hourly forecast is showing daily forecast data
  • HDHomeRun .strm files no longer work
  • Speed TV: Labels in List Container are scrolling
• Interface:
  • Boxee crash when trying to move up from the most upper line in the Share Dialog edit box
• Libraries:
  • After removing a channel via the channel filter it remains available in the channels list, but it’s TV episodes are no longer available
  • Marking a TV show as watched doesn’t work
• Browser:
  • Remove redundant video controls from Bloomberg video
  • Audio stopped working after Youtube (appeared for other flash websites as well)
• Localization:
  • Localization sync for Accuweather
  • Norwegian translation errors
  • Italian translation errors
• Miscellaneous:
  • Logitech keyboard controller K700 support
  • AirPlay support for iOS 5 devices

Mixed reviews

As evidenced by posts on Boxee’s user discussion forum, some Boxee Box owners have experienced problems resulting from the v1.2.1 firmware update. If any issues arise, you may want to consult the discussion regarding this upgrade at Boxee’s user forum.