HP notebook wont play IronMan

[Stu111]

Hi all,

So i bought IronMan on BluRay and it wont play on my HP. Other titles work just fine. Im using the software that it came with, its called QuickPlay. I bought the movie at Best Buy where they tested it out for me. Worked just fine over there. They said i needed to do a 'firmware' update. I when to the HP website to look for firware update can couldnt find anything. So i contacted HP and they said its the disk. WTF! This is my second copy of IronMan.

Is there some other type of software that can install that will play BluRay? I dont really want to buy software because i spent 2K on the laptop.

Thanks for any help!
Stu

[R3DRUM]

Try using Powerdvd or Windvd for Blu playback instead.

[CyberVisions]

Originally Posted by Stu

Hi all,

So i bought IronMan on BluRay and it wont play on my HP. Other titles work just fine. Im using the software that it came with, its called QuickPlay. I bought the movie at Best Buy where they tested it out for me. Worked just fine over there. They said i needed to do a 'firmware' update. I when to the HP website to look for firware update can couldnt find anything. So i contacted HP and they said its the disk. WTF! This is my second copy of IronMan.

Is there some other type of software that can install that will play BluRay? I dont really want to buy software because i spent 2K on the laptop.

Thanks for any help!
Stu

First off, DO NOT try to download and use the regular version of PowerDVD or WinDVD. They won't work with HP BD's. Second, Best Buy only has BDT's and you can't listen to anything they tell you anyway. I fix more systems that they screw up than any others.

Quickplay is a modified version of Cyberlink's PowerDVD - you've probably already tried to run it off your desktop and found that it just opens up QuickPlay. If you install over it you'll just screw up what you have.

What you need to do is update QP to 3.7 - you're not going to find a firmware update on the HP site so don't bother waiting, as we've been waiting for them to post it for months, even though they list it as a playback problem solution. And don't try and use a firmware update from the OEM site as you'll only wind up needing a new drive - you can't flash firmware from OEM sites unless they're specifically marked as generic, and most aren't. You have to get it from the system vendor's site (HP) as the firmware, like QP, is customized for use in their systems. All 3rd party vendors do this. You don't need it anyway as the QP update will usually fix any BD playback problems.

I've yet to see HP post the QP 3.7 update on any of the HP System Support pages (Drivers), but you can do it within QP itself:

1. Open up QuickPlay with the QL button or from the Program window.
2. Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner to the left of the Min/Max icons. This will open up another menu.
3. At the top of the next menu, Click on Update. The system will automatically connect to the HP site and update QP to the latest version (3.7). Restart your system and try replaying you BD.

Navigation - You'll need to either use your arrow keys or your remote (if you have a dockable remote or an card remote in your expresscard slot) to navigate the BD menu, not the mouse. Some genius figured that when using a BD, the user would use a remote or arrow keys, not the mouse. Stupid? No argument here.

Something else to consider - Iron Man uses BD live, and can cause problems when loading. The way to deal with it is to isolate your system from the 'net during playback - turn off your wireless or unplug your ethernet cable, whichever is appropriate, if it has problems loading because of this. Some PS3 owners had a problem with it until the latest update. You'll know if it's a problem as it'll keep trying to load but won't ever finish.

You should shut down your wireless and any other applications anyway when using your system for playback. Wireless can cause interference, and applications can cause playback pauses or jumps.

If you're sending out to an external display via HDMI - you need to open up your Sound options and switch the speaker output from Speaker/Headphone to either HDMI or SPDIF, whichever one you have shown on your system (yes, SPDIF even if you're using an HDMI cable). This will redirect the audio to your external monitor.

Also, you can't use your notebook for BD playback with an external display if you're in cloned display (multi-display) mode on your GPU - content protection won't allow it. The BD will stop after a few seconds with a content protection message. To get it to work properly, you have to set the external display as your primary notebook display.

BTW, in case you were wondering - BDT is my acronym for "Book and Database Tech". Seems like real techs like me and a few others I run into are few and far apart. Of course BB can't afford real techs with real experience anyway, and that should be a clue. I'm afraid HP isn't much better unless you have an extended warranty contract.

This should get you going. If you have any other problems let me know, or come see us at NotebookReview.com (HDX Owners).

[Stu111]

Thanks! Now its working!

[RedRock]

I had the same problem with Ironman. I did what was said and updated Quickplay and it works perfectly, the other tips were also helpful. I didn't have a gear icon but there was an planet icon that i clicked and went into an update menu. Thanks for the info.

[EJtheBBC]

I can play Ironman just fine on the HP DV7-1145nr display, but when I try to use an External Monitor I get a "The content is protected. The content is not allowed to play in the current display mode." error.
I'm trying to send this signal via HDMI to an LCD with 720p or an HD Rear Proj with 1080i. Either way, I set-up the TV as the only monitor and still get this error. Is it because I'm trying to downgrade the signal from 1080p?
Any help would be appreciated. Thx Ed

[CyberVisions]

Originally Posted by EJtheBBC

I can play Ironman just fine on the HP DV7-1145nr display, but when I try to use an External Monitor I get a "The content is protected. The content is not allowed to play in the current display mode." error.
I'm trying to send this signal via HDMI to an LCD with 720p or an HD Rear Proj with 1080i. Either way, I set-up the TV as the only monitor and still get this error. Is it because I'm trying to downgrade the signal from 1080p?
Any help would be appreciated. Thx Ed

Glad the QP instructions helped you guys. Wish HP would learn how to use them - they're telling people all kinds of incorrect ways to fix a simple problem.

Ed,
Usually you get this problem when you're setting up your system in cloned or dual-view display mode. Even though you've indicated that your external is the only monitor, you haven't said whether or not your PC is set to use your external as its primary display. If not, that's your problem - you have to set it as the primary PC display.

Problems can also occur if your system monitor (in this case your external) is in full color mode - normally when a system starts BD playback it automatically resets the desktop colors to 16. If your external is set as the PC's primary display and isn't doing that, it could be a contributing factor.

Another possibility is the HDMI cable you're using - if it's an older HDMI type cable (1.1 or 1.2) and it's HDMI-DVI or if it's a pre-2005 HDMI cable, it will cause a content protection error as well.

You also need to remember that your external display has its own HDMI input settings, and most systems aren't set to automatically sense an HDMI cable connection - it has to be turned on. The way to determine this of course is whether or not you can view your PC desktop on your external.