Lack of customer respect

Currently XBMC can be used to play almost all of the popular audio and video formats around. It was designed for network playback allowing you to stream multimedia directly from your NAS via HDMI to any monitor or directly from the internet using practically any protocol available.

Moderator: Lillian.W@AST

Locked
JoAligato
Posts: 13
youtube meble na wymiar Warszawa
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2015 3:28 am

Lack of customer respect

Post by JoAligato »

Dear community members,

As most of you in this thread, I bough a NAS less than 2 years ago and one of my criteria was the ability to play movies on TV using a direct connection to TV through HDMI.
18 months after, my NAS is still working but XBMC is no more functional and the only answer from Technical support is... we are sorry, it's an Intel issue... you can use Plex...
But, I'm sorry, Plex is not XBMC and I bought this NAS from Asustor, not Intel (otherwise, I will build my own NAS with Linux and FreeNAS Project..

I've asked support to connect to commercial to see f there is a way to upgrade my AS-604T to AS-6104T at a reasonable cost which run Kodi... but no answer from them...

I think it's a total lack of respect of the install based... but as customers we have the power... thanks to internet !
We have the power to tell all Web sites rating NAS how Asustor treat their customers
We have the power to start a Class action, as on Asustor WebSite, we can found :
"Even More Reliable After-Sales Service
ASUSTOR has extended the warranty period on all of its products to three years, continuing to make customer service a huge priority. It is ASUSTOR's mission to continue to provide its customers with products of the highest quality along with only the most reliable and attentive after-sales service and technical support."

My goal is not to start a war, but to find a reasonable deal for Asustor customers which are stuck with their non evolving NAS despite Asustor promise

To the moderator, This topic is written with a lawyer and if you decide to hide it, it's your choice but it will be part of the file if we open a class action

Again, my goal is not to hit Asustor, but just to force this brand to respect their customers and provide a solution when a technical choice result to a non evolving product. Everybody is making error but not recognize it and not trying to repair it is the real issue

JoAligato
MikeG.6.5
Posts: 917
Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 1:56 am

Re: Lack of customer respect

Post by MikeG.6.5 »

So, just to make sure I understand what you are suggesting here....

BTW, I'm NOT affiliated with Asustor in any way, shape or form. I am a CUSTOMER just as you are. I have purchased my NASes just as you have, so my suggestions to use Plex come from one user to another user.

XBMC is an application that was ported from existing code by Asustor to operate on their platform. For a while, XBMC worked flawlessly for those who were able to use it. Then the developers of XBMC themselves decided they were no longer going to develop the application, and that they would move to a new and improved application, now called Kodi.

Kodi is unable to run on many of the older Asustor models as the drivers required by the application aren't open source, but are only available to developers or hardware manufacturers, and only at a premium. (From my previous research this could amount to several hundreds of $'s PER DEVICE!)

So because the developers stopped development of the XBMC app, and it is now no longer functioning correctly you are suggesting that Asustor customers SUE Asustor because the application is no longer working? The machine you bought 18 months ago is now considered EoL. That means it's no longer being made, and likely will stop seeing support for new applications or ADM improvements in the next couple of years, if not sooner. It is still a fully functional NAS, and you do have options to use your NAS as a media device, just not as you intended to use it originally. (XBMC CAN still be used on the device, correct? The only thing you can't do is add new media to your existing library, right? Everything you have there is still playable via the HDMI output, correct?)

Of course Kodi won't work (well) with your model of NAS. And the developers of the application aren't going to port something out for a one-off. Kodi is available, but I don't know if it is for your model or not... They need to have some significant reasons to do port an app out. Either financial, or one of them has the device themselves. As neither are likely to happen, that means Kodi isn't likely to move to a CPU little better then the one in my cell phone...

I fail to see how Asustor is liable for much, if anything here. They didn't stop developing the application, the original developers did. Asustor doesn't have the resources to take over the major development of the application, as they are struggling to fix the bugs most of us have with the other apps that are working. Conversations with the original application developers are where people need to take this. Those are the ones that might have some liability, but as it was freeware/shareware, and subject to the GNU license, I highly doubt that, too. Apps like LooksGood might very well work as you intend and if so, the expectation from Asustor has been met. You can use your NAS via HDMI to watch your media.... (

If you are going to talk to lawyers, how much of your library is actually rips of your own hard copy media? Nothing pirated there you would want to hide?

There is a fix for this, but you have already stated you aren't interested in the fix. Plex and a $50 Roku aren't an option for you. That's too bad. Plex Media Server is literally the best thing I have ever installed on any computing device, bar none... And this from someone with over 30 years in the industry... You have last years model and expect it to be able to do this year's features, and are unhappy it's not able to. Do you also complain to the car dealership or manufacturer when new features are available on your older car? (Which is what you are basically doing, BTW...)

Threats of lawyers and the like aren't gaining you much BTW. A lawyer will tell you what you want to hear as long as you are paying for it. But, please, make sure your lawyer knows the WHOLE SITUATION, include the development history of the applications involved as well as the EoL cycle.... He might change his tune pretty quickly.... Just as you aren't likely to get a lawyer to sue because one model year of Prius has better gas mileage than the one previous.... You want the better mileage, buy the newer model. You want Kodi support, time to upgrade your NAS.... Same story in my eyes....

Again, I want to express this, so there is NO DOUBT! I do NOT work for Asustor. I do any support things ON MY OWN, and of my OWN VOLITION! You don't like my answers, well... After running 3 different models of Asustor NASes over the last 2+ years, if you want different answers, do the development yourself.
JoAligato
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2015 3:28 am

Re: Lack of customer respect

Post by JoAligato »

Thanks Mike for your long and details answer. I respect your point of view, and I just think that Asustor is not a brand for me.
If seems normal for you that "The machine you bought 18 months ago is now considered EoL. That means it's no longer being made, and likely will stop seeing support for new applications or ADM improvements in the next couple of years, if not sooner." and it's not normal for me.
There is a 3 years warranty on this product and on top of that, due to Cybersecurity risk, I would expect AMD to be supported at least during 5 years.
Regarding the XBMC /Kodi, if they are not able to provide support, they cannot use it as sales benefits as they do. It's too easy to highlight benefits of free stuff and refuse to handle their drawback. Next time, I will just stick to leading companies such as Synology or Qnap which have a real industrial strategy and respect of their install base.
MikeG.6.5
Posts: 917
Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 1:56 am

Re: Lack of customer respect

Post by MikeG.6.5 »

I'm not sure where you are getting your info on Syno and QNAP, but let me tell you, they are having the same issues Asustor is having with the same CPU chips in their models and support for XBMC and Kodi. This is an industry wide problem, so if you think going to their products will solve your problems, well, go for it, dude! It just takes you off this forum and onto theirs instead...

The ADM we have literally blows away anything either of those two companies have. Having worked on almost every major player's devices in the last 3+ years, what we take for granted with our ADM they are crying for with the other manufacturers. And now, with the work Philippe is doing to make a headless NAS into an almost complete headed machine with the newer 64-bit models the potential of what we can do with the newer models is tantamount to having a complete desktop machine available.

Computing is just like cars. You bought the thing and it still had the new car smell, but as soon as you drive it off the lot, it starts depreciating. Only with a NAS, or any other computer device, that depreciation starts the moment the first CPU is sold to the vendor. What you buy today for a computer isn't worth half of it's value in 6 months, and even less in a year.

This is just the way this industry is. It's always been this way. The CPU I bought at premium (over $1000 for just the CPU) a year ago is now worth about $250. A year from now and that same chip is going to be worth maybe $100. As computing devices are made faster, more capable, the costs for older tech drops.

The 3 year warranty Asustor has if for the hardware to be free of defects. That the device will be able to act as a NAS 3 years from when you bought it. Your NAS is exactly that, a NAS. You want it to be more, and for a year or so it was. But the applications you used to make your NAS into a HT system is no longer developed, and the machine itself isn't capable of running the replacement app. It's no different than buying a game for a PC. The game, out of the box, ran great, but the expansions you could download might require better hardware than the PC has. Now you can get pissed at the vendor for forcing you to upgrade, or you can figure out how to make what you have work for their game...

Let's look at this realistically... You paid under $1000 for a machine to act as a NAS and an HTPC, without the video hardware and drivers a true HTPC would need to have. To have a TRUE HTPC system to support even 1080p built from scratch would likely take all of the $1000 costs and then some. You bought a NAS. That's what you have. Not a full blown HTPC. If you wanted to have the full blown device, that's where you should have invested your money.

I've written a tips and tricks section tip thread about using your NAS and a Roku, Chromecast or other streaming device to turn it into a HTPC, via streaming. Roku just announced a $10 cut in price on the Roku Stick, so $40 gets you a device that plugs into your HDMI port on your TV, runs wirelessly and is capable of running Plex client apps on. (I have 3 of them, myself, so I know they work with Plex beautifully!)

To get what you want means either spending more coin than you did, to get the box to do what you wanted it to do from the get go, or spend $40 and learn a little bit about how to set up media to work with your own existing device. And before you say something like, "But I don't WANT to learn how to do all of this media conversions stuff" well you don't have to, but be prepared to pay premium for a box to do what you want it to do. My 7004T can take almost any media format and stream it, doing the conversions real time. But I paid $1300 for a bare bones NAS with no drives in it.

I have gotten after Shawn from Asustor support a couple of times after reading the posts Vera makes. I spent three days with posts here talking about XBMC no longer being developed and the app is considered dead. To come on the 4th day to see Vera make a post about HTPC's and Asustor with XBMC. I read him the riot act! I had been working hard to explain why XBMC was dead, and she goes to post about it. They pulled Vera's post that day. Marketing isn't seeing what support is having to contend with.

Or customers like myself, trying to help people out on these forums. I do this on my own time, and with 30 years in the computing industry I knew what I was getting into when I started down this path.

You are unhappy with your Asustor product. So, here's my advice to you, based on everything you have posted in your long and treasured history with Asustor and these forums: Back your data up to external drives, using NTFS or some similar format so it can be read by another OS. Remove the drives from your NAS and then sell the NAS on EBay for a small percentage of what you paid for it. Buy a Syno or QNAP NAS and put the old NAS drives into the new NAS. Initialize them according to their hardware and OS requirements, then restore your data from your external drives. Then in 6 months or a year start hitting their forums complaining how the device isn't working as intended there.

Or you can follow the real easy to understand thread I made about Plex and a Roku or Chromecast or FireTV or AppleTV4, or any of 10 or 12 different brands of smart TV's that have the Plex client app available to them. And use your NAS as a NAS, but streaming the media from the NAS to the device of your choice. And never have to look back, complain or fuss afterwards with up to 1080p content.

It's your choice, really.... If you go with the competitor, well, have a good life. If you want to learn about how to use your existing hardware the best way you can to make it stream your media, let me know. I'm around to help. Having used 3 different models of Asustor NASes, I'm sure I can figure out how to do something on yours pretty easily....
Bingo
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2016 5:47 pm

Re: Lack of customer respect

Post by Bingo »

I just bought a 302 as well and I am in the same situation as JoAligato. I just can see why it should be that hard to provide a mediaplayer to 302 for a company as big as Asus. They have, after all, provided the unit with an HDMI port.
User avatar
father.mande
Posts: 1810
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 2:55 am
Location: La Rochelle (France)

Re: Lack of customer respect

Post by father.mande »

Hi,

As Mike said ... the problem is 100% due to the lack of driver provide by INTEL ... and it's the same on Synology (even as I know they don't provide any NAS with Hdmi using this CPU and not sure Synology provide any NAS with Hdmi output) and QNAP with the same CPU integrating an IGP from PowerVR.

So YES it's a pity that a company like INTEL don't have any support on his own products ...

To add to the disaster ... PowerVR use specific libraries (GL/EGL) that are NOT compatible with new kernel and actual libraries ... so Kodi team (as other) are totally in a "dead end" ... and stop to work on this kind of CPU ... PowerVR only have support for Windows and Android ...

If you have to complaints against (ALL) NAS provider ... is perhaps to don't CRY, CLAIM and WRITE with BIGGEST characters that NOW ALL NAS base of this family of processor CAN'T BE REALLY use an HTPC server (or limited to the oldest approach) .
BUT even INTEL or MS$ or IB. App... also do the same (not informing) when they fall in this situation (I have some interesting piece of hardware in my cellar ... that go ahead in the wall ... ) ...

I don't have all the element ... I am like Mike a user ... but, in my case, with some NAS from different providers (all listed here and more) ... so the story is the same ... and perhaps you can have more OTHERS reason to cry against provider ... in this specific case you don't have the good target ... it's 100% Intel the "devil" :lol:

I am very happy to don't be, instead of QNAP's or ASUSTOR's or ... marketing, in situation to have to manage such problems ...
the last in the chain (before us) ... the seller ... receive all critics even he can't do anything against ... (except informing)

Philippe.
AT END : the QNAP's or ASUSTOR models owning this IGP are for ALL other NAS activities ... excellent NAS ... so perhaps try to obtain an exchange (if "media player" is your target from your seller, to a newest model or ask directly (NOT in a forum) a commercial help from the NAS builder ... no idea if this exist and is or not possible .
AS6602T / AS5202T /AS5002T / AS1002T / FS6706T
Locked

Return to “XBMC”