I just thought that I would share this with you all so that anyone experiencing the same problem as I did, can maybe find a solution.
I recently bought one of those Chinese MP4 player on ebay (and what a fantastic deal that was). Regardless to say that I wasn't much impressed when the item arrived after 3 months of struggle between the seller and I!.
Anywho, I started loading a few MP3 onto it and they played fine so I had no problem with that section.
I wanted to see the capability of the video section and loaded a few short video clips on avi/mpg format (encoded in DivX or XviD - for those who don't know XviD is DivX spelt backwards). After loading the video, I hit play and it came up with 'Format Error'.
After much searching and trying out different softwares, I finally managed to get the videos converted so that it now does work.
The way I did it:
You need two softwares: PocketDivXEncoder & AMV Converter
PocketDivxEncoder is a standalone application, which doesn't require any install. Once download, just open it and it will give you a devices to pick from. I don't think it really matter because it's only preadjusted settings that can be changed later. I chose the 1st one which is called 'Smartphone'.
Then, load the file you wish to convert and set the output location as well. You will see somewhere in the middle left hand side, a section that says 'Output Dimensions'. I found out that most AMV use two resolutions: 120X120 or 160X120. Hit the 'Change' button and make sure you untick the 'Keep aspect ratio' and set your screen size. (Mine was 160X120).
Once the output was complete, I then loaded the newly converted file into AMV Converter. Before converting, click on the file(s) loaded and you'll see an icon like a grew. Click on that and make sure your screen settings are correctly set to either 120X120 or 160X120 (depending on which settings you chose in the previous software). And VOILA!! It did work!
Now, three things I notice is that the software will crash if you haven't got the proper codecs loaded into your computer. If you don't have the proper codecs, you can download a pack at the following website: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Codec_Pack_All_in_1.htm
Secondly, although the MP4 player is meant to be holding 4,6 or 8GB, it is not always the case. Mine is meant to hold 8GB but found out it only has a capacity of 2GB. I formatted the whole drive and it did show 8GB, but pass 2GB, the files get corrupted and unreadable.
Finally, I found out that Vista is not as stable with these softwares. I managed to convert one movie and after that, my codecs started crashing and the conversions would not happens. I have absolutely no problems on XP.
