[Q] Movie Streaming from WHS - Desire HD Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi guys
I have recently come from the Windows mobile systems to Android (because WP7 is kack), I used to log into my Windows Home Server and stream movies from it to my phone using WebGuide.
This method doesn't seem to work on Android, does anyone know of any applications for Android or Windows Home Server which will allow me to do this again?
Most movies are home made and have been converted to .mp4 or .wmv formats but I do have a couple of .avi movies too.
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Terry

I have had luck with the mp4 streaming server from the tools4movies website. Streams well over wifi and will do 3G if the quality is reduced enough. It might suit most of your needs
Never found an Android app and was considering a Windows 7 phone since it is supposed to work well with WHS V2, I have decided to stick with Android.

terryd1980 said:
Hi guys
I have recently come from the Windows mobile systems to Android (because WP7 is kack), I used to log into my Windows Home Server and stream movies from it to my phone using WebGuide.
This method doesn't seem to work on Android, does anyone know of any applications for Android or Windows Home Server which will allow me to do this again?
Most movies are home made and have been converted to .mp4 or .wmv formats but I do have a couple of .avi movies too.
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Terry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can install VLC player on your server, you can watch your movies with VLC S&C Free app for your DHD. You can play anything with that - mp4, avi, wmv, mkv... you name it.

This is probably old news now but for anyone who wants to know, I finally found an app that works.
It's called Subsonic, it works on port 4040 on your media center/WHS box and streams perfectly for music and video - it doesn't say that it supports video as it was originally designed just for music but it works impressively none the less.
Subsonic also has a trick up its sleeve which allows you to watch live tv directly from your tv tuner, from what I can tell this only works from Media Centre machines itself with a HD Homerun box which allows TV over IP.
I hope this helps anyone who comes across this article.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

What media server is subsonic connecting to? I can't get it to see twonky

None, it just sits on my Windows Home Server and streams my personal music and movies directly.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

Related

[Q+R] HTC Connected Media/DLNA

Hi all,
I'm using last Cyanogen ROM on my DHD. I'm really happy with it but it's missing a working DLNA application. I have tried several apps on the market but none seems to work like the HTC one did. Would it be possible to extract HTC Connected Media/DLNA app from HTC ROM and install it on cyanogen? Would it work and how to install it in case someone could extract it?
The only app that seems to work is Twonky Server, a free app downloaded from the market. The only problem with it is that is unable to reproduce .mp4 recorded files with Cyanogen ROM, while it's ok with the .3gp ones recorded with HTC stcok ROM. Could it depend to a kind of incompatibility of Twonky Server or of my Samsung TV, where I use to see my media files?
Best Regards...
I stream videos and music to my DHD using the apps UPnPlay and VPlayer.
The Upnplay app can find your media server and stream, while the Vplayer app is able to play most video files including divx.
MegaAmiga said:
I stream videos and music to my DHD using the apps UPnPlay and VPlayer.
The Upnplay app can find your media server and stream, while the Vplayer app is able to play most video files including divx.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanx for your reply. But that's not what I was looking for. I found many apps that can share my DHD media contents with my Samsung DLNA TV. But there seems to be problems with .mp4 videos recorded with Cyanogen ROM. Stock ROM allows you to record .3gp files that are smoothly played on my tv via DLNA. But with .mp4 video I only get on my tv the message " unknown file format". So if there's someone who experienced the same situation and can halp me to understand the reasons of this problem, and maybe how to solve it, will be welcome...

[Q] Best way to stream and add data from PC - GN via WIFI?

What I would like to do is send files to my GN via my wireless network (movies, music files, pictures etc) and also stream files directly (i.e .mkv 720p video files). Would be very happy if you could point me in the right direction!
GN_ICS said:
What I would like to do is send files to my GN via my wireless network (movies, music files, pictures etc) and also stream files directly (i.e .mkv 720p video files). Would be very happy if you could point me in the right direction!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not so sure about streaming, but for transfer, Dropbox may help.
bennettm89 said:
I'm not so sure about streaming, but for transfer, Dropbox may help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Problem with that is, I first have to upload to the Dropbox servers and then download from the phone. What I want is a faster method since my upload speeds are very slow. I am thinking along the lines of a ftp server perhaps, but not sure if that is the best option?
GN_ICS said:
Problem with that is, I first have to upload to the Dropbox servers and then download from the phone. What I want is a faster method since my upload speeds are very slow. I am thinking along the lines of a ftp server perhaps, but not sure if that is the best option?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FTP seems that you would go through too much trouble setting it up just for that. I see your point about upload speeds though, and you are correct. I can't say I know of any other solution .
there's an app I use. its called wifi file explorer. you can use it to transfer files from your PC to the phone over wifi
If you are just looking to stream videos, look into mirage beta in the market, and use it in conjunction with a windows app called "air video server" it works great together, and it will even transcode subtitles, and transcode on the fly high res video down to something more compatible for streaming with. This setup is especially nice because you can stream your entire video collection at will to your phone, and not use up any space on the phone at all, (provided you have network)
For normal files, wifi explorer or dropbox work fine. If you want, you can even run a FTP server on your android device and connect into it from your computer using the IP address of your phone.
I use Plex - not only transcodes but the grabs box art, descriptions etc. and has a very slick interface. Might be overkill for your needs though...
Wifi file explorer is really nice for just getting general files to the phone. There's also a DAV server available (forget the name of it) so you could then mount the phone as a drive and copy directly.
ES File Explorer, all you needs in 1 app. Streams mkvs perfectly with dice player, no need for extra software on your PC
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
gabster21 said:
ES File Explorer, all you needs in 1 app. Streams mkvs perfectly with dice player, no need for extra software on your PC
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Slightly off topic but can ES access twonky servers? Would be nice to have the dice player integration and avoid the twonky app.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
gabster21 said:
ES File Explorer, all you needs in 1 app. Streams mkvs perfectly with dice player, no need for extra software on your PC
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesn't seem to work on the GN. All that happens is you get a dialog that says 'Dice player has stopped' (the same file plays fine if copied to the phone).
Edit: Seems to be ICS compatibility issue..
Code:
W/dalvikvm(32485): No implementation found for native Lcom/inisoft/mediaplayer/MediaPlayer;.setDataSource (Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/Map;)V
D/AndroidRuntime(32485): Shutting down VM
W/dalvikvm(32485): threadid=1: thread exiting with uncaught exception (group=0x40a531f8)
E/AndroidRuntime(32485): FATAL EXCEPTION: main
E/AndroidRuntime(32485): java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: setDataSource
E/AndroidRuntime(32485): at com.inisoft.mediaplayer.MediaPlayer.setDataSource(Native Method)
E/AndroidRuntime(32485): at com.inisoft.mediaplayer.MediaPlayer.setDataSource(Unknown Source)
E/AndroidRuntime(32485): at com.inisoft.mediaplayer.VideoView.p(Unknown Source)
Hi, try mobo player for the streaming part
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Does the Galaxy Nexus not feature dlna? That sounds perfect for OP's needs. Older androids feature this out of the box.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
The Gingerbread Man said:
Does the Galaxy Nexus not feature dlna? That sounds perfect for OP's needs. Older androids feature this out of the box.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're talking about Allshare, that only comes with TouchWiz not stock Android.
gabster21 said:
If you're talking about Allshare, that only comes with TouchWiz not stock Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no I mean dlna, you use it to stream video, pictures or music over wifi. For example I connect my x10 to wifi and enable dlna and activate dlna on my TV and I can then browse through my phones media contents and play them.
Was just looking through the settings on nexus and couldn't see it but also found wifi direct here's a good http://www.wi-fi.org/Wi-Fi_Direct.php its not the same as dlna, can't find it anywhere in the phone. Surely it has it?!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
The Gingerbread Man said:
Does the Galaxy Nexus not feature dlna? That sounds perfect for OP's needs. Older androids feature this out of the box.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually use Upnplay and Moboplayer on my Nexus S (and Ps3 media streamer on my PC) to stream MKVs from my desktop to my phone. Works pretty well and it's via dlna.
BinaryTB said:
I actually use Upnplay and Moboplayer on my Nexus S (and Ps3 media streamer on my PC) to stream MKVs from my desktop to my phone. Works pretty well and it's via dlna.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No sign on any settings for dlna or galaxy nexus, should be under settings/wireless and networks. Unless those apps have some kind of dlna built in to them? I want to use dlna just I can't find it or know if its even supoorted
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
BinaryTB said:
I actually use Upnplay and Moboplayer on my Nexus S (and Ps3 media streamer on my PC) to stream MKVs from my desktop to my phone. Works pretty well and it's via dlna.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you mean ps3 media server? and if so, can you tell me how it works on your phone? I have it on my PC and it works great on my ps3
Don't care about not included DLNA Apps. So far my experience was that most of the DLNA Apps the manufacturer added were crap :/
But well, there is one which worked always pretty well for me. It's the app "Skifta" by Qualcomm
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.skifta.android.app
Try this in combination with a good videoplayer (Diceplayer,Vplayer,Rockplayer) and it should work pretty fine. This way I could always stream my videos from PC to my Android phone without any problems. Just share the media in windows media player or any similar software which supports DLNA.
Couldn't test skifta on ICS so far because I'm still waiting for my phone but I hope it runs as well on ICS as it was running on older Android versions.
MysteriousDiary said:
Don't care about not included DLNA Apps. So far my experience was that most of the DLNA Apps the manufacturer added were crap :/
But well, there is one which worked always pretty well for me. It's the app "Skifta" by Qualcomm
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.skifta.android.app
Try this in combination with a good videoplayer (Diceplayer,Vplayer,Rockplayer) and it should work pretty fine. This way I could always stream my videos from PC to my Android phone without any problems. Just share the media in windows media player or any similar software which supports DLNA.
Couldn't test skifta on ICS so far because I'm still waiting for my phone but I hope it runs as well on ICS as it was running on older Android versions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Legendary, had an update 28/11/11 to support ics. Your a star for sharing, about to test now
It works!! Thanks man
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
rock7632 said:
do you mean ps3 media server? and if so, can you tell me how it works on your phone? I have it on my PC and it works great on my ps3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whoops, sorry, yeah, that's what I meant. Let me check my settings... I installed it a while ago and once it worked, I haven't touch it since.
On my HTPC Server, installed it, pointed it to whatever folders I want to share (currently only video for when I'm in bed at night and don't want to wake the wife with an episode of whatever), set the transcoding settings to use multi-cores, almost everything else on default.
On upnplay on my Nexus S... (horrible GUI btw), started up the app, the PS3 Media Server I just set up shows up automatically (it's all on the same wifi network, haven't tried it via 3G), click on it, my folder shares show up, I click on a video and it starts up via moboplayer.
I use moboplayer, tried a few others, found moboplayer to be the most stable for me while playing mkvs and any other video I throw at it.
A tip. I found (this was months ago, maybe it's better now with new versions) that mkv streaming of high res video on the Nexus S was unstable or really slow. So I used Handbrake to transcode a season of a show at time from MKV/720p to MP4/800x480. It was super simple, they have a phone profile you click on and voila. Downside? a bit more harddrive space it used, upside? Instantaneous playback.
Also, streaming MP4 h264 videos (which are natively supported by the Nexus S) via Upnplay would sometimes just quit the app randomly. Moboplayer was more stable in that regard too.

Best App for Streaming Video?

I have a collection of video files on my Windows XP PC that I would like to view on my A100 without downloading the multi-GB files to the Tablet.
What combination of PC server/Android player does the best job in terms of picture quality, user interface, file/format compatibility, etc.?
I use Gmote,it works great.you have the option to control the pc like a remote,or you can set it to stream from pc.uses wifi to connect.for my player i use Vplayer.
Sent from my HD2 Gingerbread using XDA App
Hooride707 said:
I use Gmote,it works great.you have the option to control the pc like a remote,or you can set it to stream from pc.uses wifi to connect.for my player i use Vplayer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply!
I don't understand how you use Gmote - what do you run on the PC?
I will give it a try and report back..
I have been using Playon for a few years now. there are some open source variations, I'll see if I can find some links for you later today.
Update on Gmote:
You install a small Gmote server program on your PC (Windows/Mac/Linux) and the Gmote client on your tablet. You then browse the media paths you have configured on the server. You select whether to play the file on the PC or on the Android device. If you select to play on the "phone", you have to select which player app to use. I had installed Vplayer, and selected it.
Update on Vplayer:
It works, but just barely. Lots of pixellation on my A100. It seems to be designed only for playing local files from /mnt/sdcard, doesn't even "see" /mnt/ext_card.
dharr18 said:
I have been using Playon for a few years now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me, too. I have the Playon server running on my Windows PC, and the free Playon for Android player "sees" the server OK. But I can't get the channels/plugins/files to play - there is no "Play" button on the Honeycomb screen!
Update:
I am having excellent results with:
- ES File Explorer to browse the media files on my PC. Once a film is selected, the File Explorer asks you which player to use.
- MX Player is the best option I have found so far. Very fast seeking, no pixellation.
Does anybody have good results with another program or programs?
Icestream is a great app to use to stream TV shows or movies. Works best with mx player or mobo player.
Sent from meXdroid Acer Iconia A100
I also have used vital player for the device,but i dont have any problems with the Vplayer.im using the full version,idk if that makes a diff how the player is.
Sent from my HD2 Gingerbread using XDA App
kascend video play not for tablet but it works great
even plays 1080p and mkv files
I am also having good results with Skifta (free on the Market). (www.skifta.com/)
The advantage with Skifta is it sees all of the media servers that are running on my PC (tVersity, Playon, Serviio) and lets me browse them for files and channels. For playback, I am still happy with MXplayer.
I use BS player. I can browse straight to my nas thru a file share and play a movie. No need to stream anything from a pc or upnp. Lite version is free and works great.
Sent from my I9000 using Tapatalk
+1 for BSplayer. It includes hardware acceleration for Arm v7. It has gesture control for volume, brightness, zoom.
Nice
Sent from my HD2 Gingerbread using XDA App

Streaming media

I don't use Netflix which I know is good. What streaming media (apps or browser links) look good on the N7? A few that I like that seem to work well (and look good):
syfy.com/rewind
usanetwork.com/videos (must subscribe to cable or Sat service)
dish.epixhd.com (must subscribe to cable or Sat service)
dish remote access (app)
crackle (app)
tv.com (app)
None are perfect, but I would rate all a "4"; they look very good full screen. I tried TNT, it kind of sucks.
tcat007 said:
I don't use Netflix which I know is good. What streaming media (apps or browser links) look good on the N7? A few that I like that seem to work well (and look good):
syfy.com/rewind
usanetwork.com/videos (must subscribe to cable or Sat service)
dish.epixhd.com (must subscribe to cable or Sat service)
dish remote access (app)
crackle (app)
tv.com (app)
None are perfect, but I would rate all a "4"; they look very good full screen. I tried TNT, it kind of sucks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you had comcast I would highly recommend the xfinity app, its perfect and they have refined the app for 7" screens
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Crunchyroll works great. Shame they dumped the tablet interface in the redesign though...
What about streaming from a Home NAS? I use FreeNAS and have like, 8TB of movies, in storage, that I stream to my PS3 using PS3 Media Server, but want to do the same with my tablet....
I use bsplayer to stream video from nas which I think is very easy setup
Plex is a really good answer for streaming from a pc to the nexus if you have lots of movies,
it automatically gets all the tag info from the web, like cover art etc.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5wbGV4YXBwLmFuZHJvaWQiXQ..
I use MovieBrowser UPnP to browse my nas and dice to play the videos. Best solution for me so far, but I'm going to check out some of the other options mentioned in this thread.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
I can't add to the OP's list, but for streaming movies on my home network, I use TVersity on a Windows PC because it's compatible with a gazillion devices, particularly my Xbox 360. I have MediaHouse on the Nexus and I watch the movies with MX Player. TVersity does take a little bit of configuring. MediaHouse discovers it within a second or so and its integration with MX Player is seamless.
XBMC?
I just looked at xbmc. Looks interesting. Does it find shows on a dvr? I see the screen examples of like 1000 movies and 8 seasons of 24... do people actually have that much stored on a pc, or does this find stuff on your dvr or on line? No way all that can be stored on an n7.
ksimilie said:
XBMC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to put a plug in for MediaHouse combined with Mx. Seamless streaming from a new DLNA drive on my Netgear router.
I have 40GB of movies (that I purchased) and a few GB of music on it.
The moves are as ripped, .avi, and they look great. I like not having to convert.
CarsnGadgets said:
Plex is a really good answer for streaming from a pc to the nexus if you have lots of movies,
it automatically gets all the tag info from the web, like cover art etc.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5wbGV4YXBwLmFuZHJvaWQiXQ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another vote for Plex...I use it and love it
derek1387 said:
What about streaming from a Home NAS? I use FreeNAS and have like, 8TB of movies, in storage, that I stream to my PS3 using PS3 Media Server, but want to do the same with my tablet....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use ampdroid app with MediaPortal on PC. I can browse my various collections and stream 15GB bluray rips to the N7. I was surprised it worked with the large file size and type.
using dice player with plugin...streaming from pogoplug NAS running archlinux
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Another vote for Plex here, I love the way it catalogues and finds all the cover artwork for my library. The remote is a very nice touch too!
I just use ES File Explorer to browse my server's Samba share and have it open to MX Media Player. Most media is encoded to 720p mkv and using software decoding it plays back fine.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Found the best streaming media for n7, mediahouse-pro with MX player-pro video player. I wasted a couple bucks on other apps including plex and it was kind of frustrating at first. But I got it now and thought I would share.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Mannn121 said:
Found the best streaming media for n7, mediahouse-pro with MX player-pro video player. I wasted a couple bucks on other apps including plex and it was kind of frustrating at first. But I got it now and thought I would share.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if this was mentioned but Network Places (Innocomm) GVNDroid works very well on my Nexus 7 I was fustrated at first that iMedia sucked the way that it did but now that I've found this - Give it a try
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.innocomm.SambaExplorer
stompysan said:
I just use ES File Explorer to browse my server's Samba share and have it open to MX Media Player. Most media is encoded to 720p mkv and using software decoding it plays back fine.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly what I do! ES File Explorer is extremely user friendly and it's just a matter of marking folders as shared and they pop up on my N7. Couple that with MX Player and it's a home run
matius44 said:
Exactly what I do! ES File Explorer is extremely user friendly and it's just a matter of marking folders as shared and they pop up on my N7. Couple that with MX Player and it's a home run
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
stompysan said:
I just use ES File Explorer to browse my server's Samba share and have it open to MX Media Player. Most media is encoded to 720p mkv and using software decoding it plays back fine.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
could you guys show me how to set up es file explorer with my windows 7 to share movies.
i have been trying to set it up. i cant figure it out.

Videp Player with SMB

Hi all!
Very new here, and to Android! I've just purchased a Tab S 10.5 and it's my first try away from Apple products. So far definitely enjoying the freedom
I notice on the Samsung video app that you can click 'nearby devices' and browse through my SMB file share on my network, however it's not in folders and you can't search! I've been using VLC Beta for 'on device' media but are there any good video players that have better SMB browsing?
Thanks!
A very good free SMB capable file manager is ES File Manager on the playstore. It definitely shows the network share in a folder hierarchy but to the best of my knowledge does not have a search feature. If you tap on a specific file you can associate the file type with a specific app. For example a mpg video with a media player app. On Android I would recommend MX Player as the best all around video player app handling the widest range of video formats plus hardware acceleration. There is a free version you can try.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using XDA Premium HD app
3DSammy said:
A very good free SMB capable file manager is ES File Manager on the playstore. It definitely shows the network share in a folder hierarchy but to the best of my knowledge does not have a search feature. If you tap on a specific file you can associate the file type with a specific app. For example a mpg video with a media player app. On Android I would recommend MX Player as the best all around video player app handling the widest range of video formats plus hardware acceleration. There is a free version you can try.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank-you! I will check it out. Sounds like it'll be exactly what I need Cheers!
Just a word of advice. SMB is a terrible profile and you will get much better video playback over dlna or plex than SMB, assuming you have at least a cheap PC capable of running a DLNA server(several free).
You can also use BS Player to play your videos over SMB and support many codecs
leojab said:
You can also use BS Player to play your videos over SMB and support many codecs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 for BS Player. It can also find subtitles online for the videos if needed.
gottahavit said:
Just a word of advice. SMB is a terrible profile and you will get much better video playback over dlna or plex than SMB, assuming you have at least a cheap PC capable of running a DLNA server(several free).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dunno.....I run all my videos over smb to my Android box, don't require an extra PC, external subs works fine, and all my other PCs can access those files just fine.
Fiddling with DLNA just introduces more overheads....no thanks.
kenkiller said:
I dunno.....I run all my videos over smb to my Android box, don't require an extra PC, external subs works fine, and all my other PCs can access those files just fine.
Fiddling with DLNA just introduces more overheads....no thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you running 1080p full blu ray streams? I didn't say it wasn't a little setup, just much better throughput. Either way whatever works for you.
BTW why do you need another pc? Are you running your drives right off you router?
The SMB player I'm using is Archos Video Player. Played everything I threw at it.
I love plex for all my devices. If only they didn't remove the RAR support...
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

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