NAS plus Virgin Media?

[GlenMH]

How are you trying to access the content on the NAS? Via a network share (mapped drive) or via the built in media server?

If it is via the media server then this may be to do with the media library software on the NAS. My QNAP only scans for new content periodically unless I tell the Twonky media sever to continuously monitor the specified content directories. Or you can also tell the server to manually rescan the directories once you have put some new stuff in there.

Otherwise it should do an automatic rescan every few hours.

[SGirl]

Yes, I've wired the NAS up to the SH.

Progress! I've managed to change the IP status to DHCP, and now I can view the content on the NAS using the DS File application via my iPad on the same network. Which is an improvement. I can access the NAS via my phone's network, but the mobile app doesn't allow me to view individual files. I'll check on another PC on the same network when I get a minute.

What I still can't do is view audio or video content on the Blu-Ray player or TV on the same network, and I can't view those files in the DS Video or DS Audio apps on the iPad either.

[SGirl]

Thanks for the info on indexing the files. I thought it'd done that last night, but it seems it never completed. I'll re-index everything and then come back to it.

[RizzoTheRat]

Those are all streaming viewers so the problem is the with the media server not the router settings.

[Bollah]

Another 213j user here

First off, have you updated the firmware to the latest version? Version 5. If you haven't I'd suggest you do that first, as this will make the quickconnect function to work properly. They have improved it a lot so you won't need to do any port forwarding etc..

As for the video issue, what format are the files that you have copied over to it?

[SGirl]

RizzoTheRat said:

Those are all streaming viewers so the problem is the with the media server not the router settings.

Great, thanks! I'll have a closer look at that then.

[SGirl]

Bollah said:

Another 213j user here

First off, have you updated the firmware to the latest version? Version 5. If you haven't I'd suggest you do that first, as this will make the quickconnect function to work properly. They have improved it a lot so you won't need to do any port forwarding etc..

As for the video issue, what format are the files that you have copied over to it?

Yep, I've got the latest firmware running. QuickConnect seems to work okay inside the network, not sure about outside it as yet because I have no way of testing it. Might nip into town on the bus later and use the Wifi there to see what happens!

The video files are all kinds of formats - mkv, mp4, avi are the most common ones.

[Du1point8]

Have you thought about quickly loading up VLC on a device and see if the streamed media will play through that.

[Bollah]

SGirl said:

Bollah said:

Another 213j user here

First off, have you updated the firmware to the latest version? Version 5. If you haven't I'd suggest you do that first, as this will make the quickconnect function to work properly. They have improved it a lot so you won't need to do any port forwarding etc..

As for the video issue, what format are the files that you have copied over to it?

Yep, I've got the latest firmware running. QuickConnect seems to work okay inside the network, not sure about outside it as yet because I have no way of testing it. Might nip into town on the bus later and use the Wifi there to see what happens!

The video files are all kinds of formats - mkv, mp4, avi are the most common ones.

Inside the network (presumably connecting via Wifi) you can use the IP address, but if you're connecting via the quickconnect name, then it should work when you're not connected to the Wifi. You could try using the dsfile app on your mobile when connected to your mobile network.

Those video's should work through the DSvideo app on your tablet (mine does, but I'm using android for my tablet and phone), but as someone mentioned earlier, you will need to do a index first before it starts showing up and may take a while depending on how many videos you have.

[SGirl]

Du1point8 said:

Have you thought about quickly loading up VLC on a device and see if the streamed media will play through that.

Thanks, that was a good idea! I've managed to get videos to play on other PCs in the network, and I can view all the files and folders on the other PCs.

[SGirl]

Bollah said:

Inside the network (presumably connecting via Wifi) you can use the IP address, but if you're connecting via the quickconnect name, then it should work when you're not connected to the Wifi. You could try using the dsfile app on your mobile when connected to your mobile network.

Those video's should work through the DSvideo app on your tablet (mine does, but I'm using android for my tablet and phone), but as someone mentioned earlier, you will need to do a index first before it starts showing up and may take a while depending on how many videos you have.

I still can't view the new folders on the TV, Blu-Ray or iPad. The software reckons they've all been indexed, but I can't see them.

I'm tempted to just use the old USB HDD for viewing media on the telly. I can access all the files on all the PCs across the network, which is the important bit. So I can work on any PC, I just can't stream the videos to the TV!

[GlenMH]

Can I ask a really stupid question: have you put the content directories where Twonky media expects to find them?

[essayer]

What TV do you have?

[SGirl]

GlenMH said:

Can I ask a really stupid question: have you put the content directories where Twonky media expects to find them?

Yep.

essayer said:

What TV do you have?

Sony Bravia. Please don't say that has known issues as well.

[anonymous-user]

I have a Synology NAS and run Serviio on it and stream to a Sony Bravia so it does work.

Firstly the Sony TV is quite fussy about formats and what may play from a HDD plugged directly in may not necessarily stream through the Ethernet port, weird but that is how they have done it.

There is a guide on the web to install serviio on the synology NAS and Servvio can transcode the video to a format the TV will understand but it is better to have everything as MP4 files on the NAS. You will need to install Java as an add-on package to get Serviio running.

My only concern would be the processing power of your NAS box but it is worth a try.

Hope this helps but before you try Serviio it is worth trying the Media Player App and see if that helps. Also check permissions on the directories that have the video files as these need to unrestricted.

[essayer]

Yes Sony TVs are quite fickle when it comes to playing over the network. Just because it plays from a USB it does not mean it will play the same formats over the network. Both of mine (2011/2013 vintages) need to go via a transcoder - I use Mezzmo and Plex

[spud989]

Ensure you're using usernames/passwords for requests where appropriate - made that mistake when setting up SMB shares from my Synology with XBMC.

[gpo746]

RizzoTheRat said:

Go in to the media server on the drive and check it's indexing all the files, I've got a MyBook Live connected to my Virgin Superhub and had to spend a bit of time fiddling with the Twonky Media Server on the drive so that it indexed everything and my PS3 could see them.

You also have to be wary of reboots with the WD drives
To be blunt we had one and decided to jettison it. I had been a fan of the device but feel the 3TB versions are too problematic and some of the comments on the forums are quite telling.
In this thread other posters comments about format issues over a network are very relevant. On some Samsung TV's the difference between viewing from a network and viewing locally are quite pronounced. I also now recall the issue there was with an LG smart box thing and nas stored files.

We simply have a drive connected to the TV itself - well 2 actually one is used fro recordings the other for playaback. Both being WD elements 9the basic type drives)

[SGirl]

gpo746 said:

We simply have a drive connected to the TV itself - well 2 actually one is used fro recordings the other for playaback. Both being WD elements 9the basic type drives)

This was my previous solution, although I connected the drive to the Blu-Ray player rather than the TV because it's easier to get at the USB slot! Think I might go back to that, to be honest. Still no go this morning after re-indexing everything. All accesses are set to unrestricted, the devices can see the NAS, everything. They just can't see the files!

At least the NAS works okay with the PCs. That's the main reason for it being there in the first place - so that I can keep central copies of all my work. It would've been handy to have the TV/Blu-Ray working with it as well, but heyho. You can't have everything, I suppose.

Thanks everyone for all your help on this thread! I really appreciate it.

[Jinx]

essayer said:

Yes Sony TVs are quite fickle when it comes to playing over the network. Just because it plays from a USB it does not mean it will play the same formats over the network. Both of mine (2011/2013 vintages) need to go via a transcoder - I use Mezzmo and Plex

Supported file formats

Bloody hell that's a poor list of formats supported. I thought the Toshiba I'm using was fussy (well it is over the network - an external drive plugged into the back plays anything - except WMVs for some reason).