Just picked up my Vibrant today (Bell Canada version). So far, I am very happy.
However, one thing I thought I would be able to do with this phone (since it is DivX HD certified), would be to stream DivX over the network to it - either via Astro / SMB, or via the AllShare UPNP it comes with - without having to convert them.
Alas, neither of these seem to work. All I ever get is "video format not supported" or some-such from the built-in video player.
In anyone able to STREAM DivX avi or mkv files to this phone? I know my UPNP setup works because my BluRay player (also a Samsung, with "AllShare", BTW) can play it fine.
Based on my testing, Allshare's media playback definitely does not support all of the media formats/codecs that the primary video player supports. So while DivX and MKV videos work fine copied to your SD card, the current version of Allshare may not stream them wirelessly. I simply get an error message stating "Sorry, this video cannot be played"
This could be a matter of Allshare simply not using the same codecs, pending a possible update. ::crossing fingers:: Since both MKV and DivX are open standards, I don't imagine it would be a licensing / copyright restriction. I've personally found that while most XviD videos stream fine, a few will not. I haven't yet narrowed down the specifics.
I connected to my laptop with Windows Media Player, XBMC, and Samsung PC Share Manager thus far. Some of what I've read about various DLNA media servers suggest that real-time conversion may be an option in cases. These UPnP Media Adaptors transcode the files as it comes across. I have yet to look into that as a work-around but remain hopeful. [Update: It sounds like Nero Media Home may handle this well]
Ultimately, I foresee the Galaxy S (Transdroid) and DD-WRT (Transmission, uShare, external HDD) routers becoming the nexus of many home entertainment centers.
Yeah... the device I use for my UPNP server is a router... so real-time conversion is for sure not an option.
Given that the player can play these files, it seems silly that AllShare can't read them. AllShare *is using* the native player. So it is somehow messing with the files, or making the wrong guesses as to what it can play.
I might contact Saumsung support about this, maybe if people raise a stink about it it will be fixed in the Sept. update?
I have a Captivate, but I'm running into exactly the same problem.
I've used every "DLNA" supporting media server out there, transcoding or not, AllShare on my Galaxy S will not play it. It browses just fine, pictures work fine too, but video is a no-go.
What's really weird, is even after I get the "Sorry, this video cannot be played" error, if I go to properties->details, it shows me the correct duration, but a file size of "256.00GB". And I know the file in question plays beautifully when loaded onto my SD card, or the phone's internal memory. So what the heck is going on? Getting this to work on the Galaxy S would be an absolutely killer feature and I really hope more people get involved with this.
Shammyh said:
I have a Captivate, but I'm running into exactly the same problem.
I've used every "DLNA" supporting media server out there, transcoding or not, AllShare on my Galaxy S will not play it. It browses just fine, pictures work fine too, but video is a no-go.
What's really weird, is even after I get the "Sorry, this video cannot be played" error, if I go to properties->details, it shows me the correct duration, but a file size of "256.00GB". And I know the file in question plays beautifully when loaded onto my SD card, or the phone's internal memory. So what the heck is going on? Getting this to work on the Galaxy S would be an absolutely killer feature and I really hope more people get involved with this.
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I already sent a question to Samsung support through their website about it... I suggest you do the same. If enough people ask about it maybe a fix will make it into the rom update... there is obviously something wrong with it.
Unfortunately most on this forum seem to be using AllShare to play media from the phone on the TV, not the other way around.
same problem but it wont play any thing, including MP3's. I have media tomb setup as a media server and I can browse it all day long but cant stream a single anything.....really annoying.
I have been able to stream mp4 videos from my NMT device (DragonTech ioBox, the A100-series of NMT hardware). That's it, though. No other formats will stream although I can browse for everything.
These are 720p mp4 files that I grabbed from YouTube.
i have the same problem too:/ dno wut to do!!!
MV10 said:
I have been able to stream mp4 videos from my NMT device (DragonTech ioBox, the A100-series of NMT hardware). That's it, though. No other formats will stream although I can browse for everything.
These are 720p mp4 files that I grabbed from YouTube.
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So.... UPNP problems are usually due to the headers sent to the player. If we knew what headers were being sent to the phone that *worked*, we might be able to know how to fix it.
I don't suppose you know how to use Wireshark? You can use it to sniff your network and see the HTTP headers being sent from your DLNA server to the phone.
Not familiar with it, but I'm a developer In Real Life, I can figure it out. I'll have a look.
Samsung support == horrible
So this is the email i sent
AllShare Player, Supported Formats
I am wondering what media formats the AllShare DLNA client on the Galaxy S can play?
I have several Divx HD media files that play fine when copied directly to the phone, but when I try to play them using the AllShare DLNA client (streamed from a non-transcoding DLNA server), they do not play.
What are the formats supported by the AllShare client, and what mime types is it expecting for those formats?
Is there any planned update to allow the AllShare client to support the same formats the phone does from the filesystem?
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This is how they respond.
Thank you for submitting your inquiry to Samsung.
Please try MP4 format.
Thanks
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Basically, they totally ignored the question.
What's more, if i try to reply, the form is busted.
*Frustration*
the thing with allshare i think is that whatever youre playing it on, has to be compatible with the file type.
i have a samsung c6500 bluray player that i use for allshare through vibrant which plays basically all formats, and i have no issue streaming anything to it through the phone.
theking52 said:
the thing with allshare i think is that whatever youre playing it on, has to be compatible with the file type.
i have a samsung c6500 bluray player that i use for allshare through vibrant which plays basically all formats, and i have no issue streaming anything to it through the phone.
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This thread is about doing the exact opposite.
The SGS/Vibrant can play Divx HD, heck it even has the Divx HD certified logo on the box. But if you try to stream it to the phone with AllShare, it does not work. If you copy it to the phone with USB, it works fine. So, AllShare is busted.
I don't want to play movies from my phone to my TV, I can't even think when I would ever want to do that. But playing movies or TV from my media server on my phone while lying in bed, that is something I may want to do occasionally.
This is strange as I am not having ANY problems with streaming divx Avi files and even 720p M4V files through AllShare to my phone. I am however not able to stream my MKV files.
The only thing I see different is that I use Twonky for my UPNP server running from a Nettop PC I have setup as a server. They do have a trial for Twonky for those that want to see if it works for them. http://www.twonky.com/
The biggest disappointment for me is that AllShare FORCES wifi. I was hoping I could hack that feature out of AllShare through the Vibrant dumps available here, but I cant seem to find what Im looking for. In truth Im kind of new to editing code, so Im really just taking guess most of the time.
The reason I want this to work over 3g is that a simple VPN should allow me access to my UPNP server from where ever I am. At present I have this setup using Hamachi VPN on several PCs that belong to friends and family. This allows them access to my Twonky UPNP server that they can browse with XBMC. My Fios 30Mb up/ 30Mb down connection will even allow them to stream 720p video from me. I dont even notice the hit to my bandwidth sense UPNP is pretty light in terms of bandwidth.
Anybody want to take a stab at getting the wifi only portion of AllShare removed?
Same here. I have Twonky running on my unRAID server and I'm able to stream MP3s, JPGs, and DivX AVI files without a problem. However, as soon as I touch an MKV file I get an error. I really don't see why as I can play them back locally on my phone. Has anyone gotten anywhere with this?
mac1978 over on Android Forums has tried renaming MKV files with AVI extensions and he says that works. Absolutely ridiculous. Does this mean that AllShare has blacklisted MKVs, or is there some sore of glitch in the supported file format list? Either way, it's clear this is a software issue on Samsung's part. Any idea how we can get it fixed?
http://androidforums.com/samsung-ca...re-streaming-samsung-bs-my-final-impasse.html
The AllShare player itself isn't that intuitive. Considering Samsung is launching a PMP based on our phones seems ridiculous considering it's shortcomings. Maybe it will spark more development in this area.
EDIT: This post suggests the feature was working post 2.2. Does anyone have a Galaxy S still on 2.1 that can test this out for us?
http://samsunggalaxysforums.com/sho...es-via-ALLSHARE-since-upgrading-to-Froyou-2.2
EDIT 2: There seems to be another thread on this in the i9000 forum. No one has anything really there either.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=801423&page=2
brunes said:
Basically, they totally ignored the question.
*Frustration*
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Yes, well, at least you could get an email address. It appears the Canadian website doesn't even HAVE email support. All they give you is a phone number (1-800-726-7864) which as of right now, redirects you to the American support line who are unable to even talk to you. I was able to get the correct number from them (1-905-542-3837) and told them about the redirection issue. Hopefully they will resolve that.
Anyway, the girl I spoke to was just as unhelpful. She was friendly about it, but after looking it up she said the reason was because of "codecs?" and that AllShare can't do MKV. It can only stream MP3s and AVIs, or some other nonsense. Clearly the case is not codecs because as some have observed if you change an MKV extension to AVI it plays. It is using the correct codecs on the phone just fine. AllShare is just rejecting the MKV container for some reason.
Because this is phone support there's no way to really escalate things, so I was hoping someone could get a hold of a Canadian Samsung Mobile Support email address? If not maybe a helpful American can contact the US support team and find out what is going on.
I am pretty new with this. How do you download movies? What software would you need? Also, can you plug it into the computer?
Download movies?
The movies that are on my elocity are from my own collection.
plug it into the computer?
I guess it depends on why you need to connect. If its to get files on the elocity, I use the app Dropbox to transfer files. Another user posted using bluetooth to transfer files.
This Elocity A7 section isn't that big and you could learn what others have discovered by reading some of the threads.
I use uTorrent over AceVPN with PeerBlock to download movies and television to a network storage device. From there, I use ES File to download to my A7 over wifi or sometimes I put the movie on a thumbdrive and then I use Act One to playback the movie.
Works very well for me although I would prefer to stream, but can't find any way to stream .avi files.
I use upn play and mobo player to stream video over home network.
hello
I use also iMediaShare, and Skifta (both DNLA)
why wouldn't my streamer apps (UPNP, Skifta, clear.fi etc.) not detect the mp4 files I am putting into my servers shared video folder? The apps see a my other video files, like the avi files and mpg files, but none of my mp4's show up.
Does that make any sense? Does UPNP ignore mp4 files? yet it seems like everyone converts their files to mp4 (which by the way play ok on the device if I attach and play through usb.).
I just want to convert everything to something that I can both stream and put on hard drive and take with me...
We all know that the A500 can't play most regular video formats such as DiVX and so on natively, so can anyone explain to me how come the Clear.Fi app is able to read these files well enough to generate thumbnails of them, but fails when I try to play them?
It doesn't make sense to me... How can it make a thumbnail of a random frame from the video if it can't read the encoding?
Yes, I know I can use Moboplayer to play back, and I do... Just trying to work out how Clear.Fi can make thumbnails of files it can't play.
I was just wondering the exact same thing today, any ideas anyone?