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good day.
i've noticed that when we take videos using XDA 2, it records the files as MP4. It isn't good but its not bad quality, HOWEVER, I cannot seem to play it when I transfer it to my PC.
Can anyone please suggest an MP4 to any recognizable PC format converter?
Thanks.
quicktime play them
quictime can play MP4 i think.
You can also chance the capture format to AVI
in Camera settings/Tools menu at bottom/Options
im hitting myself in the head, BOING!
thanks, im weird, hehehe.
there is also a codex u can install which will allow you to play MP4 in windows media player on your PC... i will upload it when i get home ... i use it without any problems
thanks, ill be waiting for the upload.
I've made a little research....
the videos are not recorded in mp4! They are recorded in "3GP" http://www.3gp.com
but you are right, Quicktime Player is the recommended player for 3gp files (regarding the above website).
Even the "QuickTimeAlternative" did not play the files
quicktimes does at least i've never had any issues
and it's the normal version not the pro one i use
as promised pls find the codex for windows media player, which will enable you to play MPEG4 on you PC.....like i said before its worked fine with me, i have been using it for the past 8months without any problems.
Regards.
oh just in case if you want to do you research this is where i got the codex from
http://www.mpegable.com/show/mpegableds.html
i'm not trying to be anel or anything but it's codec not codex
it's a merge of Compressor / Decompressor
where codex is a manuscript volume
shouldn't it be anAl ?
[double submit]
Can't find the delete checkbox
heh yeah well i do suppose i could blame it on that maybe the forum had a curse filter ..... but i'm not going to ...
There's also 3gp2rawavi command line utility that seems to work for the 3gp files produced by the XDAII.
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/downloads/3gpToRawAvi.zip
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is how they respond.
Thank you for submitting your inquiry to Samsung.
Please try MP4 format.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Currently 2.1 "All Share" will not play mkv's via lan.
Can a froyo user test the following methods.
Using a network file manager app like Astro, are you able to play a MKV from lan?
Via Allshare can you play a MKV from lan?
My Synology 107+ contains 3 small test files : one avi(Xvid), one mpg(MPEG2) and og one mkv(x264)
My I9000 JPK with OCLF could not play any of them!!!
I think they all worked on JM8!!!
Regards,
JKay
I tried avi format with my Philipf 46PFL9704, and it works fine!
But Mkv and default video it doesen't open 'cos it hasn't good codecs..
No luck with mkv or xvid (avi) through allshare on jpk.
Also its worth mentioning that the same files I tested play perfectly directly on the phone..
Trinitronik said:
I tried avi format with my Philipf 46PFL9704, and it works fine!
But Mkv and default video it doesen't open 'cos it hasn't good codecs..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has nothing to do with codecs. Copy the same file to your device and it will play fine. It is a problem with AllShare, and it seems like it is still broken in the Froyo update. Which doesn't surprise me since AllShare is not part of Android.
Guys, as I understand, Allshare is only used to transfer files to a player. Playing mkv or anything has to do with the player's capability. Firmware won't change the experience!
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
I rename my .mkv files to .avi.
Media Player 11 then picks them up as shareable, and I can stream them without problems via AllShare to my i9000.
Only problem is, you cannot seek, so you have to watch from the beginning.
I've streamed MKVs from my phone to my Western Digital TV box, with JF3 and JM2...
my allshare cannot find my laptop after I upgraded to 2.2 JPM.. anyone else have this issue?
I have reflashed and it still has this problem..
I also have a problem where the phone will connect to one of my routers at home, but will not connect to the repeater bridge router in my room which has identical settings as my main router..
Along with Allshare not working, these two features were working fine before, and now after I flashed froyo JPM, it stopped working..
When I tried going back to stock firmware, it still didnt work..
Any ideas guys? Thanks!
I'm having same problems.
Upgraded my Samsung Galaxy to Froyo and now can't play .mkv files via allshare anymore. This is so frustrating, I thought Froyo was all singing and going to make the Android device the ultimate weapon. I have tried other andriod .mkv players and all have the same problem <media not recognised>
Hi,
actually, after the update, AllShare is more or less completely broken. First of all, a firmware upgrade will most likely not help, because AllShare is not part of android at all.
Regarding another post: A media server does not only offer the video to a network source, it obeys to a certain standard (DLNA), which is why you will always find your MKVs being transcoded to some sort of MPEG stream before playing. The Media SERVER has all the work providing ready-to-go video, most likely with as little compression as possible. DLNA ist not just a samba share. It is way more than that.
Can anyone confirm the MP3 behavior I am experiencing? MP3s play fine for the first 30 seconds, somewhere around that they start skipping around and finally stop when played through my PS3 media client.
Samsung Galaxy S i9000, lagfixed, JPO.
Cheers.
Andreas
This is a real pain in the bum.. there must be a way to get the mkv files to stream from my server to my phone. It worked perfectly on the Android 2.1 version : (
I wonder who makes Allshare and if they are aware of the problem? Alternatively does anyone know any other program that can stream .mkv files to the Galaxy? I really don't want to start having to load an 8gb file on to the card to play it : /
There's another thread on this in the Vibrant forum. No news there either.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=10387971#post10387971
Hmm never tried Allshare but regarding Astro I've never gotten it to play anything from a network share, always had to copy to the SD card first. That does take an annoyingly long time so I'll watch for progress on this as well (for whenever I actually get a working SGS back in my hands ).
Try using ES File Explorer as it seems better than Astro and has its own video player which streams from FTP and file shares OK for me.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
thegadgetman said:
Try using ES File Explorer as it seems better than Astro and has its own video player which streams from FTP and file shares OK for me.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but it lacks tracking (skipping in a file) and also doesn't support MKV.
Is there a way stream my Nas media in allshare, I can only play pc files?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
sonci said:
Is there a way stream my Nas media in allshare, I can only play pc files?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AllShare is a DLNA program. It is capable of functioning both as a client and as a server. It sounds like you want to play back PC files on your phone. For this you would need something acting as a DLNA server. If your NAS doesn't support this then you could install a server program on something else and point it to your NAS for content. This could be a spare computer, a device specifically made for this, or even some routers.
Try to use another media server like PS3 Media server or tvirsity. DNLA will not support MKV files.
Using PS3 Media server I can stream mkv to my ps3 and my Samsung LCD tv that supports DNLA.
can someone try to work on ps3 media server settings ,on the fly trans coding maybe is better option then changing whole library of movies.It work for xbox maybe its gonna work on transformer
# ps3mediaserver renderer profile for Android
# Refer to PS3.conf for help
RendererName=Android
RendererIcon=android.png
UserAgentSearch=Android
Video=true
Audio=true
Image=true
SeekByTime=false
TranscodeVideo=MPEGAC3
TranscodeAudio=MP3
DefaultVBVBufSize=true
MuxH264ToMpegTS=true
MuxDTSToMpeg=true
WrapDTSIntoPCM=false
MuxLPCMToMpeg=true
MaxVideoBitrateMbps=0
MaxVideoWidth=0
MaxVideoHeight=0
TranscodeExtensions=
StreamExtensions=hdmov,hdm,flac,fla,dts,ogg,asf,asx,m2v,mkv
it wont work. the only thing you can transcode too is mpeg2 which the transformer cant do over upnp. mp4 cant be live streamed over upnp only over rtsp or rtmp, if you really want live transcoding look at vlc media player and vlc s+c for android. it takes a lot of tweaking but does work.
can you provide some more information about the transcode capabilities such as the lackof mpeg streaming
SangreSlayer said:
can you provide some more information about the transcode capabilities such as the lackof mpeg streaming
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had no problems streaming mpeg2 even to the native player with Mediatomb. In fact, you can directly play mpeg2 files from an internet site (internet archive) if you have enough bandwidth. Even the matroska format will stream, although without sound and at an unpredictable framerate. Still, I think that problem is on the encoding side.
So what your saying is you can transcode with PS3 media server?
IE: if you were to take a video gotten from a generic source, lets say via bittorrent you can stream that with the PS3 media server?
Any video I try does not work. it only works if I transcode it with handbrake first.
any tips would be greatly appreciated.
SangreSlayer said:
So what your saying is you can transcode with PS3 media server?
IE: if you were to take a video gotten from a generic source, lets say via bittorrent you can stream that with the PS3 media server?
Any video I try does not work. it only works if I transcode it with handbrake first.
any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I was you I would go and get a WD media player. They go for about 60-90 bucks. I used the PS3 for about a year and I gave up. Mkv is not support on ps3 media server. Videos that it cant play you're pc will need to transcode before sending it over to your display. I ended up getting a dedicated media player. There are tons to choose from. WD, boxee, popcorn hour and dune players. No issues streaming 20-30GB blu ray movies when I had the WD player. PS3 sucks for streaming IMHO.
Actually, mpeg2 can be streamed over upnp.
Try this:
Code:
# ps3mediaserver renderer profile for Android
# Refer to PS3.conf for help
RendererName=Android
RendererIcon=android.png
UserAgentSearch=Android
Video=true
Audio=true
Image=true
SeekByTime=false
TranscodeVideo=MPEGAC3
TranscodeAudio=MP3
DefaultVBVBufSize=true
MuxH264ToMpegTS=false
MuxDTSToMpeg=false
WrapDTSIntoPCM=false
MuxLPCMToMpeg=false
MaxVideoBitrateMbps=0
MaxVideoWidth=0
MaxVideoHeight=0
TranscodeExtensions=
StreamExtensions=
frosty5689 said:
Actually, mpeg2 can be streamed over upnp.
Try this:
Code:
# ps3mediaserver renderer profile for Android
# Refer to PS3.conf for help
RendererName=Android
RendererIcon=android.png
UserAgentSearch=Android
Video=true
Audio=true
Image=true
SeekByTime=false
TranscodeVideo=MPEGAC3
TranscodeAudio=MP3
DefaultVBVBufSize=true
MuxH264ToMpegTS=false
MuxDTSToMpeg=false
WrapDTSIntoPCM=false
MuxLPCMToMpeg=false
MaxVideoBitrateMbps=0
MaxVideoWidth=0
MaxVideoHeight=0
TranscodeExtensions=
StreamExtensions=
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Though it should be worth noting UPnPlay doesn't send a "streaming end" HTTP header to the UPNP server, so after you play one video PS3 media server doesn't know you stopped watching the video and will be stuck in the "streaming mode", causing any other video not to load until you restart PS3 Media Server. This problem only persists iwth PMS, Serviio works fine if you set the transcoding profile. I wish PMS worked as it is the only Server with full softsub support.
Edit: Opps accidentally pressed "Quote" instead of edit...
Just wanted to make sure i am trying with the same player as you.
I am using the "my Net" and selecting the ps3 media server from there.
With the new settings, when I go to play it it just hangs with "please Wait" previously it would just immediately end with "fail to load"
SangreSlayer said:
Just wanted to make sure i am trying with the same player as you.
I am using the "my Net" and selecting the ps3 media server from there.
With the new settings, when I go to play it it just hangs with "please Wait" previously it would just immediately end with "fail to load"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you edit Android.conf with my profile and then restarted the server? Also, use Upnplay combined with MoboPlayer.
I did edit the file with your settings and restart the server. Will download Upbplay (already have mobo installed).
Update in a few minutes
That does seem to work. I am able to play non HD videos.
I was able to play different video's back to back without restarting, I tested with three different videos, watch 1 min of each.
I tested out a topgear episode that is 720p. My PC says its being trans-coded, but moboplayer just says "loading". After 1.5 minutes i cancelled out by going "home"
I then restarted the PS3 media server and reloaded upnplay and tried the video again. my PC still says transcoding and serving but mobo is stuck on loading.
Under Transcoding settings, i don't have Avisynth/FFmpeg or Avisynth/Mencoder available as they are marked red if that means anything
Any suggestions?
Thanks for being so helpful. I really appreciate it.
I know this post is asking about ps3 media server, and I have tried to use it also, but what I have found is a media server called PLEX, there is a mac/windows/even Linux server version, then you get the client on the app store for $5. I can not believe how well this app allows me to stream VOB/MKV/MPG,etc, and it allows me to do this all the way up to HIGH PROFILE 1080p MKV, oh and it also allows me to do this on a remote wifi connection or even on 3g, it really is amazing what these guys have pulled together. The other HUGE plus is it is a branch off of XBMC, so you have the same similar interface with all scraping, etc automatically, it can also do music and supports plugins. Anyways I would suggest you try it, server is free to download, and the app is so worth the measly $5, just suggest you get the server all setup and working before you buy the app. but even if you don;t like it the plex team will refund your money if you are not happy so there is really no remorse checking it out. Hope this helps, I am off to watch a 1080p high profile mkv on my transformer >
I think OP is trying to get PMS working so he can watch media on his PS3 too without running 2 servers. As to why HD vids don't play, maybe it didn't detect the need to transcode it, I need to look into this again after exam's over (maybe that'll explain why my videos didn't play properly when I tested), feel free to use the PS3.conf and try different things. It doesn't matter if you have ffdshow/avisynth, it uses bundled mencoder to re-encode. All that matters i that your PC can play the video fine in DirectShow players like Windows Media Player, Media Player Classic, Zoom Player.
I tried the above .conf file settings and still when running an HD video
it won't limit the video size
is there a way to transcode down into say
800x480
I tried this
MaxVideoWidth=800
MaxVideoHeight=480
RobH79: Thanks for the information. So far I am most of the the way to my end goal. The last hold out being the 720p video's.
I believe the OP (like myself) do not want to run 2x renders, one for the PS3, one for the tablet.
Frosty:
The video does play fine on my PC using VLC but not with Windows media player ( I anticipate this is why all my below troubleshooting did nothing based upon your last response.)
I have done some more testing and tried a few different settings in the config, such as
MaxVideoWidth=800
MaxVideoHeight=600
and MaxVideoBitrateMbps=3
so far nothing has worked.
The video does play fine on my PC using VLC. I still see PS3 Media Server using the transcoding buffer, and Mencoder is using varying amounts of CPU and the java memory size is increasing as time goes on (I assume filling up the buffer)
**Update Since I started typing**
I went to: http://matroska.org/technical/guides/playback/windows/index.html and found out that i needed the CCCP pack, i usually dont install it on my system from a bad experience many years ago.
However I installed it and now it plays fine in windows media player.
I loaded up PS3 Media server and tried streaming again from my tablet...
And no luck, same issue as before. I went through all the other variations of the tweaks above and also no luck.
Any other suggestions?
I also tried to get myNet working, but i found this.
myNet uses AwoX as UserAgent name. So copy Android.conf and rename the file and change from:
UserAgentSearch=Android
to
UserAgentSearch=AwoX
But all upnp clients that you can download in the market use Android.conf. I know so far that only AVIs/WMV are working. However no MKVs.
ok... just my 2 cents
I have a tonido plug running ubuntun 9.04 and mediatomb as a server, no transcoding eneabled.
I installed UPnPlay from market as a upnp renderer (audio only, but support to stream video with external palyer)
I got DicePlayer (paid app) and am able to stream mkv, avi, mov, mp4 containers, even some movies that have srt or sub subtitles, however if I connect my tablet to a TV via HDMI I only get the video and not the subs... MyNet app gives a lot of trouble working with m3u playlists and can only render a file at a time, meaning if you want to play continous audio/viedo you need to go one by one manually.
So far I'm happy with this setup, planning on upgragind my local WLAN to "N" standard byt so far 54gb are good, not exellent
On the down side, I haven't got the time to tweak mediatomb to present in a convinient way video files, it throws everything regardless of the folder structure you have on the server hard disk
Edit, if you know how to hard encode and stream subtitles info is appreciated, also if you know to send subs via HDMI to tv I'll be grateful
I have a gigantic media server, over 10TB, mostly video (my music collection, while huge, just doesn't take much space comparatively).
While there are a variety of approaches/solutions to distributing this media around the home via a network, I've found that the easiest means for me is to simply mount server share(s) on playback devices when possible, rather than using solutions like TVersity and ORB.
Windows shares (a.k.a. CIFS) are simple to set up, provide full-resolution / quality playback of the material, and for whatever reasons (there are many), is more broadly compatible as a means of streaming. I've run into too many files that AllShare balks at, yet will play just fine when the file is streamed directly.
So what's the point of this thread?
Two-fold. 1) stimulate discussion on technology and methods used for streaming video on a LAN to get the best results, and 2) share my own solutions.
Here's what I've found:
CifsManager is Da Bomb. It does a great job of adding a system-wide Windows Share mounting and access capability to an Android device. Once a share is mounted on your phone, it looks just like any other mounted filesystem to any app, so files can be access on the shares as if they were local.
x264 encoded video plays very nicely on the stock video player. It's obvious that it has been optimized to take maximum advantage of hardware acceleration. I use the stock player to play HD content from a share over my network, which almost always means something in a mkv or mp4 container.
HOWEVER: The stock player can't play AAC encoded audio. This is a problem for mp4 -- these days, many people encoding for mp4 use AAC, so I find I have to demux, transcode audio (usually to mp3), and then remux. This is a PITA, but I haven't found any other solution... None of the third-party alternatives I've tried (most of them) can play x264 HD content and keep up. None.
To make things worse, for some reason hardware acceleration doesn't seem to have been implement for the Divx/Xvid (h263) default codec, so xvid video (usually SD format in avi containers) plays haltingly, and locks up frequently when streaming over CIFS. Oddly, copying a file over to local storage makes this problem go away with the stock player. My theory is that the network processing load combined with the CPU effort necessary to decode h263 without hardware assist just overwhelms the processor. Regardless, the stock player is not an acceptable solution here.
After trying many different players, the one that works best for "avi" files (almost always xvid encoded) is arcMedia (market, free). Close to flawless playback of this type of media streamed via CIFS. Unfortunately, arcMedia is completely useless for h264 (mkv, mp4 containers).
Streaming the direct source media, rather than going through a streaming server that will transcode, gives you the best possible quality and experience. While the above may sound complicated and involved, it really isn't -- in fact, it's the simplest:
Share your media library files in the usual way using the "Sharing and Security..." context-menu item on your windows media server.
Install CifsManager from the market.
Install arcMedia player from the market.
Mount your media shares on your phone with CifsManager.
Using your favorite File Manager, browse your media shares the same way you would your local SD card filesystem. To play an HD media file encoded with h264, click on it and play it in the stock player the same way you would if it was on your SD card.
For h263 encoded media (divx/xvid, virtually always avi container), run arcMedia and use its built-in file browser to navigate to the media file, then play it.
There are many, many advantages of convenience and ease-of-use in this approach over streaming with servers like TVersity, ORB, etc. On a LAN, where bandwidth isn't an issue, this approach works really well!
By the stock Video Player, did you mean on Android? Or Windows?
If Android:
Vital Player
If Windows:
Media Player Classic.
always looking for good info, and this is good stuff. Going to try it out when i get home and see if i have better luck than i've been having getting xvid and mkv's to stream from my network shares...
If you use GB rom, try diceplayer.
diceplayer can play 720p MKV+DTS with full HW acceleration.
I wish we had a thread like this for over the net streaming. If I'm at home I just use upnplay with rockplayer from my mediatomb box which is set to transcode anything ps3 can't play natively.. Haven't had any problems yet.
Cd's or tapes?
I use this:
http://www.serverelements.com/?target=NASLite-M2_x64
I have a dual core tower with 2 250 gig drives but want to add 5 1 tb drives with 8 gig of ram. This OS runs off a 8 gig jump drive with NO issues. I use UPNP to my Xbox and laptops. I haven't tried on my phone yet but I don't see why this wouldn't work.
schnowdapowda said:
I wish we had a thread like this for over the net streaming. If I'm at home I just use upnplay with rockplayer from my mediatomb box which is set to transcode anything ps3 can't play natively.. Haven't had any problems yet.
Cd's or tapes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check or something called Plex its great, I used orb for years and was never happy with playback...Plex is amazing and the android app is awesome.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
see, my whole thing is I don't want to run some extra server software just to have this work. I've got a networked media box (Patriot Box Office) and it plays everything over my network flawlessly from my NFS and SMB shares, and I want to be able to do the same thing from my Epic and Tab (mostly Tab with the bigger screen.) Working on some dev stuff with my Tab so it's not fully setup, but once i've got it back to normal I'm going to test Cifsmanager and see if it's the missing link to the issues I've had with getting mkv's to stream.
pvtjoker42 said:
see, my whole thing is I don't want to run some extra server software just to have this work. I've got a networked media box (Patriot Box Office) and it plays everything over my network flawlessly from my NFS and SMB shares, and I want to be able to do the same thing from my Epic and Tab (mostly Tab with the bigger screen.) Working on some dev stuff with my Tab so it's not fully setup, but once i've got it back to normal I'm going to test Cifsmanager and see if it's the missing link to the issues I've had with getting mkv's to stream.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cifs works with samba. Don't know if you knew that or not.
Cd's or tapes?
pvtjoker42 said:
see, my whole thing is I don't want to run some extra server software just to have this work. I've got a networked media box (Patriot Box Office) and it plays everything over my network flawlessly from my NFS and SMB shares, and I want to be able to do the same thing from my Epic and Tab (mostly Tab with the bigger screen.) Working on some dev stuff with my Tab so it's not fully setup, but once i've got it back to normal I'm going to test Cifsmanager and see if it's the missing link to the issues I've had with getting mkv's to stream.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
schnowdapowda said:
Cifs works with samba. Don't know if you knew that or not.
Cd's or tapes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, and with ordinary Windows shares.
CifsManager is one of the best pieces of software I've put on my Epic. And I have A LOT of stuff...
Shinydude100 said:
By the stock Video Player, did you mean on Android?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android, Samsung player that comes with the Epic.
For windows, I swear by CorePlayer. I'd buy it all over again full price if they'd add Android to their platforms (with HW acceleration, of course).
formula84 said:
Check or something called Plex its great, I used orb for years and was never happy with playback...Plex is amazing and the android app is awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to find it and try it out right after I finish posting this.
I've been using Orb for years, and it has always had its issues. With Android, it became a major PITA because they only transcode to WM9 as of 6 months or so ago -- and WM codec support on Android is scant.
Great thread. Love this type of info. I've been messing with streamin off and on to my epic and this just pretty much sums up what I've been trying to do. Gonna go try that now...
Thanks!
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Do I need to be rooted to mount my shares with cifs?
Also, can you recommend a tutorial or software for ripping my dvd collection to my storage server?
As a side note I am pretty happy with twonky for music dlna solution.
Thanks
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Does anyone know how to play mediacenter tv recordings in my htpc on epic?
Tried orb but didn't like the quality.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
PlayOn is amaaaazing. But it's 70 bucks to get it forever. You can stream out of your network over 3g/wifi to your Android and it look great! Even does subtitles. For my PC or PS3 I love PS3 Media Server. It's pretty much perfect and streams HD over WIFI G even.
sethlo said:
Do I need to be rooted to mount my shares with cifs?
Also, can you recommend a tutorial or software for ripping my dvd collection to my storage server?
As a side note I am pretty happy with twonky for music dlna solution.
Thanks
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, Cifsmanager requires root AND a cifs compatible kernel
I run Windows Home Server .v1 and have tried multiple combinations of players/clients without a whole lot of success.. until recently. Movies are in .mp4 and .mkv format. I use UPnPlay for access and MoboPlayer for streaming playback; the combination works great! I have tested on a rooted Nook, rooted Hauwei Ideos S7, Evo Shift (Not rooted.. Darn 2.3.3!), and my rooted Epic.