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The WDTV is a fantastic Video Streamer
I have a Readynas Pro 6, Virgin TIVO box and 2 Apple TV's and 3 Logitech Squeezeboxes
I have loads of movies and music stored on my ReadyNas Pro.
I have all my music stored in iTunes with the actual music files stored on my ReadyNas. I have 2 libraries, one for mp3 and the other for LossLess files. I use iTunes so that I can synchronise my music to my iPad, iPhone and iPod. iTunes also allows my to set the tags etc. I have the Logitech Music Server on my ReadyNas which allows me to access the music from my Logitech Boom boxes etc. I can even synchronise the music on all 3 Squeezeboxes. This is a wonderful solution and works really well for me.
I have been trying to do the same with my Video files for some time but have not been able to find an ideal solution. I bought 2 Apple TV's which allowed me to access my video files, but unfortunately I had to do it through iTunes. I also had to convert all my video files to be compatible with iTunes. It worked but was a real pain and not an ideal solution.
I then installed the Plex server on my ReadyNas but unfortunately you cannot install a Plex client on the Apple TV's unless you jailbreak them of course. I then installed the Plex client on my iPad which allowed me to play videos via the Apple TV using Airplay from the iPad. Again it worked, was better than the previous method but was not ideal.
A few days ago I bought a Western Digital TV Live box from Dabs.com for £80.00 inclusive. It arrived within 2 days and took me about 5 minutes to set up and get working. I have it connected to my network via ethernet. I have activated the DNLA server on my ReadyNas which allows me to access all my video, movies, music, photos etc on the WDTV box. I have it connected to my TV via HDMI and use the optical output to give 5.1 sound. It actually plays at 1080P compared to 720P on the Apple TV boxes.
The user interface is not quite as slick as the Apple TV or Plex, but the functionality is fantastic. Unfortunately when I view the list of films on the WDTV it does not give a synopsis of each film which you get when using Plex. I believe this is possible but at the moment I've not found out how to do it.
So for anyone who wants to keep all their movies on the ReadyNas and view them on their TV get a WDTV box unless of course you have some other DNLA client.
If Apple eventually introduce an App store for the Apple TV then I would imagine a Plex client would be quickly available. Again that would be a wonderful solution especially if it is upgraded to 1080P. There are rumours of a 3rd generation Apple TV and perhaps thats what Apple have in mind. Watch this space....
I have loads of movies and music stored on my ReadyNas Pro.
I have all my music stored in iTunes with the actual music files stored on my ReadyNas. I have 2 libraries, one for mp3 and the other for LossLess files. I use iTunes so that I can synchronise my music to my iPad, iPhone and iPod. iTunes also allows my to set the tags etc. I have the Logitech Music Server on my ReadyNas which allows me to access the music from my Logitech Boom boxes etc. I can even synchronise the music on all 3 Squeezeboxes. This is a wonderful solution and works really well for me.
I have been trying to do the same with my Video files for some time but have not been able to find an ideal solution. I bought 2 Apple TV's which allowed me to access my video files, but unfortunately I had to do it through iTunes. I also had to convert all my video files to be compatible with iTunes. It worked but was a real pain and not an ideal solution.
I then installed the Plex server on my ReadyNas but unfortunately you cannot install a Plex client on the Apple TV's unless you jailbreak them of course. I then installed the Plex client on my iPad which allowed me to play videos via the Apple TV using Airplay from the iPad. Again it worked, was better than the previous method but was not ideal.
A few days ago I bought a Western Digital TV Live box from Dabs.com for £80.00 inclusive. It arrived within 2 days and took me about 5 minutes to set up and get working. I have it connected to my network via ethernet. I have activated the DNLA server on my ReadyNas which allows me to access all my video, movies, music, photos etc on the WDTV box. I have it connected to my TV via HDMI and use the optical output to give 5.1 sound. It actually plays at 1080P compared to 720P on the Apple TV boxes.
The user interface is not quite as slick as the Apple TV or Plex, but the functionality is fantastic. Unfortunately when I view the list of films on the WDTV it does not give a synopsis of each film which you get when using Plex. I believe this is possible but at the moment I've not found out how to do it.
So for anyone who wants to keep all their movies on the ReadyNas and view them on their TV get a WDTV box unless of course you have some other DNLA client.
If Apple eventually introduce an App store for the Apple TV then I would imagine a Plex client would be quickly available. Again that would be a wonderful solution especially if it is upgraded to 1080P. There are rumours of a 3rd generation Apple TV and perhaps thats what Apple have in mind. Watch this space....
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- You need to start FrontView from RAIDar.
Under Services within FrontView go to Streaming Services.
Activate DNLA and enter the share and folders etc.
On your PS3 you should see those folders assuming you have connected correctly.
I have just checked ReadyNas.com and it looks like Plex is only available for the X86 Nas. I think that was one of the reasons I upgraded to the Pro.
You can access your shares in the browser by http://xxx.xxx.xx.xx/shares/
If you cannot see your files then you need to check your access rights. - Thanks again,
Yes my ps3 can see the folders etc already but when I use the /shares URL nothing shows. It may be permissions etc so I'll have a play tomorrow.
Cheers for all the help, apologies about hijacking the thread!
Craig - I've been using the WDTV since last summer. I used other similar devices in the past, but the WD is fantastic. However, I'm having a share problem I can't figure out. Initially the device worked fine, showing my file structure correctly. A couple of months ago this changed. I see my media share, with the subfolders Music, Photos, and Video. Under video I should have subfolders with Movies, TV, and Music Videos. Under Movies or TV I should have alphabetical folders, then the show name, then the season, then the individual files. But, when I go into the first Video folder I get Browse Folders and All Folders. No matter which I choose I get a list of about a hundred folders mixed between Show names and Season names. Somewhere in that list are Music, Photos and Videos again. When I find Videos I go into that folder and from that point the directory structure is intact.
If I back out of the network shares menu and choose the network menu, I can log on to the NAS Ultra6 with my username and password. Using this method the file structure is intact. The problem isn't with the WD box, because the NAS now does this with a new Sony SMP N200 I bought for another TV, and with Skifta on all my mobile devices.
Another problem that happened at the same time is that some folders don't show all the files. For example, my daughter asked me to add the second season of Glee to NAS. I did so from my computer, but it does not show up in the WD or any other device using the network share. It does show up if I access the network with the WD, ort any other computer. I tried deleting the entire Glee folder from the NAS and recopying it, and lo and behold, the WD now sees both seasons - but it no longer sees any other show in the "G" folder. Get Smart, Green Acres, Gilligans Island, all gone. If I access through the network the WD sees it. The problem is that the Sony doesn't have that network option, just the share option.
Any idea what's causing this? - Could I please ask you experienced video streaming people a question? :)
I have a ReadyNAS Ultra 6, and for a little while now I've been using apps on the Mac such as Fairmount and Ripit to make backups of all my movies that I have on DVD. I am NOT ripping them to MP4, AVI etc. - I'm actually copying the disc folders directly so that I have a complete image of the DVD's files (including any data files etc. external to the VIDEO_TS folder) on the NAS.
Is there anything available that can read these folders, i.e. mount them as if they were actual DVD images, and stream to something like the WDTV? I don't really relish the thought of going through the whole collection and converting them to suitable video files, particularly as I'm a cinephile who likes to watch extras and use features/commentaries a lot so ripping every track would be a bind.
Thanks for any help you can give! - There are players that can play DVD folders and DVD ISO images (and all other content they support) directly from network shares, with no DLNA needed. These generally also support normal DVD menu controls.
Syabas PCH line ("popcorn hour"), Dune, Netgear's EVA9000 and NTV550, and the WD TV Live Plus can all do this (some of these players also play Bluray Iso's as well). Note the EVA and NTV are at end-of-life - the bad news is that there will be no new firmware for them, but the good news is that they are quite inexpensive. - Thank you StephenB - that's a very helpful and informative reply. Much obliged!
gmcgann wrote: I've been using the WDTV since last summer. I used other similar devices in the past, but the WD is fantastic. However, I'm having a share problem I can't figure out. Initially the device worked fine, showing my file structure correctly. A couple of months ago this changed. I see my media share, with the subfolders Music, Photos, and Video. Under video I should have subfolders with Movies, TV, and Music Videos. Under Movies or TV I should have alphabetical folders, then the show name, then the season, then the individual files. But, when I go into the first Video folder I get Browse Folders and All Folders. No matter which I choose I get a list of about a hundred folders mixed between Show names and Season names. Somewhere in that list are Music, Photos and Videos again. When I find Videos I go into that folder and from that point the directory structure is intact.
If I back out of the network shares menu and choose the network menu, I can log on to the NAS Ultra6 with my username and password. Using this method the file structure is intact. The problem isn't with the WD box, because the NAS now does this with a new Sony SMP N200 I bought for another TV, and with Skifta on all my mobile devices.
Another problem that happened at the same time is that some folders don't show all the files. For example, my daughter asked me to add the second season of Glee to NAS. I did so from my computer, but it does not show up in the WD or any other device using the network share. It does show up if I access the network with the WD, ort any other computer. I tried deleting the entire Glee folder from the NAS and recopying it, and lo and behold, the WD now sees both seasons - but it no longer sees any other show in the "G" folder. Get Smart, Green Acres, Gilligans Island, all gone. If I access through the network the WD sees it. The problem is that the Sony doesn't have that network option, just the share option.
Any idea what's causing this?
I had a similar problem, I changed my file structure slightly where it was like this:
Albums
Video
Pictures
Its now:
Albums > Albums >
Video > Video
Pictures > Pictures
So just create a new folder then drag the main folder into the new named folder, as for your other question of items not showing up have you tried doing a rescan of your files? or given a scheduled reboot when no one will be using it?
Hope this helps
Rich- I also have a NV+ NAS plus 4x WDTV Live boxes, I love them so easy to use and you can throw any file format at it and it will play 99% of the time. Also I love the fact it can play stunning 1080p with no issues, had 3 people using the NAS through WD boxes and never even a stutter on any of the screens.
For the price you cannot beat them really... - I ended up buying a WDTV Live. Generally I'm very happy with it, but I have some minor gripes:
(1) The YouTube functionality just confuses me, I don't like it! I always go back to my desktop computer to watch YT. Not a big problem because that's not what I bought it for.
(2) AUDIO SYNC! Groan... when is the industry going to sort this out properly? :( I am playing DVD images, which means I don't even get the option to adjust it. I was told that you can adjust it on video files such as .mp4. Out of interest I tried it, and found that you can only adjust it in 100ms steps. That's useless! We're talking about 2.5 frames for PAL. I can tell when the lip sync is out by a single frame, so it means I can't get it right. If they could make this feature available on the DVD images, and change it to adjust by 50ms increments instead of 100, I'd be happy.
Apart from the above, it's great! I have a Cambridge Audio DVD player, which is supposedly decent quality, but the WDTV Live picture quality is better :) - Audio Sync should be fine? Have you tried to see if your box needs any Firmware updates they are really good at giving up to date firmware releases with the WDLive Box. I take it that the iso plays fine on your PC?
Rich
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