Sick Computer

Melbosa · July 20, 2011, 03:43:53 PM

Quote from: Thorin on July 20, 2011, 02:47:42 PM
FYI, the Drobo FS has a few apps that can be installed on it - DroboApps. The one I'm trying to install and get running is FUPPES, which is supposed to stream audio and video and images to DLNA devices (specifically I'm trying to get it to show on my Xbox360). THIS IS A PAIN! From everything I've read, DroboApps are certainly not plug-n-play like the promotional material suggests.

DroboApps is Drobo's attempt to compete with Synology out of the box stuff, but to leverage open source projects to do the work for them. FUPPES is by no means easy to setup and use, even as a VM appliance from VMware - which are typically wizard setups and go (tried it once... hated the experience with FUPPES). And DroboApps is just that, a VM environment to download VM appliances on to. PS3MediaServer ftw... put that on a computer and XBox or PS3 or WMP will stream anything with a couple simple setup steps - so much easier than TVersity, and not limited to your DLNA device's native supported codecs. Just need that damn computer in between.

Lazybones · July 20, 2011, 03:47:49 PM

Quote from: Thorin on July 20, 2011, 02:47:42 PM
FYI, the Drobo FS has a few apps that can be installed on it - DroboApps. The one I'm trying to install and get running is FUPPES, which is supposed to stream audio and video and images to DLNA devices (specifically I'm trying to get it to show on my Xbox360). THIS IS A PAIN! From everything I've read, DroboApps are certainly not plug-n-play like the promotional material suggests.

With the exception of a select few DLNA servers especially on a NAS do not trans-code. So you must have media in a file format that is KNOWN to work on the Xbox 360 or it may not even appear on the menu.

Mr. Analog · July 20, 2011, 03:56:25 PM

Quote from: Lazybones on July 20, 2011, 03:47:49 PM
Quote from: Thorin on July 20, 2011, 02:47:42 PM
FYI, the Drobo FS has a few apps that can be installed on it - DroboApps. The one I'm trying to install and get running is FUPPES, which is supposed to stream audio and video and images to DLNA devices (specifically I'm trying to get it to show on my Xbox360). THIS IS A PAIN! From everything I've read, DroboApps are certainly not plug-n-play like the promotional material suggests.

With the exception of a select few DLNA servers especially on a NAS do not trans-code. So you must have media in a file format that is KNOWN to work on the Xbox 360 or it may not even appear on the menu.

From bitter experience I can say that one of two outcomes is possible:

The file doesn't show
The file DOES show but errors on playback

Thorin · July 20, 2011, 04:44:25 PM

Yeah, I was hoping to stream video from the Drobo without having to have a computer on. I might end up having to install Tversity or something again, but having it read from the network drive instead of the local drive.

Lazybones · July 20, 2011, 04:55:39 PM

I would suggest MediaTomb over FUPPES
http://drobo.jhah.net/apps/mediatomb/start

Or

miniDLNA (more standards compliant) probably harder to install as it doesn't appear to be packaged and needs to be compiled.
http://www.droboports.com/app-repository/minidlna-1-0-19

Thorin · July 20, 2011, 05:21:41 PM

The MediaTomb link you give, if you check the readme file also found there, you'll find that it doesn't support streaming to the Xbox 360 at this time:

Quote
MediaTomb does NOT support XBox 360 at this time, although external transcoding may work. I cannot provide further details on this topic at this time.

Kind of a deal breaker for me.

Anyway, I might go back to Tversity, or perhaps even streaming through Window Media Player 11.

Before I do all that, I have to flatten my home network. Right now I have:

Telus modem/router (wireless off)
-- Telus PVR set-top box
-- Telus regular set-top box
-- Xbox 360
-- old router (wireless on, MAC filtering on)
-- wired computers
-- Drobo
-- wireless computers and devices

I need to convert that router to a switch, so that means copying all my port forwarding, MAC white list, DHCP reservations, etc to the Telus router, then disabling DHCP on the old router.

Then and only then will the Xbox be able to see the Drobo or Tversity or WMP11 Sharing.

Melbosa · July 20, 2011, 09:43:34 PM

Good luck. From one streamer to another I highly recommend PS3MediaServer over Tversity.

Thorin · July 21, 2011, 01:02:04 PM

Any particular reason you think PS3MediaServer is better than Tversity?

Mr. Analog · July 21, 2011, 01:30:49 PM

Quote from: Thorin on July 21, 2011, 01:02:04 PM
Any particular reason you think PS3MediaServer is better than Tversity?

He has a PS3...?

Melbosa · July 21, 2011, 01:56:18 PM

Easier to configure and setup, and transcoding is easier to process. More options available from your end point to change transcode options without having to go to the computer when files aren't working. PS3MediaServer also will play inside files (although Tversity might do this now), so it mounts ISO files without having to extract or looks in RARs (not rar sets mind you, although that is on the horizon) for playable media. It also has nice options for Subs of movies that you can't do with Tversity.

Yes PS3 does work best with PS3MediaServer, but it works just as good with XBox. PS3 just has a better streaming GUI, and has a couple more options. Plus it is GB nic with Jumbo Frames support, so never have network congestion problems.

If you are comfortable with Tversity, as I was, then you can stick with it. PS3MediaServer IMO though is a better app when it comes down to function and ease of use. Tversity is more polished in its GUI interface and professional distribution (PS3MediaServer is still Open Source and their site reflects that).

Lazybones · July 21, 2011, 02:19:05 PM

PS3Mediaserver also has "fixup files" that are often contributed to in their forums that make it compatible with a wider number of DLNA devices like TVs.

DLNA is a very very poor standard.

Thorin · July 21, 2011, 04:21:51 PM

Hmm, I found Tversity really easy to configure and set up: run the installer, set the media location, walk away. I wasn't able to find an installer for PS3MS, although admittedly I didn't look.

I don't have a PS3, so any PS3-specific extras don't mean anything to me.

I don't want anything that has to be tweaked, as it's not just me that uses it. The response to a video not playing, in this house, is not to go to the computer and change transcoding options, but rather to just pick a different video. I'm the only one that would even think of trying different transcoding settings, and even then I'd rather just re-download the video in some other format.

Given that I don't want to have to twiddle with _anything_ and that if a file doesn't play I just throw it away and look for a file in a different format, I don't get how PS3MS is easier to use? Does it read my mind and just start playing the file without me selecting it? Does it turn on the Xbox, then read my mind? Does it use the Kinect to notice I sat down, turning on the system then reading my mind then playing the file I want?

I do get that you're saying it has more options and can be twiddled without getting up from the couch. But more options usually means less easy to use - the more options, the more you have to learn, the steeper the learning curve.

Maybe I'm looking at it wrong - I'm looking at it from the point of view of actually watching a streamed video. Maybe you're talking about the ease of use when setting up / configuring the app on the computer. But again, all I had to do there was run the installer, select the media location, and walk away. Sure, I could twiddle the default settings, but I didn't need to - I just waited for the library to build, then turned on the Xbox and started watching a video.

Melbosa · July 22, 2011, 07:57:26 AM

I think you might be a bit premature in your assessment of PS3MS. It to can be an install, point at folders and walk away. It actually out of the box will work with a few more media encoding and with the ISO/Rar support actually give you more options than Tversity. I myself actually had a harder time setting up Tversity to work with my video collection than I have ever had with PS3MS. And the Transcode options from the couch are trivially easy, so much so that I think you two oldests and your wife would be able to figure it out (my fiancee had figured it out even without asking me anything about it).

But hey, I am only strongly urging you to try it. I won't be upset if you don't. Pick what works best for you and your family. If change for them is difficult in this area, stick with what works for you. It may just be not worth the impact in the grander scheme of things. This I completely understand!

Thorin · July 22, 2011, 10:00:36 AM

Where/how are the transcoding options from the couch presented to the viewer? I'm having trouble imagining the UI for it.

I'm not saying PS3MediaServer isn't easy to use (as I haven't used it so can't form an opinion), I'm just saying there wasn't much to improve on with my experience with Tversity. It was as simple as I could possibly imagine.

Lazybones · July 22, 2011, 11:03:27 AM

Quote from: Thorin on July 22, 2011, 10:00:36 AM
Where/how are the transcoding options from the couch presented to the viewer? I'm having trouble imagining the UI for it.

I'm not saying PS3MediaServer isn't easy to use (as I haven't used it so can't form an opinion), I'm just saying there wasn't much to improve on with my experience with Tversity. It was as simple as I could possibly imagine.

From what I recall
- it will label files that will be trans-coded so you know in advance there might be a delay
- it presents configuration items like folders so by navigating them on your DNLA device you can actually change settings without going to a computer / web-browser.

The only thing not as easy as I recall was that it has not wizard installer, you just run it where ever you unpack it and there is one time command line option to install as a service I believe.

At any rate TVserity is fine if it is working, I hand regular crashing issues with it and random codec issues but it did work and has a nice UI.