streaming to HDTV

Inxsible · 2012-06-27 18:31:50

I connected my desktop to the new HDTV via DVI--> HDMI assuming that it would be easier than setting up streaming. However, after neck, back and mild wrist pain, enough is enough.

I plan on setting up a streaming server over the weekend. For this I have been reading up on mediatomb, xbmc and serviio, since these were the most mentioned in forum posts that I read.

Amazon and Crutchfield indicate that my TV supports DLNA via the AllShare Play (I guess Samsung proprietary software) for streaming of content. The TV can see windows machines on the network. I want it to be able to see my linux boxes as well.

Questions :

Can I use my very old machine (P3, 256MB RAM, 30GB HDD) for setting up the server since its just lying around?
Which one would you recommend from the 3 or any other? Working with java for a living, and given the machine config, I guess serviio would be out. But I can always install the server on my desktop itself
Would I see any performance degrade if I were to install on my desktop which will also be used for other regular purposes?
Would I be able to access the linux machines via the AllShare Play interface itself or a completely separate interface?
What else should I read up on before starting this?

I read this post where someone claims Mezzmo worked better than serviio, but its paid and only for Windows from what I can see, so its not an option. Also according to this xbmc doesn't support on the fly transcoding, but I guess that's moot given the config my machine has anyway.

Thanks for any tips in advance.

SolarBoyMatt · 2012-06-28 19:26:12

I don't know too much about those other two or streaming directly to a TV, but I regularly use MediaTomb to stream to my PS3/other Linux machines and I've had good experiences with it.

Does that TV support ANY DLNA server, or just that Allshare Play software? Because MediaTomb appears to have support for DLNA capable TV's, but it isn't specific about which ones.

http://mediatomb.cc/dokuwiki/faq:faq#dlna_tvs

Inxsible · 2012-06-28 19:33:07

SolarBoyMatt,
TBH I have no idea. Guess I'll find out this weekend. But the link you provided has a comment, which indicates that "Samsung needs it" -- which might help since my TV is also Samsung.

defears · 2012-06-28 21:03:47

The Allshare program is a DLNA client and server. Easy to use ,but very very limited as far as what it can play spec wise. I can only play 8 out of over 600 movies on my server because I use good quality encodings. If I were you I would download the user manual for your tv and look at the the actual mp4 spec for your model first. They are always changing.

I've given up with Samba, Nfs, and DLNA just to stream and went straight Apache. It looks like the Debian download page but it works on every computer and phone with a browser, and seems to take a lot less resources too.

Inxsible · 2012-06-28 21:44:57

defears wrote:

I've given up with Samba, Nfs, and DLNA just to stream and went straight Apache.

Can you please provide links to some tutorial to setup streaming using apache??

I might just go that route if that turns out to be simpler.

defears · 2012-06-28 23:34:44

I just set up a simple file server from the wiki. No PHP or anything. I've noticed most files stream fine. All music is perfect. Just a couple of weirdly encoded Avi's can't seek or take 10 seconds to start. All Mp4's stream perfectly even if not to DLNA spec.

I don't know about your tv though. Does it have a browser. I've heard some new tvs let you download apps too. Like video players with more codecs. You should see what other software is on the tv if any. If it has a card slot try a movie and see if it plays first. If it does than you probably don't need to go the DLNA route.

Right now I got an Ipad2, GalaxyS2, Kindle and 2 broken screened netbooks connected to lcd's that can play back my movies encoded with 5.1 AC3 only (no aac) and higher than high profile settings. Just using a bookmark in their browsers.

My only beef with DLNA is all these devices can play the file fine on it's own over http, but using DLNA will cripple everything or need to transcode. WHY. I thought it was supposed to be better? It just seems like a cool looking crippled browser.

Inxsible · 2012-06-29 01:22:55

i have tried playing a movie through a USB and it played well. It was an avi file. I'll try the apache route first because it's easier.

defears · 2012-06-29 02:45:58

I forgot that I did add this to /etc/httpd/conf/extra/httpd.conf that was not in the wiki. I'll make it look nice someday.

#
# DirectoryIndex: sets the file that Apache will serve if a directory
# is requested.
#
<IfModule dir_module>
    DirectoryIndex index.html
    IndexOptions IgnoreCase FancyIndexing FoldersFirst NameWidth=* DescriptionWidth=* SuppressHTMLPreamble
</IfModule>

Inxsible · 2012-06-30 07:04:38

I tried with apache and my TV just kept saying "Unable to download". I tried with and without the snippet that you provided.

What am I missing??

R00KIE · 2012-06-30 10:38:01

Did you try to download any file with a browser from another computer (or from yours with a different user), it could be a problem with permissions.

If the objective is to have a webserver listing directory contents then you can give other alternatives a try, such as lighttpd or maybe even simpler ones that you can find in the AUR.

For lighttpd, which I use when I want to share files with friends this is the config I use:

#### Behavior configuration ####
server.port = 8080
server.document-root = "."
dir-listing.activate = "enable"
dir-listing.encoding = "utf-8"
index-file.names = ( "index.html", "index.htm" )
include "/usr/share/doc/lighttpd/config/conf.d/mime.conf"

#### Logs configuration ####
server.modules += ( "mod_accesslog" )
accesslog.filename = "/tmp/lighttpd_access.log"
server.errorlog = "/tmp/lighttpd_error.log"

You can probably do without logs altogether and the index-file.names option might not be needed too. For the server.document-root use a full path to the directory you want to serve.

defears · 2012-06-30 17:30:14

That snippet just makes it more readable. If you're symlinking or using a home folder did you

 $ chmod o+x ~/Folder

I did miss this for a while because I didn't read about the user directories.

anrxc · 2012-06-30 23:29:00

However, after neck, back and mild wrist pain, enough is enough.

Sorry but I really can't figure out, how are cables giving you pain?

Last edited by anrxc (2012-06-30 23:41:28)

Arch Linux

#1 2012-06-27 18:31:50

streaming to HDTV

#2 2012-06-28 19:26:12

Re: streaming to HDTV

#3 2012-06-28 19:33:07

Re: streaming to HDTV

#4 2012-06-28 21:03:47

Re: streaming to HDTV

#5 2012-06-28 21:44:57

Re: streaming to HDTV

#6 2012-06-28 23:34:44

Re: streaming to HDTV

#7 2012-06-29 01:22:55

Re: streaming to HDTV

#8 2012-06-29 02:45:58

Re: streaming to HDTV

#9 2012-06-30 07:04:38

Re: streaming to HDTV

#10 2012-06-30 10:38:01

Re: streaming to HDTV

#11 2012-06-30 17:30:14

Re: streaming to HDTV

#12 2012-06-30 23:29:00

Re: streaming to HDTV

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