Media Streamer that works (easily) with Windows Home Server 2011

[aeonf242]

I'm trying to find a Media Streamer that works (easily) with Windows Home Server 2011

I've tried a Western Digital TV Live Streaming Media Player and have had nothing but trouble despite various forums help threads

So anyone bought a simple media streamer that effortlessly beams their WHS 2011 content to their TV (a Samsung UE40D6100, but Smartshare is flakey)?

Thanks

[jimborae]

Wierd I use a Western Digital WD TV with WHS2011 with very few issues really. However to get it to work well i had to setup NFS file sharing on the WHS box. Using SMB shares meant that not all the media was available, for some reason the WD TV couldn't see all the files.

But to answer your question I also use a Popcorn Hour A210 which works flawlessly but it aint simple to setup. However I've heard that D-Link Boxee Box is a very good performer, simple to set up and use, supported and now the price is pretty good too (under £100) so that maybe worth a try.

*edit* Scrap that re the Boxee, seems the last couple of updates from D-Link broke more that it fixed and now it seems updates are getting thin on the ground.

[aeonf242]

Wierd I use a Western Digital WD TV with WHS2011 with very few issues really. However to get it to work well i had to setup NFS file sharing on the WHS box. Using SMB shares meant that not all the media was available, for some reason the WD TV couldn't see all the files.

But to answer your question I also use a Popcorn Hour A210 which works flawlessly but it aint simple to setup. However I've heard that D-Link Boxee Box is a very good performer, simple to set up and use, supported and now the price is pretty good too (under £100) so that maybe worth a try.

*edit* Scrap that re the Boxee, seems the last couple of updates from D-Link broke more that it fixed and now it seems updates are getting thin on the ground.

Thanks, I found this guide and after followign it and trying various things I still can't see the Media Server....
I could add WDtvLIVE to the sharing group

Do you have any quick suggestions as to how you got this working ?

[jimborae]

Yep thats the guide I used to set mine up. So assuming that you've got things correct on the WHS/NFS side of things and checked that the folders you want to share via NFS are available and the NFS service is running then the issue is with the WD streamer.

On the WD Live, I assume when you are searching for the NFS shared folders, you have selected it to look for Linux shares?? If not 1st go to Setup > Network Settings > (Scroll down to) Enable Access to Linux Share Server. Then go to video or music etc and select new media source and then select Network Shares > Linux Share and your folders should be found.

Also is the firmware upto date on the WD box?

Hope that helps.

J

[aeonf242]

Yep thats the guide I used to set mine up. So assuming that you've got things correct on the WHS/NFS side of things and checked that the folders you want to share via NFS are available and the NFS service is running then the issue is with the WD streamer.

On the WD Live, I assume when you are searching for the NFS shared folders, you have selected it to look for Linux shares?? If not 1st go to Setup > Network Settings > (Scroll down to) Enable Access to Linux Share Server. Then go to video or music etc and select new media source and then select Network Shares > Linux Share and your folders should be found.

Also is the firmware upto date on the WD box?

Hope that helps.

J

Thanks for all your help, I've done some work on it and can't get it to work.
It's a bit disappointing there seems to be no support for whs on the WD website..I'm giving up and am just going to use a HTPC..
Thanks anyway...

[abaxas]

WHS 2011 is the weak link. Get rid of that first.

[aeonf242]

WHS 2011 is the weak link. Get rid of that first.

Lol, I will when the hardware dies :-0
But thanks for the advice

[Bluecube]

Can your TV run Plex? If so then try it. I've got Plex Server on a HP Microserver feeding media to Plex on my TV. Its astonishingly good.

[aeonf242]

Can your TV run Plex? If so then try it. I've got Plex Server on a HP Microserver feeding media to Plex on my TV. Its astonishingly good.

Thansl for the suggestion, I tried installing it and get a CApplication::Create() failed - check log file and that it is writable error

I've had a look a the support forums and have disabled the DEP and still the same

I've had a look at running Plex as a Service here,

Was your install easy to get working?

[Bluecube]

I run Plex Server on Linux and it runs as a service without further work on my behalf. I would check that Plex meets your requirements before spending time getting it to run as a service on Windows.

I think your TV is quite a recent one so you shouldn't have any issues with Plex. I went into Samsung Apps through the Smarthub, chose Plex and that was it. Could be that you've not enough space to install it if you've added a lot of apps to the TV.

[g8ina]

Im still happily using Samsung's own media server with my Samsung BluRay player, although due to the time taken to update the library I use that for vids, but the Logitech one for music. It makes sense to me, trust me

Both work fine.

[ty2010]

Serviio and Sony boxes here, always worked good but now great since the 1.1 release.