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[BonkLord]

Hi guys,

I have been trying to read and understand how DLNA and Zones work but I just can't seem to wrap my head around it.

Basically I have my PC in my room running MC. Then I have a LG BH6520tw Home Theatre system in my living room which supports DLNA playback. My question is, am I able to stream my MC library to the Home Theatre system through DLNA? Do I use Zones to do that? I am so confused. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm generally tech savvy so if anyone can point me in the right direction I should be able to figure it out.

Thanks in advance!

Cheers!

[JimH]

Please read the wiki topic on Media Network as well as DLNA.

You need to turn on Media Network.  Then, if your LG equipment supports DLNA, you will see it show up in MC under Playing Now.  It may take a few minutes.

There are two sections in Playing Now.  The first is for destinations.  The second is for sources.

If you're playing from your PC to the LG equipment, try dragging a track onto the LG item in the tree.

[BonkLord]

Please read the wiki topic on Media Network as well as DLNA.

You need to turn on Media Network.  Then, if your LG equipment supports DLNA, you will see it show up in MC under Playing Now.  It may take a few minutes.

There are two sections in Playing Now.  The first is for destinations.  The second is for sources.

If you're playing from your PC to the LG equipment, try dragging a track onto the LG item in the tree.

Hey Jim, thanks for your reply. I have read both those sections, and I have already turned Media Network on and set it up, but I don't see anything related to my Home Theatre on the Playing Now tree. And I know it's online because I can browse youtube and LGApps etc.

So basically what you're saying is, if I've turned on Media Network, and my Home Theatre is connected to the network, it should automatically be visible in the tree? Are there any reasons why it wouldn't?

Thanks again for your help.

[JimH]

A firewall could prevent it from showing up, or it might not be a DLNA Renderer.  Try browsing from the LG itself.

The wiki topic on Network Access has more information.

Make sure you wait a few minutes.

[BonkLord]

Thanks mate, will have a bit more of a read through and see how it goes. Will post an update later tonight.

Cheers

[BonkLord]

A firewall could prevent it from showing up

Hey, with regards to this, do I have to set up port forwarding on my router? If so what ports need to be opened?

[blgentry]

I find the Wiki a little confusing on this subject, so I'm going to give you my 3 minute overview of these topics.

A.  Zones.  Zones are simply playback destinations for MC.  Zones can be sound cards, external DACs (connected via USB, Toslink, coax, etc), HDMI video/audio cards, or DNLA renderers.  MC supports many zones, and many zones can be playing at the same time.  Zones can play the same thing via zone linking, or different things.  For example, you could have music playing in a zone tied to an internal sound card, and video playing via HDMI.

B.  DLNA.  This gets confusing because there are different types of DLNA devices.  MC can be any of the different types, including:
1.  Server.  This DLNA device has files that it can serve up to others to play.  Kind of a media repository.
2.  Client.  This DLNA device asks a server for a file to play.
3.  Renderer.  This DLNA device can actually play back the file to speakers or a display.

2 and 3 are usually the same device, but not always.  Don't be too concerned about that.

Typical DLNA playback scenarios:

1.  MC "push".  From Media Center, you find a DLNA renderer in the left navigation area, under Playing Now.  You click it to select it as a playback zone.  Then go find media in your library and double click it to play.  MC then sends the media over the network to the DNLA device for playback.

2.  "Pull" from a DNLA Client/Renderer.  Using the interface of your TV (or other DNLA client) you navigate your network to find Media Center.  Media Center presents views to show you the media it has.  You pick something and press play.  The TV (or whatever client you are using) then pulls the media from Media Center and plays it.

3.  This is just like #1, it's just controlled in a different way.  Using JRemote (or other remote control program) on an ipad (or phone, etc), you pick the media you want from Media Center.  You also choose a zone which is a DLNA renderer (this could be your TV, or another device). You press play and MC sends that media to the renderer for playback.

About the network, firewalls, etc.:  On most home networks, you won't need to do anything with the router.  As long as your devices are all on the same network, they should find each other.  However, the Windows firewall can get in the way.  I honestly have very little experience with this part (firewall config on windows).  If it doesn't work, try disabling the firewall as a test.  Note that it can take up to a minute or so for DLNA renderers to appear in Playing Now in Media Center.  Not always, not with all devices.  But sometimes.

Good luck.

Brian.

[BonkLord]

Thanks so much for that info Brian! Much more informative than the Wiki. Well as it turns out my LG player is just not being detected by MC. I honestly have no idea why. May have to contact LG support and check with them.

For the moment I have figured out an alternative to what I want. I'm using Gizmo to stream to my phone, which works perfectly, then I just plug my phone into the AUX on the player. It's not ideal as I have to lose my phone every time I want to listen to music in the living room, but it's something. And it'll provide a decent soundtrack for me while I try and figure out the DLNA playback issues.

Thanks for the help guys!

Cheers 

[jachin99]

At the very least go into your router and make sure dlna is enabled.  Try transfering someting from your phone to ur tv via dlna