INTERACT FORUM
Networks and Remotes => Media Network => Topic started by: daniel_2k on March 27, 2010, 07:37:37 am
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I have a Samsung LCD-TV 650 series (LE37B650) with DLNA support.
Now I want to use MC as media server. I see the correct folder structure and I can play music. But I cannot display pictures. I can see the pictures (filenames) on my TV but I don't see thumbnails. When I check "Shrink large images" in the MC network options, thumbnails are shown on my TV but when I select a picture and press OK on my TV remote, the TV says "Not support filetype". But my TV can display jpeg and bmp.
When I use the Windows Media Player as media server for DLNA I can listen to music, can display pictures and play videos (also with the Samsung PC-Share Manager, a media server from Samsung).
What can I do?
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There are a couple other people having trouble with Samsung TV's. I think you'll find them on the Hardware board here.
I did a little looking around and I believe that Samsung's DLNA is not "standard". It seems to work with their software but not with most other software.
Eventually, I hope we can support these.
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What build are you using? There was an image problem that was fixed in 14.0.156.
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I use the current MC 15 Build 10.
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Try the new 15.0.14 and see if that makes any difference.
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There is no Build 14. I tried the Build 13, but nothing changes. Only playing music works, but no pictures and videos.
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I tried Build 15, but nothing changed.
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Hmmm, I'm kind of running out of ideas.
Can you try creating a DNLA server, then in advanced options unclicking the DLNA support box and rename it to generic UPnP. Browse to that server from the TV and see if images or video works? What this essentially does is remove the DLNA flags from the content directory so if the Samsung is not liking one of the flags it won't have to deal with it. A lot of DLNA devices will accept simple UPnP data without the DLNA flags.
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I've made some changes in the next build of 15 (this will be 15.0.17 or greater) after doing much searching for the differences with the Samsung tv's.
Under advanced options in the DLNA options, turn on DLNAExtra.
Report back please.
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Can you try creating a DNLA server, then in advanced options unclicking the DLNA support box and rename it to generic UPnP. Browse to that server from the TV and see if images or video works? What this essentially does is remove the DLNA flags from the content directory so if the Samsung is not liking one of the flags it won't have to deal with it.
It tried it. But nothing changed.
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I've made some changes in the next build of 15 (this will be 15.0.17 or greater) after doing much searching for the differences with the Samsung tv's.
Under advanced options in the DLNA options, turn on DLNAExtra.
Report back please.
I tried the new option and it worked with a special configuration:
(http://home.arcor.de/daniel_2k/forums/dlna_conf.jpg)
The red options must be set a seen on the screenshot. The blue options does not matter weather they are turned on or off.
I have to turn off "Shrink large images" to display all my pictures, but then I don't see thumbnails on my TV. When I turn on this option the same message as described in the first post of this thread appears.
I also can play videos but only .mpg and .mp4. No divx-avis (my TV can play AVI-container files with divx and xvid videos) and no mkvs. The "Convert Video" option does not work.
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I tried the new option and it worked with a special configuration:
(http://home.arcor.de/daniel_2k/forums/dlna_conf.jpg)
The red options must be set a seen on the screenshot. The blue options does not matter weather they are turned on or off.
I have to turn off "Shrink large images" to display all my pictures, but then I don't see thumbnails on my TV. When I turn on this option the same message as described in the first post of this thread appears.
I also can play videos but only .mpg and .mp4. No divx-avis (my TV can play AVI-container files with divx and xvid videos) and no mkvs. The "Convert Video" option does not work.
Yea, progress!
Let's forget conversion to start with (in other words, it should be turned off. For audio, "never convert", and the checkboxes off for shrink images and convert video).
Audio plays?
Images work with image support turned OFF?? (but no thumbs).
Video works with mpeg2 and mpeg4?
Nothing worked before, Correct??
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Audio plays?
Images work with image support turned OFF?? (but no thumbs).
Video works with mpeg2 and mpeg4?
Nothing worked before, Correct??
Yes, that's right.
Only if the option "DLNAExtra" is on I can play music (mp3), view pictures (.jpg) but with no thumbnails and I can play videos (only .mpg (MPEG2) and .mp4).
In an earlier version (don't know wich build) I only could play music-files (MP3). But viewing pictures and videos is working since this "DNLAExtra" option and now I only can play music when this option is on.
I noticed that I see thumbnails for small pictures (smaller and equal 640x480). Only bigger pictures e.g. from a digital camera have no thumbnails (but I can view them in full size on my TV).
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Great work guys :). I can now also view images and play most of my music. As above, the thumbnails only appear for small images and embedded cover art in MP3 files. I also can only play back mpg video's. As most of my movies are in DivX, XVid, AVI format I am still anxious to get this one over the line.
I will play around with some of the setting over the coming days and hope to identify exactly what plays and what doesn't.
Thanks for your efforts.
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Thanks for the feedback guys.
For the time being, let's keep conversion off. I have some ideas on that but would like to get everything else working properly first.
There are a few tests I need feedback on. Only change one of these at a time and you may have to power cycle your TV (or at least go back to the root menu) to get consistent results.
1) I'd like to know the effect of the regular DLNA checkbox. Test each of a working sound, image and video file with that option on and off, leaving DLNAExtra on for both tests. Report results please!
2) FYI, thumbnails are sent with all files that have them. There really should be no difference between the thumbs for mp3's and jpg's unless the TV is ignoring the sent thumbs and trying to build one from the image file.
I'd like to know exactly what the difference is between having image support turned on and off. Display some images with the images support checkbox off AND on. Make sure image conversion is off. Report results please (do images work with the image support flag on and off? Thumbs the same behavior both ways?).
3) Finally, for video. Does your manual specify the formats supported by the TV? It would be really helpful to know this.
Thanks!
Bob
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Bob,
I will get the test results you are after soon, hopefully over the weekend I will get a chance to do some testing.
I have noticed that I am unable to pause/resume any video file playback (play and stop are the only controls that work). This works with Music files but not with video. any ideas?
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Bob,
I will get the test results you are after soon, hopefully over the weekend I will get a chance to do some testing.
I have noticed that I am unable to pause/resume any video file playback (play and stop are the only controls that work). This works with Music files but not with video. any ideas?
Thanks...
And for playback, if conversion is off, you should be able to pause/resume.
Also, I'm hoping that the most recent build will change the behavior with your avi's.
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I tested DLNA again with Build 28. Now I can play mkv-files (H.264 Video + AC3 Audio). But still no avis (divx) and now I cannot playback MPEG2.
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I tested DLNA again with Build 28. Now I can play mkv-files (H.264 Video + AC3 Audio). But still no avis (divx) and now I cannot playback MPEG2.
On the server, test with and without conversion set for video.
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On the server, test with and without conversion set for video.
I test only without conversion.
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I tested DLNA again with Build 28. Now I can play mkv-files (H.264 Video + AC3 Audio). But still no avis (divx) and now I cannot playback MPEG2.
Interesting... I'll check into the mpeg2. Have you used the avi's with another server sucessfully?
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Interesting... I'll check into the mpeg2. Have you used the avi's with another server sucessfully?
I can playback all my dixv-avis, mpg2 and mp4 files with Windows Media Player Streaming and with the original Samsung PC-Share Manager.
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Ok, next build (29) will have another change. Let me know when you get a chance... Thanks...
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Great job! With Build 29 I can play all my video-files.
Tested .avi (divx), .mpg (mpeg2), .mp4, .mkv (H.246).
But still no thumbnails for big jpegs and videos.
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Where can I get build 29 from? only Build 28 is available for download
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Since Build 33 I have thumbnails for all Pictures and Videos on my Samsung LCD-TV. Great job.
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Since Build 33 I have thumbnails for all Pictures and Videos on my Samsung LCD-TV. Great job.
Yea!
Now we can cautiously check conversion. Images first. They should JUST WORK. (choose the shrink large images checkbox, it makes a standard DLNA JPEG size and converts all images to JPEG at the same time).
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Now we can cautiously check conversion.
When I check "Shrink large images" I cannot display any image (not supported fileformat).
The Option "convert video" works (I can play all my videos weather the option is on or off).
Convert audio does not work (TV hangs).
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When I check "Shrink large images" I cannot display any image (not supported fileformat).
Wow, that make absolutely no sense.
The Option "convert video" works (I can play all my videos weather the option is on or off).
That's good, it appears the TV can play lots of video types.
Convert audio does not work (TV hangs).
Which encoder is selected? Try BOTH uncompressed wave and mp3.
Thanks...
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I tested it with build 37 again: the same result. No image playback with "Shrink large images" on and no music playback with conversion turned on (only tested mp3, my TV only plays mp3 and no wav).
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It would appear the the TV doesn't allow transcoded files via DLNA. When a file is to be transcoded there are DLNA flags set that tell the renderer that the file is being transcoded and is not seekable. There are some changes in the pipeline that will try to present transcoded streams as non-transcoded files but it's not ready for prime time quite yet.
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I noticed (when I read that the file is not seekable): when I use MC as Media Server I cannot seek in video-files.
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You should be able to seek in video files as long as the video conversion box is not checked.
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To Build 38: now I can listen to music when "always convert" (MP3) is turned on.
But I still can't view pictures with "shrink large images" turned on.
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To Build 38: now I can listen to music when "always convert" (MP3) is turned on.
But I still can't view pictures with "shrink large images" turned on.
This MAY be better for your device in the next build. Also there will be some control over the image size when converting.
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Now I tested Build 44: same problems with "Shrink larges Images" turned on (TV says: unknown filetype) and in this build audio playback with conversion tunred on is not possible.
Conversion with videos is working well.
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Hmmm,
For the audio, can you try:
Always convert
and mp3 for the encoder and 44100 as the bitrate.
Thanks...
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Hmmm,
For the audio, can you try:
Always convert
and mp3 for the encoder and 44100 as the bitrate.
Thanks...
Sorry, but the same. When I set "never covert" it works.
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Sorry, but the same. When I set "never covert" it works.
Weird, for mp3 anyway it REALLY shouldn't be able to tell the difference between converted and unconverted. I'll do some more checking...
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Can you try 15.0.46? It should fix the mp3 problem.
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It works with Build 47. The TV takes a bit more time to start the playback but it works.
"Shrink larges Images" still doesn't work.
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It works with Build 47. The TV takes a bit more time to start the playback but it works.
"Shrink larges Images" still doesn't work.
Thanks for the reply.
The "shrink large images" problem may be a tougher nut to crack since it seems the TV wants file size in the content directory and we don't know that yet since it hasn't been converted at that time.
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Good to know that your video files are now working. It seems that you have a problem with the version of your software. My Thumbnail setting is working when I display pictures.
My last post was month ago. But everything is already working for some time.
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Hey guys.
Is the DLNA server working satisfactory with Samsung's 2010 TVs now? I'm considering a Samsung for my bedroom which is a 20 meter cable away from my main room, so I want to make sure I'll have access to my library of mostly mkv, mp3 and ape files (mkv being the most important) through an Ethernet cable. If it doesn't work, I might have to consider another brand, since for the cost of another computer to run MC (or a long enough HDMI cable or working HDMI over Ethernet converter), I would rather get a better TV.
As I understand Samsung has made some changes to the DLNA client in the new lineup compared to the 2009 models, so I don't know if that makes it harder or easier? You guys have new or last year's TVs?
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B650 samsung.
DLNA movies playing. Can't seek, or fast forward.
I am sure I am not using the correct settings. Has anyone figured it out for this TV?
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Is that a 2010 model tv? Which formats does it play, and can you pause the video? What about if you stop in the middle, does it resume where you left off or do you have to watch the video from the beginning?
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Bump...any news here? I see there's been a lot of DLNA changes/fixes in the last builds, does it work okay with the 2010 Samsung line now?
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In general, all of the seeking functions work IF the file is not being transcoded.
If the file is being transcoded (not supported in it's native format by the TV) then the choices are mp2 streaming which usually cannot be seeked on (this depends a bit on the renderer, some renderers (TV in your case) allow pause and restart from where it left off).
If you use the transcoding to mp4 (if your TV supports MP4), then the all of the functions will work however you'll have to wait until the transcoding finishes before starting the movie.
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Sounds good, just bought a Samsung UE32C8000, will set it up and try it out when I get home from work next week.
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Hi Bob,
I have a Samsung 55C6400. When i try to stream images or videos from MC in my PC to TV i get an error message
"There was a problem controlling the selected DLNA device. Double-check your device, server, and network settings."
I think i tried all the options suggested in this thread without success.
Somebody at JRiver in this forum mentioned that there are some issues with DLNA implementation by Samsung TVs. I still have the choice to return this TV and buy a Sony Bravia (if there are such problems with Samsung's DLNA)
However, I have also Twonky server in my PC, and i have no problem dragging and dropping videos (ie: from youtube) or audio to the TV. I like better the way MC is designed and its features and it will be nice to have it working with my Samsung.
I'll very much appreciate your comments.
Thanks
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Hi Bob,
I have a Samsung 55C6400. When i try to stream images or videos from MC in my PC to TV i get an error message
"There was a problem controlling the selected DLNA device. Double-check your device, server, and network settings."
I think i tried all the options suggested in this thread without success.
Somebody at JRiver in this forum mentioned that there are some issues with DLNA implementation by Samsung TVs. I still have the choice to return this TV and buy a Sony Bravia (if there are such problems with Samsung's DLNA)
However, I have also Twonky server in my PC, and i have no problem dragging and dropping videos (ie: from youtube) or audio to the TV. I like better the way MC is designed and its features and it will be nice to have it working with my Samsung.
I'll very much appreciate your comments.
Thanks
It's a bit of a surprise that you can drag and drop on it (it's a controllable renderer). If you wouldn't mind getting a wireshark dump of it failing with MC (and perhaps working with twonky) we might be able to figure it out.
I wouldn't assume that the Sony is a controllable renderer. Perhaps someone with one can chime in??
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Bump and Reset:
I have two questions....
1. Just wanted to know if there is any progress towards solving this issue. I tried this with both MC 16 and MC 15 and I too got the same error. The renderer in my case is a Samsung UN46C8000 and while the controller on the monitor is able to access content, drag and drop within MC does not work. I also use Twonky and I too can control the Samsung using the Android Twonky app as well as drag and drop on the server.
2. I (like apparently many others out there) are looking to load and play libraries of hard drive-based DVDs (video_ts, ifo, etc) for streaming. Reasons for this are many including disc protection, fear of video degradation in transcoding, convenience, and the dread of time in actually transcoding hundreds of DVDs. So far I've tried a dozen media server apps and none seem capable of accessing the files as if it were a DVD. I've tried the direct approach (playing the video_ts file itself) and the virtual DVD drive approach (mounting the .iso file in a virtual drive) and everything plays the video_ts files broken up with hit or miss on the audio sync and language.
VLC and MC seem to be the only choices (with MC the only one offering DLNA support) to play a DVD as it's meant to be played with menus, etc. Since I can play a DVD normally within MC, I'm puzzled why it defaults to individual video_ts files when I send it to the Samsung. Is this a limitation of the renderer (i.e., the Samsung) or the DLNA server (MC)?
Thank you in advance for your help.
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Hello again:
Tap, tap, tap...test, test, test...1, 2, 3. Is this thing plugged in? ;)
Seriously, I didn't think that these were banal, noob questions. Is it that you just don't know or don't plan to offer these functions? Did you not get what you needed in terms of data to compare Twonky and MC? LMK with some kind of answer so I don't waste anymore of your time.
Thanks.
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Bob's not here today. Maybe tomorrow.
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VLC and MC seem to be the only choices (with MC the only one offering DLNA support) to play a DVD as it's meant to be played with menus, etc. Since I can play a DVD normally within MC, I'm puzzled why it defaults to individual video_ts files when I send it to the Samsung. Is this a limitation of the renderer (i.e., the Samsung) or the DLNA server (MC)?
Thank you in advance for your help.
I could have sworn I answered this particular point. DLNA can only pass certain file types and iso isn't one of them (at least as far as I've seen).
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Also, very backed up right now. Still working on controller issues and I've got another dump to get to.
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Thanks for getting back to me on this...I'll sit tight on the Samsung control problems.
As to the DLNA's lack of support for the .iso spec: I'd appreciate it if you could clarify something for me. I mentioned above that there are two ways within MC that I'm aware of to play a hard drive-based DVD. The first, which you have pointed out won't work for DLNA streaming, is actually mounting the ISO file and loading it as a virtual drive. Second, I can just import the folder and MC seems smart enough to realize that the video_ts folder is a full blown DVD and (correct me if I'm wrong), takes it's clues from the info file in the folder.
My question is this...is the method that MC uses to load the .ifo file the same, equivalent, etc. (as far as DLNA is concerned) to running a virtual ISO? In other words, whether there's no virtual drive mounted or not, it's treated as an ISO file? ?
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I'm also interested in this. I have a UE32C8000, and in my MC library I have some DVDs of tv series, and no matter what I do, I can only play the first episode on my tv. So I'd very much like to see a way to get the DVD menu on the tv through DLNA.
Also, my tv won't play mkv files anymore. Before, in MC 15, it played most mkv files, but not all, even with the exact same codecs used within the mkv file. After installing MC 16, no mkv will play at all, even if I shut down MC 16 (including Media Server) and run MC 15.
The settings were ported over from MC 15 to MC 16.
Thunderbird1, what settings do you have in the DLNA options? It sounds like you can control your tv from MC, I've never been able to do that. I can see it as a zone when connected, but get an error if I try to play something in that zone from MC. I can only play stuff using my tv remote.
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Thanks for getting back to me on this...I'll sit tight on the Samsung control problems.
As to the DLNA's lack of support for the .iso spec: I'd appreciate it if you could clarify something for me. I mentioned above that there are two ways within MC that I'm aware of to play a hard drive-based DVD. The first, which you have pointed out won't work for DLNA streaming, is actually mounting the ISO file and loading it as a virtual drive. Second, I can just import the folder and MC seems smart enough to realize that the video_ts folder is a full blown DVD and (correct me if I'm wrong), takes it's clues from the info file in the folder.
My question is this...is the method that MC uses to load the .ifo file the same, equivalent, etc. (as far as DLNA is concerned) to running a virtual ISO? In other words, whether there's no virtual drive mounted or not, it's treated as an ISO file? ?
When the dvd structure is on the disk with the .ifo it's treated as an aggregate DVD and it's passed as an MPEG_PS stream to the renderer. In this layout, they are not subjected to conversion to other formats. The main feature is streamed with the first soundtrack.
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I'm also interested in this. I have a UE32C8000, and in my MC library I have some DVDs of tv series, and no matter what I do, I can only play the first episode on my tv. So I'd very much like to see a way to get the DVD menu on the tv through DLNA.
Also, my tv won't play mkv files anymore. Before, in MC 15, it played most mkv files, but not all, even with the exact same codecs used within the mkv file. After installing MC 16, no mkv will play at all, even if I shut down MC 16 (including Media Server) and run MC 15.
The settings were ported over from MC 15 to MC 16.
Thunderbird1, what settings do you have in the DLNA options? It sounds like you can control your tv from MC, I've never been able to do that. I can see it as a zone when connected, but get an error if I try to play something in that zone from MC. I can only play stuff using my tv remote.
Was it converting? If your device can play mkv's natively, try it with the PS3 compat switch on and off and with video conversion set to "never convert"
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Thunderbird1, what settings do you have in the DLNA options? It sounds like you can control your tv from MC, I've never been able to do that. I can see it as a zone when connected, but get an error if I try to play something in that zone from MC. I can only play stuff using my tv remote.
Hello Audunth,
Unfortunately, I'm in the same boat as you with regards to lack of Samsung control through MC 15 or 16...I apologize if I wasn't clear on that. I can control my Samsung using Twonky Server, both from my computer and my smartphone (Android 2.2).
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Hello Audunth,
Unfortunately, I'm in the same boat as you with regards to lack of Samsung control through MC 15 or 16...I apologize if I wasn't clear on that. I can control my Samsung using Twonky Server, both from my computer and my smartphone (Android 2.2).
We are looking at the control problem now. A wireshark dump of it working with twonky might be helpful. You could email it to bob (at) jriver.com
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Was it converting? If your device can play mkv's natively, try it with the PS3 compat switch on and off and with video conversion set to "never convert"
Earlier in MC 15 it played most mkv's (some wouldn't play even though they contained the exact same audio/video/subtitle codecs as the ones that did play) after I set it to Never convert. Now in MC 16 it doesn't play any of my mkv's with the same settings. Have tried with PS3 compatibility set to on and off, no difference.
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Earlier in MC 15 it played most mkv's (some wouldn't play even though they contained the exact same audio/video/subtitle codecs as the ones that did play) after I set it to Never convert. Now in MC 16 it doesn't play any of my mkv's with the same settings. Have tried with PS3 compatibility set to on and off, no difference.
Always try these tests with conversion set to "never convert" first.
Verify that MC sees the codecs the same for videos that play and ones that don't by looking at the database "compression" field for your videos.
If you go back to 15 to test, power-cycle the TV before testing. It's common for DLNA renderers to get into weird states if they are fed material that they cannot handle.
Some are touchy enough that anytime you try to play a video that fails you have to power-cycle the device.
You could also try build 16.0.19 to see if the trouble might be related to DLNA version 2 support. If you do this, be sure to backup your library first!
http://files.jriver.com/mediacenter/MediaCenter160019.exe
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Is this issue still under investigation or do we have to say goodbye to Samsung TV DLNA support with the latest MC versions ?
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We should be able to fix it.
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I know from personal experience that video playback (regular AVI and HD MKV) was functionnal under version 080, but somewhere between this release and release 172 it began to malfunction. Now regular (I mean non HD) videos still plays, but for MKVs it's almost impossible :/ If you need help just ask.
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Thanks. We may.
About 3 weeks ago, we added support for DLNA 2.0. It may confuse some devices.
But it sounds like you're using MC15. MC16 would be worth trying.
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Video is problematic since the renderers are only required to support mpeg2 to conform to the DLNA spec.
So, it could be a mimetype or DLNA flag issue.
If you look in advanced options under the DLNA server in current versions the last three entries are
MPEG Video mimetype override (checkbox)
Video Mimetype override (text input)
and Video DLNA override (text input)
If you check the MPEG Video mimetype override checkbox, The following 2 entries will replace the calculated values for all video files.
So for example, if I check the checkbox, I can override the mimetype and DLNAType values sent to the TV.
The defaults are
video/mpeg for the mimetype and
MPEG_PS for the DLNAType.
These values tend to work for a lot of devices, you just tell them the files are mpeg and leave it up to them to parse the files for the real info.
For some devices you may need to change the DLNAType from MPEG_PS to MPEG_PS_NTSC or MPEG_TS_SD_NA.
If that doesn't work continue below...
The current mimetype values for Matstroka video are video/x-matroska IF the codecs are found in the compression database field. If the compression field is empty, it depends on the original mimetype of the file but will be either video/x-matroska or video/x-mkv.
You could put in video/matroska or video/mkv for the mimetype and see if that makes a difference. Some devices don't like the x-.
The DLNAType reflects the codecs and is pretty complex. The values are taken by different renderers in disparate ways. Some basically ignore these (you could start with just MPEG_PS and see if it makes any difference when you change it to something else, like MPEG4_PS_MP4_SP_AAC). Others want full info.
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Well I tried ticking that tiny little box (using MC1 6.0.55). And it worked. I tried a few files (most my HD videos are MPEG4 AVC or MPEG4 ASP), and they all worked. Subtitles are missing but I won't complain now that it's working properly again !
Thanks again, I can finally buy MC 16 =)
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Thanks for the feedback!