WDTV Live question (DLNA needed?)

PardonTheWait

PardonTheWait

PardonTheWait

Soldato
Joined
26 Aug 2003
Posts
24,290
Hello,

I'm looking to sort out my streaming at the moment, and I've found DLNA consistently frustrating and although it should do everything I want, I find there's always something stopping it working properly.

I've just got a WD Mybook Live which I'm happy with, and the DLNA server works really well, but it's only Twonky 5. Updating it to Twonky 7 is a hack, which I'd prefer to avoid doing. Twonky 5 does not stream all the formats I need (MP4 and MKV being the major two that are missing, a lot of my media is in those formats)

If I was to get a WDTV live, would this be able to stream from my Mybook Live without using DLNA? As in, could I just point it at a folder and have it be able to stream all the stuff?

If it can, I think it will be pretty much perfect. Sorry if this is a really obvious question but I'm struggling to find a definitive answer.

TL;DR: Can a WDTV live stream from a WD Mybook Live without using DLNA?

Thanks :)
 
FWIW..

I have the 2tb WD Mybook Live with Twonky 5 and I have not experienced any issues with MP4 or MKV. They stream to my PS3, Nexus 7, Ipad and phone fine.

Obviously, the device you are streaming to has to be able to decode the video. For example, my 2010 Panasonic TV is pretty useless in that respect, So I stream it to the PS3 instead.

If the device you are streaming to has poor format support, then the WDTV Live would eliminate the problem and should allow you to stream from the NAS to your TV without the PC on.
 
Last edited:
I tend not to use DNLA as it never seems to pick up all my media - so I tend to just browse by folder which makes it less "interactive" I guess, but at least I can access all of it. I thought the WDTV live could play mkv files too?
 
Freefaller said:
I tend not to use DNLA as it never seems to pick up all my media - so I tend to just browse by folder which makes it less "interactive" I guess, but at least I can access all of it. I thought the WDTV live could play mkv files too?
Click to expand...

It can play them, it's that my MyBook Live's DLNA streamer doesn't stream them. If the WDTV live can play them without using DLNA it'll all be cool.

I'm not mega fussed about interface - just that it can play all my stuff with as little fuss as possible.


Countcussy said:
FWIW..

I have the 2tb WD Mybook Live with Twonky 5 and I have not experienced any issues with MP4 or MKV. They stream to my PS3, Nexus 7, Ipad and phone fine.

Obviously, the device you are streaming to has to be able to decode the video. For example, my 2010 Panasonic TV is pretty useless in that respect, So I stream it to the PS3 instead.

If the device you are streaming to has poor format support, then the WDTV Live would eliminate the problem and should allow you to stream from the NAS to your TV without the PC on.
Click to expand...

Weird - mine misses out all the MKV and MP4 files. My TV can't play MKV but my BR player can. I've seen other people complaining that Twonky 5 doesn't stream those as well. How strange.
 
Ah.

I know from the WD forums that there are some BluRay players that do not deal with Twonky 5 well.

Do you have an Android phone or tablet? If so, use something like Mediahouse (free) to check the Twonky server. It should see and play pretty much anything based on MP4 or MKV

Without teaching you to suck eggs, make sure you have set up the shares on the MyBook correctly. You can access Twonky direct from the browser, but any changes made here are overwritten by the Dashboard software on the NAS.

As an experiment, you could browse directly to the Twonky Media Server pages via your browser on the PC. (I`m at work and the exact address escapes me). Any files listed here are being "served". If you can see the files on the twonky pages, then everything is good at the NAS end.
 
Last edited:
Countcussy said:
Ah.

I know from the WD forums that there are some BluRay players that do not deal with Twonky 5 well.

Do you have an Android phone or tablet? If so, use something like Mediahouse (free) to check the Twonky server. It should see and play pretty much anything based on MP4 or MKV

Without teaching you to suck eggs, make sure you have set up the shares on the MyBook correctly. You can access Twonky direct from the browser, but any changes made here are overwritten by the Dashboard software on the NAS.

As an experiment, you could browse directly to the Twonky Media Server pages via your browser on the PC. (I`m at work and the exact address escapes me). Any files listed here are being "served". If you can see the files on the twonky pages, then everything is good at the NAS end.
Click to expand...

Cool, I'll try and do all those things.

It seems to be a bit stuck rebuilding the database so I might disable and enable it now and see if I can get sense out of it.

Otherwise I might just get stuck in and upgrade to 7 but I'm a bit reluctant!

Thanks for the info though, all useful :)
 
Bit the bullet and upgraded to Twonky 7, nnot too scary once I got going.

All seems to be sweet now and showing all my videos.

I'll use this throughout the 30-day trial and if it behaves I'll buy a key :)

Thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom