Chromecast

On their site, at the bottom go to Customer Services. Far right under Price Promise choose online or instore purchase. Ring the number, you have 7 days from order to claim.
 
Well what a pile of crock :( Got mine yesterday and set it up no problem, today the Nexus 7 tells me there is no Chromecast device on the network, the Chromecast tells me it's on my WiFi and keeps updating the pictures on the TV screen, the Nexus can talk to the Internet using the same WiFi network, but the Nexus can't find it. Tried rebooting both the Nexus and the Chromecast, I've even tried using the supplied PSU in case the telly was struggling to find power. Nothing, nought, zip. What a joke :(

Anyone have any bright ideas please?

Edit: OK a reboot of the router fixed it. Doesn't bode well if that's required every 24 hours. Searching the Internet seems to imply this is a common problem.
 
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Only ever seen one of them before. Possibly more a router issue than a Chromecast one? Checked to see if there is any updated firmware for it?
 
Not had any problems with either if mine finding or keeping hold if the router, as mentioned before it could be your router ?
 
Seems strange the router would block internal connections somehow (remember the Chromecast and Nexus could both see the Internet so had network connections) but if it is the router the Chromecast will be returned. I'm not buying a new router in order to be able to use it, might as well buy a Roku 3.
 
Right, got one and love it.

However for stuff like 4od, ITV player etc what can I do about it? Something with Plex (which I've never used)?
 
Working great on 3/4 tv's, but on one I get terrible interference on the TV when streaming (affecting the chromecast signal, not other devices)

Could this be the power cable going into the chromecast or more likely to be the tv's power?

Unusable on this TV atm
 
I'm planning on setting this up for my Dad. What I want is a setup-once-and-forget deal. It looks like I want to install Plex on an old quad core I have, and stack it with some terabytes of storage. It will be on 24/7. Is VideoStream a better alternative, and if so why?

I want BR-Rips to be played through Chromecast over wireless from the Plex server. I want him to be able to browse and control the media from his Android phone, but play through the telly. Does the Android app Plex Remote do this (free)?

Does Plex auto-scan for new media every x minutes etc?

Ideally, I want him to have his own personal 'Netflix' experience. I'll pop along every month or so and load his HDD with his BR rips. I'd like to keep HD sound so will keep using MKVs. Can I use MP4? Is transcoding mkv to mp4 (I assume, for Chromecast) CPU intensive?

Cheers!
 
Yes intensive but I would imagine most CPU's these days will manage it fine. It struggles on my HP Microserver but thats an Atom CPU! 1080P's work but it keeps having to buffer. 720P is fine.
Make sure your using ethernet on the PC so your not making unnecessary wifi traffic.

If you want a Netflix type experience then indeed Plex is the way to go. There's two apps, one is free but you need to be a subscriber. The other is a one off payment (I use this one).
Plex on my system detects media as soon as I start copying it to the media folder. I just give it a minute then refresh and bask in the cover art and media info it has downloaded for me. On the Plex app make sure you select Maximum quality to ensure your seeing 1080P.
 
Nice one Swarfega, thanks.

Is your Microserver a N54L? It has AMD dual core CPUs in it: hotukdeals has these listed again on a cheap cashback offer. If yours is the same, I'll dodge it and will look thought my computer bits box.
 
Yes N54L. If your using MP4 though there is no transcoding needed and the N54L will happily send 1080P to a Chromecast. I use the Microserver just because it's low power. My Plex install sits on top of Arch Linux which sits on a VMWare ESXi install. It also only has 1GB of RAM allocated to it.

Ask again in the Microserver thread in the servers section of this forum. Others run it outside of ESX and they seem to suggest they have no problems with transcoding.
 
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