Nas drive shopping

bigtrak · 30 Dec 2019 at 16:36

as above guys and girls been over my parents for crimbo and been nagged the whole time about his nas drive and how his sony tv will sometimes not play certain films then they will.
problem is ive just been looking most the morning and still confused on what to recommend for him.
the most he wants to spend is around 150ish if thats possible but it has to be able to paly any file/film he chucks at it as the tv doesn't always like certain files!
with or without Hardrives wont be too much of a problem as he could use one from his old nas, and get a second if it has to be a raid set up.
his 70 but knows what his doing around things and loves his films lol
excuse my typos and bad punctuation btw

Pulse · 30 Dec 2019 at 16:43

I've got an older WD My Cloud 4Tb and it has been working flawlessly since I got it.

It's a backup for my phone and computer documents and holds all my films on it. I'm led to believe that some versions, especially newer models have Plex built in, mine doesn't so I have a small server directed at the NAS and it works perfectly. My living room TV, a much older Samsung has never had an issue playing anything from it, even 4K content. Using Plex I have even shared my film library with my parents and sister and I have full access to it remotely. It being hidden away next to my computer in an upstairs bedroom means I never hear it either.

bigtrak · 30 Dec 2019 at 16:57

should have mentioned his tv is quite new still, but not a android model so he cant get plex on it.
also his using a wd mycloud the same as mine, he got his when they first came out and all was good untill upgrading to a newer tv.

Pulse · 30 Dec 2019 at 17:34

I must admit, to make my life easier I've been using Roku boxes on my Sony TVs. My Samsung TV is not android but does have a Plex app, and I have 2 Sony TVs one is android and obviously does have the Plex app the other doesn't and I'm using a Roku with this one.

I have just tried a few films using the built in device selector on the non android TV and it played everything straight away even though it's on WiFi. I would look into it and see if there is something else at play. Especially if it's only been an issue since the change of TV.

bigtrak · 30 Dec 2019 at 18:13

his tv is running hard wired to the router,
i done this due to it dropping wifi sometimes in the past and thought i had solved the prblem lol,
its plays mkv avi mp4 but again sometimes it wont like the said file even when putting them on memory stick for playback
(will work fine on desktop),
i thought best bet would be to get him to replace the old wd.
im guessing these new wd with plex media server installed has to have plex installed on the said tv am i right?
never got into the plex scene myself

Pulse · 30 Dec 2019 at 18:31

I'm not 100% sure on that one. On the desktop version it does have the option to be detected as a standard DNLA media server. Similar to SMB version that I'm guessing how he is using it now.

Have you tried playing with any of the settings for the Twonky Server of the WD NAS, maybe try different profiles and see what works best with the TV or see if it makes any changes at all?

bigtrak · 30 Dec 2019 at 19:38

im actually trying to just solve the problem with a new nas drive that can handle films being played,
and not relying on the tv to do the job after hours of messing trying to solve it.

Pulse · 30 Dec 2019 at 19:47

No, I understand, but don't spend out unnecessarily if just playing with a few settings on the current NAS Will solve the issue.

If you go into the Twonky Server and just test a few settings, you may solve the issue and save the money. You don't need to change the settings on the TV and there is limited options you can adjust, if you do and it works, great. If not, you've spent maybe an hour testing and then you can look at new alternatives.

From what I've seen there is quite a few options from WD, Synology, Buffalo etc..

mikedigitales · 30 Dec 2019 at 20:04

It does sound like the easiest/cheapest solution would be a Roku or sideloaded Fire Stick. That will do the playback for the TV, and just keep the existing Nas?

bigtrak · 30 Dec 2019 at 20:19

Pulse said:
No, I understand, but don't spend out unnecessarily if just playing with a few settings on the current NAS Will solve the issue.

If you go into the Twonky Server and just test a few settings, you may solve the issue and save the money. You don't need to change the settings on the TV and there is limited options you can adjust, if you do and it works, great. If not, you've spent maybe an hour testing and then you can look at new alternatives.

From what I've seen there is quite a few options from WD, Synology, Buffalo etc..

sorry just read back what i wrote i sounded a bit rude, i wasnt lol when you say twonky server whats that ?

Pulse · 30 Dec 2019 at 20:46

Twonky Server is what handles the playing of all of the media to TVs and other devices from the NAS itself. You can try different renderer profiles and see if it makes any difference. All you need to do is go to the IP of the NAS and add :9000 at the end if it's the same as mine.

Along the side just go to sharing and it will list all of the devices that can access and how it will be rendered. Note certain profiles like Roku, Samsung TV or Sony Bravia.