uPnP AV/Media server with Oleg's firmware

[QMax]

I'd like to buy in the next future a Digital Media Extender (Netgear EVA8000) to view my videos stored on an HDD connected to WL500gP on TV. Actually the original Asus firmware seems to support upnp AV and media server, what about Oleg's firmware ?

Thanks, Max

[oleo]

join www.mediatomb.cc folks. They are commited to run it on asus routers.
or maybe #mediatom channel on irc.freenode.net

[QMax]

Thanks Oleg, it seems a nice project but I need some time to understand at 100% linux slang :-)
Your latest firmware, as is, can support devices UPnP AV compatable ?

Thanks, Max

[oleo]

Mediatomb is part of Optware package feed that is not bounded to Oleg firmware. It can run on several firmwares. Even wl-700gE that is not supported by Oleg.
We had some problems with exception handling, but this were solved with toolchain upgrade. Now there are spotted some problems with database init, but I think thate mediatomb developers will promptly solve this.

Read http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/FAQ/Optware-uClibcBuild for more info

[QMax]

Oleg, what do you think about Wizd ?

Max

[Darren]

With Oleg's firmware (1.9.2.7-7f) I've used uShare (http://ushare.geexbox.org/) and now I'm using TwonkyMedia (http://www.twonkyvision.de).

If you will use the router just as a media server, uShare can do the job. Consider the small amount of resource if you question about video skip during play if the router is running other services than uShare (samba, transmission, etc.)
uShare can be installed using ipkg (and the Oleg's feed)

[QMax]

Finally I moved to Oleg's firmware, with some problem configuring Samba, now solved. I've actually tested only WIZD (http://wizd.sourceforge.net/), very easy to configure, and very very light to run on Asus. Not tested yet uShare, I'll do it, but actually I'm loookin' if is available Oxyl Box media server... it looks very impressive..... http://www.oxyl.de

Another option could be Swiss Center too http://www.swisscenter.co.uk/compone...page/Itemid,1/

Asus's original FW Media Server worked fine for me for a week, bat I have to limit other wireless traffic. No lost frames playng video even if a massive download are going on a wired PC.

I'll a look to Twonky but... it's not a free soft like it's competitors

Can you please drop me a note about your experience with Twonky ? Thanks.

Max

[Darren]

Well, I've used uShare for few months, but unfortunately there was a lot of video skips (especially when cron runs hourly jobs, or when transmission download 3-4 torrents)
I've give twonky several 30minutes tests (you can restart the server and get another 30 minutes test period) and decided to buy it.
I have around 250GB media files on the Asus' HDD, you can see the number of files in the attachment with server status (and the memory use)
It's true, it take around 15 minutes to scan all those files (if I restart the router, twonkymedia is rescanning the shares).
I use 120minutes time between rescan (and video streaming is working fine during rescan, or if router is download 3-4 torrents). Now the video skipping is gone (that generated by cron jobs or transmission watchdog)

What I like about twonky is the "tree" that can be defined to group the music files (including creating groups by 1-2-3 digits). See attached screenshots. It has even 2 automatic playlists: "last played" and "most played".

[shoot]

One of the main reasons for me to buy the 500gp is using it as media server. I've tried asus default without succes. Then I installed Oleg with twonky. Twonky has a nice interface and is easy to configure. However, it's not free and stops working after some time. Second, it's pretty slow on 500gp since it needs to index all media before you can play media.

Now I am very happy with Wizd after using it 2 months. It's free, VERY light and does not need indexing, which results in very good performance on the 500gp. It is a little harder to setup compared to twonky though.

If anyone needs more info on setting up wizd I be happy to help.

[QMax]

I'm actually testing WIZD too, but I have problem with my Pinnacle ShowCenter 200 (not able to use options buttons from the SC remote command, no problems browsing files). I really like to know if it will be possible to compile 2 other media server (freeware OxylBox and SwissCenter) to run it in WL500gP, they both have networks features not available in wizd, with Oleg's firmware, but this req is in another thread...

@shoot
what network player are you using with wizd ?

Max

[shoot]

I have the Snazio 1350. With some default Wizd skins, I too had problems with the assignment of keys on the remote. However you can alter the key assignment in the wizd HTML pages, which are head.html and tail.html. The key assignment is specified with the tvid="XXX" in a <a href..>.

I have changed these files to e.g. go up one directory:

<a href="<!--WIZD_INSERT_PARENT_DIR_LINK-->" tvid="pgup"> .. go up one directory - press +</a></td> 

For the snazio 1350 remote, I've found out (trial and error) that the pgup and pgdown tvid-codes coincide with the + and - keys.

I assigned the < and > keys of the snazio remote to browse pages:

<a href="<!--WIZD_INSERT_CURRENT_PATH_LINK-->page=<!--WIZD_INSERT_MAX_PAGE-->&focus=L1" tvid="left"></a>
<a href="<!--WIZD_INSERT_CURRENT_PATH_LINK-->page=<!--WIZD_INSERT_NEXT_PAGE-->&focus=L1" tvid="right"></a> 

These are just parts of the html files. I just altered the original linkplayer wizd skin, since it's pretty straightforward.

I have attached my linkplayer modification to this message. Credits go to linkplayer , I just modded the files!

[QMax]

Is there a way to "read" remote commands to see what are relatives TVids ?

Max

[shoot]

@Qmax: I came across this link on wizd forum:
http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.p...orum_id=577101

seems it's an winxp app that provides the tvid codes. Please post any results if this works or not.

[QMax]

Wow... if it works it will be a nice tool to modify WizD skins !
Thanks shoot, it look it next week when I'll be back home.

Max

[Ey3]

Is there anything to know about the installation of the twonkymedia server? On their website they offer a variety of different installations for different hardware.

Which one has to be used for the WL-500gp?

Best regards
Ey3