DLNA - Twonky

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ADKM

860 posts

Ultimate Geek

#109105 12-Sep-2012 16:17

Hi,

Does anyone have experience of Twonky 7 with Windows XP ?

This has driven me insane over the last 3 months. It seems to do different things all the time, sometimes showing the content on my DVD Recorder, most times not. I can't find any detailed documentation or how/what it should operate. Not sure what should be aggregated etc etc. Have tried various combinations and re-installs but nothing seems stable or consistent. I can reliably stream files from the PC to the TV but getting the files from the recorder to PC is the problem. I have bought it and have a key.

Thanks for any help !

Cheers - Kirk

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#685144 12-Sep-2012 18:56

Welcome to the club.
I've tried 3 versions of Twonky on Windows 7 with similar results.
Only once did I manage to transfer a file from my Panasonic BW880 to the PC and then no way could I get it to play with any software.
Played OK via the LAN in WMC though.
Likewise it saw the BW880 files sometimes but not all the time. Always seemed to say "device info not retrievable" or something similar.
The new online version is a real nightmare without proper documentation.
I gave up in the end.
I just edit files on the Recorder (very slow process) and burn to Blu Ray or DVD. I was hoping to do it on the PC using VideoReDo which is quick and easy.

ADKM

860 posts

Ultimate Geek

#685189 12-Sep-2012 20:57

Thanks for the message. Doesn't look very promising but I did have the capability to see the files on the 380. Not sure why it's changed, but it was always a bit hit and miss. I concluded they weren't there if the 380 was switched off when Twonky loaded. Now that doesn't seem to be so. Then wondered if the IP numbers were changing and that was the cause. That's disproved now too.

So it's all been a nightmare. The 380 can't record in Hi Def (to an optical disk) but the files could be DLNAd to the PC even though Twonky showed the DTC-IP ones as 0 bytes long. They ended up about the right size but wouldn't play on anything (or even show any details in MediaInfo). It's about 50/50 what will work and what won't. Those that work can be Hi Def, e.g. the Milan Brych documentary a week or so back.

The reason for wanting them on the PC is for storage, the 380 HD is pretty small. Getting them back to watch is pretty easy. The oddball file name (ending in _BDY) can be renamed to .m2ts (is it just a container?) and processed or streamed back to the TV. However those with DTC-IP I'm still playing with.

It may be a lost cause but HiDef files copied from a Recorder similar to yours in the UK end up as copy once. Seems it's a multi copy once... i.e the Recorder can burn them over and over, but no copy can be made of the copy. Unless you have AnyDVD HD.

If they use the same DTC-IP maybe it's possible make a iso of the _BDY (m2ts) file, put that into a pseudo CDROM with Daemon Tools then AnyDVD - maybe the end result will play. But no use if they can't be readily accessed in the first place. Nero Home Media isn't any better.... maybe Serviio. Best solution would be to figure out what makes Twonky so flakey.

On a related issue, I was talking to Panasonic today and they said DTC_IP files are prevented from streaming. From Googling around that may not be so, it makes more sense that it would stop copying, but to also stop you watching is a bit overkill. You never know in advance what will or won't play via DLNA and it really defeats the purpose. Although they can be DR converted to standard Def. Which is pretty silly when the TV they're streamed to may be SD, as ours is.

Cheers - Kirk

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#685209 12-Sep-2012 21:44

ADKM:

So it's all been a nightmare. The 380 can't record in Hi Def (to an optical disk)

The oddball file name (ending in _BDY) can be renamed to .m2ts

That's why I got the BW880.
If I'd waited 2 more weeks I could have got the newer 3D version although it was nearly twice what I paid for the BW880. Got a 3D player for much less than the difference in price.

Didn't try renaming to .m2ts
Tried several other extensions but none worked.

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#685212 12-Sep-2012 21:50

Are you folk comparing this to running Twonky Ver. 6?
I've heard that version 7 makes things a lot harder to work with... but that feedback has only been anecdotal.

ADKM

860 posts

Ultimate Geek

#685247 12-Sep-2012 22:47

I've never seen Twonky 6.

But since my earlier speal, with this everchanging Twonky I DID get to the files for about 15 minutes. But this time I could not copy them to the PC. The Save As link used to save the 'xxxx_BDY' file in full, now it just wants to save 'xxxx_BDY.htm' which is a shortcut to nowhere.

I couldn't play them either, which previously was possible.

Might be time to give up - of get the hi def recorder. (Which will be obsolete by the time I get it home ,... sigh...)

Cheers - Kirk

Ragnor

8218 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#685262 12-Sep-2012 23:52

There are heaps of alternative DLNA servers now, try serviio or plex

http://www.serviio.org/
http://www.plexapp.com/getplex/

ADKM

860 posts

Ultimate Geek

#686541 15-Sep-2012 21:22

Thanks Ragnor, am investigating Serviio and will move onto the other as a last resort.

Nero Home Media 4 has been struck off

Do we understand you right that you like to copy file or watch files from your DVD Recorder on your Pc with Nero Media Home4? If this is the case then we need to tell you that this is not possible with Nero Media Home 4. You can only use Media Home as a server not a client.

Dunners, I asked Twonly If I could try their version6 as I'm pretty sure you have that working.

They sent me a link to Twonky (Manager) 2.0.6
Is that the one you use ? I suspect not....

Cheers - Kirk

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Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#686545 15-Sep-2012 21:34

I just googled 'Twonky server version 6' it again and got
http://www.twonkyforum.com/downloads/6.0.39/

Give it a nudge, it's what I use on my Mac.

ADKM

860 posts

Ultimate Geek

#686572 15-Sep-2012 23:36

Thanks!! Just got and about to get rid of 7 and see what happens !

I notice the 380 self-switches off. Does yours - and if yes do you need it ON before running Twonky or does Twonky wake it up ?

Cheers - Kirk

kiwijunglist

2981 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#686659 16-Sep-2012 13:50

Plex seems alright, based on the brief encounter i had with it

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#686678 16-Sep-2012 14:38

ADKM: Thanks!! Just got and about to get rid of 7 and see what happens !

I notice the 380 self-switches off. Does yours - and if yes do you need it ON before running Twonky or does Twonky wake it up ?

Have you got the energy savings settings turned on or off?
You can toggle between always on / power off after 4 hours. Dig into the menus and you should find it there.
I no longer have a Pana unit at home as we have MySky.

ADKM

860 posts

Ultimate Geek

#686679 16-Sep-2012 14:51

Dunners, Just having an initial tryout with Twonky 6.

Unbelievably it's letting me copy files from the 380 once again, which is fantastic! Quite different to Seven
and as you say, a lot better.

However, it won't let me stream all shared files. It seems to have a limit of 30 entries. This isn't really a problem as I can use something else for that, and Twonky just for getting stuff from the recorder.

I copied one DTCP-IP files that won't play and had a go making an iso and running it past anyDVD. No immediate success, but there's a heap of stuff to figure out. May all be a bridge too far this, in which case they can be downsampled and copied in that format.

But just being able to get at them again is a huge step forward! Many thanks for the tip.

Cheers - Kirk

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#686690 16-Sep-2012 15:11

Sweet as - good to see it's all working for you.
There's all sorts of odd things when it comes to streaming DLNA content onto Panasonic devices... for instance, some HD ready 2012 TV's can't play all the files off a recorder via the media player. Whereas the Full HD sets seem to have no issues.
Talking to frustrated users seems to highlight the lack of information on this topic...
Sometimes if everything is working, it doesn't pay to tweak I guess?