NAS videos to TV using media player

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Rickles

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#311661 5-Feb-2024 11:30

Friend has in past used a media player like this to play music and videos off a USB drive to his TV.

He now has a NAS with all the videos and music on it, but the media player lacks network input, so wonders if using some sort of Ethernet-to-USB adapter would work (Ethernet network port available behind TV).

He doesn't want to go down the Android TV box/VLC App route.

Kookoo

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#3190937 5-Feb-2024 11:43

Plugging a USB-to-Eth adapter likely won't do anything because the media player lacks the drivers for it. Assuming it's some sort of linux build that just might have the drivers to get it to work, it will still need to have a client to communicate with the NAS, and even then - it would need the UI to match. Without knowing more I'd say it's a total no-go.

I'm guessing you can find a compatible build somewhere online and reflash the unit with it, but why?

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afe66

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#3191008 5-Feb-2024 13:11

So they have got a limited Linux box but don't want an android tv box?!

Just get a android tv box or a raspberry pi running media software/front in and connect to the nas...

Or maybe a Google tv dongle..

Rickles

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#3191022 5-Feb-2024 13:39

@afe66 ... yes, but we must remember that not all TV watchers are up with the tech play.

This is an elderly gentleman who deems Smart TV's as magic, streaming off the internet is dark magic, and his acquiring of a NAS is pure black magic 😀.

afe66

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#3191025 5-Feb-2024 13:50

True.
Google tv dongle run my on both mother in law and my parents tvs.
All 80+.

I suppose I was confused as to why the box you showed was OK but not an android box.

Run Kodi

robjg63

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#3191029 5-Feb-2024 13:56

I doubt the TV is going to be able to access the NAS directly - Some TVs that run Android can get Kodi installed.

Maybe you could post the TV details.

I am assuming a not very smart TV and you need a device to attch to the TV.

I'm assuming the NAS will be accessable on the home wifi network and you can set up a share using Samba on the NAS (Sounds like you will need to help).

Buy an Amazon Fire TV (either the full HD 1080p (special at Noel Leeming $45) or 4K ($75)).

Set that up and connect to the the home wifi.

You can install 3Now, TVNZ, Netflix - anything else you want.

Go to the Amazon store and install "Downloader by AFTVnews".

Open that app and go to www.kodi.tv.

Navigate to "Download"/ "Android"/ "ARMV7A".

When the download completes, install the app as it should prompt you.

So the tricky part is adding the Samba share to the Kodi app https://kodi.wiki/view/SMB

Once done, the TV is 'Smart' and using the KODI app, can play content from the NAS.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

Rickles

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#3191036 5-Feb-2024 14:18

@robjg63 .... yes, I am au fait with all of that, but taking least line of resistance with this gentleman.

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robjg63

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#3191037 5-Feb-2024 14:25

Rickles:

yes, I am au fait with all of that, but taking least line of resistance with this gentleman.

Well you are probably at an impass - doesnt look like that media player has anyway to be network enabled.

If it did, it would cost more than a Fire TV stick anyway.

Wonder if somehow that NAS can be connected via a USB cable to the existing Media Player so the MP recognises it as a USB disk?

If it is that player you linked to, it says:

Support External Hard: Supports up to 2TB external hard drive formatted in FAT, FAT32 and NTFS, the partition of the HDD should be MBR , not GPT

So is it possible to have a partition on the NAS 'shared' via USB cable connected to the Android Box?

Bit of a long shot....

What sort of NAS?

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

wellygary

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#3191040 5-Feb-2024 14:39

like this or actually this....??

How much is on the NAS?

The specs on this one talk about supporting external HDDs up to 2TB, so while it doesn't solve the problem with access the NAS,

A holdover solution might be to slave a 2TB HDD/SDD off it , and then look at working over time to migrate their viewing to some alternate device that's network capable..

SATTV

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#3191042 5-Feb-2024 14:43

Can the NAS be connected by USB?

I know enough to be dangerous

JimmyH

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#3191093 5-Feb-2024 14:57

What is the NAS (RAM, CPU etc) - that's critical to solving the problem. If the NAS is capable of having Plex, or Jellyfin*, or Emby installed on it then the solution is fairly easy.

Install one of those for him, and providing he names his files correctly it will take care of the black art of indexing the NASes content and serving up the media. If the NAS is powerful enough it will also transcode "automagically" to deal with any media format incompatibilities. . Then install a Fire TV stick, Chromecast, or a Roku with the right client installed - and he will have a nice menu and a remote to play stuff. If my late 80s ultra-technophobe relative can cope with a Chromecast after being shown what to do, I suspect he can too.

If the NAS isn't up to this, then your problem is harder. Something like a WDTV Live (networkable, with a remote and a menu, and could play almost anything off a SMB share) that I used to have would work fine, but they have been discontinued. Personally I'm not aware of anything that flexible and pretty much plug-and-play around for just playing off network shares nowadays - but, then again, I haven't been looking.

* I currently use this.

Rickles

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#3191490 6-Feb-2024 16:34

Thanks all.

I've been informed that the gentleman's son has prevailed and installed an Amazon Firestick.

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Quinny

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#3191620 7-Feb-2024 09:10

Glad you got sorted. I am currently in the process of my Mum temporarily at my home before moving. The new Sky decoder had baffled her at her old place. My Sony with Google TV now she "gets" as in go to the row of apps. She is now getting very good self-navigation. Just purchased 2 cheap Veons for her new place and are changing Sky to Sky Sport Now. If you can get them to understand "push home if lost" most things seem to catch on from that.

Rickles

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#3191691 7-Feb-2024 09:54

>If you can get them to understand "push home if lost" most things seem to catch on from that.<

Then why does my wife 'answer' the TV remote when phone rings? 😁