I am moving my content onto a NAS that supports itunes sharing. If I have an ipad, do I still need a pc with itunes on or is airplay enough?
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If I have an ipad, do I still need a pc on to stream from a NAS
- Thread starter mpovolo
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sandman42
macrumors 6502a
Yes. You will be able to send content to the 
TV two ways: from the iPad directly (using Airplay) or from iTunes on your computer. In order to stream from the computer you have to have iTunes running, as it's seen by the TV as the source of the content (even if it actually resides on an NAS). You can use the iPad to control the streaming from your computer (using the remote app), but you have to have iTunes running to do that.
TV two ways: from the iPad directly (using Airplay) or from iTunes on your computer. In order to stream from the computer you have to have iTunes running, as it's seen by the TV as the source of the content (even if it actually resides on an NAS). You can use the iPad to control the streaming from your computer (using the remote app), but you have to have iTunes running to do that.I'm not aware of a NAS that supports HomeSharing as the Apple TV 2 uses, so you would probably still need a mac or PC running with iTunes open to access your entire Library.
The iPad with AirPlay would let you stream any content you have synced to the iPad to the AppleTV, but wouldn't help with the rest of your content.
What NAS are you using?
looking at the synology DS211.
So I cannot do itunes sharing on my ipad connected to the NAS, and use airplay that way. You can only airplay content stored local on the ipad?
So I cannot do itunes sharing on my ipad connected to the NAS, and use airplay that way. You can only airplay content stored local on the ipad?
sandman42
macrumors 6502a
I'm not familiar with that NAS, but as far as I know there's no NAS that can Airplay to the
TV without going through iTunes on your computer (which has to be running, etc, etc...)So, yes, you can only Airplay content that's stored locally on the iPad from the iPad itself directly to the
TV, but if you have iTunes running you can use the iPad to Airplay any valid iTunes content from the computer (and/or your NAS) to the TV using the Remote app.
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I've heard mixed things about being able to use airplay to go from ipad --> NAS --> AppleTV 2.
My Synology 211 arrived Thursday and a pair of 2TB hardrives arrive tomorrow. I'll definitely post back either tomorrow or Tuesday with that I find out.
To me an ipad/iphone/itouch as a playlist remote streaming music off a NAS to a receiver/appletv is an fantastic solution (esp for the price).
Will let everyone know!
My Synology 211 arrived Thursday and a pair of 2TB hardrives arrive tomorrow. I'll definitely post back either tomorrow or Tuesday with that I find out.
To me an ipad/iphone/itouch as a playlist remote streaming music off a NAS to a receiver/appletv is an fantastic solution (esp for the price).
Will let everyone know!
kiranmk2
macrumors 68020
You might be in luck. I think synology has an iOS app to allow streaming video/music from its NAS units direct to an iOS device. If the app is updated to support AirPlay, you should be able to pass this stream on to the ATV. It's a bit of a roundabout way of doing things (and you can't use the nice ATV interface) but it might work.
last I read was the synology itunes server wasnt 10.X or up which supports airplay and home sharing in the same was.
this was the reason I bought a mini instead. im sure at some point that will change if it hasnt already.
this was the reason I bought a mini instead. im sure at some point that will change if it hasnt already.
gdeusthewhizkid
macrumors 6502a
how ? im still trying to figure out how to link NAS from time capsule. apple tv2 is jailbroken.
Seriously?
After JB you need to install XBMC on your appleTV. There are numerous guides, but the one I used was here:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Install_XBMC_on_ATV2
Then all you do is open XBMC, go to video, and add source, and browse your network for your NAS device to a video folder, select it, and XBMC will add the videos to your library..
Not too hard at all.
Oddly enough I tested XBMC. Perhaps I did something wrong but I got it to play videos on my NAS, only issue was XBMC sat there showing a screen of my movie and constantly buffering. Then eventually it crashed.
Some NAS devices have a built in iTunes server. My QNAP has one but it only serves mp3 audio (not lossless which all my music is in) so I haven't tested it. I imagine it would be quite clunky to operate though, if it worked at all. As someone mentioned previously, the best solution is to get a Mini or similar low-power HTPC for this purpose. The main problem with all NAS devices is that if you want to use them for any purpose other than file servers you are dependent on the manufactures supporting them and keeping the software up-to-date.
It can be done - confirmed working
This can be done if you have a NAS that has a web interface for sharing your video content. I have a western digital my world NAS which has twonky media server built in, you can access the web interface in safari on the iPad, start your video playing on it and then AirPlay it to the tv, all without using iTunes.
Most recent NAS devices provide this functionality, and there are quite a few which use twonky, which I can confirm works.
However I personally think jail breaking plus xbmc is a much better way to connect to a NAS
This can be done if you have a NAS that has a web interface for sharing your video content. I have a western digital my world NAS which has twonky media server built in, you can access the web interface in safari on the iPad, start your video playing on it and then AirPlay it to the tv, all without using iTunes.
Most recent NAS devices provide this functionality, and there are quite a few which use twonky, which I can confirm works.
However I personally think jail breaking plus xbmc is a much better way to connect to a NAS
XBMC on ATV2 can only play up to 720p files. If you tried to open a 1080p file, it will probably rebuffer and eventually crash.
I recommend for best results, playing 720p x264 files... it can play 720p divx and other files - BUT they do seem to have some buffering issues (480p is fine on the other file formats).