DLNA Server for Samsung TVs

[MrMacLover]

hey you guys,
i just successfully hooked up my b650 samsung lcd to may macbook.
what i did?
connected macbook to TV with a standart ethernet caple, manually assigned the ip adresses and installed eyetv.
be patient, it needs a sec to recognize the tv.


just one question: im not able to pause or forward while watching avi's mp4 etc.
anybody else with this prob. ?

cheers

 

[DocJ-Brooklyn]

My experience

Hi all,
I got the Samsung LN40B750 about a week ago. I wasn't even aware of DLNA when I bought it. I have a Macbook Pro (not the latest, but intel.)

I first noticed that Vuze came up as a DLNA server in the TV's source menu (when Vuze is running on the Mac.) I can't figure out how to view any media through Vuze though, I think it might only play media that's in the library, and that means that you've downloaded through Vuze. I can't even get that to work though.

I tried Eyeconnect, and it works... sometimes. Maybe there's a conflict with another program (Vuze?) but it doesn't always show up as a DLNA option on the TV, but when it does it works fine. BUT, you can only play a movie from the beginning, no fast-forward or pause or anything.

While this might be okay for music and pictures, both of which work for me, it's pretty useless for movies.

My solution, in the end, was to give up on DLNA due to the limited functionality even when it's working. What works best for me - though it won't for everyone, especially those who need need to be wireless - is just plugging my MBP to the TV via an HDMI cable (and DVI -> HDMI converter.)

Here's my setup:
Samsung TV LN40B750
Sharp SB300 soundbar
DirecTV HR21
Panasonic Blu Ray player
NAD receiver (C740 - old but good)
Logitech DiNovo Edge bluetooth keyboard
Logitech Harmony 700 universal remote (waiting for it to arrive)

I plug the MBP into the TV via HDMI and the soundbar (or receiver) via the headphone jack. Selecting the HDMI/DVI source on the TV and using the wireless keyboard works great.

Next, I'm using Plex (http://www.plexapp.com/) which is like a more powerful version of Front Row. You can use the apple remote with it, and control all the functions - pause, ff, rw, enable subtitles, etc.

Lastly, the Harmony remote is compatible with ALL this above stuff. I haven't gotten it yet, but it is ALSO compatible with Apple and Plex - meaning you don't need to use the little Apple remote. Bye bye to 6 remotes (Receiver, DirecTV, TV, DVD, soundbar, Macbook.)

Granted, I have to physically plug the MBP into the HDMI and audio, but then I have full remote control of all the functions of the computer, and Plex makes for a very simple and elegant media interface for my girlfriend, so she doesn't have to go hunting around for the right folders.

I know this is not a DLNA solution, but since even the functioning DLNA through Eyeconnect is so limited, it's just not worth it for me.

Chrs,
J

 

[cage123au]

I use this DLNA Server software (link below) - free and works over my network of 3 mac's and a Western Digital Live. This is using a wired network, could not be bothered getting the Samsung dongle.

http://www.serviio.org/

If you like it, donate - I did, he does good work.

Mike

 

[trifinite]

eyeconnect works flawlessly

I have had no issues with eyeconnect and my samsung led tv 7000 series.. everything works great, with streaming of movies, music, and photos, I havent had it cut out like most people say. just flawless... make sure your router security settings are compatible as well..

 

[errrlend]

DLNA revisited

Well, after a few months of trying now and then, I have ended up with the simple: just connecting a USB harddisk to the Samsung UE40B7000.

The main problem with EyeConnect and DLNA is that pause, rewind and fastforwarding doesn't work. Also that .srt files won't load (while on the USB harddisk, they load automatically). I was in contact with Samsung, and the answer I got was that pause, rewind and fastforwarding - and subtext files - are not supported on DLNA. Unsure if this is a problem with DLNA or Samsung. They didn't mention anything about working on solving the issue, so I suppose they won't. So even though playing HD-video wirelessly from a Time Capsule is really cool, the USB is still the best solution.

PS: Has anyone managed to make .srt files and/or pause, rewind and fastforwarding work over DLNA?

 

[revco]

Has anyone managed to make .srt files and/or pause, rewind and fastforwarding work over DLNA?

Nope. DLNA is brain dead technology. Completely useless for watching movies. Would be handy if it had a resume function for when you need to stop the movie. But no, all you get is play and stop.

 

[papadcha]

Works like a charm so far

I tried eyeconnect yesterday and nothing goes as I expected.
Today I tried TVMobili for 2 reasons.
Its free and light.
It supports Subtitles streaming.

So far after an hour and a half everything works fine.

My configuration for dlna is.
IMac connected to a Buffalo router and via Asus XL31 connected to Samsung TV.

No breaks No stops while playing a movie.

 

[dambor]

EyeConnect - it works

I just bought a new samsung 40c700 (the one with 3d capabilities).
I downloaded EyeConnect to my iMac and it works perfectly with the TV. Still, some issues with format compatibility, though, both in music (won't play apple lossless but it plays MP3) and movies (won't play dvd images or realaudio files). You can also see photos, but it considers your iphoto files as a big single folder, so it's a little cumbersome (I have not experimented a lot with photos, though). It takes a couple of minutes for the "link" to happen, though, so be patient. I can pause, advance, rewind movies and music too. My connection is wired (waiting to test wireless).

Furthermore, I also have a lacie 1TB network disk. If you enable its media server capabilities, the TV also detects it and connects (it takes more time) and I'm also able to watch movies, photos and listen to music but pause and fwd/rwd won't work.

Also, when you test a new way of streaming and/or you change any parameter in your set up (conection, software, location of files) do not forget -in very "windowsy" fashion- to reboot iMac, TV (turning it off) and router... and wait a couple of minutes until all elements "find" each other.

After reading this forum and some others I thought streaming the content in my apple to the samsung TV was going to be a nightmare, but it was really simple. I don't know wether this is luck or maybe Samsung changed something in the new "C" series

 

[gigas65]

I tried eyeconnect yesterday and nothing goes as I expected.
Today I tried TVMobili for 2 reasons.
Its free and light.
It supports Subtitles streaming.
So far after an hour and a half everything works fine.

Thanks for the advise. I tried Eyeconnect 1.6.6. on my 21,5 iMac, wired with Thompson 585 i7 router, to stream media on my new Samsung LED TV UE37C6600, also wired with the router.
The TV recognized and played everything except the .srt subtitles, but ONLY for a few minutes before the "end of connection message". Then i had to turn off & on the TV again to find my iMac's stuff in TV's Media Player.
I will try tvmobili this afternoon.

 

[gus.exe]

PS3 Media server

Hi,

I have a Samsung Plasma connected through ethernet to an airport extreme router. Imac is running PS3 Media server found here(code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/) and shares out iPhoto Library, iTunes as well as any folders containing and media you specify. It's connected wirelessly to the network. Almost too easy to set it up and transcodes just about any file format I have tried so far, no additional codecs needed.

Cheers

 

[harrydeo]

TVmobili works very well for samsung tvs. It doesnt come with on fly encoders but then samsung tv doesnt really need this. It supports everything including 1080p mkv with dts out. And yes it is free.

 

[kennyboy]

eyeconnect down load

So I bought my 37B658 LCD with all the whistles and bells also... that might have been a mistake thinking that I could skip the AppleTV box I have sitting next to the TV.

First off all there is a latest version avail from Samsung of their PC Share Manager - Ver 2.1 is out - if you can get it to work on a PC.

On my Mac Mini 1.66 GHz Intel Core Duo running 10.5.7, I tried Rivet (2.2) and EyeConnect (1.6) in different setups - wired and wireless - yes I bought the wireless dongle also... I also tried installing the Share Manager under Virtual Box but never got any connection with the TV.

Wireless DNLA - do not go down that way. You might be lucky and get it working, I didn't. Tried two different WLAN setups (subnets) and could not get a reliable linking. So save yourself the wireless dongle and go wired.

Rivet gives errors with "unsupported file format" when trying to play/show, but album art and picture preview works ok.

EyeConnect on wire works ok. On wireless I get errors with "unsupported file format".

So what can it be used for? Sorry but it cannot replace the functionality with regards to the ATV. Can only play chunks of music that one selects, it is just so simple file oriented! That might be ok for sporadic showing of a family picture or 10, but not a whole show! After this exercise I just love my ATV.

Internet - Yahoo widgets. Yes they work wireless, except for the You Tube one. I does not show anything in any of the menu selections, the only one working is Seach, which is not so fun. Again my ATV does the job much better.

Cheers

Hi this is very helpful, have managed to get photos across to my new 46 inch tv but unable to get them to fill the whole screen? have tried to use zoom but this only works for one pic at a time, is there any other way you can do a slide show on the tv with pics filling the screen?? Thanks

 

[Bill Payer]

Make Samsung obey with Twonky

Having failed to get the Samsung to recognize common file formats, eyeconnect and medialink got ditched by me.
My TV is the latest (September 2010) Samsung PS50C6970 127 3d. The TVs interfaces have apparently not improved. The direct satellite input failed to control diseqc, etc. And Media Player they deliver just doesn't function on an apparent DNLA.

But I have now got the TV to link into a DNLA by using Twonky. Twonky has an awful user interface but once it has been told where to find what it needs, it actually delivers the info to the TV in a usable fashion. It finds all my computers and hard disks on my home network which uses a wired ethernet connection.

For some reason, it ignored the control buttons of the remote control and prefers to use a hidden menu on screen instead (if you can find it). But this works for pause, jump etc.

Exception so far discovered is the mkv file format; it just won't play them. Instead of saying there's a problem it simply grumpily jumps to the next readable file in the folder without a word.

Twonky Server for Mac: http://www.twonky.com

 

[willskillz]

Having failed to get the Samsung to recognize common file formats, eyeconnect and medialink got ditched by me.
My TV is the latest (September 2010) Samsung PS50C6970 127 3d. The TVs interfaces have apparently not improved. The direct satellite input failed to control diseqc, etc. And Media Player they deliver just doesn't function on an apparent DNLA.

But I have now got the TV to link into a DNLA by using Twonky. Twonky has an awful user interface but once it has been told where to find what it needs, it actually delivers the info to the TV in a usable fashion. It finds all my computers and hard disks on my home network which uses a wired ethernet connection.

For some reason, it ignored the control buttons of the remote control and prefers to use a hidden menu on screen instead (if you can find it). But this works for pause, jump etc.

Exception so far discovered is the mkv file format; it just won't play them. Instead of saying there's a problem it simply grumpily jumps to the next readable file in the folder without a word.

Twonky Server for Mac: http://www.twonky.com

I've got a Samsung PN58C6500, I'm using TV Mobili and while the User Interface is not very fancy it does play almost all file formats including MKV files. Best thing is it is freeware.

 

[krdzine]

Samsung Bluray

Using Tvmobili I can see the folders on my mac and see some of the photos but the iTunes library won't play. I get "Unsupported format" error. Same with most videos. Do I HAVE to buy AppleTV to share my iTunes library? Will I be able to stream the videos and tv shows I rent/purchase to my TV/Bluray?

Some others suggested:
EyeConnect. Same errors.
Rivet. Can't even connect via the Samsung
PS3 server. Can't get it configured to show up as device on Samsung.
Twonky. Same errors.
MediLink. Haven't tried yet.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[intermodulation]

TVMOBiLi works like a charm:

- http://www.tvmobili.com/download.php

Don't forget to disable your firewall before launching. Give it 2-3 minutes to refresh and the application will show up on the ShareAll screen.

I imagine the unsupported format error, which I get as well, is b/c Samsung does not support MAC OS file extensions. MP3s work well, but MP4 and M4A do not, for example. At the end of the day, the ShareAll software was engineered for PC users, which is a definite shame. Eagerly anticipating an update from Samsung in the months ahead to give us better support.

Cheers

 

[ThriLL]

i had the same problem like you guys and i'm glad i found serviio...
i tried twonky, eyeconnect, tvmobili and all the rest but everyone of them had something missing (srt, mkv...)... serviio is the best solution for the mac...
it even transcodes the mkv so you can play mkv's with dts on a samsung tv...

hope this helps you out!
ThriLL

 

[tonyoevans]

i had the same problem like you guys and i'm glad i found serviio...
i tried twonky, eyeconnect, tvmobili and all the rest but everyone of them had something missing (srt, mkv...)... serviio is the best solution for the mac...
it even transcodes the mkv so you can play mkv's with dts on a samsung tv...

hope this helps you out!
ThriLL

Hi, I have tried ps3 media server and serviio but can't get them to work. I have recently bought a time capsule and prior to that the ps3 media server could be seen by my ps3 but now nothing can be detected.

Does anyone know if there is any additional steps that have to be taken with the setup of a time capsule so I can use these streaming apps?

 

[PW168]

TVMOBILI works but..

I just bought a Samsung 7000 series LED TV which is connected to my Apple Airport Extreme base router. My macbook is connected to the same router. I downloaded TVMobili and so far the TV picks up videos, songs and photos stored in my macbook. When playing videos, sometimes it plays ok, but sometimes it stops for a minute while it is buffering (I think), it does this randomly. Also, the fastword, rewind etc don't work. Which is a shame.

Now my burning question is, while I can watch video (with some random stop starts), listen to music and see my photos, how do I serve internet on my macbook but seeing it on the TV screen wirelessly?? Any help is appreciated.

 

[PW168]

DLNA Server for Samsung TVs question

1. Install vmware

2. Install Windows XP

3. Install supplied DNLA software from Samsung.

Will work with no problems.

I have a series 7
I have a 17" MacBook pro.

Can stream Photos, Music, Movies.

Hope this helps

I refer to your post above.
I am about to do the same you did. One question though
After you installed Windows XP (in your mac) and DLNA software from Samsung, do you have to boot to Window XP in order to use DLNA on the TV? Or can you remain in mac OS to use DLNA?

 

[webjib]

Hi everybody,

I've tried TVmobili, and yes it's working. But it's far from light, it's using a lot processor on my iMac. And I don't like software that install with Admin privileges...

Thus, I've compiled Mediatomb for Mac (very popular server on Linux), with some modifications allowing :
- MKV playing
- Subtitles

If you're interested in testing this new software, please send me a PM (official release will be later).

 

[vultureboy]

Another vote here for TVMobili. Works great. Enjoying streaming 1080p MKV files directly to my Samsung 5 series LED TV. It also works perfectly streaming to the PS3 so I can't really say anything bad about it

 

[fivetrickphil]

Props to TVMOBiLi

Just installed TVMOBiLi - instantly recognised by the TV (6 series), pointed it at the folder with all my files in and I'm up and running. No problems with 1080p MKV over wifi to router then ethernet to tv. Works much better than the Samsung windows program and is more intuitive. Don't bother installing vmware and slowing your computer down running two operating systems at once! Ahh, the joy of technology when it works

 

[budster23]

Vpn?

I have a Samsung LE32C630 running Eyeconnect and seems to work very well. I tried Twonky but it became impossible to use as i forgot my username/password and the instructions to reset them were impossible to follow.

I would love to use a VPN with the Samsung TV as I would be able to access BBC iPlayer (in theory - as I do on my iMac) even though I live outside the UK.

Any ideas?

 

[budster23]

I hope samsung bring out a new firmware for the samsung bd-c8200. It's still very buggy - unless it's eyeconnect or my wifi connection.