How to access movies on HDD connected to Fire TV from Chromecast? - Fire TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Is there a way to access movies that are on a HDD connected to a Fire TV via a USB as external storage from a Chromecast in another room? I have my DVD collection ripped to a HDD that'll be connected to my Fire TV in my living room, however, I have chromcasts throughout the house and would like to access my DVD collection from those chromecasts. How can I achieve this? Is there a way to use the Fire TV as a host like having a NAS box? Fire TV will be rooted. Thank you

Maybe attach HDD to router and access it that way? Thing is I wanna use Kodi to access it so I have all of the cover art and such...

If your router can be used as mediaserver this should be possible since KODI does support UPnP/DLNA. So this could be the way to do (I simplified a little bit since I´m not at home where my aTV is )
1.) attach your hdd to your router
2.) configure your router as (UPnP) media server and select the hdd as content source
3.) in KODI go to "Videos" -> "Files" and call "Add videos..." and search for the "UPnP devices" entry. Now there are 2 possibilities:
3.1) accept just UPnP devices in general without selecting a specified device. KODI will use this as "UPnP autodiscover" and does list all available UPnP media server
or
3.2) select a single device and add it as static entry which does show up only your router later (you can do still more than one static device entry if needed)
Afterwards in KODI you do have now an additional entry for accessing UPnP devices and/or your specified router device as content source. You can now access all your content via network.
The same procedure does also work for music or picture content you have just to add the UPnP device or UPnP autodiscover to the music/picture menu of KODI.

Calibaan said:
If your router can be used as mediaserver this should be possible since KODI does support UPnP/DLNA. So this could be the way to do (I simplified a little bit since I´m not at home where my aTV is )
1.) attach your hdd to your router
2.) configure your router as (UPnP) media server and select the hdd as content source
3.) in KODI go to "Videos" -> "Files" and call "Add videos..." and search for the "UPnP devices" entry. Now there are 2 possibilities:
3.1) accept just UPnP devices in general without selecting a specified device. KODI will use this as "UPnP autodiscover" and does list all available UPnP media server
or
3.2) select a single device and add it as static entry which does show up only your router later (you can do still more than one static device entry if needed)
Afterwards in KODI you do have now an additional entry for accessing UPnP devices and/or your specified router device as content source. You can now access all your content via network.
The same procedure does also work for music or picture content you have just to add the UPnP device or UPnP autodiscover to the music/picture menu of KODI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. That could probably work, but I'd also like to cast movies from kodi on the fire TV from popcorn time etc.

I don´t use popcorn time so I can´t help you with that in particular but for local files KODI must run as UPnP server (http://kodi.wiki/view/UPnP/Server) and every other device can access the local content if they are capable as UPNP clients.

Related

My workaround for DLNA on HTC Blackstone (Touch HD)

Hi Guys,
After time looking for a DNLA solution for our Blackstone, I managed to get it working and wanted to share my workaround with you.
As DNLA Server: (to watch your phone media in another DNLA device like your TV or PC)
Attached you will find the DNLA client from Samsung modified to work on the blackstone.
This is based on the work of Mcc05 for the HD2 on this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=629247
Procedure:
- Please unzip the contents on your programs folder (on Sd or internal memory).
- Connect your blackstone to your wifi network and get your IP address.
- edit the samsung-mediaserver.ini and change the IP address to your IP address.
- run the SamsungMediaServer.exe once. you will not see any screen as it is running on the back. (you can check it is running with a task manager like FDC
Open your DNLA device (E.G. I use my computer running XBMC) and you will find a server called HTCTouchHD.
Make sure that your wifi does not disconnect during playing.
As DNLA Client: (to watch media from your DNLA servers)
I haven't found a good solution, but I do the following:
- Get the DNLA server address. E.G. \\mediaserver\
- Get total commander and open the address. You will be able to see the contents of the folders and run them with your usual media player (I use Coreplayer)
- You can create a shortcut for easier access next time. (shorcuts shall be opened using file explorer or total commander)
Enjoy.
Brgds
after run samsungmediaserver.exe show dms in title bar and none anything
help me
Hi,
when you run samsungmediaserver.exe nothing visible will happen on your device screen. The program is running hidden and will allow you to access the media on your device from a DNLA device (E.G.: a DNLA TV, XBMC, etc) when your device is connected to the same wifi network.
I hope it helps.

No root. No HDD usage. Alternative?

So, I cant root the fire tv obviously and I bought it so someone i know can use it offline to watch offline movies instead of dvds. No way around this problem? I sideloaded KodiTV but its no use since I cant even use a flash or HDD
Can you sideload ES Explorer and connect to an SMB share on a NAS or Windows/Linux Server? it sounded like some people are doing that.
lowridincrew said:
So, I cant root the fire tv obviously and I bought it so someone i know can use it offline to watch offline movies instead of dvds. No way around this problem? I sideloaded KodiTV but its no use since I cant even use a flash or HDD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a PC with spare hard drive space on the same network?
Kodi/SPMC/XBMC has the ability to make an SMB connection to a windows file share and play files from it. I do this with my Fire TV (box) and Fire TV stick to connect to my Win2012 server with many hard drives in it (holding all my movies converted from my blurays).
If a "Browse Master" isn't available on the network you wont be able to "browse" to find the computer and shared folder, and will instead have to manually use IP address and folder info for the "server" machine into Kodi/SPMC/XBMC when trying to setup the SMB connection. Extra info see -> http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=133624
Offline usage.
I have this Dane-Elec Media Streamer for hooking USB and SD cards that lets me connect to it through the FireTV's internet menu.
If you can sideload a matching app for one of these streamer doohickies,you should be able to connect straight to one.
There is one downside where it can stupidly auto-connect to a different remembered internet connection when you are using the streamer's connection.
I wonder if there is an offline cloud box for accessing files via "offline internet" or maybe even bluetooth?
She doesnt have a computer. I'm thinking I gotta keep this for myself since I got a few hard drives on my computer
There are quite a few Video Add-ons for XBMC/Kodi that make local storage a thing of the past. Between those and IPTV configs, you may not even notice. Although, most USA ISPs don't like streaming only households. Overages, etc may hurt the pocketbook...

FireTV/Kodi - Can I Watch Movies From Flash Drive Without Internet Connection?

FireTV/Kodi - can you watch movies from a flash drive without internet connection?
Hi there,
I have an Amazon Fire TV box (and some sticks too).
And I use Kodi with it to stream video.
And I've also been able to play some movies that I have on a USB flash drive.
All good; I love it!
I then thought I'd be able to take the little Amazon box on holiday with me, and watch some movies from flash drives by just connecting the Fire TV box to the TV in the holiday cottage.
However, it didn't seem to work. I couldn't seem to get past the obstacle that there was "no internet connection" (cottage is remote with no internet).
My assumption had been that the video player software was installed on the Fire TV box (whether Kodi or the Fire TV software itself), and that the data (the movies) were on the USB drive. Therefore, no need to require an internet connection.
Is that assumption completely wrong, or is there some way to use that FireTV/USB setup to watch movies with no internet connection in place? Is there some setting/process I should adopt in such situations?
Many thanks for any pointers/advice you can offer,
Richard
rswan1967 said:
Hi there,
I have an Amazon Fire TV box (and some sticks too).
And I use Kodi with it to stream video.
And I've also been able to play some movies that I have on a USB flash drive.
All good; I love it!
I then thought I'd be able to take the little Amazon box on holiday with me, and watch some movies from flash drives by just connecting the Fire TV box to the TV in the holiday cottage.
However, it didn't seem to work. I couldn't seem to get past the obstacle that there was "no internet connection" (cottage is remote with no internet).
My assumption had been that the video player software was installed on the Fire TV box (whether Kodi or the Fire TV software itself), and that the data (the movies) were on the USB drive. Therefore, no need to require an internet connection.
Is that assumption completely wrong, or is there some way to use that FireTV/USB setup to watch movies with no internet connection in place? Is there some setting/process I should adopt in such situations?
Many thanks for any pointers/advice you can offer,
Richard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Found the answer to this, elsewhere.
For anyone else that needs to know - apparently it's simply tied in to having "parental controls" enabled or not.
I had it enabled, and therefore the device couldn't validate the PIN entered, and so couldn't go any further.
With internet connectivity, I disabled parental control.
Then disconnected from the internet.
Then was able to start the device, get to applications / manage all applications - and launch kodi.
From there I was able to access my USB flash drive and play movies I have stored.
Looking forward to our next holiday now!
Love Amazon Fire TV
Love Kodi
Also if you have Fire Starter you can just launch any app from there and not the official menu.
Just remember that current version AFTV can only mount FAT32 partitions on your stick and needs and external power supply for (some) external harddrives.

Kodi and reading media off of TV port

Good day,
I have a TV with a USB port, can I run kodi on a fire TV stick and pull media off of the USB stick connected to the TV directly?
Sorry, searching for this in the wiki was a nightmare
Probably not, unless your TV creates some kind of media server out of the USB storage. I have no idea whether any TV does that, but if you provide the TV model, you might get a different response from someone else.
TVs are display device, they don't usually have video output, not by USB anyway.
As Claude Koch already mentioned the TV must run as media server, which is not a standard feature of most TVs. Check if your TV does support "UPnP" or "DLNA" distribution as server. It is important that those protocols are supported as server since most TVs which do support DLNA/UPnP work only as client! KODI could then access the served content via UPnP source setting in the Video or Audio tab. A direct connection to the USB stick via file explorer is not possible.

Connecting Fire TV box directly to NAS over ethernet

I want to connect a Fire TV 2 box directly to my Synology NAS using an ethernet cable, so I can stream local media using Kodi over NFS or SMB, and ideally leave the WiFi working so I can view online content as well.
I'm using my landlord's WiFi, but don't have access to the router, so I can't connect my NAS to the network. That's why I want a direct LAN connection between the devices. I've tried both straight and crossover cables, but the Fire TV cannot see my NAS at all.
I know almost nothing about networking, so can anyone tell me if this is even possible? And if so, any tips?
Thanks!
Try this, if it does not work, use the support tab, the developer will respond straight away and will bend over backwards to help you!
Its the best app out there for reading from a NAS
http://www.vimuplayer.com/
You will have to also make sure your NAS is the correct format for the AFTV to read.
Can you elaborate on making sure the NAS is the correct format for the AFTV to read? What format are you referring to and what formats are supported?
Also, I looked Vimu like you suggested, but I'd rather stick with Kodi if possible. Vimu hasn't been updated in over a year and it costs money to download.
For the format see this.
http://www.aftvnews.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-usb-storage-with-the-amazon-fire-tv/
Not sure what you were reading on Vimu but it has just undergone a major update and are you serious about the cost of it (£1.59) to get things working how you want them !
ls0 said:
I want to connect a Fire TV 2 box directly to my Synology NAS using an ethernet cable, so I can stream local media using Kodi over NFS or SMB, and ideally leave the WiFi working so I can view online content as well.
I'm using my landlord's WiFi, but don't have access to the router, so I can't connect my NAS to the network. That's why I want a direct LAN connection between the devices. I've tried both straight and crossover cables, but the Fire TV cannot see my NAS at all.
I know almost nothing about networking, so can anyone tell me if this is even possible? And if so, any tips?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe buy a cheap router that is compatible with DDWRT firmware. Install DDWRT onto it and turn it into a repeater bridge and link it to the landlord's wifi, then just plug your Fire TV and NAS into the router via ethernet. I haven't done this myself so I am not a 100% sure, but in theory, this should work perfectly. There are a thousand tutorials on Youtube if you decide to try it.
Plex?
Please what kind of Ethernet cable should use to connect from my fire tv box to router?

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