How do I play media files stored on my Ubuntu 18.04 system

R7814N

Member
My Fox T2 has media tomb installed. It seems to only show the file structure of the T2 linux operating system. I therefore can not pick up files in other places on the Lan. The wish is to play them on my TV and to control them via my remote as the computer with the HD is in another room. I tried the DLNA addon for T2 but could not get it to show media files stored on the computer. How have you set up this type of system? Would it be of any use if I installed Media tomb on my linux system as well?
 
I don't think the Humax boxes can play files from DLNA even with the custom firmware (but I have a vague memory that they might be able to play from a Samba share which appears as if it was a USB drive)

Mediatomb acts as a DLNA Media Library; if you have smarttvs attached to the same network (wired or wireless) then look in the menus to see if you can play from the network (or browse DLNA servers; lots of different terms are used). You can share files from your Ubuntu machine using something like "minidlna" (do edit the config file and set the correct locations for your media files)

Another option if you have a smartTV is it might act as a DMR (DLNA Media Renderer). You still need a media library (mediatomb or minidlna as above). I use "Bubble upnp" from an android phone in order to select what to play and what DMR (TV) to use. This means no fiddling with the TV menus.

If you don't have a smarttv then I have been using an android TV (A95X F1) box running Kodi firmware for playing files via DLNA or as a DMR. It is impressive for approx £20 from e-bay.
 
My Fox T2 has media tomb installed. It seems to only show the file structure of the T2 linux operating system. I therefore can not pick up files in other places on the Lan.
Please can you clarify; is your box an HDR-FOX T2 or an HD-FOX T2?
 
My Fox T2 has media tomb installed. It seems to only show the file structure of the T2 linux operating system. I therefore can not pick up files in other places on the Lan. The wish is to play them on my TV and to control them via my remote as the computer with the HD is in another room. I tried the DLNA addon for T2 but could not get it to show media files stored on the computer. How have you set up this type of system? Would it be of any use if I installed Media tomb on my linux system as well?

What software are you using server-side? Can you access the files using another device e.g. phone/tablet? I remember running into all sorts of headaches trying to set up DLNA on my lubuntu PC - several dozen curse words later I gave up and tried samba - it took five minutes and has been working beautifully ever since.
 
My Humax is the HDR-Fox-D2
All I am trying to do is play, on my TV via my humax, videos that I have downloaded via the internet to my desktop computer.

I have the following packages installed that have relevance to DLNA:
dlna-filter
mediatomb
mvdisks

Although I have tried I have failed to be able to access the computer's HD via the Humax using mediatomb or mvdisks. I think it is a set up problem.
 
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All I am trying to do is play, on my TV via my humax, videos that I have downloaded via the internet to my desktop computer.
Well the easiest way to do that is to put them on a USB stick and plug it into the front. Assuming they're in the correct format of course.

I have the following packages installed that have relevance to DLNA:
dlna-filter
mediatomb
mvdisks
Those are packages for the Humax - but how have you configured your Ubuntu PC to "show" your media to the network? You can't just access your entire hard drive from the network by default.
 
My Humax is the HDR-Fox-D2
HDR-FOX T2

dlna-filter
That stops external DLNA servers on the same network conflicting with the Humax DLNA server, which crashes the HDR-FOX. It has to be correctly configured to knock out only the offending server(s), otherwise you may not be able to access any server.

mediatomb
That adds an additional DLNA server to the HDR-FOX, which is unnecessary unless you wish to use the HDR-FOX to stream (as a server) video files stored on the HDR-FOX which are not compatible with the built-in server. Mediatomb is particularly intended for HD-FOX (and FOXSAT-HDR), which does not have a built-in native DLNA server. Recordings are compatible with the built-in server, imported video files might not be.

That makes USB drives accessible from My Video as if the files therein were stored on the internal HDD, and is not IMO a good idea (just because you can doesn't mean you should).

All I am trying to do is play, on my TV via my humax, videos that I have downloaded via the internet to my desktop computer.
None of the above are relevant to using the HDR-FOX as a DLNA client. Don't you read anything about packages before you decide what to install?

To play files that are hosted on your computer, you can go two ways.

The first does not require custom firmware at all: 1. Install a DLNA server on your PC and configure it to include the folder(s) where your video files are stored in its library; 2. On the HDR-FOX, Media >> Storage (blue) >> Network >> select the server and browse the files offered. "Network" (in this Humax menu) means "DLNA servers on your network".

It can be tricky getting the HDR-FOX DLNA client to pick up the server, and it can take some time before it does.

With custom firmware: 1. Configure the relevant Windows folders to be accessible from the network (set up sharing); 2. install network-shares-automount on the HDR-FOX, and configure it to pick up the PC's SMB network share. The files will then be accessible via Media >> Storage (blue) >> USB (the network share becomes a virtual USB drive).

Whichever way you do it, the video files have to be in a compatible format for the HDR-FOX. You will find information about that by searching this forum. The safest format is H.264 video, AAC audio, MP4 container.

For information about packages (particularly you need to read about network-shares-automount), see https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/index-of-package-primary-topics.8005/
 
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Oh, right, okay...
With custom firmware: 1. Configure the relevant Windows folders to be accessible from the network (set up sharing); 2. install network-shares-automount on the HDR-FOX, and configure it to pick up the PC's SMB network share. The files will then be accessible via Media >> Storage (blue) >> USB (the network share becomes a virtual USB drive).
Configure the relevant Linux folders to be accessible, and configure network-shares-automount for a NFS network share.

Either way, the OP seems to be rather naive about all this.
 
One solution would be to install Minidlna, which should be in the Bionic repository (it is for Xenial) on the Ubuntu system and then use the Media>Blue>Network function on the HDR. OP would have to configure the minidlna.conf to point to the relevant media directories.

This works fine for my Xenial-based system.
 
One solution would be to install Minidlna, which should be in the Bionic repository (it is for Xenial) on the Ubuntu system and then use the Media>Blue>Network function on the HDR. OP would have to configure the minidlna.conf to point to the relevant media directories.
...with the same caveat about compatibility.

Information about compatibility can be found via Index (click) >> Miscellaneous >> Video File Support & Manipulation >> Codec Support, particularly here: http://hummy.tv/forum/threads/video-codecs-on-the-hdr.114/ (but note that the info is very old and there have been many firmware updates since then which have improved reliability).

There are particular problems with the Twonky server, an update to that started the crashes which dlna-filter is a response to: https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/twonky-server-v7-crashing-hdr-fox-t2.4052

A solution to the format compatibility issue could be to use a server which can transcode on the fly (assuming the server hardware is powerful enough) - have a look at Plex.
 
In Ubuntu there is an easy solution, add system-config-samba execute 'sudo touch /etc/libuser.conf' then run the package, setup your share with that and a user/password login.

Then on the T2 use network-shares-automount as suggested by Black Hole and in the [ModSettings] -> smb folder create a share folder with the above settings.
 
Why use SMB on a Linux system when NFS is better, and doesn't have the version incompatibility problem of SMB? Use SMB only if you want to interoperate with Windows.
 
...with the same caveat about compatibility.
...
A solution to the format compatibility issue could be to use a server which can transcode on the fly (assuming the server hardware is powerful enough) - have a look at Plex.
There is a Minidlna fork that claims to support transcoding (using ffmpeg, obvs) and conceivably OP's Ubuntu system could have the oomph needed for that, or some other transcoding server. I haven't tested this version of Minidllna.

Incidentally, is there something wrong with the Mediatomb package that prevents it from showing up in the Network list on other HD/HDRs?

I find that, with HDR + 2 HDs, one HD can see (and use)
  • the HDR's Humax DLNA server
  • Minidlna running on a laptop
  • my build of Minidlna running on the other HD
  • but not Mediatomb running on the other HD.
 
...
Incidentally, is there something wrong with the Mediatomb package that prevents it from showing up in the Network list on other HD/HDRs?
...
Yes, because my build of Minidlna doesn't have the same problem. However Mediatomb attaches to the network, it does so in a way that:
Because of the first issue, Mediatomb needs to re-initialise whenever the network settings change. Some (later?) versions support sending SIGHUP to make it do this but that is either missing from or disabled in the repo version; therefore service mediatomb restart has to be run instead (if Mediatomb was running). Whichever solution works, a way of doing this is to modify the /mod/etc/init.d/S80mdnsd startup script so that hook routines in (eg) /mod/etc/mdns.d are run whenever the network settings change.
 
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