How do I stream to PC?

B

BJB

New Member
I've bought my wi-fi dongle and managed to use the TV Portal. So far so good! I understand that I can stream my Humax content to my PC. Could someone kindly explain to a novice how you go about doing this? Also, I believe that I should be able to go the other way - i.e. PC content via Humax to TV. Again, layman's instructions needed. Thank you for any help that you can provide.
 
It's quite straightforward you need a server program on your pc.
If you are using windows 7 or vista the server program is built in. Just open WMP (windows media player) and on the right hand side you see all the libraries that are available at the bottom of this list you'll see your Humax, just click on it and open video then as if by magic you'll see all your progs ready to play. If your lucky, like me, everything will work, if not videos won't play back. You'll need to install new codecs
Alternatively Install a server prog such as XBMC (which has its own codecs), when you open this again you'll see your Humax listed, just open the file you want to watch, voila
To stream to your humax
first
select media > storage > network
you should see your pc or the server you've installed . open it and select the media you wish to watch or listen to.
Sounds easy and in the main it is, remember though the humax is very particular in what it can play video wise.
 
brianmt said:
It's quite straightforward you need a server program on your pc.
If you are using windows 7 or vista the server program is built in. Just open WMP (windows media player) and on the right hand side you see all the libraries that are available at the bottom of this list you'll see your Humax, just click on it and open video then as if by magic you'll see all your progs ready to play. If your lucky, like me, everything will work, if not videos won't play back. You'll need to install new codecs
Alternatively Install a server prog such as XBMC (which has its own codecs), when you open this again you'll see your Humax listed, just open the file you want to watch, voila
To stream to your humax
first
select media > storage > network
you should see your pc or the server you've installed . open it and select the media you wish to watch or listen to.
Sounds easy and in the main it is, remember though the humax is very particular in what it can play video wise.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this. I opened WMP, but I don't see anything about libraries on the right hand side. I have a "Library" drop-down menu across the top but I don't see anything there that helps. Any thoughts?
 
on wmp theres a drop down box, top left marked stream, open and make sure all options are ticked. Under other libraries you should see Humax
 
brianmt said:
on wmp theres a drop down box, top left marked stream, open and make sure all options are ticked. Under other libraries you should see Humax
Click to expand...

Not on my screen there isn't!
C:\Users\Brian\Desktop\WMP window
WMP window.JPG
 
brianmt said:
It's quite straightforward you need a server program on your pc.
...
Alternatively Install a server prog such as XBMC (which has its own codecs), when you open this again you'll see your Humax listed, just open the file you want to watch, voila
To stream to your humax
first
select media > storage > network
you should see your pc or the server you've installed . open it and select the media you wish to watch or listen to.
Sounds easy and in the main it is, remember though the humax is very particular in what it can play video wise.
Click to expand...
 
I did manage to download XBMC and got this working, but it's not the most user-friendly or intuitive software I've ever used!

As for streaming TO the Humax, after media > storage > network I get "*connecting" and then "network not found".
 
Are you using windows 7 ? The reason I ask is that looks like an old version of WMP should be WMP 11.
I'll post a screen grab of my wmp later
 
WMP 12 is the latest version for windows 7, and WMP 11 is the latest version for windows XP.
 
I have seen WMP11 in Vista described as "broken". Since MS seems to have no interest in mending it, it's best to regard uPnP as a lost cause in Vista. XBMC is the only reasonably reliable solution anyone's come up with so far. (Personally, I can't live with the interface).

I've also had very little success using WMP as a DLNA server in Vista. I can, however, confirm that Serviio does work and is free. If you try it, be patient - it takes a long time to index a large media collection. Also, like most DLNA servers, it will not serve most HD content. Even .mkv files that will run if imported on to the Humax will not play over DLNA.

Suggestions: for viewing Humax files on a Vista PC, it's easier to decrypt the file by copying it to the virtual disk (using modified firmware) and transfer it to the PC with FTP. Use VLC or Splash Player to view it.
Similarly, to view PC files on the Humax, transfer with FTP, but be prepared for a high failure rate with .mkv files in particular.
For the enthusiast: download LiLi (Live Linux) and an ISO of Linux Mint and create a bootable linux usb stick (it's actually dead easy!). Mint comes complete with VLC and the Linux version of VLC will happily play files from the Humax media server, using uPnP. Don't bother to look for the same functionality in Windows VLC - it's not there.
 
I've just realised that VLC in Linux will play some, but not all, HD material streamed from the Humax. For example, I have 2 recent HD movies - 'The Jacket' and 'Eagle Eye' - that stream perfectly from The Humax media server, as does 'The Night Watch' in HD. As I am running auto-unprotect, the Enc flags have been cleared, but the files have not been decrypted by copying to the virtual disk. Other HD material is unavailable: folders containing only HD files for 'Town' and 'The Country House Revealed' cannot be opened. A folder containing the 3 episodes of 'The Crimson Petal and the White', of which the first episode is SD and the other 2 are HD, appears to contain only the SD episode. Just to confuse the issue more, I have the first 2 episodes of 'The Hour' in HD: the video streams perfectly, but there is no sound!

I imagine this must be true of other media players, but since I have only managed to get VLC working in Linux, I'd need someone else to confirm that. My prior understanding was that all HD material is encrypted and cannot be streamed. At this point I don't understand what is happening at all.
 
It is not true that HiDef cannot be streamed, we know that it can be streamed to another Humax box (eg HD-FOX T2) regardless of the Enc flag. We also know that the Humax must be decrypting on the fly in order to get StDef content, so there is no reason it cannot decrypt HiDef content also. Piecing together what I have gleaned from the bright young things here, there is a secure transfer protocol at work on the network for HiDef streaming, and all it takes is a client able to negotiate that security.

Why you don't see ALL your HiDef content if you can see SOME is beyond me.

Your success with VLC in Linux is encouraging me to set up a virtual machine and try it in there.
 
What I mean about not understanding is that I don't see what criteria the Humax media server is using to distinguish between items it can/should make available and those it should not. It is clearly not the presence of the Enc flag alone. It would be interesting to know whether the apparent discrepancies I have noted are due in any measure to the client in use (i.e. VLC/Linux) in this case, or if it is entirely down to the server. The fact that HD content can be streamed to another Humax box suggests that it may be the former. Perhaps Humax are relying on WMP's DRM handling to mask HD files. If so, it opens some interesting possibilities.
 
Experiments mentioned elsewhere suggest that, as you say, there are other entries in the recording's properties file that mark it as only to be streamed to another Humax (or maybe something which can handle the secure protocol). Given time I'm sure the Bright Young Things will figure it out for us.

Meanwhile, does a decrypt-copy to virtual disc make the HiDef content reliably available?
 
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