Humax & Twonky
- Thread starter black jack
- Start date
Ezra Pound
Well-Known Member
Blimey, if the time scale for fixing the Twonky problem is anything like the time scale it took to fix the OTA-search EPG update (i.e. from day one), then I would think the Twonky fix is still some years away 
I have had this humax/twonky clash since day one and have got round it by either turning off content sharing or running twonky 6.
I am currently using TVmobili with content sharing on and its OK but I dont like the folder structure and miss my custom folder trees from twonky.
Does this work around block ALL traffic from the NAS so that the humax cannot even see the NAS to play media?
In other words, with this fix the humax cannot play content from twonky and have to use other clients to play media?
Is that correct?
I am currently using TVmobili with content sharing on and its OK but I dont like the folder structure and miss my custom folder trees from twonky.
Does this work around block ALL traffic from the NAS so that the humax cannot even see the NAS to play media?
In other words, with this fix the humax cannot play content from twonky and have to use other clients to play media?
Is that correct?
hairy_mutley
Active Member
Yes, this fix will block all traffic between the Humax and any IP address which is rejected. So, if you create a route reject for the IP of your NAS, the Humax will not be able to play files from it, whether direct or through any media server (twonky or otherwise) that is hosted on the NAS.
Personally, I use automount to allow my HDR-Fox-T2 to access the files on my Zyxel NAS direct, and Twonky is disabled. It has the advantage that after stopping a playback, starting again offers the resume option (as with any local file).
OP
black jack
Member
Since my original post here, I found new firmware was available for my NAS and with it a new version of Twonky (7.2.6-1) so installed it and wished I hadn't because the Humax HDR T2 as reverted back to crashing again. (See first post) I downgraded Twonky to the earlier version but to no avail.
so whatever stopped the Humax crashing as been wiped out by me doing firmware upgrade. So back to square one. Just hope the version "af123" has will be available for my NAS soon!
so whatever stopped the Humax crashing as been wiped out by me doing firmware upgrade. So back to square one. Just hope the version "af123" has will be available for my NAS soon!
hairy_mutley
Active Member
I tell a lie... the reason I am running the old Zyxel 4.22 firmware is so that I can leave the media server enabled (when I updated to 4.50 I found that I had to disable it, so I reverted).
However, I stopped using it that way so long ago, that I had forgotten. As I said, I now prefer to access it as USB via automount of the NAS's samba share.
OP
black jack
Member
I feel a bit of a fool by not realising that I did not need to have "content share" on to enable me to access my NAS on the Humax. I have up till now thought it needed to be turned on to see the NAS.
I have had the Humax crashing lately but not completely restarting only going into standby. So started it manually and it soon crashed again. Switching power off completely then back on cured it for a short time. I decided to turn "content share" off and then realised my mistake when I still could see the NAS.
I just seemed logical to turn "content share" on. I never thought it would work any other way.
I have been complaining about "twonky" (the culprit) for ages on this forum and probably misunderstanding other members comments about it.
There's no fool like an old fool!
I have had the Humax crashing lately but not completely restarting only going into standby. So started it manually and it soon crashed again. Switching power off completely then back on cured it for a short time. I decided to turn "content share" off and then realised my mistake when I still could see the NAS.
I just seemed logical to turn "content share" on. I never thought it would work any other way.
I have been complaining about "twonky" (the culprit) for ages on this forum and probably misunderstanding other members comments about it.
There's no fool like an old fool!
Black Hole
May contain traces of nut
Menu >> Settings >> System >> Internet Setting >> Content Share = On is a requirement for the Humax to make it's recorded content available to the rest of your home network by DLNA - but external DLNA sources are available via Media >> Storage (blue) >> Network regardless of the Content Share setting.
However, if you intend to perform on-the-box decryption, Content Share = On is a requirement for that too. We only advise setting Content Share = Off as a diagnostic tool, to home in on where the problem might be. Turning it off prevents conflicts with Twonky causing crashes, but also stops the DLNA indexer walking the Humax's file system and crashing if it hits a corrupt file. Disconnecting the network (rather than turning content share off) is another diagnostic tool.
However, if you intend to perform on-the-box decryption, Content Share = On is a requirement for that too. We only advise setting Content Share = Off as a diagnostic tool, to home in on where the problem might be. Turning it off prevents conflicts with Twonky causing crashes, but also stops the DLNA indexer walking the Humax's file system and crashing if it hits a corrupt file. Disconnecting the network (rather than turning content share off) is another diagnostic tool.
OP
black jack
Member
Thanks Black Hole that's helpful.
I have lost the connection to my Tablet and Phone but I can live with that. Hardly use them to connect to the Humax anyway just to connect to the NAS and the custom software is ideal to connect the Humax to the computer. I just needed to stop the constant crashing occurring which seemed to be getting more problematic.
I have lost the connection to my Tablet and Phone but I can live with that. Hardly use them to connect to the Humax anyway just to connect to the NAS and the custom software is ideal to connect the Humax to the computer. I just needed to stop the constant crashing occurring which seemed to be getting more problematic.
Sorry, I'm resurrecting an old thread here.
My QNAP has just had a firmware update and that has moved it onto Twonky 7 causing the Humax crashing problems. I have done the blocking fix for now to stop it rebooting (I hope).
The problem is, I use the NAS-Humax connection a lot. I have some shares mounted on the Humax to watch things direct, and I also sometimes use the Twonky DLNA to find/stream stuff to the Humax.
Has anything changed about this crashing problem and possible fixes? I presume the customer firmware v3 doesn't fix anything (I'm still on 2.22)?
Has anyone found any other ways to work round this so that the Humax can still connect to the NAS?
My QNAP has just had a firmware update and that has moved it onto Twonky 7 causing the Humax crashing problems. I have done the blocking fix for now to stop it rebooting (I hope).
The problem is, I use the NAS-Humax connection a lot. I have some shares mounted on the Humax to watch things direct, and I also sometimes use the Twonky DLNA to find/stream stuff to the Humax.
Has anything changed about this crashing problem and possible fixes? I presume the customer firmware v3 doesn't fix anything (I'm still on 2.22)?
Has anyone found any other ways to work round this so that the Humax can still connect to the NAS?
I think IPtables is now available in the custom firmware so it ought to be possible to write a simple firewall to block access for the specific ports used by Twonky at the IP address of the NAS. I vaguely recollect af123 was doing something along these lines.
Nothing new on the subject as far as im concerend. As far as I know, anything port or IP related will block access between the 2 devices completely, not allowing them to talk to each other, but will allow them to exist on the same network with content sharing turned on. Not what I was after.
There was a fix on another forum that involved editing something in twonky to change the DLNA broadcast settings to avoid the conflict, but it didnt work for me.
I keep Twonky updated whenever a new QPKG is released just in case, but I dont use it anymore.
I tried TVmobili but that started asking me to pay for the service and I tried serviio but couldnt get it setup properly.
I tried out the shares and automount which worked pretty well, but I removed the shares as was worried about my kids deleting stuff from the NAS.
I then tried Plex which was a pain to setup but I could see the potential and fitted well with my folder structure. Problem is that my QNAP is an entry level consumer model (TS-112) and plex was slow as hell to navigate on any devices and of course didnt transcode so a lot of files wouldnt play. You are limited to the supported files on the client. Of course twonky didnt transode but had a much better supported file list than most TVs or ipads etc.
I even thought about upgrading my NAS to an x86 model so I could try out PS3mediaserver and XBMC, but couldnt bring myself to do it.
I need content sharing on for the custom firmware features is serves, but Twonky still caused crashes last time I checked, so I bought a miniPC and put plex server on a windows 7 install. I use my NAS for what it was made for; storing and serving up files and use the plex PC to transcode and dish the files out to any device in the house. Its soooo much better than twonky and dont ever use the humax as a client now. I can use the plex app on smart tv, ios, android and even have it on a nowtv box and stream to chromecast for dumb tvs.
Even if there was a way to Twonky with the Humax reliably, I dont think I would go back now...
There was a fix on another forum that involved editing something in twonky to change the DLNA broadcast settings to avoid the conflict, but it didnt work for me.
I keep Twonky updated whenever a new QPKG is released just in case, but I dont use it anymore.
I tried TVmobili but that started asking me to pay for the service and I tried serviio but couldnt get it setup properly.
I tried out the shares and automount which worked pretty well, but I removed the shares as was worried about my kids deleting stuff from the NAS.
I then tried Plex which was a pain to setup but I could see the potential and fitted well with my folder structure. Problem is that my QNAP is an entry level consumer model (TS-112) and plex was slow as hell to navigate on any devices and of course didnt transcode so a lot of files wouldnt play. You are limited to the supported files on the client. Of course twonky didnt transode but had a much better supported file list than most TVs or ipads etc.
I even thought about upgrading my NAS to an x86 model so I could try out PS3mediaserver and XBMC, but couldnt bring myself to do it.
I need content sharing on for the custom firmware features is serves, but Twonky still caused crashes last time I checked, so I bought a miniPC and put plex server on a windows 7 install. I use my NAS for what it was made for; storing and serving up files and use the plex PC to transcode and dish the files out to any device in the house. Its soooo much better than twonky and dont ever use the humax as a client now. I can use the plex app on smart tv, ios, android and even have it on a nowtv box and stream to chromecast for dumb tvs.
Even if there was a way to Twonky with the Humax reliably, I dont think I would go back now...
No a properly written IPTables rule will allow a great deal of control of what is allowed through and dropped by address, protocol, ports etc.
You're right, but I wasn't able to reproduce the problem on my network, even by running various versions of Twonky on a Linux box. Haven't picked it up again. The idea is to create a 'twonky-protect' package or similar which stops the crashing but still allows other communication between the devices - potentially even preserving DLNA functionality. The custom kernel IP tables only has very basic features compiled in at present but can easily be extended to even include packet text matching if that's necessary.
Black Hole
May contain traces of nut
So why not just reverse the QNAP update?
It would be good to get to the bottom of this and work out what's required to make the two coexist. The fault is definitely with the Humax, but there is a way to achieve what the OP wants, namely to stop the Humax crashing whilst still being able to use the NAS features of the QNAP.
@rowanmoor - how familiar are you with the command line? Even if you aren't, if you're willing we should be able to talk you through gathering the information needed.
@rowanmoor - how familiar are you with the command line? Even if you aren't, if you're willing we should be able to talk you through gathering the information needed.
That may be an option I take - but it does have a new option in there that is particularly useful to me, so it is a case of deciding which features I want and how much effort I put in to trying to get to the bottom of it etc .
I am quite happy with command line stuff, so I think it is worth me spending a bit of time to have a deeper look into this. I'm not overly familiar with the syntax for ipTables, though I have used it in the dim and distant past on some router or other. I presume I need to upgrade to CFW v3 first as I am still on 2.22. Any more pointers people can give would be appreciated. I will then investigate and see what I can come up with.
@loffler Thanks for the Plex suggestion. It is tempting - I have looked at it before - but like you, my QNAP is an older entry level and so isn't up to the job. The only old PCs I have about are very noisy and power hungry, so I won't be using those for anything that needs to be on lots. Can a RPi run a plex server? I doubt it is up to the job either. I'm sure that one day I will move in that direction when I have some suitable hardware about, but not just yet.
Border
Member
Is your (humax) connection Ethernet or WiFi?
The reason I ask is that recently SWMBO was using HDR1 to watch an MP4 recording stored on HDR2 via WiFi/DNLA. I switched off HDR2 and HDR1 froze. I had to power off HDR1 . I have network-shares-automount installed on both boxes. Is the twonky issue only Ethernet or only WiFi or both?
Last edited:
