Streaming media directly from FreeNAS device to A/V receiver?

[tamothy]

Hello! I have just setup FreeNAS on an older PC. I plan to use this NAS to backup 2 Macbook Pro's, but am more excited about using it as a media server. I have copied over all of my media to the NAS, and am now trying to figure out how best to stream the media. Currently I am running an HDMI cable from my Macbook to the receiver, and playing the networked media through VLC. It works great, but it seems inefficient, especially since the motherboard on the NAS has an HDMI out port. What I would like to do is just stream the media directly from the NAS to the receiver, and control playback wirelessly through my Macbook. Is this possible? I know that some of the Thecus NAS devices have built in media player capability, so I don't think the idea is too far fetched. My goal is to avoid having to get a separate media player.

I should mention that I am new to FreeNAS and am not the most technically savvy individual out there. I have gotten this far by reading forums, but haven't been able to find any threads that address what I am trying to accomplish. Hopefully someone out there can help! :) Many thanks.

 

[ProtoSD]

.... especially since the motherboard on the NAS has an HDMI out port. What I would like to do is just stream the media directly from the NAS to the receiver, and control playback wirelessly through my Macbook. Is this possible?

Almost anything is possible ;) , but the way you want to do it is not practical on FreeNAS. FreeNAS is stripped down to be small and doesn't include many of the drivers you need for certain hardware, ie. the on-board video/playing media directly from your NAS.

There are some plugins like miniDLNA which will stream media from your NAS to DLNA compliant devices like some TV's.

The other option which I think is kinda cool but haven't tried are the little android and raspberry-pi modules you can buy with HDMI out. They're basically tiny little computer modules running linux/android/whatever, and can mount NFS shares from your NAS, and using their on-board HDMI can connect to your TV and play media. Some of them actually have remote controls and can run an embedded version of XBMC. They can cost from $35 to $100. The raspberry-pi's can be tough to find since they've become so popular so fast. You can find the android devices on Amazon.

Here is an example of the android:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009PJ3AZ4/?tag=ozlp-20

I'm not recommending this specific module, just using it as an example.

The plugin method might be a little challenging for you if you're not very technical, but there are a lot of people here that have done it that could help. I think the module method might be easier, but there's not any support here other than how to share your media with NFS.

 

[tamothy]

Sorry for the late reply and thank you for your response! I was able to install the plugins jail, so if there was a plugin that could do what I'm wanting to do, I could probably figure out how to get it working. However I only see like 3 plugins in the download section? Is there somewhere else I can find more plugins?

Thanks also for the suggestion on the raspberry pi modules. I was hoping to avoid having to get a separate device, but would be willing to try something like this out since it's small and specific to my needs. I really appreciate the assistance!

 

[JaimieV]

It's worth looking into what your TV can do, too. A friend was recently surprised to find that his two year old TV is clever enough to read various movie format files directly off a CIFS (Windows) share, and play them with its builtin media player. Samsung, and not one of their 'Smart' range either.

 

[tamothy]

Thanks for pointing that our JaimieV, I did not think of that. Unfortunately neither my TV nor receiver have those capabilities, however it my be a good excuse to upgrade one or the other!

 

[toddos]

Thanks for pointing that our JaimieV, I did not think of that. Unfortunately neither my TV nor receiver have those capabilities, however it my be a good excuse to upgrade one or the other!

Rather than changing your TV or receiver (both will be multi-hundred dollar investments), why not get a streaming set top box, like a WDTV Live or Roku or any of the Android-based boxes that are starting to flood the market? These can generally read either from CIFS shares or from DLNA (go check the Plugins forum) or both, and will be a much better solution than trying to get video output from FreeNAS.

 

[interpeix]

This one

http://wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330

http://www.redcoon.es/search/?searchVar=Western+Digital+TV+Live+Streaming+Media+Player&catid=

79 Euros (like 100 bucks).

Works like a charm....priceless :D