UPnP / DLNA plug-in

[Mcavity]

minidnla looks nice and all but it cant transcode? without that.. its not much use to me.

 

[joeschmuck]

Typically a NAS doesn't transcode but does provide UPnP. If the plug-ins work for version 8.1, then you should see the option of using a UPnP that has transcoding. Lets all hope that works out.

 

[starix]

+1 for MiniDLNA

 

[rs232]

My vote on minidlna! I've been using it on one of my linux box and I can't fault it! It's simple and it never let me down!

 

[Medix]

Dear Freenas developers,

me and lot of my friends ran freenas 0.7 with extensive upnp/dlna usage.
It was the most important feature of freenas making it possible to put the family-fotos to a secure place and watch them from the sofa via a PS3 or DLNA capable satellite receiver.
Now, all of us are very disappointed and some of them even started buying netgears readynas etc. and said goodbye to freenas forever.

Please speed up implementing upnp/dlna functionality into freenas 8.0.X. Thank you for your great work so far!

 

[James144]

Samsung blu-ray players require you to download their software to access the DLNA feature between your computer and player. I am using Samsung PC Share Manager 4.2.
Has anybody with the same configuration had any success with other software to communicate the media? I ask because I am very interested in a DLNA service from FreeNAS, but not sure which one even works in a Windows or Mac environment.

 

[joeschmuck]

Minidlna was ported from ReadyDLNA, a DLNA compliant server. If your product complies to DLNA then it should work. There is no transcoding with this version so the media format on the FreeNAS device would need to be stored in a compatible for mat for your device. For example a PS3 will accept a VOB file so if your video is in VOB file format, it will play fine. The PS3 does play many formats, this is just an example. I store all my video rips in VOB format. If you need transcoding then you will need to wait for a plug-in for something like MediaTomb. Keep in mind that transcoding requires a decent CPU in your FreeNAS device.

Once FreeNAS 8.0.3 hits the streets, if minidlna is not included I will post a version with it installed. If you want something now just send me a PM and I'll give you one of the latest working builds I have. You will still have to follow the instructions here to enable and configure it. http://forums.freenas.org/showthrea...-post-09-25-2011&p=11554&viewfull=1#post11554

@James144
A PC doesn't typically have a DLNA server so you typically have to install a DLNA server so your devices can see the files on your PC.

 

[gcooper]

Minidlna was ported from ReadyDLNA, a DLNA compliant server. If your product complies to DLNA then it should work. There is no transcoding with this version so the media format on the FreeNAS device would need to be stored in a compatible for mat for your device. For example a PS3 will accept a VOB file so if your video is in VOB file format, it will play fine. The PS3 does play many formats, this is just an example. I store all my video rips in VOB format. If you need transcoding then you will need to wait for a plug-in for something like MediaTomb. Keep in mind that transcoding requires a decent CPU in your FreeNAS device.

Once FreeNAS 8.0.3 hits the streets, if minidlna is not included I will post a version with it installed. If you want something now just send me a PM and I'll give you one of the latest working builds I have. You will still have to follow the instruction in post #19 of this thread to enable and configure it.

8.0.3 won't have minidlna, transmission, or daapd, in part because it doesn't have the build bits required to make things work (porting this isn't hard if you hack freenas-common, but it's still a bit of a bear). I can do this, as a side project, but it wasn't the main intent behind 8.0.3 [8.0.3 was intended to bugfix stuff from the 8.0.1 and 8.0.2 release(s) as noted in that thread].

The first draft of the plugin framework is wrapping up and I'm going to be the guinea pig creating the PBI and plugin for minidlna (or mediatomb if someone could send me directions on how to interface with it outside of the mediatomb web GUI as transcoding would be nice...), I'll go ahead and create whatever plugin needs to be generated.

If DLNA, torrenting, or iTunes support is critical to you, I'd jump to 8.2 when it comes out. Otherwise I'd hang tight until 8.2.1 is released (trying to hit 2-3 month release cycles depending on my free time, 'critical-ness' of any fixes, etc).

@James144
A PC doesn't typically have a DLNA server so you typically have to install a DLNA server so your devices can see the files on your PC.

You can get it with Windows Media Player, VLC, or Windows Media Center IIRC (VLC for sure, but it didn't really work as expected).

 

[McFly]

PBI Packages

Can I use a test PBI with the nightly?

I'm got 9006 running and would like to test it. Does anyone have any? Can I just try the PBI's from FreeBSD?

 

[joeschmuck]

8.0.3 won't have minidlna, transmission, or daapd, in part because it doesn't have the build bits required to make things work (porting this isn't hard if you hack freenas-common, but it's still a bit of a bear). I can do this, as a side project, but it wasn't the main intent behind 8.0.3 [8.0.3 was intended to bugfix stuff from the 8.0.1 and 8.0.2 release(s) as noted in that thread].

Yea, I didn't think these items would be in 8.0.3 but I just wanted to wait until that release came out before I switch my NAS over to that version. I've been testing weekly but my physical NAS hasn't been touched since r8158 as it works solid for what I currently need. I know some would argue why mess with it but I can't help it, I must.

The first draft of the plugin framework is wrapping up and I'm going to be the guinea pig creating the PBI and plugin for minidlna (or mediatomb if someone could send me directions on how to interface with it outside of the mediatomb web GUI as transcoding would be nice...), I'll go ahead and create whatever plugin needs to be generated.

If DLNA, torrenting, or iTunes support is critical to you, I'd jump to 8.2 when it comes out. Otherwise I'd hang tight until 8.2.1 is released (trying to hit 2-3 month release cycles depending on my free time, 'critical-ness' of any fixes, etc).

So does this mean minidlna will not be part of the basic FreeNAS package and rather a plugin?

If you need any help testing the DLNA plugins just PM me. I'll test when time permits and I'll give constructive feedback.

 

[gcooper]

Can I use a test PBI with the nightly?

I'm got 9006 running and would like to test it. Does anyone have any? Can I just try the PBI's from FreeBSD?

It's a little more than just being able to "test a PBI" unfortunately. Stuff is still in flux so I'm waiting for the dust to settle before I try and figure out how things work.

 

[gcooper]

Yea, I didn't think these items would be in 8.0.3 but I just wanted to wait until that release came out before I switch my NAS over to that version. I've been testing weekly but my physical NAS hasn't been touched since r8158 as it works solid for what I currently need. I know some would argue why mess with it but I can't help it, I must.

So does this mean minidlna will not be part of the basic FreeNAS package and rather a plugin?

The goal was to make this available via a plugin (the proposal was for the example plugins to implement missing "core" functionality available in FreeNAS 0.7). What I did a few months ago to roll it into the base system with a knob was a short term hack because I wanted people to widely test out the multimedia bits before we tried to implement them, because I knew there would be gotchas (like we discovered with the latest minidlna port).

If you need any help testing the DLNA plugins just PM me. I'll test when time permits and I'll give constructive feedback.

Sure :).