Database Develop

Plex Server with AVIA or Plex App

I've been accessing Plex Server via DLNA using AVIA, and it's been ok. However I've noticed with larger video files, the Chromecast seems to stop for a few seconds every 10min or so. It's not always, but I don't want it to be any.
Would I have better success using the Plex App instead of AVIA or is this more of a hardware issue? (Plex Server is running on an old Dell p4 )
thanks.

Both work well for me. I have zero issues with the plex. Avia has only given me a couple issues because of streaming from other sites. The developers are all working very hard, so it more than likely will get smoothed out in time. I still want to get a NAS setup as well and see how that goes too.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

IMO plex is much better than avia. Plex server automatically transcodes incompatible file formats for CCast plus it has subtitle support. However plex transcoding on pc needs very high cpu so it may not work properly on older hardware.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

Hard to say if Plex will solve that pausing problem or not. Could be happening for any number of reasons not related to the app or casting method being used and be all about bad network and CCast connection.
Plex being the better option with Plex server for all that transcoding goodness still suffers from the same Pause and buffering issues from time to time that aVia will suffer from, the only improvement being it should happen less and it won't be because the source file is incompatible.
But lets be clear, both Plex and aVia will seem very much like Beta software at times because both are still working out the kinks on the CCast side of things with their systems. aVia has already released a number of updates to their Player and Plex has mostly focused on the Server/Transcoding side of things.
Plex still suffers with bugs in the control protocol where the control device will lose connection but not pick it back up properly without restarting the media from beginning and then manually going back to where you left off, and the Transcoder on the server side is still not at 100% as far as the CCast profile is concerned. Surround is not working properly for CCast in the Transcoder and it may still be having some issues with source files that are at such a high VBitrate that the transcoder can't really keep up. Plex Devs are aware of these problems and are working on them and I suspect thats Reason #1 why they are limiting CCast support to PlexPass users right now as those users are much more familiar with the system and don't want to deal with the onslaught of complaints they would get if these bugs were released to a wider audience as is.
aVia on the other hand is probably a bit more mature in regards to control and connection since their methodology doesn't require a lot because it merely takes in data and spits it back out to the CCast. But this is also why some files simply won't play well on it when sent to a CCast. I'm not sure what plans the aVia Devs have but they could really improve the CCast support if they did some minimal transcoding in the same way the GoogleCast Ext (Chrome) does to make any stream coming in fully CCast compatible. Not sure if most mobile units could handle the task of transcoding without burning through your battery but it would make aVia much more flexible in what it can send to the CCast.
It's apparent that for the $35 price point that the CCast has a very narrow window on what it can play problem free and it certainly is not robust enough to play from content libraries that have very high quality content without transcoding. Most people with large libraries also tend to favor MKV containers due to the fact they can support subs, Multitrack Audio and any Video or Audio Codec.
It is this ANYTHING GOES capability in MKV that always makes it difficult to get transcoding right. and unfortunately it's that same versatility of MKV that makes it impossible to support those container types natively in Hardware. There are just too many Codecs that it would need to have onboard for it to be practical.
That said I would love to see a NextGen CCast support MKV/H264/AAC natively and regardless of container type if the video is H264/AAC just play it without the need to transcode. It probably supports those files now but there is no option (save maybe aVia) to play them to CCast without Transcoding as I write this.

Thanks for the replies! I'm not huge into media and all the codecs and containers. Typically I just rip everything to mp4 since it seems the most compatible for devices. All I want is to be able to stream the occasional movie and TV show that I have ripped, and typically those are shows for my son, so I don't need 1080p or anything, lol.
I do think the majority of my issue might be the network. I played about 3 hours consecutively of tv shows/movies fine last night with no issue. It wasn't until I started streaming the football game on my laptop at the same time that I started to get the pausing in the CCasted video again. Once I switched to streaming the football game over 4g connection instead wi-fi, the pausing stopped after a little while. At least I know networking and hardware a lot more than I do media encoding

walmartman said:
Thanks for the replies! I'm not huge into media and all the codecs and containers. Typically I just rip everything to mp4 since it seems the most compatible for devices. All I want is to be able to stream the occasional movie and TV show that I have ripped, and typically those are shows for my son, so I don't need 1080p or anything, lol.
I do think the majority of my issue might be the network. I played about 3 hours consecutively of tv shows/movies fine last night with no issue. It wasn't until I started streaming the football game on my laptop at the same time that I started to get the pausing in the CCasted video again. Once I switched to streaming the football game over 4g connection instead wi-fi, the pausing stopped after a little while. At least I know networking and hardware a lot more than I do media encoding
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MP4/H264/AAC should have no issues playing on CCast. If it stops or stutters then the cause is likely Network related.
Laptop streaming is probably connecting via Wireless. Thats half your Wireless Radio Bandwidth out the door.
I suspect thats all going to change if what I'm reading coming out of CES sees the market soon. Netgear has a new Router that claims to have 115Mps throughput on 2.4Ghz and into the 300s on 5Ghz.
Something that might help in your situation is to configure the Laptop to only connect to the 5Ghz side of the router. Then your Wireless traffic should not eat into the 2.4Ghz throughput. No Guarantees mind you but it's worth a try the next time you want to stream to both a CCast and some other device.

My guess is that it's the cpu. I run plex on a minimum spec machine and it runs okay until the computer does something the background. Then I see skips
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

I use Avia more because it can see the USB flash drive on my router and stream media from it. The only thing I don't like is that Avia does not show thumbnails of each file - only a default music note symbol for mp3 and video reel symbol for mp4. However, Avia does show thumbnails of media files on the device and on Plex Media Server on my PC. Plex is nice, but I don't want to turn on the high power PC just for it, unless it's necessary.

ETFoneHome said:
I use Avia more because it can see the USB flash drive on my router and stream media from it. The only thing I don't like is that Avia does not show thumbnails of each file - only a default music note symbol for mp3 and video reel symbol for mp4. However, Avia does show thumbnails of media files on the device and on Plex Media Server on my PC. Plex is nice, but I don't want to turn on the high power PC just for it, unless it's necessary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's very strange that you don't see thumbnails of your movies/video files using Avia. I have the paid version of Avia and it's up-to-date with all the recent app updates and mine shows each and every thumbnail with no problem...hmmmmm...man, that's really odd. Have you tried updating it? Is it the most current release? Have you tried clearing the app data/cache?

jsdecker10 said:
That's very strange that you don't see thumbnails of your movies/video files using Avia. I have the paid version of Avia and it's up-to-date with all the recent app updates and mine shows each and every thumbnail with no problem...hmmmmm...man, that's really odd. Have you tried updating it? Is it the most current release? Have you tried clearing the app data/cache?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I tried clearing everything. I think since Avia is not showing thumbnails for the USB flash drive on the router it's a router firmware issue. I don't think the DNLA feature is certified.

sherdog16 said:
My guess is that it's the cpu. I run plex on a minimum spec machine and it runs okay until the computer does something the background. Then I see skips
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes that could be the issue, I'm going to make a Feature request at Plex to see if they can't add a priority setting for the transcoder which should help in cases like yours.
ETFoneHome said:
I use Avia more because it can see the USB flash drive on my router and stream media from it. The only thing I don't like is that Avia does not show thumbnails of each file - only a default music note symbol for mp3 and video reel symbol for mp4. However, Avia does show thumbnails of media files on the device and on Plex Media Server on my PC. Plex is nice, but I don't want to turn on the high power PC just for it, unless it's necessary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plex can see those files as well you just have to map the flash drive to some section in PMS and you may need to refresh whenever you change the Flash drive.
In my PMS setup I have my main Media NAS (Roughly 12TB RAID) for most of my media and also have Two 4TB USB Drives plugged into the NAS and a Router for content I probably won't watch often. I use the same Folder structure I do on the NAS for each external drive and add the appropriate folder of each drive to the Sections that content should be added to. The Router tends to keep the same drive Letter no matter what drive I plug into it so my Router USB port is my sort of wildcard Media location I can plug any media into and with a simple refresh can see that media in Plex.
jsdecker10 said:
That's very strange that you don't see thumbnails of your movies/video files using Avia. I have the paid version of Avia and it's up-to-date with all the recent app updates and mine shows each and every thumbnail with no problem...hmmmmm...man, that's really odd. Have you tried updating it? Is it the most current release? Have you tried clearing the app data/cache?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It really depends on the server aVia is connecting to. Some make Thumbnails others do not. Plex will actually send you Posters while other might send you screen caps.

I didn't know you can use the avia app to access the plex media server. After I saw this thread, I immediately went into the avia app to try it out. I went the the "ADD MEDIA" and found my plex server and added it. When I click on the plex media server, it doesn't show any of my movies. I just see two top categories: ADD MEDIA and the name of my Plex server.
My plex server is installed in a notebook. And the movies are in the default video folder in libraries. Do they need to be in a specific folder?
---------- Post added at 03:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:12 AM ----------
Sorry, nevermind.. My notebook was asleep. LOL! Everything works. WOW!

I'm looking at this Qnap TS-112P model. It looks promising with the ability to install Plex Media Server. I don't need transcoding and the specs look good: 1.6GHz; 512MB. But it's a new model and I can't find any reviews.
http://www.qnap.com/en/index.php?lang=en&sn=822&c=351&sc=514&t=524&n=19949

ETFoneHome said:
I'm looking at this Qnap TS-112P model. It looks promising with the ability to install Plex Media Server. I don't need transcoding and the specs look good: 1.6GHz; 512MB. But it's a new model and I can't find any reviews.
http://www.qnap.com/en/index.php?lang=en&sn=822&c=351&sc=514&t=524&n=19949
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That unit has some great reviews on Newegg but the low RAM scares me...
As for Transcoding, you never need it until you need it! LOL

The one on Newegg is 112 - not 112P. Got a PC with Plex ms to transcode, should that ever arises. So far no need.

ETFoneHome said:
The one on Newegg is 112 - not 112P. Got a PC with Plex ms to transcode, should that ever arises. So far no need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, subtle difference in model number, but significant spec difference:
TS-112P
CPU Marvell 6282 1.6GHz
DRAM 512MB DDR3 RAM
Flash Memory 16MB
TS-112
CPU Marvell 6281 1.2GHz
DRAM 256MB DDRII RAM
Flash Memory 16MB
I would expect the TS-112P to be significantly better than the no-P model.

ETFoneHome said:
The one on Newegg is 112 - not 112P. Got a PC with Plex ms to transcode, should that ever arises. So far no need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The model Iooked at has 512K of Ram (I would think a Gig would be minimum for a NAS serving media and transcoding....
And if what bhiga posted is correct then the one I saw was the P model.

bhiga said:
Wow, subtle difference in model number, but significant spec difference:
TS-112P
CPU Marvell 6282 1.6GHz
DRAM 512MB DDR3 RAM
Flash Memory 16MB
TS-112
CPU Marvell 6281 1.2GHz
DRAM 256MB DDRII RAM
Flash Memory 16MB
I would expect the TS-112P to be significantly better than the no-P model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeal, the 112P is not listed on Newegg but is on Amazon but no reviews. http://www.amazon.com/TS-112P-Perso...8&qid=1389746673&sr=8-1&keywords=Qnap+TS-112P
I was looking at the Synology DS213j too. It's seems popular but doesn't have support for Plex server. http://www.amazon.com/Synology-Disk...id=1389747041&sr=8-1&keywords=Synology+DS213j
For under $200 they're not bad as entry level NAS.
Anyone who needs 1gb ram and transcoding should look for something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Synology-DiskStation-Diskless-Attached-DS713/dp/B009TPDDFG
Though at that price range I may as well build a desktop server like this: http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkS...8066&sr=1-1&keywords=Lenovo+ThinkServer+TS140

Quite lost here guys, would appriciate some help.
I'm having a lot of trouble casting my local content. I can stream it using the chrome extension, but when trying to cast from the actual web app - I get media unavailable shown on my tv.
Also - I seem to have the oppertunity to cast to my nexus 7, what exactly does it means? I tried to do that and it simply did nothing.
Last, I can't seem to sync it to my tablet, I see that some media was added but N7 sais "not sync" and nothing is displayed at my tabs.
Oh, and also - I thought I would be able to cast content from my tablet and phone (content that "sits" on them), but how can they do that if they have no server installed?
I'm really lost, getting more and more annyoed with this chromecast - a lot of workarounds for things that should be trivial.

edoson said:
I'm really lost, getting more and more annyoed with this chromecast - a lot of workarounds for things that should be trivial.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What app(s) are you using, and where does the media you're trying to cast to Chromecast live?

Local files difficulty to play

Hi, my rooted and hacked CC works fine with all the official apps, Netflix, Avia and Gallery.
The problem is that whenever I try to play a file from my local network, using any File Manager to open the file in Avia, the CC says it is not compatible and never play. On the other hand, if you create a DLNA / Media Sharing service, then the same files can be played without error messages.
I did not want to use Media Sharing, I prefer access to the network drive directly. Why CC makes such a difference between the way it accesses files. My Media Sharing is not transcoding anything for the CC. It should be the same, or they are just avoiding the local media player options ?!
Anyone have a clue ?
Thanks,
MCP

Have you installed the latest and greatest eureka 2.0?

mcpdigital said:
Hi, my rooted and hacked CC works fine with all the official apps, Netflix, Avia and Gallery.
The problem is that whenever I try to play a file from my local network, using any File Manager to open the file in Avia, the CC says it is not compatible and never play. On the other hand, if you create a DLNA / Media Sharing service, then the same files can be played without error messages.
I did not want to use Media Sharing, I prefer access to the network drive directly. Why CC makes such a difference between the way it accesses files. My Media Sharing is not transcoding anything for the CC. It should be the same, or they are just avoiding the local media player options ?!
Anyone have a clue ?
Thanks,
MCP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends how the network file location is sent.
If the network file is downloaded to the local device and casted as a local file, it should work.
If the network file is sent as a UNC path it likely won't work.
Try copying the file to local storage and verify it can be casted as a local file first.

bhiga said:
It depends how the network file location is sent.
If the network file is downloaded to the local device and casted as a local file, it should work.
If the network file is sent as a UNC path it likely won't work.
Try copying the file to local storage and verify it can be casted as a local file first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm waiting for the Eureka team OTA, but I believe the problem will persist after the upgrade.
This is what happens:
Case 1
Open a File Explorer
Open the network share
Choose the file (4GB mkv) and play with Avia
Cast it to CC
CC message says it is not compatible
Case 2
Start media sharing in the computer that owns the file to be played
Start Avia and open the file using Add Media and choosing the Media Sharing PC and the file (4GB mkv) to be played
Cast to CC
CC plays the same file without errors
I really do not get why CC choose not to play as if it was a local file. How are people doing with NAS, are they starting a DLNA or Media sharing inside the NAS to have access to the movies.
Thanks
MCP

mcpdigital said:
This is what happens:
Case 1
Open a File Explorer
Open the network share
Choose the file (4GB mkv) and play with Avia
Cast it to CC
CC message says it is not compatible
...
I really do not get why CC choose not to play as if it was a local file. How are people doing with NAS, are they starting a DLNA or Media sharing inside the NAS to have access to the movies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Avia doesn't know how to unwrap MKV, nor does Chromecast.
So that's why it won't play it as a file.
Your DLNA server is either doing transcoding or is unwrapping the compatible data inside the MKV.
Sent from a device with no keyboard. Please forgive typos, they may not be my own.

bhiga said:
Avia doesn't know how to unwrap MKV, nor does Chromecast.
So that's why it won't play it as a file.
Your DLNA server is either doing transcoding or is unwrapping the compatible data inside the MKV.
Sent from a device with no keyboard. Please forgive typos, they may not be my own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I got it. The experience playing Local or Network files is sub-par with the ChromeCast. Avia can play almost all of them, but not cast, DLNA or Local it happens anyway. Today the chromecast is like a Netflix player for me, the rest is not ready for prime time.
I wish I could have the OTA today otherwise I will not be able to check until next weekend. My cable is with a friend so no update for me.
Until now, none of my 3 CC has gotten the update. They are on 24x7 on, but it seems I'm on the last batch.
MCP

mcpdigital said:
Ok, I got it. The experience playing Local or Network files is sub-par with the ChromeCast. Avia can play almost all of them, but not cast, DLNA or Local it happens anyway. Today the chromecast is like a Netflix player for me, the rest is not ready for prime time.
I wish I could have the OTA today otherwise I will not be able to check until next weekend. My cable is with a friend so no update for me.
Until now, none of my 3 CC has gotten the update. They are on 24x7 on, but it seems I'm on the last batch.
MCP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Local file playback is still developing. Chromecast was designed as an Internet streamer that is controlled by a mobile device.
We didn't have local playback at launch and it probably want in the minds of many until Koush released the first AllCast beta that subsequently broke due to whitelisting and SDK changes.
Any content outside those with apps made for it relies on intelligence in the app side. It's more attainable to make media compatible with Chromecast (ie Plex, RealPlayer Cloud) than to make Chromecast compatible with all media, as there are hundreds of CODECs. I still have some stuff that makes MX Player say ??? heh.
Sent from a device with no keyboard. Please forgive typos, they may not be my own.

bhiga said:
Local file playback is still developing. Chromecast was designed as an Internet streamer that is controlled by a mobile device.
We didn't have local playback at launch and it probably want in the minds of many until Koush released the first AllCast beta that subsequently broke due to whitelisting and SDK changes.
Any content outside those with apps made for it relies on intelligence in the app side. It's more attainable to make media compatible with Chromecast (ie Plex, RealPlayer Cloud) than to make Chromecast compatible with all media, as there are hundreds of CODECs. I still have some stuff that makes MX Player say ??? heh.
Sent from a device with no keyboard. Please forgive typos, they may not be my own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bhiga, thanks for taking time to answer. I understand the purpose of ChromeCast as an internet streaming (Netflix box), but after the launch of Avia and AllCast I really had hope to be able to do Local casting. CC bring some Smart to your non-smart TV, this is the main and only benefit IMHO.
With the latest updates, even Avia is not playing most of my files, and there is no clue of what is happening other than a Black screen in the phone. This is definitely Avias fault not CC. Allcast is not any better after all, most of the things just do not play. Even some of my phones mkv files are not playable.
If there wasn't Eureka, you can be sure my CCs would be gone. I'm patiently waiting for some real change that is looking unreal as the time goes by. I'm back using my BD player and PS3 to play local media and these CCs destination will be the drawer.
Beautiful image and pretty good processing, nice idea but stuck with the American Media providers and its insane agreements that make the device useless or at least just another stream player with many limitations. Sure, for 35 bucks it is ok, but cannot replace any of my other devices.
If you feel I'm bored, that is the correct vision. Tired of spending time trying to play something that matters to me. Tried converting to mp4 with AAC using Handbrake or ffmpeg and it does not help much, the same MKV file converted to MP4 does not work either.
My TVs play all the mkv files straight from the Hard disk without problem, my BD player do it as well, and finally my old energy consumer PS3 play the files after a small tsmuxer change. Chromecast does not add up, other than the size and the idea.
There is no sense in adding a Media Server like Plex, I already have better Dlna solutions for years and I hate all of them just because you need to have a server using lots of CPUs, heat and energy. My next and latest step is to mount a small AMD APU accelerated box and play whatever I want using XBMC Linux or simply play LOCAL files in stored in a cheap 4TB drive. It is cheaper than the time I spend trying to use CC with no success.
MCP

mcpdigital said:
Beautiful image and pretty good processing, nice idea but stuck with the American Media providers and its insane agreements that make the device useless or at least just another stream player with many limitations. Sure, for 35 bucks it is ok, but cannot replace any of my other devices.
If you feel I'm bored, that is the correct vision. Tired of spending time trying to play something that matters to me. Tried converting to mp4 with AAC using Handbrake or ffmpeg and it does not help much, the same MKV file converted to MP4 does not work either.
My TVs play all the mkv files straight from the Hard disk without problem, my BD player do it as well, and finally my old energy consumer PS3 play the files after a small tsmuxer change. Chromecast does not add up, other than the size and the idea.
There is no sense in adding a Media Server like Plex, I already have better Dlna solutions for years and I hate all of them just because you need to have a server using lots of CPUs, heat and energy. My next and latest step is to mount a small AMD APU accelerated box and play whatever I want using XBMC Linux or simply play LOCAL files in stored in a cheap 4TB drive. It is cheaper than the time I spend trying to use CC with no success.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely sounds like you're encountering multiple issues, the Avia one is likely just a bug similar to the one I was experiencing.
I've been thinking more, and I think part of the disparity and disappointment lies in Chromecast as a standalone device, rather than Chromecast as a complement to another device. At least in its current state, it's more like an adapter - it works in specific scenarios, for apps that support it. The majority of the "work" is in the app that's connecting to Chromecast. And the selection of apps is still growing.
At $35 it's either a very cheap device, or a mid-range adapter.

Yatse Remote offer XBMC Streaming to CCast

Just released, the Yatse Remote for XBMC now offers the ability to stream content from XBMC to CCast (In app Purchase for Unlocker required $4.99 plus the free plugin to cast)
I had never really tried this remote before but when I saw it supported streaming to CCast I went and bought it.
haven't had a lot of time with it but it does offer some major features that don't exist in the Official XBMC remote.
First and foremost you can stream to your local device from XBMC. Note XBMC has not transcode capability so compatibility as far as CCast is concerned will probably still be an issue. (Bubble and Plex are still your friends here!)
The app claims to be able to launch XBMC remotely which I suppose is possible but have not tested nor do I know if it works.
What I do know is it does quite well stream and send content to any DLNA/UPnP/DIAL (tested with CCast) targets on the network which is a very good feature for those who have an HTPC running XBMC and wish to add it's content to another Monitor without having to buy an entire HTPC for each TV.
So for all of those folks who were looking for ways to stream XBMC content to CCast your day has finally arrived.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.leetzone.android.yatsewidgetfree

Asphyx said:
Just released, the Yatse Remote for XBMC now offers the ability to stream content from XBMC to CCast (In app Purchase for Unlocker required $4.99 plus the free plugin to cast)
I had never really tried this remote before but when I saw it supported streaming to CCast I went and bought it.
haven't had a lot of time with it but it does offer some major features that don't exist in the Official XBMC remote.
First and foremost you can stream to your local device from XBMC. Note XBMC has not transcode capability so compatibility as far as CCast is concerned will probably still be an issue. (Bubble and Plex are still your friends here!)
The app claims to be able to launch XBMC remotely which I suppose is possible but have not tested nor do I know if it works.
What I do know is it does quite well stream and send content to any DLNA/UPnP/DIAL (tested with CCast) targets on the network which is a very good feature for those who have an HTPC running XBMC and wish to add it's content to another Monitor without having to buy an entire HTPC for each TV.
So for all of those folks who were looking for ways to stream XBMC content to CCast your day has finally arrived.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.leetzone.android.yatsewidgetfree
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmm this is nice feature from Yaste! I have used it as remote to my XBMC but then I feel they are charging high just to cast.
If you want to CCast XBMC, it can be played by AVIA (most of CCast users have already bought it) by making deualt player for AVIA. There are number of details threads on how-to..

Hi,
Thanks for info.
Since I'm mostly interested in streaming plugins to CCast. Can yatse do that, or is it limited to library?
Thanks.
pino.

puppinoo said:
Hi,
Thanks for info.
Since I'm mostly interested in streaming plugins to CCast. Can yatse do that, or is it limited to library?
Thanks.
pino.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not tried any of the Apps as far as CCast is concerned but they do appear in this program.
Something I have never seen from the other remote apps.

sting098 said:
hmmm this is nice feature from Yaste! I have used it as remote to my XBMC but then I feel they are charging high just to cast.
If you want to CCast XBMC, it can be played by AVIA (most of CCast users have already bought it) by making deualt player for AVIA. There are number of details threads on how-to..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe me this is a much better experience than the XBMC External Player method.
Especially since it can use Content from XBMC that is not on the local unit but on other XBMC units on the network.
.

Asphyx said:
Believe me this is a much better experience than the XBMC External Player method.
Especially since it can use Content from XBMC that is not on the local unit but on other XBMC units on the network.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I almost spent 5 bucks on it, but at the last minute decided to wait and see how well it works with Chromecast. I am especially interested to see if you you can play BBC iPlayer streams and or some other catch-up TV add-ons. ESPN is another one I would be interested to know if it works. Hulu is also the big one, as they have lots more than what Hulu Plus offers. If that works, this app would be a killer.

yatse is worth more than that $4.99 trust me, its an awesome remote for xbmc with tons of features that puts the official xbmc to shame, the xbmc remote should take some notes on yatse and do some work on that app.. just sayin

Bought it, yet to stream a single file successfully. Even upgraded to Gotham, no luck. None of the add-ons work. Am I missing something? Really trying to make this work.
Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

jasenko said:
Bought it, yet to stream a single file successfully. Even upgraded to Gotham, no luck. None of the add-ons work. Am I missing something? Really trying to make this work.
Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for me. Bought it hoping to make plugins work but many of them show empty folders or if I can stream them they give format error cause probably they are not compatible with supported codecs. I really hope there will be a BubblUpnp like approach where a server could transcode stuff to compatible formats, or maybe forward addons to chrome and make it transcode. So far no luck..

jasenko said:
Bought it, yet to stream a single file successfully. Even upgraded to Gotham, no luck. None of the add-ons work. Am I missing something? Really trying to make this work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jasenko said:
I almost spent 5 bucks on it, but at the last minute decided to wait and see how well it works with Chromecast. I am especially interested to see if you you can play BBC iPlayer streams and or some other catch-up TV add-ons. ESPN is another one I would be interested to know if it works. Hulu is also the big one, as they have lots more than what Hulu Plus offers. If that works, this app would be a killer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have BBC Add On installed so I can't test this for you. But channel support in all of the options available have issues with CCast because of the various transport protocols being used for web that are incompatible with CCast due to the player extension requirements of those transport protocols when streamed in Chrome.
Where is this XBMC your trying to stream from located? This program is meant to control an XBMC on an HTPC not the XBMC on your local android device. As I said in the OP it will have the same restrictions most other NON-Transcode (like aVia) options have. So unless your media is CCast compatible it will have issues playing them.
puppinoo said:
Same for me. Bought it hoping to make plugins work but many of them show empty folders or if I can stream them they give format error cause probably they are not compatible with supported codecs. I really hope there will be a BubblUpnp like approach where a server could transcode stuff to compatible formats, or maybe forward addons to chrome and make it transcode. So far no luck..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See what I said about regarding Add Ons and Transport Protocols.
In order for XBMC to do what Bubble and Plex does the XBMC Devs need to get off their "We are a Frontend" soapbox and realize that to stay relevant they need to add some Transcode support to their DLNA services.
Right now the only way to get XBMC content to transcode is to aggregate it into BubbleUPnP.
The focus of this program is not to create a CCast app the main purpose has always been to control an XBMC machine somewhere on your network that is attached to a real TV from an Android device. What makes it good is this App also will allow you to view and play XBMC content on the device itself (something other XBMC Remotes have lacked). And because it can play locally it was easy to create an addon that would then allow files to play on the CCast and other DLNA and UPnP renderers.
I will also say after a night of playing with it (perhaps unfairly) that while this is a great addition to those who have XBMC HTPCs in their house it is not way a good replacement for Plex or Bubble which will allow content to be streamed outside the local network and support Transcoding.
It is however a better replacement for the hacked aVia methods that have been discussed here for playing XBMC content.
Especially from an interface and navigation POV.
I also noticed that you can use MX Player as the player app for Android in the settings. That doesn't have any CCast relevance but it is a good perk for those who wish to view XBMC content on Android with Hardware decoding.

I should have been clearer, I was unable to even play local Chromecast supported files. The message pops out to force playback, with that enabled I can't even get to the option to play.
Internet streams from various compatible websites like Vimeo, should be a no brainer but they just fail without even attempt to play them

jasenko said:
I should have been clearer, I was unable to even play local Chromecast supported files. The message pops out to force playback, with that enabled I can't even get to the option to play.
Internet streams from various compatible websites like Vimeo, should be a no brainer but they just fail without even attempt to play them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And on what machine is XBMC running on that the content doesn't work for CCast?

Asphyx said:
And on what machine is XBMC running on that the content doesn't work for CCast?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTPC is a windows box, media is on NAS. Local playback works for my files, but nothing casts to Chromecast. I will ask for the money back, nothing works as advertised. I had more luck with the external player on Android and playing addons while connecting with BubbleUPnP through Plex library.
Chromecast is so simple, call me spoiled, but I expect playback from apps to just work.

jasenko said:
HTPC is a windows box, media is on NAS. Local playback works for my files, but nothing casts to Chromecast. I will ask for the money back, nothing works as advertised. I had more luck with the external player on Android and playing addons while connecting with BubbleUPnP through Plex library.
Chromecast is so simple, call me spoiled, but I expect playback from apps to just work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do the native apps - YouTube, Pandora, etc. work for you?

bhiga said:
How do the native apps - YouTube, Pandora, etc. work for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flawless..

Sorry to bring this thread back to life,
I am having issues with streaming to my chromecast with this app, all my files are in rar archive and playes just fine in kodi, but wont stream eather to phone (mx player) or to my chromecast, anyone have a fix?
Kodi, v15 nighlty Jan 24, 2015.

|Night| said:
Sorry to bring this thread back to life,
I am having issues with streaming to my chromecast with this app, all my files are in rar archive and playes just fine in kodi, but wont stream eather to phone (mx player) or to my chromecast, anyone have a fix?
Kodi, v15 nighlty Jan 24, 2015.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CCast doesn't support RAR riles

Asphyx said:
CCast doesn't support RAR riles
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thank you for response, I've tested both rared and unrared same issue, when I try to stream to my phone in either mx player or vlc, it crashes after a few minutes and goes back to yatse screen. Have you seen that issue before?

|Night| said:
Hey thank you for response, I've tested both rared and unrared same issue, when I try to stream to my phone in either mx player or vlc, it crashes after a few minutes and goes back to yatse screen. Have you seen that issue before?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No but all of my files are Encoded to be every device compatible....
Yatse (and by default XBMC) does not transcode media to be compatible with various codecs and containers.
So unless the media is fully container/codec compatible it simply won't play.
Since this is not just happening on CCast and crashes on your phone as well I have to assume the files you are trying to stream have some issue and are not container/codec compatible.
Ideal for compatibility is MP4 container with a H.264 Codec. AAC Audio is also best supported by mobile devices.
A program like Plex or BubbleUPnP will transcode any format to a device compatible format so you might want to look into using one of those instead of using yatse.
You can install them onto the same machine you are currently running XBMC on.
Thats what I do.

sting098 said:
hmmm this is nice feature from Yaste! I have used it as remote to my XBMC but then I feel they are charging high just to cast.
If you want to CCast XBMC, it can be played by AVIA (most of CCast users have already bought it) by making deualt player for AVIA. There are number of details threads on how-to..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But you cant play contents from your private network, with AVIA.

does playing local files use bandwidth data? i have limited internet data mifi device

will i be able to play local files without biting into data i have? from my macbook / android phone to google chromecast
please advise?
also is there a way to play xbmc to chromecast
thank you

wakkaday said:
will i be able to play local files without biting into data i have? from my macbook / android phone to google chromecast
please advise?
also is there a way to play xbmc to chromecast
thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes only the Player will use Internet, The actual local streaming does not need Internet access.
CCast uses Internet to load the player and then the file stream over local network no net required once the player is loaded.
As for playing XBMC to CCast best solution I have found is Yatse Remote but it requires in app one time payment to unlock local cast, Once there Install the cast Addon and the content on your XBMC HTPC can be streamed to your CCast.

how much internet do you think the player will need ? for a movie for example
ok thats good to know, could i play local files and continue browsing on my tablet / macbook for example....
would you reccomend getting one? or is roku streaming stick better
i believe miracast doesnt uses another technology which doesnt use data, but another way of using the internet.

wakkaday said:
how much internet do you think the player will need ? for a movie for example
...
i believe miracast doesnt uses another technology which doesnt use data, but another way of using the internet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The player is just a download of a HTML5 app (except for Netflix), it should be tiny, and doesn't matter what you're playing.
Miracast is screen mirroring, so it requires your device to play the movie, and what you see on your device is what goes to the TV.
The advantage is that often times the device can play more via software like MX Player. The disadvantage is that you cannot do other things with your device while playing the movie as exactly what you see on your device is what appears on the TV. Not so good if you get an embarrassing text message or something, and it'll use a lot of battery power.
The advantage to Chromecast is that Chromecast itself does the playback.. Once you make the request to play a video, you can do whatever you want on your device - even turn it off. Your device (or another device on your network) acts as the remote control.
Personally I really like it - I can browse YouTube and add videos to the TV Queue while stuff is playing full-screen on the TV.
I can play a movie in Netflix for my family to watch while I browser other movies they might like.
If I need to leave, my wife can run the same app and connect to Chromecast so she can pause/play/change things.

wakkaday said:
how much internet do you think the player will need ? .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably no more than a few K to one MB.

thats good to know...
i will be mainly using my mac for downloaded content (so i need to install mac server) and then i need to install plex app for the chromecast right?
and for my android phone local files that will be via allcast?
whats the situation of playing local files via iphone?
and anything can be streamed across using the chrome browser...
i guess i will have to buy and experiement around and work it out, but thank you for your information

wakkaday said:
thats good to know...
i will be mainly using my mac for downloaded content (so i need to install mac server) and then i need to install plex app for the chromecast right?
and for my android phone local files that will be via allcast?
whats the situation of playing local files via iphone?
and anything can be streamed across using the chrome browser...
i guess i will have to buy and experiement around and work it out, but thank you for your information
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you do not install anything on the CCast it does that automatically to load whatever player App is required to work with your Mobile App...
Plex App will tell it to load the Plex player, aVia will tell it to load the aVia Player, Netflix tells it to load the Netflix player.
Once the player is loaded into the CCast (ie in Plex it says Plexc ready to cast) no further internet should be required to stream local content.
For local on device media I suggest BubbleUPnP or aVia but that local content needs to be compatible with CCast.

\
ah ok thats explains it. i will be getting it delivered tomorrow....
when you say local content needs to be compatible, do you think i will be ok with the following...
i will be mainly trying to play avi and mkvs movies...
i know you can rename mkv to m2ts which some players will play
is real player cloud not a good app? thats free???

wakkaday said:
\
ah ok thats explains it. i will be getting it delivered tomorrow....
when you say local content needs to be compatible, do you think i will be ok with the following...
i will be mainly trying to play avi and mkvs movies...
i know you can rename mkv to m2ts which some players will play
is real player cloud not a good app? thats free???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CCast compatible means:
Container type MP4
Video Codec H.264
Audio Codec AAC or MP3
Video Bitrate not higher than 8Mbps
4-6 is a good compromise for compatibility with many devices and network conditions

RealPlayer Cloud is okay - but if your media is not Chromecast-compatible you have to upload it to their cloud and their servers will transcode it for you via their SurePlay feature.
You get 2GB of cloud for free and can get some additional storage by completing some tasks (referrals, share).

wakkaday said:
how much internet do you think the player will need ? for a movie for example
ok thats good to know, could i play local files and continue browsing on my tablet / macbook for example....
would you reccomend getting one? or is roku streaming stick better
i believe miracast doesnt uses another technology which doesnt use data, but another way of using the internet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please download EZCast App from Google Play, it can cast local video,music,pdf,word,excel,PPT to your chromecast and show on TV.

i tried this with my chromecast
and it was quite fiddly getting files to play (i could change some files from mkv to mp4 and they played but some files the sound didnt play. however using plex server on mac and i beemed it across it played fine... however i noticed the data took a hit
i was just messing about wiht a few files video and it took around 300mb? it seems its playing over wifi...rather then locally...
am i doing something wrong

Casting uses all my home network bandwidth
I can use my Lenovo A7000-a phone to cast to a windows display. It works well. No 3rd party software is used on either the phone or my desktop. However, it consumes my entire (abysmally low - Hey! its the Philippines) 5MBps network bandwidth. No other user on the local home router can access the internet. I would have thought the casting would just be a connection across the router, is this NOT the case? How can I improve this so no other users are affected?

Video Player with Chromecast Support

Am I correct in thinking there is no video play with chromecast push support? I.e. MX Player, you are watching video on phone then you press cast button?
Not possible or just no app has done it yet?

Avia has paid ($2.99) CC support.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

There is an app called y2cast which can cast videos to the Chromecast together with an app called Moliplayer. The 1. problem of this is that everytime you turn on your TV, you have to connect y2cast with your Chromecast before you can start casting via Moliplayer and the 2. is that Moliplayer doesn't play every file format (even when you haven't connected it to the Chromecast) and is also very slow/has a lot of lag.
---------- Post added at 03:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:27 PM ----------
Does Avia play every file format and can avia cast every file format to the chromecast?

There are loads of apps now that will play media from phone to Chromecast - BubbleUPnP is my personal choice, Allcast, Localcast, Avia....there are more.
They vary in their capabilities - most can't cast videos that are not encoded in a Chromecast friendly format. BubbleUPnP can with the help of a Bubble Server installed on a PC on the local network.

neu - smurph said:
There are loads of apps now that will play media from phone to Chromecast - BubbleUPnP is my personal choice, Allcast, Localcast, Avia....there are more.
They vary in their capabilities - most can't cast videos that are not encoded in a Chromecast friendly format. BubbleUPnP can with the help of a Bubble Server installed on a PC on the local network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well then you could just cast the video in a tab via Chrome. I'd love to see a solution where an android device does that, most of the devices are probably capable of doing it.

Pete1612 said:
Well then you could just cast the video in a tab via Chrome. I'd love to see a solution where an android device does that, most of the devices are probably capable of doing it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Share the page to either vGet or Web Video Caster, and cast from there.
It's one extra step - sharing the link - but it works great for supported video formats.
vGet has more options and is a paid app. Web Video Caster just casts and is free.

EarlyMon said:
Share the page to either vGet or Web Video Caster, and cast from there.
It's one extra step - sharing the link - but it works great for supported video formats.
vGet has more options and is a paid app. Web Video Caster just casts and is free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for thus you can also use chrome for android (free from google obviously), go to chrome://flags and turn on chromecast support

Avia does NOT work on all formats. It's a bit of a hit and miss. Some work some dont
The moment everyone is waiting for is for mx player or vlc to support Chromecast !

I think that the limitions are not in the players but in the software of ccast that can play only a few format and codecs.
Do you think that, in future, ccast will be updated and so it will play other video format? Is a feature that can be implemented with a firmware upgrade?
Thanks!

davboc said:
I think that the limitions are not in the players but in the software of ccast that can play only a few format and codecs.
Do you think that, in future, ccast will be updated and so it will play other video format? Is a feature that can be implemented with a firmware upgrade?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes and Maybe....
You're right in that the CCast is limited in codec and container support.
But that is really only true if the Player app that gets loaded into CCast relies on the CCast hardware to play the files.
Android itself is almost as limited as the CCast is as far as Compatible file formats are concerned but the video players we use on Android add the support for those different codecs and container types into the APPs themselves.
The same could be done on the CCast side and BubbleUPnP seems to be the one (and Only) app that has gone the farthest in doing that.
All the others seem to just send whatever format the file is in and if it isn't CCast compatible it won't play.
What needs to happen is for someone to create an MX Player type CCast Player app that can play many Container and Codec types without the need for Transcoding. Then others could potentially use that Player App (think along the lines of a JW Player type CCast Application) when sending Media to the CCast without the worry of incompatible file and codec format.
Or Google needs to create it and add it to the CCast OS as the default player.
As of now there is no option close to that...Bubble supports more container types than others and in conjunction with the Bubble Server will transcode the ones it doesn't support.
Plex seems to transcode everything that isn't directly CCast compatible and the other Player Apps we have for Android don't deal with Compatibility at all they merely send the media to CCast and it works only if it is compatible.
Perhaps in time they will add to the CCast Player side to gain more support but Bubble is so far the only one to really focus as much on the Player side compatibility expansion and features.
Plex is working on it as well but they are less focused on Compatibility due to the fact they are able to transcode everything to whatever format they want. After they get all the transcoding perfected they might turn focus into finding ways to avoid transcoding for those who have issues due to low power servers.

Asphyx said:
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
perfect explanation! Really thank you. I hope that this device will be supported with the right software, meaning apps, in the near future.
Thanks again.

davboc said:
perfect explanation! Really thank you. I hope that this device will be supported with the right software, meaning apps, in the near future.
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem right now seems to be that every App creates their own CCast Player App (called the receiver) but the DIAL protocol really doesn't require that to happen.
If the Open Source community would create a FREE TO USE Player App for CCast that any Android (or iOS app for that matter) could have the CCast load You might see a situation where all players could use that app to play to CCast and remove the need to code a Player themselves.
The only reason to code your own player then would be if you wanted to add other features like Media Info Mirroring and if the Player was Open Source it could be used inside their custom versions as well provided there is no issue with GPL license and Commercial Use.
the CCast support has come a long way since December...
I hope by next December we see more after people figure it out better.
The holdup is Google Locking it all up with the Whitelist.
I keep looking here hoping to find a developer that has decided to work on a CCast Player side to bring full client side support that others can use.
So Far Bubble is the only one focused on that side of the coding.
In the end the CCast player should support any container, Most Codecs, Client side selectable Subtitles and Multitrack Audio with Client side selection as well.
If they could add Dolby Support (not likely given the Licensing requirements) it would set the bar for all the others.

Localcast works well for me. Even let's me access and stream movies/TV shows straight from my USB stick on my Note 2 using an otg cable.
Sent from my Sinclair ZX81.

Koush tried software decoding for H.264 video - the processor ran hot enough to destroy his Chromecast, and that was using a known and mature routine.
The MediaTek processor is very good but it has limitations.
Maybe someone will take it further and succeed. I think it's more reasonable to look for more codecs on Chromecast 2, if at all.
Btw, LocalCast now lets you use your phone for headphones for stuff you're casting.

Not doubting you here...I know the Hardware is close to being an Egg Cooker even under normal usage....
But I'm curious as to why would he software decode H.264? No need to do that as it's already supported.
I'm just wondering if he was trying to do transcode from unsupported codec to H.264 on the device.
That method I would expect to not work at all.
But by adding loadable Software codecs it should not require the same proc cycles and speed as trying to transcode as it's really just a decoding operation which is roughly half the intense of transcoding which both decodes then re-encodes.
The Tricky part would be getting the player to load codecs on an as needed basis which is where I expect it might make the approach impossible.
I'm personally less concerned with codec support as I am with Containers, Subtitles and Audio Track selection being done on the Player side.
All of my Library is already H.264 But I much prefer MKV container for keeping Subs and Multiple Audio (for Commentary) so once a player comes out that supports all of those without transcoding I'll be a very happy puppy.

I don't know but I imagine that he was simply following a standard best practice -
Comparing known quantities to map the solution space before proceeding into the unknown.
The H.264 routine (just a software codec attached to a simple player from what I recall looking at the time) made sense for that, precisely because it was a mature, known quantity that could be compared to the existing feature in hardware.
Apples to apples.

perhap he tried that since H.264 is the most hardware intensive compression compared to say On2, Cinepak or the older Indeo...
If it could software decode H.264 then it could pretty much decode everything else just fine with the exception of MPEG2 which requires specific hardware.

Asphyx said:
What needs to happen is for someone to create an MX Player type CCast Player app that can play many Container and Codec types without the need for Transcoding. Then others could potentially use that Player App (think along the lines of a JW Player type CCast Application) when sending Media to the CCast without the worry of incompatible file and codec format.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you saying if a player i.e. MX player had the cast function builtin into it then you can cast any video format that MX player supports?

ermacwins said:
Are you saying if a player i.e. MX player had the cast function builtin into it then you can cast any video format that MX player supports?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what a lot of people want.

ermacwins said:
Are you saying if a player i.e. MX player had the cast function builtin into it then you can cast any video format that MX player supports?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No not at all.....an App's (aka Transmitter) ability to cast to a CCast has little to do with it can support but what the CCast supports....Other than through the player app it tells CCast to load to receive the stream (aka the Receiver app).
Every App tells the CCast to load a player and it is that player that determines what format can be played not what the App that started the cast supports.
So even if MX Player supported CCast now...Doesn't mean at all that streaming from it to a CCast means MKV or MOV files will play on the CCast despite the fact they play in MX Player just fine.
That is unless MX Player wrote a custom player (receiver) for the CCast that supported all the formats MX Player does or MX Player added the ability to transcode any format to work with the receiver they load into the CCast.
As of today just about every app that supports more than just the standard CCast compatible media do so via Transcoding.
And thats not likely to change soon unless someone figures out a way to do it without frying the unit.
I bet it would work a lot better if the player app was run outside of the Google Sandbox the way Netflix is when it does it's own decryption.
The question is will anyone other than one of the Partners who invented the DIAL protocol ever get that type of access to the hardware?
Not without Google being fully on board....