Leverage a NAS & DLNA to serve DVD's

4451 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by jcthorne, Oct 3, 2011

IEBA

Discussion Starter · Oct 2, 2011

I have an Infrant (now Netgear) NV+ NAS that I want to leverage to easily access my library of DVD's in multiple rooms. I have DLNA set up and I can see some .tivo files I put in the Video folder on the NAS so I know the playback part is technically working.

Now I need the "source" part. I've read this forum and there are posts talking about putting all the content on the TiVo and that's _not_ what I want to do. I have a TiVo HD and a Pioneer DVD series 2 unit. Yes, I know it can play DVD's but and all the DVD's are stored elsewhere in the house and the kids routinely lose what that I want to watch. Yadda yadda yadda.

I'm not trying to conserve space, I have a ton of space. What I want to do is rip my DVD's and get the media onto the NAS as simply as possible. The only caveat is that I'm on a Mac and most software talk I read here is PC. But by what I read, it seems that keeping the MPEG-2 files from the DVD and somehow joining all the relevant segments of the main program into one MPEG file is what I'm after. Is this right?

Once I do that, saying I'm not chasing bitrate reduction as well, will the files stream over a home LAN? I have a Gigabit NAS & switch, the slowest point will be the TiVo's ethernet. I tried viewing one of my .tivo files and it played for about 10 seconds before my playback caught up to the downloading of the file and I had to wait. Ugh. Is this what I'm going to have to do with the movies? Or do I have to wait a half hour before I even start watching? If that's the case, It's not even worth the bother.

So I ask here before I've spent countless hours banging my head against the wall, to see if what I want to do is possible.

Thanks!

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jcthorne

· #2 · Oct 2, 2011

The subject of ripping dvd and bypassing DRM is not one for open forums. That said, here are a few pointers to get you what you are wanting:

DVDFAB, rip to vob, rename the vob to mpg
VideoRedo QuickstreamFix
Store the mpg file on your server

Done.

For better support of your tivo than what the DLNA server can give you, you really should check out pytivo and vidmgr. There is also a fork of pytivo that has full dvd image playback so you can have all the features and menus of your original dvd rather than just the flic if you wish.

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photonboy

· #3 · Oct 2, 2011

You want to create ISO images if possible.

I recommend you COPY this and PRINT it out for future reference. You should be able to take this information and apply it to other products (DLNA, NAS, rip DVD to ISO etc.)

One really awesome solution is the standalone Western Digital TV LIVE HUB. It has a 1TB hard internal hard drive (930GB usable) which can store roughly 130 DVD images.

These images play EXACTLY like a normal DVD. Menus are intact! There's even a feature to import a picture and description for each movie. (I just created FOLDERS for the Video section-> "Drama", "Sci-fi & Fantasy"...)

To create ISO images on a PC:
Solution #1:
DVD Decrypter

Solution #2:
Passkey Lite + Imgburn (PKL removes protection and Imgburn creates the image)

NETWORKING:
This device can connect to any DLNA certified device capable of streaming. You can stream FROM or TO another device such as a NAS.

Power modes:
1) ON, 2) Standby, 3) OFF (in STANDBY mode it is mostly off but can still be sent or send data so it can be used as a media NAS and stream to another device)

NETWORK BANDWIDTH:
1) Ethernet (wired):
Normal Cat5 ethernet is limited to 12.5MB/second. Probably just over 10MB/second in practice. That is sufficient even for BLURAY. Keep in mind you can't simply divide MOVIE SIZE/MOVIE TIME as movies vary slightly due to compression so you need maybe 30% more bandwidth than the average MB/second.

2) Ethernet Cat6:
If your ROUTER is Gigabit capable, and your ethernet cables are Cat6 you can handle up to roughly 124MB/second plenty even for future 3D 48FPS BluRay! In practice though your sending or receiving device will be a bottleneck but that will vary.

3) Wi-Fi:
Wi-Fi bandwidth varies by type (G, N), by signal strength, and by the quality of the sending and receiving units. They aren't all the same.

Personally, I got about 3MB/second from the 2nd floor to the basement but the DVD's stuttered. The ROUTER is in the basement so we ran an ETHERNET cable down to it, and the Western Digital TV Live HUB is wireless. It only needs to talk to the ROUTER which is 12 feet away so it's just fine.

*USB wi-fi adapter:
You must purchase one for this product unless you go with Ethernet. I STRONGLY encourage you to go WIRED if at all possible. Anyway, if you buy a wi-fi adapter it should:
1) be on the approved list for this product (or it won't work), and
2) be an "N" version

Sources of purchasing:
1) NCIX
2) monoprice (USA) cablesalescanada.ca (Canada)

Summary:
- just discussed the WD TV LIVE HUB as an example but it's a great product
- go WIRED completely or partially if wi-fi isn't fast enough
- to install movies to the WD HUB you should
a) create the image on PC
b) create FOLDERS on PC with Windows Explorer (WD HUB appears under "Network" (use "computer" version, not "Media")
c) can COPY from computer using network or USB hard drive
d) if using USB hard drive for multiple movie ISO images for example, have the drive contain ONLY what you want, hook up the USB drive and MOVE the movies onto it, then ORGANIZE if need be by using your PC again (Windows Explorer to rename, create folders, or move files.)
e) add movie picture and details (automated and simple)

***I added 60 of my sister's DVD's, mainly for her KIDS. They're in folders. To watch a DVD, the device is turned ON, they navigate to the Folder they want, then click on the movie. After that they use the same remote control commands (PAUSE etc) as a normal DVD.

****930 GB not enough space?
You can add a USB hard drive to the WDTV LIVE HUB. I use the 2TB WD Elements which gives a total now of 2910GB (about 400 DVD's or BluRay rips).

Yes, it can also play BluRay images if done correctly. I'm not sure about 3D.

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photonboy

· #4 · Oct 2, 2011

Purchasing:
I should clarify this:
1) USB adapters-> Newegg, NCIX etc
2) Ethernet, HDMI or other cables-> Monoprice, Cablesalescanada
3) WDTV LIVE HUB (Western Digital direct, Best Buy etc.)

*Firmware flashing warning:
Never flash using wi-fi; there have been problems. use Ethernet, or a USB stick with the new firmware copied to it.

To turn OFF:
Always turn off completely unless you need it form streaming. To turn OFF completely hold the power button until the WHITE LIGHT goes out on the device (about five seconds). If it's not vibrating or making a noise it's off.

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photonboy

· #5 · Oct 2, 2011

Update:
Western Digital has a cheaper version without a hard drive, but there are other similar devices that cost between $60 and $100 that are capable of streaming media from your DLNA device. Make sure they support DVD ISO images and anything else you want.

However the WDTV LIVE HUB which costs $200 is actually a pretty good deal if you consider the internal hard drive would cost close to $100. Also, it can act as a server and can run on its own completely.

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jcthorne

· #6 · Oct 3, 2011

photonboy,

First, he said he wanted to view the films on his Tivo. Second, he said he was using a mac.

Did you even bother to read the OPs question before rattling off a solution to a question not asked?

Quit trying to sell WD hardware, he has all the hardware he needs to play dvd iso images.

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