Hi everyone,
I just bought the MyBookLive last night. I have a the Sony Internet Player (NSZ-GS7) as my media player. Previously, before I bought the MyBookLive, I used XBMC on my PC to stream content to the media player. Had no issues with MKV files. I got tired of having my PC turned on just to watch movies which is why I bought the MyBookLive in the first place. I can stream content directly to the Sony internet player with the MyBookLive, but MKV files do not play. I doing some research, the new WD Media Server is supposed to stream MKV files, so I am a little perplexed. XBMC can still still MKV, and the Sony Internet Player can still receive the stream, so it is not the media player. Any ideas? Do I really need to install Twonky version 7?.. or is there a specific MKV format I need to use (yes, I know MKV is just a container, but thought I would ask)?
Thanks in advance.
According to the manual, MKV format only allows h.264 video. Manuals can be vague in this regard, but are your MKVs using only h.264 video format?
Is there any possibility that XBMC was blindly “transcoding” the files to the formats supported by the Sony?
The Twonky version installed with the MBL does stream MKV. The problems folks have with Twonky are usually due to the server not giving the “Mime Type” data to the player the way it expects. Samsung is notorious for this. Maybe Sony has some similar expectations.
If you have Twonky now, you can always load the WD DLNA server and see if it works better for you, and if not, go back to Twonky. I’m no fan of WD’s DLNA implementation – I’m stuck with it on my MBL Duo, but I use Twonky on all my other servers.
Hi Tony,
Thanks for the quick response. First, the version of MyBookLive I bought has no preinstalled Twonky. I know there is a process to install the old version of Twonky (version 5), but I have been told it has limited support for MKV. Advice?
h.264 video is the default encoding for the program I use when converting home movies (HD format) to MKV, but I might have changed it accidentally. I will check later this evening.
The Sony Internet Player supports MKV (or at least claims too… Sony claims many things that have never materialized), and I do not believe XBMC was transcoding… but I will check.
I’ll admit, I originally bought this thing to simply attach it to the Sony Internet Player via USB and then simply upload videos, pictures and what not via the network. But when I realized it could stream too, I thought that would be a better option (especially since my other TV’s are all smart TV’s (though again, much promise, little is actual value).
So here is a wired question for you. Since the box is really just Linux, do you know if XBMC or any other media server can be installed on it other than Twonky?
newtomedia wrote:
Hi Tony,
Thanks for the quick response. First, the version of MyBookLive I bought has no preinstalled Twonky. I know there is a process to install the old version of Twonky (version 5), but I have been told it has limited support for MKV. Advice?
If your MBL didn’t include Twonky out-of-the box (it’d be version 5.1.9) then you can’t install it using WD’s patch without some work I won’t go into (you can search to find the “Trick” – it involves forcing a firmware downgrade.)
Yes, most certainly, other servers CAN be installed directly on the MBL. A lot of folks sprung for a valid licensed Twonky 7 and installed that, I’m not sure if anyone has ever done XBMC (but I wouldn’t be surprised.).
You’ll have to weigh the pros/cons of voiding your warranty (since making system modifications can void it) and go from there.
