Good app for MPW use: MediaPlay

WD External Drives My Passport Wireless
1

Someone asked about other apps to use to access MPW.  See this thread for a good app to use with the MPW and other devices while using home network.

MediaPlay (aka Twonky Beam. . . revisited)

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming/MediaPlay-aka-Twonky-Beam-revisited/td-p/811591

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I found the Media Player - PlayerXtreme HD that seem to work very well, but to unlock WiFi to be able to connect to the MPW you need to do an in-app purchase for about $3 (not sure as I only have it in my currency)

But ofc it doesn’t play DRM movies. Haven’t found out how to yet…

3

Yes, I have installed PlayerExtreme, too, but not used it much, nor paid to unlock it all.   A major diff between it and MediaPlay, is that MediaPlay (is free) and sees media SERVERS, and this one sees both servers and network SHARES.  There are not too many player apps that can see both, and this attribute could make PlayerExtreme real handy and unique, so I may just pop the $3 to open the app completely. 

The MPW is a unique device – it is both a server and a share.   I have another iOS app called FIleBrowser that only sees shares; it can play media and even send it on to a Chromecast for playing.  Anyway, one needs players that see both , servers and shares or one player that can see and play from both servers and shares.

One thing I dislike about PlayerExt, is the GUI which has tiny fonts that are light grey on a lot of white backgroud, thus making it very difficult to see its screen display versus other player apps.

4

Xtreme :wink:

Yea, seems hard to find an app that has it all, and yes I have Filebrowser as well and FileApp and a few more… :-/

Hmmm, in my PayerXtreme the text is darkgray on lightgray, very nice and readable to me…

5

OK, Since the free version could not do much, I popped the $3 to upgrade the PlayerXtreme today so I could access my servers and shares; incl. the MPW.  Guess what:  even though it shows servers and shares, it can only access the servers!  Get an error msg each time I try to access any shared device.  Not happy about this!  More testing to do, but at this point I wish I had saved my money, and may even end up asking for a refund!  (Yea, good luck on that!)

The My Cloud app is a real nice app for the MPW; it has a great video player that can handle my most demanding mp4 . (The My Cloud app still has issues playing music files; use something else (e.g. FileBrowser or MediaPlay instead).

More feedback later.

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Strange, for me it works with no warnings, both to my MPW and WD My Cloud drive and a Drobo 5N network NAS.

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So, for you, PX plays from BOTH servers and shared drives, right?  Nothing wrong with my network, since lots of other similar apps work fine.

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If you with servers means NAS so yes.

Forgot, you have to manully add it by the “+” sign and coose FTP and then fill out the blanks.

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I do not have a NAS running everything, but I do have lots of individual server devices and network share devices that my PCs, WDTV and mobile devices can access, and they are: 

My Media Servers:   PCs, wireless drives (MPW and Seagate)  and Pogoplug w/drives, (Seagate device is only a server.)

My Network Shares:  Drives on multiple WDTVs and PCs are shares.  The MPW is also a share device; so is a PC.

Windows differentiates between servers and shares in how it presents the device name:  Shares are in all CAPS, and servers are in mixed case.  So, if a device happens to be both, they appear twice when looking at the network devices on the PC. or say, WDTV or Player Ext.  Example:  the MPW as a share shows as MYPASSPORT , and as a server in mixed case; as MyPassport…

So, back to the problem w/PlayerExt:  It can play from devices shown on it’s laundry list menu in mixed case (server) but NOT from those shown in all CAPs (shares). So, I can play from MyPassport, but not MYPASSPORT.

So, my gripe about PlayerExt is WHY does it display network shares if it cannot play from them?!  I only have one other app that displays both servers and shares – and it can play from them ALL.  (The app is VLCStreamer; it’s cool, but when it runs, my PC’s CPU runs real HOT, so don’t use it much – unless I ever want to watch a DVD running in my PC on my tablet – the app can do it!

And, BTW, FTP has nothing to do with any of this. 

So, please tell me, are you using PlayerExt to play from devices shown in mixed case, or all CAPs – or BOTH?

My guess is you will say mixed case only.  Thanks.

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Hmmm, I use Mac computers only so i’m not sure about all things you mean but names are mixed case for the servers (NAS) etc I’m not sure but I think it’s the same name case as both in server and share, will check when back home.

I’n not very good about ftp, SMB etc as my main Mac always set up everything automaticly, like plug a’ Play, so it works just after doing as the manual for the device says, so to say :slight_smile:

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This is how it looks at my computer, Units are all directly attached one way or another and will ofc not show up remotly if not manually shared, Shared are network (wired) or WiFi connected like NAS , MPW and such.

Units and Shared name-case.jpg

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Thanks for the feedback.  I really can’t make much sense of the Mac screen like I can the Win7 screen.  No matter, I will email the developer, and if he can’t help explain things, then I will just ask for a refund and be done with this.  But, not until after a week or so – leaving for San Francisco in the morning, so not much time spent on the forums for a week, either. 

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Sorry I canät help out more but I’m a semipower user, not an IT technician.

Have a nice time in San Fran…

14

Thanks again.  I am not an IT tech either, but do have a background in electonic repairs from a past life.

I will leave the MPW on home network, and will be accessing it from SF  – the darn thing better work for me while I am there!  I am bringing my Seagate wireless drive for airplane use, and as a backup.

Later.