WD My Cloud Home and Roku - How can I share a Folder so that the Roku Media Player can see it?

HI

I am really struggling. I moved from a WD Cloud to a WD My Cloud Home. I have a Roku player. But, I cannot see the folder with the media in on the Roku Media Player. They are on the same LAN, and, shouldn’t be a problem?

Any help will be great!

The Roku cannot see the My Cloud Home today.

SHORT LIST:

  • configure and enable Plex on the My Cloud Home
  • Copy and Paste the media content into the correct Plex Folder
  • Install the Plex App on the Roku

https://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=18937&s=

Are you using the Roku Media Player app/channel to access the Home?

Hi. Thanks for replying. Yes using the Roku Media Player App

Since the Home is NOT a NAS, I am not sure this could even work. The reply from WD Support says you need to use Plex to play the media.

when is a NAS not a NAS ?
the MCH is definitely a network attached storage device

It is not a NAS if WD does not say it is a NAS . You need to read WD description of the Home – it is a network attached drive, and that is not the same as a NAS. Many NAS features are not part of the Home’s feature set. Your My Cloud was a NAS and the Home is not an “upgrade” of the My Cloud NAS; it is a completely different product.

Many original purchasers held this misconception, and were very disappointed in the product and were very vocal about it in the early forum messages for the device.

The Roku Media Player app requires a DLNA Media Server.
You can enable in Plex by following the KBA listed below.
I suggest using the Plex App on the Roku instead of the Roku Media Player App.

1 Like

A good solution by SBrown WDStaff,posted above, although there are some issues in that you need to have the Plex server in your Home functional, and you need to install the Plex app (aka channel) installed on the Roku so Roku can access the Plex server of your Home.

Also, your movies must be in mp4 type of files. Many people who had the previous My Cloud basic NAS store their movies in ISO or MKV files. Plex cannot play ISO files and I am pretty sure MKV files cannot be played either. This could be a big gotcha for folks whose movie collection is not compatible with Roku and Plex, and why I do not play my movie collection this way.

What is needed is a more versatile player that can handle all types of movie files, and is why I use a (now, discontinued) WDTV media player.that can play all types.

But when I needed another player for an additional TV, I ended up getting an Amazon Fire TV stick and added the media player app on it from Amazon app store called MrMC which like the WDTV, can play all the movie file types. Not as easy or elegant as the WDTV, but it does manage to play any movie I throw at it.

Good luck with either of these options. I recommend you try the first option initially, but if it will not be suitable, then give the second option a go,

Hi. For those reading this thread. For WD MyCloud Home indeed it does not work with the native Roku Media Player like the old My Cloud NAS did. But as mentioned, you can install the PLEX app from the Roku store AND install the PLEX ‘Do More’ skill on the My Cloud Home mobile app to enable PLEX on the ROKU to talk to your My Cloud Home.

You WILL have to move your movies to the Plex folder on your My Cloud Home to enable this once you add the PLEX ‘Do More’ skill.

PLEX was able to read ALL of my movie formats include M4V, AVI, MP4, MKV on my ROKU so the app must have been updated since Mike27oct’s comment.

Definitely not as plug and play as using a NAS and ROKU Media Player but much more elegant of a solution once installed with movie synopsis, recommendations, DVD art, actor info, etc.

Time