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Alternative to Twonky for Horizon TV

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  • 21-06-2014 9:58am
    #1
    qvsr46ofgc792k
    Closed Accounts Posts: 676 ✭✭✭


    I have been using Twonky to watch movies on my Horizon TV since I got it and I am 50% satisfied with it. Reason being half the time it just crashes during viewing. And when it comes to pause, rewind fast forward, well its just pot luck if it doesn't crash.

    So do I have any other options?

    I have searched boards and the net for a solution to no avail. Some 'answers' are extremely technical and go way over my head. In the simplest terms, I have a folder on my computer that I drag and drop the files which I then want to watch on my tv, looking for the same dimple feature, just not with Twonky.


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    #2
    Five Lamps
    Closed Accounts Posts: 687 ✭✭✭Five Lamps


    If you have XBMC, Horizon can see your movies and music.


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    #3
    qvsr46ofgc792k
    Closed Accounts Posts: 676 ✭✭✭qvsr46ofgc792k


    Five Lamps wrote: »
    If you have XBMC, Horizon can see your movies and music.

    Thanks for your reply. How do you set that up?


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    #4
    Five Lamps
    Closed Accounts Posts: 687 ✭✭✭Five Lamps


    Ben Loose Cabinetmaker wrote: »
    Thanks for your reply. How do you set that up?

    You would need to have XBMC (open source media player) set up on another machine on your network. For example I have a raspberry Pi with XNMC running on it and my media on a NAS. As it happens. I can play the content directly onto the TV via the PI as a separate HDMI input. However, the Horizon box can also see it and it appears alongside Twonky in that menu area.


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    #5
    qvsr46ofgc792k
    Closed Accounts Posts: 676 ✭✭✭qvsr46ofgc792k


    Five Lamps wrote: »
    You would need to have XBMC (open source media player) set up on another machine on your network. For example I have a raspberry Pi with XNMC running on it and my media on a NAS. As it happens. I can play the content directly onto the TV via the PI as a separate HDMI input. However, the Horizon box can also see it and it appears alongside Twonky in that menu area.

    And would my PC be an adequate machine?


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    #6
    Wabbit Ears
    Registered Users Posts: 3,043 ✭✭✭Wabbit Ears


    Just use windows media player sharing, Its by far the easiest and simplest option


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    #7
    Dravokivich
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,360 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    Ben Loose Cabinetmaker wrote: »
    And would my PC be an adequate machine?

    We don't know anything about your PC. Have you looked into what caused Twonky to crash on you?

    I've used Serviio to make my media available through out my network at home and works grand with the Horizon box from UPC. Serviio even does transcoding (converts video files, if the device is unable to use it), which I'm not sure if XBMC does.

    There's only one problem with XBMC, and that is you need to keep the client open on your PC. Software such as Twonky and Serviio install as services on your PC, so can run in the background.

    This'll be the guide for using XBMC,
    http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=UPnP/Server

    I have it myself, but I don't use it in this manner to share my media. I use network shares/MySQL to share with other XBMC clients, which won't work with your Horizon box.

    The other popular options would be Universal Media Server and Playstation3 Media Server. Don't be put off by the name of the second one, they are both basically the same software and work the same way. I found'em to be slow to connect myself. So didn't really use'em much.


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    #8
    Wabbit Ears
    Registered Users Posts: 3,043 ✭✭✭Wabbit Ears


    the xbmc solution was a silly suggestion for this persons problem


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    #9
    qvsr46ofgc792k
    Closed Accounts Posts: 676 ✭✭✭qvsr46ofgc792k


    Wabbit Ears wrote: »
    Just use windows media player sharing, Its by far the easiest and simplest option

    I'm actually no closer to the solution then when I originally asked.

    Could you explain to me how use windows media player?


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    #10
    Dravokivich
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,360 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    Ben Loose Cabinetmaker wrote: »
    I'm actually no closer to the solution then when I originally asked.

    Could you explain to me how use windows media player?

    I gave you another 3 options in my earlier response. What's the difficulty you were having with them?

    All you need to do is install and select the directory/directories your media is in, along with what type of media is in it.


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    #11
    qvsr46ofgc792k
    Closed Accounts Posts: 676 ✭✭✭qvsr46ofgc792k


    Dravokivich wrote: »
    I gave you another 3 options in my earlier response. What's the difficulty you were having with them?

    All you need to do is install and select the directory/directories your media is in, along with what type of media is in it.

    Thanks for your reply.

    My difficulty is that I dont know how to get my Horizon box to recognise/ find my computer and/or xbmc, serviio etc...


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    #12
    Dravokivich
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,360 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    Ben Loose Cabinetmaker wrote: »
    Thanks for your reply.

    My difficulty is that I dont know how to get my Horizon box to recognise/ find my computer and/or xbmc, serviio etc...

    Ah,

    Select the menu button on your remote

    Scroll left to "My Library"

    There should be an option in there that'll allow you to view your media server. Can't remember which one it is off hand.

    The Horizon box is a shambles for navigation.


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    #13
    qvsr46ofgc792k
    Closed Accounts Posts: 676 ✭✭✭qvsr46ofgc792k


    Dravokivich wrote: »
    Ah,

    Select the menu button on your remote

    Scroll left to "My Library"

    There should be an option in there that'll allow you to view your media server. Can't remember which one it is off hand.

    The Horizon box is a shambles for navigation.

    There is a 'My Home network' folder which tells me to create one in settings.

    However when I try to it only gives me options for connecting with an ethernet cable or other wifi's in my area, not my own. I really don't know how to get it to recognise my PC.


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    #14
    Dravokivich
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,360 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    Sounds odd. I'll check over the navigation / configs on mine when I get home later. Might be able to guide through what you need to look at.


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    #15
    Wabbit Ears
    Registered Users Posts: 3,043 ✭✭✭Wabbit Ears


    It will find your DLNA/UPNP servers automatically and you can view what the box can see in My Library>My Devices

    Note however that on windows machines the built in windows firewall can block access from unknown devices. Id suggest turning off windows firewall and seeing if your box can see the DLNA server. If it can re-enable the firewall and tell it to allow the horizon box to see your shared content.


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    #16
    qvsr46ofgc792k
    Closed Accounts Posts: 676 ✭✭✭qvsr46ofgc792k


    Dravokivich wrote: »
    Sounds odd. I'll check over the navigation / configs on mine when I get home later. Might be able to guide through what you need to look at.

    Cheers!


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    #17
    qvsr46ofgc792k
    Closed Accounts Posts: 676 ✭✭✭qvsr46ofgc792k


    Wabbit Ears wrote: »
    It will find your DLNA/UPNP servers automatically and you can view what the box can see in My Library>My Devices

    Note however that on windows machines the built in windows firewall can block access from unknown devices. Id suggest turning off windows firewall and seeing if your box can see the DLNA server. If it can re-enable the firewall and tell it to allow the horizon box to see your shared content.

    Thanks for your reply.

    I don't know what you mean by DLNA/UPNP and I do not have firewall turned on?


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    #18
    Wabbit Ears
    Registered Users Posts: 3,043 ✭✭✭Wabbit Ears


    theyre basically the same thing and Twonkey is a DLNA/UPNP server.


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    #19
    Dravokivich
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,360 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    Its just the name of the technology for sharing media through a network. You'll see some devices listed as dlna compatable, means they can act as clients to a host, such as twonky.

    The navigation is as wabbit ears said above.

    So it may be an issue with setup on your pc, or software not running.

    If you use an android or iOS phone/tablet an app called skifta is free to download as a client. Using that to see if you can/cant connect will help determine if there's an issue with configuring the server side of things.

    Also to note, sometimes they've a console/control panel where you need to start the service as well.


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