Author Topic: Buffalo Pro Duo and videostreaming to PS3  (Read 8253 times)

mikehammer

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Buffalo Pro Duo and videostreaming to PS3
« on: September 21, 2008, 06:31:59 AM »
   

I recently purchased a pro duo 1TB. When turning on the Mediaserver functionlity I am able to connect my DLNA compatible devices (Linksys DSM-320, Archos 605 and Sony Playstation3). I can stream pictures, music and videos to the Archos and Linksys but I have problems streaming videos to my PS3. Every Divx video I try to open on my PS3 gets rejected and the PS3 says 'cannot open mediatype'. The same Divx video file I can copy to my PS3 and it plays fine . It also plays on my PS3 via another mediaserver (Tversity on my PC) without transcoding. The PS3 plays my streamed music and pictures from the Buffalo.

 

Anyone can help or explain?

 

Thanks in advance


GregAlt

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Re: Buffalo Pro Duo and videostreaming to PS3
« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2008, 06:47:50 PM »
   

I have a Linkstation Mini, but I imagine you are having the same problem I had.  In July, I think, Sony upgraded the PS3 firmware to 2.41, which changed the DLNA client ID from "Playstation3" to "Playstation 3" (with a space).  This means that for a DLNA server to talk to support the full range of video formats recognized by the PS3, the DLNA server needs to be updated to recognize the new client ID.  Unfortunately, without a firmware update from Buffalo, this is not easy.

 

Here is a thread that gives more background on the issue:

http://www.twonkyforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=5307

 

I was able to get my linkstation mini to stream videos to my PS3, but it was quite an involved, technical process, using third-party tools and probably voiding my warranty.  Also, there was the very real risk of losing all my data and possibly destroying the linkstation, so be warned.  I can't give a full walkthrough, but I can give you all the pieces you need to know if you are daring and have some familiarity with linux.

 

First, I used acp_commander to telnet to the linkstation.  

 

I found the twonky resources directory on the linkstation (I logged in as root and use ls and cd to get to the directory) and found a file called client.db.  I made a backup copy of this file and then used vi to edit it.  I scrolled down to "Playstation3" and inserted a space.  Then I saved the file and exited.

 

Next, I found the client.data file - this has some kind of cached client data.  I renamed it to a backup file, to force the linkstation to rerecognize the PS3.

 

Then I logged out, turned off both the PS3 and the linkstation, and then turned them both back on.  I think I had to go to the web configuration page for the linkstation and tell it to allow the PS3 or something, and made the PS3 search again.

 

After all that, I could stream divx movies from the linkstation to the PS3.

 

As I said, this is not a full walkthrough.  I trust that if you are technically capable enough to judge your risk and figure out the rest, you should be able to find acp_commander, read help files to figure out how to telnet into the linkstation using it, and figure out how to edit files in linux with vi.  And of course, there is the very real possibility that a mistake will make the linkstation inoperable. 


mikehammer

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Re: Buffalo Pro Duo and videostreaming to PS3
« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2008, 07:37:00 PM »
   

GregAlt - Thanks, your comments help a lot. I did some Unix V3 15 years ago and remember vi and how much I fought with it. Maybe I give it a try after a while and hopefully Buffalo will come up with a firmware release in the meantime. I would imagine that due to this change from Sony most if not all Linkstation products using Twonky are having the same issue.

 

thanks again


mikehammer

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Re: Buffalo Pro Duo and videostreaming to PS3
« Reply #3 on: September 24, 2008, 08:12:56 AM »
   couldn't wait and followed your instructions last night. Worked like a charm as long as one knows what he/she is doing. I agree with GregAlt, without Unix/Linux basics I would not recommend to anyone touching vi or ls.

GregAlt

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Re: Buffalo Pro Duo and videostreaming to PS3
« Reply #4 on: September 24, 2008, 11:38:03 AM »
   

Glad to hear it worked!  Kinda crazy that Buffalo just needs to do a 1 character firmware change to fix the problem.  Hopefully they're on top of it and it's just working its way through testing and other bureaucracy before they publicly release it. 

 

Once I got it working, using the PS3 and linkstation together is very slick.  I didn't have high hopes of the DLNA server working when I bought the linkstation, as I just wanted to use it for an easy way to get my photos from my camera to something less vulnerable than my laptop.  But now that I have video streaming working, I'm half tempted to rip all my DVDs to the linkstation - the PS3 interface and remote is nice.


gcouncil

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Re: Buffalo Pro Duo and videostreaming to PS3
« Reply #5 on: November 07, 2008, 01:01:41 PM »
   

Does anyone have a copy of ACP Commander? The nas-central site where I believe it is available has been down for 2 days...