Streaming movies from linkstation live to laptop

[llamazoo]

   

Hi, I hope someone can help me. I've spent hours searching the forums and the web, and have not found any solutions, and have just got myself even more confused. I may be having a blonde moment, but I actually thought this product was suitable for people who are not technical geniuses!

 

Ok, firstly my network is as follows:

 

Linkstation live LS-CH1.0TL-V2, Firmware 1.10
Acer aspire laptop running windows vista home premium

us robotics wireless maxg adsl gateway router

 

I'm having trouble watching movies on my laptop that are stored on the linkstation, in the share folder. I'm using VLC media player. The movies play ok for a few minutes and then they start to break up or stick, and skip bits. I've tried stopping the bittorrent manager in case the linkstation is trying to do too much at once, but it makes no difference. I have as few things running as possible.

 

I searched the forums and found some mention of twonky, which seems like it might be relevant, but there's no mention of it in the manual. In web admin, when I click on 'help' I get directed to a page giving help for the terastation! I followed the suggested IP address in the forum posts for configuring twonky but couldnt understand any of the options, and just started feeling technophobic again!. In webadmin, I went to the media server option, and it is enabled, but under "authorized dlna media clients" there is nothing. Should I be adding my laptop as a media client? There isn't even a section for the media server in the manual either!

 

Its kind of funny really, I was just reading the description for the linkstation on the buffalo website:

 

"Dependable, near-silent and easy to install. ..... Stream your favorite music and videos directly from the LinkStation Live to a PC..... ....The friendly LinkStation Live makes sharing simple." 

 

Hmm. It has been anything but simple. I have already resolved several issues that tech support were unable to help me with (they blamed it on my wireless network card), but i eventually found answers on this forum, involving "simple" things like "jumbo packets".

 

Also the ruddy thing keeps dropping from the network, it won't shut down, even when I put the switch on the back into the off position (I have to pull the power cord to make it shut down, although it does switch off ok in auto mode), webadmin is so slow that sometimes it times out before I can get anything done (I could go make a cup of tea while each page loads), and the bittorrent manager settings are never saved from one session to the next, so I have to keep reinputting them every time I start the thing. So if anybody has any ideas about these issues while we're at it, would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance from a not very happy bunny.

 

[PCPiranha]

First, I would update the firmware to the latest version (1.21)

 

As far as the streaming, try it from a hardwired connection with the wireless disabled.

 

[llamazoo]

   

Hi, thanks for your reply.

 

I did check the firmware, but was concerned by the warning that it could invalidate the warranty if used with the wrong linkstation models. Could you just confirm that its fine with the model that I have please?

 

Also, will doing a firmware upgrade delete all the data that I currently have stored on there?

 

Cheers.

[PCPiranha]

No, a FW update will not delete your data.  As long as you bought the unit in the US upgrading to 1.21 will not void your warranty

[llamazoo]

   

Umm, I ordered it from amazon.uk, it was dispatched by Amazon.EU and I live in Spain. So no, it wasn't bought in the US! Is it still ok to do the firmware upgrade?

[PCPiranha]

You would want to check with your local support first.