Free Media Streaming Software

I want to view the films on my laptop’s external hard drive on the television, but I want to stream them over the wireless network.

The television can see the Windows Media Player playlist that I have created, but it can’t see the films in it and I’m getting fed up with trying.

I just wondered if anyone has any recommendations for free software that will do what I want – or any tips as to what I might be doing wrong with WMP?

Thanks!

Are you just using your TV or do you have another media device there?

I would guess the TV doesn’t have a codec to play the files.

I use a Raspberry Pi running XBMC to play stuff to my TV from off the network. Apart from MPG it will stream everything else I’ve tried to point it at.

The TV will play the sample files that were already in WMP (Wildlife HD and Landscapes) but refuses to see my files. They are .MP4s and .VOBs. I’ll have a look at the file format of the ones it will play…

Anyone tried Serviio?

what format are the files? (edit: seen your 2nd post. Try a .avi file.)

I have a cheapy DVD player which only recognises .avi files <1Gb.

Some hardware (TV / DVD players) also only recognise a max size ‘drive’. Again, my cheapy DVD player can see the files but not play them on anything larger than a 2Gb drive.

Have you tried it without a playlist i.e. selecting the file manually?

Is the drive NTFS or FAT32? Is it externally powered? If it needs its power from the USB cable, it’s unlikely the USB port on the TV or DVD player can supply it.

Thanks mcph – will try your suggestions tonight.

Can’t even see any files to select manually – perhaps it is a size / format thing.

Another vote for a Raspberry Pi running XBMC plugged into the TV – works great streaming from a NAS

Yeah, the sample files in WMP will most likely be WMVs not MP4s or VOBs. A lot of stuff will struggle with VOBs and MP4 is a more modern format.

Certainly check you TVs documentation as I suspect that will be the issue. If you’re lucky their might be a firmware update, if not then get a Pi.

Plex is the answer! Great desktop application, which is free, and nice mobile apps