Can Sage recordings be streamed to Android?

[dinki]

Hey guys. Sorry if the solution to my question is obvious but I'm having a hard time finding something that will work.

I'm wanting to stream my sagetv recordings to my android tablet (it's actually a Nook Color running Cyanogenmod 7) while at home on my LAN and away from home.

I saw the tasagetv app but it appears it would only work while at home. I did try and get it to stream but could not. It did see my server but I could not get it to stream any of the recordings. I would also prefer a free solution if possible.

I know that the sagetv mobile webserver does stream to iphone/ipads but from reading the thread it appears that it does not work with android.

I know that the standard web server does allow for streaming in multiple formats. I've tried many of them but they don't open in the media player I'm trying. Is there a media player on Android that will work on any of the streaming options in the regular web server?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by dinki

Hey guys. Sorry if the solution to my question is obvious but I'm having a hard time finding something that will work.

I'm wanting to stream my sagetv recordings to my android tablet (it's actually a Nook Color running Cyanogenmod 7) while at home on my LAN and away from home.

I saw the tasagetv app but it appears it would only work while at home. I did try and get it to stream but could not. It did see my server but I could not get it to stream any of the recordings. I would also prefer a free solution if possible.

I know that the sagetv mobile webserver does stream to iphone/ipads but from reading the thread it appears that it does not work with android.

I know that the standard web server does allow for streaming in multiple formats. I've tried many of them but they don't open in the media player I'm trying. Is there a media player on Android that will work on any of the streaming options in the regular web server?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Use subsonic.

[will]

Not the cheapest but you could use a Slingbox hooked up to a client/HDx00.

Not cheap but they work great and support mobile devices.

[cenwesi]

or you can download Plex and use that too.

[will]

Originally Posted by cenwesi

or you can download Plex and use that too.

Correct me if I am wrong but Plex would just stream the video files you wouldn't get STV interface or have the ability to track watched status?

Is Plex similar to Airvideo for the iPad/iPhone?

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by will

Correct me if I am wrong but Plex would just stream the video files you wouldn't get STV interface or have the ability to track watched status?

Plex and similar software basically runs a server on the PC to create the stream, and the Android app connects to it for the streaming. They have nothing to do with SageTV, so typically you will get a file browser with no metadata or anything, and pick up a file to stream...

There are also a bunch of Android apps using VLC, like VLC Stream and Convert...

[mayamaniac]

The only way to get the SageTV UI on your Android or iOS device is through Splashtop, and you need decent bandwidth to use Splashtop as the lowest resolution it can stream is 800x600. I'm pretty sure 3G speed is not fast enough, good 4G speed is needed. It works great over WiFi though, especially over LAN network.

[dinki]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

There are also a bunch of Android apps using VLC, like VLC Stream and Convert...

Right, I've seen those in the app store and have tried to use them. I just found an alpha vlc player that apparently just came out a few days ago. The problem comes in in that I'm trying to access files outside of my tablet device (ie not on the sd card but on a network share) so I can't open the files from within the application.

I'm using ES File Explorer to connect to a network share and I'd like to open a file from that share using VLC. The problem is VLC isn't listed as a choice in the 'Complete action using' dialog box where you can pick an application to use. Is there any other way to have VLC open a network share?

In full disclosure, I just got this tablet a few days ago and before that I'd never used android so it might be something obvious.

[Fonceur]

Typically you would be connecting to a server on your network (i.e. VLC would be listening to incoming calls), not accessing the network share from Android itself to launch a video from it...

[dinki]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

Typically you would be connecting to a server on your network (i.e. VLC would be listening to incoming calls), not accessing the network share from Android itself to launch a video from it...

Thank you for the information.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this as I use VLC on my PC to access network drives and stream things from those drives to my PC. I'm really not understanding why this option is not available to me on my tablet.

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by dinki

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this as I use VLC on my PC to access network drives and stream things from those drives to my PC. I'm really not understanding why this option is not available to me on my tablet.

Have you installed any of the Android VLC app and followed their instructions?

[dinki]

Which one should I choose? I'm guessing that VLC direct is the best option. I looked at it and it does seem to be pretty straightforward but it's not really what I'm looking for at all as it seems you have to coordinate between the PC and the tablet. You have to select the file you want on the pc, enable the web interface and then start the VLC direct program on the tablet, discover the stream and then enjoy. My PC is in a different part of the house from where I normally am. I know that I can VNC in and do this all remotely but it just feels like an extra unnecessary step.

Moboplayer allows me to view some of my avis/mp4s just fine but not others. I do not have to do anything on the PC side to be able to watch these. What I'm really getting at is that VLC is my viewer of choice on the pc and I'd like to use it on the tablet but I am wanting the same functionality that the pc viewer version has and it appears that that isn't yet an option on android.

Further, it would be great if I could use the standard sagetv webserver's streaming links and feed them to the vlc player on the tablet but for whatever reason I cannot select the VLC player as an option for opening the pls/m3u/wvx .

[SteveD]

Playon is the easiest way to stream to android;however there will be no metadata

[dinki]

Originally Posted by SteveD

Playon is the easiest way to stream to android;however there will be no metadata

Hadn't thought about that and I do have Playon installed even though I stop using it when I cancelled netflix. Will give it a try. Thanks ...

Still kind of blows my mind at how 'hard' this is to accomplish ... Hopefully this pans out.

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by dinki

Still kind of blows my mind at how 'hard' this is to accomplish ...

Indeed, streaming on Android devices is a pain. At least on iPhone/iPad there is the HTTP Live Streaming protocol. While there is some partial supports for it since Android 2.3, getting it to work is like voodoo...

Google did acquire some streaming company last year, but nothing seems to have come out of it.

[OferL]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

Google did acquire some streaming company last year, but nothing seems to have come out of it.

Remember Google also acquired sage... nothing here also...

But this is an interesting subject. I'd love to see the sage interface or some form of client for android.

[KeithAbbott]

Originally Posted by OferL

But this is an interesting subject. I'd love to see the sage interface or some form of client for android.

What would be awesome is if Boxee had a software version for Android. SageTV for Boxee running on an Android tablet would be way cool...

[akenis]

I had great luck running the mobile vlc app on the local lan. You can view server files and then select the target for viewing. You can add the web inerface option to the Windows startup group. Need to play around more to see if I can get it to work over internet.

Is playon the same kind of app as VLC client/server?

[dinki]

Originally Posted by akenis

I had great luck running the mobile vlc app on the local lan. You can view server files and then select the target for viewing. You can add the web inerface option to the Windows startup group. Need to play around more to see if I can get it to work over internet.

Is playon the same kind of app as VLC client/server?

Can you tell me what VLC app you are using on your android? Are you saying you just had to start the web interface on the windows side and you were able to browse/select files from viewing all via the tablet? This is pretty much exactly what I want to do minus the web interface thing but I can live with that.

Did you follow a guide or were there instructions with the android app? The ones I've seen were starting the media playing on the pc then connecting and streaming on the tablet/phone. Browsing is essential for me.

[akenis]

Exactly. The app is in the market, VLC Direct. It comes with easy instructions, step by step... and even a youtube video demo. I just have the free version that I guess will stop playing after a while. So it works like this:

Install VLC on server
2 clicks on VLC server to start "web inter phase"
Install VLC direct on droid
... play over your home network. Not sure yet how to configure over internet.

On VLC direct (droid) you can browse all the files on the server and then choose a target (your tablet or the server). So it can be used as a remote for VLC also.

He also shows a command line switch for the VLC server so it starts with the web inter phase. Then you can add that to windows startup, so it's always running.

Lemme know if you can figure out how the bookmarks work. You should be able to default to your recordings directory somehow.