Options for viewing Foxsat HD recordings via PC ?

DaveReading

Established Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2021
Messages
56
Reaction score
6
Points
44
Age
71
Location
Reading, UK
I'm working my way through a backlog of stuff I've recorded over the years, now I have more time to spare. The TV is in use most of the time, so I've been using VLC on my laptop instead.

Having had buffering problems with Mediatomb on the Humax, I tried TwonkyMedia 4 and that runs fine for playing SD recordings.

HD recordings, however, are a different matter - while the earlier ones predate the custom firmware and HD patch, so I can't watch them anyway, the recent unencrypted ones play OK, but suffer from artifacts. I suspect that's a bandwidth issue - I can't get an Ethernet cable to my box, so it uses a cheap and cheerful 2.4 GHz wifi dongle to talk to my network.

So plan B was to use sneakernet - copying any HD recording I wanted to watch to a USB stick and then plugging that into the laptop. The copy works fine - having used EaseUS to format the stick as ext3, the Foxsat will happily read and write to it, and play files from the USB stick.

But I can't find any utilities that currently support ext3 under Windows 10, as those that used to work seem to be broken by recent W10 updates. EaseUS can see the ext3 partition, and it will even list the files that I've copied onto it, but I can't get the drive mounted under Windows using either Ext2FSD or DiskInternals Linux Reader.

So, not so much a Foxsat issue as a Windows/Linux compatibility issue - has anyone found a W10/ext3 driver that still works with the latest Windows updates?
 
I connect my Foxsat-HDR to Router network switch using a pair of these


I stream HD recordings to a G2 - Humax -HDR-1000s and copy to a PC using Twonky Media 4 on the Foxsat and Filezilla on the PC,.
 

Attachments

  • Filezilla Foxsat Settings.jpg
    Filezilla Foxsat Settings.jpg
    86.3 KB · Views: 131
Artefacts? Exactly what artefacts?
Maybe that's normal for the H264 encoded recording (have you watched same file/part on the TV)?

As you can stream the recording why are you copying via a USB stick? Use samba or FTP to do that direct to the laptop to eliminate streaming as the issue.

IF it's a data transfer rate issue then I'd suggest a better solution to networking the Foxsat that the current dongle:

Ideally running a wire to/from a switch or the router-modem; or using a wired connection to a wifi mesh node?

I've had very variable results with PowerLine ethernet plugs, but if the Foxsat and router-modem are on the same ring main then consider those, too. (I use one to feed a PVR and TV in my upstairs bedroom from the airing cupboard on the same ring. It wouldn't work reliably or at any speed from the downstairs study where the router is and a network cable goes from there, via the garage, to the airing cupboard.)
 
Thanks for the tips, particularly re Filezilla/FTP.

I'll take a look at Powerline plugs too, or maybe try to negotiate with the boss for a wired connection. :)
 
odd question, i added the mediatomb to my one recently, i can see other dlna devices like my nas but i can't see the humax box, do i need to make sure something is on? or have certain packages? i'm on a foxsat hdr with 1TB storage
 
odd question, i added the mediatomb to my one recently, i can see other dlna devices like my nas but i can't see the humax box, do i need to make sure something is on? or have certain packages? i'm on a foxsat hdr with 1TB storage

If you are trying to play back media stored on your NAS the Foxsat can't playback mediia files without the required sidecar files.


You can copy HD recordings made on the Foxsat recorded after Nowsters patch is installed. Direct to a PC and then to your nas. The .ts files should playback OK.

If you have a G2 Freesat box you can view the Foxsat-HDR recordings as the G2 boxes have a dlna client. You need the convert files package to get the main audio track.
 
oh sorryi think i was misunderstood, i thought i could view the files saved onthe humax foxsat hdr with a windows pc dlna client. humax dlna server<---> windows pc, i can browse the website of it, and ftp etc, its just dlna not working, or is it not supposed to be viewed direct from the humax?
 
oh sorryi think i was misunderstood, i thought i could view the files saved onthe humax foxsat hdr with a windows pc dlna client. humax dlna server<---> windows pc, i can browse the website of it, and ftp etc, its just dlna not working, or is it not supposed to be viewed direct from the humax?

I can view HD recordings made after Foxsters patch on my laptop; Using VLC Player UPnp options
 

Attachments

  • VLC Universal Plug and Play.jpg
    VLC Universal Plug and Play.jpg
    47.3 KB · Views: 116
Foxsat-HDR All videos
 

Attachments

  • Foxsat-HDR Allvideos.jpg
    Foxsat-HDR Allvideos.jpg
    316.7 KB · Views: 118
reviving a dead thread after i found my username and password, i did try all this in the past and vlc just won't see anything, the website loads for media tomb on port 49152 - i think something on the wifi linking it all is blocking the traffic
 
I've had more success with TwonkyVision than with Mediatomb.

There's probably a more elegant way to do this, but when I want to watch a Humax recording on my laptop, I point my browser at http://192.168.xxx.yyy:9000/webbrowse/O96$1632, then copy the link for the desired recording and paste it into the Open Network Stream (Ctrl/N) dialog in VLC.
 
it is odd because vlc on android works with it all, it's just windows vlc that is a pita
 
windows media player on the same pc can find it also, i uninstalled vlc and all settings then reinstalled, it just can't find any upnp despite everything else on networking picking up servers, im blaming some stupid vlc setting right now whatever it might be haha
 
so i thought, lets check vlc buglists, and i saw a weird one about upnp always empty when on wifi... yes thats it so i enabled ipv6 which is pointless in my network but it resolved it... what a stupid bug
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom