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[thehawk75]

Does the UPnP feature on this device truly work?

I seem to read numerous threads (both here and on other sites) where people simply can't get this device to stream videos to the Xbox 360, despite the fact that the marketing material and the manual itself claim it is capable of doing so.

I came across all these threads because, I likewise am having problems getting it to work, and have been searching

I am running firmware 2.02

So far, I have 'refreshed all' twice -- a painfully slow operation on 2 TB of data, and the best I can do on the xbox is navigate my directory structure to where the videos should be, but, alas when I clock on any of my video directories I see 'no videos found'.

If I navigate the 'All Videos' (virtual) directory that the UPnP services seems to create, I see my thousands of videos files all dumped there in some random and unusable order.  Regardless, if I try to play any of the videos, the Xbox fails to play them and errors out.

I've tried that 'reset to factory defaults' trick that's been mentioned in a few threads, and then set up everything again, and this time selecting the DNS 320 from the Xbox as the source, immediately reveals the 'no videos found' error.  I don't even get to see my directory tree any more.  Perhaps the UPnP database is rebuilding itself yet again in the back ground, so, if that's the case I guess I'll have to wait about 6 hours or so.

Has anyone gotten this to work with an XBOX 360?  I would really appreciate any advice on how to get this to work.

Also, while on the topic of this 'refresh'.  Assuming I ever get this working, If I add more video files to the directories, will I actually have to hit that dreaded 'refresh all' button again?  There's got to be a better way than spending 6 hours 'refreshing all' when one simply adds a small video.  I've been using ushare as my UPnP service (and apparently I'm still using it until I can get this working), and if one adds new files, all one need to do is click 'refresh shares', and everything is updated in no more than 2 seconds.  What is it about the UPnP service that comes with the DNS320 that needs to take 6 hours what ushare seems to do in 2 seconds?

Again, if anyone has had success with this streaming to the Xbox 360, I'd really appreciate the insight.

[baltzatu]

If you don't mind the extra-work and you know a little something about Linux (I'm a Linux novice myself, but still managed to make it work), you can try another uPnP server by installing Debian Squeeze (you'll find the installation instructions inside the archive) on your NAS and then use miniDLNA (I don't own a XBOX, so I can't say for sure it works, but this guy says it does; I use it with my LG TV and it works great). The operation is reversible, so no risks involved.

The downside of this procedure is that your network shares will disappear at every restart (including your FTP shares).

If you want to follow this road and need assistance, just let me know

[cable2]

Hi,
I don't have an Xbox, but I stumbled across a similar problem with my network shares and a WD TV LIVE.  I happened to notice on my backup 320 that this one showed the network shares fine.  The only difference was that I had enabled the AJAXPLORER function on the one that showed all the network shares properly.  You might give that a try.  Good luck

[xtom]

I have upnp working via wireless to xbox 360, but the xbox 360 is very picky about the files it plays. The xbox won't list video files with extensions that it doesn't support and even with the ones it does list sometimes there's compatability issues with video encoding and it errors out when you attempt to play. I think I read there's a limit on the file size it handles too, but not sure as my videos are a few hundred megs at most.

[thehawk75]

Thanks for the replies!

As it is, I got the UPnP to very partially work.  Sadly I haven't figured out the rhyme or reason as to why some videos play, while most do not.  Of course, I can only get the very few videos that can play when I access them via the 'All Folders' option -- which, that in itself is rather unacceptable.

I wonder if it has to do with file permissions.  Or some other ownership flag on the file.

I should back up a bit and say that I copied all my videos to my HD by first plugging the brand new drive into the NAS and formatting as the NAS wanted.  I tried copying my existing videos to the NAS, but, the throughput was absolutely terrible; at best it was 5MB/S.  When you're talking 2TB of data to transfer, this implies about 4 and a half days to perform the operation.  So, I just took that drive out of the NAS, and plugged it into my computer and copied the files that way.  Thus reducing the operation time to about 9 hours or so.

This of course complicated other things, and perhaps the UPnP as well, because the ownership and permissions on all the files and directories that I copied were messed up (well, not to the NASs liking).

I thought the firmware that the NAS provided could handle this, but, I was obviously wrong.

No matter how much you manage the shares to allow everyone access to them, it really doesn't do anything.  Likewise using that Ajaxplorer utility that comes with the firmware to recursively set the permissions, it actually only works on one file at a time.  Trying to do so with the recursive option simply doesn't do anything, yet, the utility sadly doesn't even inform you that it did nothing.

At any rate, I stumbled upon all these permission issues while in the process of getting UPnP to work, so, I had to pause on the UPnP stuff and fix the permission/ownership issues.  Here's where I think this device really fails -- you simply can NOT correct these issues with the firmware/software that D-Link provides.  I had to end up installing the 'fonz fun_plug'.  This really wasn't what I wanted to do, because I really thought at this point the stuff I was trying to do (set ownership/permissions of the files  on the device  and get UpNP working) should be able to be done with the OEM tools, and not require a 'hack' to do something the product manual indicates it can do.  Granted, I do admit I did start this 'hacking' process by pulling my drive out of the NAS and placing it in my computer to do the bulk copy -- but, given the throughput, D-Link should expect everyone does the initial bulk copy this way, right?  They don't expect us to wait 4.5 days for something that can be done in 8-9 hours?  I hope not.

At any rate, once 'fonz fun_plug' was installed, I had ssh access to the device and was able to chown and chmod all the files properly (I think).  I noticed that any file I copied to the device (properly, as the device is supposed to work) had onwership to 'nobody', and group as 'allaccount'.  Permissions were ending up as 777.  The files I copied when the HD was in my computer, had very different ownership and permissions -- I just changed to match what the device does.

This solved the problem of me being able to manage those copied files on the device via nautilus (linux equivalent to windows explorer).  However, the UPnP still failed to stream to my XBOX after refreshing the shares (granted, I did see like perhaps 1 video in 20 would work for some reason via that cr@ppy 'All Folders' option).

I then created a simple experiment and created a small folder (not at the root of the NAS drive, but, where all my media files were located), and randomly copied files that were not playing (via the cr@ppy 'All Folders' option -- since looking in any of my actual folders just displayed 'No Videos Found') to the new 'test' folder.  I added that test folder to the UPnP service, and refreshed.  6 hours later (this 'Refresh All' thing is absolutely terrible in case I haven't stated this before), I tested again, and low and behold I could navigate this new test folder, and actually see my videos!  Furthermore, I could play them.  So, it seems the simple act of copying (not moving) the files from one location on the NAS to another allowed them to play.  Thus, my hunch is my UPnP problems are still stemming from my 'original sin' of not allowing the NAS to copy the files to the drive in the NAS in the first place and instead using my computer to do so.  Just wish I could figure out what 'flag' is still on the files that needs to be fixed.

However, all this said, the UPnP service is actually very WEAK.  The streamed videos are extremely choppy, and most are un-watchable.  Couple that with the fact you have to wait 6 hours to 'refresh all' when you add even 1 new video to your library, and all I can conclude is this UPnP service was never meant for anything serious.  They just wanted to put UPnP on the marketing materials (perhaps so people searching google for UPnP get a link to this device), and gave you something that perhaps might service at most 10 GB of videos, provided they're low resolution (this is of course my opinion based on my experience so far).  If I simply mount the NAS to my linux computer, and then set uShare (an old and FREE UPnP service) I get much better streaming quality, AND, if I add a new video, it only takes 2-3 seconds to refresh, not this 6 hours nonsense the DNS320 UPnP service requires.  Oh, and if it wasn't already implied, uShare is playing everything that I have copied onto the NAS.  Unfortunately uShare is running on my computer, and, the whole point of getting the NAS was so that I didn't have to be running my computer all the time if I wanted to stream videos.  At this point I might as well just keep the HD in my computer and avoid going over Cat5 to get to my data, and if my computer is going to be on all the time anyway now, it can already do the file sharing services the NAS can do.  I guess I should have read some more in depth reviews before buying this, as it does seem many are complaining about this performance aspect.  

At any rate, since I only got into the 'hacking' stuff yesterday (with Fonz fun_plug), I haven't had a chance to check out the other tools you guys mentioned.  Also I am still hoping to figure out the UPnP service that D-Link provides, but, I am starting to lose hope on this, and given the performance issues when it does work this might be wasted effort.  But, perhaps the performance issues is stemming from the general configuration problems I'm still having.  

@baltzatu: The Debian Squeeze looks interesting.  I may go with it or see if there's other GPL streaming options available for this device.

Well guys, thanks again for the advice.  I'm still looking into this and the various options, so, I'll update as I make progress.  Of course, If there are other suggestions that can get me to my solution faster, I'd really appreciate it.

[cable2]

Hi again,
What an ordeal! I am afraid you are right about everything going south when you used the computer to copy all of your videos.  I think you stumbled on a possible solution by copying the files to the new folder.  I might suggest you simply try a move command with the rest of your videos and put them in the same folder and then do a refresh.  I say all because the "Refresh All" command is going to take x hours to do it's thing and if it works, you should be good.  You'll at least know in the morning. 
I am not certain, but the xbox might not only be picky about file types but also bit rates and characters used in the file names.  I had problems like that with an Argosy media player, "[ ] { }", in the file name killed the playback.  Just something to check.  Also, I have found that files added to an existing UPNP folder show up quickly...if you create a new folder outside of an existing folder you may need to do the manual "refresh all".
The poor performance may not all be the 320.  I don't recall how you are getting the steam from your 320 to your xbox so without more info I don't know what to say, except if you have a long enough ethernet to string from the router to your TV, you will know if it is the 320 or something else.
Can't think of anything else right now.  Good luck

[baltzatu]

@thehawk75: OK. PM me if you need any help.

[Svanis]

I just want to add that I'm experiencing the same kind of problem that "The Hawk75" is writing about in his first post in this thread, but with my TWIX HD (instead of the XBOX-360).

And I'd also like to add that this MUST be an elevated problem since this is the whole meaning of the  NAS/Media server concept, to get it to work as a UPnP-server.

I mean, otherwise I'd just have bought a standard USB-drive/NAS if I wanted to do ordinary backups (the DNS-320 is actually sold as a "Media center", at least it says so on the back of the box it came in).

So please, do something about this (and rather fast, thank you..) otherwise will my (and others) purchase of the DNS320 be a total loss of money..    

So..
* Do something about this ridiculously long the "all refresh"-time takes, 5-6+ hrs (?!?!)
* And why does the whole UPnP-library disapear when you add a file to a folder, it can't be right (at least it dosen't happen when i'm adding/removing files in my computers folders, then why on the DNS-320)?

Keep up the good work with this forum..!    

[thehawk75]

Thanks for the replies, haven't had a chance to post an update in a while, nor work on this for that matter as sudden events had me out of town for a while.

Hi again,
What an ordeal! I am afraid you are right about everything going south when you used the computer to copy all of your videos.  I think you stumbled on a possible solution by copying the files to the new folder.  I might suggest you simply try a move command with the rest of your videos and put them in the same folder and then do a refresh.  I say all because the "Refresh All" command is going to take x hours to do it's thing and if it works, you should be good.  You'll at least know in the morning.

I was thinking this, and actually performed an experiment where I 'copied' a few of my directories to a new location, and then 'moved' those same directories to a second new location.  'Refreshed All' and then 6 hours later I was able to view all videos (navigating their proper directory tree to get there) in either of these new locations (i.e. 'copied to' or 'moved to').

That said, simply moving my entire big directory and refreshing all is NOT working.  So there's more to it.  I think the UPnP media server that comes with this device has some sort of 'all or nothing' idiocy associated with it.  What I mean is, if one file/directory is not playing nice with it in a directory, then NONE of the contents stored in the same directory as the offending file(s) will be made available.

Of course, given the tools to figure out the offending file is going to be a major P.I.T.A: Move a few files, 'refresh all', wait 6 hours or more, try again.  If all working, move a few more, 'refresh all', wait 6 hours, try again, etc.  If at some point, it doesn't work, move some the most recently moved files out, 'refresh all', wait 6 hours, try again, etc until you isolate all offending files.  Obviously this method will work, unfortunately by that time my now 4 year old will be off to college.

 
I am not certain, but the xbox might not only be picky about file types but also bit rates and characters used in the file names.  I had problems like that with an Argosy media player, "[ ] { }", in the file name killed the playback.  Just something to check.

Well, I have read about this file name issue with XBox, but, I am going to say if there is a file name issue, it's not the XBox doing it (not alone anyway), it's definitely this UPnP service with the DNS-320.

Case in point.  I can mount the DNS-320 on my linux computer system.  Use the program 'uShare' (which is a 4 or so year old UPnP service one can download from sourceforge) and then use uShare to stream my videos to my XBOX without any issues what-so-ever.  We're talking the EXACT same files on the dns-320 that are NOT able to be seen with it's own UPnP service, but are easily handled by uShare.  Oh, and might I add, a 'refresh all' in ushare takes about 2 seconds, max.  Still not certain what the 'refresh all' on the DNS-320 is trying to do for 6 hours. :/

...Also, I have found that files added to an existing UPNP folder show up quickly...if you create a new folder outside of an existing folder you may need to do the manual "refresh all".

Hold up!  If I am understanding this correctly, I actually might be able to isolate the offending files before my 4 year old is ready for college...

So, you mean if I add contents to an existing directory that has already been added to the UPnP service, I don't need to 'refresh all' in order to get them to show up?  Does it happen instantly, or, do I have to wait a bit?  Is there a manual refresh somewhere that I've missed that's different from the 'refresh all'.  Like a 'refresh just this folder' type of option?

The poor performance may not all be the 320.  I don't recall how you are getting the steam from your 320 to your xbox so without more info I don't know what to say, except if you have a long enough ethernet to string from the router to your TV, you will know if it is the 320 or something else.
Can't think of anything else right now.  Good luck

Well, both my computer using ushare, and the DNS-320 are on the same router, standard 6' CAT5 cable used for each.  I then run a 50' cable from that router to the living room where the XBOX is.  Being doing it this way since 2008 when I got the XBOX and installed uShare on my Linux computer; at that time AMD Athlon 3500, since upgraded to a 3 core AMD last year -- but irrelevant because videos have always played fine using uShare running on my Linux machine as the UPnP service.

My whole point of buying this DNS-320 is I wanted to save on the electrical bill of always having the computer on in order to be able to watch my videos.  Having the 'light weight' box seemed a more elegant solution than running an entire computer system all the time. 

Also, as said before but I can not emphasize this enough, I can simply run uShare on my Linux computer and point it to look for the files stored on the DNS-320, and not only do all videos play on my XBOX through this service (naturally this implies the files can be found and directory tree navigated properly), but, they run at high performance, none of this choppy video playback that was observed with the very very very limited videos I've gotten to be detected with the DNS-320's own UPnP service.

At any rate, I'd love it if someone from D-Link themselves ever chimed in on the myriad threads where people are expressing frustration over getting their UPnP service working properly.  This device certainly isn't something for a layman, you actually have to be quite a techie actually to get anywhere with this.  I'm not sure who their market was, but, all marketing seems oriented towards a less technical audience.  Thus my surprise at how incredibly difficult it is to get this to play nicely.

Well, I really appreciate your input into this, especially if it is true that I don't need to hit 'refresh all' each time I want to test something.  Any further ideas is also appreciated.

Thanks again.

[thehawk75]

I just want to add that I'm experiencing the same kind of problem that "The Hawk75" is writing about in his first post in this thread, but with my TWIX HD (instead of the XBOX-360).

And I'd also like to add that this MUST be an elevated problem since this is the whole meaning of the  NAS/Media server concept, to get it to work as a UPnP-server.

I mean, otherwise I'd just have bought a standard USB-drive/NAS if I wanted to do ordinary backups (the DNS-320 is actually sold as a "Media center", at least it says so on the back of the box it came in).

So please, do something about this (and rather fast, thank you..) otherwise will my (and others) purchase of the DNS320 be a total loss of money..    

So..
* Do something about this ridiculously long the "all refresh"-time takes, 5-6+ hrs (?!?!)
* And why does the whole UPnP-library disapear when you add a file to a folder, it can't be right (at least it dosen't happen when i'm adding/removing files in my computers folders, then why on the DNS-320)?

Keep up the good work with this forum..!    

I can not agree with you more.

The lack of support on this from D-Link themselves is rather disappointing.  If this is a media server, then what they've given us is the 'toy' version.  Kind of like how my daughter has a 'toy cell phone'.  It looks like a real cell phone, but, obviously really doesn't do the job of a real one.  Ok, maybe that's a bit harsh because I've gotten this to work in a very very very limited way.  But, when I contrast this to the free UPnP services out there that can run on a PC, I must say I am very 'underwhelmed' by what has been provided with the DNS-320.  Like you, I feel like I've bought nothing more than a glorified HD enclosure.  In that case I could have saved myself $90 and just bought any of the myriad USB enclosures available at Amazon or eBay, or even dealextreme if I really wanted to save a few bucks.

I really think that if they sell this as a UPnP media center, then, it really should work right out of the box.  I should have never needed to install fun plug (granted I was going to anyway) and more certainly not be mucking around trying to install a 3rd party UPnP service on this device such as miniDLNA (which I have sadly not got working yet, keep getting a run time error).  I mean, this would be the equivalent of Chevrolet selling their Corvettes with the 3 cylinder engine that they used in those Geo Metro's and expecting everyone to just go and find a proper V8 engine on the after market.  An absolutely strange business model that would be.  Yet, something similar seems to be the case with the UPnP 'engine' in this 'ShareCenter^TM'.

Also, D-Link, if you're listening, right on your product page at the following link:
http://sharecenter.dlink.com/products/DNS-320

Among the various marketing hoopla on this page, it also says:

DLNA Server

This ShareCenter device has a built-in media server that can stream your photos, music and videos to all of the computers in your home and to compatible media players like Boxee Box, Xbox and PlayStation 3 so you can enjoy it all on your TV.

emphasis mine.

Given the myriad threads I see all over the place (not just on this forum, but on AVS forums and elsewhere) complaining about the actual DLNA capability, especially with XBOX, I call shenanigans on your marketing department.  You may think this works, but, 1 or 2 videos being able to work after days of messing around does not make this a 'DLNA server'.  Again, uShare, written by some guy 4 years ago in his spare time and has not been updated since does a better job.  Just saying...

PS:  I really would love for someone to prove me wrong and show me how easy it is to get the XBOX working with this.  Show me that I've overlooked something simple and that I should burn my Engineering degree for missing this, and I will write an apology to D-Link in this very same thread, heck, I'll edit this post to include my apology.  Please, D-Link?  Anyone?

Again, thanks to all who have provided advice and help.  It hasn't been a wasted effort.  As said, I can get 'some' videos working now...  But, I still have to use uShare if I really want to enjoy my videos reliably.

[hellmood]

Hey there guys,

I am having the exactly same problem you are describing here. Got here by googling the error.
I have an XBOX360 and the D-Link DNS 320 and can't get the Videos to show up in the Folder View, only all scrambled together in the "All Videos" view.

Another problem is that when streaming mp3s, it sometimes just stops playing (hence the timer shown in the XBOX menu is still going forward). After a while it will then skip to another mp3 in the playlist.

I really can sign the feelings and experiences thehawk75 is expressing.
Just wanted to ask whether there has been any progress in this case?

cheers from germany

Edit PS:
What I found out is, that all this maybe has something to do with the count of folders/files. I got one folder with about 100 files, that will not show. On the other hand I got several folders with about 10-20 files which will show up.
And adding only certain folders instead of the whole Volume_1 directory will speed up the unloved "Refresh All", although it still takes a lot of time.

[investindy]

Dont hold your breath.  I have had these types of issues since Dec with no more firmware updates from Dlink.  Seen complaints before then....

As an interim fix, if I keep the number of files down in a folder i have found the system does autorefresh on its own. I do not know what the exact number per folder is, but once i started breaking things up and grouping it worked okay.  Auto refresh frequency is unknown.

Every once in a while i will see a delay when i deleted some things and its still on the list with UPnP devices.  Almost always though I can add a few files and go down to my sony BD and see it for streaming (and it works).

Was very frustrating, and for my 400g of movies it seems to work once i made folders and subfolders and started not making too much content in just one folder.  Hopefully this tip will work for others.

[thehawk75]

Thought I'd post an update, should have done this a while ago...

As hellmood aind investindy said, keeping the number of files down in the folder definitely fixes things.

I have no clue what the maximum allowed per folder is, but, I have kept things under 30 per folder, this seemed to do the trick.  Just moved things in in folders that were failing to display into a sub directory with in it, i.e ./moves/A-movie.avi becomes ./movies/movies_a_to_e/A-movie.avi

As far as helping with the dreaded 'refresh all' issue, and the need to use it because the UPnP server wasn't picking up new content, I found that instead of creating one big media share, to just split it up into multiples.

So (using same example), instead of making ./movies a share
I'd instead make the following their own independent shares:
./movies/movies_a_to_e/
./movies/movies_f_to_m/
./movies/movies_n_to_q/

etc...

And, if you add something to one of these folders and it fails to detect in due time... It's much much much faster to simply delete the small UPnP share and then recreate it again.

Yes, very pedestrian approach, and really should in the least be documented, but, this nonetheless seems to work.

One of the main issues that remain for me is this UPnP service still only plays about 1/3rd of the content that my old trusted freeware 'uShare' can play -- which speaks volumes about the UPnP service (or lack there of) they gave us in this 'paid for' device because uShare is a deprecated product that hasn't had an update in like 6 years.

Another issue is, of the remaining 1/3rd of content that can be played, is about a 1/4 of that has piss poor choppy playback, so, in essence is un-watchable.  I have noted that some folks have been talking about this being addressed (to a degree?) in the most recent firmware release.  Perhaps it's time to update again (last did so around Jan this year).

Until these remaining issues get solved, I really can't use this as a media server, and it will still remain as a glorified external hard drive.

[saithan]

hm... I can't remember when I got my NAS 320, but it's been almost a year ago, and I bought it for the purpose of using it as a NAS, but also to be able to stream movies to xbox 360.

I had the same problems with too many files in a folder, so I divided them up. I think the main issue was with the indexing. so by keeping the amount on 30-50 movies, the indexing improves.

My biggest pain is that xbox can't always play the files and that's very annoying. However I have my laptop turned on literally day and night, so if any of you can give me a step by step guide to how I can make my xbox use codecs stored on my computer to run the movies, I'd really appreciate it.