Streaming MKV from TwonkyMedia on ARM (QNAP QPKG) to Samsung TV

 



With the default configuration in TwonkyServer; streaming MKV content to a Samsung TV will not work as TwonkyServer detect the TV as a "Generic Media Receiver" and will give an on screen message "format not supported" as reported in various forums and blogs.

To fix this I did  the following:

Upgrade to latest TwonkyMedia 6 version (6.0.34) via QPKG

Let TwonkyServer build the database

Enable sharing for new media receivers automatically

Connect with your TV to TwonkyMedia

Under "TwonkyServer/Advanced Settings/Media Receivers"

locate the Samsung TV in the list from the MAC address or IP Address and change the device type from "Generic Media Receiver" to "Samsung TV"

retried playing MKV (720p) on the NAS to the Samsung TV via TwonkyServer worked as suspected now.

The next step would be to test it with various video- and sound formats as well as MKV containers with header compression.

How to make songs part of one album in iTunes

To have this showing correctly in the albums do the following from iTunes:Select all the files that is part of the album, Right click, get info, select this album is part of a compilation.Right click on the selection again, get info, add "Various Artists" to the Album Artist.This will fix your library. As an alternative this can be done via an mp3 tagging by setting the following extended tag information

ALBUMARTIST "Various Artists" COMPILATION "1"

In ID3v2.3 and ID3v2.4 COMPILATION set the TCMP Field.

The eyeD3 CLI application can be used to confirm this as well

eyeD3 -v [name].mp3

Or else Puddletag aplication with a custome column added 

Title : Compilation
Field: itunescompilationflag

or edit > extended tags

YAMJ Settings

The easiest way to change the artwork/Poster for a file in YAMJ is to copy the new artwork into the directory and rename the file with the same name. else have a look at the wiki

For the default skin the Language art  is located at

\YAMJ\skins\default\resources\languages

and will relate to the       <language>af</language> in the Jukebox XML file.

So in the above example adding a af.png file will overlay the image af.png onto the poster art.

But easier said than done. To get YAMJ to recognise the language and apply the changes was a bit more difficult.

The most important thing is to set <id>-1</id> in the movie XML file for the spesific movie and change the language.

After that rerun My_YAMJ.cmd

This will not scrape the internet but rather use the settings in the XML file.

How do I access files on a NAS from my iPad

FileBrowser by stratospherix does a brilliant job of file share access for the iOS devices.

Canon MX420 - how to transfer scanned documents from the memcard

Although this printer does not have AirPrint support it had a feature to "scan to pdf" without using a pc (just to USB or Memory card )

So I insterted a fast memory card into the printer with adequite space and it works perfect.

My next step is to create a cron job on my NAS to periodically sync all files on the printer memory card to a folder on the NAS.

Following is the technical discovery / how I did it.

First was to discover if the memory card is exposed to the network & then the file sharing type (assuming it will be a windows share) ;

It was indeed on:

\\PRINTER_IP\canon_memory\CANON_SC\DOCUMENT\0001
Was two test PDF's I scanned.

most people will only need this to copy the files to a PC, however as stated I want it automated to my NAS.

I created a temporary folder on my NAS and created a sync job on the QNAP NAS that monitor the memory card and once a file change is detected it copies the files to the temp folder; from there I rename and or sort it into the correct directories.

Drive mapped from QNap to the printer with:

mount.cifs //PRINTER_IP/canon_memory/CANON_SC/DOCUMENT/0001 /share/somewhere/Printer

Apple lesson 2 - AirPrint

Apple support on a printer does not guarantee Airprint support
The printer has to explicitely support the AirPrint feature to enable the ipad2 to automatically detect and use the printer.

 

The Canon printer MX420 does not support Airprint, however there is a application in the App Store (Canon Easy-PhotoPrint) that allows you to easily print photos and scan via wifi.

Hotpoint WDL540G - Most disappointing purchase in years

For anyone that thought of investing in this washer dryer ... don't 

It was the worste investment I made in a few years.

The build quality was average but at the price (only thing that was fair) it was acceptable.

This appliance is extremely noisy !

This appliance has extremely slow washing & drying cycles.

Further to this I had to replace the doorseal after 4 months, and the main pcb started with random error codes after the first few as well.

The final straw was when it decided half way through a cycle that the programming is not valid anymore and started with the "all lights flashing" and not pumping the water out.

I will be replaceing this appliance immediately with another brand.