Apps A simple-ish NAS movie server for VLC for tvOS

[Sumleilmus]

I have AppleTV HD from 2017 (model A842) I wanted to make a simple-ish media server hosted on my Synology NAS. I made a shared folder on it and put the movies there, in 26 subdirectories, one for each letter of the alphabet. There is no standard for alphabetization I could find. I ignored all articles in giving titles to the movies, no matter what the language. So, The Last Detail is in the L directory. I made a new non-admin user with read only privileges for the shared parent folder. When I tried to get VLC for tvOS to access it, I ran into great snags based on the undocumented quirks of the network browser in that version of VLC. It was easy to get to the movies using a desktop Mac, an iPhone, or an iPad. In exploration, I looked at Synology DS Video as a client, and Synology Video Station as a host. It turned out to be for me a nightmare of dense documentation, and just made everything harder. I wanted read-only access for the user, and the default was read-write access. Finally, I managed to get settings that worked for VLC for tvOS, bypassing Video Station entirely, a great relief. I am listing them here in the hope of saving someone else a slog like mine.

SMB
server: (name of server) no slashel, no puncuation
port: 445
user: username (the read-only one from the NAS)
passphrase: (be sure to put one in)

Then SAVE this using the save tab in VLC, after you make sure it will connect.

People who are much more skilled at networking connections will know already what I did not, which is that the default port for SMB is 445.

Now, one can use the television's remote to get Apple TV running, then the rest of the navigation can be done with the Apple TV remote.

 

[priitv8]

I would first try to use Infuse instead of VLC.

 

[pmiles]

I would first try to use Infuse instead of VLC.

VLC is free. Infuse is not.

DS video is pretty easy to use. The only drawback is the metadata support is going away so who knows if they will continue to support it (DS Video) going forward. Given your approach, it appears as though your setup only points to the files and doesn't have a visual interface. Akin to launching a file from a directory.

What was it about DS video that was the issue? I found it quite simple to set up. You trying to make the content accessible from outside your home? That complicates things and of course exposes your Synology to external attacks. Mine is an internal only network.

 

[Jim Lahey]

Plex?

 

[priitv8]

VLC is free. Infuse is not.

Isn't only PRO for money? There is/was a free version.
Using Plex as a backend (server) and Infuse free as frontend, you get best of both.

 

[Sumleilmus]

What was it about DS video that was the issue? I found it quite simple to set up. You trying to make the content accessible from outside your home? That complicates things and of course exposes your Synology to external attacks. Mine is an internal only network.

I only wanted the files to be accessed from the LAN. I really want to prevent any harm from coming to the files that are in the NAS. I wanted the files to be accessible on the LAN in a read-only manner, and what I set up permits that. How to grant read-only access via Disk Station / DS video was very challenging for me. What I read suggested that only admin users (with read-write access) could be DS Video clients. It might be possible, but it looked to me as though it would require hours of scouring obscure non-consecutive documentation to figure it out. (Not that I spent no time figuring this out: the (let's call it a) network browser in VLC for tvOS is obscure, nonidentical to the iOS & iPadOS VLCs, but I was able to overcome it. I'm not a "storage architect" by profession, and I have been daunted by the complexities of the Synology equipment.

Oh, yes, it was taking the Synology really a long time to generate all the aliases or symbolic links in frilly garments within the Video Station, and once I could access them from VLC on tvOS, all of the apparently huge additional effort of trying to understand Video Station fell away, increasing my life satisfaction).

 

[Sumleilmus]

Isn't only PRO for money? There is/was a free version.
Using Plex as a backend (server) and Infuse free as frontend, you get best of both.

I was trying to use what I already own.

 

[jeff051177]

As has been said above, your best bets are either Infuse or Plex. They're are positives and negatives of both.... the internet is awash with articles comparing the two. Most people using a NAS/appleTV combo use one of these two solutions.

The main difference (I believe) is that Plex requires you to run a server back-end, as well as a player on the Apple TV. It's the server end that does most of the heavy lifting. If your NAS isn't powerful enough to run Plex server, then you will have to run it on a separate machine (eg: your computer) and have that on while watching your content.
Infuse, on the other hand, dozen't require any server-end software - you just load it onto you Apple TV and it will be able to see and index the files on your NAS. It takes care of any transcoding on the player side (I think).

I tried Infuse (both free and paid) and I didn't really like the interface. Thats just a preference thing - many people think it's great - but it's not for me
I run Plex. My Synology is fairly new, so it can run the server software no problem. In my opinion, it's absolutely superb: rock solid, and fully of great features. It's also free. They do a paid version - but you don't really need it, the free version does everything that 99% of punters will want. The iOS apps are excellent too. The only thing that I can't get to work completely satisfactorily is forced subtitles.

Both of these are head and shoulders above DS video. I've tried it a couple of times. It takes bloody ages to do the indexing, and it's fairly clunky and basic when it gets up and running.

As I said, both Plex and infuse have free versions - try them out and see what you think

 

[Sumleilmus]

But, what I have now works. I no longer seek. I was trying to offer a simple solution.

 

[Audit13]

I'm running an older QNAP TS-451 and Infuse Pro. I use my QNAP as a simple SMB server and I can watch full rips from my 4k discs over WiFi with no issue. I only have a 5.1 system so lossless PCM is fine for me. I don't need to transcode since I only watch movies with my Apple TV 4K 1st Gen box.

 

[priitv8]

I was trying to use what I already own.

I get your words, but not the point, though.
VLC is yesterday's news and trying out something that costs $0 is not that difficult imho.

 

[Sumleilmus]

This still works well for me as 2024 looms. VLC may be "yesterday's news," whatever that means, but it works well, and it is supported and maintained. I don't seek what is newest. I seek what works and is reliable.