DLNA discovery problem

[tikings86]

I have an Xperia phone and the tablet S can find it ok using the DLNA app and the phone can find my Sony blueray player but the tablet can't find the blueray. How do  I fix this?

Any help appreciated. Tim.

[yellowshark454]

Hi Tim, you do not actually say WHY you want to access your WiFi
BDP, so this answer may not be quite what you want – but it probably is:smileywink:

I only got my S1 yesterday but am happily playing music from my laptop onto my BDP S580 and out through the a/v system all done by the S1 (and controlling the volume on the A/V amp too - God I like this tablet so far)

I will confess I am not actually using the Sony app to do this but…

The Sony DLNA app connects you to the DLNA server that you want to use - but only to servers not to renderers,  as far as I can see.

You select the media you want to play and then within the Player (which is playing the file on the S1) you “throw” the media to the renderer you want – there is a button on the Player that does this.

Now I am not sure quite where you are. If you are in the Sony DLNA app trying to find your BDP, then the above  is the answer.I am sure.

But if you are in the Player and trying to “throw” the media file to the BDP then it is not.

I have just tried it, using the Sony DLNA app instead and then “throwing” the media file and my BDP was selected by default as the Renderer, without me needing to do anything.

There is something in the user manual (about pages 83-85)which I only skimmed just now, on possibly needing to register the S1 with the DLNA device. I needed to do that with DLNA server software on my laptop  but that was all.

HTH; happy to be more detailed if need be.

Cheers, Pete

[tikings86]

Thanks for all your help Pete. Probably helpful if I give a bit more info!

I have a BDP S370 and Sony KDL-40EX403 bought about 2 years ago (for the world cup). Usually only the BDP is connected to my wifi lan because initially the KDL didn't have BBC i-player but every so often I connect the KDL to the net and download any updates to it.

I bought an SE Xperia android mini last autumn and using the "connected devices" (standard widget/app) I can share the contents of the SE with the BDP and then on to the KDL. This also works OK with the Tablet S.

On the BDP I can see my PC Media Player, the SE (as ST15i) but not for video, and the Tablet S (as ST18i) but the latter is greyed out indicating no active connection.

The Tablet DLNA can see my PC Media Player, the SE (as ST15i), but not the BDP.

I then connected the KDL to the lan.

On the Tablet I went into Video Player app and played the "Green Hornet" trailer. I could see the KDL and could throw to it but got the error "Player does not support the current format". I also tried "Light & Wind" with the same result.

I then tried the Music app and was able to throw "24 Hours" and it displayed and played OK.

I next tried Gallery app and threw the "Tallinn" picture which was also OK.

My guess is that the Tablet S DLNA app can only see servers eg my PC and the SE. Since the BDP isn't a server it can't see it. Simillarly since the BDP isn't a display device the Tablet S can't see it with the 'play' apps either.

I originally bought the Tablet S for use in a caravan instead of taking a (compact) PC away with us and also for around the house as my Xperia mini only has a 3" screen. I can access pictures and music from my SE on either the Tablet or the BDP (for the KDL) and since I keep all my media stuff on the SE anyway the fact I can't do the same with the Tablet S isn't such a big problem.

[yellowshark454]

Hi Tim

As I thought you are doing/wanting to do pretty much what I am doing and I
am not surprised by your comments, except for one which confuses me (come to
that later).

The DLNA app on the Tablet S is a bit strange (at least to me) because it is sort
of a DLNA controller but it is not on its own, because whilst it can discover
and use servers, in itself it cannot distribute media around the network. That
is why you cannot see your BDP.in the DLNA app.

You have to load whatever media file you want into your player on the Tablet S
(that is player with a small “p” and then the player, if wanted, can have the
file rendered on another device that has a DLNA Player (with a big “P”) or
Renderer – eg your BDP – by using the Tablet S “throw” function.

As a you say, your Tablet DLNA cannot see the BDP but your two players can.

In effect if you are talking about DLNA on the Tablet I think you have to consider
the DLNA app, the music app and the video app as a single entity.

I am not familiar with the S370,  I went from an S360 to an S580 but I am guessing your S370 DLNA function is pretty similar to mine, eg it has a PS3 style interface and it has a DLNA Player, which enables it to interact directly with DLNA servers, which it displays  to you – so as you say you do not need the Tablet S, you can do it directly from the BDP using your BDP remote control (or your  Tablet infra-red remote control pointing at the BDP ).

Quite why it is “seeing” the Tablet S but it is not enabled is I am afraid beyond me.  Unlike my laptop server, my Tablet and BDP talked to each other automatically (probably when I loaded the DLNA app) and the BDP registered the Tablet without me doing anything.

I have playedaround  with various settings just now on my BDP under the Server  and Renderer menu options but I cannot “disconnect” the Tablet S like it seems has happened to you. It might be worthwhile trying to delete it and then see if it will come back again “connected”.

This is where I am confused. You said “Similarly since the BDP isn't a display device the Tablet S can't see it with the 'play' apps either.”  But you said before that that the video and the music apps could see it – yes? 

What the target device can and cannot do is I think in this context irrelevant. Your BDP software accepts data to be
rendered, else your phone would not be able to send data to it and your BDP would not be able to send it to your TV for rendering. Unless I have totally misunderstood, the 370 does have a DLNA player.

If  you having problems with invalid file types, especially if your Tablet will not accept a format that you want from the
server, then download the free app BubbleUPnP and this will help you overcome most of those problems. IE if you want to play a video that is in a format that is acceptable to your BDP but not acceptable to the Tablet (yes I know they are
both Sony products but the Tablet will not play my video file formats that my S580 will) then use BubbleUPnP rather than the Tablet DLNA/player apps.

HTH

Cheers Pete

[tikings86]

Hi Pete,

I went a bit further on the BDP than I said earlier and selected the greyed out Tablet (think it is shown as LT18i) and it responded by saying "Starting up Server" or similar. After a bit it said it couldn't connect so I didn't get any further.

The KDL and BDP are 2 years old whereas the SE Xperia Mini and Tablet S are much more recent (the SE says "Sony Tablet S" rather than "LT18i" as on the BDP. Also I can't remember getting a software update for the BDP for a while - perhaps as long as a year ago.

So it may just be that the DLNA standard has changed a bit over the years and the older kit isn't up to date.

As I said it isn't a real problem for me as the SE will talk to the BDP (and then on to the KDL) for photos and music and that is really all I need at the moment.

Thanks again, Tim

[yellowshark454]

(unfortunately these days the defn. of "old" equipment is anything you bought last week!)

[Tgriff67]

Hello folks,

I'm new on here, and I've been reading this thread with interest because I bought a tablet S last week, and although the tablet, my laptop, Sony TV & Bluray are all linked up to my network, the tablet's DLNA app steadfastly refuses to find any servers when I try to throw photos to my tv. I have tried disabling the laptop's firewall, but this is not something I would like to do every time I want to show photos on my tv.

Can anybody help?

Many thanks,

Tony

[breedBenR]

only newer models of BDP you can throw video to. 2011 and later.

only newer models of KDL you can throw video to. 2011 and later.