UMS 6.5.1 + Apple TV (4th Gen) with VLC Mobile

For help and support with Universal Media Server
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Rakki
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Oct 30, 2016 4:09 am

UMS 6.5.1 + Apple TV (4th Gen) with VLC Mobile

Post by Rakki »

I have been running PS3 media server and later UMS on PS3 for ages. However; recently bought Apple TV (4th Gen) and downloaded VLC mobile from App store. However; no success with it.

Looks that 6.4.0 added support for Apple TV:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8383
  • First problem is that Universal Media Server is not found even though tried over 2 hours and checked network configuration etc.
  • Second "problem" was that on UMS 6.5.1 GUI -> General Configuration -> Advanced HTTP and System settings -> Default renderer when automatic detection fails --> There's only "Apple Ipad / IPhone" but no Apple TV?
Edit: added ums_dbg.zip, removed personal details :)
Mac (UMS) IP address is 192.168.1.93
Apple TV's IP is 192.168.2.2
Routing works (tested with ping)
Attachments
ums_dbg.zip
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Nadahar
Posts: 1990
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:57 pm

Re: UMS 6.5.1 + Apple TV (4th Gen) with VLC Mobile

Post by Nadahar »

I don't know anything about apple TV or VLC for ios, but I can tell from the IP's you posted that you've probably got the network configuration wrong. Assuming you're using a /24 mask, they are on different subnets. DLNA doesn't travel across subnets, as it uses UPnP which relies on multicast. I think there is some theoretical way of routing multicast, but AFAIK most routers can't even do it and my guess is that the configuration isn't very straight forward.

To put it simple, keep the server and the devices on the same subnet. If you have a wired and a wireless network, put the access point in "bridge" mode so that it becomes transparant and forwards multicast.
Rakki
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Oct 30, 2016 4:09 am

Re: UMS 6.5.1 + Apple TV (4th Gen) with VLC Mobile

Post by Rakki »

Nadahar wrote:I don't know anything about apple TV or VLC for ios, but I can tell from the IP's you posted that you've probably got the network configuration wrong. Assuming you're using a /24 mask, they are on different subnets. DLNA doesn't travel across subnets, as it uses UPnP which relies on multicast. I think there is some theoretical way of routing multicast, but AFAIK most routers can't even do it and my guess is that the configuration isn't very straight forward.

To put it simple, keep the server and the devices on the same subnet. If you have a wired and a wireless network, put the access point in "bridge" mode so that it becomes transparant and forwards multicast.
As told routing is already arranged and it works between both subnets. Also tried it on same subnet but without success (VLC cannot see the Apple TV). On PS3 it works on exactly same configuration.
Nadahar
Posts: 1990
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:57 pm

Re: UMS 6.5.1 + Apple TV (4th Gen) with VLC Mobile

Post by Nadahar »

If the PS3 works I might be off, but it's hard to understand how this isn't the reason. Unicast and multicast routing is very different concepts, and normally when "routing" is used, unicast is implied. Ping, http, ftp, cifs or whatever "normal" network protocol you might test are all unicast. Personally I think it's a big mistake that DLNA/UPnP is based on multicast, but that's hardly relevant - it is. For this to work across subnets multicast must be properly routed both ways, as multicast is used to communicate both ways. Multicast is only used for discovery and identification, browsing and streaming is done via unicast. The problem is getting there when the lack of multicast means that the devices won't find eachother.

If you're interested in understanding some of the challenges of multicast routing you can read this. As you can see, there isn't even a standard protocol for multicast routing, and only "advanced" routers even offer it.
Rakki
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Oct 30, 2016 4:09 am

Re: UMS 6.5.1 + Apple TV (4th Gen) with VLC Mobile

Post by Rakki »

Thanks for clarification. I wasn't aware that DLNA/UPnP is multicast only and already understood unicast and multicast on general level but actually gained much better understanding after reading the article you mentioned. Also seems that it is possible to hack Huawei B593s-22 to support multicast but need to consider that as can use workaround as long as can get the fibre connection to our house (replaces existing 1Mbit ADSL + unstable 4G).

Indeed problem was on my network configuration and it wasn't just the cabling problem but also Universal Media Server configuration problem. PS3 worked because it was on 192.168.1.1.

I had 192.168.1.x network forced mode:
1. General configuration --> Network settings (advanced) --> Force networking on Interface en0 (192.168.1.93)
2. Changed it to en1 (192.168.2.5)
3. After that it worked --> Apple TV's VLC mobile found the Universal Media Server (it doesn't always see the directory structure but often it does after couple restart attempts)

Anyways in long term Wi-Fi is not good enough for stable local streaming so I'll change Apple TV to use 1GBit LAN network instead of Wi-Fi.
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