Streaming video from my home server

[lilblackgirl]

Is there a way to set up a channel or even hack the Roku box to stream videos, tv, etc from my home server?

[kumasuki]

Is there a way to set up a channel or even hack the Roku box to stream videos, tv, etc from my home server?

Absolutely, checkout http://www.sunimi.com and it's forum http://www.sunimi.com/forum - sunimi provides a free channel code and using their website you can setup new menu items in the channel to stream content either from a home computer or any internet source (as long as the content is in a format supported by the Roku, namely .mp4 .m4v .mov .wmv).

There's also a thread on this forum about using Sunimi: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=26696 Sunimi is not the only option; however, other solutions like Roksbox or My Media are considerable more complicated (for instance, MyMedia requires you to put your Roku into 'developer mode' which if not used correctly might brick your box) and Sunimi is the only solution which includes both local and Internet content sources.

[philsoft]

Is there a way to set up a channel or even hack the Roku box to stream videos, tv, etc from my home server?

Absolutely, checkout http://www.sunimi.com and it's forum http://www.sunimi.com/forum - sunimi provides a free channel code and using their website you can setup new menu items in the channel to stream content either from a home computer or any internet source (as long as the content is in a format supported by the Roku, namely .mp4 .m4v .mov .wmv).

There's also a thread on this forum about using Sunimi: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=26696 Sunimi is not the only option; however, other solutions like Roksbox or My Media are considerable more complicated (for instance, requiring you to put your Roku into 'developer mode' which if not done correctly might brick your box) and Sunimi is the only solution which includes both local and Internet content sources.

RoksBox doesn't require the box to be in developer mode, and I have been pretty happy with it. is sunimi your channel? Your post kinda sounded like an ad.

[aegl]

Sunimi is not the only option; however, other solutions like Roksbox or My Media are considerable more complicated (for instance, requiring you to put your Roku into 'developer mode' which if not done correctly might brick your box).

For Roksbox this isn't accurate - you do not need to use developer mode, just add a private channel code via the owner.roku.com website. AFAIK there is no risk of bricking a box doing this.

See http://roksbox.wikispaces.com/Tutorial for more details on Roksbox (I'm not the developer, just a satisfied user). I can't comment on the relative complexity of these solutions as I've only tried Roksbox. The tutorial explains things well, but it may not be for the faint of heart.

[DeftOne]

I'd like to clear one thing up here. Putting your Roku into developer mode is fairly simple (Home 3x, Up 2x, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right from the Roku DVP remote, then select enable developer mode). I have NEVER heard of anyone bricking their box just by enabling developer mode. All you are doing is turning on a hidden feature, so there's nothing to do "incorrectly" that might harm your DVP in any way. It's not like you are hacking the box. It's a built-in feature!

What you do AFTER you enable developer mode could cause problems if you don't know what you are doing. Thankfully el.wubo has included a simple little program with his MyMedia channel that allows you to configure everything and auto-uploads it to your box. There's nothing for you to do incorrectly there.

Furthermore, I have NEVER heard of anyone bricking their DVP, period. Has anyone else? I've never seen it mentioned here on the forums, anyway.

[kc8pql]

Furthermore, I have NEVER heard of anyone bricking their DVP, period. Has anyone else?

Nope.

[lilblackgirl]

While these were all wonderful solutions, we could never get any of them to work. The Roksbox channel showed, but the link to the server was never right despite following the directions for setup. And Sunimi just baffled me. I guess I'm slow.

[jcmolet]

While these were all wonderful solutions, we could never get any of them to work. The Roksbox channel showed, but the link to the server was never right despite following the directions for setup. And Sunimi just baffled me. I guess I'm slow.

I use Sunimi and I think it works pretty well. Unfortunately, - along with the others - it does require some knowledge beyond basic computing/networking. I think Roku would be well served to either develop their own solution or work with one of these developers to really simplify/streamline the process. I am a little surprised they haven't done it already as it is obvious that many users desire this feature.

[DeftOne]

I think before Roku dives head-first into developing an official local network streaming channel, they need to provide increased codec and file container support (if possible with the current hardware). What good is a super-streamlined and easy to use interface if you have to spend hours upon hours re-encoding all your movies to a very specific and strict set of encoding requirements? If the current hardware is not capable of supporting any other codecs/containers than it does currently, then I guess we'll just have to live with the time commitment required to re-encode, or look for another STB to provide the local network streaming functionality as it should be (VOB support anyone?). Maybe that will be Roku's next box; maybe it will be one of their (soon-to-be) competitors. We'll see.

[lilblackgirl]

Is there a good tutorial for setting up Sunimi? While the website is helpful, to a degree, it's somewhat vague about other options. Has anyone gone beyond what's on the site to help out the uninitiated?

[bhindman]

Is there a good tutorial for setting up Sunimi? While the website is helpful, to a degree, it's somewhat vague about other options. Has anyone gone beyond what's on the site to help out the uninitiated?

I am the developer of sunimi and would be happy to help you in any way possible to get up and running... there is a setup thread in the forum http://www.sunimi.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4 that may help.

The site is still in beta phase so there are some bugs and there will be UI changes and functionality additions this week.

brian

[lilblackgirl]

Thanks so much Brian.

Do you have a linux solution? Our server is running on Ubuntu and not Windows.

[bhindman]

Thanks so much Brian.

Do you have a linux solution? Our server is running on Ubuntu and not Windows.

I may not be able to offer much help with linux... ... but if you can google up a tutorial on enabling/installing apache and get the webserver functional, I could help after that.

[philsoft]

Thanks so much Brian.

Do you have a linux solution? Our server is running on Ubuntu and not Windows.

Something isn't right here. You are running a Linux server and had trouble with RoksBox? I have RoksBox running fine here, and I would be completely LOST if it came to running a Linux server.

[lilblackgirl]

Thanks so much Brian.

Do you have a linux solution? Our server is running on Ubuntu and not Windows.

Something isn't right here. You are running a Linux server and had trouble with RoksBox? I have RoksBox running fine here, and I would be completely LOST if it came to running a Linux server.

Running a Linux server is a lot easier than you think. It's very user friendly and the community support is overwhelming should you ever have problems.

Honestly, I'm not sure why Roksbox is causing us so many problems. The setup walkthrough is simple enough, but something on the end of the Roku either isn't set up correctly or we've missed a step in the setup. Not sure what it is.