In this article we will look at how to install your DLNA server on Windows using the example program Home Media Server (HMS)

Nowadays, it is increasingly necessary to have a DLNA server on your home network, since most modern TVs does not support data transfer protocols such as SMB or NFS, but only works via DLNA.

What is DLNA?

DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) is a set of standards that allows compatible devices transmit and receive various media content (images, music, videos) over your home network, as well as display it in real time. That is, technology for connecting home computers, mobile phones, laptops and consumer electronics into a single digital network. Devices that support the DLNA specification can be configured and networked at the user's request. automatic mode. (Source - Wikipedia)

Installing DLNA Home Media Server (HMS)

Installing HMS is very simple, but we will still explain in detail how it happens.

First you need to download the installer. At the time of writing, the official website was not working. And it didn’t work a month before, so below I’ll provide a link to download from our server latest version HMS:

(47.2 MB)

Let's get started with the installation.

Launch the installer:

Here we are asked to select the directory into which the installation files will be unpacked. Select a directory and press the button Execute". After unpacking, the installation will start automatically.

Attention: Unpacked files are not automatically deleted after installing the program, I advise you to delete them manually after installation is complete

After unpacking, the installation of the program automatically starts:

There are not very many settings here. In this window, select the directory in which to install Home program Media Server (HMS) and Program Group - the name of the folder in the Start menu.

After selecting the installation folder and folder name in the “Start” menu, all that remains is to check the box “create a shortcut to run the program on the desktop”, if necessary, and click the “ Install«.

At the end of the installation, which takes less than a minute ( depends on your equipment), we are offered to immediately launch the Home Media Server (HMS) program.

This completes the installation of the program.

Initial setup of DLNA Home Media Server (HMS)

So, we have a freshly installed DLNA server, let's launch it and see what it first offers us to configure, and also make a couple useful settings. Let's get started.

After the first launch of the program we see a window initial settings.

In this window we are asked to select the device to which the media content will be broadcast. There are many templates in the list.

If you haven’t found your device or one similar to yours, then you can leave the standard DLNA Device, as practice has shown, this does not affect anything much. After choosing, move on.

And then a choice of folders from which we will take media content appears before our eyes. You can select folders with your media content now, or you can add them later. We'll look at how to do this below. After selecting the folders, click the " Ready«.

After the initial settings, we are asked to do backup copy settings, image cache, database, set up an automatic backup schedule. Let’s not dwell on this in detail now and move on. To do this, press the button “ Close«.

After this, the main program window appears in front of us. Let's move on to several “important” settings at once.

On the left are the types of settings, on the right are specific settings.

Let's go straight to additional settings and configure the DLNA server to autoload and turn on the PC.

To do this, select points 2 and 3.

Now let's go to the " Server"and write down the name of our DLNA server. How will we see it online?

After changing the name, you need to add folders with media content (if you have not done this in “ initial setup or decided to add more folders. Everything is simple here. Press the button " Add"(2) and select the folder you want to add. After this it is necessary " Scan"(3) so that files from the folder/folders get to the server.

If you did everything correctly, then your files should appear on the right side (as highlighted in yellow in the screenshot).

If you have your files there, then we have just a little bit left. Launch and use. Everything is very simple here - press the button " Launch«.

If you have " Windows Firewall", then the system will ask you whether to allow it access to the network. Select which ones to allow access to and click “ Allow access«.

Conclusion

We installed the Home Media Server (HMS) program, or to put it simply, we configured the DLNA server to operating system Windows.

All that remains is to launch the playback device (TV, media set-top box, mobile phone, etc.) and check whether our device is on the network and whether it contains the files we need.

We hope this article helped you. If something doesn’t work out for you or you have questions, write a comment and we’ll try to help.

In this article we will set up a media server (DLNA) on a computer for a Philips TV. After setup, you will be able to watch movies, photos, and listen to music on your TV that is on your computer (laptop). All this using DLNA technology. This means that the TV can be connected to a computer via Wi-Fi. More precisely, the computer and TV must be connected to one Wi-Fi router. Via network cable or wireless network.

I'll explain in more detail. Do you have a Philips TV (in this article we will talk about these TVs), with the support (if you have a Smart TV, then there is definitely DLNA support). Your TV is connected to the Wi-Fi router (via Wi-Fi or cable). Also, a computer is connected to this router. We launch the DLNA server on the computer, open the necessary folders with videos, photos, or music, and simply start watching on the TV. Everything is over the air, without wires. It’s very convenient; you don’t have to write movies to a flash drive all the time. We just get access to the computer, select the right movie and look.

Using the method described below, you can run a DLNA server on Windows 7, Windows 8, and even Windows 10. To launch and manage the server, we will use the free, simple great program"Home media server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)." I recently showed how, where we launched a server using a proprietary program. Since Philips does not have such a program, we will use the “Home Media Server”. The program is really very simple and cool.

We will need:

• Philips TV with DLNA support. There must be a TV, or. I will point to Philips example 43PUS7150/12 with Smart TV (Android TV) .
• A computer that is connected to the same router as the TV. It can also be connected via Wi-Fi networks, or via LAN.
• The program "Home media server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)" for setting up a DLNA server.

You can do without third party programs, and set everything up as standard using Windows. I wrote about how to do this in the article.

In fact, a server launched in this way will be able to see absolutely any TV: Philips, Sony, LG, Samsung, etc. Sony, by the way, already has models on Android TV. So, the instructions for them should also be suitable. Unless access may differ before viewing the contents of the DLNA server on the TV itself.

Setting up a DLNA server for a TV using the Home Media Server program

First, download and install the program "Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)". I recommend downloading it from the official website: https://www.homemediaserver.ru/index.htm. Click on the button Download opposite the EXE version. The file size is approximately 35 MB.

Save the file, then run it and follow the instructions to install the program.

Launch the program using a shortcut on your desktop or from the Start menu. First of all, we need to configure access to files on the computer. We can open for TV only specific folders, All local disks, or even removable media.

In the program window, click on the button at the top Settings. We are interested in the first tab, Media Resources. There will already be three folders open there. These are standard. To open access to all local drives on your computer, check the box next to Local disks. To open access to removable drives, check the box next to Removable drives.

If you want to open, for example, only one local drive or folder, then do not check these boxes, but click on the button Add. And in Explorer, select the drive or folder that you want to open for viewing on your TV. The folder will appear in the list. You can delete a folder by simply highlighting it and pressing the button Delete.

I think the meaning is clear. You can open only one folder, which contains, for example, your movies. And you can open all disks. I recommend checking the box next to Local disks. Then, the My Computer folder will be displayed on the TV, in which you can view all files.

At this point, the setup can be completed by pressing the button Ok. If you want, you can also go to the tab on the side Server, and change the name of your DLNA server. It will be displayed on the TV.

Click the button Ok to exit the settings.

To start the DLNA server, click the button Launch.

If your TV is turned on and connected to the router, then in the program window, open the tab Playback devices (DMR), you will see your TV. This means everything is fine. If the TV does not appear, then check the connection, and see the tips at the end of this article.

The program can be minimized. You can proceed to setting up DLNA on your TV.

Watch DLNA movies on your Philips TV from your computer

Press on the remote control remote control button SOURCES.

On the menu Sources choose Network (media). Or run the program Media With Android menu TV.

Select the server running on your computer from the list.

If you have opened all local drives, then you will have a My Computer folder. Select it, all the disks will be there. You can open the desired folders and start watching movies, photos, or playing music from them. If you open one of the standard folders: Movies, Photos, or Music, then all available content will be there, sorted into different categories. To view content by folder, select Media Resource Catalogs.

Select the folder with your movies and simply start watching the desired file.

That's all the setup. We got it from TV full access to videos, photos and music that are on your computer. The program "Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)" will prevent your computer from falling asleep and interrupting movie playback. You can also control viewing from the program itself on your computer. There are a lot of settings and possibilities there, I think you’ll figure it out.

Why is the DLNA server (files) not displayed on the TV?

The most common problem when setting up such a scheme is the lack of a running server on the TV. When files are from a computer, they simply do not appear.

In such situations, the first thing you should always do is check the connection of the TV and laptop to Wi-Fi, or the connection via cable. Perhaps one of the devices simply turned off. Turn off and on the TV. You can also restart your computer and start the server again. You can also try disabling the antivirus, which may be blocking the TV connection.

If a DLNA movie plays with delays, it's glitchy

In such cases, you most likely started watching a very difficult movie. And the router cannot cope with transmitting information. Typically, this problem appears on cheap routers and when connected via Wi-Fi. Big films in high quality For those who do not want to play via DLNA, it is better to watch from a USB drive or hard drive.

If, when opening a video, the TV says "Format not supported"

There are times when the TV does not want to play a video file. Most likely, the standard player simply does not support the format, there is no codec. In this case, if you have a TV on Android TV, then from Google Play Store you can install VLC player. It can also play files from local network. And most likely, it will play videos that were not opened by the standard player.

All devices that have a DLNA module have been tested in advance and have a corresponding sticker on the case.

It is also necessary to have a description of the type of content supported; there is a DLNA server, printer or player, that is, the module allows you to transmit a certain type of content - images, signals, sound.

All these devices can be freely connected to each other, depending on their purpose, the equipment has its own class. The following classes can be distinguished:

1. Digital media servers. This category includes storage devices, e.g. Cell phones.
2. Digital media players. This includes devices that can receive and playback digital content. For example, a TV that can play music and sound from another device.

How to create a home network

The home network layout for DLNA is similar to the Internet data transmission pattern.

It is he who ensures that devices connect to each other. To set up your home network you will need the following:

1. TV to play.
2. Media server for data storage, phone or laptop.
3. Router – used to provide connection between receiving and transmitting devices.
4. Cables or wireless adapters, are required to connect DLNA to the network.
5. Powerline adapters - allow you to distribute the Internet over the electrical network.

The first thing you need to do is connect your media playback device to your router.

There are several ways to do this - connecting via an electrical network, via a cable, or via a wireless bridge.

• Connecting a media device via power supply – great way set up a network throughout the house. For this, regular electricity is used, no cables are needed. For setup, only an adapter for a Powerline socket can be useful.
  All that is required is simply to connect the TV to the network via an adapter and your DLNA home network will begin to function.
• If the router and TV are located nearby, it is best to use cable connection. Ethernet cable connects to the TV and router port.
• Create a media group using wireless bridge appropriate when the TV is located far from the router. The bridge can be connected to a TV via cable, and to a router via a wireless network.

Advice: optimal solution for any case there will be an electrical connection.

The next setup step is connecting other DLNA devices.

After connecting to the TV, you can connect any DLNA server to the network - laptop, phone, tablet.

But if this is not possible, you can connect them using the methods indicated above.

Thus, the TV will be able to “see” the devices and play content.

Setting up DLNA Homegroup devices

In order for the TV to recognize content, you must configure the media group devices. For laptops and tablets you will need to install a special software.

These can be the following programs:

• Windows Media Player 11 or 12.
• VAIO Media Server (for TV from Sony).
• AllShare for Samsung.
• LG Smart Share.
• Home Media Server.

You must allow the group access to the laptop; this can be done in the software settings by activating media file sharing.

These can be music files, images or videos. Typically a library or list is created that can later be played by a media device.

Not every smartphone can be connected to a DLNA group. But those that have such a function connect via Wi-F to wireless router.

Advice: for the network to work, the following algorithm must be performed:

• Wi-Fi needs to be included in the favorites list and set to automatic connection.
• Turn off power saving mode.
• Activate file sharing.

In this article, I want to once again talk about how to create on a computer (laptop, netbook) DLNA server. This will allow you to watch movies and photos on your TV, as well as listen to music that is on your computer.

You just need to connect the TV to your computer via a network cable, or just to one network, run it on DLNA computer server and start watching a movie or photo.

But, as it turned out in the end, with Smart app Share raises many problems. Either it doesn’t start, then it displays various errors, or closes on its own. You can read about this in the comments that visitors left on the article, the link to which is above.

There is a very good and absolutely free program “Home media server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)”, which is excellent analogue Smart Share from LG, or for example AllShare from Samsung.

“Home media server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” is something like this universal program, with which you can launch a DLNA server and connect to it from almost any TV that supports DLNA technology (and if your TV has Wi-Fi or a network connector, then it most likely supports this technology). In principle, a DLNA client can be not only a TV, but for example a game console.

This manual is suitable for TVs different manufacturers: LG, Samsung, Toshiba, Sony, etc. Compared to branded applications such as Smart Share, “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” has a large number of settings.

We will not delve into all the nuances, but will only consider how to open shared access to the necessary folders or drives. How to create a server and how to start watching a movie using DLNA technology on your TV.

Connecting a TV to use DLNA technology

Before we start setting up the program, we need to connect the TV to a computer or laptop. If you already have everything connected, for example through a router, then you can move on to the next step.

We need to connect the laptop and TV to the network. If you have a router installed at home, then just connect your computer to this router, via cable or via Wi-Fi, it doesn’t matter. And you need to connect the TV to the same router. You can connect your TV the same way, or via Wi-Fi (see connection instructions ) .

Our task is to ensure that the TV and computer (in my case laptop), were connected to the same router. I have a TV connected to my router via Wi-Fi LG 32LN575U and laptop Asus K56CM. This instruction will be based on their example.

What to do if you don't have a router?

In this case, you can connect the computer to the TV via a network cable directly. Just take the required length network cable (it can be crimped at almost any computer store), and connect the TV to the computer.

It looks something like this:

Connecting this way should work fine. But my TV refused to see the server created on the laptop. But, in the “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” program, the TV was displayed and I could start viewing photos from the laptop itself, and the photo appeared on the TV.

She also has an idea on how to connect them without a cable and without a router. But I’m not sure what will work and this method is only suitable for TVs that have the ability to connect to Wi-Fi.

You can try to create a computer-to-computer connection on a laptop, which I wrote about in the article ““. Then, connect the TV to the created access point and try to access files on the computer.

I think we have sorted out the connection. Let's move on to setting up the server.

Setting up the “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” program

First, we need to download and install the program itself. I recommend downloading from the official website: . There's always a new version and it's safer that way.

Save the archive to your computer. To install, simply run the setup.exe file, which is located in the archive. I will not describe the entire installation process, it is simple. Follow the instructions.

After installation, launch the program with a shortcut on the desktop.

Let's go straight to the program settings. We won't do anything special there. We will simply indicate local disks, flash drives, external HDD and, or folders, the contents of which we want to see on the TV. For example, you can open only a few folders with movies, photos and music.

A settings window will open. In the first category, Media resources, we need to indicate which drives or folders we want to see on the TV. By default, there are open standard folders with photos, videos and music.

The program is trying to sort everything. And in order not to get confused in all these folders on the TV, I advise you to open shared access to local drives. By default, if I'm not mistaken, access to them is already open. Check if the checkbox next to Local disks.

If installed, this means that you can open any file on your TV that is stored on these local drives (drives C, D, E, etc.).

You can also specify separate folders, or for example external hard disk. To do this, click on the button on the right Add, and select in Explorer the desired folder, flash drive, or hard drive.

We can see which folders and drives we have opened access to. We can delete selected folders. These are the basic settings, if you look, there are a lot of settings there, I won’t go through them all. To save, click on the button Ok, and agree to scan media resources.

We wait while the program scans the folders and disk. Next, you can start the DLNA server itself. To do this, simply click on the “ Launch“.

We see a message stating that the server is running.

Now, just turn on the TV. If everything is connected correctly, it should appear in the “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” program. To do this, go to the tab Playback devices (DMR), and on the right, click the button Update.

If our TV appears, then everything is fine. You can try to start viewing photos directly from the program.

If the TV does not appear in the program, and the server we created is also not visible on the TV, then first of all, check the connection. Is the TV connected to the network and is the laptop connected.

Then, completely disable antiviruses and firewalls. They can block access to the server.

To do this, in the main program window (above), select one of the tabs: movies, music, or photos.

In the left window, media content will appear that is located in those folders and drives to which we have opened access. Click right click mouse, for example on a photo, and select “Play on“, then select our TV.

The photo should immediately appear on the TV screen.

In the same way, you can start playing video and music. This means that we can start playback on the TV screen from the “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” program.

But this is not always convenient. It's much better to go through the TV and open necessary files. For this, we leave running server. You can hide the “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” program. Click on the red cross (close the program), and it will hide in the notification panel.

At the same time, the server will work and you will be able to access your computer from the TV.

We start viewing files via DLNA from the TV

This means the server is running on the computer, files are open for viewing.

Now, on the TV, we need to go into the program that is responsible for working with DLNA technology. For example, in LG, this is Smart Share. On other TVs, this application may be called differently.

For example, to launch Smart Share in LG, go to Smart TV (blue button on the remote) and select Smart Share. If your TV does not have Smart TV, but does have DLNA, the process may be different.

Open the folder My computer, and we see our local drives there, and other folders to which we have opened access.

Afterword

“Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” is actually a very cool program, with a lot of settings. We only considered the opening public access to files, and starting the server. When I started watching the movie through Smart program Share, the laptop went into sleep mode and playback was interrupted. “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” has a lock that prevents the computer from going to sleep when it is being used as a server.

I hope everything worked out for you and you are now watching your favorite movies on big screen TV using DLNA technology.

If something doesn’t work out, write in the comments, we’ll try to figure it out.

Also on the site:

We configure the DLNA server using the “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” program. View files from your computer on your TV updated: February 7, 2018 by: admin

In general, the Home Media Server program is conceived by the developers as a home media server. But most often HMS is used as a DLNA server. It is ideal for this purpose and has many useful settings, often functioning even better than such official programs like LG SmartShare PC SW and standard method DLNA settings via Windows Media Player. The idea is to allow the TV to play movies, music, pictures and other content directly from your laptop or computer. At the same time, they must be connected to the same home network, for the organization of which a router or router is usually used. After that, all that remains is to configure the program, and it’s done. You can download it on the official website http://www.homemediaserver.ru by clicking on the “Download” button.

Installing Media Server is as easy as shelling pears: unpack the archive and run “setup.exe”, where we agree to all the conditions and click the “Next” button everywhere. After successful installation and launch of HMS, the main program window will appear. When you launch it for the first time, select your TV from the list of devices (for example, LG TV). You can add media resources to which your TV will have access in the next window or in the settings later. In the program data backup and recovery window, click “Run” and “Close”.

HMS as DLNA server

We immediately go to the program settings. Here we have to configure our home media server like DLNA. To do this, in the “Media Resources” category in the very first tab “Directory List”, using the “Add” button, indicate the paths to the folders on our computer where the media files that you would like to see on an LG TV or other are located. After adding all the folders, click “Scan”. Although we will set up auto-scanning of new media resources, new elements still sometimes do not appear automatically, and you need to scan using this button manually.

On the “Scanning” tab, it is important to enable automatic scanning of directories when they change and start the program, so that new media files are immediately displayed on the TV.

In order for Home Media Server to start when the computer boots, in the “Advanced” category you need to check the boxes “Start the program when you start a Windows session” and “Installation Windows services Home media server..." Setting up HMS for the DLNA server is complete, click OK.

Next, select the “PC Connection” tab and click the “Next” button 3 times. Please note that in step 3 your home network is selected (wired or wireless, depending on how you connect the TV), otherwise select it.

In step 4 you should see your PC. If it's not there, restart the server, this usually helps. Next, select the device and go to the “Connected devices” item.

View Media

After the first connection, our device will be displayed in the last item of LG SmartShare – “Connected devices”. If it is not there, restart the server on your PC. For example, to watch movies you need to select the “Movies” folder, then “Media resource directories”.

Here you will see a list of folders added in HMS settings. Go to any folder and launch the movie. Sometimes the TV may write that “The file type is not supported.” Don’t despair, this is a glitch, try to run it again and everything will work out 2-3 times.

Features of HMS

The advantages of a home media server from Serviio are as follows:

• on the TV you can see a clear PC folder structure;
• the ability to start playing media files on TV from the program itself on a PC. To do this, you need to select a file from the list and click on the green Play button, which is present if the TV is turned on;
• relative stability of operation (after PC SW DLNA from LG it’s just a fairy tale);
• a large number of settings.

Flaws:

• some confusion for beginners;
• Sometimes automatic scanning of new files does not work;
• Periodically you have to restart the server for the device to appear on TV.

Despite these shortcomings, HMS is ideal as a home media server, including DLNA. Details on setting up the Home DLNA server are in the following video.

Other options

The capabilities of the Home Media server reviewed do not end with DLNA. HMS can provide access to computer media resources using UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) technology and HTTP protocol. This is more relevant for smartphones and tablets.

But also for DLNA given server maybe a lot more. For example, you can give access not only to computer resources, but also to Internet radio streams and television IPTV. It is also possible to broadcast so-called podcasts from various online cinemas, such as hdserials.ru, hdkinoklub.ru and hundreds of others. There are also possibilities for transcoding media files of a format that is not supported on TV. How do you like this? All this will be discussed in the following articles, subscribe to our newsletter, as well as VKontakte and Twitter.