Miniclient 101

[smdl]

Hi, folks.

Have been searching for a while, and haven't quite been able to put together a clear picture on this. Apologies if this is a repeat question, but I am new to the whole Android Miniclient concept.

I'd like the ability to view SageTV recordings on my Android tablets and phones, and have successfully installed the Miniclient on the devices. Upon login, the client immediately discovers the Sage TV server, and the UI loads nicely. However, when I try to play a recording, the video quickly gets garbled, and everything locks up. All my recordings are H264, and I am suspecting that the playback problem I am having results from a lack of hardware decoding on the Android devices. If this is the case, I'm wondering if there is a way to implement transcoding for these clients. I've been a Sage user for over a decade, but have never had the need to do this sort of thing before, and it is all new to me.

Thanks for any assistance. Feel free to point me to existing threads or suggest search criteria if I have just missed something obvious.

Cheers,
Shaun

[KryptoNyte]

Hi, Shaun,

Could you please provide a list of the Android devices that you are trying to use with the miniclient?

[VCRUser]

Originally Posted by smdl

I'm wondering if there is a way to implement transcoding for these clients.

If you connect outside of your home network, I think it will transcode. I have both "home" and "away" configurations set up, and for "away" I use the place-shifter ID. You could still use your home wifi to connect, but it would connect out through the internet, triggering transcoding. Not an ideal long-term solution, but it could help in trouble-shooting to see if transcoding indeed results in a better image. You could also put some other-format videos on your server and see if they behave differently through the miniclient.

[smdl]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

Hi, Shaun,

Could you please provide a list of the Android devices that you are trying to use with the miniclient?

Apologies for the late reply. I'm currently testing on my Samsung Galaxy Tab S and my Samsung J3 6 phone.

Just noticed some settings in the Miniclient relating to various players, such as Exoplayer and IJK. Perhaps I need to install one of these first? Sorry, like I say, this is all new to me!

Cheers,
Shaun

[smdl]

Originally Posted by VCRUser

If you connect outside of your home network, I think it will transcode. I have both "home" and "away" configurations set up, and for "away" I use the place-shifter ID. You could still use your home wifi to connect, but it would connect out through the internet, triggering transcoding. Not an ideal long-term solution, but it could help in trouble-shooting to see if transcoding indeed results in a better image. You could also put some other-format videos on your server and see if they behave differently through the miniclient.

Thanks for the insight. Will do some experimenting.

Cheers,
Shaun

[smdl]

Okay, now I feel really dumb. With the quick install of Exoplayer, the video was working. Then, by simply disabling the audio passthrough, I had sound. Works great!!

Sorry for the waste of time, folks!

Shaun