[dez93_2000]

Hi all, apologies if this is really easy, i've looked around the help files but am still getting used to the terminology, and also the general principles of what the best solution is to solve specific problems.

So, I've got xbmc setup on my linux PC, added all media, SCANNED all media, and can see the linux upnp share from my windows 7 laptop's xbmc when on the same network.
However - when I bring the laptop into work (i.e want to connect over internet, which I thought I was doing before but evidently wasn't!), the upnp link doesn't work ("could not connect to network server"). If I try to "add a new source, browse, network location", I'm not sure what I should do next - I tried upnp and put my IP address into the location/IP address box but it says "unable to connect". The various extra settings boxes are greyed out (username, password, port, etc) which leads me to suspect that upnp may be LAN only, not IP.

Please can someone who knows about this subject let me know how I can setup my windows xbmc client in order to control and use my linux xbmc server, over the internet?

[edit: additional info: I can connect to it with bxmc on android phone, although i get the "exception, invalid params" problem (http://code.google.com/p/android-xbmcrem...ail?id=693) it seems to prove that it's connected at least]
Thanks in advance.

p.s. i've opened my ports and ticked all the relevant boxes in 'settings' on the server machine, e.g. allow control by IP, etc.

[Ned Scott]

VPN? Setting up a VPN is probably your easiest solution. It allows you to connect to your home network from over the internet, but appear as if you were on your local home network.

I have no idea how to set it up on windows, though. Maybe someone else can fill that part in.

[dez93_2000]

I can do some research if that's the way to go about it. It just appears from the dialogue boxes in XBMC and the various info about uPNP around the web (wikipedia etc) that XBMC would support direct control of the server by the client over IP... not least because the android version (XBMC remote) does precisely this! There are other source type options (HTTPS, HTTP, FTP, etc.), but some of them I have no knowledge about at all, and for the rest I'd just be guessing which is best based on limited knowledge and intuitive guesswork.

So Ned, are you categorically stating that XBMC (as client) doesn't natively support the control - via uPNP or otherwise - of XBMC (server) over IP?

Thanks for the quick reply, btw! And not looking to put you on the spot here, I just don't wanna go away and spend an evening wrangling with VPN only to then find out that I could have just selected the next option down (or whatever)!
Cheers

[dez93_2000]

I think this might be especially pertinent: "Future Gotham feature: As of XBMC v13 "Gotham", XBMC can also be a control point in addition to being a UPnP server, allowing one XBMC device to control another"
(from: http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=UPnP/Client)

However: XBMC v12 on my win7 laptop is quite happily controlling XBMC v11 on my PC through my LAN right now, through uPNP....
::confused::

[edit: and reading the wiki about media sources > file sharing, it seems more & more like uPNP is the way to go - it's the protocol which works from Android (client) to XBMC v11 linux server, and also the protocol which is arguably XBMC's 'star' feature, based on the amount of competing products which do this well (none? Plex?)

[dez93_2000]

From wikipedia entry about upnp:

"NAT traversal
One solution for NAT traversal, called the Internet Gateway Device Protocol (IGD Protocol), is implemented via UPnP. Many routers and firewalls expose themselves as Internet Gateway Devices, allowing any local UPnP control point to perform a variety of actions, including retrieving the external IP address of the device, enumerate existing port mappings, and add or remove port mappings. By adding a port mapping, a UPnP controller behind the IGD can enable traversal of the IGD from an external address to an internal client."

Would this be a solution? I'd be genuinely amazed if XBMC on win7 can't control XBMC on linux over IP, given how many of the 'source' options are internet staples, e.g. HTTP, FTP...
Anyone with any ideas would be really appreciated!
Cheers

[oldpoem]

What do you want to achieve? If you want to stream your video through internet it probably not achievable because XBMC doesn't do any transcode. If you want to stream music there are many other ways to do it. I can't see no point in remote control through UPNP via Internet since playback would still be on connected display.

It's a possibility to get more features of UPNP implementation but I don't think it has high priority. I'd say if dev doesn't use it , it's not on his priority as well. Hardly noone want to code something he doesn't use and has no interest to test it out.

[dez93_2000]

hmm.... so the streaming of videos and music whicih xbmc does over network isn't possible over internet? Interesting.
Re: streaming music: any suggestions? The entire reason I've gone down the xbmc route is because research suggested that it was the best solution to serve music over the internet to a client which could play it?

[oldpoem]

XBMC doesn't do any transcoding of video when serve through UPNP so it's usually bandwidth issue over internet.

Where did you research? UPNP server part of XBMC was just implemented and not very matured.

[dez93_2000]

also: setting up a VPN connection between win7 laptop and linux pc, then telling win7 xbmc client to connect through VPN proxy* would work?

So...i'm still confused. If XBMC doesn't transcode, why does whatever magic it uses to stream videos over the network via upnp not work when doing the same thing over the same cables but through the internet via IP?

And given the faff of all this, should I have not bothered with xbmc in the first place, and instead done the whole thing through subsonic, for example? Or can the xbmc server still be used, but using (e.g.) VLC or Foobar as a client? (although, i'm suggesting those since they're upnp controllers and this isn't going to be upnp... so what does xbmc remote on android use then? Can xbmc on win7 not be configured to connect in the same way?)

*http://lifehacker.com/5763170/how-to-secure-and-encrypt-your-web-browsing-on-public-networks-with-hamachi-and-privoxy/#install

[oldpoem]

It doesn't do transcode means no compression of media, if your internet has enough bandwidth it could work. Other UPNP Server do transcode to make it more efficient with streaming over slow network. Imagine streaming 1080P content untouched over internet.

Before Frodo, XBMC only did control over UPNP. Delivered Media through UPNP/DLNA was just introduced.

VPN is an option you could use, without waiting for XBMC implement those feature you want. I think it should work.

[dez93_2000]

boo, ok, just looking up uPNP on wikipedia and cross-referencing servers with clients and other stuff. Looks like i'll have to go back to the drawing board, depending on how well the VPN idea works, although maybe xbmc can still be used to stream music? Or is it pretty much useless for sending media out of my computer over the internet? Should I just give up on that idea now?

[Ned Scott]

Before Frodo, XBMC only did control over UPNP. Delivered Media through UPNP/DLNA was just introduced.

Actually, the library sharing part of UPnP has been in XBMC for a number of versions, but it's been buggy and very poorly documented until Frodo. Lots of bug fixes finally make it usable!

[dez93_2000]

would.....there be any benefit for me to upgrade my v11 Eden XBMC on linux to v12 Frodo, in terms of any improved ability to "make media on my PC be controlled and played elsewhere"?

[Chambers]

Set up a sftp server and stream it through sftp, that's what I do. If you need to transcode, install plex media server and use their client or plexbmc plugin

[dez93_2000]

thanks Chambers, i'll start looking into all this tech now. If you have any bookmarked how-tos, any recommended sftp clients (if that's a thing, i don't know yet!), or other advice, it'd be very appreciatively received! And am I right in thinking that the full route map would be:
[for music, no transcoding]: home PC > sftp server > sftp stream over internet > sftp client of some kind? does xbmc do this?

Cheers!!