[Dr_S]

I have searched these forums (and others) for a few days now to find an instance of this problem but have found none. If someone knows of a resource here I missed, please do let me know.

New to Kodi, installed 16.1/Jarvis running on a Win 7 (don't ask) machine between a "smart" TV and content fed (via NFS mounts) from NAS servers. All are wired on a single gigabit switched network. Kodi sees and plays all of the NAS content from the PC and gathers the requisite database information, that was simple.

My problem is that UPNP/DLNA is the only resource available on my "smart" TV. I have enabled the UPNP server in Kodi and I could then see Kodi from the TV and navigate the directory structure (really on the NAS) via Kodi with the TV's remote control. The problem comes at the "file" level -- file names (including extensions) populate on the TV, but none of the date/duration data ever shows. I know from past (NAS to TV direct streaming) that is a sign of doom -- I cannot select any of the files I see on the TV screen to play through Kodi; none of the file information other than the name populates. I have rebooted the Win 7 machine, restarted Kodi, the NAS, the TV, (my switches) even left the connection up for hours, in the event of v-e-r-y slow transfer from NAS, but no change, I can only see the filenames. Again, those same movies play well on the Win 7/Kodi machine.

Need any more information to form an opinion? Any thoughts?

[Derek]

Why not just plug it in to your TV via HDMI or is this not an option?

[Dr_S]

Thank you sir, for the suggestion; it triggered a chain of thought and investigation that solved the problem.

That was indeed an option, but one that I had presumed required me to be at the PC to control Kodi. I was willing to settle for the more limited onscreen controls of my television remote managed from the sofa. After reading your suggestion, sought remote software for the laptop -- and "discovered" the Kodi Remote app for the iphone. I happen to have a simless iPhone 4 just sitting around that I use primarily to stream satellite radio for (american) football and hockey games. It now runs the Kodi interface on the laptop with the added bonus of the more broad media file types than the TV offered.

Problem solved without UPNP served on either side of Kodi.

Too funny, Derek, my wife and I are planning our driving tour of "Bonnie Scotland" coming up in a few weeks (tonight, we are at the "should we stay two nights in Inverness part)!