Streaming media from MacOS to Android Tv Boxes via SMB and NFS -Brief Tutorial-
#1
Platform: MacOS Mojave 10.14.6 (Catalina is problematic because 32 bit apps are not supported. Stick with Mojave or before if you don't find a solution with Catalina)
KODI Version: 18.5 Leila
Android Boxes: H96 pro+ and Xiaomi Mi S 4K (Valid for all Android Tv Boxes where KODI can be installed)
Consoles: Xbox One(Would work for One S and One X too. PS4 doesn't let KODI)
Purpose: Stream movies, tv shows, mp3 etc. from Mac to Android Boxes (tons of movies and tv shows can't be stored in streaming medias)
Protocols: SMB and NFS (The two protocols which are used the most)

Devices and protocols mentioned here are the ones i dealt with. It's my own experience and solution. 

SMB Protocol:
-It's better to give static IP to your MAC computer. It might eliminate further problems. You can do that in System Preferences>Network
-If, somehow, you've been trying to configure through native MAC file sharing, undo all the changes. You can do that from System Preferences>Sharing. Make sure nothing is clicked. 
-Download SMBUP from here. Install it and "Add new shared drives". Make sure to save changes. If you want to delete a share, just select and hit "delete" on your keyboard. There is no right click option here. Make sure SMBUP is opened at login so that you don't have to open it every time you start your OS. Go to your Android Box and add your shares. Choose SMB protocol. However, Xbox One and some other devices don't support SMB protocol. You need to use NFS. That is the next subject. 

NFS Protocol:

This doesn't look easy to configure. Most people are stuck with NFS protocol. The most common problem(that i was stuck with for a while) is shares are visible in Android Boxes but can't be browsed. No matter how many times you click on shares, nothing happens. NFS protocol is natively supported in MacOS and there are just a few tricks you need to do. If you haven't corrupted your OS:
* Open Terminal
* Write "sudo nfsd start" without quotes
* Write your password
* If the output is "nfsd is already running" you can go on:

-Download NFS Manager here . GUI interface and it will make it so easy to configure. It's a fully working shareware. If you don't want to donate, it will just open a popup every time you apply a change. The purpose of using NFS Manager is to create shares which is known as exports in NFS protocol. 
-Navigate to Share Definitions.  Hit "+" and select the folder. Hit Show advanced options and select Allow mounting the folder or any subfolders inside. Close and apply. 
-Make sure hidden files are visible and navigate to /private/etc/exports. You will see your shared folders there. Mine is as follow:
Quote:/Volumes/2TB_Backup/Media -alldirs -ro
/Volumes/2TB_Backup/TORRENT -alldirs -ro
-Finder>Go>Go to Folder and write /sbin and enter. Find nfsd and open System Preferences>Security&Privacy>Privacy>Full Disk Access and click the lock to make changes. Drag and drop nfsd there and click it. 

-Finally, Finder>Go>Go to Folder and copy /System/Library/LaunchDaemons and paste it. Navigate to com.apple.nfsd.plist. Right click on it and choose Textedit to edit the file. Mine looks like this:
xml:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <dict>
        <key>PathState</key>
        <dict>
            <key>/etc/exports</key>
            <true/>
        </dict>
    </dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.apple.nfsd</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/sbin/nfsd</string>
        <string>-N</string>
    </array>
</dict>
</plist>

I highlighted what you need to add. Make sure you add this line <string>-N</string> there. I recommend you to copy that plist to your desktop, edit it and copy back there and Authenticate. 

Restart your OS and Android Tv Box. From this point on, you can browse your NFS Shares easily. You can select your shares from "Zeroconf Browser" too.Try and report if you have a problem or solved it. Hope this works for you.
H96 Pro+
Xiaomi Mi S 4K
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#2
*Unnecessary large quote removed by moderator*

Hi
I tried all the steps but stuck on editing the com.apple.nfsd.plist file.
I am getting error that i don't have permission to edit this file.
Please help
Thank you.

Edit: all good, edited file with backup drive.
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#3
you can also edit in terminal directly:
Code:
sudo nano /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.nfsd.plist
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#4
(2019-12-07, 03:17)siansonu Wrote: *Unnecessary large quote removed by moderator*

Hi
I tried all the steps but stuck on editing the com.apple.nfsd.plist file.
I am getting error that i don't have permission to edit this file.
Please help
Thank you.

Edit: all good, edited file with backup drive.
I recommend you to copy that plist to your desktop, edit it and copy back there and Authenticate. 

This is the reason i recommended to edit on your desktop. Since you solved it already, happy KODIing Smile
H96 Pro+
Xiaomi Mi S 4K
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#5
Hey there, I just want to say thanks for so much for making this tutorial! Although like @siansonu was - I'm stuck on editing/copying the com.apple.nfsd.plist file, an error with permissions that won't allow me to copy the edited file from Desktop to the LaunchDaemons folder.

I'm obviously a noob at this, so I'm asking you to please suggest what I should do to get by permissions? I've followed your directions step-by-step & I've tried the Terminal suggestion from @kambala and still get the same error. Just at a loss right now...thanks in advance.

Edit: I figured it out! Thanks again for your awesome tutorial. For me to get permissions I had to Boot into recovery mode & disable SIP with terminal. If anyone's interested in the answer on how to do that, it's here: https://apple.stackexchange.com/question...4-or-later
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#6
(2019-12-12, 02:17)MichaelTzdroid Wrote: Hey there, I just want to say thanks for so much for making this tutorial! Although like @siansonu was - I'm stuck on editing/copying the com.apple.nfsd.plist file, an error with permissions that won't allow me to copy the edited file from Desktop to the LaunchDaemons folder.

I'm obviously a noob at this, so I'm asking you to please suggest what I should do to get by permissions? I've followed your directions step-by-step & I've tried the Terminal suggestion from @kambala and still get the same error. Just at a loss right now...thanks in advance.

Edit: I figured it out! Thanks again for your awesome tutorial. For me to get permissions I had to Boot into recovery mode & disable SIP with terminal. If anyone's interested the answer how to do that, it's here: https://apple.stackexchange.com/question...4-or-later
I'm glad you did that. I'm using Hackintosh and SIP is always disabled for me. That might be an issue for real MACs.
H96 Pro+
Xiaomi Mi S 4K
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#7
Hey myfranco, I ran into another problem or may be limitation of MacOS

I can't share my exfat hdd in nfs, I am getting error this file system is not supported.

Any workaround?

Thank you.
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#8
(2019-12-13, 08:46)siansonu Wrote: Hey myfranco, I ran into another problem or may be limitation of MacOS

I can't share my exfat hdd in nfs, I am getting error this file system is not supported.

Any workaround?

Thank you.
As far as i know, it has to be HFS or APFS. I tried that with NTFS once, no luck at all. I don't think there is any way but not 100% sure.

BTW, if you're using ExFAT for sharing the same drive between Windows and MAC, try NTFS. ExFAT is not very reliable and NTFS is the best to go. I'm using Tuxera NTFS Manager and it's the best i can tell. Here is the website:

https://www.tuxera.com/products/tuxera-ntfs-for-mac/

About $15 and i've had zero problem with it.
H96 Pro+
Xiaomi Mi S 4K
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#9
(2019-12-13, 13:33)myfranco Wrote: ExFAT is not very reliable

why? never had any issues so far.

Also, FAT32 if you don't need big files.
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#10
(2019-12-14, 12:29)kambala Wrote:
(2019-12-13, 13:33)myfranco Wrote: ExFAT is not very reliable

why? never had any issues so far.

Also, FAT32 if you don't need big files. 

When it comes to filesystem to corrupt, ExFAT is the winner. Do your research. NTFS is the most reliable.
H96 Pro+
Xiaomi Mi S 4K
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#11
I had these same issues but this helped me without having to do anything with NFS:

In Kodi client---Settings---Services---Advance(if you haven't already)---SMB Client---adjust Minimum protocol version to SMB1--Do not reset-- Set Maximum protocol version to SMB1, and reboot Kodi.

After this in Kodi you must enter manually the video source in first box after "Add Video sources". Example: smb://192.168.1.12.
You can get this info in "Sharing tab" of System Preferences of MacOS Catalina.

I didn't do this but may help you: Also on MacOS Catalina---enable Guest in Users & Groups preferences tab.

Keep in mind I also did this during my troubleshooting stages: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205926
So if the above doesn't help give this a go too as I am not sure if it helps or not.
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#12
(2019-12-27, 01:20)oneseventhree Wrote: I had these same issues but this helped me without having to do anything with NFS:

In Kodi client---Settings---Services---Advance(if you haven't already)---SMB Client---adjust Minimum protocol version to SMB1--Do not reset-- Set Maximum protocol version to SMB1, and reboot Kodi.

After this in Kodi you must enter manually the video source in first box after "Add Video sources". Example: smb://192.168.1.12.
You can get this info in "Sharing tab" of System Preferences of MacOS Catalina.

I didn't do this but may help you: Also on MacOS Catalina---enable Guest in Users & Groups preferences tab.

Keep in mind I also did this during my troubleshooting stages: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205926
So if the above doesn't help give this a go too as I am not sure if it helps or not.
Thanks for sharing. However, NFS is necessary for some devices such as Xbox1. Xbox1 doesn't let you use SMB, it's only NFS.
H96 Pro+
Xiaomi Mi S 4K
Reply
#13
(2019-12-12, 02:17)MichaelTzdroid Wrote: Hey there, I just want to say thanks for so much for making this tutorial! Although like @siansonu was - I'm stuck on editing/copying the com.apple.nfsd.plist file, an error with permissions that won't allow me to copy the edited file from Desktop to the LaunchDaemons folder.

I'm obviously a noob at this, so I'm asking you to please suggest what I should do to get by permissions? I've followed your directions step-by-step & I've tried the Terminal suggestion from @kambala and still get the same error. Just at a loss right now...thanks in advance.

Edit: I figured it out! Thanks again for your awesome tutorial. For me to get permissions I had to Boot into recovery mode & disable SIP with terminal. If anyone's interested in the answer on how to do that, it's here: https://apple.stackexchange.com/question...4-or-later

Editing system files now seems impossible with macOS Big Sur... Had a very hard time trying to edit the plist file, without success. I cannot authenticate or save a file from Terminal anymore.
Reply
#14
(2020-12-29, 23:12)Dreamkiller Wrote: Editing system files now seems impossible with macOS Big Sur... Had a very hard time trying to edit the plist file, without success. I cannot authenticate or save a file from Terminal anymore.

have you tried doing it from Recovery Mode or with disabled SIP?
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#15
(2020-12-30, 13:05)kambala Wrote:
(2020-12-29, 23:12)Dreamkiller Wrote: Editing system files now seems impossible with macOS Big Sur... Had a very hard time trying to edit the plist file, without success. I cannot authenticate or save a file from Terminal anymore.

have you tried doing it from Recovery Mode or with disabled SIP?
I  have the same problem now. Bought Mac mini 2018 and BigSur doesn't allow me to do it. Disabling SIP doesn't help
H96 Pro+
Xiaomi Mi S 4K
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Streaming media from MacOS to Android Tv Boxes via SMB and NFS -Brief Tutorial-2