SOLVED:Certain .mp4 files not seen by DLNA server (miniDLNA)

[galoisienne2]

Up to now, I have had no issues playing mp4 via DLNA (TV).

I downloaded a bunch of files (80 or so) from a single location (a Coursera course), so the fact that none of them play via DLNA is not surprising, since they're all coming from the same place.

***ACTUALLY, I should say that they're not even VISIBLE when I try and point to them on my TV. So I'm not getting an error; I just don't see anything.

Some additional facts:
The files all play fine from the server on my laptops; this appears to be just a DLNA TV issue.

Ownerships are set fine. Similar to most of my existing files I've got the user:group setting on "my account name:users", again just like the rest of working files. All are sitting in a subdirectory of a movies share.

I've done some checking. Perhaps this particular group of mp4s, is different - perhaps a codec issue.

Is there any way to check the kind of mp4 file that I'm using ? Or, a way to convert the .mp4 file to a different codec (while letting it remain .mp4), in order to be able to play it on the DLNA server ?

Any ideas what the issue is likely to be. Again, I'm thinking the type of file format, codec, or something along those lines.

Thanks

[galoisienne2]

Anyone with any ideas on this.

Is it possible that not all .mp4 files are playable via DLNA ?

One thought I had was to upload to youtube and then download. Seems a bit inefficient, but what comes out the other end may be a playable version of .mp4.

Thanks for any advice here.

[galoisienne2]

Is there perhaps a way of modifying the miniDLNA player such that it can recognize a wider variety of mp4 codecs ? I notice that both miniDLNA and my Roku Media Player do not see this particular set of .mp4 files. I am certain this issue is related to the particular type of .mp4 file. This particular set is from a coursera course, so they're all produced by the same source.

[bigfoot65]

Recommend you search the internet. It may be a codec issue or something else. There is probably someone who has had this issue somewhere in the world.

[galoisienne2]

In the process of doing that. Thanks.

But it's got to be possible to install or configure capabilities within the miniDLNA software to play additional formats, no ? The software is set to play what it plays, so perhaps there's a way to extend that.

I have something like 80+ files, 1.2 Gb, so on logical grounds its smarter to at least explore the possibility of doing something on the server side, first. Hence my Q to the forum. I presume you'r indicating that the server-side route is easier said than done, so go ahead and pursue changing file properties, codecs, etc.

Best regards.

[bigfoot65]

But it's got to be possible to install or configure capabilities within the miniDLNA software to play additional formats, no ?.

Thre probably is a way to do so, but you most likely will not find the answer here. There may be software limitation with minidlna. Probably would want to check out their site, maybe a forums area to pose the question.

I would assume there are tutorials for installing codecs in linux all over the internet. It's just a matter of whether minidlna supports it or not. Here's a link that might help.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/minidlna/

[galoisienne2]

Thanks very much. I'll let you know if I end up with any positive result.

[galoisienne2]

Simpler issue than I'd imagined: the joker here was whitespace.

The 80+ or so file names (all .mp4s), where padded with spaces and/or whitespace. This is not desirable.

I removed the spaces in a couple of file names and that did the trick.

The problem was, how to remove multiple spaces in each of the 80+ files without going crazy. I found plenty of scripts, but completely avoided these via the following command, which is issued directly from the command line (bash only), from within the directory of interest.

Works like a charm.

for name in *\ *; do mv -v "$name" "${name// /}"; done

that's it.

[bigfoot65]

LOL Figures it was something so simple that neither of us could see it. Guess file names are crucial here. Alwayes best to not use spaces anyway. I try to always use a dash or underscore.