Freecom Media Player
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As ever, first thing to mention is READ THE MANUAL! Follow the instructions there and you should have no real problem.
Are you connecting to a router or hub?
If yes, you can use the network cable supplied with your Player. (This is called a "crossover" cable and, as such, it works where you connect the Player directly to the Network Interface Card (sometimes called an NIC or alternatively a LAN Card) on your PC. But you usually need a straight-through cable for connection to a router or hub. These cables have RJ45 connectors at each end, and these only fit one way in to the Player and NIC.
A Quick Word about "DHCP"
"DHCP" stands for Dynamic Host Protocol - but you don't really need to know what that is (if you do, Google for it) What you DO need to know is that somewhere on your network one bit of equipment must act as a DHCP Server - the server dishes out the IP addresses (see below) for all the networked bits of kit on your LAN. Various bits of equipment can act as a DHCP Server - for example, your Windows operating system (Windows 2000 and above) can act as a server. So can the Media Player. Your router almost certainly can also. Even some upmarket printers can do the Server job. BUT - you should only have ONE DHCP server operating on your LAN - any more than one and confusion, and a non-functioning LAN, is the likely outcome. So you need to decide which bit of kit is to act as the server, turn ON DHCP on that bit of kit and turn OFF DHCP on all other bits of kit. If you have a direct Player-to-PC ethernet connection, it probably does not matter whether the Player or the PC acts as server. To avoid possible problems with your internet connection, I suggest you might be best to turn off the Player's DHCP function, and let your PC do the work. If you have a router, it is normally (but not always) best to let the router act as Server and turn DHCP off on all PCs and the Player. But - golden rule - make detailed notes of what you do, what settings were before you changed them, where you got at those settings, etc - as you go along because you might find what you have done does not work and you need to put everything back where it was and start again!
A Quick Word about IP addresses
"IP" stands for Internet Protocol, which, like DHCP above, you really don't need to know much about (unless you want to Google). A very short explanation is that all your bits of networked kit need to be separately identified by your system. That's done by assigning an individual and unique 12 digit number to each bit of kit - the 12 digits are known as the IP Address and usually look something like: 192.168.001.005 If you have a simple LAN (say, just one PC connected to the Player) you can probably forget about IP Addresses - the DHCP server you have turned on will automatically allocate these addresses. Even if you have a more complex LAN, the DHCP server should handle IP addresses without your involvement.
So, if it's all automatic, why do I mention it? Well, first, if you have a complex LAN, there are some good reasons for setting the IP Addresses yourself. Secondly, not all bits of kit operate satisfactorily with DHCP-assigned IP addresses and you might find you have no choice but to set the addresses manually. And thirdly - and more importantly, you need to know the absolute basics about IP addresses 'cos, if your Player does not work, the first thing you need to check before you do anything else is the Player's IP address. I'll deal with that further down this page, once we have got to the stage of having fired up the LAN.
Connecting the LAN
Turn everything off (Player, PC, Router if you have one). Plug your ethernet cable in to your Player, then in to your router (or PC). Note that you will need to connect your Player to your TV at some stage in this process, to setup the Player for the LAN conenction - ideally you should do that before you switch everything back on, but it can be done later if need be. Now, switch everything back on, starting with whichever is (or is to be) your DHCP server.
Configuring the LAN
If using Windows XP, you may find the Networking Wizard springs into life. If it does, you should find things straightforward. If it doesn't, you may need to go to Start button/Network Connections and follow the guidance to create a new connection. When you do that you MUST make sure that your IP address starts with 192.168.1.xxx - the xxx can be any number you wish (although what usually happens is that your router grabs 192.168.1.1, your main PC gets 192.168.1.2, the next PC gets 192.168.1.3 and so on. If you have chosen to assign IP addresses yourself, you need to know what numbers are already taken. You can check that at a command prompt by typing "ipconfig/all" (without the quotation marks) at the prompt. The subnet (another 12 digit number, although you may only see 10 numbers) should be automatically applied once the IP address is set and most probably will be 255.255.255.0 That doen, you then go to the Player, fire it up on your TV screen, hit the "Setup" button on the remote, and navigate to the Network (LAN) settings. There you (a) turn off DHCP (unless you've chosen to use the Player as server) and (b) if DHCP is off, you need to type the IP address you want to allocate to the Player. Reboot everything and - hopefully - you will now see the Player in My Computer or Windows Explorer.
Sharing Files
You need to share a file or folder on your Windows PC before you can access it from the Player. (To access files on the Player's hard drive, see "NDAS" below). . In Windows Explorer, right click on the folder you want to share, choose the Sharing tab and the rest should be straightforward. It's worth mentioning that I've been having problems accessing certain folders. I have not yet tested thoroughly to find the cause but I'm beginning to suspect that folder names with more than 12 characters may create a problem in certain circumstances. So, you might be best to err on the side of caution and give shared folders a sharing name of not more than 12 characters. (Note that the "Sharing name" is different from the Folder Name you see in Explorer).
One small tip. Windows XP Professional (and Windows 2000) have a good degree of built-in security which can impact on the ease with which file sharing is enabled. Make things easier by opening My Computer, then going to the Tools/Folder Options/View menu and tick the box "Use simple file sharing".
NDAS
The Player is a Network Direct Attached Storage (NDAS) device - if you want to read more, go to www.ximeta.com where you can learn all about it! All you really need to know at the moment is that, if you have a hard drive in your Media Player, and if you want to be able to access, or put, files on that drive over your netowrk, you need to install a bit of software called NDAS Management Software. (You don't need NDAS if you have no drive in your Player). Go here for the NDAS software download. Version 3.10.1229 is the latest version I've managed to get working reliably with Windows XP. You'll need at least version 3.20 for Vista. There are few posts on the Forum relating to problems installing NDAS so I don't need to go in to details here - post a message on the Forum if you have problems.. There are some problems relating to the speed of NDAS (can be very slow when transferring files) and another problem to do with access over NDAS by multiple PCs but I'll deal with those elsewhere on this site sometime.
End of this bit
If everything has gone smoothly, you should now find you have your LAN operating and can access files across your network. If you are testing streaming from the Player, try mp3 files, rather than video files, at first. The latter present a number of challenges, some of which are network-related, but mp3 files should play without difficulty.
Networks can sometimes be very tricky to set up, as can file shares but, if you follow the manual and the above guidance, you should be lucky. The foregoing guide has had to be kept very simple, otherwise it could run in to many many pages! So if you encounter a problem (assuming, of course, that you DID actually READ THE MANUAL first......) and can't find the answer above, you'd be best to post a message seeking help on the Freecom Forum site. Give as much information as you can about what your setup is, what you've done and what's happening.Hopefully someone (it might be me) will be able to assist).
Coming Next
Haven't decided yet! Might do a bit on troubleshooting; might instead write up WiFi LANS; or perhaps a bit on file types, codecs and such like......or I might just go golfing.....Watch this space.
The Techie from Sneckie
31 May 2007