iPad & [iPhone] Can't play files shared on Windows 7 machine

I just remembered that there are at least two additional changes that may help. One is changing the local security policy so that anonymous = everyone and the other is to change the authentication type windows will accept. You can also downgrade the version of smb used, but I'm pretty sure that should be a last resort.

I'm not sure if this is still true, but I also recall Windows Live Sign-in assistant causing quite a few problems with smb shares at one point.

EDIT: It's also worth double checking the settings in Network and Sharing Center. Go to Advanced sharing settings and see what option is selected under File sharing connections. If the default (Use 128-bit encryption) is checked, try changing it so that 40 and 56-bit encryption is allowed.

(2012-08-09 15:26)WisdomWolf Wrote:  I just remembered that there are at least two additional changes that may help. One is changing the local security policy so that anonymous = everyone and the other is to change the authentication type windows will accept. You can also downgrade the version of smb used, but I'm pretty sure that should be a last resort.

How do I change/downgrade the SMB version?

(2012-08-09 15:26)WisdomWolf Wrote:  I'm not sure if this is still true, but I also recall Windows Live Sign-in assistant causing quite a few problems with smb shares at one point.

Yeh, I read that on a few threads and I'm sure that's not installed on my system.

(2012-08-09 15:26)WisdomWolf Wrote:  EDIT: It's also worth double checking the settings in Network and Sharing Center. Go to Advanced sharing settings and see what option is selected under File sharing connections. If the default (Use 128-bit encryption) is checked, try changing it so that 40 and 56-bit encryption is allowed.

I've changed this previously too, but still the same.

Thanks again WisdomWolf.

EMETIB, I had numerous problems with Windows file sharing as well. I finally managed to set everything up, but had problems with constant buffering issues.
Sadly SMB is really slow in this regards and there are much better options out there.

I would suggest you try sharing the files via NFS protocol using any available NFS server (something really easy to set up): http://www.hanewin.net/nfs-e.htm
I also had great results sharing the files via UPNP with PS3 media server or XMBC (Win version)
http://www.ps3mediaserver.org/

In any case, no only my issues were gone, but I am able now to stream (with no transcoding) 1080p MKV encodes with almost no buffering issues.

While an NFS solution worked well for you, I wouldn't advise that as the end-all-be-all answer. Samba is perfectly capable of streaming 1080p MKV and beyond, but more importantly, is built into Windows. I'd always recommend the tools built into an OS before attempting to run additional programs.

EMETIB, I don't recall off the top of my head how to change the SMB version. I just remember using that some time ago, but AFAIK it's no longer required. The more likely answer lies in the security policy and ensuring that anonymous is included in the Everyone group.

PS. I recently opted to re-install Windows 8 and run with that. To my surprise, I didn't have to do any security policy or registry editing to get things up and running. I setup my shares, opened the ports for MySQL server and tested my XBMC clients (2xATV2 [ios 4.3, ios 5.1], iPad 3, OpenELEC, various Windows PCs, and 2xMacbooks) and had zero issues. Samba shares are accessible from Fileshare on iOS and ES File Explorer on Android, as well.

(2012-08-10 10:28)efbiaye Wrote:  EMETIB, I had numerous problems with Windows file sharing as well. I finally managed to set everything up, but had problems with constant buffering issues.
Sadly SMB is really slow in this regards and there are much better options out there.

I would suggest you try sharing the files via NFS protocol using any available NFS server (something really easy to set up): http://www.hanewin.net/nfs-e.htm
I also had great results sharing the files via UPNP with PS3 media server or XMBC (Win version)
http://www.ps3mediaserver.org/

In any case, no only my issues were gone, but I am able now to stream (with no transcoding) 1080p MKV encodes with almost no buffering issues.

Thanks! I gave that a try but have no idea how to configure it to work. Nothing showed up on the iOS XBMCs.

(2012-08-13 20:20)WisdomWolf Wrote:  While an NFS solution worked well for you, I wouldn't advise that as the end-all-be-all answer. Samba is perfectly capable of streaming 1080p MKV and beyond, but more importantly, is built into Windows. I'd always recommend the tools built into an OS before attempting to run additional programs.

EMETIB, I don't recall off the top of my head how to change the SMB version. I just remember using that some time ago, but AFAIK it's no longer required. The more likely answer lies in the security policy and ensuring that anonymous is included in the Everyone group.

PS. I recently opted to re-install Windows 8 and run with that. To my surprise, I didn't have to do any security policy or registry editing to get things up and running. I setup my shares, opened the ports for MySQL server and tested my XBMC clients (2xATV2 [ios 4.3, ios 5.1], iPad 3, OpenELEC, various Windows PCs, and 2xMacbooks) and had zero issues. Samba shares are accessible from Fileshare on iOS and ES File Explorer on Android, as well.

Cheers. I think I'll prepare the upgrade to Windows 8. It should run okay on a HP Microserver though right?

Damn. I was really hoping that the answer to my woes would be answered here since I have the precise problem mentioned. Not too keen on upgrading to Win8 just to get filesharing to work. This is ridiculous.