Nexus 7 and streaming movies from HDD

[fish323]

Hi
This is my first post so please be kind. My GF wants a tablet for Christmas and I have in mind the 32GB 7. One of its main uses will be playing movies off a HDD. I have read this is possible. I am currently transferring my entire movie collection uncompressed onto hard drives. I have over 1TD copied already with about the same again to be done. I would like some guidance on connecting a HDD to be able to watch both DVDs and Blu Ray files.
I know about Paragon and I have an OTG for the USB.
If the advice is to go for a different tablet that will be ok
Many thanks for any help in advance.

 

[anon(847090)]

Nexus 7 is a very good choice. To do this you need root and an app called stick mount.

 

[fish323]

Nexus 7 is a very good choice. To do this you need root and an app called stick mount.

Many thanks for your advice. What software would I use to play DVDs and BluRays?

 

[anon(847090)]

Many thanks for your advice. What software would I use to play DVDs and BluRays?

mx player works great. its one of the best. I am sure many would agree with that.

 

[fish323]

Thanks, other than the root this seems fairly straight forward. Hopefully I can find someone in London who will root this for a reasonable fee as I don't fancy doing this by myself.

 

[mzanette]

Thanks, other than the root this seems fairly straight forward. Hopefully I can find someone in London who will root this for a reasonable fee as I don't fancy doing this by myself.

Root is straight forward there's a video guide right in this forum and literally thousands of people on here to help you.

Link to video guide. Give it a look and if you're still daunted I guess you can ask someone to do it for you:

http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=190934

 

[fish323]

Thank you for the video. It seems straight forward enough. Just two things: Do I follow the video to the letter as there seem to be some changes on the page from the link and part way through it, it talks about a SD card. Is this just a command or is there an SD card i missed somewhere?

 

[mzanette]

Thank you for the video. It seems straight forward enough. Just two things: Do I follow the video to the letter as there seem to be some changes on the page from the link and part way through it, it talks about a SD card. Is this just a command or is there an SD card i missed somewhere?

The SD card is the internal storage on the Nexus device.

 

[fish323]

So you want to connect a physical hard drive to the N7 via cable to stream movies? Seems a little inconvenient unless your need is for traveling without a computer.

If you have a wireless network and a computer, you can connect the drive to your computer and stream from that wirelessly (no rooting needed).

You hit the nail on the head. I'm looking for something a little less conspicuous and with a better battery life than my computer. I wouldn't even get one movie out of the battery power on my computer. I have a couple of battery boosters which would probably work with the Nexus but not my computer. Total journey time on my last holiday was 128 hours over 5 weeks. This is not unusual when I am travelling.

 

[fish323]

The SD card is the internal storage on the Nexus device.

Thank you very much Zee. So should I follow the video to the letter or will there be any slight variations?

 

[mzanette]

The only variation that I see is that screenshot where he says to answer "No" to that question that comes up in Clockworkmod recovery. If you only want root access and still have updates to OTA pushes then follow that guide and answer "No" on that screen he tells you (sorry I haven't followed the guide myself but I plan to after I pick up my Nexus 7 in a week, I can give you better information once I've done it myself). I have rooted a Galaxy S3 previously and it was straightforward as well.

 

[fish323]

The only variation that I see is that screenshot where he says to answer "No" to that question that comes up in Clockworkmod recovery. If you only want root access and still have updates to OTA pushes then follow that guide and answer "No" on that screen he tells you (sorry I haven't followed the guide myself but I plan to after I pick up my Nexus 7 in a week, I can give you better information once I've done it myself). I have rooted a Galaxy S3 previously and it was straightforward as well.

Cheers, if you can give me the heads up when you do the conversion I would really appreciate it. I'd still go for the updates on OTA.

 

[mr_nobody]

Why not just use nexus media importer and avoid the whole rooting issue?

 

[mzanette]

Why not just use nexus media importer and avoid the whole rooting issue?

Didnt even know this was an option. Sounds like the best answer for the OP

 

[rnclock]

I would like to add that Nexus Media Importer allows you to do this without rooting. I use it now even after I decided to root. Hope this helps.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[richardd43]

I have tried a number of HDDs and can not get them to work on the Nexus (am not rooted).

Rooting might be the only way to use a portable HDD.

I have noticed a number of wireless HDDs showing up. Maybe that is the answer.

You might also want to use something like DVDCatalyst to convert the movies into the Nexus format. That will also greatly reduce the size of the file.

 

[snaqvi91]

You could also stream the movies from a computer by using Plex or Emit.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[mr_nobody]

From the NMI FAQ:

" External Hard Drives
These may not work if they are not externally powered (plugged into the wall) or a power source. The Nexus 7 may not provide sufficient power to run bus powered drives. You may ruin your drive and possibly your Nexus. With that said, some do work without external power and most will work if you provide external power. See the troubleshooting guide for more information."

Nexus Media Importer: FAQ

 

[Amni]

What software would I use to play DVDs ?

 

[fish323]

I have tried a number of HDDs and can not get them to work on the Nexus (am not rooted).

Rooting might be the only way to use a portable HDD.

I have noticed a number of wireless HDDs showing up. Maybe that is the answer.

You might also want to use something like DVDCatalyst to convert the movies into the Nexus format. That will also greatly reduce the size of the file.

The DVD Catalyst sounds like a winner as I am currently ripping my collection onto HDD without downsizing. If I could buy a 128GB SSD and stick a load of the movies on that it would be the answer to my travel problems. Would stick mount work with an SSD without the need to root?