VLC downlods from samba share instead of playing

[Jook_roberts]

I have had this problem off and on with different Kubuntu versions.

I keep all my media on one computer and share the drive out to all the other computers in my house. Normally when I try to open a movie with VLC on my TV computer VLC just starts playing the movie from the shared network drive. Since upgrading to Natty the movie is copied over to the TV computer and then played after fully downloading it. I know it is being copied (likely to a temp directory) because I get a notification saying copying finished.

Anyone know of a setting I can adjust to force it to just start playing?

This also happens with pictures now. It is really annoying trying to flip through pictures in Gwenview, one load at a time.

[oshunluvr]

Re: VLC downlods from samba share instead of playing

I don't have this issue but I'm using NFS. If you're doing linux-to-linux you might consider switching.

Anyway, have you tried the streaming settings in VLC?

Also, I believe the samba share must be directly mounted rather than indirectly.

[Joe_Bloe]

Re: VLC downlods from samba share instead of playing

I came here to ask the same exact question. Anyone have a guess why I can't watch videos directly over Samba share like I could in 10.10?

[Jook_roberts]

Re: VLC downlods from samba share instead of playing

Annoying isn't it. Worked fine in 10.10 for me too. I will keep searching, but I haven't found an answer yet.

[Jook_roberts]

Re: VLC downlods from samba share instead of playing

Like I said this is a recurring problem. Here is a thread from an earlier version of KDE 4.5.1.

http://forum.kde.org/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=90757

This first post has a youtube link comparing Dolphin and Nautilus playing a video. Dolphin copies the file and Nautilus streams it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgPzSIANT5Q

I just tested playing a video with Nautilus and it streams nicely, Dolphin still copies. :P

I couldn't find Nautilus in Kpackage Kit but a sudo apt-get install nautilus got it installed.
I then couldn't find an icon for Nautilus under the Kickoff menu, but an F2 and typing Nautilus in Krunner gave me the option to run it.
Sometimes life is hard!

11.04 has KDE SC 4.6.2 I wonder if upgrading to 4.6.4 would fix this.

I also wonder if adding the line "X-KDE-Protocols=http,ftp,smb" to the file /usr/share/applications/vlc.desktop would fix my problem.
Maybe if I get brave, I will try it.

Jook

[Jook_roberts]

Re: VLC downlods from samba share instead of playing

OK Joe_Bloe this is an easy fix, assuming you use VLC. It may work with other program's .desktop files

Open Konsole
Open Kate as superuser: kdesudo kate

When Kate opens, navigate to the file vlc.desktop under the directory /usr/share/applications

Copy and paste the following to the very end of the file on a new line: X-KDE-Protocols=http,ftp,smb

Save and close Kate.

I did a reboot for good measure, but that likely isn't necessary.

Find the video you want to play with Dolphin right click and select open with VLC and it should stream.

[Joe_Bloe]

Re: [Solved] VLC downlods from samba share instead of playing

That worked great, no restart required! Thanks for the help!

[Nayar]

Re: [Solved] VLC downlods from samba share instead of playing

Thanks. It worked.

However, we really need to get this working in a default install.