How to stream video across LAN in android VideoView

Question

Due to office constraints I have a LAN network without internet and have to stream a video into my android application.

I can view the video in ES Explorer on the device through smb ok. But what's the best way to get it to play in my VideoView app? using "smb://192.168.x.x/Users/Public/.." as the URI doesn't work.

Thanks.

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 03 '13 at 08:31

1

I've been able to play smb:// shares over the network in a VideoView by:

Using JCIFS to scan for and "see" the share: http://jcifs.samba.org/
Implementing a simple HTTP server (NanoHttpd) to stream the content via http: https://github.com/NanoHttpd/nanohttpd
Passing the http://localhost/myvideo link to the VideoView

I realise this seems convoluted (and I agree) but it's the only way I've managed to get it working (and working well, with seeking, etc.). I'd be interested if there are better solutions.

answered Jul 03 '13 at 08:31

Ken Wolf

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Hi, I have a same problem.... I've been smbfile in my project and get it inputstream, and I also inport NanoHttpd to build simple http server, but I dont know how to get "http://localhost/myvideo", Can you teach me or give me a simple code... Thanks a lot!!! – henry4343 Jan 04 '14 at 07:38
@henry4343 post a new question with your specific issue and hopefully someone will help you. It's not really possible for me to answer via comments. – Ken Wolf Jan 04 '14 at 08:35
Sorry,I cant post question because I get question ban... Can I write Email to you and describe my problem? Thanks – henry4343 Jan 04 '14 at 08:39
@henry4343 No! Good luck :) – Ken Wolf Jan 04 '14 at 08:39
Thanks for your response... T_T – henry4343 Jan 04 '14 at 08:49
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20929880/android-sdk-samba-server-streaming-video-to-android-using-videoview I already post my question, Can you give me a help... Thanks – henry4343 Jan 06 '14 at 01:12
Can you post how you stream the smb share to http? I actually have NanoHTTPD Working and streaming local files to http, and have JCifs listing my files, but i can't find a way to stream those shares over http. – Ivan Verges Oct 16 '14 at 13:37
@IvanVerges unfortunately I cannot post the code but here's what I did: I modified `NanoHTTPD.java` so that serveFile took an `SmbFile`. Then instead of using a File object you use the SmbFile object - you have access to the inputstream via `getInputStream()`. Hope that helps a little. – Ken Wolf Oct 16 '14 at 13:56
@Ken-Wolf: Actually im handling SmbObjects on a custom class, which gives me Path Lists, InputStream of an SmbObject , and some other things. Also i have FileServer class, which inherits from NanoHTTPD and overrides the serve Method, here i take a Path, InputStream and a MimeType, and Response this. With local files works almos fine (streams nice, but doesn't seek back, just seek forward). Can you tell me the method name on NanoHTTPD to change, because i can't figure out. – Ivan Verges Oct 16 '14 at 16:47
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@KenWolf Can you please make a tutorial on this? that would be really helpful. – Karun Shrestha Oct 31 '19 at 13:16

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:15

I've found out that one (cheapo) way is just install VLC media player and stream the video from the PC there, following the instructions android-video-streaming-example.

So in the android activity it looks something like:

myVideoView.setVideoURI(Uri.parse("rtsp://192.168.2.3:5544/"));

Works on my app now, but the lag is terrible (5+ sec), so yup the question's still open for better answers, while I'll experiment with other stuff..

How to stream video across LAN in android VideoView

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