I have recently bought a Seagate Goflex satellite mobile wireless hard drive. I have converted some of my AVI movies to mp4 and transferred them to the hard drive, but when I play them through my iPad 2 I can hear the sound but not see the movie. Help???

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I have recently bought a Seagate Goflex satellite mobile wireless hard drive. I have converted some of my AVI movies to mp4 and transferred them to the hard drive, but when I play them through my iPad 2 I can hear the sound but not see the movie. Help???

I have recently bought a Seagate Goflex satellite mobile wireless hardrive , i have converted some of my AVI movies to MP4 and loaded them onto the hard drive, when I try and play them through my I pad2 I can hear the sound of the movie but not see the film, somebody please help, what am I doing wrong as I have spent a lot of time converting these movies to be able to travel with my iPad and watch them. Thank you

iPad 2

Posted on Aug 1, 2012 11:37 AM

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Answer 1

HereIsTom

Level 4

1,496 points

Aug 1, 2012 1:56 PM in response to aswash

Try the flex:player App, then you also don't have to convert your videos; http://itunes.apple.com/app/flex-player/id451024857?alreadyRedirected=1&mt=8

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Answer 2

aswash Author

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Aug 2, 2012 1:07 AM in response to HereIsTom

Hi, thanks for your help. That app is good but means I have to load the movies directly to my iPad using up valuable space, I'm really looking for an app that will allow me to play AVI movies that I have loaded onto my Seagate Goflex hard drive without having to spend hours converting them. Are you able to help?

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Answer 3

Diavonex

Level 9

67,259 points

Aug 2, 2012 1:22 AM in response to aswash

You can try VLC Streamer

http://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/vlc-streamer/id410031728?mt=8&ls=1

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Answer 4

aswash Author

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Aug 2, 2012 1:48 AM in response to Diavonex

Again VLC is a good app but it doesn't allow me to see my Seagate hard drive, so far I've only found one app that does, the one that Seagate recommend but unfortunately that won't allow me to play AVI files and forces me to spend hours converting the movies to I pad format......Any other ideas would be appreciated?

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Answer 5

Diavonex

Level 9

67,259 points

Aug 2, 2012 2:05 AM in response to aswash

Sorry, VLC Streamer can only access USB drives that are connected to computers.

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Answer 6

aswash Author

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Aug 2, 2012 2:00 AM in response to Diavonex

Thanks anyway, the only app that picks up the hard drive is Goflex media, and this is the app that won't play AVI, must be one out there that can see the hard drive and doesn't make me convert the movies from AVI to be able to play them

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Answer 7

Menneisyys

Level 4

1,300 points

Aug 2, 2012 4:24 AM in response to aswash

Unfortunately, the drive is pretty much restricted without hacking it. That is, you can't stream its content via standardized protocols like UPnP, SMB, FTP and the like. This makes you won't be able to access its content from any third-party apps otherwise capable of playing back AVI files from UPnP / SMB / FTP / WebDAV etc. sources.

While this is certainly not a recommendation (I can in no way be held responsible if anything goes wrong): you may want to consider extending the capabilities of the drive by installing the hack: http://www.hackseagatesatellite.com/wordpress/welcome/

It'll "open" the drive for third-party, AVI-capable multimedia apps like GoodPlayer, It's Playing etc. to directly play the files over the network.

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Answer 8

Menneisyys

Level 4

1,300 points

Aug 2, 2012 4:28 AM in response to aswash

If you aren't afraid of "hacking" the drive to open it to any player app running on your iPad, follow the link in my prev. post. It's, unfortunately, the only way to do what you plan to do.

(Unless the Seagate folks add broader video decoder support in their iOS app. Currently, it only supports H.264 video, MPEG-4, Motion-JPEG, while AVI files generally contain MSMPEG4 videos. As it requires a lot of work, I don't think it'll happen in the near future, if at all.)

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Answer 9

aswash Author

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Aug 2, 2012 4:27 AM in response to Menneisyys

Hi and thanks to all, have now managed to solve my problem. I found an app that allows me to access my Seagate Goflex satellite hard drive via a sharing option and then allows me to play AVI files, have just checked a number of movies and they work fine, the app in case anyone needs it is called buzz player.

Thanks to all for help provided

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Answer 10

Menneisyys

Level 4

1,300 points

Aug 2, 2012 4:33 AM in response to aswash

Wow! That's great news! I wouldn't have thought the BUZZ Player folks have implemented support for Goflex!

The player, BTW, is pretty neat. While its MSMPEG4 decoder does produce some ugly artefacts from time to time, it's still much faster than some other players out there.

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Answer 11

mmtrago

Level 1

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Aug 13, 2012 6:49 PM in response to aswash

Hi,

i have the same problem and i was wondering what app you use to access satellite via sharing?

thanks

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Answer 12

Dec 10, 2012 12:43 PM in response to aswash

This is the solution !!!

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Answer 13

Dec 23, 2012 1:28 AM in response to LuisIDiego

Brilliant! This works for me too!

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Answer 14

Feb 5, 2013 12:38 AM in response to aswash

Can you post the link of the player??

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Answer 15

Jul 9, 2013 9:36 AM in response to aswash

Hi I recently am using a goflex as well. I have one question after reading your solution about buzz player. I am using a ipad 2.

I started using "goflex access" app but found out that it pops up on some videos the error message "unsupported video format." I only have mp4 and m4v. Strange part is if I click on one video either format works. Than I click on another it won't play even though its the same format.

My main questions is, does buzz player run without using the computer? I am trying to just run the goflex from the router with no computer and watch movies off my ipad.

And of course want to make sure it works with all formats just as you mentioned before I buy it!

Thanks for your time!

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