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User profile for user: SBlue
SBlue Author
User level: Level 1
16 points

How to watch movies from my external drive at Apple TV without iTunes running?

Hey everybody. I got a question considering my Apple TV.


I have a lot of movies and music so they are all sitting on an external drive which is hooked up to my Apple Airport Extreme base station. My Apple TV or my iPhone or iPad can not access those movies and music unless I get my MacBook out, boot it and fire up iTunes. Now this is very inconvenient and takes quite some time. How can I solve my problem and let a device access my content fast and easy without the need for iTunes?


I was considering buying the LaCie Fuel external drive with built in WiFi for $200 which lets your iPhone and iPad access your content without the need to start up iTunes. It works simply with an app accessing your external library. I could forward the movies and music through Airplay to my Apple TV and Airport Express boxes.


Now thinking about the LaCie Fuel I feel I would pay for something I already have. I have a network set up already and I have an external drive with my library sitting there. I just need a way to acces those files with my iPad or iPhone and Airplay them to the Apple TV.


Is there an app that can access your external drive even with the Mac beeing shut down? Or is there any other way I could stream content from my external drive to my Apple TV without my MacBook and iTunes running?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Mar 16, 2014 4:24 AM

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User profile for user: SBlue
SBlue Author
User level: Level 1
16 points

Posted on Mar 21, 2014 5:22 AM

Ok, I solved this after a few days of search on all kind of forums!


Airport Extreme does not support the DLNA standards which most external drives like LaCie Fule or DW My Cloud use. I found out it supports the SMB standard though. So a quick search on the App Store with SMB as the keyword showed up a few file managment apps and the first I tried worked!


It's called FileExplorer Free and can access files on your external drive attached to your Airport Extreme. There were more hits but since the first app I found worked I didn't bother to check out the other apps.


I tried FileExplorer with songs first and it worked. You can listen to your songs with your iPhone or iPad or Airplay them to your Airport Express and listen to them at your home audio system. I couldn't hear any loss of quality.


It also works with yorur movies. Just select the movie and watch it on your iDevice or Airplay it to your Apple TV. Works with HD movies as well with no problems. Only downside was that the Apple TV can only display .mp4 files. Even the movies bought on iTunes won't work with the app and the Apple TV. So I had to convert a few movies using the free converter HandBrake.


FileExplorer works with other types of files like photos or documenst too. Oh and as a bonus: The FileExplorer app can also access your library from the DropBox or Google Drive. Works with NAS drives as well. Looks like you need the paid version though for those extras.


So finally I can move my big movie collection to my external drive ans still watch it without the need for the Mac or iTunes to run. Hope this helps other people too.

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User profile for user: SBlue
SBlue Author
User level: Level 1
16 points

Mar 21, 2014 5:22 AM in response to SBlue

Ok, I solved this after a few days of search on all kind of forums!


Airport Extreme does not support the DLNA standards which most external drives like LaCie Fule or DW My Cloud use. I found out it supports the SMB standard though. So a quick search on the App Store with SMB as the keyword showed up a few file managment apps and the first I tried worked!


It's called FileExplorer Free and can access files on your external drive attached to your Airport Extreme. There were more hits but since the first app I found worked I didn't bother to check out the other apps.


I tried FileExplorer with songs first and it worked. You can listen to your songs with your iPhone or iPad or Airplay them to your Airport Express and listen to them at your home audio system. I couldn't hear any loss of quality.


It also works with yorur movies. Just select the movie and watch it on your iDevice or Airplay it to your Apple TV. Works with HD movies as well with no problems. Only downside was that the Apple TV can only display .mp4 files. Even the movies bought on iTunes won't work with the app and the Apple TV. So I had to convert a few movies using the free converter HandBrake.


FileExplorer works with other types of files like photos or documenst too. Oh and as a bonus: The FileExplorer app can also access your library from the DropBox or Google Drive. Works with NAS drives as well. Looks like you need the paid version though for those extras.


So finally I can move my big movie collection to my external drive ans still watch it without the need for the Mac or iTunes to run. Hope this helps other people too.

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User profile for user: macy517
macy517
User level: Level 1
5 points

Nov 8, 2014 5:22 PM in response to SBlue

I have a similar issue but will have my iMac running and iTunes open. This was my original post on another thread.


I have an external hard drive connected to my time capsule. I am saving some of my movies on there, to save room on my iMac HD, and linking them to my iTunes library. Strange thing is, if I haven't watched the movies for a while and I start my apple tv, the movies that are on my external hard drive don't show up in apple tv. They are still in my iTunes library. The movie name is there but no cover. I have to right click on the movie in iTunes, select get info and when that dialogue box come us with the info I click okay and then the movie cover shows. It then shows up on my apple tv!! Does that make sense? All my other movies in iTunes stored on my iMac HD show up, its just the external hard drive movies that keep doing this. Any idea why??


Will File Explorer Free fix this? If so, how??

External Hard Drive & iTunes

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User profile for user: SBlue
SBlue Author
User level: Level 1
16 points

Mar 21, 2014 3:20 AM in response to vazandrew

Oh man, I thought I would find somebody with a clue in this place... 😢


Of course there are 3rd party apps besides the apps made by the drive manufacturers... How about 8player? It plays from drives like the WD My Cloud without the need to use the WD app.


I could buy the WD My Cloud or the LaCie Fuel but it would be a waste of money since I have an external drive already attached to my Airport Extreme base station. So again just to make my question clear:


Is there a way (an app maybe) that will let me access my music and movies sitting on my already existing extermal drive attached to my Airport Extreme base station from my iPhone or iPad without the need for iTunes or my MacBook to run? I would like to Airplay the movies to my Apple TV and the music to my Airport Express.


Can somebody confirm 8player or alternatives can access Airport Etxreme drives as well?

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How to watch movies from my external drive at Apple TV without iTunes running?

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