Streaming To The Zen X-Fi via TVersity

The Zen X-Fi is a very capable media player. What makes it well worth the money, however, is its wireless streaming features. While many of the first reviews (such as AnythingButiPod’s) said the wireless LAN features were gimmicky, the streaming ability is definitely cool and works well. Unfortunately the default software (Creative Centrale) does not allow the player to maximize these features. The very powerful program TVersity will allow you to add your media folders, add podcast feeds, stream your media, and watch live TV. The best thing about TVersity is its ability to transcode the files for your player without conversion, meaning the program will transcode that H.264-encoded (iPod video spec) episode of Doctor Who to a type that the X-Fi can handle. It will do it all on the fly.In this guide, I’ll show you how to set up TVersity for using it on the X-Fi.

Installation

Firstly, you’ll need to install the TVersity program. (Note: You may need Windows Media Encoder 9. I had it installed on my system previously, so I do not know if it is required. I don’t think you will, but here’s the link at Microsoft.) Your system must meet the following Minimum System Requirements (from TVersity site):

• Pentium III 700 Mhz or better (Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz with support for Hyper Threading is recommended)
• 128 MB of memory or more (512 MB recommended)
• 50 MB of disk space (At least 1 GB of free space is recommended for cache area of transcoded media)
• Windows XP / Vista (only with UAC disabled) (Windows 2000 and 2003 are supported by TVersity, but not the X-Fi)
• DirectX 9.0 or higher
• Windows Media Player 9.0 or higher
• For transcoding to WMV (Which you’ll use for the Zen X-Fi) WMP11 is required.
• Audio enabled on the computer running the software
• Macromedia Flash version 7 or higher for the GUI

If you’re in Vista, you’ll need to do the following to disable the User Account Control. It’s only for the install, so be sure to follow these steps to re-enable it after the installer is finished.

1. Hit the Vista icon (Start Menu) and in the ‘Search’ box, type “User Account” (no s).
2. Click the one with the two people as an icon.
3. Click “Turn User Account Control On or Off”
4. Uncheck the option, click OK, then Restart Now.
5. Now you can start installing TVersity.

After you’ve installed, re-enabled User Account Control (Vista) and rebooted, it’s time to begin setting up the program. Launch the program either via the Start Menu or the Desktop.
On the taskbar, next to the clock, right click the blue TVersity icon and click ‘Start Sharing’

Adding Your Media Folders

1. Click the + button at the top of the interface
2. In Windows, go to Start>Computer.
3. Navigate to your media folder.
4. Click the Browse button at the bottom and select your folder. Alternatively, Copy and paste the folder path at the top of the window. For example, to add the default music folder, a user on Vista would add the C:\Users\YourLoginName\Music, where YourLoginName is that name displayed below the user icon in the Vista Start Menu. In XP, it’ll be similar, except the folder name is My Music.
5. Select the proper type of media. For a music folder, leave only ‘Audio’ checked, while a folder with many types of media should keep all three checked.

Click ‘Submit’. Do this for all folders you want added to your library. Only files added to your library may be streamed. Be sure to add all your external drives as a separate folder, as well as adding your video files.

Adding Audio and Video Podcasts, and Photostreams

1. Click the + button at the top of the screen.
2. Change type from “Folder” to “Audio RSS” for audio podcasts, “Photo RSS” for photostreams “Video RSS” for video podcasts.
3. Copy and paste the XML feed of your media.
4. Title it with the name you’ll recognize the feed by.
5. For video feeds, click advanced then change the Transcode setting to “Always”

Audio Podcast setup



Video Podcast setup

Click ‘Submit’

Adding Video Streams (and Audio)

If you’re lucky enough to find a video stream (a few I’ve found I’ll supply below) you can add it to the TVersity database and stream the video. Simply add it by clicking the + button in the top corner and putting the feed in as “Internet Video”. For audio streams, just change it to “Internet Audio”. Before you add, change Transcode to ‘When Needed’ at the bottom of the dialog. To watch the CNN, Sky News, Bloomberg, and NASA TV live feeds, go to Videos then Featured on the player. It’s already stored in TVersity without any of your adding.

Current ones that work with the Zen X-Fi:

MLB TV: rtsp://a1503.l1086932070.c10869.g.lm.akamaistream.net/D/1503/10869/v0001/reflector:32070

Setting Up Streaming and Encoding

By default, your player will register as an iPod to the TVersity. That means the program will stream a H.264 file to your player and the X-Fi won’t stream it properly. This is the MOST IMPORTANT SECTION TO FOLLOW. Follow it word for word to get the correct settings.

1. Click on Settings
2. Change “Media Playback Device” to “WMV9 Video Device”
3. Click Save
4. Now, on the right side, click Transcoder
5. Change Maximum Video Resolution to 320×240.
6. Change Windows Media Encoder to Windows Media Video 9
7. Save your changes

Now, when you go to Media Server on your player, one of the options should be YourPCName: TVersity Media Server. All the files you just added should be there. When you enter the server, it gets very simple. Audio podcasts are stored in ‘Internet Audio’ under ‘Audio Feeds,’ video podcasts in the same place in the Video section, and photos in the photo section. With a portable player such as the X-Fi, it may take up to a minute to get the video buffered and expect some lag. It should fix itself after the first minute or two. If not, it’s probably because you’re too far away from the wireless router or your PC is slow converting.

Hopefully, this guide will help you use one of the greatest features of the Zen X-Fi.

Problems? Start a post at epiZENter.net and I’ll find you there. My username there is brahmasoccer09.

Here’s a video of what it can do. Direct Link to the video on Viddler, YouTube.

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Troubleshooting
First, make sure your firewall or active antispyware isn’t blocking it.
Second, Go in to the TVersity program and go to settings, then click restart sharing.
Third, see if any other devices can see the TVersity sharing.
Fourth, post in the TVersity or epiZENter forums.