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Was doing some random AppWorld searches, looking for a real ftp client and came across the Android port of Ghost Commander... while buggy to get started, it finally settled down, I clicked on 'windows share', entered my server name (unix-based QNAP nas with smb), username, password... finally, a real file manager!! :)
Can you view/save/stream stuff over LAN then?
Haven't tried to stream, but view and save work great (smb or ftp). Has opened up a whole new world of functionality for me! This + the multiple gmail calendar hack has me feeling much more love for 2.0 this morning (now just need a reasonable hack for contacts).
I managed to get ES File Explorer to work and although one cannot stream directly over the LAN (Android exception - probably thrown because it tries to access APIs not available), you can actually download them to the local PlayBook device!!!
This is a massive step forward and hope that some of these apps can be 'nativ-ified' to work even more seamlessly!
Pretty nifty however doesn't stream just force closures when trying to view, thanks download option for no will do, forgot to try that
You do realize accessing a fileshare is not streaming, as a smb share uses a good deal more bandwidth then even a pseudo streamed file does.
Next release of Ghost Commander will support streaming.
I downloaded ghost commander and I can access my files from my home nas but it won't open them in the appropriate programs. I side loaded ES Explorer and works better then ghost commander.
I tried copying movies and mp3's from a network share to my PlayBook using this tool, and it appears to copy over correctly, however when I try to open any of the copied files it says "Cannot open the file. Please check the file permissions and try again."
Any ideas how I can fix this?
hey guys,
i sent an e-mail to ES Explorer app makers re: if they're developing a Playbook verison and their reply was that they're in the process of preping it for the PB.
just thought I'd give you guys heads up.
Cheers
Sideloaded ES and it streams to the media player built into ES without a hitch, just viewed an h264 encoded mp4 in hidef glory! :)
Hi Andrew,
Afraid I can't help with any ideas on how to fix this, but I can say that I tested this to see if I could replicate your problem and when I downloaded files via Ghost Commander, I had no issues opening them (txt, mp3 and mp4; opened via GC and File Browser). Interestingly, I noticed that Ghost Commander didn't give me the option to open the mp3 with the native music app, so I opted for the video app (which is the same program used by File Browser when opening from there).
Again, not my area of expertise, but could it be a file permission issue coming across from the server?
Good luck!
Actually Ghost Commander allows access to files on a network share using SMB, access to files on the smartphone microSD media card, and the local file system of the BlackBerry PlayBook. All in all a convenient way to transfer files between tablet, smartphone, and desktop or server. The interface when selecting a file is a bit touch-and-go - sometimes the file highlights and you can choose an option at the bottom of the screen while other times a pop-up window with these options appears - but still works well for a 1.x generation application. This application combined with Files & Folders covers most of the file management functionality.
I just tried copying over files from my NAS to the PlayBook and none of them would work. I tried PDF, DOC, MP3 and JPG. What I found odd was the fact that I could view the JPG using the Ghost Commander viewer but not the PlayBook native app
Update:
I decided to connect my laptop to the PlayBook via USB cable to see if I can open the files. I was surprised to see none of the files I copied from the NAS to PlayBook. I can see the files in Ghost Commander, File Manager and File Browser.
I don't really have the specific technical knowledge to answer this, but could it be a file permission/ownership issue? I used to run into this sometimes on my NAS when I had ftp'd in using a lower level user account. Can you browse the PB folder via your computer using another program?
Tying in this related thread/how-to from emtunc:
http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...laybook-702205
yes,this is awsome.just tried it.works great.full access to shared folders!you can open stuff like pdfs using playbook apps as well.
Yes, ES File explorer works like a charm for local NAS!
But is there a way to make your FTP accessible over the internet and connect your PB to it?
When copying a file from windows share, what would be the destination directory on playbook?
ES file explorer works better for me
Put it in any directory you want to on the PB, but most likely put videos in the Videos directory, songs in the Music directory, etc. Just DON'T create a directory with Ghost Commander (or ES File Explorer) and put files in there.