Newcomer - not happy with iPad

[twerppoet]

Thanks twerppoet. The shared folders mentioned here are on a windows PC, to which the OP cannot connect to fully.
Hopefully the OP will be able to pull the videos into nplayer via Dropbox.

I should have been paying closer attention. Still, it’s likely that the folders when accesed directly are not being copied over to the iPad’s local storage.

In that case you should look for a feature called share with wi-fi, wi-fi drive, or something like that. When you use this feature the iPad will give you an IP address that you can enter in a browser on a computer that has access to those folder. You’ll be able to copy files to the iPad using the browser (on the computer).

What happens is the app hosts a local website on your network, one that lets you copy files to/from that app to/from your computer. The tools vary from very basic to decent, depending on the app.

I don’t know if Nplayer has this feature, but the odds are good. Most of the other audio/video player apps do.

Since I did not go back and reread the thread, it’s possible I’m still missing the point, or covering something already covered. In that case, I appologize. Carry on.

 

[NSquirrel]

I will be waiting for a delivery tomorrow, so I will redo the step by step instructions, this time using Dropbox, and post it asap through the day.

 

[pdanes]

I tried the procedure for making a folder shared on another computer, at a different site. Same results - brief delay, then the timeout message.

I then installed the Dropbox app in the iPad, and did manage to get it to connect. Stuck a few videos in it, and the iPad did play them right from the Dropbox app. However, the player is no better than the one for Box - no slo-motion, no easy way to start/stop a running video, and no option to play multiple videos. The save to local feature worked, although I was unable to get it to save multiple videos. I had to do each one manually, but it did work, and played them from local storage when I switched off the WiFi.

I then tried VLC again, which I had installed earlier. It was still unable to connect to Box, but it managed to connect with Dropbox, and did play the videos. However, at the end of each video, it closes the play window and goes back to a view of all files in the folder. The Box player at least stays on the video, so I can play it again. And it resets the playback speed to normal at the end of each playback. If I want to study something in slow motion, I have to set the speed to slow every time.

Finally, I tried Nplayer again. I did manage to get it to access Dropbox, and the player itself is somewhat better than the others. It has a speed control, and holds the playback speed. The biggest hitch at the moment seems to be that I have to mark each individual video manually, as Download. And after every download, it pops up a nag screen trying to get me to buy something, or install some piece of shitware.

I suppose buying the app would make that garbage go away, but I really can't download over 2000 videos individually.

So, the result to this point is that I've gotten it working, somewhat. Many thanks for your patience and assistance. However, it's far from being practical. All the hassles I've described would be much less of an issue for long films, which is pretty obviously what the designers had in mind. But for my purposes, playing these tutorial videos, it's still mostly a dog's breakfast.

 

[NSquirrel]

Sounds like success! Great stuff.

To answer what I can quickly: Can you use nplayer to connect direct to dropbox, that is not to the iPad dropbox app? If so, you can then select the video folder and it will download all in one go (possibly slow). I can do that, so it works.

To slow the video down see attached screenshot. The + 1.0 and - on the right hand side, midway down.; Click on the - to slow down. You may need to look at my step by step to see how to get the control showing all the time.

Will not do the proposed dropbox step by step now, but I will read through your message properly and see if I have missed anything tonight.

No trouble with patience. I got confused when I started.

 

[NSquirrel]

1. *Do* use the Dropbox link inside nplayer to get your files by selecting the overall folder. I just checked and to use the free version of the dropbox app, the folder/files are not saved locally, inside the dropbox app unless you pay!

If you use the dropbox network link inside nplayer, the downloaded folder/ files will be saved within nplayer and hence usable offline.

2. I looked at VLC. For you earlier, but it will not do the random play you want as far as I can see. I did find mention of python scripts to produce a random play, but you would not be able to do it on the ipad with python because of the sandboxing of apps. (Python would be in one sandbox and nplayer in another.)

3. I hope you managed to follow from the step by step PDF setting the controls to display all the time and play randomly, and following from that how to slow down videos

4. Something I have noticed is that the iPad does not like one of the file names. For some reason dikovat.mp4 does not show up on the iPad, but does on the PC. It may be caused by the second letter (umlaut) and maybe because I have my iPad set for UK characters and I assume that yours is set to Czech. Just something to keep an eye on.

5. The adverts on the lite version are a pain; once you think that nplayer will meet your needs I would upgrade if possible.

Apart from the annoyance if the adverts, as far as I can see you can do what you want to do and are almost there. (Hopefully)

 

[Thomas1977]

I’m a Windows pc user as well as iPad and I’ve heard it’s easier to connect a iPad to a Mac than it is a PC.

 

[scifan57]

I’m a Windows pc user as well as iPad and I’ve heard it’s easier to connect a iPad to a Mac than it is a PC.

It is. Connecting and syncing iOS devices goes easier with a Mac as they're designed to work together more closely.

 

[pdanes]

More success, of a sort, and lots more unhapppiness. Turns out the Dropbox app will make files available locally on an iPad only one at a time. To make an entire folder available locally, you have to buy their premuim package of 1TB storage. The goddamn Box app regularly loses its local copy of the videos. and I have to make the entire folder available offline again, which takes forever to download again. And it won't pick up an interrupted download. I have to cancel the entire folder and start again, if I have to quit the download part way through.

Nplayer won't play the local copy of the vid as long as I have WiFi enabled. I'm again trying to sync the Box version of at least some of the vids, so I have something to study, so I can't turn off the WiFi to see if it has actually downloaded the vids, and will play them when offline. And now the F***! app (Nplayer) just froze trying to play a vid. ... Okay, it's unstuck, and playing all the vids in a folder, seemingly. But it turns off the title display after a minute or so, on its own, just like the Box player.

Just shut off the WiFi, since there are over 200MB left, and I have not nearly enough time here tonight to wait for even the two folders I want to make available offline in Box. And as soon as I shut off the WiFi, Nplayer refuses to play the vids in Dropbox that I previously marked for offline access, and received confirmation that they had been downloaded. As soon as I click on one of the local vids, a dialog pops up telling the network is unavailable.

 

[NSquirrel]

This was why I said to use the Dropbox connection inside nplayer and *not* the app!

Please reread my posting above (starts with 1. *Do* use...). I have tried all of it in order to verify that it will work with the lite version of nplayer. I would not purposefully want to suggest something that did not work; often lite versions have restrictions designed to get you to buy. (BTW I cannot do anything about the crash ☹️- sorry- , except to suggest that once it all works, get the full version.)

Patience and try not to panic, which is very easy for me to say. Apart from editing the videos, I believe that it does do what you want to do.

Let me know how you get on.

 

[twerppoet]

I went ahead and got NPlayer. It’s the Pro version, but I beleive the features I’m going to talk about are available on the other versions.

Here is how to copy files to NPlayer’s local iPad storage using your Windows computer. Both must be on the same network.

• In Nplayer, go to the Local tab. Create the folder(s) and subfolder(s) you want to keep your videos organized.
• At the top level of hte Local tab, tap the wi-fi icon at the top left of the screen.

• Turn on the HTTP/WebDAV switch in the window that appears.
• Write down the IP address that appears (http. . .)

• Go to the Windows computer with the files you want.
• Open a web browser (IE, Chrome, Firefox, etc.) then enter the IP address in the URL(web address) field.

• You will be presented with web interface to naviage Nplayer’s local file directy.
• Navigate to the folder you want to copy files to.
• Choose Add Files, and use the standard Windows file browser to locat the folder your files are in.
• You can not select folders, but you can select multiple files. Click on the first file, then shift click on the last file to select all files in the folder.

• Click on Open.

All files should copy to the iPad’s Nplayer local folder.

You can re-organize and/or set up playlists on the iPad once the files are copied over.

Keep in mind that this may have a huge impact on your iPad’s available storage. This is not a cloud service with cached files. They are 100% local.

Note: I accidently chose the wrong screeshot for the file selection. Open the folder you want and select the files, not folders. Folders can not be copied

Note 2: I copied files from my OneDrive folder on the laptop. This should not be confused with copying files directly from OneDrive. These files are in a local folder on the laptop.

 

[twerppoet]

A little background.

I recently decided to take another shot at learning morse code, and wanted to have the ARRL (American Radio Relay League) code practice files (mp3) available for random playback. With this thread fresh in mind I decided to use Nplayer.

Because I had recomended the use of the wi-fi file transfer method, I decided to see if my advice was feasable. The results are in the previous post.

Eventually I decided to use OneDrive in the Network tab instead. My reasons are as follows.

1) I have a cellular device with a decent data plan. These are audio files, so the speed of download is not significant.
2) I wanted to use my iPad, iPhone, and laptop. Using a network drive is the only way to keep the files synced (since there is no iCloud folder available in NPlayer).
3) Downloading the files from the ARRL site to OneDrive on the laptop is relatively easy. It can be done using the Browser tab in Nplayer too, but it’s more trouble.

 

[NSquirrel]

Thanks twerppoet.

Hopefully, if the OP. follows what is as good as the final step, his problem will be resolved.

 

[twerppoet]

No problem.

 

[pdanes]

This was why I said to use the Dropbox connection inside nplayer and *not* the app!

Well, I thought that's what I was doing. I had NPlayer open, went to Network (along the bottom edge of the screen), down the left side to Dropbox, opened that and tried to play the videos located there, and there is where I got the error dialog about Network unavailable.

In fact, I wrote "And as soon as I shut off the WiFi, Nplayer refuses to play the vids in Dropbox that I previously marked for offline access,..."

Am I missing something in your instructions? I thought I was doing it as you wrote.

 

[pdanes]

Editing videos is not something I need to do in these instances. I only mentioned it earlier when I was trying to get my head around the sandbox regime, and how one would go about manipulating files with different applications.