Chromecast media source as Synology NAS

Configuration
1

Hi experts,

I was following the conversation of the media file playing via Chromecast. Well, this works really well and i am happy to have that option in the first place. And Python HTTP server works quite well with any platform. However, I don’t want to mess with the SD card of my pi because of the memory issue and wear and tearing off the card. Rather, I own a Synology NAs, where media server is integrated. But the problem is, if i want to browse the media page, it asks for the user/pass in a login prompt, I don’t know how to provide that information in the web address itself. So need your advice. Secondly, I tried to run Simple HTTP server in Synology via command, that also works but I can’t install screen in Synology so that after running the web server, I can logout… so this method can’t be used either. I am pretty sure, some smart dude out there is already doing this as this seems so viable but some minor stuffs really stopping me…

P.S. I ofcourse can start dsaudio and cast it though Chromecast, but the point is every time I see some new services/activities though Hass, delights me than nothing else can… I know many of you had the same feelings.

2

Based on my own experiences with Synology I would recommend going with the Plex Media server. It’s fairly easy to install, send material to a chromecast is easy and it’s natively supported on most Synology boxes.

For running other things natively that are not pre-packaged on a Synology Box I would recommend checking out the Synology forums.

3

Thanks for the reply… okay may be that can be a viable option if Plex server doesn’t screw my poor fella’s CPU.

4

Plex server will not kill CPU.
Plex transcoding will. There is a method for killing transcode bit I have not needed to do this.

5

Thanks guys for your suggestion regarding Plex. Its nice and running well in my 2-bay synology NAS.

But to integrate Plex with hass hasn’t been so smooth. However, as I don’t see any error either, so assuming its there. Most importantly, I wont bother too much if it doesn’t come in the front end as my original goal was to play/control media via Chromecast sourced from a local hosted server.

Well, trouble is I cant figure out what should be the link to play a particular media via Chromecast sourced from Plex. Unlike the SimpleHTTP server, where I know the “media_content_id”.

For instance, if I cast a media from plex to Chromecast and check the entity in HASS, this is what I got.

{
“friendly_name”: “Tchrome”,
“app_id”: “9NC294CC”,
“media_duration”: 240.013,
“media_artist”: “[Unknown Artist]”,
“media_title”: “Kamli - Full Song - DHOOM-3”,
“supported_media_commands”: 5053,
“is_volume_muted”: false,
“media_album_artist”: “Various Artists”,
“app_name”: “Plex”,
“media_content_type”: “music”,
“volume_level”: 0.7400000095367432,
“media_content_id”: “/library/metadata/355”
}

But from the media_player.play_media service call {“media_content_id”: “/library/metadata/355”} doesnt work. I tried with different options but nothing worked so far :frowning: any idea ?