Shmerling Apps

Guides

Network share (SMB)

Save to a shared folder on a Windows PC, a Mac or a NAS.

Before you start

  • The TV and the computer or NAS must be on the same home network (not a guest Wi-Fi).
  • You need a shared folder and an account that may change files in it. The steps for Windows, Mac and NAS are below.
  • Downabit speaks SMB 2 and SMB 3, which every computer and NAS from the last ten years supports. Old devices that only offer SMB 1 do not work.
  • The computer must be awake while Downabit saves to it or plays from it.

On the TV

  1. Open Settings › Cloud & network and find the card Network share (NAS, Windows PC).
  2. Press Find shared folders on my network. Downabit lists the computers and NAS it finds. Pick yours.
    Not listed? Press Enter address manually and type its address, for example 192.168.1.20, then Show shared folders. The sections below show where to find the address.
  3. When it asks, sign in with the User name and Password of an account on that computer or NAS. Leave Domain empty unless you are on a work network.
  4. Pick the shared folder. Downabit checks that it may save there and shows the free space.
  5. Done: the share appears in the Save to list. Files go into a Downabit folder inside it, and videos kept there play straight from the share.

Windows 10 and 11

1. Share a folder

  1. Create a folder for the TV, for example C:\TV or a folder on a second drive.
  2. Right-click it, choose Properties, open the Sharing tab and press Share….
  3. Choose your own account, set Permission level to Read/Write, and press Share, then Done.

2. Allow sharing on your home network

  1. Make sure your network is Private: Settings › Network & internet › Wi-Fi or Ethernet › your network, Network profile type: Private.
  2. Turn on sharing: Windows 11: Settings › Network & internet › Advanced network settings › Advanced sharing settings. Windows 10: Control Panel › Network and Sharing Center › Change advanced sharing settings. Under Private networks, turn on Network discovery and File and printer sharing.

3. The account to sign in with

  • If you sign in to Windows with a Microsoft account, the user name is its email address and the password is the Microsoft account password. Your Windows PIN does not work over the network.
  • If you use a local account, use its name and password. An account without a password cannot be used over the network: give it one, or create a separate local account for the TV and give it Read/Write on the folder.

4. The address

Settings › Network & internet › your network › Properties: the IPv4 address, for example 192.168.1.20. The computer's name (Settings › System › About) usually works too.

Keep it awake. A sleeping PC cannot be reached. While downloading or watching from it, set Settings › System › Power › Sleep to Never when plugged in.

Mac (macOS 13 Ventura and later)

  1. Open System Settings › General › Sharing and turn on File Sharing.
  2. Press the ⓘ next to File Sharing. Under Shared Folders press + and add the folder for the TV. Under Users, set your account to Read & Write.
  3. Press Options…, make sure Share files and folders using SMB is on, and under Windows File Sharing tick your account and type its password. Without this tick, SMB sign-in with that account is refused.
  4. The address is shown on the same screen (smb://192.168.1.21); on the TV type only the number part.
  5. Sign in with your Mac account's short name (the name of your home folder) and its password.

macOS 12 and earlier: the same settings are in System Preferences › Sharing › File Sharing › Options…. To keep the Mac reachable, turn on Wake for network access in the battery or energy settings.

NAS in general

  1. Turn on the SMB (Windows file sharing) service and set the minimum protocol to SMB 2 or higher.
  2. Create a shared folder, or use one you have, such as video or media.
  3. Give a user account read/write permission on that folder. A separate user just for the TV is a good idea.
  4. Find the NAS address in its admin page or your router's list of devices, then follow On the TV.

Synology (DSM 7)

  1. Control Panel › File Services › SMB: tick Enable SMB service. In Advanced Settings, set Minimum SMB protocol to SMB2 (or higher).
  2. Control Panel › Shared Folder: create a folder or pick one, press Edit, Permissions, and give your user Read/Write.
  3. On the TV, sign in with that DSM user name and password.

QNAP (QTS / QuTS hero)

  1. Control Panel › Network & File Services › Win/Mac/NFS/WebDAV › Microsoft Networking: tick Enable file service for Microsoft networking. In Advanced Options, set the lowest SMB version to SMB 2.
  2. Control Panel › Privilege › Shared Folders: create a folder or pick one, open Edit Shared Folder Permission, and give your user RW.
  3. On the TV, sign in with that QNAP user name and password.

Other NAS, routers and Raspberry Pi

TrueNAS, Unraid, OpenMediaVault, WD My Cloud, Asustor and Samba on Linux or a Raspberry Pi all work the same way: an SMB share, a user with write permission, SMB 2 or newer. Many routers can share a USB disk over SMB too; check that the router offers SMB 2, since some older ones only offer SMB 1.

Troubleshooting

"No computers with shared folders were found"

Check the TV and the computer are on the same network (not a guest Wi-Fi), that the computer is on and awake, and that sharing is turned on. Then use Enter address manually with its IP address: some networks block the search even though the share works.

"… needs a user name and password to save files"

The folder does not let guests write. Sign in with an account on that computer or NAS, as described above.

"Signed in as …, but … does not let that account save files"

The account may read but not change files. Give it Read/Write (Windows), Read & Write (Mac) or RW (NAS) on that folder, or pick another folder.

Sign-in keeps failing on Windows

Use the Microsoft account's email and password, not the PIN. If that still fails, create a local account with a password for the TV (Settings › Accounts › Other users) and give it Read/Write on the folder.

Sign-in keeps failing on a Mac

Open File Sharing Options… and make sure your account is ticked under Windows File Sharing. Use the account's short name.

It worked yesterday, today it does not

The computer may be asleep, or its address may have changed. Give the computer a fixed address in your router (a "DHCP reservation"), or connect again with Find a different shared folder.

Old NAS or router

If it only offers SMB 1, Downabit cannot use it. Look for a firmware update that adds SMB 2, or use its WebDAV service if it has one.

Still stuck?

Write to support@shmerling.app with your TV model, what you are connecting to and a photo of the screen. The support page answers the most common questions.