Using SMART FTP to Upload Files to MG450HD Media Player
Before you begin you will need to make sure that your MG450HD is properly configured to accept FTP connection.
In order to make this easier it is highly recommended that you configure the MG450HD with a static IP address. This will make it easier when trying to connect to your unit as it will have the same IP address each time.
You will also need to make sure that you have installed the Hard Drive correctly and that it has been formatted with an
NTFS partition. You can do this by hooking the unit directly up to a computer using the USB cable and formatting it using Disk Management.
Finally you will need to configure the FTP server in the MG450HD. This will include entering correct path to your HDD
( Normally this is done automatically ), a user name, password and port number. Once this is configured the way you want it or you are ok with the default settings you need to turn on the FTP server then save the configuration by exiting the
MG450HD Setup Menu.
Before continuing I would also suggest rebooting the unit to make sure the FTP server has started correctly.
Help with these options and settings can be found in other tutorials detailing these functions.
Setting Up
Please download the latest SMART FTP client from http://www.smartftp.com for either X86 or X64 depending on your platform and install the software.
While this is taking place you can test to make sure that you can communicate with your MG450HD unit. To do this open a Command Window. This can be done by opening the run box on your Windows PC, entering CMD and pressing enter.
You should see something similar to this.
In order to make sure your PC can talk to your MG450HD over your network you will need to PING your box. You can do this by typing the following command in to your Command Window and then press the enter key.
PING < Static IP you set or DHCP assigned IP of your MG450HD >
So for example my command would be PING 192.168.1.10
as this is my static IP I set
If everything is working properly you should get a reply from you MG450HD. Please see below for example.
If you fail to get a reply from your MG450HD then something is wrong with your network or the settings you have specified. You will need to go back and check or correct your setup before you can continue.
If everything worked ok then you can close the Command Prompt Window.
SMART FTP
Hopefully by now SMART FTP should be installed.
Launch this now.
You should see the following Window
This is the default window for Smart FTP. The blank area in the middle of the screen is the working area but as we are not connected yet there is nothing here. At the bottom is the transfer queue window which will be explained later.
So firstly you will need to make a connection. To do this enter your MG450HD IP address in to the Address Box. Then in the Login Box enter your User Name. In the Password Box your password and in the Port Box the port number.
This was the information you set in the FTP server configuration of the MG450HD setup pages. Once you have entered this information click the Green Arrow connect button between the Address Box and the Login Box. If your details are correct you should see something like this
If this is a new Hard Drive you are working with then you will not seen any directories or files listed such as those seen above. However if you have already transferred material using another means then you would see the files you have transferred.
For the purpose of this tutorial I will make a new directory in which to upload a file. In the window to the right of the
Folders Window and above the Log Window, right click , scroll to new and select folder .
After this you will need to name your Folder. I have called mine Demo Folder.
You can now enter the folder you created by double clicking it within the window. In a short moment you will be able to see inside that folder which currently has no files.
Now we need to select a file to upload. Do this by right clicking again in the window and selecting upload .
You should see the following
There are two options you can click on. Add Files allows you to select individual files to upload. Add Folder allows you to select an entire folder to upload.
For this tutorial I will upload one file. So I select Add Files and then browse to the file on my PC I wish to upload and click OK . This will then add the file to the box under the heading Name .
When I have finished adding files I want to upload I can click the OK button .
At this point all the files you selected will be added to the Transfer Queue as Jobs to be carried out.
*** IMPORTANT NOTE ***
One thing to point out here and it tends to be over looked by a lot of people who then think there product is not working properly
The MG450HD can only handle 1 FTP connection at a time. Some FTP software works by making more than one connection at a time in order to try and process more things at once. For example make 5 connections to upload 5 files at the same time. In order to get this to work you must understand how your FTP software works and not blame the MG450HD. 1 Connection at a time Only! This affects all FTP Software.
So I must explain this in terms of Smart FTP. Although I have added JOBS to the queue they will not start uploading. They will try to and fail. They will then set a time to retry. This is because we still have the working window open. This means it is still connected to the MG450HD. Until we close this windows the Transfer Queue cannot connect to start the uploads. This is where the Transfer Queue helps because those jobs will sit there waiting for the time they get the connection to upload without any assistance from us.
I would suggest therefore that you decide on all the file changes you want to make.
Add them all to the queue and then when you are finished close the working window and leave Smart FTP open. Within 60 seconds the Transfer Queue will make its connection and then beginning uploading all files one after the other until it completes all the jobs in the queue.
You should see something like this.
You can see that my job is being processed and details such as status, speed and time can also be seen.
This can now be left to continue uploading the required jobs.
Once the queue has finished you can then close SMART FTP if you are finished.
If you would like to connect back up the MG450HD straight after doing some uploads without closing SMART FTP first you must stop the queue in order to disconnect it so you can connect again. Once again remember only 1 FTP connection at a time.
To do this click the Red Square Stop button on the transfer queue. You can then connect again.
If you don't do this you will get a connection error such as "Error 530 Server Busy"
If you stop the queue then remember to restart it again after you have added more jobs by clicking the Blue Start
Button.
When all jobs are finished close SMART FTP and enjoy your uploaded content.
As long as you understand your FTP software and that you make sure that you maintain one FTP connection at a time you should have no problem transferring files across LAN to the MG450HD.
Good Luck and Enjoy!!
