WolfX

Just purchased a 2012 GL550 recently and love the vehicle so far, the entertainment package is being enjoyed by my kids and me being a techie I saw much more potential.
So I looked for a solution to add a video source (Plex or media player) to the rear entertainment system AV inputs. It was getting difficult to entertain the kids with DVDs. This is 2015 ! who still uses DVDs ? lol. Anyways, doing some research online for Plex or media server integration to GL550/GL450 didn’t turn up much at all. Then I read that someone had used a Roku for the same application. Great! I have a Roku. So I connected my Roku to the rear and copied my Plex movie contents to an external USB 1tb drive and connected that to the Roku. Success! I recommend using the Roku 2 XS since it has AV out and Bluetooth remote so the Roku doesn’t have to be in the line of sight to control. Roku has a built in media player that lets you play these formats:

• Video — MKV (H.264), MP4 (H.264), MOV (H.264), WMV (VC-1, firmware 3.1 only)
• Music — AAC, MP3, WMA, FLAC (firmware 5.3 and later), WAV (firmware 5.3 and later)
• Photo — JPG, PNG, GIF (non-animated)

Now my kids have their whole library of movies to view on demand and since the Roku can plug into the rear power output it turns on and off with the vehicle.

Next project is to find right angle connectors in order to properly close the pull out dvd/av port dashboard. Has anyone ever opened it to see what connections exist inside or to modify it?

nachilus

[QUOTE=WolfX;6510278]Just purchased a 2012 GL550 recently and love the vehicle so far, the entertainment package is being enjoyed by my kids and me being a techie I saw much more potential.
So I looked for a solution to add a video source (Plex or media player) to the rear entertainment system AV inputs. It was getting difficult to entertain the kids with DVDs. This is 2015 ! who still uses DVDs ? lol. Anyways, doing some research online for Plex or media server integration to GL550/GL450 didn’t turn up much at all. Then I read that someone had used a Roku for the same application. Great! I have a Roku. So I connected my Roku to the rear and copied my Plex movie contents to an external USB 1tb drive and connected that to the Roku. Success! I recommend using the Roku 2 XS since it has AV out and Bluetooth remote so the Roku doesn’t have to be in the line of sight to control. Roku has a built in media player that lets you play these formats:

• Video — MKV (H.264), MP4 (H.264), MOV (H.264), WMV (VC-1, firmware 3.1 only)
• Music — AAC, MP3, WMA, FLAC (firmware 5.3 and later), WAV (firmware 5.3 and later)
• Photo — JPG, PNG, GIF (non-animated)

Now my kids have their whole library of movies to view on demand and since the Roku can plug into the rear power output it turns on and off with the vehicle.

Next project is to find right angle connectors in order to properly close the pull out dvd/av port dashboard. Has anyone ever opened it to see what connections exist inside or to modify it?[/QUOT

Sweet, must look into that.

PeterUbers

Very impressive ... Will
Have to see if this works in the 'E

sak335

Thanks for posting this up. I'm pretty fed up with the DVD's, especially when the kids want to change while we're already underway and then you have to fiddle with it to get past the "coming attractions" and once you do, select "play" via the Select button to get the actual movie going from the splash screen. Every DVD is different and since you can't see the screen while moving, it's quite the guessing game.

I'm sure somebody has figured out how to allow the front screen to display the movie while moving, but I have not looked hard enough to find it.

All this will be easier when the kids are old enough to choose their own movies, but that's out of the cards for a little while longer.

WolfX

Yep, get them started by using one in the home somewhere. Once they get used to it they can navigate the Roku screen fairly easy.

mbfanchi

How did you handle powering the Roku and the external hard drive?

WolfX

In my GL550 there is a power outlet in the rear where I plug in the Roku. It turns off with the vehicle. The Roku's power cord reaches all the way under the second row seats on the left side. That is where I hide the roku and the hard drive. The external hard drive is powered via the Roku's USB port.

mbfanchi

Thanks WolfX, I have the same outlet by the rear hatch but was hoping there was another way closer to the inputs. All of the current streamers are HDMI, I assume you used a HDMI->RCA cable?

WolfX

Yes, so that was the trick. I had to get the Roku 2 XS which has an av port also and comes with a cable that connects to rca. Works out better than having an adapter in the middle. It's old school but I backup my movies to .mp4 on the external 1tb drive and the kids have all their movies for trips and if you have a wireless hotspot the Roku apps (Netflix, Hulu.. etc) will be available as well!

Following pics were borrowed..

WaveyKat

interesting :-) me want

mbfanchi

I have a few extra apple tvs I want to try this with but I haven't heard good things about the HDMI -> Composite cables. I'll see if I can find a cable locally to try it out and report back. If it works, any media streamer with HDMI can be plugged in.

mbfanchi

Update, I tried a few used Roku XS but had problems getting them to turn on (nothing to do with the car, just the power adapter). I decided to go a different route and used an old iPhone 4 I had laying around with the Apple 30 pin to Composite cable plugged directly into the RSE Aux.

The advantage of this is no power cables running through the car and a smaller device footprint with less cords. The Apple cable also has a USB that will charge the phone while it is being used which is a nice feature.

I will try it over the Thanksgiving holiday and see how it performs.

Mikchek

any luck with the apple tvs?

kcerna22

This sounds really cool. I purchased Rokus for my home this year and one of my TV required the AV port cables. I also have hotspot on my cell phone so I can't wait to try this!