Users Guide for Orb Control Panel Orb Networks, Inc. Orb Networks, Inc. 1
Contents Introduction... 3 Where is Orb Control Panel?... 3 General Tab... 5 Adding Libraries... 8 Adding a Password...10 Adding Media Folders...11 Enable Remote Access...13 Devices...15 TV Tuners...16 Webcams...17 Orb Networks, Inc. 2
Introduction The Orb Control Panel lets you view and change various settings and functionalities of the Orb Caster Media Server software running on your PC or Mac. This user guide will help you to enable / disable various features, Send Debug Logs, add / remove / rename local users and Orb Device(s), add / remove media folders, Enable Remote Access on the Orb Control Panel. Before you start, we would recommend you to make sure that Orb Caster is installed and running on your PC / Mac. Where is Orb Control Panel? Orb Control Panel is on your Orb Caster PC / Mac where you installed Orb Caster. If Orb Caster is running on your PC or Mac, a small Orb icon should appear in the Windows system tray or Mac Menu bar. Note: If Orb icon does not appear, then you should manually Start Orb Caster from Start > All Programs > Orb Networks > Start Orb Caster on your Windows PC. (For Mac: double click Orb.app at Finder > Applications) To open Orb Control Panel, you can either double click or right click on the Orb Caster tray icon and then select Orb Control Panel. For Mac: Click Orb icon on the Menu bar and then select Orb Control Panel. Orb Networks, Inc. 3
Orb Setup Wizard: Launching Orb Setup Wizard will help you to select the Orb product you would like to setup. Orb Mini Controller: This option will launch Orb Mini Controller which would help you to control your orb devices from your PC / Mac. Orb Customer Care: This option will launch your web browser and take you directly to the Orb Support Portal. About Orb Caster: This option will show you the version of Orb Caster you are running. This information is helpful when you contact support. Quit: Select this item to terminate the Orb Caster software. Different States of Orb icon on your Windows system tray or Mac Menu bar a. Normal When Orb Caster is running normally, the green Orb icon appears in the system tray (Windows) or Menu Bar (Mac): Windows System Tray Mac Menu Bar b. Error If Orb Caster is in an abnormal state, the red Orb icon replaces the green one: Windows System Tray Mac Menu Bar c. Recording If Orb Caster is recording an audio or video stream, the icon looks like this: Windows System Tray Mac Menu Bar d. Indexing If Orb Caster is currently indexing the media library, the icon looks like this: Windows System Tray Mac Menu Bar e. Connecting If Orb Caster is currently connecting to the Orb server, the icon looks like this: Windows System Tray Mac Menu Bar f. Updating If Orb Caster is performing a software update, the icon looks like this: Windows System Tray Mac Menu Bar Orb Networks, Inc. 4
General Tab Under General tab, you would have 3 categories and they are: Preferences Sharing Debug Logs Software Updates Preferences Start Orb when this computer starts If you reboot your machine Orb Caster will be started automatically so that your media will be available to your Orb devices. You can disable this feature if you want to, but then you will need to manually start Orb Caster. Note: If you have checked Enable Orb Remote Access for < your Library > in Libraries tab and if Orb Caster is not running on your PC / Mac when you are away, you will not be able to launch Orb Caster on your PC / Mac and access your media from the Web interface (at http://mycast.orb.com). To remotely start Orb Caster on your PC / Mac, you will have to use some other third-party remote desktop program. Orb Networks, Inc. 5
Run Orb when I am not logged in to this computer* Enable this feature, if there are other Windows users than yourself on your PC. This will set Orb Caster to start on your PC, even if you are not logged in Windows. Note that, for this, you will need to have a password set for your Windows login on that PC. * This feature is currently not available for Mac Refresh media Library when computer is idle This feature allows Orb Caster to stay synchronized with your media library. For example, if you add new music to your itunes library, Orb will automatically detect the music the next time the media library is refreshed. Sharing Allow media folders to be shared with DLNA-compliant devices like Xbox 360 & PS3 If you are using XBox360, PS3, other DLNA-compatible media player, TV, or Blu-ray player, you can use your Orb Caster to stream content to those devices. Enabling this feature basically turns your Orb Caster PC / Mac into a Digital Media Server (DMS). If you have a Game console (Xbox, PS3, or DMA), you need to enable this feature if you want to be able to stream the media on your PC / Mac to your TV screen. Enabling the above feature will enable your game console to discover your Orb Caster PC / Mac on the network and, therefore, give you direct access to your media folders. Debug Logs Enable debug logs This option will enable debug logs in the Orb Caster which is the high level of logging mode and this mode will generate logs which would help our Support team for troubleshooting your issues, if any. After you click on Enable Debug Logs, this will enable the debug logs and restart the Orb Caster to apply the changes and un-checking this option will disable the debug logs and restart the Orb Caster. Orb Networks, Inc. 6
Send Logs to Orb Clicking Send Logs to Orb will send debug logs and information about your computer to Orb Support. Software Updates Selecting Enable Automatic Software updates will automatically check if any updates are available and if it is available, the application will automatically download and install the update when the computer is idle. If you prefer not to update automatically, you can leave this option unchecked. When you click on Check for Update the application will check if any updates are available and if it is available, the application will prompt you with options to install the update Update Now or to skip the update. Orb Networks, Inc. 7
Libraries Tab Media Libraries Media Folders Remote Access Media Libraries This is where you can add, delete and rename Libraries from your Orb Caster PC / Mac. This is also the place for adding / removing / refreshing media folders to the respective libraries. Remember, this is your personal media server. You can create up to 3 user libraries. We recommend that you create a different library for each family member, so that they can personalize the media experience. You can also install Orb Caster on multiple PCs in your home if family members store their media on their personal computers. Each user can have a different media library. Orb Networks, Inc. 8
Adding a Library If you would like to add a library to your Orb Caster the please double click on the Orb icon from the system tray (For Mac: Click on the Orb icon from the Menu bar) > Orb Control Panel > Libraries tab > Under Media Libraries, click on the Add button to create a new media library. Type a desired name for your Library user. Click Next to continue with the installation wizard. After this it s the same as the initial setup. Orb Networks, Inc. 9
Removing Library Select the library that you want to remove under Media Libraries and then click on Remove to remove the library. Now click on Remove library to remove it from Media Libraries under Libraries tab of Orb Control Panel. Rename Library Select the library that you want to rename under Media Libraries and then click on Rename Library to rename the Library. Now type in a desired new name for the existing library and then click on Save. Adding a Password You can restrict access to your media folders just by enabling "Require a password to access <username>'s Media". Please note that when Remote Access is enabled, you must enter the Remote Access password. Orb Networks, Inc. 10
Change Password Change Password button will help you to change the existing password of a selected library listed under Media Libraries. Media folders You can add media folders from a local drive, USB external drive, or network drive via Libraries Tab. You just have to select the Orb account to which you like to add your media then click Add under These Folders, navigate and select the folder you wish to index. You can include as many folders as you want but, if you have a pretty large media library, you may have to wait until Orb indexes these files and add them to your Orb Media Database. Orb Networks, Inc. 11
If you have media library in itunes and if you wish to import your itunes content / playlist, just check the itunes box located above These folders Once you are done with adding media folders, you just have to click Refresh Library for the media files to reflect in Orb. Advanced Options This option will allow you to have more control towards your media library and content. You can choose the type of media (Music, Videos and Photos) which you would like to index from the selected folder. If you would like to access your documents via Orb then you have to check the option next to When Remote Access is enabled, allow browsing of files and folders, including document files which can be found next to the Add & Remove button, this will enable a new check box as Documents a media type as a new category to be indexed. Enabling this feature will also allow you to access the entire contents of your computer via the Web. This feature basically gives you access to all your files remotely just like Windows Explorer does when you are in front of your computer. Note, however, that all other user accounts created on your system will also have access to all your files, as this feature is not configurable per account. Restricted access If you have created a second and third Orb user account on your PC, and you want to restrict access for these accounts to specific media folders, see the KB article Can I restrict a user account created on my Orb PC from accessing certain files? Note: If some files in a media folder you have just added never show up on mycast.orb.com, check and make sure that their file extension is listed in http://mycast.orb.com > Open Application > Control Panel > [Media] > Media Extensions. Make sure to navigate to respective Media folder and click "Refresh Library". Orb Networks, Inc. 12
Remote Access Remote Access is the process of enabling remote access by creating an Orb Account. This woul d help you to access / stream your indexed media from any other PC / Mac or any mobile device which supports the standard streaming formats by logging in to http://mycast.orb.com/. Orb Networks, Inc. 13
After you check this option Enable Orb Remote Access for <your Library>, you would be prompted with 2 options either to create a new Orb account or to use an existing account to login. Select Yes if you already have an Orb account and type your Orb username and password to login. If you don t have an account please select No, I don t and click Next and type Login Name and Password to create an Orb Remote Account. After enabling the remote access the window will look like this. Orb Networks, Inc. 14
Devices In this tab, you will be able to find the list of Orb devices that are configured to your local network. Add: To add additional new Orb device, click Add and follow the on-screen wizard. Refresh List: To refresh the list of available Orb devices that are connected to your local network, just click on Refresh List button. Rename Orb Device: To rename your Orb device without changing the existing settings / configuration, you can simply click on Rename Device and enter a new name for your device. Signal Strength: This will let you know the signal strength of the currently configured wireless network. Firmware Version: This will display the currently installed version of firmware of your Orb device. Wireless Network: This will display the name of the wireless network to which your Orb device is currently configured. Restart Device: This will allow you to restart your Orb device for troubleshooting purposes. Orb Networks, Inc. 15
TV Tuners This is the place where you find the list of tuners detected by Orb Caster. Select a tuner, if you have one listed and click Start Wizard and follow the onscreen instructions to setup your TV Tuner so you can stream your local TV channels to another PC, mobile phone or PDA anywhere. If your TV setup includes a set-top box (STB) you will need an MCE compatible USB Infrared Transmitter/Receiver (a.k.a. IR blaster) in order to change channels via Orb. This is also the place to scan your Live TV channels. You should be able to scan your Channels manually using Orb Channel Scan during the Live TV setup. Note that currently we do not support Live TV on Mac. Orb Networks, Inc. 16
Webcams This is the place where you find the list of USB / built-in webcams detected by Orb Caster. You can also add your IP Cam, just click Add and enter a Name, IP and click OK. Note that all IP Cams are not supported at this time. There is no configuration for webcams in Orb: see the KB article How do I setup my webcam so I can remotely access it via Orb? Orb Networks, Inc. 17