How to add a SMB share to a HDI Dune players main page

When you first turn on a HDI Dune player it is tempting to use the “Network Browser” to access content on the local network. The disadvantage with the “Network Browser” is that you either have to use the UPNP standard, with all its limitations, or rely on NetBIOS to find and resolve you shares.
The best way to access video content on a network share from a HDI Dune player is to “map” the share to the main page with a shortcut. Se how this is done below!
To create the shortcut you need to have the following info:
The name (ass seen on the network) of your server. In my case it´s a Synology Diskstation named DS.
The share name of the folder. The DiskStation have a default shared folder called Videos.
Credentials, if any.
To test if your share is accessible and need if it needs credentials you can try accessing it from a Windows PC with it´s UNC path. In this example the UNC path is \\DS\Videos. If you can access the share, the following steps will help you create the shortcut.
Create a SMB shortcut on HDI Dune players (sorry for the Danish language on the screenshots)
Turn on the HDI Dune player and make sure that “Sources” is selected on the top bar.

Locate the “POP UP MENU” button on the remote control, and press it. You should now see a pop up with additional choices.

To create a SMB shortcut select “New Network folder”.

Fill out the fields. The “User” and “Password” field is only required if you have a network share with access control, else leave them blank.
When done, press “OK” and your new shortcut can be found under “Sources” on the main page.


Troubleshooting
If your new shortcut fails to show the content of your network share, the problem is almost always one of the following:

• DNS lookup. In order to connect to the server name provided in the shortcut, the HDI Dune player try to resolve the name to a IP address. This can in some cases fail, eg. if your are using 3. party DNS resolvers like OpenDNS. Even if the UNC path (\\DS\Videos) works from a Windows PC the problem can still be related to DNS. To resolve this replace the server name in the shortcut with the IP address of the server, eg. 192.168.1.15.
• Access Control. If your share is protected, as it is by default on a Windows 7 PC, make sure to provide the correct credentials.