Playing content from an external drive

Pt. 4 of 5 | 3:13 |

What is the Roku

Thursday March 24, 2011

In this episode, we'll show you how to

play files off of an external hard drive

using the

Roku XDS model

. The XDS has a

USB port

for plugging in

USB keys or hard drives

so you can

view your videos and pictures

or even

play music

. But first, you'll need to get the

Roku USB Media Player

from the

channel store

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Show Notes

If you have a Roku XDS model, you'll notice that there is a USB port on the side of the unit. This is used for plugging in external drives so you can play movies off of them. Before you do that however, you'll need to go to the channel store and add the Roku USB Media Player from the channel store. Once the channel is added, simply go to the dashboard and select it.

Plug your hard drive in to the USB port to see a menu featuring Music, Movies, Photos and Help. In each folder, you'll see a list of content. Select a video to play it and use the remote to control video playback. Keep in mind that large drives may take a while to load with the Roku unit.

It's also worth noting that the Roku XDS does not support every type of drive on the market but will support typical drives that work with Windows and Macintosh computers.

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