I can’t seem to find the answer to this. I have a bunch of pictures on a thumb drive. If I get a Chromecast gizmo for my tv and I download the Chromecast extension for my Chromebook, can I Chromecast the pictures to my tv by plugging the thumb drive into the laptop?
Probably. You’ll just have to find a way to pull them up in Chrome. There may also be a way to shoot your whole screen up to the ChromeCast, I don’t remember. Also, if you put the pictures on an online service, you can get at them that way (via Chrome).
Furthermore, if you’re using a ChromeCast, I’m willing to bet your TV has a USB slot. You could also just plug the thumb drive directly into the TV and view them that way. Just make sure the only pictures on the drive are the ones you want everyone to see since you can’t really pick and choose on the fly.
Good suggestions. I do use Picasa web albums, so I believe I can use that route to show the pictures to others via the tv. However, if I plug the thumb drive directly into the USB port on the tv, how would I be able to manage which one shows when? I can’t think of how to control that.
Yes - the simple way would be to open the Chrome browser on your laptop and cast the whole desktop using Chromecast. The default set up in Chromecast is to cast the browser tab - but if you look on the at the Chromecast icon, there is a small arrow that you can pull down and choose to cast the desktop rather than the just the browser tab.
Photos are great for casting, but video can be a bit jerky and the audio sync may be off.
That’s why I said you should only have the pictures on the drive that you want to show. Your TV may just go right into a slide show mode and not give you any options as to what pops up.
Very helpful. Thanks. I have purchased but not yet received a Chromecast device, and I’m wondering if that’s the reason that I don’t see the small arrow that you refer to in the Chromecast icon on my browser window. I have downloaded the extension for Chromecasting, which caused this little rectangle to appear, but maybe until I hook up the actual device, some of the features of that icon will not be active. Yes?
Yes - I think you would need to connect to Chromecast device first. After that click the icon in your browser and you would see “Cast this tab” as the default option. Somewhere there you should be able to click and choose desktop instead of just the tab.
I understand that this functionality is still in beta.
Great. Thanks. I am now anxiously awaiting a package to see if this all will work.
The chromecast will work the way ashtayk describes but it’s not really going to be any different than if you hooked up your computer to the tv with an hdmi cord and depending on your technology use may be worse because while you’re sharing your photos, you won’t be able to use the computer for anything else without losing the photos since it’s broadcasting your desktop.
If I had a 15 foot cable, I’d use that.
I’ve had Chromecast since it first came out and I don’t have any options for casting my desktop, but maybe that functionality may be in the newer version. However, I wouldn’t assume that casting your desktop will allow you to cast any application you want.
The problem is you need to cast a picture viewing application and I suspect that you will not be able to cast from any Windows application; you will have to test and see.
Personally, I would upload to online storage which will allow you to view through a browser and thereby cast that browser tab and see it on the TV.
The other option would be to run a media server that’s Chromecast friendly (like the free version of Plex). You would have to “add” the USB drive to the Plex playlists before you try to cast, but it’s not a big deal.
As I said, I use Picasa, so I think I should be able to go to my web albums, as they refer to the sets of pictures I’ve uploaded, and view that. We’ll see. I’ll report back.
I’ve got a chromecast and a chromebook.
Easiest way is to download the chromecast extension, then when you click on the little icon in the top right hand corner there will be a drop down arrow on the “cast this tab to”.
From that you can choose to mirror your full desktop so any photos you view (either by picasa or from a usb stick via the file manager) will show on the big screen.
Nice and simple
If you install the Chromecast app on your smartphone there is an option to cast pictures directly from a chosen personal online directory.
Go to Devices, click the ‘cog’ icon and choose ‘Backdrop’. It then gives you the chance to choose from your own Google Photos, Facebook, or Flickr. I haven’t tried the latter two, but Google Pictures allows you choose individual directories from out of all your online photos. (Google Photos is Picasaweb in case you didn’t know.)
Ah, would that it actually were nice and simple. I deleted the older version and downloaded the latest chromecast extension, I plugged in the chromecast, and voila! - nothing. The tv shows a screen that says “Set me up” but I can’t go any farther. I try to get the chromebook to see the chromecast device but I get this message: “It looks like there is a newer version of the Google Cast extension. This feature will not work properly until the extension auto-updates. Please try again later.” I’m already on the verge of throwing the whole chromebook out the window. Does anyone know if there’s a number I can call where I can talk to a real person who can walk me through this “nice and simple” set up?
There is no live techsupport.
It sounds to me like you simply haven’t done the setup. Once the chromecast device has been setup, it will show (on the TV screen) as being connected to your WiFi network regardless of anything else. If it doesn’t show being connected to the same network as the laptop, then you can’t cast to it. Setup is different from trying to use the browser extension.
No offense intended, but did you read the instructions or just assume it was plug and play with no setup?
Ok - in settings, my chromebook does note that I could connect to my home network, which it usually is connected to when I’m normally using it, and it also gives me the option of joining the Chromecast. So the chromebook knows that the chromecast exists. And when I connect to that, nothing happens. The little chromecast logo on the chromebook desktop says no device detected.
I take no offense - I’m clearly an idiot when it comes to this stuff - but the video showed connecting the thing to a phone. I"m not doing that. But none of the stuff that it showed occurred on my tv or laptop, so I don’t know if there’s something I’m doing wrong or not doing or if the gizmo is not doing something right. When I go to chromecast setup I don’t get any guidance that relates to what I’m doing. NOthing happens automatically. No questions on the page relate to my situation. ARrrrrrrrrr
Are both devices logged onto your home wifi network? You need to be. The Chromecast and your laptop, that is.
So the chromebook knows that the chromecast exists.
No it does not. It assumes there is a chromecast that you will want to be connecting to at some point, but it definitely does NOT see your chromecast device. I know this for certain because it can’t possibly see the chromecast unless the chromecast is showing that it’s connected to your network.
Go to this page and notice where it says “If you do not have access to a phone or tablet, you can download the setup utility for your computer.”
Download the setup utility onto your laptop and run the setup.
Ok - I got it. Turned out that I had to get to the set up via my wife’s i-phone since set up is not available through chromebook. Go figure. Anyway, I think Ive got the basics working. Thank you any and all for your efforts. xo,
c.