Media player?

[ysu]

Gents I need help - I'm looking for a plugin with clear install information to use.  I've never used a plugin before, so please be gentle.

 

I've the unRaid v6.1.6 paid version, and looking to organise things so I can watch stuff on the telly.  I've googled around, but all I found is dead links and outdated instructions & information.

 

I've a ps3 I can use to play the video - the aging Panasonic Viera I got is probably not able to handle anything in any way.

 

But I still have the problem; I can't find a working media player plugin for v6.  Please help!

Thanks!

[beire]

Isn't plex for PlayStation a good option?

 

https://plex.tv/playstation

 

Installing a plex media server docker on your unraid is easy.

[danioj]

Isn't plex for PlayStation a good option?

 

https://plex.tv/playstation

 

Installing a plex media server docker on your unraid is easy.

 

While Plex will do the job the OP requires it is feature rich and very heavy weight if he / she just wants to stream media to the ps3. Plus no need for all the other stuff to go through with Plex re configuration.

 

Now - I am making some assumptions with this advice. You don't need to transcode (in that all your media is in a format the ps3 can natively read) AND you have no other requirements but streaming straight to the ps3. If there are any other requirements then a heavier application like Plex might end up being the order of the day. But we can only address what is in front of us so ....

 

The ps3's media client uses DLNA protocol:

 

http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/settings/connectdlna.html

 

So all that is required is a light weight DLNA media server to serve the DLNA client.

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=45841.0

 

Note. This is a Docker and NOT a plugin. IMHO the preferred method on unRAID v6+ is to use Docker for hosting applications. Using docker doesn't tie the application to the unRAID "ecosystem" and is less likely to "break" on release of a new unRAID version. Less support, less hassle and also easy to fix (just re install the docker) if things get messed up.

 

There used to be a miniDLNA Plugin but that was back in the good old days of v5.

 

If you're not familiar with Docker here are some summary steps which can be backed up by reading the forum and the wiki. But to get you started:

 

Enable Docker In Settings - Docker, make sure you have created the docker img and enabled docker (remember to put your docker image on your cache drive - hoping you have one otherwise it is going to be back to finding a plugin route)

 

Guide on Docker is here (http://lime-technology.com/docker-guide/)

 

Install the Community Applications plugin (http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=40262.0).

 

That will let you pick the docker I mention above from the unRAID community repo and take you to the page to configure and add the container. Just like you would an App. Note that the menu tab you select once the Plugin is installed is called "App".

 

Have a play - have a read. Post back if you need help.

 

EDIT: it dawned on me to point out that whether you follow what I have posted or not you will need a drive to store config and library data. While Plugins are installed on the Flash drive (The config and persistent data - such as a library which you want to survive a reboot) need to be stored elsewhere. Not sure what the miniDLNA Docker stores but I still wouldn't advise running it from the flash drive. In addition the array is not usually a good choice either but I have known others who disagree venehmently on that one so I'll leave it alone. A quick forum search will reveal all.

 

IMHO (and to reiterate some trurl advice from another post) Plex especially should not be using the flash drive for this since it creates its library there and it can be quite large and will be accessed frequently for both reading and writing, degrading performance and shortening life of the important licensed flash drive.

[ysu]

Thanks for the detailed & very helpful advice!

 

I was hoping unRaid is in a more mature state where I can just put a URL into the server's plugin-installer and be done with a few configurations.

This all seems a daunting amount of research & learning (even with the pointers), which I've little time for, currently. 

 

Thanks nonetheless, I'll probably look into it later.

 

(I've tried to use the plex installer, but it has refused to work in the aforementioned installer location)

 

p.s. I've only got a flash drive, 2 data drives & a parity drive. So the install must go on the flash I guess.  Still, as I said it was just giving me some error message - I may have used the wrong download, mind you.  It's very hard to find out what's what, and all links to plex's site are basically dead, just giving me the main forum page at best, 404 at worst.

[Squid]

Which is why if you install community applications you won't have to worry about dead links etc.  It will only show you what's compatible with your system.  And installation of an app from it is merely point and click

[trurl]

Don't install anything to your flash, especially plex. It will take a lot of space, will greatly increase the wear on your all important license key drive, and will perform poorly.

[ysu]

Which is why if you install community applications you won't have to worry about dead links etc.  It will only show you what's compatible with your system.  And installation of an app from it is merely point and click

 

Thanks mate, I reckon this is exactly what I was looking for!

 

And I've realised that this was already mentioned in the previous post by danioj - thanks again!

[danioj]

Which is why if you install community applications you won't have to worry about dead links etc.  It will only show you what's compatible with your system.  And installation of an app from it is merely point and click

 

Thanks mate, I reckon this is exactly what I was looking for!

 

And I've realised that this was already mentioned in the previous post by danioj - thanks again!

 

In fairness to trurl that advice was his. In fact it was a direct copy / paste from a post he made in a different thread about the same issue. I can't take credit.

[Unqualified Spectator]

Ysu, I realize this thread is pretty cold, but here is what I did to try out different dockers.

 

  I have a very small system - you don't mention how much memory and CPU you have to work with.  There are several different Media Servers that are dockerized. Of the ones I have tried for the PS3, Serviio worked pretty well - depending on your content, memory and CPU. All my content is .mkv and most of it is 720p, so my streaming doesn't tax even my modest Athlon II X2 240 cpu (Passmark is a lowly 1692) - I've run 2 streams simultaneously on 2 PS3 systems with just 4GB of memory and this slow CPU...it works.

 

To do this requires several steps:

  (1.) Install Community Apps (This plugin is SO AWESOME....) - that's your Shopping cart for Dockerized Goodies.

  (2.) Install the "Unassigned Devices" plugin from Community Apps. You need this to setup a USB Flash Drive as a "test docker drive".

  (3.) Install a new USB Stick - 32Gb is as small as I would use...mine was 128Gb and was USB 3 (Though my system isn't USB 3!)

  (4.) Use "Unassigned Devices" to format and make the USB serve as your Docker app drive

  (5.) Enable Dockers on your system

  (6.) Use Community Apps to choose a dockerized Media Server. I recommend Serviio. Plex and Emby are too heavy for my server.

  (7.) Install Serviio on your Flash Drive. Configure the docker.

  (8.) (I installed Emby also, but it has some drawbacks - after reading about Plex - I figure the CPU requirements are too high.)

 

After filling in some of the questions in the docker setup, I had Emby and Serviio running. If I decide that either or both is not for me, I can uninstall the dockers and reformat the flash device - no harm done.  Serviio has the additional ability to be configured from an android device - there is a Serviio app in the play store called "Serviio Go" (Free) and it can remotely configure your server and change settings without having to use unRaid if you like.  On the PS3, after you have set up Serviio, and it is running - go to "Search for Media Servers" and you should see it. Serviio works for me on my PS3s - but they can be "fiddly" - you may have to go to transcode folder to view content. Most all my content is in .mkv and that has to be transcoded by Serviio to work on PS3.

 

I also have Universal Media Server running on another device in my house, but it is more difficult to get it working with all devices - even more fiddly. There is a UMS Server in Sparklyballs' second repo, I think...since he said he didn't care for it, I suspect it may not be getting any love - it is updated often. I haven't tried to run it as a docker. UMS was difficult for me to get it to work on a Windows device - it had several dependencies that had to be met...once they were - it was very solid and plays content nicely on PS3s, TVs, Phones, Tablets (I ran it with an Android tablet and used BubbleUpnp with VLC to show on that device). I suspect it would be much more difficult to get it to work on Linux of any kind and in a Docker to boot because of those dependencies.

 

Serviio has a "media wall" type presentation but that doesn't work on the PS3 - UMS doesn't do anything but serve up files. Emby is pretty awesome but installing the apps usually costs $$$ and they only allow a minute of playback for me to see that it -might- work.  Plex is almost the same way except Plex might not cost anything to just stream to your PS3s - not sure - Plex's problem is they suggest passmark of 1500 for a 720p stream. I used Serviio for a few weeks and UMS for a few months but ultimately gave up on PS3s as delivery devices - content has to be exactly what they expect and updates/patches/mods to the media server software seriously affect this. Since the PS3 is being abandoned as a mainstream gaming platform, updates might slow and it would become more stable for content streaming but this wasn't the case when I was doing it several months ago.

 

If your system supports USB3 devices - I'd advise you to use a USB3 device...Flash drives have no spinup but are still not the fastest device - I haven't had any issues so far with mine. A 32 or 64 Gb Flash drive is relatively cheap and would let you experiment with little or no impact on your system. I know some frown on using Flash drives for this because of the writes, but my content is fairly stable so, after setting up, I don't think there is a great amount of writing going on - lots of reading, but little writing. If I were torrenting stuff - maybe I would be more concerned. Once you have the docker configured, I think you can reinstate it quickly if your drive dies...no reconfiguring!

 

If you need help with setting up Serviio, let me know. The best advice I can offer is only change the second boxes in the docker to identify your shares to Serviio - the first boxes in the setup identify what docker is aliasing to Serviio - the second ones identify the data sources on your system that are passed to the aliases.

 

You can also use this technique to test out Preclear, if you like...I did - worked a treat. I precleared my USB Drive to get familiar with it.

 

Best of luck...sorry for the extra long post but there's a lot of info in there.

[ysu]

Oh, I forgot to update...

 

I've installed Plex, thinking "bigger is better" but as it turns out it's not.  I had all sorts of misc problems with it. (eg not refreshing with new files, too complex structure on the ps3...etc)

I've gone for the miniDLNA, and it works like a charm (for the simple task of being able to play video files on ps3) - I could not access the photos on the server this way, but I CBF'ed at this point, time is at a premium nowadays

 

So I'm good, thanks

[Unqualified Spectator]

Awesome - the simpler things work best. I hate to work at relaxation - it's too exhausting. Glad it's all sorted...

 

Cheers!

[itimpi]

Running apps from a USB Flash stick is not normally recommended as they have a limited number of read/write cycles so if the app is doing a lot of writing to the USB stick it may not last that long.  In such a case a small SSD is likely to be more reliable.