In that case I would definitely look into the Tehcus more. They have good NAS devices and hopefully Plex will be supported on it in the future.
Gary - just picked up a cheap 2TB LS-WVL/E on Ebay for my mother. She wants to convert her DVD collection to run on the LS-WVL/E and then serve up via PLEX on a Roku 3. She is using Magic DVD Ripper - http://www.magicdvdripper.com/dvd-ripper.htm. What format should she convert her DVDs to? Thank you for your assistance. And my Mom is 70 - I'll really be doing all this.
Gary - just picked up a cheap 2TB LS-WVL/E on Ebay for my mother. She wants to convert her DVD collection to run on the LS-WVL/E and then serve up via PLEX on a Roku 3. She is using Magic DVD Ripper - http://www.magicdvdripper.com/dvd-ripper.htm. What format should she convert her DVDs to? Thank you for your assistance. And my Mom is 70 - I'll really be doing all this.
You want "direct play" supported formats, with the roku3 that makes it simple, h.264 video codec .mp4 or mkv container, aac or mp3 audio with 2ch or 5.1 if mom's rockin the surround sound..
Not sure if roku has any gotcha's like my hopper, but I aim for the middle ground, high enough bitrate to avoid pixelization but low enough to avoid stuttering, file sizes of around 2gb per movie,which for me = a 2000 bitrate @ 23.9 fps I use mpeg2/ac3/mkv, mpeg2 because it is as close to universally compatible as codecs come, ac3 for issues my player has with acc, and mkv because pixelization issues I've found with mp4's. Encoding with the same exact specs, and just changing the container to mp4 has resulted in horribly pixelated results, so make sure you measure twice burn once and check your work as you go, nothing worse than spending hour after hour only to end up with a big pile of digital dog dew..
This is my ffmpeg's that I use to make bunny food for my dish hopper,,
"ffmpeg.exe" -y -itsoffset 0 -threads 2 -i "original.avi" -vcodec mpeg2video -b:v 2000000 -r 23.976 -f matroska -map 0:0 -map 0:1 -acodec ac3 -ab 128k -af aresample=resampler=soxr -ar 44100 -ac 2 "original.mkv"
Hi,
Scottfree1, thanks for the detailed answer, I couldn't have gotten into such details, I haven't been converting videos in a while. (Think like, "DivX was still an illegal ripoff of WMV" days.)
Hammer01, as for the format, I agree that H.264 seems to be the most future proof at this point, iPads, browsers, Roku, phones, everything plays it natively, if you encode it well.
My tests showed that my original iPad played H.264 with AAC audio in an MP4 container perfectly up to almost 720p. I didn't check the bitrate though, it was scaled down from some HD movie, so I guess it had to be average to good. (Whatever that translates to in bitrates.) iPads didn't play MKV for me, although Roku does, so it's your choice, depending on what your mother's going to use in the next few years. (I didn't try Android stuff, you might want to search there too.)
As for DVDs, since they are not HD I guess you don't need too high bitrates, the 2Mb/s Scottfree1 mentioned should be fine depending on ffmpeg's ability to recode nicely. Unfortunately DVDs are already mpeg2 videos (they are compressed already), I don't know if the Roku or any other players play those or not. It's worth a try, because you could end up just repackaging the same video into a Roku compatible format which is much faster than recoding them and it keeps the original quality too.
I'd defer to Scottfree1 for additional questions because of the lack of my experience in today's formats and encodings. I'd like to reiterate what Scottfree1 said, start with one (short) video, do it a few times and check the results (preferably on a TV so you see the pixelation properly). When you found your magic bullet, you can batch the whole material and encode it.
BTW, for future proofing, if the DVDs have Blu-ray versions, maybe it's worth buying those and ripping them (take your country's laws into consideration) so you get nice high-def results.
And above all, thanks for using my work (and I'm pretty sure BuffaloTech is also grateful for the sale too ;)), I hope it will give you a lot of joy.
- GaryT
I was going to mention container changers and remuxer's even though I've had mixed results with them, but while goo noodling them I came across this, and well why re-invent the disc..
How To Prep Your Videos For Playback On The Roku 3
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-prep-your-videos-for-playback-on-the-roku-3/
Hi Gary,
I have a Linkstation LS-WXL and have installed the 1.69junwei firmware (unsure if this was the right one) but when I try to play the files from my laptop I get the "This media server does not support transcoding" error. Any help or guidance much appreciated.
Also, I had originally done this to try and get media streaming to my PS4, will this work eventually?
Many thanks again.
Hi Gary,
I have a Linkstation LS-WXL and have installed the 1.69junwei firmware (unsure if this was the right one) but when I try to play the files from my laptop I get the "This media server does not support transcoding" error. Any help or guidance much appreciated.
Also, I had originally done this to try and get media streaming to my PS4, will this work eventually?
Many thanks again.
In general your going to need to figure out what formats are supported for "direct play" on whatever device you want to watch them with and then you need to transcode your library into that format. Myself I transcoded the sample "wildlife" video that windows uses to test video performance it's 30mb and transcodes in a few seconds, I tc it into all the possible formats then you should check that it plays (duh) no stuttering, look for pixelization in scenes with a lot of motion, and lastly make sure it will fast forward and rewind smoothly, my setup will ff @ 300x or not at all depending on the format. And the ps4 is not dlna compatible and it's sony call if it every will be as far as i know..
Hi Sascha,
Are you trying to play the video from the web browser?
Plex has the "Plex Media Theater" for PC and Mac, please download that for your laptop, that should be able to play your videos.
As for browser playback, only a handful of video types are supported (for example H.264). Something has to be powerful enough to decode the video and neither the browser nor the NAS is powerful enough for that.
The Playstation also only supports a handful of video types, the Plex support forum has details on that here. As it states "Other content will need to be either Direct Streamed or transcoded." Unfortunately the Linkstation (and most NAS) doesn't have the power to transcode video.
If you want to stream movies to your Playstation regularly, you need a beefier hardware to store the videos (a PC or Mac) and you need to install Plex Media Server there. (Same with browser playback.) Or, as scottfree1 mentioned you could recode all your videos to the supported formats.
I had very good experience with the Samsung Smart TVs also, I use that with my NAS as the Samsung has a very good video chip that can transcode videos on the fly.
- GaryT
"as scottfree1 mentioned you could recode all your videos to the supported formats."
I basically gave in to the will of the encoder, it's a slog if you have a lot of files but once your caught up I much prefer re-encoding to a know quantity, god only knows what kinda crazy the previous encoder was. And even re-encoding is no absolute guarantee of codec quirk hell. For example, I use mpeg2/ac3/mkv about as vanilla as can be, works with samsung, dish android etc. but at random, if you include a "folder.jpg or movie_name.jpg" to pretty up your library it will break playback on minidlna. It randomly will decide that the picture is the movie and serve that instead, (I always have minidlna running on my router as fallback), and the only solution is delete the pics, re-transcode change codec, change container nope gotta delete the pics and then the file plays fine, and don't even ask about the pixelization fairy.. arrgghh..
Dear GaryT,
This promises to be amazing - you have completed my home media set-up! I've managed to get the server installed and running. The interface on my PC finds my NAS plex server and I can adjust the settings and things, but I can't add a new library to include the media on my hard drive.
When I try to add the library, I get the following screen. It won't allow me to select a language, so I can't press next. I then get the troubleshooting message telling me to "Reset System and Framework bundles"
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a lot,
Nathan Littley
Hi, i have the new buffalo linkstation 210. will this work as the software is different?
Thanks
Dear GaryT,
This promises to be amazing - you have completed my home media set-up! I've managed to get the server installed and running. The interface on my PC finds my NAS plex server and I can adjust the settings and things, but I can't add a new library to include the media on my hard drive.
When I try to add the library, I get the following screen. It won't allow me to select a language, so I can't press next. I then get the troubleshooting message telling me to "Reset System and Framework bundles"Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a lot,Nathan Littley
have you set the language in server settings? http://localhost:32400/web/index.html#!/settings
Yep I've set the language. I did notice others having a similar problem on GaryT's own website forum http://www.tomatosoft.hu/gadgets/buffalo-plex-firmware-1-69-bobby-released-pc-mac/#comment-127 so i presume it's the same (as yet unresolved) issue, most likely due to the under-powered nature of my linkstation.
I'll keep trying...
Yep I've set the language. I did notice others having a similar problem on GaryT's own website forum http://www.tomatosoft.hu/gadgets/buffalo-plex-firmware-1-69-bobby-released-pc-mac/#comment-127 so i presume it's the same (as yet unresolved) issue, most likely due to the under-powered nature of my linkstation.
I'll keep trying...
when I was running this on a segate goflex I seem recall something similar, been awhile but i recall it was a issue with plex not being able to find/read your directories and not the language thing, language was just the lest step it was able to complete before adding a directory. I'd check your permissions, there's a guide somewhere around here that spells out the way plex needs perms. setup that would be my first guess on fixing it..
I never ended up buying one of these so I'm not sure how you do the admin for permissions etc. if your just using ssh and a command line it's a pain in the azz. I assume their is a package manager opkg or apt-get? Either one should have mc (midnight commander) the old school dos style file manager available, makes ssh life a whole lot easier..
Bulk reply again:
clongfield1207: No, unfortunately the Linkstation 210 is a newer breed with a processor that is not supported by Plex and with a different firmware. Whenever Plex starts supporting ARMv7 and I can get my hands on one of those I will be able to create a firmware for those. (I hope so, but no promises. I build upon other people's research on how to open the device.)
nlittley: Nathan, I'm a bit worried that you get the "Reset System and Framework bundles" error, I wasn't able to reproduce that yet. I'll dig into the Plex forums, as scottfree1 mentioned others might have seen that before. The next version of the firmware will have SSH integrated so you can log onto the machine (right now you have to install a developer's version of the firmware to do that), I'll give you instructions on how to check the permissions when the new version is out.
To be honest if it's a permission issue, I have to fix it in the firmware. Plex is "wired in", an integral part of the firmware. Which NAS do you have? Can you try reinitializing Plex (admin interface button). It will remove your Plex database and recreate it. Be patient with it if your NAS is slow. For example, push Initialize, wait 5 minutes, open Plex (wait one minute), add secction, wait 3 minutes, see if you get the drop-down populated.
scottfree1: thanks for the continued help, even if you don't need this firmware, I really appreciate your replies. I was wondering if you ever blogged about your video coding troubles, I think it's worth a (great big) entry, a lot of people would learn from it.
[EDIT]
One more thing. If you really want to reset systems and framework bundles, you should reinstall the firmware. I think the only time it would help is if you corrupted the firmware during upgrade or download, but that would cause you more issues then just Plex not starting.
scottfree1: thanks for the continued help, even if you don't need this firmware, I really appreciate your replies. I was wondering if you ever blogged about your video coding troubles, I think it's worth a (great big) entry, a lot of people would learn from it.
Now this is bizarre, I started to write all this out and then life came along and reshuffled my deck and hell I couldn't even tell you where it was posted, my response WAS going to be it's a lot work and no interest, well virtually none..
DLNA server shootout Last post JUNE 12, 2013
http://truestorytechs.wordpress.com/
your post..
8:44 PM (16 minutes ago)
Plex Forums
scottfree1, GaryTomato has just posted a reply to a topic that you have subscribed to titled "Buffalo Linkstation Pro Duo with Plex Media Server".
then 5 min later..
8:49 PM (12 minutes ago)
emiliy just started following you at http://truestorytechs.wordpress.com. They will receive an email every time you publish a post. Congratulations.
My FIRST follower, lol.. Admit it Emiliy is GaryTomato.. GaryTomato is Emiliy!!!
Nah, I'm not Emily, but I laughed at the coincidence. :)
Thanks for the link, I'll keep an eye out, just in case you change your mind. The list of DLNA servers is impressive, I might look into one or the other just for the fun of it.
- GaryT
GaryTomato? Is that tomato as in the tomatousb tomato's? Or are u just a fan of the soup?
nlittley: Nathan, I'm a bit worried that you get the "Reset System and Framework bundles" error, I wasn't able to reproduce that yet. I'll dig into the Plex forums, as scottfree1 mentioned others might have seen that before. The next version of the firmware will have SSH integrated so you can log onto the machine (right now you have to install a developer's version of the firmware to do that), I'll give you instructions on how to check the permissions when the new version is out.
To be honest if it's a permission issue, I have to fix it in the firmware. Plex is "wired in", an integral part of the firmware. Which NAS do you have? Can you try reinitializing Plex (admin interface button). It will remove your Plex database and recreate it. Be patient with it if your NAS is slow. For example, push Initialize, wait 5 minutes, open Plex (wait one minute), add secction, wait 3 minutes, see if you get the drop-down populated.
Hi Gary,
Thanks for the detailed reply. I have a Link Station Live (LS-CHL v2) so it is understandable that it doesn't work terribly well. Only 600MHz of processor apparently. I tried all the steps you suggested, to no avail. I give everything lots of time (and it seems to be doing something - with each step I can hear the hard drive being active) but when I get to that final step of waiting for the language selection to populate, it goes through to the "Error adding this library" Screen, with no further inputs from me, after about 10 seconds. I get the feeling that if I did allow it to wait a few minutes it would succeed but it seems to time out pretty quickly.
When I said about the "Reset system and framework bundles", it doesn't display that error, it just gives a link with "follow these instructions" which sends me to this page: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201119258-Resetting-System-and-Framework-bundles. Don't know if that changes anything.
