Server Version#: 1.18.5.2309-f5213a238
Player Version#: 2.35.1.986.r1
Hello everybody
I am owner of an Asustor AS7004T-NAS with 16GB DDR3 RAM which is directly connected to my Denon X7200WA via HDMI. I have used KODI so far, because with it a smooth playback was possible and also the videos can be played with DTS-HD. But since Plex has improved a lot in the meantime, I would like to try again to set up Plex as my home cinema media player.
On the one hand I have installed the Plex Media Server and also the Plex Media Player on my NAS in the latest versions.
Meanwhile I also have the sound output via HDMI, but only via PCM output.
Very annoying, however, are the massive, permanent stuttering during video playback at all resolutions. So Plex is not usable for me and I need some help to get a smooth playback.
I have the following questions:
what are the correct, optimal settings for smooth playback, both in the settings of the Plex Media Server and especially in the Plex Media Player.
what settings need to be made to get sound output via HDMI using bitstream?
is it possible to get Blu-Rayâs (bdmw) stored with Plex to run and guarantee 1:1 playback? These are currently not shown in the media library.
various movies are displayed twice in the media library although I have only saved them once in my media directory.
is it possible to integrate my iTunes library directly into Plex Media Server? If so, how exactly do I need to do this?
.
Those would be my questions for now and I would be very grateful for support.
there does not appear to be any other posts about AS7004T-NAS here, so it may be that plex player is not even supported on this device, not sure even how you installed plex player.
assuming this is a linux based nas, it would probably be relevant to know what the base linux version and kernel is, as this will likely determine what type of playback capability it will have for plex.
the default server settings should be fine, as far as the client, well as above not even sure that this device is supported as a player
see above
plex does not play dbmw files, you need to rip to âmkvâ or similar type files (mp4/m4v/avi/etc).
if you go to a video with âduplicatesâ, click the 3 dot menu, click âget infoâ to see if there are multiple files/paths listed.
else, post a screenshot of what your seeing
sort of, but itunes support is generally for when you have itunes and plex server on the same computer (ie not a nas).
thanks for your quick reply which is helping me only partly. Plex Media Server and Player are available in the official Asustor App store and is supported by Asustor. I also donât know if you know Asustor NAS. These NAS are for proffesional high performance usage and is the AS7004T is the the topline product within the AS range. Itâs well equiped with PC compnents.
I donât know the linux version due to the fact that the Asustor operating system âADMâ is built on linux.
Your first answer doesnât help me for solving my horrible stutters. In Kodi everything works perfect by the way, stutterfree playback in source resolution and also bitstream output is given. Thatâs why I guess that both should be supported from Plex in my opinion. I donât know.
Als dbmw playback is possible with Kodi, pitty Plex doesnât support this because my media library of about 2â000 Blurays ( 80-100 dbmwâs) and DVDâs is really huge with almost 20TB.
But many thanks for you kind support and Iâm still hoping to get Plex working as expected.
kodi is self contained app that has its own routines and capabilities.
plex is client/server, where the player is generally a lightweight/limited function app that depends on the server to do the heavy work.
as far as this particular nas, if you search this forum, this is the only thread, so no one else has used it and come to post about it, so there is not much information here, about what it can or canât do, as far as plex is concerned.
I donât know if plex is providing/supporting the âappsâ you installed from asus app store, or if these are provided by asus or some other 3rd party.
While there may be some other examples, most nas do not have hdmi and are not used as an HTPC, which seems like you are attempting to use.
Hopefully might get some others that can provide more info and/or that are familiar with your particular nas that can help you out further.
the offered Apps by Asustor are the official Plex apps, Plex is the developer! In my opinion Plex is makes absolutely no sense when stutterfree playback is not possible and when it is integrated in a homecinema. As I told you already, I have the Plex Media Server also installed and the version is mentioned in the first lines of my opening post.
The whole stuttering issue sounds like the server is transcoding and not fast enough to do so. If you play one of those stutter files, have a look at the dashboard in the web interface (app.plex.tv), first bottom on top left, and make a screenshot of what is shown there about the playback.
In the german thread you mention DTS (HD) is output as AAC, that supports my theory.
exactly Coxeroni and I would like to know, where I have to change my settings to get DTS-HD and all other formats passed through directly to the receiver without any transcoding. transcoding makes for me only sense if its really required on my iOS mobile devices.
As mentioned already in my reply befor to the post of âflowâ, I never used Plex in my homecinema in the past due to the horrible stutters and performance issues. Thatâs why it would be great to get it working now as expected.
Thanks for information, but why can Plex as develeoper be mentioned when its not Plex? By the way, the Plex Media Server App is the official release from Plex (Entwickler and Betreiber is Plex) As I have seen my AS7004T is fully compatible according the Plex compatibilitylist. If the Plex app differs from the the official Plex, I donât know if it s so, how can I install the Plex player also directly on my NAS manually and not via Asustor Appstore?
I also have Plex installed on my Panasonic 65DXC904 TV which is fully connected by HDMI, which means NAS connected to the receiver by HDMI and TV connected to the receiver by HDMI ARC channel.
Passthrough is also enabled in the receiver. Due to the fact, that Direct Sound is not active, DTS and DTS-HD stream are transcoded to ACC streams, how do I get the Audio Signal untranscoded/directly to the receiver? Is there something specific to consider under the settings in the Player and/or in the Plex Server? If so where and how to?
As already mentioned, I used Plex only rarely in the past for streaming movies/music sometimes on my mobile iOS devices. Thats why Iâm not very familiar with Plex currently and thatâs why Iâm still learning to understand everything. The only reason where in the past that the performance was much more slower and I always had horrbile stutters while streaming from NAS to the TV. Thatâs why it would be great to get these issues solved and getting Plex working as expected.
Looking froward hearing from you again and many thanks for your kind support.
In this case, Plex is the developer of Plex Media Player, but has not supplied a build for Asustor NAS. That is what that Patrick dude obviously did: he took the PMP sources and built it for your NAS. Can this work? Probably but not guarenteed. Does Plex give support for those builds? Surely not.
Your NAS is probably listed as a compatible server (you will find it in the official download list here https://www.plex.tv/de/media-server-downloads/#plex-media-server), but not as a client. In contrast to Kodi, Plex always has a client and a server.
To your stutter/transcoding problem:
Plex âasksâ the client what it is able to play. In your case, the PMP build tells the server that it cannot direct play your file, so the server âdecidesâ to transcode. This is one of the main features of Plex.
So you either have to dig into the properties of your PMP and see if you can tell it to passthrough the respective audio (I donât recall if there is such an option). If this does not work, you have to get a supported client that does passthrough the audio fine.
I donât know what platform/OS that Panasonic has, but keep in mind that ARC only supports up to DTS (core) and Dolby digital. DTS-HD cannot be passthrough by ARC.
It is compatible with the server part of Plex.
The Plex client is separate and you are not supposed to run a Plex client app directly on a NAS.
Hence why there is no official release of Plex Media Player for NAS platforms.
Thanks for your reply and will give it a try tonight on the PMP installed on the TV. If PMS could it be startet directly on my NAS I wouldnât need PMP on my Asustor. The NAS itself is very fast with installed CPU and 16GB RAM. The PMP offered from Asustor (Patrick) works perfect for listening music and I have an option available in the settings there for direct play. I will attach pictures of my current settings of PMP and PMS and maybe you could help to solve this issue. DTS-HD must only be transportet looseless/direct to the receiver. I have a 5.2 system installed and TV speakers are not in use :-). Many thanks for your quick reply and Iâm looking forward hearing from you again tonight.
Short remark: PMP is not running on your TV. Plex Media Player is one distinct app, mainly developed for Windows (and MacOS?) I suppose.
On your TV you have a Plex App adapted for the Panasonic platform.
Still, you might be out of luck on your Pana too:
ARC does not support DTS-HD
The Panasonic Smart TVs are not supported anymore by Plex (so the app is probably outdated).
So if your PMP on the Asustor doesnât succeed in passing through the HD sound, the best solution is to get a dedicated streaming device like the nvidia Shield. This supports all the formats you want (apart from the BluRay Iso stuff) and can be directly attached to your receiver. All the other solutions have major downsides, so getting an up-to-date streaming box is basically the best way to go here if your PMP fails. And btw: PMP has been discontinued by Plex and will not be developed further (only bugs will be fixed). The build of your Patrick friend is also half a year old.
So in summary if you decide to dive into the Plex universe, get a Shield and use your Asustor as a server only. Good thing, it can leave the living room then.
Your stutters/flickering issue does not come from the ressources of your Asustor NAS. It is an issue that appered recently with an xorg update on the NAS.
Asustor rejects the responsibility on the developer of the application.
I opened a ticket with Asustor about it. I exchanged some messages with them. Here are the answers :
I have a problem reading videos with the openPHT and Plex Media Player applications.
I canât play a video on openPHT, I hear the sound but there is no picture with a strange black screen flickering effect. openPHT_error.MOV - Google Drive
I installed Plex Media Player, the videos start but there is also a minimal flickering effect but annoying enough not to be able to watch the video. https://photos.app.goo.gl/dsdsigp2rXV96mrQ8
This problem appeared after updates installed on December 13. â13/12/2019 10:45:49â,âINFOâ,âadminâ,âlooksgoodâ,âLooksGood-2.0.0.R84â,âInstall App success.â â13/12/2019 10:43:59â,âINFOâ,âadminâ,âasportalâ,âASUSTOR Portal-2.2.4.r1216â,âInstall App success.â â13/12/2019 10:43:25â,âINFOâ,âadminâ,âxorgâ,âX.Org-10.14.8.R107â,âInstall App success.â
For the issue mentioned, we are currently having issue with latest x.org version and openPHT(PLEX client).
Our engineer is working on it now, however Iâm not able to give an estimate time to fix it.
You can try to find third party develop media player from internet and install it to play NASâs video via HDMI as a workaround.
For the issue mentioned, please note the plex client on HDMI was developed by third party developer.
Weâve forward the issue to developer for further investigation.
Have you gotten any resolution with your problem? I have an ASUSTOR AS5304T and PLEX is worthless to me. I had to switch to emby which worked fine until they undated the ADM to version 3.5. You canât roll back, so if you are still on v.3.4 DONâT update and try out emby server. Now, I canât run either because emby server installs but canât start.
and use your Asustor as a server only. Good thing, it can leave the living room then.
â13/12/2019 10:45:49â,âINFOâ,âadminâ,âlooksgoodâ,âLooksGood-2.0.0.R84â,âInstall App success.â