Hi, I’m brand new to Plex and am having issues getting started.
To explain, I have a new Roku upstairs plugged into my TV which works fine. The Roku has Plex in the menu but it can’t find any devices (“A server could not be found. Download and install Plex Media Server, and it will appear here.”).
I have a Netgear ReadyNAS 212 downstairs with all my media on it - which a previous WDTV had no problem finding wirelessly on the network and streaming to my WDTV plugged into the TV. I want to replace the WDTV with my new Roku and stream movies from my NAS to my Roku with Plex but don’t know where to install Plex.
I’ve downloaded Plex onto my Mac laptop but it doesn’t launch. Should it be installed on the NAS to find the media library? I don’t know how to install anything on the NAS.
Thanks, any help would be gratefully received but I’m not that familiar with installation on the NAS etc.
Hi Matthew
My setup is very similar to yours but somewhat older, my system is as follows:-
Netgear ReadyNAS Duo v2 with PMS directly installed.
Roku 3 with installed with latest PMS app and attached to my (non-smart) Samsung TV.
My ReadyNAS “direct streams” my MP4 videos, MP3 music and JPG pictures to my TV via my Roku 3 wirelessly to my TV without any problems.
OK, I think where we differ is that my NAS is connected to my router via an RJ45 (yellow) cable and my Roku is also connected to my router, but wirelessly. And so my Roku and NAS communicate with each other via my router, i.e. the Roku PMS app and NAS PMS installation talk to each other.
Finally, I’m sure your Plex installations of the Roku app and NAS PMS should work just like mine does.
If you require a more detailed explaination I would be happy to supply it but I don’t think you will need it.
UK Bob
Thanks Bob, it sounds like an almost identical setup. My NAS is also directly plugged into my Router but I just have 2 questions: Should I be able to see my NAS library through my Roku automatically when I select Plex on my Roku (it’s already in the menu system), or do I need to install the Plex Media Server application (where?). Also, is there a Roku app, have I missed something I need to setup? Thanks.
Hi again Matthew
The answer to your questions are as follows:-
-
You should have your ReadyNAS version of PMS installed on your NAS, without it you will not have a media server and you will not be able to see your media library.
-
The Plex app for Roku is selected from the “Roku’s Streaming Channels”, but you seem to indicate that you have this app already installed.
Now, just a bit more explaination.
Plex has various versions of PMS software for lots of different NAS’s and computers systems, plus they have had a special version for Netgear’s ReadyNAS for years, you just have to select and install the right version for your NAS, which is based on your machines model number, CPU and current OS.
Note, you must remember to group your media as PMS expect to see them on your NAS or you could end up with unexpected results.
So, to recap.
a) Plex app must be installed on your Roku.
b) Plex Media Software (PMS) must be installed on you NAS.
c) Both Roku and NAS must be connected to your router and on the same Network.
Just one more thing, you should have the “Handbrake” utility, installed on your PC, so that you can convert your non-playable videos into (direct) playable MP4 videos before putting them into your media library.
If you have anymore queries I’d be happy to try and answer them for you.
Hope this helps.
UK Bob
another alternative is to install plex media server on your PC (or any available laptop/desktop).
while you still should store your media on the nas, your pc will be much more powerful than the readynas itself, allowing your pc cpu and/or video card to perform any required transcoding.
Of course this will require your pc to be up and running always whenever you want to make use of your media, but will provide you more flexibility than trying to run PMS on a low powered nas device.
Hi TJ
Yes, you are right, any PC would be far more powerful than a NAS and would be able to perform transcoding. However, that’s why I suggested in my post that Matthew should get Handbrake so that he would not require his NAS to perform any transcoding.
Plus, unless I have misunderstood something, when a video is transcoded it’s display is of a lower quality, e.g. a transcoded 720p video will display at 480p, but if you convert your 720p video file using Handbrake your file will display at 720p.
Still, it’s Mathews choice on which road he wishes to take, but what I can say is that I have an old low powered ReadyNAS and I can still watch videos upto 1080p in quality, listen to music and display my photos without any problems.
UK Bob
Yeah, there is no correct or perfect solution.
You can pre-convert your media using handbrake, sure. This can take a lot of time and effort if you have a lot of media, but helps prevent on the fly transcoding.
I’m not sure of the details of the RN212, but I assume its either an ARM or lower power intel, which is going to prevent (arm) or limit (low power intel) on the fly transcoding. The cpu/ram are also going to have an effect on how slow the plex ui/server responds even when direct playing.
So yeah, either pre-convert with handbrake and serve directly from the nas…
Or use a more powerful desktop/laptop as the plex server to better handle on the fly transcoding, with the nas being storage only.
The OP will have try/decide which works best for them.
FWIW, I have several readynas. My current plex server is a 528x which can handle 1-3 simultaneous transcodes (depending on media formats), but not much more, and 4k is a bit too much for it to transcode (although it can direct stream 4k no problems).
Alternatively, plex server on my windows desktop can hardware transcode, so I have been thinking about migrating plex to my desktop (or a dedicated mini-pc).
