I've had my Raspberry Pi for about a year now and it's never left the box due to time constraints and what not. When I heard about Rasplex, I instantly got it out and started playing. However, since it's one of the earlier model B's, it only appears to have 256MB of RAM. I'm wondering if getting hold of a recent model B with 512MB of ram would have any benefit to Rasplex? I'm hoping to use it as a permanent Plex Client as my Toshiba TV has about 1-2 codecs support, so I need it to be fast and responsive.
Just a quick yay or ney as to more memory and I'll be grateful!
More RAM is definitely a benefit - 256MB is not much RAM... But we still want to be able to run on 256MB devices like older Model B versions and the Model A. We still need some testers for this version (because almost all devs own the 512MB version) thus it would be great to get some feedback via trello/forum/IRC.
Ahh that's a good point. I will continue to use my 256MB version and report back any and all issues I face.
EDIT: Just updated to 1.31, with a Sandisk 32GB class 10 SD Card. I have a reasonably large collection of films, (700+) a mix of 1080p and standard definition.
Whenever I play a film, either SD or HD, it thinks about it and then throws up "Playback failed. One or more items failed to play." I not sure how I go about checking the logs.
However, when I play TV Shows, usually SD, it works flawlessly. No pauses, no stuttering, just works. But HD TV Shows just don't play, no black screen or playback failed. Nothing.
I still cannot play any high definition media, apart from MP4 downloaded from youtube. :S I managed to grab the log file, I can't make heads or tails of it.
I have a 256MB Pi as well... I only can use it with small collections (less then 100 items give or take). The cached youtube video the site shows is so much faster and better looking then what I experience.
Yeah, I have a 256MB version as well and it constantly freezes when I'm cycling through menus. I haven't gotten it to actually play anything (SD or HD). A guy I work with has a 512MB version and is getting good results playing back his media. I'm guessing the 256MB is simply not enough.
Yeah, I have a 256MB version as well and it constantly freezes when I'm cycling through menus. I haven't gotten it to actually play anything (SD or HD). A guy I work with has a 512MB version and is getting good results playing back his media. I'm guessing the 256MB is simply not enough.
The UI is quite responsive with my 256MB and I can play most SD content. The only HD content I can play is videos I have downloaded from youtube. I recommend a class 10 sd card, the first card I used was a class 4 - 6 card and rasplex was just unusable.
What you could do is go to youtube and find a video that's in 1080p. I used to Starcraft 2 - Heart of the swarm trailer. Copy the url and go to http://www.clipconverter.cc/. Select 1080p mp4 and download it, depending your connection, it shouldn't take too long. Copy to your plex server and share it. Make a group for home video so it can pick it you.
I dont have any problems playing SD/HD or whatever content. It's just the menu that is crawling, especially with the on deck and recently added sections. They show up after a minute or so.
Using 8Gb class 10 sd card, USB 3.0 stick etc...
I've tried XBMC with OpenELEC and raspbmc too and they are flying on the 256mb Pi so I really think the Pi can handle it and the guys of rasplex can make it run like that also.
I dont have any problems playing SD/HD or whatever content. It's just the menu that is crawling, especially with the on deck and recently added sections. They show up after a minute or so.
Using 8Gb class 10 sd card, USB 3.0 stick etc...
I've tried XBMC with OpenELEC and raspbmc too and they are flying on the 256mb Pi so I really think the Pi can handle it and the guys of rasplex can make it run like that also.
I'm jealous mate, my UI is pretty quick now I've left it for a while but as far as playing almost any content now, it just won't budge. Stopped playing SD content randomly. What version are you on and how did you install it on the card?
I dont have any problems playing SD/HD or whatever content. It's just the menu that is crawling, especially with the on deck and recently added sections. They show up after a minute or so.
Using 8Gb class 10 sd card, USB 3.0 stick etc...
I've tried XBMC with OpenELEC and raspbmc too and they are flying on the 256mb Pi so I really think the Pi can handle it and the guys of rasplex can make it run like that also.
What was the performance like without using the USB stick?
I actually am using a class 10 card. Wheezy seems to run really well on it, so I’m not sure what my issue is. Using a 2.1A USB power supply as well. Bummer. Will keep at it.
I'm jealous mate, my UI is pretty quick now I've left it for a while but as far as playing almost any content now, it just won't budge. Stopped playing SD content randomly. What version are you on and how did you install it on the card?
I'm using the 1.32 version, I wrote the image to the SD card and on the USB stick with the new installer (on windows).
Also tried some different overclock settings where I ended up with 900Mhz as the best performance (dunno the rest of the config.txt by heart)
What was the performance like without using the USB stick?
The USB stick definitely gives a performance boost. I especially noticed it when I used xbmc on the Pi. Seems to load stuff like images faster..
The mainmenu is the only thing thats not working ok. The different menus which take a long while to load are pretty fast :)
Just to say: latest 1.34 increased speed a lot on my Pi! Still the on deck and recently added problems which show up after a while but the actual menus with tv shows and movies are pretty smooth :D
Is that with a large library (multiple TB's) ? I also have a 256mb PI but haven't been keeping with the latest updates yep. Waiting for the right one that I can consistently use :)
I also use the older Model B and even with the latest version it won't play 720p/1080p movies at all. SD series work ok though...
Same here buddy, I've even reduced my resolution to 720p and it still refuses to play. At first I thought it was the file format but I tried a 480p mkv yesterday and it worked perfectly. :S
I'm on 1.34 and I'm having big issues with my 256mb Pi. (1.31 also had these issues)
Playing of any videos (SD or HD) crashes Pi
Airplay videos do not work (says "Please Wait" and eventually idles out and returns to menu)
Playing of Queue videos crashes Pi
I used to be able to play HD / SD videos and do Airplay on 1.27 I believe.
My 256mb Pi is able to do all these functions on Raspbmc with Plexbmc.
I'm having a similar experience to this. First jumped in with 1.34, and all attempts to play video end up kicking me back out the main menu with the "communication failed" (sorry I'm at work now and can't remember the exact text) error. Similarly, attempts to use AirPlay get stuck at "Please Wait".
I did manage to get it to play a couple of seconds of an SD film once, but it quickly crashed back to the main menu again.
Has anybody had chance to see whether 1.35 makes any difference?
Also, (though much less important than getting video playback working) has anybody had theme music working on their 256MB Pi? As far as I can tell its enabled, but I never hear anything when I move around the TV section.
I tried 1.35 out today but installed Plex Server on my desktop and shut the server down. I copied several media files across beforehand and played on Rasplex:
1 SD movie (avi, mpeg4, mp3) - Plays fine
1 HD 720p movie (mkv, h.264, dts) - Playback failed
1 HD 1080p movie (mkv, h.264, dts) - Playback failed
1 SD Family guy episode (avi, mpeg4, mp3) - Plays fine
1 HD 720p Breaking Bad episode (mkv, ac3 dolby) - Playback failed
1 HD 1080p youtube rip (mp4, h.264, aac) - Plays fine
1 HD 480p phone recording (mp4, h.264, aac) - Plays fine
So it I have a feeling dolby and dts are what's causing me issues.
On a more positive note, 1.35 is insanely fast compared to previous versions, even on my 256MB Pi. Channels appears to work well too!
