Plex on PC: how do I launch Plex on startup, in full screen mode and with guide tab of Live TV & DVR?

Server Version#: latest
Player Version#: latest

Hi Community. I have the latest plea player on windows 10 (On Intel NUC). I would like to launch the app on startup, in full screen mode and with the guide tab active?

Make sure you have the real Plex Media Player installed.
(“Plex for Windows” is a different app!)

Possible. Copy the shortcut to PMP into your Autorun folder,
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
then edit the shortcut and add these command line arguments, so it reads now
"C:\Program Files\Plex\Plex Media Player\PlexMediaPlayer.exe" --tv --fullscreen

You might have to introduce a delay before attempting to start the player (depends on the speed of your hardware). You can try one of these apps https://www.thewindowsclub.com/set-delay-time-startup-programs-windows

Not possible, sorry.

Thank you for your reply. I get the following message when I type in the —tv —fullscreen

image

You have “Plex for Windows” and not Plex Media Player

Thank you. I did not know there is a separate player. PMP is a legacy program?

I can’t find a program guide within PMP?

PMP is indeed older than Plex for Windows.
It has a “10-foot user interface”, which is optimized for operation with a traditional remote control.

There is no program guide in PMP, yet.

That is a shame. I know the windows version of plex does. Is there a way of scripting a full screen mode on startup? The whole idea is to use plex as the only platform for tv and media viewing.

I don’t think so. Plex for Windows is a desktop application, not a media kiosk.

Hmm. So what are my options at the moment If I want to watch live tv and also access my media via plex on a TV to be used as a TV interface?

  1. Wait until PMP eventually gets a traditional Guide view.
  2. use the TV’s internal tuner
  3. use an nVidia Shield as your Plex client. It doesn’t reach the codec compatiblilty of PMP, but comes very close.

For option 2, plex PMP would be set on a different tv input yea?

So one can watch tv and when access to music or movies is needed then switch to PMP via different input?

Ion essence, this should also allow the plex tv tuner to be accessed separately if it has its own tv tuner. Correct?

Perhaps this is the best option?

Nvidia shields seem quite expensive?

What do you mean by “input”? I mean use the TV’s in-built tuner. Which of course requires you to attach an antenna to the TV.

If you only have one antenna socket, you’d need to use a “signal splitter” (and maybe also a signal “booster”, in case the signal is damped too much by the splitter) to distribute the signal to both the tuner of Plex (e.g. a HDHomerun device) and the tuner of the TV.

By input, I mean source eg hdmi1, hdmi2 etc

My current setup Is a tv linked to a receiver with several sources one of which is a htpc with plex server which has a Tv tuner stick and is linked to the antenna.

I was running the htpc plex client to view everything. The issue is not being able to control the Windows version of plex which has the tv guide via remote (I am using Logitech harmony hub for remote).

The lg tv itself has a plex app which I though could be used to seamlessly access the server without switching the source on the tv, but it is old. Would this be an issue given it’s an older app?

So now, I am thinking of setting the tv independently of plex and then just switching to second source that has the htpc with PMP which can run all the time.

This would also allow me to have two tuners eg kids can watch independently via iPad etc.

The old smart TV Plex apps don’t support live TV. So that is out of the question.

If you need more tuners, I recommend you to use the HDHomerun 2x or 4x devices. https://www.silicondust.com/
Since these are ethernet-connected devices, they don’t require device drivers.

Yes, the nVidia Shield is more pricy, but is also can do a lot more than e.g. a FireTV or some cheap AndroidTV box.

Could you tell me what the nvidia shield does that others do not?

Does the plex client on it allow for TV guide to be displayed on the shield? Or is it the shield internal live tv app we are referring to?

Will the TV guide be displayed (I am in Australia)?

Would the shield ack as the server and client or just client?

Which version of shield would work best, the pro? There is a round one and a pro one?

Is this the latest? What is the benefit of the pro?

https://www.mwave.com.au/product/nvidia-shield-tv-pro-tegra-x1-16gb-4k-streaming-media-player-with-remote-ac32662

https://www.mwave.com.au/product/nvidia-shield-tv-tegra-x1-8gb-4k-streaming-media-player-with-remote-ac32661

Hi Otto,

Based on your advice I went ahead and purchased a shield pro. I also put an order through for a HDHomeRun Quattro.

Thank you for your advice.

Just a quick couple of questions.

I can’t seem to keep the shield from not going to sleep, and I am afraid that this disables the server. I have turned off CEC and also the screensaver, but after extended period the shield still goes to sleep. Is there a way to keep it permanently on?

I have also found that with the new server I can’t seem to find some media files. I am wondering if this is because the sleep stops the library file scan?

I can’t recommend to run the server on the Shield. Unless you have only a small collection of media.

So you still recommend to run the server on the NUC and then connect to it via shield?

Is this because of the lack of storage on the shield? (I have a nas connected that houses my files)

Yes.
Mainly because of the restricted storage on the shield, but also because of the closed nature of Android. It makes it almost impossible to backup your Plex data or fix a damaged database.

Would he need to edit the shortcut? View Mode and Fullscreen are on the main prefs. When I launch PMP here it opens that way automatically.

If there was a keyboard shortcut for the Live TV Guide this would be doable as a macro in the remote control programming.