PleXBMC client for XBMC

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1581

OK I just download the plex app for my google tv. I will install later. This is the same old thing I keep asking.OK here is is: Can some please post exactly what I need to get PLexbmc working.
I have plexbmc 3.2.2 and plexmbc helper 3.1.4 or 3.1.5 installed in my xbmc.

That in itself is enough to test PlexBMC, though in a limited fashion, similar to how you'd use other video add-ons in XBMC.
You just need to configure PlexBMC enough to reach your PMS server.

I also have amber skin and quartez skin.

And those are what will allow you to let PlexBMC take over as your main XBMC media source, almost like a 'real' Plex client.
The key to this is the 'Go Plex' command of those two skins.
NB: I'm assuming you mean the 'PlexBMC' version of the Quartz skin, since there have been Quartz releases without PlexBMC features too.

Question 1)What skin(s) does plexbmc work best with in xbmc?

To my knowledge only those two skins have been fully adapted to allow PlexBMC to work like a real Plex client.
With other skins you'll frequently 'fall out' of the PlexBMC add-on, and have to relaunch it again and again.

If someone got a windows 7 pc with plexbmc 3.2.2 configured and working,can you please post me the those setting or the setting that will get plexbmc working.

Assuming you use XBMC on a Win7 PC (which I don't), its configuration should be near identical to other platforms, which is what I will describe here.

Question 2) Show me the order to install this if it matters?

Since my usual install order differs from that of Pecinko (who is an expert), the order clearly doesn't matter much.
XBMC itself must obviously come first though, since all add-ons are installed through it.

What I do on each of my Android devices is to first install an appropriate XBMC version on it (some are device specific), and then I install the add-ons from ZIP files in the following order. (For this I use the submenu "System" > "Settings" > "Add-ons" > "Install from Zip file".)

1: plugin.video.plexbmc-3.2.2.new.frodo.zip
2: script.plexbmc.helper-3.1.4.zip
3: skin.amber-master.zip
4: skin.quartz3.plexbmc-0.7.5.zip

NB: The skins take a long time to install, and their install always ends with a question whether you want to activate the skin.
I always wait for that query before attempting further commands, and I always decline the query as I prefer normal activation through the settings menu. So I perform the entire installation sequence while in the original 'Confluence' skin.

After this I seek out the PlexBMC add-on in the list of 'Enabled Add-ons' and give it the basic configuration needed to reach the PMS server. There are different ways of doing this, but I always do it by disabling local server search and instead establishing the connection through myPlex login (by specifying the username and password for this). Here again my method differs from what Pecinko described, as Plex has considerable 'leeway' in how the server is used.

It's only after I have set all the above up that I go into the 'Appearances' section of the XBMC settings and there activate the 'Amber' skin (previously I used Quartz, but I prefer the Amber skin nowdays). And then I use its "Go Plex" command and leave it so.

Since my entire media collection is scanned by my PMS server, my only use for XBMC in non-Plex mode would be for media files not yet added to the Plex library, or for some of the XBMC channels. But I already have lots of 'channels' in Plex itself or as standard Android apps (like Navi-X).

Question 3)How to I configure plexbmc helper so that it works or how to config it so that plexbmc works

I'm not sure exactly what this 'helper' is doing, but I have noticed that its error messages tend to stop if I activate the 'Web Server' in the 'Services' settings of XBMC itself. No detailed config seems necessary, but simply enabling that server so that the helper can use HTTP commands to control XBMC. (Odd way of doing it IMO, but as long as it does work it's all good...)
 
If you do the above as described then you should be able to make it work, since that has worked for me on several devices.

Best regards: dlanor

1582

@dlanor

Great write, everything I wanted to say but didn't have time to.

1583

@dlanor

Great write, everything I wanted to say but didn't have time to.


I'm glad you liked it.

For the sake of completion I've now also tested the same installation method under WinXP_x86 and Win7_x64, and it worked fine there as well.

The 'Strict View' settings in particular make PlexBMC (with the Amber skin) into a serious competitor for the official PMC and PHT clients.

The only problem I had was that XBMC seems to have a problem exiting cleanly under WinXP. I had to kill the process or its window explicitly a few times.

(Perhaps I was just too impatient, but program exit should be a rather fast operation.)

Best regards: dlanor

1584


I'm glad you liked it.

For the sake of completion I've now also tested the same installation method under WinXP_x86 and Win7_x64, and it worked fine there as well.

The 'Strict View' settings in particular make PlexBMC (with the Amber skin) into a serious competitor for the official PMC and PHT clients.

The only problem I had was that XBMC seems to have a problem exiting cleanly under WinXP. I had to kill the process or its window explicitly a few times.

(Perhaps I was just too impatient, but program exit should be a rather fast operation.)

Best regards: dlanor

Plex client does not support python scripts, meaning it does not have to wait for them to finish. However, that's the price I'll gladly pay in order to have interactive subtitle downloader in the client.

1585

pecinko you are awesome. I love you response and the format you gave it in.

Thank you

1586

Hi all,

On this page, you are speaking about version 3.2.2. On the first page I only found the 3.1.5, where can I find the latest?

I use PlexBMC on Android with an external Player (MX) - > it works well but….

  • The Watched status is not updated automatically at the end of reading, is that normal or do I miss something in settings.
  • Helper do not seem to work, it always raise an error saying that it cannot connect to XBMC. Anyway I actually do not see the real added value of this Helper, the remote works well with standard Confluence and Quartz v3.
  • On both skins, the watched status is displayed as a “V” so we lose the “half watch” information. Is there a compliant skin displaying the “bullet”?

Many thanks in advance

1587

Why do hd videos all play at double speed with no audio with plexbmc ? If I play sd avi’s then they play fine but nothing hd works…

1588

Hey guys, this might sound like a stupid question, but what does the "library" and "files" options under the transcoding quality settings mean?

1589

Hi all,

On this page, you are speaking about version 3.2.2. On the first page I only found the 3.1.5, where can I find the latest?

I use PlexBMC on Android with an external Player (MX) - > it works well but….

  • The Watched status is not updated automatically at the end of reading, is that normal or do I miss something in settings.
  • Helper do not seem to work, it always raise an error saying that it cannot connect to XBMC. Anyway I actually do not see the real added value of this Helper, the remote works well with standard Confluence and Quartz v3.
  • On both skins, the watched status is displayed as a “V” so we lose the “half watch” information. Is there a compliant skin displaying the “bullet”?

Many thanks in advance

http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/27270-plexbmc-client-for-xbmc/page-74#entry391308

That contains the latest release, I don't think the original post has been updated in a long time. 

1590

Many thanks,

I installed it, but sadly it do not fix the other points, especially the track of watched status using a external player (MX)

1591

HippoJay,

This is a awesome plugin and really enjoy using it with openelec(xmbc). I have one small problem. When i try to enable

"Require Authentication on local network", The plugin is unable to login with myplex login. I am running the latest version of pms on centos. The plugin does work when i disable to option. The reason i am looking for this option is i have a proxy server that exposes pms to the internet as if it is on the local network and would like to disable this to prevent random people from accessing my library with out permission. Any help would be much appreciated.

1592

Hello,

For me the major killing of PlexBMC is the fact that it do not track (record) the watched status after the show/movie has been watched. This with an external player (MX Player). The internal XBMC player do not play as many videos than MX does under Android set top box. So I preffer to use external one.

Is there some fix or workaroud in order to record automatically the watched status at the end of the show. Manual update with the remote works fine.

1593

Hello I have a little issue, I can run mkvs from the movie section but not from the tv section, the video shows but the audio is an annoying screeching sound, do you guys know about this?

1594

Hello I have a little issue, I can run mkvs from the movie section but not from the tv section, the video shows but the audio is an annoying screeching sound, do you guys know about this?


I don't recognize that problem, but in any case I don't think it has anything to do with whether or not a video file is stored as a movie or as a show episode.

The different results have to be dependent on something to do with the specific audio encoding of these video files, and how this audio is decoded during playback, and in this the transcoding of the PMS server may also play a significant role.

I don't think anyone can say anything conclusive on this issue without a lot more detail on the affected files and your PlexBMC configuration for their playback.

Best regards: dlanor

1595

Why do hd videos all play at double speed with no audio with plexbmc ? If I play sd avi's then they play fine but nothing hd works...

Anyone know about this?

I play all videos just fine in Plex itself but once I try Plexbmc in xbmc they all can be viewed but the HD ones are like double time the speed and there is no audio... I hit pause or ffw or rewind and nothing fixes the play speed for HD files of 720 or bigger...

1596

I see, I use plex with the roku box and the tv shows with an mkv file work properly. I will copy paste the configuration. The plexbmc is installed on my ouya and that is the one causing issues.

I will be posting the update with the proper info later on. Thank you.

1597

Hi,

When i try to play .avi files i get an error saying
Script failed!: plugin.video.plexbmc and in the log i see this:
Playing mkv works fine.


I have the same problem on my Windows 8 HTPC and my Rasberry Pi running rasbmc.
PMS running on a Ubuntu Server.


Any idea?
 

17:52:05 T:3104  NOTICE: ===== PLEXBMC START =====
17:52:05 T:3104  NOTICE: PleXBMC -> running Python: (2, 6, 6, 'final', 0)
17:52:05 T:3104  NOTICE: PleXBMC -> running PleXBMC: 3.1.4
17:52:05 T:3104  NOTICE: PleXBMC -> Running with cElementTree on Python 2.5+
17:52:05 T:3104  NOTICE: PleXBMC -> Platform: Windows
17:52:05 T:3104  NOTICE: PleXBMC -> Debug is turned off.  Running silent
17:52:05 T:3104  NOTICE: PleXBMC -> Detected parameters: {'url': 'http%3A//192.168.1.99%3A32400/library/metadata/755%3Ft%3D6103894402', 'mode': '5'}
17:52:05 T:3104   ERROR: EXCEPTION Thrown (PythonToCppException) : -->Python callback/script returned the following error<--
                                             - NOTE: IGNORING THIS CAN LEAD TO MEMORY LEAKS!
                                            Error Type: 
                                            Error Contents: invalid literal for int() with base 10: 'sd'
                                            Traceback (most recent call last):
                                              File "C:\Users\HTPC\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\addons\plugin.video.plexbmc\default.py", line 4077, in 
                                                playLibraryMedia(param_url,force=force)
                                              File "C:\Users\HTPC\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\addons\plugin.video.plexbmc\default.py", line 1707, in playLibraryMedia
                                                streams=getAudioSubtitlesMedia(server,id, full_data)
                                              File "C:\Users\HTPC\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\addons\plugin.video.plexbmc\default.py", line 1616, in getAudioSubtitlesMedia
                                                if int(media_details.get('videoResolution',0)) >= 1080:
                                            ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: 'sd'
                                            -->End of Python script error report<--
17:52:05 T:1888   ERROR: Playlist Player: skipping unplayable item: 0, path [plugin://plugin.video.plexbmc/?url=http%3A//192.168.1.99%3A32400/library/metadata/755%3Ft%3D6103894402&mode=5]
17:52:06 T:40  NOTICE: Thread Background Loader start, auto delete: false
17:52:08 T:1888   ERROR: Texture manager unable to load file: special://skin/extras/weather_icons/na.png
17:52:09 T:1984  NOTICE: Thread Background Loader start, auto delete: false
17:52:09 T:1888   ERROR: Texture manager unable to load file: special://skin/extras/weather_icons/na.png
17:52:11 T:1760  NOTICE: Thread Background Loader start, auto delete: false
17:52:11 T:508  NOTICE: Thread XBPyThread start, auto delete: false
17:52:11 T:508  NOTICE: -->Python Interpreter Initialized<--
1598

Hi there, 

Was wondering if anyone has experienced this too?

Im using XBMC frodo, with plexbmc latest versions 3.2.2 helper 3.1.4 with the latest version of PMS 0.9.8.4. Im using the Quartz v3 Skin for Plex , Everything works fine except if I change the shelf items from "recently added", to "on deck".

if it is set to on deck some shows play, but most of them give me this error:

Script failed!: plugin.video.plexbmc

if I set it back to recently added, it works fine because it actually goes to the shows list and then you have to select the episode from there, which then plays fine.

I would really like the on deck to work. Does anyone have this working and what version of PMS are you using? or is there an alternative solution to get this to work?

Thanks

Bellicus

1599

Hi,

I am using PlexBMC 3.2.2.on Android Gotham. I was using on Frodo XAF version with exactly same behaviour:

TV Shows are displayed correctly but the media info displayed for the movies are totaly wrong for resolution (SD instead of 720p) and for audio (mp3 instead of AC3 5.1). Never seen that on other Plex clients.

1600

For those using plexbmc on slower devices, you may want to try replacing default.py in plexbmc addon folder with attached file. This will enable thumbs photo transcoding resulting in smaller thumbnails that will be faster to load.