But be aware that at this time it is not easy to install a Plex plugin manually: You need a rooted device, SSH and some basic knowledge about SELinux in enforcing mode.
It would be nice if you could write a how to… That´s what I am exactly missing… I need the watched status also on my shield…
There is already a howto in the trakt issue. And as suggested by @krad23, you can go to nvidiashieldzone.com for a tutorial on rooting the Shield.
@MetalSonic93 said:
Actually, if you have root on your STV you can copy over and symlink the internal Plex Media Server folder to the Plex Media Server folder that gets created on the sdcard and install 3rd Party Plug-ins that way (just don’t forget to set the file permissions on the symlink to the same permissions as the other files) .It’s a hacky solution though. I used it to install WebTools and that works so far.
This works, and its pretty easy. Not sure why everyone is ignoring his post. “/data/data/com.plexapp.mediaserver.smb/Plex Media Server/Plug-ins” is the plugins folder, BTW. Symlink it to somewhere else (I chose “\Plex Media Server\Plug-ins” folder on my adopted SD card) then paste the plugins into that folder. Boom. Everything works fine. I did root before doing that (which was also easy, I just flashed the DEV version of the release firmware following the instructions on Nvidia’s website, flashed a custom recovery, then flashed a superuser app/utility) so I dont know if its totally necessary to be rooted or not. You CAN paste the plugins in the actual plugins folder but they are ignored. Im not linux/android/plex savvy enough to understand why.
I THINK this is the command I used (in the a Terminal app on the Shield itself) to do the symlink: ln -sf “/data/data/com.plexapp.mediaserver.smb/Plex Media Server/Plug-ins” “/sdcard/Plex Media Server/”
So, a walkthrough would be like this (at least its what I did):
Get rooted (probably?)
Download a Terminal app on the Shield
(might need to run a su command first. I’m a complete linux/android n00b if Im honest. Im just good at solving problems and getting things to work how I want) Run this in the terminal: ln -sf “/data/data/com.plexapp.mediaserver.smb/Plex Media Server/Plug-ins” “/sdcard/Plex Media Server/”
(first directory MIGHT be able to be anywhere, I just used that folder per what Sonic said)
Copy the plugins to the newly created Plug-ins folder in your chosen directory, but also MAKE SURE to copy the contents of “/data/data/com.plexapp.mediaserver.smb/Plex Media Server/Plug-ins” to the new directory as well, or Plex as a whole will NOT be happy
Can confirm this is working. It requires root and a symlink as mentioned above.
Also, the instructions above from @faaaq are mostly correct with a few clarifications/changes:
Make sure Shield is rooted
Install at least one channel on the Plex Server so “Plug-ins” folder has contents
Change the original “Plug-ins” folder (located at /data/data/com.plexapp.mediaserver.smb/Plex Media Server/Plug-ins) to something like “Plug-ins_old”
Run the terminal command on the Shield (with su): ln -sf “/sdcard/Plug-ins/” "/data/data/com.plexapp.mediaserver.smb/Plex Media Server"
Check “sdcard” for a folder named “Plug-ins” if there is not one, create one.
a. This can be tested by putting a small file in the /sdcard/Plug-ins/ folder, then checking if it is also in the /data/data/com.plexapp.mediaserver.smb/Plex Media Server one
Copy all contents of “Plug-ins_old” to the newly created “Plug-ins” on your SD card.
Copy custom plugin files to new “Plug-ins” folder (this might take a looong time)
May take a few restarts to show up, but it will appear. I had to log out and in, then restart my Shield.
What is the purpose of making the old folder “Plug-ins_old”? I have not done that and am not having any issues. And how can your step 3 work? Wouldnt that symlink the entire “/data/data/com.plexapp.mediaserver.smb/Plex Media Server” folder to a “Plex Media Server” folder within “/sdcard/Plug-ins/”?
Renaming the folder is just for backup. No problem to delete it after. The command you gave will put the symlink inside the Plugins folder, but we want a symlink of the Plug-in folder in the “Plex Media Server” folder, so Plex will redirect to the new location when it looks for the “Plug-ins” folder in that location. The first part of the command is what is being linked, the second part is where the link is placed. I think you were looking at it in reverse.
I meant renaming it seems pointless. I didnt delete or rename the original, so Plex either ignores it when the symlink is there, or it sees both as one.
Well then I cant explain it, im pretty sure what I put in my post was exactly the symlink command I used. I had it saved when I did it and thats what I saved, but looking around yes, it looks like my order is wrong (unless you run the command in windows, since Windows uses the opposite order from Linux for reasons…). Ill edit my post to correct then
For those of us who don’t want to root our stv box, does anyone have the link to the ticket for this so we can follow the progress or get information about when plugins on android/stv might get fixed/officially supported? It seems odd that they need help from nvidia for this. Why not just add another plugins search directory in the external storage and give people a warning about possible performance issues with using it…or else just allow us to decide where the plugins directory is located? None of that requires input from nvidia…
@rketterl said:
Can confirm this is working. It requires root and a symlink as mentioned above.
How did you root your Sheild? Will I loose my current contents of my Sheild when rooting?
Can similar commands be used to change the location of the entire library (as I would like to side load my library from my currently running Mac Mini PMS)?
I own nvidia shield tv pro ( 2017 ) and i confirm its work after i make symlink , thank you so much for helping me i root my device just for plex plug ins <3
@firecraft@windowslive.com said:
I own nvidia shield tv pro ( 2017 ) and i confirm its work after i make symlink , thank you so much for helping me i root my device just for plex plug ins <3
Hello firecraft@windowslive.com,
Could you post the code you used to get the symlink of directories?
su (hit enter)
ln -sf “/ sdcard / Plug-ins /” “/data/data/com.plexapp.mediaserver.smb/Plex Media Server” (hit enter)
I’m wrong? What terminal app have you used?
I’m afraid of doing it wrong.
