Why DLNA renderer discovery interval but no DLNA renderer streaming?

General Discussions
1

I’m trying to set up digital music streaming, using an Oppo BDP203 as the renderer. I know that Plex historically hasn’t supported non-Plex renderers, but I read that Plex had recently added more DLNA support, and so I installed the Plex Media Server on my Synology NAS, where my ripped music files exist, and configured it to access those files, and enabled DLNA support.

In so doing, I looked at the advanced options and saw the setting for DLNA media renderer discovery interval. I figured it uses SSDP or whatever the Synology Media Server uses, and since the Synology MS sees the Oppo and even identifies the model, I figured the Plex Media Server coupled with their iOS app would be able to stream music from my NAS to the Oppo.

Wrong. Neither the PMS or the Plex iOS app sees the Oppo as a player. With the iOS app, I can only play music to my iPhone and to the Plex HTTP browser applet on my PC. I then searched again and found this problem discussed here and elsewhere, with the conclusion being that Plex still cannot push/stream media to a DLNA renderer.

So why have the settings about enabling DLNA with the media renderer discovery interval? That seems to imply that streaming to non-Plex DLNA renderers is supported. Is this available but only with Plex Pass? Or is it something that works with some DLNA renderers and not with others? Or ???

Thanks,

2

There’s a difference between the DLNA server and DLNA clients. DLNA clients can only see DLNA servers. Due to that, they can’t see the regular Plex Media Server, so the Plex DLNA server was added for these clients. Plex clients can see Plex Media Server, but it cannot see DLNA servers or other DLNA clients.

These are 2 different animals that don’t get along with each other.

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That’s helpful - in other words, a DLNA client, like a control point/player, can’t work with the regular Plex server, so enabling DLNA in PMS provides a DLNA veneer to handle requests from DLNA clients. That makes sense. But the inclusion of the DLNA media renderer discovery interval implies (to me, at least) that PMS (in DLNA mode) goes looking for DLNA renderers, using SSDP, or something similar.

If not, then we’re done, or at least I am - I need to use a different DLNA server/controller.

If so, it doesn’t see my Oppo, which is on the same switch as my Synology NAS and PC. And the Synology Media Server itself does see the Oppo. So either Plex DLNA renderer discovery is broken, or it uses a different discovery protocol than the built-in Synology one, and my Ubiquiti router doesn’t like it for some reason.

In either case, thanks for your help.

4

PMS does use SSDP to look for devices. However, there is no Plex client that can be used to send the file to your Oppo. You need to use an actual DLNA client to send the stream. Like Media Player on Windows or BubblePNP on Android. These can see the PMS DLNA server and send the stream to another DLNA device.

5

Hmmm. SMS (the built-in Synology Media Server), which also uses SSDP, does see the Oppo, so why doesn’t PMS? I think it’s because, as you point out, the PMS web applet and the Plex iOS client are only part of the “Plex-verse”. Plex, like Sonos, Roon, Bluesound and others, does not do DLNA/uPnP, as a matter of course. The Plex DLNA support is minimal - it provides a DLNA server emulation for DLNA controllers, like 8player on my iPhone, and for DLNA players (which is a combo DLNA controller/renderer), like Roku Media Player (not the Roku channel), to talk to.

So, for example, 8player on my iPhone sees the music library on my NAS in four different ways - via Plex, in DLNA mode, via Synology’s DLNA server (SMS), via my Win 10 PC’s DLNA server (which is reading the Synology NAS data), and also via Synology’s File Server (SMB). Pick one ;-).

But the Plex app on my iPhone only sees PMS data, in Plex’s proprietary mode. And when PMS goes looking for players, it really does mean Plex clients, not DLNA media renderers.

But this still doesn’t explain the “DLNA media renderer discovery interval” setting in the DLNA section for PMS settings. Why would PMS go looking for DLNA media renderers if it doesn’t talk to them? DLNA controller apps do their own DLNA media renderer discovery. I assumed it was so that either PMS, running on the NAS, could push data to a DLNA renderer, like the Oppo, or so that the Plex iOS/Android client app didn’t need to do its own discovery. Neither appears to be correct.

In any case, I think I’ll buy into either Roon or Bluesound. Roon does allow me to use my Oppo as a playback device, since Oppo did add Roon support to its players, right before it discontinued them. Bluesound is limited strictly to its own hardware and NAD’s highend line.

I’ve never had good luck with the separate DLNA controller apps, even the paid ones. I’d try BubbleUPNP again but I don’t have an Android device any more.

Thanks again. If anyone ever figures out what Plex does with the media renderer discovery interval, I’d like to know, just as a matter of curiosity.

6

Server’s don’t see devices that way. The program/app/client you use to control SMS is acting as a DLNA client so it can send streams from the server to other DLNA clients. Plex’s Web client, which is used to administer PMS, is not a DLNA client, so it can’t push streams to other DLNA devices.

I’m not familiar with 8player, but from a quick search it appears to be a DLNA client. I’m not aware of this being able to communicate directly with Plex Media Server. Can you provide a screenshot of what you see?

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8player doesn’t see Plex in non DLNA mode - when I disable DLNA on Plex running on my NAS, that entry in the 8player media server list goes away. That’s what I meant by “via Plex, in DLNA mode”. My Oppo exhibits similar behavior - the controller built into the Oppo also sees my Synology NAS data in multiple “views” - via SMB and DLNA from the Synology apps (file server and media server) and via DLNA from the Synology Plex app when DLNA is enabled for Plex.

(And in case you’re wondering why I don’t just use the built in Oppo DLNA controller/player, it’s because I intend to use the Oppo just as an audio device, with no display attached, and the Oppo controller apps on iOS/etc are not being maintained since the Oppo players were discontinued.)

It appears as though Plex’s DLNA support is limited to supporting a DLNA mode for their servers so that separate DLNA controllers can play media stored on Plex either directly, on a renderer that’s part of the controller, or indirectly, by setting up a stream from Plex to a separate DLNA renderer. I was hoping that the Plex controller app could do this, but as you pointed out, it’s not designed that way.

I might keep Plex on my NAS just to access my ripped disk video files via my Roku - its interface is much nicer than the Roku Media Player.

Thanks again.

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Ah sorry, I saw that as 2 different things. Stupid ambiguous comma.

  • via Plex
  • in DLNA mode
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