Plex Media Server on the joggler

[hawsey]

Due to my recent Now Tv box and Plex set up i would like to try set this up on a joggler for my folks house so they can use their box if my server is down .
Now i know this might not work properly due to CPU limitations etc but I would like to give running PMS on the Joggler a try .
Any thoughts on this ?
I know pms will even work on some nas boxes so it might just work OK .
I won't need any more than low bit 720 p or SD video .Also the screen on the Joggler will need to switch off after a few minutes as it won't be needed
I am thinking Linux will be the way to go , maybee something like xbmcOS or SqueezeplayOS type of thing but for PMS .
Any ideas would be appreciated

[jimeney]

The new sqPOS would be the ideal platform for this. Presumably, if you just disable transcoding, the joggler will do just fine, however I'd expect lots to not play on the NowTV boxes as they rely on transcoding for a number of formats.

spPOS is ubuntu 12.04 so you should be able to install fairly easily.

Let me know how you get on, I use a HP N54L microserver to run Plex, serving 2 now TV boxes, and a joggler based on sqPOS booting into Plex

[hawsey]

Cheers for the reply , your set up with the HP microserver is what I would like sometime soon but at the moment I am using an Acer revo 3610 with my HDDs attached and it is transcoding fine to two now TV boxes, takes a while to start playing but fine after that so I wonder may bee the joggler will trans code OK , anyway I would like to give it a go
Do you have plex home theatre running OK with squeezeplay is ?
I am not very Linux proficient so not sure how to proceed with this :-/ .
I think this is the right route though with a snappy Linux build in the background .
I

[gegs]

This would be great although I suspect it will be best for video files that are natively supported by Roku devices. Plex transcoding seems to require a hefty machine and I'm not sure if the Joggler's up to it, although I'd love to be proved wrong. Keep us posted.

[jimeney]

Plex Home Theater works well on the Joggler, I had a few minor hickups with it, namely the inability to control it without using a keyboard and mouse - I had not used Plex other than on the NowTVs and Android, so had no idea it had been designed without mouse support.

I'll give it a go and give you a step-by-step guide if I can get it working.

[hawsey]

That would be great thanks again.
Good luck

[hawsey]

I will be testing this for you if you get it running.
A couple of things , lack of touch support would not be a problem as once set up I would just leave it on , also I would use Ethernet only not wireless for obvious reasons ;
Running this internally would be the ultimate goal but that is not so important .
Cheers

[jimeney]

The lack of touchscreen support relates to Plex Home Theater rather than the server element, if all you're trying to achieve is the server, then we can have something else at the front end. Do you use SqueezePlay, or perhaps XBMC?

[hawsey]

Ahh ,I see .
No the idea is I want to try PMS on the lightest fastest distro possible for the Joggler to give it the best chance to do all that is needed .It will sit in or on a cupboard with a HDD with some media on if it works and serve a now TV box .
I have Linux mint working xbmc on one of my jogglers and that seems very snappy but I don't know if PMS would work on it tho
Cheers

[gegs]

This thread might have some answers:
https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/topic/ ... on-ubuntu/

[hawsey]

Thx for that Gegs will give it a read

[hawsey]

I had a look at the thread , cheers ,
Jimeney did you get a chance to have a go yet
Reading up , but I don't know if it would work on internal memory .
I think the Ubuntu base build (thanks to BuZz) Ubuntu Base/Server 12.04 LTS (Precise) (Joggler Image v1.5 - 03/01/2014):
Would be a good place to start with this with the thermal PSV set to 80 as suggested .
Would Btrfs or ext 4 be best for this ?
With a basic desktop just for setting up PMS would this fit on internal memory , any ideas ?
Thanks ..

[Juggler]

I've used both the BTRFS and EXT4 Ubuntu Base 12.04 builds by BuZz for several months of 24/7 use and for both performance and reliability EXT4 is better. I used BTRFS initially as it was considered to be be less wearing on flash drives, however around 6 months or more ago, when the performance and reliability of EXT4 was factored in, it appeared to be the preferred file system (I may well be wrong).

From my own usage, EXT4 Ubuntu base 12.04 is significantly better for me - I say this as reliability is very important and BTRFS proved to be far to problematic. Having said that it is a relatively new file system.

I believe that roobarb has used BuZz's Ubuntu Base 12.04 as a base for spOS. Previously, I think he used an Ubuntu 10.10 distro, but I may be wrong. I think that he has stripped Ubuntu Base 12.04 down to a bare minimum so that it can be installed on the Joggler's internal flash.

As a side comment, and I've had a look for this and not come up with anything. it would be great if roobarb would release the Ubuntu base he stripped down, without spOS, so that we could use that for other apps, and be able to install on the internal flash. A good project would be to make a MAME distro for the Joggler. It may be possible to use BuZz's distro as is for the internal flash, but I've not come across anyone stating that, and I haven't tried. Also, like BuzZ, I don't think it is a good idea to use the internal flash as it is not replaceable and is best to be avoided, if possible. Having said that, I'm surprised we haven't seen more reports of internal flash failing on here, given that most Jogglers will be between 4 and 6(?) years old now, and some will have been used heavily for a lot of that time.

There is a size restriction on a distro for the internal flash which is around the 1GB mark. There are ways to compress the file system to fit more in. But of course there is a limit on what can be done.

[jimeney]

I think I also mentioned to Roobarb before that it would be good to get at the sqPOS base image, as I wanted to explore a number of different avenues installed to the eMMC, first was just viewing some CCTV IP cameras, second was as a platform to run a front end controlled for home automation.

I don't see an issue with using sqPOS as the base image, as I've successfully converted it before to boot to lxde desktop and load up a browser. What made you think sqPOS would not be a good base?

I've not yet had a go, although I hope to find some time this weekend.

[hawsey]

No I think that would be a great base image .I was just having a look through the threads at what is available , I am clueless really mol
It was just to choose something that will give PMS the best possible chance to work nice and snappy to see if it will be successful as a small server for SD and low rate HD stuff that I want .
Thanks again

[hawsey]

I had a mess about trying to get PMS working off Linux Mint Maya .
I installed it on a 750gb external HDD , it would not work with two different hubs (port 4 also) so I had to work without mouse and keyboard .
I removed all unnecessary stuff that I could see I.e xbmc etc and installed Plex media server 32 bit for Ubuntu (read on a thread this would work )
It starts up but on first run it mentions silver light which I think I uninstalled ,ooops .
I pointed it to a Movies folder I had created on another partition on the HDD which it found no problem
It also found my server running off the same network on a revo 3610 strangely as I had created a completely new account for this setver (must be because of being on same network I think .
not tried streaming yet but at least I got this far .....

[hawsey]

I had no success with Mint as the image corrupted first power cycle due to it not shutting down on its own

What I need ideally is a bomb proof image that could take the odd power outage without failing , I am trying Mevi's XP( BuZz holds up a silver cross ) build now and will report back.
I know Linux would be the best way to go but I lack the skills to get it up and running .
After I have it set up on a fully working Joggler I intend to plug this Plex image in to a Joggler motherboard without a screen as I have one sitting idle (should this cause any issues ?)
Once set up its main function will be to allow the use of the Now TV Plex channels at my parents house without my server being on permanently.
Fingers crossed ...

[pete]

Curious what the difference is between Plex and XBMC? I haven't really looked at Plex.

The above noted; I recently set up an XBMC box at my sister in laws house on an Aopen DE with a 1TB drive in it.

I just remote to the box to make changes and copy over media. Works well for them. Not using it for my remote NAS though today.

[hawsey]

Hi Pete , hope you are well
Plex is a xbmc offshoot originally for Apple devices and I believe the two have many similarities .
The thing I am trying to set up however is Plex Media Server which once set up allows easy access to your media from anywhere : it works very well
The reason it is popular over here at the moment is the hackable £10 Now TV boxes which are basically a cheap ROKU ; it is easy to side load Plex on to it .
With my details on it I have put one at my parents house and it works very well however it requires my server on at home .
What I am trying to do here is set up a Joggler as a PMS that can be left on at their house and then I could set up a share between my PMS and theirs .
It sounds complicated but the Plex software is a dream to use so its easy .
Not sure if anyone Stateside has managed to get a now TV box working via VPN or not yet so I don't think they would work for you ...

[pete]

Hello Hawsey,

Thank you for asking. I am well and yourself?

New grandbaby here (#2). Cute little bugger; only 8 months old now and walking; full of piss and vinegar.


I have not paid attention to the VPN thing.

I do know its becoming popular as ISP's here are stifling media streaming services in an attempt to recoup lost revenues as folks shut off TV services.