PS3mediaserver


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  • 4 weeks later...

From what I can gather off the web site it will play blu ray as an m2ts file directly, but doesn't support iso format as of yet even though it does support iso format for plain DVD's.  I think this should be posted under the User Customizations thread so that some of the advanced linux folks can help us out getting this to work with Unraid. This would be very cool if it does work.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is still a work in progress.

 

1. Download and extract ps3mediaserver to your flash or cache drive.

http://ps3mediaserver.googlecode.com/files/pms-linux-1.04.tgz

 

2. Download and install the slackware java runtime environment. "installpkg jre-6u11-i586-1.tgz"

http://mirrors.easynews.com/linux/slackware/slackware-current/slackware/l/jre-6u11-i586-1.tgz

 

3. Download my modified PMS.sh file. All I did was specify the java directory.

http://www.bibliognome.com/PMS.sh

 

4. Mencoder has a whopping 34 required packages, plus mplayer and ffmpeg. I've zipped the 34 tgzs and will host it because finding all of them is very time consuming. I'd recommend placing these 36 packages in a separate subfolder to keep things tidier. You can then use installpkg *.tgz to install them all. After installing all of these, you should be able to run "mencoder" without it asking for a missing shared library.

http://www.bibliognome.com/mencoder-packages.zip

http://repository.slacky.eu/slackware-12.1/multimedia/mplayer/20081202/mplayer-20081202-x86-1sl.tgz

http://repository.slacky.eu/slackware-12.1/multimedia/ffmpeg/20081129/ffmpeg-20081129-i686-1sl.tgz

 

5. The ps3mediacenter tgz is missing the PMS.conf file, but you'll need to run this on another machine to iron out the settings. Without the gui everything has to manually be set in the conf file and there's no documentation yet. The following code is a sample PMS.conf file. I changed the transcoding quality to good with the final line.

 

thumbnails = true
alternativeffmpegpath = 
/boot/custom/usr/share/packages/ps3mediaserver/linux
mencoder_ass = true
folders = /mnt/user/Media
audiobitrate = 640
mencoder_usepcm = false
mencoder_mt = false
tsmuxer_preremux_pcm = true
mencoder_remux_ac3 = true
mencoder_encode = keyint=3:vqscale=2:vqmin=3

 

6. Now you should be able to successfully launch the server by executing the script "./PMS.sh". I did symlink mencoder and ffmpeg to the ps3mediaserver/linux folder. I don't know it that's required, but I'm mentioning it just in case.

 

Copy and paste commands for Putty or placing in a shell script:

 

Download

mkdir -p /boot/custom/usr/share/packages
cd /boot/custom/usr/share/packages
wget http://ps3mediaserver.googlecode.com/files/pms-linux-1.04.tgz
tar -xzf pms-linux-1.04.tgz
mv pms-linux-1.04 pms
rm pms-linux-1.04.tgz
wget http://mirrors.easynews.com/linux/slackware/slackware-current/slackware/l/jre-6u11-i586-1.tgz
mkdir mencoder
cd mencoder
wget http://repository.slacky.eu/slackware-12.1/multimedia/mplayer/20081202/mplayer-20081202-x86-1sl.tgz
wget http://repository.slacky.eu/slackware-12.1/multimedia/ffmpeg/20081129/ffmpeg-20081129-i686-1sl.tgz
wget http://www.bibliognome.com/mencoder-packages.tar
tar -xf mencoder-packages.tar
rm mencoder-packages.tar
cd /boot/custom/usr/share/packages/pms
rm PMS.sh
wget http://www.bibliognome.com/PMS.sh
wget http://www.bibliognome.com/PMS.conf

 

Install

cd /boot/custom/usr/share/packages
installpkg jre-6u11-i586-1.tgz
cd /boot/custom/usr/share/packages/mencoder
installpkg *.tgz
cd /boot/custom/usr/share/packages/pms
./PMS.sh

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Wow, just as I am finishing up compiling MediaTomb for unRaid you come out with this solution. Good Job as I would prefer this server as well. I'll post info on my mediatomb build in another thread later.

 

Yes you are right chasing all the dependant files is absolutely crazy. I hope to try your solution soon after I complete mediatomb.

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@ Romir;

 

WOW, what can I say but WOW! Indeed YOU'RE THE MAN.

 

Can the Java runtime environment and PS3MediaServer installed on let say DISK1 or CACHE drive?

 

Thanks!

 

I'm currently running PMS on a cache drive, mostly because it made symlinking easier, but that doesn't appear necessary. I just followed the new copy and paste instructions on a stock system without issues. A sample 720p mkv streamed just fine.

 

The JRE should probably be installed in the go script every bootup, but you might be able to extract it somewhere and specify that directory in the PMS.sh script.

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Romir, great work!

 

Actually I have been working on this as well.  I got the number of additional packages needed down to just a handful, mainly by customizing the mplayer build, e.g., by eliminating gui support (since unRAID PMS server is "headless").  Also customized some other packages to not install stuff like man pages, etc.

 

This started for me a couple weeks ago when a friend pointed out that PS3 had some media server features.  So I looked into this set of DLNA/UPnP linux based servers out there:

- MediaTomb

- fuppes

- twonky

- ushare

- MiniDLNA

- Coherence

- ps3mediaserver

 

By far ps3mediaserver is the best.  In particular, the author made a clever (ingenious?) decision to implement in Java.  Say what you will about Java, but this lets the author create an app which will run on Windows, OSX, linux, etc. with very little regard to platform.  He also makes use of open source media players also available on multiple platforms.  So even if 90% of the PS3mediaserver users out there are on Windows platform, users of the other platforms benefit as well.

 

There are limitations compared to a HTPC, some due to DLNA protocol limitations, some due to PS3 limitations, some due to ps3mediaserver limitations.  For example:

 

o DVD Playback

  - no DVD menu is possible.  This is due to fact that DLNA protocol is a streaming protocol.

  - no chapter skipping.  This is due to PS3 not implementing that feature of DLNA protocol.

  - no subtitles (without transcoding).  This is also due to PS3.

 

o Media Organization

  - the ps3mediaserver app is very basic in this regard.  In order to present media by genre, type, artist, etc., you have to have it organized this way in your directory structure.  There is a "media library" feature, but is not well developed at present time (ps3mediaserver 1.04 release).

  - the menu system of the PS3 is a bit clunky.  For example, there are main items for "Photo", "Music", and "Video", and under each item your server shows up.  Let's say on your server you also have "Photos", "Music", "Video".  Well suppose you navigate to "Music" on the PS3 and select the server.  You then have to navigate to "Music" on the server.  If you navigate to "Photos" instead, then if there happens to be a music file in there you can play it, but you can't view any photos unless you navigate back to the top the PS3 menu and enter via "Photo" item... confusing right?

  - each media 'folder' contains a list of the media files in that folder, and in addition, a 'pseudo' folder called '#--TRANSCODE--#'.  You select the TRANSCODE folder in order to play a media file that requires transcoding (for example, adding subtitles to a DVD stream).  This is a bit clunky.

 

Despite these limitations, I'm pretty impressed with the PS3, video quality is especially good.  In fact as soon as this little add-on package is complete, I will probably be replacing the "family" HTPC with the PS3!

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@ Romir;

 

WOW, what can I say but WOW! Indeed YOU'RE THE MAN.

 

Can the Java runtime environment and PS3MediaServer installed on let say DISK1 or CACHE drive?

 

Thanks!

 

I'm currently running PMS on a cache drive, mostly because it made symlinking easier, but that doesn't appear necessary. I just followed the new copy and paste instructions on a stock system without issues. A sample 720p mkv streamed just fine.

 

The JRE should probably be installed in the go script every bootup, but you might be able to extract it somewhere and specify that directory in the PMS.sh script.

@Romir;

Thank you for all your hard work. I followed you instructions copy and paste and almost everything works, except the internet radio streaming. Have you tried if this works on your machine?

Another issue for me is I put your "install code" on my "go" script but PMS won't start automatic if I reboot my unRAID, I have to manually run PMS.sh on telnet to be able to run it.

 

Any idea what I am doing wrong?

 

Thanks!

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Just a question... is PS3MediaServer in fact a "generic" MediaServer?

In other words, they made it for PS3, but can really be used as a media server in general?

 

To be honest the limitations I read it has, are not few and some are in fact important limitations.

Is it really the best we can have?

(from the open source community)

 

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Just a question... is PS3MediaServer in fact a "generic" MediaServer?

In other words, they made it for PS3, but can really be used as a media server in general?

 

To be honest the limitations I read it has, are not few and some are in fact important limitations.

Is it really the best we can have?

(from the open source community)

 

To my knowledge the author has only created the necessary DLNA profile for the PS3, but also claims XB360 'experimental' support is present.  The limitations are almost all due to the PS3.  For example, the PS3 can certainly play Blu-ray with VC-1 encoding, but refuses to play the same VC-1 encoded stream from a server - this is purely a PS3 limitation.  What ps3mediaserver does in this case is transcode VC-1 on-the-fly, which unfortunately requires a very powerful processor.

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SuperPerry, sorry I haven't been able test any of that yet. I got preoccupied with a drive failure on Friday and then another yesterday. If I hadn't had a spare I'd be in trouble.

 

@Romir;

Not to worry. Your priority are more important than streaming radios. ;) How's the recovery going? I hope everything will be fine.

 

By the way, PS3MS is now running with my "go script" I just have to put it on the last line.

 

Again thanks for sharing.

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Just a question... is PS3MediaServer in fact a "generic" MediaServer?

In other words, they made it for PS3, but can really be used as a media server in general?

 

To be honest the limitations I read it has, are not few and some are in fact important limitations.

Is it really the best we can have?

(from the open source community)

 

To my knowledge the author has only created the necessary DLNA profile for the PS3, but also claims XB360 'experimental' support is present.  The limitations are almost all due to the PS3.  For example, the PS3 can certainly play Blu-ray with VC-1 encoding, but refuses to play the same VC-1 encoded stream from a server - this is purely a PS3 limitation.  What ps3mediaserver does in this case is transcode VC-1 on-the-fly, which unfortunately requires a very powerful processor.

 

Limetech is right. It is actually due to PS3 limitation. PS3MS was created originally for PS3 but maybe try to install and find out then let us know. I only has PS3 to try out but if you have PCH or other media streamer I think other people would like to know also if PS3MS can be use as a generic server like TwonkymediaServer.

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Negative. I am not a console guy (except maybe my old Atari 2600).

 

Even my worst PC beats the cr*p out of any PS3 or XBox360... and yes I have HTPC in my living room.

 

I know you like it Tom, but I am sure you can see that if you add media capabilities to unRAID, they should be as generic as possible.

 

 

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Not to worry. Your priority are more important than streaming radios. ;) How's the recovery going? I hope everything will be fine.

A spare took care of the first failure. The second was handled by copying the data out and rebuilding the array without it. My old true image backups can sit on the cache drive for now.

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