How to setup Media Server

sxs_alex · 2007-05-24 02:27:43

To the person who's been nagging about trouble with media server... hope the info below helps. OK, since bits of info get burried in a huge FW1.80 thread, I decided to make a new thread where I will update the first post regularly with new info.So, short notes first.DLNA is an industry standard for media (audio,video, photo) sharing within concept of a digital home and is supported by many hardware and software manufacturers. As of FW1.80, DLNA is supported by Playstation 3 entertainment system. PS3 takes a role of DLNA Player, not DLNA server, so it can play a content of any DLNA server (source) in you digital home, but can not stream the content to other server within DLNA protocols. (Remote connect to PSP is using proprietary protocols)What it means is that you have to have a DLNA server installed, either hardware (like some HDD storages, DVRs or set-top boxes) or as a software on your PC.The latter is most interesting for majority of us, since DLNA certified CE equipment is not that widespread yet.Your options for the software naturally depends on your operating system. DLNA is an open protocol based on UPnP (Universal PnP) and therefore can work on any operating system. So far we found a reasonably good solution only for Windows OSes, so I'll start with it.WindowsWMP11If you are running Windows Vista you have a very simple way to enable the sharing through Windows Media Player 11. If you search in Media Sharing Tab you can spot a new uknown device you can share media to:Allow sharing to it and go to your PS3. Now, after 1.80 the new icon appeared in Music/Video and Photo bars, called Search for Media Servers. Click it and if you are lucky :p, a Vista media server icon will appear just under it. Now you can click on it and navigate through you WMP11 library direct in XMB! Moreover, hit triangle on your video file and you can copy it over to PS3 without hassle!Sounds good, right? Its not that perfect however, since you will be only play video and music files that are supported by PS3, and in some cases not even all of them. And that limits you to MP2 and MP4 (which reported to not work at some cases), so no luck with AVIs.The only solution here is transcoding, which is basically on-fly recoding of source video/audio to target video/audio. The best (and only correctly working so far) program for it is Nero MediaHome, which is a part of Nero Digital Pro package: http://www.nero.com/eng/Upgrade_to_Nero_Digital_Pro.html Thanks to mingeeta@PS3forums we have a quick tutorial for setting it up.Turn your PS3 on and login, and leave it on your XMBRun a file in Nero Showtime to unblock the firewall that pops up and ALLOW.Run Nero MediaHomeOn the left are a set of Icons.Heres a quick setup:SHARED DIRECTORIES > Click ADD SHARE and browse to a single shared directory for now, as it takes time to add the details, so dont go adding gazillions of media files for now.OPTIONS: I left them at default for now, but they are self explanatory. Automatically start media home when pc is switched on is a good one to tick up, but leave it off for now till you get it going.NETWORK: Click the box for your ethernet card on your PC. Leave port number and network name at default for nowDEVICES: Click UPnP/1.0 line and click ALLOW ACCESS boxTRANSCODING: Leave on auto detect as it will talk to the ps3 and see what it can and cant play and come up with a solution after a few seconds.TV: Set up your tv card hereSTATUS: Click this ICON and you will be able to see whats going onthen click START SERVER at the bottom, and you wait a few moments. Go back to PS3 and it should show the Nero Media Home Icon. Browse as normal for your video files.At first if you have loads of files in your shared directories it can casue the ps3 playback to come back out to the XMB. Just give Media Home some time to update the directory listings, then it will be silky smooth.It was tested at a decent PC for SD avi files only so far, and they work fine. You might have issues if you have an old pc, as the trancoding can take up resources.If you cant see any media on your PS3 after doing all this, try following:Turn off the server and go to TOOLS - NERO SCOUT - INDEXING - FOLDERS and select the folders you want there. Then go back to the INDEXING tab and click INDEX NOW - this may take a while to do, if you have huge amounts of files, so as before just to get it working. When its done go to SHARED DIRECTORIES ICON in nero media home and select SHARE ALL CONTENT INDEXED BY NERO SCOUTAs it seems now it works quite fine for SD content, but stutters/fails at HD files, which is not surprising, giving the needed processor power for on-fly HD conversion.For native HD MPEG2 files people are getting good streaming results with twonky vision media center http://www.twonkyvision.com/ but as of current it full of glitches when working with PS3, so I wouldnt recommend you to spend much time with it until they deliver a patch specifically for PS3. Same can be said about another popular DLNA streaming/transcoding solution TVersity http://tversity.com/. There are also a bunch of freeware UPnP software that should allow streaming to PS3 as well, such as: http://www.gnu.org/software/gmediaserver/http://ushare.geexbox.org/http://mediatomb.cc/http://www.cybergarage.org/net/cmgate/cc/index.htmlYou can look at them if you have enough free time and some skills. Most of them can also be compiled to Mac or Linux, but I wouldnt try to do. Speaking of other OSes, Mac users theoretically also have a number of options.Mentioned above Twonky Vision Media Center has OsX version available, and you can give it a try. Exclusive to Mac systems is EyeConnect software http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyeconnectboth have 30days free trials, so its plenty ...

Betamax001

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#51 Betamax001

Member since 2010 • 25 Posts

So I set it up according to the guide and it works and all and I got some of my old videos I made with my camera and some videos I made using Windows Movie Maker to play on my PS3, but this one video file that is in MP4 wont add to my library so I can stream to my PS3. I downloaded a codec to allow MP4s to work with WMP, but it still doesnt seem to want to add to the library? Anyone know how I can get it to add to my library?

13 years ago

Axcalay

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#52 Axcalay

Member since 2008 • 197 Posts

I use the Java PS3 media server v 1.10.51

It does everything automatically for you and even streams MKV videos.

13 years ago

drdeviant

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#53 drdeviant

Member since 2010 • 25 Posts

Want a Quick simple solution....? That works for Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, PC's w/ Internet access (Anywhere in the World), and some Mobile phones, Including Iphone, Ipod Touches, and blackberrys? Try ORB! Not a gimmick . I have all the devices listed. And can stream media on the fly anywhere along as the PC with the contetnt Im looking for in connected to the NET. Movies, Pictures, Audio! ORB media server is FREE! @ Orb.com and allows for Customization and custom user profiles! want a friend to see only movies give them an account that you create locally with a password and username. want family to access Photos ... easy do the same! Ive tried all the methods listed including the free Jave ps3 media server available through google labs, orb works the best.. streams through a webpage by logging in through mycast.orb.com where the user inputs there account login w/ password. or simply connect to a local network (ie: home and stream to any wifi enabled device or network pc! Its awesome Trust ME! you'll reccomend to everyone like I have! get it while its free! or you'll be hitting yourself! http://www.orb.com ....http://mycast.orb.com/ -Dr. Deviant

13 years ago