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My current Emby-HTPC-Win11 setup works perfectly, but I keep reading about how Linux is so much more efficient than Windows for this and, of course, it's simply not Windows so that's another plus. All of that having been said, I am wondering if it would be reasonable for an absolute Linux newbie to jump into this particular pool AND if such a newbie is likely to have success doing so?? I retired from a support role in IT, so I'm very comfortable in the Windows world but know next to nothing about Linux. My Emby server is a dedicated Intel/nVidia HTPC with a bare metal installation - no Docker or anything like that. I have a lifetime Emby Premiere license, if that matters to the functionality of Linux Any thoughts, insights or direction on this would be much appreciated!

Emby Premiere : Roku 4 Ultra : HTPC Emby will sometimes mark a TV show as Watched and set up the next one so that you just have to click Play to proceed. More often than not, Emby marks the episode as Watched, but you have to arrow down and manually select the next episode and then click Play. This is obviously not a big deal, but I wonder if there is some kind of configuration or settings that are responsible for this. For example, ALL of the Chicago universe requires that we down-arrow to the next episode and choose it, where Reservation Dogs DID mark the episodes watched and queue the next one for play until I got to S02E06 - now I have to arrow-down and choose the next one. This makes me think that the "issue" is in the video, which is exclusively MP4 or MKV with subtitles in PGS or SRT. Lastly, I've been happy with the Roku4 but am starting to think about getting a nVidia Shield Pro to see how things go with that device.

Coming from a Windows Media Centre setup I have emby setup on a HTPC directly connected to my main living room PC and running theater. As such Theater is running in TV mode and we primarily use a remote to navigate. While I am a fan of the web app and the version running on our Roku the supposed flagship windows app does feel very rough around the edges. Here our our thoughts on using Theater for the last month and where we think it could be improved from a usability and flow point of view. Note this is all about Theater for windows and in TV Mode. First thing, when launching Theater I have to click the icon twice, first time my mouse cursor will show a progress wheel for a brief time but then nothing until I double click it again. Main Home Screen: Seems to be a lot of wasted space in TV mode, perhaps bunch things together more? Have a highlight colour around current selected item, can be hard to see which button or item you have selected. Perhaps it can have some animation such as a pulse? The 'On Now' section is a bit of a mess. It seems to show random channels and more often than not channels that are off air or are radio stations! As discussed in this thread: https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/79285-hide-from-on-now/ 'Smooth Scrolling' using a remote to scroll down the home screen means the next row kind of jerks up rather than smoothly scroll like other apps such as Kodi. I tried to use the horizontal instead of the vertical layout and it looked even more unfinished, missing logo in top corner, strange dark backgrounds to icon buttons and again lots of wasted space. Live TV: I was a little perplexed that there is no way to use a remote or keyboard to change channels up or down while watching Live TV as confirmed in this thread I started: https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/79408-what-are-the-keyboard-shorcuts/ a basic feature of the TV experience I would have thought. No mini guide or channel overlay like in other emby apps. Recordings: When searching for recordings show channel name and/or number with results. I have both HD and SD versions of the channels in my guide but usually prefer to record in HD but you cant tell from the multiple search results which channel they are on without going into each entry. Luke said in my feature request thread here: https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/79360-search-for-tv-shows-to-record-shows-channel-details-and-episode-details/ that they hoped to show the episode as a merged item that when clicked took you to a screen listing all the showings for you to choose. If you agree it needs changing then please reply in that thread. Screensaver: Great to see the photo screensaver but it's a little bare-bones at the moment. All pictures are zoomed in to fill the screen, even portrait ones, there are no transitions or pan& scan effects and at the moment no way to restrict it to a certain library or exclude certain folders. Hope this is expanded on as it's getting rolled out across the other apps at the moment. Music: The music OSD has seen some changes on the web front end and work is ongoing as discussed in this thread: https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/78512-43015-new-audio-osd/page-7 I replied in that discussion my thoughts about theater in this post: https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/78512-43015-new-audio-osd/page-7&do=findComment&comment=812575 where I point out how hard it is to add a single item to the current now playing list, how easy it is to wipe all your previous choices and how hard it is to get back and view the playlist. What do other people think? Finally logging out and switching user, it's at least 6 button clicks to go up to the top header bar and click along to get to the user button and select log out. Is there anyway this can be the first option in the user menu rather than 3rd or 4th? It really is a pain to switch users. I really am a fan of emby and it seems to be evolving every day, I hope that the above suggestions resonate with others and it would be great to hear the devs and other users opinions.

Have enjoyed for the longest time the Throgsoft themes busing MB 2.6 with WMC and have finally reached the point of building a new HTPC for my home theater and now ask to be so kind and please steer me into the correct direction by answering a few of my concerns and unknowns. 1. I have a QNAP 253Pro that handles a Plex server just fine but would like to switch to EMBY. I know how to get the EMBY server installed on the QNAP NAS. Can the Plex server and EMBY server coexist on the same NAS but only one be used at any given time?2. All my content is on two UnRaid servers with all the needed and often custom meta data that displays just fine in MB 2.6. (1036 movies, 146 TV Shows with 3707 episodes) How can I ensure that the folder.jpg, Backdrop.jpg, movie.xml, series.xml and episodes.xml files will be left intact and used in the EMBY configuration?3. My migration is primarily driven by the most excellent Throgsoft themes that I have come to love and since they work now with EMBY I am willing to make the switch and build an i-5 Skylake NUC as a new client / HTPC. Here are a few unknows and concerns. (No playback of 3D and 4K content needed) I was going to wait for Kaby Lake NUCs and was going to use them. However with Kaby Lake Microsoft will ONLY allow Windows 10 as the sole OS. Since Throgsofts themes depend on WMC is the combination of an Intel NUC6i5SYK kit with Windows 7 a sound combination for this? Are there any possible pitfalls to consider for the next few years? This is the article discussing the Microsoft Update issue with none Win 10 OSs. http://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/matthew-wilson/microsoft-locks-ryzen-and-kaby-lake-users-out-of-updates-on-windows-7-and-8-1/ 4. I have bought PWDVD 16 Ultra recently since it was on sale plus will purchase RedFox AnyDVD for the HTPC in addition I also have used as an external player for MB 2.6 TMT 5. Does anyone foresee a problem with this approach of using PWRDVD 16 Ultra as external player since I do want Blu-ray menus for my TV Shows?We probably would not have had this conversation if Throgsoft would adopt his themes to the EMBY Theater but since it took him this long to get his themes to work with WMC in EMBY I am realistic and think it will not be arriving any time soon. I am at the crossroads of making the jump to EMBY but want to make sure that Throgsoft's themes work, have an OS that does not require a User Hack to install WMC, try to use my present meta data with a minimum amount of modifications. Since nothing has been bough everything is just in the planning stages I am very much willing to listen to suggestions achieving this setup for my Home Theater.

HI, I have a curious question. My synology NAS is offline due to failed HDD, so I setup a server2 user account on my windows office PC, and use this as the server for a smaller selection of movies and tv shows that are backed up on this pc to my main htpc rig in the living room. I shut down the emby server on my htpc and let emby connect to the office pc.These are both on the same gigabit lan. The htpc when using the emby server would be the local host and all material was situated on my synology nas, would direct stream everything. However, now while using the server of the office pc, and it's "server2" user account, all files are being transcoded before being received via the htpc. Is there a setting I am missing, or should I set up the "server2" user account on the htpc, and let it act as server and client with the office pc being the "dumb" server? Anybody understand what I am trying to say...kind of confusing isn't it? Just wanting to know if I set it up ass backwards...boy I miss my NAS....anybody got a spare 5tb hdd so I can rebuild my raid? Cheers

http://www.wired.com/2015/03/nvidias-new-shield-superpowered-set-top-box-4k-era/ This looks very promising. If we could get MediaBrowser for Android ported onto this, it could be an awesome gaming console / HTPC. Let's hope the device can be sideloaded or support other Android apps natively. Looks like it already has Plex pre-loaded according to Nvidia's webpage. http://shield.nvidia.com/console

Hey guys so I did a quick review of the zotac box. Great little htpc, let me know what you think and if you have any questions!

I'm not sure I've quite got my head around the transcoding, direct stream, direct play config from MBS. I've searched, and read a few threads about transcoding. But everyone asks slightly different questions. Usually related to Android, iOS or Roku devices. So i'm going to ask my own questions. I'm still researching MB3 before making the jump from MB2. At the moment I'm not concerned about using mobile devices (phones or tablets). Will be installing MB3 server/classic on my HTPC & media is stored on a NAS. If I use MB Theatre on a Win 8.1 laptop (doesn't have WMC) with the same codecs installed (Shark btw), that connects to the Server install on the HTPC. Will the HTPC just direct play (or is that direct stream??), so HTPC doesn't perform any transcoding? Presumably then the transcoding is performed on the laptop. Is that right? If I currently use my Xbox 360 as an extender (with MB2) watching movies. It causes the HTPC to run hotter, as this transcodes the movies to the 360, making the fan profile kick in and make more noise. WAF doesn't approve! Hoping that using a laptop will prevent this annoyance I understand that even with MB3 the 360 will still need the HTPC to transcode (most movies are mkv). Sorry if this has been explained before but I couldn't find it!

I thought this was interesting. I love my NUC. The next generation will definitely be something to look out for. Intel’s NUC 2.0 leaks: The next unit of Steam Machines and home theater PCs

Background I'm considering a new Intel NUC to install MBS and MBC (and eventually MBT) all on windows 8.1. The new NUCs come with a built in IR receiver which apparently works with a Microsoft Media Center remote. My current HTPC is running Win 7 with Media Center and MB2 and I have an original microsoft IR receiver. I use a Harmony One remote. I'd like to keep both PCs in the same room, using the old Media Center just for live TV recording and using the new NUC for everything else. Question Is it possible to control two separate HTPCs with the same remote? I think I'd need to tell one of the PCs to use a different set of IR codes or something. So, is it possible to uniquely address each PC with the same remote?