Posix 0 Posted March 22, 2015 Posted March 22, 2015 Hello everyone, I am looking for a little guidance. I recently purchased a Raspberry Pi 2. What I want is to install MB on the Pi, and connect an external hard drive to create a media server that can be accessed by anyone on my network via the MB web interface or smartphone app. The issue that I am having trouble with is installing the server on Pi 2. I started out with Raspbian and tried to install MB using the new debian instructions, thinking that Raspbian is a fork of debian. However, this did not work. I got to thinking, Pi runs on ARM, so I'm (pretty) sure the traditional debian packages wont work? I also tried the manual install instructions, but ran into issues when trying to start the server using the mono command. I have seen people on this forum say that they have MB running on a Pi. My question is what OS and instruction set should I use to get this working? I am thinking of trying Pidora or Arch Linux next, if need be. I really have no preference as to what OS I use, this Pi's sole purpose will be to run a media server. Thanks, Tanner
MSattler 388 Posted March 22, 2015 Posted March 22, 2015 I used Arch and got it running using the instructions in another thread in this forum. The only reason I set mine up is to have a Mobile Emby server that we can use in the car, setup as a Wifi HotSpot/Router as well. The only issue I have is, it is trying to still transcode movies which can be played back directly via DLNA. I'm gonna try and figure that out. 1
thefirstofthe300 292 Posted March 22, 2015 Posted March 22, 2015 Hello everyone, I am looking for a little guidance. I recently purchased a Raspberry Pi 2. What I want is to install MB on the Pi, and connect an external hard drive to create a media server that can be accessed by anyone on my network via the MB web interface or smartphone app. The issue that I am having trouble with is installing the server on Pi 2. I started out with Raspbian and tried to install MB using the new debian instructions, thinking that Raspbian is a fork of debian. However, this did not work. I got to thinking, Pi runs on ARM, so I'm (pretty) sure the traditional debian packages wont work? I also tried the manual install instructions, but ran into issues when trying to start the server using the mono command. I have seen people on this forum say that they have MB running on a Pi. My question is what OS and instruction set should I use to get this working? I am thinking of trying Pidora or Arch Linux next, if need be. I re ally have no preference as to what OS I use, this Pi's sole purpose will be to run a media server. Thanks, Tanner My suggestion is to go with Arch simply because people have successfully been running it without too much extra work. As MSattler pointed out, there is a thread detailing how other people got it running. Also, my server is built on Arch so feel free to ask me if you have any questions about how Arch works or how to install the server. I personally don't have a Pi so I really can't say how well it runs but it should at least work. Be warned though that the Pi just doesn't have the CPU power to transcode on the fly so everything will need to direct play (or you can use the new Folder Sync plugin that is being introduced this release to preprocess files). 2
MSattler 388 Posted March 22, 2015 Posted March 22, 2015 My suggestion is to go with Arch simply because people have successfully been running it without too much extra work. As MSattler pointed out, there is a thread detailing how other people got it running. Also, my server is built on Arch so feel free to ask me if you have any questions about how Arch works or how to install the server. I personally don't have a Pi so I really can't say how well it runs but it should at least work. Be warned though that the Pi just doesn't have the CPU power to transcode on the fly so everything will need to direct play (or you can use the new Folder Sync plugin that is being introduced this release to preprocess files). It certainly runs Emby fine, the question is more along the lines of how in the hell do I get it to serve content that the iPad can natively play back, without it trying to transcode it =)
thefirstofthe300 292 Posted March 22, 2015 Posted March 22, 2015 It certainly runs Emby fine, the question is more along the lines of how in the hell do I get it to serve content that the iPad can natively play back, without it trying to transcode it =) You will probably need to convert your media to x264/AAC video files. If you are using the Emby app, the server is wanting to transcode to target the app.
MSattler 388 Posted March 22, 2015 Posted March 22, 2015 You will probably need to convert your media to x264/AAC video files. If you are using the Emby app, the server is wanting to transcode to target the app. Hmmmm here is what is weird though. If you look below, my working file streams directly via minidlna, no transcoding needed. Now the non-working file made through Emby Server does not work via dlna. I'm guessing it's because of the resolution, the codecs are the same, both in an mp4 container. Now neither of the files will play in Emby. Which is weird considering the working file below obviously can be played back by the iPad. Non-Working File: 1280 x 538 1169kbps overall video 846kbps AVC High@L3.1 AAC 2 channel Working File: 1920 x 800 2816 kbps overall video 2500 kbps AVC High@L3.1 AAC 2 channel
Koleckai Silvestri 1150 Posted March 22, 2015 Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) It certainly runs Emby fine, the question is more along the lines of how in the hell do I get it to serve content that the iPad can natively play back, without it trying to transcode it =)Make sure all your content is h.264 with stereo AAC audio and stored in an MP4 container. You will probably want to make sure everything fits in a 3 Mbps stream as well. Handbrake will be your friend. It has iPad profiles to convert your media. For the non-working file, what other streams does it contain? What is the container? Edited March 22, 2015 by Koleckai Silvestri
Posix 0 Posted March 22, 2015 Author Posted March 22, 2015 Hey guys. I have pretty much given up on this project. I have tried NOOBS, NOOBS Lite, and Pidora now. None of them will boot on my Pi. I have gotten XBian to boot, but XMBC does not perform the fuctions I am looking for, so thats a bust. I went back to Raspbian, because Arch can only be installed via Linux, and my live CDs are not working for some reason. After playing on that for a litte while, the web browser just started randomly closing itself when I tried to load a webpage. I have spent a lot more time on this that I originally intended to, and seeing the further issues of direct play / transcoding, I just assume run the server on my desktop when I am home, or build an actual server with traditional Windows/Linux installs. Good luck with your setup MSattler.
jhevener 26 Posted April 1, 2015 Posted April 1, 2015 Wow a Pi for a server. I'm hoping to get one to work as a client but wouldn't dream of it for a server. Mouse balls cannot compare to moose balls.
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