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Emby Theater for Linux


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Luticus

I am becoming an avid user of the Linux version of Emby Theater and I've noticed a few things I thought I'd point out that could be done to improve it. Some are clearly UI bugs. If there's a better place to point these out, please let me know.

1. Emby theater needs a better way to get "home". When you are several layers deep in Emby and all you have is that back arrow, it's not very convenient. A home button should probably be added.

2. In the home area in either horizontal or vertical view where you have the library selection menu, it is possible to scroll it right off the screen and completely out of view. I can either use a mouse and keep dragging it and it will disappear into the void, or I can use a track pad or touchscreen to do this. It's minor, but it's probably not the intended behavior.

3. When playing music a little note icon appears in the upper right, next to the search icon. I like this icon but the issue is that while it's there if you go to artists / albums / etc it overlaps the "Folders" text from the top menu. There should probably be some scaling or scrolling action there to prevent that. It is still functional as the overlap leaves the text still partially accessible, but it looks bad.

4. It would be super nice if you could utilize dbus on Linux! If you did this then I could determine what song is playing and pass that off to other programs and it could integrate a bit more nicely with Linux desktop environments. For instance KDE Plasma has a media player tray icon plasmoid that could be used to display the current song, etc. Not sure how difficult it would be to implement that but it would be really nice if it could be done.

5. This one is for the phone app. When you are remote controlling Emby theater from a phone with Emby, for instance, you don't really have a good way to pause / stop / rewind / fast forward media. You can start a movie or song, but doing anything beyond starting one and choosing a different one is not easy. When controlling from a browser you get a bar at the bottom of the screen with some playback options, but that doesn't seem to appear on my phone app.

Anyway, I know that might be a long list, and I'm not even sure if anyone else has pointed these things out. I just want to see it "be all it can be".

Thanks!

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SHSPVR
2 hours ago, Luticus said:

I am becoming an avid user of the Linux version of Emby Theater and I've noticed a few things I thought I'd point out that could be done to improve it. Some are clearly UI bugs. If there's a better place to point these out, please let me know.

1. Emby theater needs a better way to get "home". When you are several layers deep in Emby and all you have is that back arrow, it's not very convenient. A home button should probably be added.

2. In the home area in either horizontal or vertical view where you have the library selection menu, it is possible to scroll it right off the screen and completely out of view. I can either use a mouse and keep dragging it and it will disappear into the void, or I can use a track pad or touchscreen to do this. It's minor, but it's probably not the intended behavior.

3. When playing music a little note icon appears in the upper right, next to the search icon. I like this icon but the issue is that while it's there if you go to artists / albums / etc it overlaps the "Folders" text from the top menu. There should probably be some scaling or scrolling action there to prevent that. It is still functional as the overlap leaves the text still partially accessible, but it looks bad.

4. It would be super nice if you could utilize dbus on Linux! If you did this then I could determine what song is playing and pass that off to other programs and it could integrate a bit more nicely with Linux desktop environments. For instance KDE Plasma has a media player tray icon plasmoid that could be used to display the current song, etc. Not sure how difficult it would be to implement that but it would be really nice if it could be done.

5. This one is for the phone app. When you are remote controlling Emby theater from a phone with Emby, for instance, you don't really have a good way to pause / stop / rewind / fast forward media. You can start a movie or song, but doing anything beyond starting one and choosing a different one is not easy. When controlling from a browser you get a bar at the bottom of the screen with some playback options, but that doesn't seem to appear on my phone app.

Anyway, I know that might be a long list, and I'm not even sure if anyone else has pointed these things out. I just want to see it "be all it can be".

Thanks!

Did you try home button on your keyboard

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Luticus
1 hour ago, SHSPVR said:

Did you try home button on your keyboard

I mean, it's a standard keyboard. Granted some of my keyboards have something that can be used like a home button maybe, still desktop computers shouldn't be expected to necessarily have one. My laptop doesn't really have a home button on it. Esc functions like a back button, which is great, but not really what I'm looking for.

The browser version of emby features a home button right next to the back button when you aren't at the home screen, so why not just emulate that?

Edited by Luticus
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SHSPVR
29 minutes ago, Luticus said:

I mean, it's a standard keyboard. Granted some of my keyboards have something that can be used like a home button maybe, still desktop computers shouldn't be expected to necessarily have one. My laptop doesn't really have a home button on it. Esc functions like a back button, which is great, but not really what I'm looking for.

The browser version of emby features a home button right next to the back button when you aren't at the home screen, so why not just emulate that?

My 10 yrs Laptop has a home button I never saw one with it what make and model of it ?.

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Luticus
12 minutes ago, SHSPVR said:

My 10 yrs Laptop has a home button I never saw one with it what make and model of it ?.

My Macbook Air, for instance, lacks a home button and I'm sure there are other smaller keyboards out there that also lack them. I don't think that in the PC world you can rely on the keyboard having specific keys. That's why windows still has a start button on the task bar even though the 'Windows key' is pretty much universally expected to be there and it's functionality is well understood.

When I use a keyboard that does have a home button, such as my newer dell xps 13, that does work. So I do appreciate the tip. I still think that a GUI button should be added to the interface as it is in the browser.

Also, in the case of systems without keyboards, such as a tablet with real Linux installed, it wouldn't work out well. That's a shame too because it functions well with a touch interface otherwise.

Edited by Luticus
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SHSPVR
30 minutes ago, Luticus said:

My Macbook Air, for instance, lacks a home button and I'm sure there are other smaller keyboards out there that also lack them. I don't think that in the PC world you can rely on the keyboard having specific keys. That's why windows still has a start button on the task bar even though the 'Windows key' is pretty much universally expected to be there and it's functionality is well understood.

When I use a keyboard that does have a home button, such as my newer dell xps 13, that does work. So I do appreciate the tip. I still think that a GUI button should be added to the interface as it is in the browser.

Also, in the case of systems without keyboards, such as a tablet with real Linux installed, it wouldn't work out well. That's a shame too because it functions well with a touch interface otherwise.

In your case that “Home” button on a Mac keyboard: Fn + Left Arrow

Edited by SHSPVR
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/4/2020 at 12:17 AM, Luke said:

We should have a documented build process for you to build it, but we just don't right now. Things have moved quickly lately and we just haven't documented it yet. I'll add it to the list.

@Luke, any update on that ?

It would probably allow more people to help out ...

 

Edit: Well, at least it made me check Jellyfin, where the Linux client works well out out the box, with an actual documentation on how to build/contribute.

Edited by Azor
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi,

I've installed this Emby client for linux on my Ubuntu 20.04. It work well but the power-off and Sleep option in Emby seems to not working. Is there a config file or something else where to config the command for the shutdown or sleep mode ?

Thanks

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joergniemoeller

Hi,

I am new to Emby after many years using Plex and I am very happy to find it has an actively developed linux client that looks and works great. First of all thank you very much for all the work you put into it.

I have one question: Is it possible to configure the client to be fullscreen, but not being forced on top of all other windows? I like tu use Alt-Tab to quickly switch to other applications such as the web browser or Email Application but when using Emby Theater I always need to first leave fullscreen mode before I can do that.

best regards, Jörg

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On 12/31/2020 at 8:10 PM, Zouu said:

Hi,

I've installed this Emby client for linux on my Ubuntu 20.04. It work well but the power-off and Sleep option in Emby seems to not working. Is there a config file or something else where to config the command for the shutdown or sleep mode ?

Thanks

Hi, can you try the new 3.0.14 build in the first post? Thanks.

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On 12/23/2020 at 2:33 AM, Azor said:

@Luke, any update on that ?It would probably allow more people to help out ...

Apologies, things are moving a little slower during the holidays with people on vacation, but it's one of our goals for the month of January.

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On 1/1/2021 at 12:27 AM, joergniemoeller said:

Hi,

I am new to Emby after many years using Plex and I am very happy to find it has an actively developed linux client that looks and works great. First of all thank you very much for all the work you put into it.

I have one question: Is it possible to configure the client to be fullscreen, but not being forced on top of all other windows? I like tu use Alt-Tab to quickly switch to other applications such as the web browser or Email Application but when using Emby Theater I always need to first leave fullscreen mode before I can do that.

best regards, Jörg

Hi, yes it's something that can be looked into. Thanks.

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The first post has been updated with a new release 3.0.14, which features an updated libmpv. Please try it out. Thanks everyone.

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Tested 3.0.14, sluggish and stuttering on playback on a rpi-3b.

Back to 3.0.11, that release gives the smoothest playback.

any idea why? what changed after 3.0.11?

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mprasil
57 minutes ago, sybold said:

Tested 3.0.14, sluggish and stuttering on playback on a rpi-3b.

Back to 3.0.11, that release gives the smoothest playback.

any idea why? what changed after 3.0.11?

Just to add another datapoint, I'm testing on a amd64 PC that is juuuust powerful enough to play videos I'm testing with and I had a little bit of choppiness previously, but this 3.0.14 build is noticeably more smooth. So it sounds like it might be raspberry or arm related issue.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm want to try out Emby Theater under Linux but i only see a black screen if i start emby theater.

Here is screenshot:

screenshoot.thumb.jpg.11cb411a92f7afc24c518ff8196934ed.jpg

 

I'm under Ubuntu 20.04 with Emby Theater 3.0.14

If i start emby-theater by using the shell i recieve also this warning here:

(electron) The default value of app.allowRendererProcessReuse is deprecated, it is currently "false".  It will change to be "true" in Electron 9.  For more information please check https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/18397

The same happend also with the AppImage i found here in the post.

Any hint how to fix the problem ?

Thank you

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Hi,

i'm new (or back again after a long time) to Emby. Figuring out if i will move from Plex to Emby and trying around with different Clients.

Installed the latest Image (burned on SD with Etcher) on my Raspberry 3B. Basically it is running fine out of the box, but slow as hell. Moving trough my Movies takes ages, from one movie to another 2-3 seconds. Playing is not possible, receiving just a image slideshow. Already did a rpi-update as described.

Anything i missed or did wrong?

Edited by vcdwelt
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mprasil
23 hours ago, BeNe said:

I'm want to try out Emby Theater under Linux but i only see a black screen if i start emby theater.

Here is screenshot:

screenshoot.thumb.jpg.11cb411a92f7afc24c518ff8196934ed.jpg

 

I'm under Ubuntu 20.04 with Emby Theater 3.0.14

If i start emby-theater by using the shell i recieve also this warning here:


(electron) The default value of app.allowRendererProcessReuse is deprecated, it is currently "false".  It will change to be "true" in Electron 9.  For more information please check https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/18397

The same happend also with the AppImage i found here in the post.

Any hint how to fix the problem ?

Thank you

I have the exact same system and Emby version and it's working fine. I recall I had similar issue in the past due to some missing dependencies. How did you install ET?

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@mprasil

I have downloaded the image from first post and flashed it to SD Card with Etcher. Bootet up and configured my Emby Server. Did the updates and tested, also waited an hour to settle down. Also did some reboots afterwards.

Quote

Raspberry Pi Image

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/emby-theater-electron/releases/download/3.0.14/emby-theater-rpi_3.0.14.zip

This is an image that will launch straight into Emby Theater. If there is no network connection then raspi-config is launched allowing users to connect to a network.

 

What way did you install it and how did you identify the missing dependencies?

Edited by vcdwelt
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mprasil

@vcdwelt I was referring to issue @BeNe is experiencing.

I have no experience with raspberry image, so sadly can't help much there. But assuming this is not an specific version issue (maybe try flashing older images?) I'd check whether the raspberry isn't throttling due to overheating or weak power supply. Emby Theater is an electron app and I feel like Raspberry 3B is juuuust powerful enough to play HD media, any heavier UI and you're going to feel it. So even minor throttling might end up in slideshow performance. Hope that at least gives you some pointers to try next.

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mprasil
Just now, vcdwelt said:

@mprasil
did not look exactly. Thought you're quoting my Post 😆 Thanks anyway.

Also for playback - try different kind of media files. If the format isn't supported by the Raspberry HW decoder, the device itself is just not powerful enough to play it probably. Emby Theater AFAIK only does transcoding if the bitrate is too high. Try some low bitrate h264 content to see if it plays better. This obviously does not solve the sluggish interface.

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Tested with 3.0.11, seems abit better but still very sluggy. 

Seems not to be a short thing to get it running on Pi. Will try the Kodi Plugin now, otherwise go back to my Plex installation. Don't have currently the time to dig in deeper to this topic.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

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I installed emby theater as explained in the first post:

sudo apt install -f ./emby-theater_3.0.14_amd64.deb

However, i installed emby theater on my normal notebook that i use every day. The Emby Server itself runs fine on a other powerfull device inside my network. I just don't want to stress my browser with the additional content from emby. So i was the mean that this Emby Theater Client is the right choice for that ?

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homisolaris

Wondering if anyone could shed some light or point me in the right direction.

 

I currently have the 4GB Raspberry Pi 4 running the latest 32-bit Raspbian OS with the emby-theater .deb installed as per the instructions in the original post. The interface is somewhat sluggish at times but on the whole very usable.

All my library is in the x265/HEVC 1080p encoding. The Raspberry Pi has no problem whatsoever playing these files flawlessly with the included VLC app, however when using the emby-theater inbuilt app, the playback is very choppy. 

My current workaround is to use VLC as external player in emby-theater although this is not ideal for proper watched status synchronisation.

All the other settings are left at the default. All transcoding and conversions is disabled on the server (also a raspberry pi) as all my (other) devices have native x265 playback.

Any ideas how I can use the inbuilt player to play these files correctly?

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