Emby on Samsung S10, S8+, Tab A - Portable Media Server

[jscheeren 16]

natsu

 

There were some problems with running Emby Server on Android 10 on the Samsung S10 (they are being fixed at Emby,) but I was certainly able to load WD Passport Portable 3TB and a 4TB exFAT drives simultaneously. As described at the beginning of this topic, I used a USB C hub with a battery pack. At least 3 other devices were able to play video files at the same time with no problems, with files from both drives. So, my experience, is that there certainly was a 2TB limit to drive size on a Samsung S8+ (Android 9,) but this limit appears to not apply to a Samsung S10 (Android 10.) At this time, it appears to me that the size limit on the S8+ of 2TB, may well be by Samsung. Interestingly, Sony Android TVs can apparently mount up to 16TB drives, either exFAT or NTFS, from Android 6 upwards!  https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00148248

Edited January 23, 2020 by jscheeren

[jscheeren 16]

Test #5

 

More good news.

 

Was able to run test same as Test #4 above (which used Samsung S8+) but, this time using my Samsung Tab A 10.5" tablet to host the Emby Android Server. These can be bought for just US$165 on amazon.com.

Was able to run 8 devices as clients with no problems, but this time, only the Fire Stick 4k required transcoding ie, not the Android TV client. Also, it seems I could not play videos on the Tab A (server) with the other clients running, but it could at beginning of test?

In both Test #4 and this Test #5, i confidently believe I could have run more clients simultaneously, but have not tested that yet to determine upper limit. 

[natsu 4]

natsu

 

There were some problems with running Emby Server on Android 10 on the Samsung S10 (they are being fixed at Emby,) but I was certainly able to load WD Passport Portable 3TB and a 4TB exFAT drives simultaneously. As described at the beginning of this topic, I used a USB C hub with a battery pack. At least 3 other devices were able to play video files at the same time with no problems, with files from both drives. So, my experience, is that there certainly was a 2TB limit to drive size on a Samsung S8+ (Android 9,) but this limit appears to not apply to a Samsung S10 (Android 10.) At this time, it appears to me that the size limit on the S8+ of 2TB, may well be by Samsung. Interestingly, Sony Android TVs can apparently mount up to 16TB drives, either exFAT or NTFS, from Android 6 upwards!  https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00148248

Hi Jscheeren,

 

The exFAT file system should be 64ZB if the range is 64bit addressing, but in my imagination, most vendor just set it as 32bit addressing (2TB) limited for stable consideration, Sony is added more module with the USB OTG with various file system support.

 

If the Samsung Galaxy S8 up to Android 10, maybe the limitation of storage is break...

 

P.S. For Android Linux Kernel, the native Exfat function supporting list as below:

 

Before Kernel 3.4 : no support or need 3rd party module (max 32GB as FAT32 did)

Kernel 3.10~3.18 : maximum 128GB

Kernel 4.1~4.4 : maximum 256GB

Kernel 4.14 : maximum 512GB

Kernel 5.4 : maximum 512TB

Edited January 25, 2020 by natsu

[Luke 36999]

Are you still having an issue with this?

[jscheeren 16]

G'day Luke,

I have not tried again on my Samsung S10, but very much looking forward to that. Awaiting an announcement from Emby that you had fixed the compatibility issues with Android 10, as explained by Softworkz as being the problem. Then I should be able to load more than 2 TB exFat hard disks to the S10. Cheers, Jan

[Luke 36999]

Ok thanks for the update.

[Luke 36999]

@jscheeren are you still running into this with Emby Server 4.5.2?

[jscheeren 16]

G'day Luke,

I am happy to report that I have now tried my setup with Emby Server 4.5.2. I have not done much testing yet, and will, but so far it seems to be running wonderfully. I am using a Samsung S10 with Android 10. Connected to that is a USB C Hub with PD capability, and to that a 20000mAh Portable Charger and 2 WD portable Passport drives, formatted exFAT (3TB and 4TB.)

I have access and play capabilities from multiple Emby clients on the LAN. The Emby server was able to scan the 7TB of Movie and TV Series directories pretty fast and to get 99.9% of the poster art etc with one scan. My files do have nfo and artwork locally available. I intend to test how many clients I can attach, how long the portable system will last running without external power, that it can play my multiple file types/resolutions e.t.c and transcoding.

Congratulations to the EMBY team. I believe this must be a unique and very useful solution for the portable video server market.

Edited November 17, 2020 by jscheeren
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[Luke 36999]

Thanks for the feedback !

[suomi35 2]

I am incredibly interested in a portable solution just like this...that is, I will be, post-pandemic. I will start building a similar solution, using your info as a model @jscheeren

Cheers!

[jscheeren 16]

SUOMI35 Let me know if I can provide any assistance. I believe this portable solution with Emby server is un-matched in the market today. Wish much more people knew about it.

[Carlo 4330]

I've got Emby Server setup and running on a LG Stylos cell phone.  I've got the maximum size SD card I have in it which I think is 256 GB.  Since the phone can also serve as a hotspot I can connect any device to it without the need for a router over 2.4 or 5 GHz networking.

I typically keep about 128-150 GB of local movies, show and music to hold me for a week of viewing without Internet access BUT I also have over 13K movies and 100K TV episodes setup as STRM files as well as have Live TV setup via m3u.  So when my phone has decent Internet access I have a huge "portable" library as well as Live TV available and when offline have a small library to get by on which is great for travelling and road trips.

All this and it's fits in my pocket.

It's super cool to be able to login to a friends WIFI on the phone for Internet access then point their TV or Roku at my local Emby Server and be able to watch all kinds of content! Of course a stick is a good sidekick for hotel TVs as well.

[suomi35 2]

OMFG! I have not had a chance to give this a shot yet, but man, these posts are really exciting to me!!

Awesome, guys!

[Carlo 4330]

Yep, it's pretty cool what you can do with Emby.

I used to (well still do) have a travel library on my notebook which I take on business or travel, but it's super cool to have Emby in your pocket and being able to stream to the kids in the car without a big notebook getting in the way!

Edited January 9, 2021 by cayars

[BobbyCR 12]

Why not leaving the Emny server at home and remotely connect to it?

 

I have a Pi (which is low consumption) at home running my server and a static public IP which i can access from anywhere, when i travel I normally download a couple of episodes or movies to watch on planes with no wifi and when I get to a wifi or have LTE i can watch normally on my Emby app from my emby server at home.

 

You just need the Static IP and forward traffic on port 8096 to your server IP which you also need to make static on you local network and you're set! 

[suomi35 2]

@BobbyCR My use case involves vacation destinations in other countries, some of which don't offer internet access at all. My wife enjoys being able to pick any movie in our library at a moments notice, etc, and now that we've gone fulltime Emby at home, we are used to the killer interface/metadata it provides 

I started building up a phone a couple of weeks ago and it seemed to work well, but it didn't support simultaneous charging+OTG. I have a box of different phones that I am going to continue to try until I get one with a kernel that supports charging+OTG (barring having to flash a ROM that does).

[BobbyCR 12]

You could try a Raspberry PI take it with you and plug it directly to the TV when you travel - they are cheap and small. 

They will use the same TV's remote control using HDMI CEC, most flat screen TVs have this. 

 

just a suggestion.  

[suomi35 2]

That was my plan before @jscheeren brought up the Android option. I was planning to mess around with that too at some point 

Cheers!

[jscheeren 16]

I worked out this Emby portable solution with a few determining factors in mind, which were important to me.

1. A server solution that multiple family members could access via WiFi in situations where access to the internet was non-existent, or poor and without sufficient bandwidth guaranteed at viewing times, or where expensive data charges might apply.

2. A solution that can play to many different kinds of devices i.e. a solution that has many clients, but very importantly, can also do transcoding on the fly.

2. A solution that allowed me disk sizes of greater than 2TB. Why, because different people want to watch different things at different times and also because I have data stored on my Emby server at home in 2TB chunks. This means that my portable drives can so easily be synced to those directories with a simple VisaVersa run. A job started can then be forgotten until completed. Saves hours and hours of negotiations with family and constant copying of data individually that will fit on smaller storage. Now I can use portable drives of 4TB and can also connect multiple drives together through a hub.

3. A solution that itself is portable but also uses equipment that I not only own, but may take with me anyway, regardless of video issues. By portable I also mean that it can run without 110 volt outlets, or even access to monitors. Running streaming in hotel rooms and using the TV is surely, in all of our experiences, very hit and miss and almost always time consuming and frustrating. Not to mention how good, or expensive their WiFi might be for streaming. A portable solution that also works on aircraft where seating is not always close enough together. I suspect that many campers might also find this extremely useful - the list goes on and on.

4. I love using my own video content when traveling (or at home) because I understand how time wasting and irritating forced advertising has become, and how there is no one source of the best content available from any channel or streaming service.

5. I would be extremely interested to hear about better portable solutions for these requirements that are available in the market today. The EMBY server is not only the best, but it is the only one that I am aware of at this time that can do all of this and with such a useful and charming interface.

Edited February 4, 2021 by jscheeren