An Ubuntu Server, Windows 10 Laptop and a Pi walked into a bar....

[DexDeadly 7]

A funny joke to start .  Anyway, I am setting up Emby as I have found that this is an awesome backend for Kodi.  I was hesitant to say the least at first cause I had a MySQL database on a windows server and it worked great, however no remote streaming limited me at first I didn't care but I wanted it.  This was brought up in a chat so after reading I decided I must install and had this installed on a windows 2012 vm.  However I ran into an issue where with this running the entire esxi host was becoming unresponsive and the other VMs wouldn't work.  I then created a Linux VM with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS server, installed Emby on it and no crazy cpu utz or anything causing the box to crash.  Currently I have a Nas4Free setup where my files are located.  2 Drives, 1 for TV and 1 for Movies.  I currently have them shared via CIFS/SMB and NFS.  When under manage libraries I tried adding the nfs shares but it did not seem to work.  I did get an error that the Emby user needs added, however with using a NFS share I thought that it would not matter.  So I went the cifs/smb route.  Now trying to add the folder using \\server\movies or \\server\tv where my cifs share are, the Emby server does not allow connection.  I then went and within linux mounted the shares locally to /mnt/tv and /mnt/movies. Now within Emby I was able to add these folders and play them.  This is great and all, however with this setup, the windows laptop and pi in order to play has to stream these files.  I would rather have these directly play so that theres not a long pause when selecting the file.  So my question is this, what is the best combination of settings to get this to work correctly between all devices.  Any and all input is greatly appreciated.  I love this thing.

 

[G0M 4]

Hi,

 

Maybe this will help you.

 

I have a 12.04 ubuntu server, and several Kodi's running on W10, OSX and openelec.

I also had a shared mysql database that I switched to Emby and this is WAY better.

 

 

So, on my ubuntu server I installed Emby server and I set up the samba protocole to share my folders.

Into emby I used the paths to populate the libraries and then I configured the path substitution so my Kodis on the network can access to the media files.

 

So my advice would be to use the path substitution which is simple and efficient! 

[DexDeadly 7]

Hey G0M thanks for the reply.  Are your folders shared from the same computer that Emby is on?  What path did you use exactly within emby?  My Pi runs OpenElec as well.  I was looking at path substitution.  How did you setup the samba protocol?  As mentioned my files are stored on a seperate nas device and not the same machine that emby is installed on.  So in my case do I do a path sub for /mnt/movies to \\10.1.1.15\Movies ?

 

I tried doing a path substitution for /mnt/movies to \\ip\Movies where the files are stored.  My Windows PC can get to this folder with no issues.  I then went into the addon made sure the http switch was off.  I placed in my network credentials.  However playing the movie I found would automatically give a message stating "HTTP has been enabled".  Since my PC already is mapped to these drives with my active directory setup I decided on a whim to remove the network credentials and it worked.  Double checked and the switch did not re-enable and looking at the logs in connected to smb://ip/movies/xxxx/xxx.avi or w/e movie I played.

 

So if anyone stumbles across this having the same issue go ahead and give this a try.  I still need to test on the Pi with OpenELEC but on that I know I'm going to need to place in the Network Credentials and I'm hoping that will work.  Its nice playing locally because I don't need to wait for the stream when Kodi goes to play the next episode in a series.  That was taking up to 15-30 seconds. 

Edited January 8, 2016 by DexDeadly

[G0M 4]

Hi,

 

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I thought your files were stored on the same machine that hosts your Emby. However this shouldn't be an issue (a friend of I did it) and we don't have to mess around with the HTTP stuff.

 

If I understood well, you have the following network :

1 Machine with W12 server and Emby

1 NAS with your files

1 Pie with openelec

Maybe some other Kodi clients.

 

If yes, I think your NAS uses samba by default to share his folders. It's something you have to double check because it might also be NFS.

 

From your Emby installed on Windows Server, you should add folders with media to your library with a path that looks like this :

\\IP_NAS\Movies

 

If yes, your path substitution should be the following 

From \\IP_NAS\Movies to smb://IP_NAS/Movies (if you share via Samba)

From \\IP_NAS\Movies to nfs://IP_NAS/Movies (if you share via NFS)

 

I put the protocoles in bold because you only have to specify them into the path substitution and nowhere else.

 

If you use the path subsitution with this synthax, your shared folder will be shared to your whole network whatever the OS the machines run (Linux, Windows, OSX)

[DexDeadly 7]

Hey G0M,

 

Thanks again for the reply.  My emby server is installed on a Linux VM.  Here is the breakdown of the setup. 

 

Windows 2012 Active Directory

Nas4Free with drives shared via CIFS/SMB

Linux 14.04 LTS w/ Emby Server

Raspberry Pi w/ Kodi 

Windows 10 w/ Kodi

 

So I've tried setting the pi the same way as the Win10 laptop and no go. The way I currently have the server setup is the following.  My linux drive has 2 mounts pointed to the Nas4Free box and setup as /mnt/Movies and /mnt/TV.  With this setup I setup the path substitutions as /mnt/movies \\10.1.1.15\Movies.  The Kodi on Windows 10 recognizes it but the pi does not.  Now I noticed Kodi on the windows laptop immediately saw this as a smb:// path when it plays.  So I figured the plugin did this and the pi would work.  However it does not.  Though for some reason now I can't get any of the files to play within Kodi at all.  I don't know if its the latest plugin I just installed but I keep getting files does not exist and asks if I want to remove from the library.  The file is still working fine within the emby web browser.  

[bob808 2]

I am having the same issues with my ubuntu server with local drives sharing to openelec - I have tried both SMB and NFS shares and sometimes it works, but most of the time not...  never had this issue when I had emby running on a windows server!