Use Emby when server is offline but data is on NAS storage

[JogyGeorge 1]

Hi,

Am new here and to the world of media through servers, so please bear with me.

Got to Emby as a quick read made me understand that the options were advanced compared to the Plex and indeed, I think it is true specially with regards to the Metadata. I have got movies in regional languages that Emby allows to fetch from imdb. Plex does not allow me to select the particular language and then does not seem to have an easy way to allow me to point it to an imdb id.

Anyway, that aside, as I'm not really an expert in networking, I did struggle a bit but finally got the following setup...

Emby Media Server on a Windows 10 Laptop

Emby Media Android TV App

Media on a Apple Airport Time Capsule

I'm really hoping that there is way for my son & daughter to watch their movies on the TV through the  Emby Media Android TV App even when the laptop is switched off or when I have taken it for work as the data would still be on the Apple Airport Time Capsule which would again still be on the same network with the same address ( \\192.168.x.x\Time Capsule\Movies).

Is this possible? Am I wishing for too much?

Thank you for any direction s on making this happen ... if possible!

Cheers!

:)

[pwhodges 2012]

Everything in Emby is organised through the server.  Some clients can download specific media for offline use, subject to their own storage capability, and a few can stream directly from storage, but only once set up by the server.  So no, what you describe is not possible.

Note also that Emby does not use IMDB - it costs too much.  However, it can use IMDB ids to look up in other databases such as TMDB which accept them for lookups.

Paul

[JogyGeorge 1]

50 minutes ago, pwhodges said:

Everything in Emby is organised through the server.  Some clients can download specific media for offline use, subject to their own storage capability, and a few can stream directly from storage, but only once set up by the server.  So no, what you describe is not possible.

Note also that Emby does not use IMDB - it costs too much.  However, it can use IMDB ids to look up in other databases such as TMDB which accept them for lookups.

Paul

Thank you Paul for the really quick reply. After a bit of looking around, I thought that this is the case and wanted it to confirm that I'm not overlooking something.

Can I ask one other thing? As a work around, I'm thinking of setting up a Raspberry Pi (that I've had for a while but never got around to using as I found linux too difficult). It's likely to be hard to setup but am willing to put in the effort.  I've ready that RPis do struggle with conversions.  Most of my movies are in mkv or mp4 format but those few in vob and posibly other formats, will it be possible to allow the RPi to pass on the video to my Android TV and let the TV do the conversion?  That way, the RPi is not stressed and there are no hiccups while watching.

[Carlo 4561]

Unless all your movies are mp4 or mkv with audio codecs of H.264 and a very common audio track like AAC or AC3 you're going to need transcoding support on the server.
That to me make using a RPi a bad choice.  However if all your media is able to be played back directly from your LAN then it can do a good job.

 

[JogyGeorge 1]

1 minute ago, cayars said:

Unless all your movies are mp4 or mkv with audio codecs of H.264 and a very common audio track like AAC or AC3 you're going to need transcoding support on the server.
That to me make using a RPi a bad choice.  However if all your media is able to be played back directly from your LAN then it can do a good job.

 

Thank you   Really happy that the replies are so fast!

I do know that I've got movies in MKV, MP4, MPG and VOB formats but really have no idea about the audio part of it. I think that there a couple using H.265 and many in H.264. Anyway, that said when you say "... played back directly from your LAN then it can do a good job", did you mean actually an ethernet cable or would it be fine if it's on the same network and I stream the movie over WiFi within the same network?

Thanks again!

[Guest]

Mini PC's are usually the server of choice when going this route.. better processing power and ram.

[Carlo 4561]

Again personal but I'd always put a server or other device/computer on the network via Ethernet cable to leave the WIFI open for clients to use.

I also use Ethernet for clients whenever possible as well as it's just a more reliable connection method.  In a nutshell, the more clients/devices you can get off WIFI the better it is for those devices/clients that need to use WIFI.

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

10 hours ago, cayars said:

Again personal but I'd always put a server or other device/computer on the network via Ethernet cable to leave the WIFI open for clients to use.

I also use Ethernet for clients whenever possible as well as it's just a more reliable connection method.  In a nutshell, the more clients/devices you can get off WIFI the better it is for those devices/clients that need to use WIFI.

I totally agree with this. In every situation I have ever come across wired is better than wireless.

I have had people point out that it is not unusual for wireless to be faster than wired BUT in streaming situations speed really does not matter as long as it is fast enough to stay ahead of the actual streams involved.

The problem with wireless is that noise/interference/dropped packets all make it hard for streaming to consistently happen smoothly. You can have clients on wireless as long as it is fairly stable but if you put a server on wireless then the dropped packets etc. have a greater impact. If you have both the client and server wireless then there are at least two points that can fail and that can impact streaming quite adversely.

I know that "people" like to hide wires or not have any wires showing but it often comes down to a choice between wire free and steady streaming. Personally I find the site of reasonably well arranged wires (I do not bundle my wires) reassuring. It has a calming effect on me and that makes for a better experience for me.

In fact I wish a lot of my wireless only devices could go wired as I do not really trust wireless for important stuff.

For me my network and my streaming is all about comfort and the instability of wireless often makes me uncomfortable. But we are stuck with using wireless if we want to take advantage of many modern conveniences.

You know, life was a LOT simpler in the 60s when I was growing up: TV had 2-3 channels. (I remember when Dallas had just one that actually had a chance to be received over most of the city.) In fact TV was often called books. There were no in home computers unless you had a room about 20x20 and the money to pay for the power the computer would draw and the air conditioning required. Even then the computer taking all that energy to operate and keep cool was not as powerful as a cheap phone today. Also phones had the single function of making calls. And, if I wanted to "message" someone I either called them, wrote them a letter or hollered out the window or door asking the person I wanted to contact to come over and talk or play.

I find I miss those days until I realize that overall life is better now specifically because of some of the very things I dislike.

[Carlo 4561]

I don't know if I'd say it was simpler in the 60s.  Unless you live in the city or near a broadcast tower you usually needed a 35' or better tower with a big combo VHF/UHF antenna on it pointing in one direction (hope all your towers are in that direction).

My first TV was black and white 12"  but I got 6 stations on it. That was back in the 60s and my "personal" bedroom TV.  I think at the time we had a monster 24" in the living room. It was even in color.

I can still remember having a houseful of people to watch the moon landing in 69.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

I know that "people" like to hide wires or not have any wires showing but it often comes down to a choice between wire free and steady streaming. Personally I find the site of reasonably well arranged wires (I do not bundle my wires) reassuring. It has a calming effect on me and that makes for a better experience for me.

You have been traumatized by wireless.. its okay they make something for that now.. BUT I totally agree...eventually we will ascend.. ( like a sci-fi movie )but it will from all of the electromagnetic radiation passing through us... LOL - and there will be more problems because of lack of isolation of the signal.. that has to happen somewhere.. They say though that's small amounts of electromagnetic radiation breaks down amylase proteins that contribute to Alzheimer's.

Sometimes in today's world I ( and I am not as old as you guys.. I was born after al of this.. coming up on it though - LOL - keep me ahead of the breakdown ) Sometimes  though I think in todays world it is a picture and a balance has to be found I love tech don't get me wrong and we can do a lot more.. I have nostalgia for those days especially since I am into music so much... and several other things.. BUT  ( The times were about change then too.. still are, what's strange )  ANYWAY.. I often find it annoying when you can't have a conversation for more than 5 seconds or answer a question without being interrupted by a phone call.. which takes precedent.. Or tech versus what we are supposed to be doing at the time.. There is a work ethic at play and a form of etiquette and focus on what we are doing but some are so overwhelmed by moving from one thing to the next as it hits or lands without any focus or completion of what they are currently tasked to.

I literally got a point abut 10 years ago that if you had rather take the call instead have this conversation.. It's not worth your time.. and a waste of mine.. and the world doesn't want to wait on you.. or say . Oh yeah big help when your not even involved...

BALANCE of it.. before we run out of meaningfulness forget why we live.. instead of running from being deep.. and connected while going cold with tech.. and believing we are. Then if we do.. it's so easy for someone not to face what they do or how they do.. in managing their interaction with their device.. You really can wind up hurt and for the most part how many actual people could literally physically reach out and touch? We are all just pictures and still  life no memories made..

There is a disconnection of sorts.. With things like COVID-19, the destruction of the social... more things are pulling us apart... I see people effected like this developmentally speaking.. I wonder.. Been some first-hand things I think about.. and looking back in life if I had not had them.. I would not be the person I am today. and really .. not boasting.. or anything or blowing it up.. BUT there are MANY people who have that to thank.. for oh so many reasons.. and there are hearts and people gone from this world.. who should not be because of this type... of thing.

I used to hope that in having more people at a persons fingertips... more experience, knowledge, acceptance, and understanding could be obtained.. but I wonder.. A better life point or no..  I miss too many things.. Too many people and in the places we were... Life even in the past 15 years.. decade has changed from the way it used to be..

On about a spill.. better quit before I am off-topic on on about the book with the soap-box..  SO much to say in reflection though on time. Something has been happening the last 5 years.

[pwhodges 2012]

8 hours ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

You know, life was a LOT simpler in the 60s when I was growing up: TV had 2-3 channels.

I remember watching the opening broadcast of the UK's second TV channel in 1955...

Paul

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

1 hour ago, pwhodges said:

I remember watching the opening broadcast of the UK's second TV channel in 1955...

Paul

Sometimes I actually get jealous of some folks in Europe and the East (Japan particularly) because they had a LOT better picture that we, in the US, did back in the day. It has to do with the problems of being "first." We put out a TV standard having a vertical refresh rate of 60 hz. (was called cps back in the day) That produced a visible flicker.

I do not remember exactly what the refresh rate was in Japan when they introduced TV but it was quite a bit higher and in France it was higher still. This meant that TV in those countries looked a lot better with no visible flicker.

We, in the US, then for years were stuck with an inferior picture as by law all developments in technology were required to be backward compatible and that pretty much limited how good our picture could get.

So, you folks in Europe, and the UK I guess if you want to consider the islands as not part of Europe, had bragging rights for a very long time as our picture was quite inferior to yours.

Of course if we still had a flicker as we did in the 50s - 80s I would not really mind as my old eyes can no longer detect such things.

 

[Carlo 4561]

Picture quality didn't really have anything to do with the refresh rate as the US was actually higher than the UK.  The refresh rate had more to do with the electrical herts used.

PAL had 576 interlaced lines with NTSC system only had 480 interlaced lines.

So PAL system had better resolution.

[Maisy 37]

I was traumatized being the antenna too frequently when I was young. (There was no doubt I would be a Star Trek fan.)

Broadcast signal was hardly ever good enough for us where ever we lived. We had foil on the antennas. If still bad for one of Dad's important shows, that was where I became part of the system.

I love wired and even though traumatized, the idea of doing anything to get crystal clear pictures is my #1 objective: which is why I buy discs and do what I do as much as possible. I only hope my kids will keep my content and add to it someday. (locast2dvr is how I save some tv shows and movies, subpar content I spend way too much time on getting to be ok to save/watch. I don't watch LIVE TV, haven't much over the years since normal VCR's came out. My VCR was always showing the time too.  )

 

[Carlo 4561]

Hey Maisy, hold up your right hand.  Now turn about 20 degrees toward the kitchen. LOL

Edited May 16, 2021 by cayars

[Maisy 37]

Daughter, but yeah. 

[Carlo 4561]

My bad, fixed.

[pwhodges 2012]

Being first.  The UK's TV had a pre-war standard of 405 lines (not all used) until the late 60s.   In the 50s the French had Secam with (I think) 819 lines.  We and the French converged on 625 linePAL in the late 60s.

Paul

[Carlo 4561]

Cool info I wasn't aware of.

[JogyGeorge 1]

Boy, and I thought I was too old for the forum given that I'm a 66 model.

I still did have a lot of those experiences as I, though an Indian was born and brought up in the Middle East ... Kuwait to be specific.  In those days, we just had one local channel that was broadcast in Arabic.  Picture quality was bad, the broadcast would start at around 3 or 5 pm (don't remember) and end by 10 pm. We just went through the motion and watched the Arabic programs as we had no choice and then some Tom & Jerry, Popeye and Bugs Bunny.  My father was an avid fan of wrestling and boxing. There were never live telecast so, I remember when Mohammed Ali was in the ring, my father would try and tune into an Iranian channel for which I had to be on the terrace rotating the antenna very slowly until I heard a shout of hallelujah.  I'd quickly run down only to see my father trying to decipher through the dots and dashes and the small outlines which one was Ali and would get excited when he thought Ali had thrown in a punch 

As time passed, he afforded the pleasure of buying a little rotary motor that allowed him the pleasure of sitting at home and rotating the antenna only to watch the same stick figures pound at each other while he fought for relay quality.  How times have changed!

[Carlo 4561]

These stories of yester year are great!