Mac Mini as Plex media server

adriang68 said:

Are you running the plex client on the Samsung player?

Is it any good?

What's the navigation like with the remote, that kind of thing?

Wondering if this would be a 'wife proof' solution!

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Yeah I downloaded the plex app on the bluray player. I wouldn't say its wifeproof as you do have to navigate to it through the smart hub etc.

But to give you an idea, if I stream it from the mini to the bluray without plex (just using the internal software on the player), there are lots of jaggies and pixelation. Using plex media player on it, works fine streaming from the basement.

Would recommend, except it's not a full featured plex client, it is basic for videos.

imobber said:

I have this setup and it works...nearly. The remote sometimes controls iTunes and so it can start playing tracks and turning the volume up and down as I navigate using the plex menus. There are some forums out there with potential solutions but none of them work for me. I'd like to get it sorted but I've got other ways of controlling it if I want to. None of them particularly wife friendly, however.

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I have just this past week set up a Mac Mini as a NAS while serving up Plex & ITunes. I had the same issues with the remote controlling volume after it has come out of a sleeping state. I had issues with some of the other fixes using the likes of SleepWatcher. I now have it working perfectly using a very basic two line shell script. The key issue is in getting a way to reliably run this script or an AppleScript each time the Mac Mini wakes up. Scenario & Keyboard Maestro both do this fine with the minimum of effort so worth looking at these two apps. Scenario requires an AppleScript to call the shell script. Keyboard Maestro will run the shell script directly. I can share these with anyone needing assistance.
SleepWatcher & ControlPlane are two apps that I could not get to kick off a script each time the Mac woke up although this may well be an issue with how I configured them.

My mini Server feeds several devices simultaneously. My kids can be watching films, while I watch another myself, on several different devices.

The mini also shares files and acts as a iTunes server as well as rendering video projects etc. Never missed a beat.

If you keep the Plex Media Player app on, the mini will never fall into deep sleep.

kappaknight said:

If you keep the Plex Media Player app on, the mini will never fall into deep sleep.

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Plex Media Server or the client? Are you also meaning deep sleep versus normal sleep? Mine sleeps just fine.

Donka said:

Plex Media Server or the client? Are you also meaning deep sleep versus normal sleep? Mine sleeps just fine.

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The client. I have the client running 24/7 on mine and while the screen would rest and go dark, I can always wake it up instantly w/o issues via Apple Remote Desktop. When the client isn't running, sometimes I have to send a wake command before trying to connect otherwise it'd take forever.

Hmmm. I don't run the client on mine but it always wakes from sleep without issue. What other clients are you using that have problems waking the mini?

I want to build a media center with the Mac mini. I have a few question of I may. Why can't I just use the Mac mini to play all my content including hulu and Netflix direct from the websites server, rather then download Plex? What's the benefit of Plex vs. Manually going to the external HD or going to hulu etc. online? I have 2 external hard discs that will also be connected. If I can access everything why fiddle with a 3rd party app. Will QuickTime or VLC not play correctly for scaling reasons?

Dlarus6 said:

I want to build a media center with the Mac mini. I have a few question of I may. Why can't I just use the Mac mini to play all my content including hulu and Netflix direct from the websites server, rather then download Plex? What's the benefit of Plex vs. Manually going to the external HD or going to hulu etc. online? I have 2 external hard discs that will also be connected. If I can access everything why fiddle with a 3rd party app. Will QuickTime or VLC not play correctly for scaling reasons?

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For me, mostly ease of use. I have a Mac Mini hooked up to my TV, with 8 TB of external storage over 3 disks attached. I use a Logitech Harmony remote to control my TV/receiver/Mac Mini/PS3, which is more comfortable for me when sitting on my sofa than using a keyboard and mouse/trackpad or remote desktop from a computer.

Since my media is spread across 3 different external disks, Plex is great for managing it all in one UI that I can easily navigate using a remote control. I don't have to worry about which disk or folder anything is in, as it's all behind the scenes. It also keeps track of what has been watched or not, lets you create collections, browse by genre, decade, etc.

Thank you. I'll look into Logitech remote. I read some great things about Plex, however I just don't want to micromanage metadata from torrent downloads etc. I clean up the files after downloading. Going through every movie and manually entering data is a bit arduous. I'm gonna try it out and see what happens. Thanks again.

Dlarus6 said:

Thank you. I'll look into Logitech remote. I read some great things about Plex, however I just don't want to micromanage metadata from torrent downloads etc. I clean up the files after downloading. Going through every movie and manually entering data is a bit arduous. I'm gonna try it out and see what happens. Thanks again.

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That is actually one of the other convenient things about plex. It uses the file name and folder name, and automatically assigns meta data for movies and tv shows, groups seasons of shows, etc. once in a while it messes up, or for really obscure things it won't have information, but the vast majority of the time I do not have to maintain anything. I just tell plex what folders to monitor, and as files get downloaded to those locations, it analyzes them and adds them to its database automatically.

Dlarus6 said:

I want to build a media center with the Mac mini. I have a few question of I may. Why can't I just use the Mac mini to play all my content including hulu and Netflix direct from the websites server, rather then download Plex? What's the benefit of Plex vs. Manually going to the external HD or going to hulu etc. online? I have 2 external hard discs that will also be connected. If I can access everything why fiddle with a 3rd party app. Will QuickTime or VLC not play correctly for scaling reasons?

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Plex is designed to aggregate your own media - it doesn't have much benefit for content that is already streamed from online services like Netflix. You can also include channels that link to online content so everything is housed within the Plex interface but if you don't have any of your own media to start with or don't plan on using any then Plex isn't for you.

metrocon said:

That is actually one of the other convenient things about plex. It uses the file name and folder name, and automatically assigns meta data for movies and tv shows, groups seasons of shows, etc. once in a while it messes up, or for really obscure things it won't have information, but the vast majority of the time I do not have to maintain anything. I just tell plex what folders to monitor, and as files get downloaded to those locations, it analyzes them and adds them to its database automatically.

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Ok that's awesome I didn't know that!

If you're already using a Mac as a "server" then why on Earth would't you go with iTunes home sharing + Apple TV? Plex if the best alternative if you don't have a dedicated Mac handy, sure, but if you DO have a dedicated Mac handy then I don't see the appeal. I guess it saves you from having to run Handbrake overnight, but eh, I'll take the rock solid reliability of absolutely everything I play over the convenience of streaming a straight MKV. Especially if you use an AirPort router. Those sleeping issues disappear.

NMF said:

If you're already using a Mac as a "server" then why on Earth would't you go with iTunes home sharing + Apple TV? Plex if the best alternative if you don't have a dedicated Mac handy, sure, but if you DO have a dedicated Mac handy then I don't see the appeal. I guess it saves you from having to run Handbrake overnight, but eh, I'll take the rock solid reliability of absolutely everything I play over the convenience of streaming a straight MKV. Especially if you use an AirPort router. Those sleeping issues disappear.

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Plex is far more capable. It also means you don't 'need' an ATV - using ROKUs on all TVs instead of Apple TVs is a cheaper approach if you need to buy a client device. As for using Handbrake to convert media, sure it's a great tool and I use it a lot but why convert media if you don't have to? Saves time and quality in sticking with the original media.

NMF said:

If you're already using a Mac as a "server" then why on Earth would't you go with iTunes home sharing + Apple TV? Plex if the best alternative if you don't have a dedicated Mac handy, sure, but if you DO have a dedicated Mac handy then I don't see the appeal. I guess it saves you from having to run Handbrake overnight, but eh, I'll take the rock solid reliability of absolutely everything I play over the convenience of streaming a straight MKV. Especially if you use an AirPort router. Those sleeping issues disappear.

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I've got a dedicated Mac mini server, two minis used as entertainment centers, and four additional Macs. Using Plex, and the server has many other services not pertinent to this discussion.

Our son gave my wife an Apple TV last Christmas, and I retired a Windows PC that was also being used as an entertainment center. It turned out to be a real PITA.

• I now had to run iTunes on the server as well as Plex and iTunes is a real resource hog.
• Any videos I wanted to view on the ATV required importing into iTunes.
• I didn't want to use iTunes on the Macs because the UI isn't as nice as Plex and there is also a 5 system home sharing limit which I would exceed.
• My wife found the ATV remote and the UI confusing. But this was before I found out that I could use Parental Controls to get rid of all the video channel selections we would never use. This was never an issue with Plex (or ROKU).
• I was able to get the ATV to work with Plex as a source, by commandeering the Movie Trailers channel, but changes made in an ATV update broke it and getting it to work again would have been very time consuming.
• I finally dumped the ATV for an original ROKU that was sitting in a closet. This works great with PLEX and all the other services I care about (Amazon and Netflix, primarily). Still running PLEX client everywhere else.

talmy said:

I've got a dedicated Mac mini server, two minis used as entertainment centers, and four additional Macs. Using Plex, and the server has many other services not pertinent to this discussion.

Our son gave my wife an Apple TV last Christmas, and I retired a Windows PC that was also being used as an entertainment center. It turned out to be a real PITA.

• I now had to run iTunes on the server as well as Plex and iTunes is a real resource hog.
• Any videos I wanted to view on the ATV required importing into iTunes.
• I didn't want to use iTunes on the Macs because the UI isn't as nice as Plex and there is also a 5 system home sharing limit which I would exceed.
• My wife found the ATV remote and the UI confusing. But this was before I found out that I could use Parental Controls to get rid of all the video channel selections we would never use. This was never an issue with Plex (or ROKU).
• I was able to get the ATV to work with Plex as a source, by commandeering the Movie Trailers channel, but changes made in an ATV update broke it and getting it to work again would have been very time consuming.
• I finally dumped the ATV for an original ROKU that was sitting in a closet. This works great with PLEX and all the other services I care about (Amazon and Netflix, primarily). Still running PLEX client everywhere else.

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I haven't tried this... but could you not use the Plex iOS clients and Airplay into the ATV? I know it's kinda ass backwards to do it that way, but I've read somewhere that's an option.

I've only seen my friends try the Roku solution once... and it was not pretty. Not sure if it's because it lacks transcoding abilities or if the network was slow... but we didn't have a good experience with it. I guess I should note in this particular setup, the Plex Server was setup on the NAS itself. I haven't tried Roku with using the mini as a server yet.

I did that exact thing for a while. When Apple changed the Trailers app to SSL to block Plexconnect, I just used the Plex for IOS app and used Airplay to play back on the ATV in my bedroom. It worked well enough in that it was watchable but there was noticeable dropped frames. Playback on the IOS device was typically smooth but I think the transcode to the iPad and then the transcode from there to the Apple TV was killing the video quality.
I had a Roku in another room so went back to that for Plex and play back was perfectly smooth again.
In summary, IOS Plex app and Airplay to an Apple TV works but PMS direct to a Roku is a much better experience imho. I guess the single transcode (where needed) and the single Wifi stream to the Roku has a lesser impact on the networking environment.

This is with my Mac Mini connected to my N router by Ethernet and Roku & Apple TV connected over Wifi.
Compare the following to see how the Roku has the cleanest path:

PMS on Mac Mini (Occasional transcode) (Ethernet) Router (WiFi) Roku.

Versus

PMS on Mac Mini (Mostly transcodes) (Ethernet) Router (WiFi) IOS Device (Always transcodes) (WiFi) Router (WiFi) Apple TV.

kappaknight said:

I haven't tried this... but could you not use the Plex iOS clients and Airplay into the ATV? I know it's kinda ass backwards to do it that way, but I've read somewhere that's an option.

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Seems very inefficient to me. That's a lot of Wifi traffic.

I've only seen my friends try the Roku solution once... and it was not pretty. Not sure if it's because it lacks transcoding abilities or if the network was slow... but we didn't have a good experience with it. I guess I should note in this particular setup, the Plex Server was setup on the NAS itself. I haven't tried Roku with using the mini as a server yet.

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The Plex Server on the mini apparently does any necessary transcoding on the fly. Even though its over 3 years old it has plenty of power for this. Note that I don't have any media above 720P.

Donka said:

... I just used the Plex for IOS app and used Airplay to play back on the ATV in my bedroom. It worked well enough...

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This is what I do and it works perfect for me. The only complaint I have is that if someone calls me it kills the video (to be expected). I plan on getting an iPad mini soon, so that will alleviate my issue.

Plex iOS app + Airplay is honestly a dream come true. The implementation is so good that there is almost no impact on the iOS devices battery life.

Just wanted to post my 2 cents about using a Mac mini with Plex Media Server among other things.

The latest Mac mini with the Core i7 is capable of streaming at least 7 streams at the same time. I have been using my Mac mini as a server for PMS and other things for a few years now and can't imagine using it for anything else. So far I have around 24TB of media indexed by Plex Media Server. You can checkout the status of my server/network here. The status page taps into Plex metadata and APIs to show information about what's currently being played. Source code is available here. I just think that the Mac mini makes the perfect media server, that is all.

d4rk said:

I have been using my Mac mini as a server for PMS and other things for a few years now and can't imagine using it for anything else. So far I have around 24TB of media indexed by Plex Media Server.

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Very impressive! What are you using for drives?

talmy said:

Very impressive! What are you using for drives?

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Mainly 2nd Gen Drobos. I would like to upgrade them to Drobo 5Ds when I can but those are plenty pricey. Here's my current setup, please excuse the iPhone photo: http://d.pr/i/VQDc It's small but growing nicely.

Mac Mini - Plex

Hi,

Not sure if this should go here but here is my question/problem.

Have a friend who has a Mac Mini running 10.9 and running the newest version of PLEX.

She says PLEX keeps dropping the connection to the server and the only way she can get it to reconnect is to completely reboot her internet connection *comcast*

I've searched around but haven't seen anyone else run into this problem.


She says she also can't get Serviio to work? Since I've not used either of these please help me out.

"She would also like to be able to use an app that lets her kids see one folder of a show but does not give them access to everything but don't know which app that would be."

Thanks in advance!

Nate

NMF said:

If you're already using a Mac as a "server" then why on Earth would't you go with iTunes home sharing + Apple TV? Plex if the best alternative if you don't have a dedicated Mac handy, sure, but if you DO have a dedicated Mac handy then I don't see the appeal. I guess it saves you from having to run Handbrake overnight, but eh, I'll take the rock solid reliability of absolutely everything I play over the convenience of streaming a straight MKV. Especially if you use an AirPort router. Those sleeping issues disappear.

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One of the advantages of Plex over Itunes is that it can play multiple file formats. You dont have to change your .avi or .mkv to Apple formats like you would have to for Itunes.

It is also much better at automatically getting the metadata for your music, movies or tv programmes, irrespective of file type.