Plex and Apple TV 2: Can it detect/play MKVs?

[sidgriffey]

I threw this question at the end of another thread but feel it deserves its own in case others have this problem too:


I have several MKV and AVI files that Plex Media Server does not reflect. I have the folder included in my settings, and I even tried dropping these files in another folder as a test.

Does anyone know how to configure Plex to allow you to play MKV and AVI files over iOS? I notice this problem affects not only Plex on Apple TV, but also iPad and iPhone 4.

[aprofetto8]

I was wondering this too. I was excited when I heard that it is possible to get Plex on the new AppleTV, my biggest worry is that the device itself wouldn't be able to handle .mkv's which is what most of my library consists of.

The Plex app on my iPad plays .mkv's just fine when connected over WiFi. I've yet to try it over 3G.

I would love to know if the AppleTV is capable of playing .mkv's. From what I understand, you have had no luck playing .mkv's on both the Plex app on ATV2 and the Plex app on your iPad?

[waw74]

Originally Posted by aprofetto8

The Plex app on my iPad plays .mkv's just fine when connected over WiFi. I've yet to try it over 3G.

The iPad really isn't playing mkv files. Plex media server converts the file in real time to something compatible with the iPad (and appropriate bit rate for the available bandwidth), and anything the ipad can play, the tv can play, so it shouldn't be a problem. once it gets ported over.

[sidgriffey]

Originally Posted by aprofetto8

I was wondering this too. I was excited when I heard that it is possible to get Plex on the new AppleTV, my biggest worry is that the device itself wouldn't be able to handle .mkv's which is what most of my library consists of.

The Plex app on my iPad plays .mkv's just fine when connected over WiFi. I've yet to try it over 3G.

I would love to know if the AppleTV is capable of playing .mkv's. From what I understand, you have had no luck playing .mkv's on both the Plex app on ATV2 and the Plex app on your iPad?

I think the real issue isn't so much the playing as it is the ability for Plex to see these files. Does anyone know the protocol for when you download a video file and it lands in a folder that Plex Media Manager accesses? For some reason, I feel there is some complicated procedure with folder creation and/or file naming that I am not aware of.

Anyone know of this?

[dhy8386]

Originally Posted by sidgriffey

I think the real issue isn't so much the playing as it is the ability for Plex to see these files. Does anyone know the protocol for when you download a video file and it lands in a folder that Plex Media Manager accesses? For some reason, I feel there is some complicated procedure with folder creation and/or file naming that I am not aware of.

Anyone know of this?

Much better asked in the Plex forums but i know there is/was an issue with PMS having to me manually updates - opening it up and telling it to rescan. What can happen is that the server file gets corrupt and it stops scanning. You can try going into application support and trashing the plex folders. Then when you open the plex app again, it will rebuild these folders, and you can re-add your folders and that should fix the problem. Are you on the latest version?

[BlackMangoTree]

Having installed this on my Apple TV my opinion is don't waste your time. It has to convert everything on the fly and they quality is not great. Pretty poor when streaming HD rips.

[gcmexico]

Originally Posted by BlackMangoTree

Having installed this on my Apple TV my opinion is don't waste your time. It has to convert everything on the fly and they quality is not great. Pretty poor when streaming HD rips.

***
my experience has been the complete the opposite...I installled Plex on my AppleTV 2 a few days ago and its AWESOME..no problem, plays every file that is on my Plex server, AVI, MKV, no problem...you might have to reinstall the plex app on your computer, I don't change any file names, all I do is dump the file in my drobo the Plex Media Manager then populates the data..that's pretty much it...I do know Plex released an update to plex 9 a little while ago, just make sure you have the current version

Plex and Apple TV 2 rocks!

[aprofetto8]

Originally Posted by gcmexico

***
my experience has been the complete the opposite...I installled Plex on my AppleTV 2 a few days ago and its AWESOME..no problem, plays every file that is on my Plex server, AVI, MKV, no problem...you might have to reinstall the plex app on your computer, I don't change any file names, all I do is dump the file in my drobo the Plex Media Manager then populates the data..that's pretty much it...I do know Plex released an update to plex 9 a little while ago, just make sure you have the current version

Plex and Apple TV 2 rocks!

Has it been pretty stable? Right now I have plex running on my Mac mini hooked up to my tv. I'm toying with the idea of replacing it with an atv and using plex from the atv instead.

Was setup easy? Have you had any problems yet?

[waw74]

Originally Posted by sidgriffey

For some reason, I feel there is some complicated procedure with folder creation and/or file naming that I am not aware of.

It's not that complicated

1. make a folder "tv shows" or whatever you wish
2. in that folder make different folders with the tv show names. you want to use the names from thetvdb.com, so for example "Battlestar Galactica (2003)" to avoid confusion with the show from the seventies.
3. put the show files into the individual show folders, you can put season folders in the show folders if you want.
4. point plex to the "tv shows" folder, and set content as tv.

you then need to make sure the individual files have the season & episode number in them, which means having "S01E01" or "S01.E01" somewhere in the name, can even be lower case if you wanted. you can have the show name, and even the episode title in there if you want.

[sidgriffey]

Originally Posted by waw74

It's not that complicated

1. make a folder "tv shows" or whatever you wish
2. in that folder make different folders with the tv show names. you want to use the names from thetvdb.com, so for example "Battlestar Galactica (2003)" to avoid confusion with the show from the seventies.
3. put the show files into the individual show folders, you can put season folders in the show folders if you want.
4. point plex to the "tv shows" folder, and set content as tv.

you then need to make sure the individual files have the season & episode number in them, which means having "S01E01" or "S01.E01" somewhere in the name, can even be lower case if you wanted. you can have the show name, and even the episode title in there if you want.

You are a genius. Thanks for sorting this out for me. Big kudos. Cheers.

[JonoX]

Plex is great, but one thing that bothers me is that everything is reencoded with ffmpeg when streaming to the Apple TV, even content that contains compatible audio and video (like most 720p mkv files). If plex could implement mkv to .mp4/m4v transcoding for compatible files on the fly like PS3 Media Server does it would be perfect.

[ricriley]

I currently play videos through my Xbox 360, from a Mybook World Edition NAS.

Would I be able to do the same through Plex fairly easy?