PS3 Media Server

by **otmanix** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 8:16 pm

Java PS3 Media Server for dummies / PMS tutorial, howto and documentation

Hello out there,
I think there's a lack of summarized infos regarding PMS for newbs. So here's an attempt to do that...
Best regards, Otmanix

General infos

Afaik there are 2 developers (shagrath and redlum) and a forum moderator (meskibob) which keep this PMS project alive. Thank you for your great work!

PMS project at code.google.com and PMS Blog

http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/

http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/w/list

http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/source/list

http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/issues/list

http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/downloads/list

http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/downloads/list?can=1

http://ps3mediaserver.blogspot.com/

PMS forum

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/

PMS latest beta download

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3217

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=54

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=4

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=31

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2099

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=496

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=721&start=40#p12810

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2126

http://sites.google.com/site/elbotijomm/home/ps3mediaserver-mods

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3336

http://www.foxhollow.ca/PS3-Radio/

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3240

http://sourceforge.net/forum/?group_id=258697

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3390

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3640

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4449&start=0

http://github.com/chocolateboy/pmsencoder

http://github.com/dradovic/SoundCloud4PS3

http://code.google.com/p/uitzendinggemist-dlna/

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6117

media files

here you can find free media files of different file types and resolution for testing your setup, e.g. to see how streaming/muxing/transcoding works...

http://www.bigbuckbunny.org/index.php/download/

http://samples.mplayerhq.hu/

PMS frequently asked questions (FAQ)

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507#p15408

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507#p15463

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=10#p15591

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=10#p15687

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=10#p15836

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=20#p16041

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=20#p16092

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=20#p16097

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=20#p16567

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=30#p16753

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=30#p16763

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=30#p16952

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=30#p17364

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=30#p18208

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=30#p18802

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4231&start=0

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&p=23418#p23417

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&p=23418#p23418

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5071

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&p=25114#p25114

http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&p=32731#p32731

If you find errors or have some additional infos feel free to add a message to this thread.. comments are welcome!
Otmanix

by **otmanix** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:23 pm

Hello again,
here's a list of all configuration options in PMS GUI. If you think something is missing, wrong or could be explained much better just write a comment...
These options are available in PMS rev358.
Best regards, Otmanix

General configuration

* language: choose your native language if available
* start minimized (checkbox): apply if you want PMS start to tray (window minimized)
* install as a windows service: press if you want to install pms as a service, further configuration may be needed to run successfully as a service...
* force network on interface (dropdown): Perhaps PMS sends network broadcasts on the wrong network card. If PMS doesn’t detect your PS3 choose your correct network card.
* force port of server: if TCP/IP port 5001 already is in use set a free alernate port number like 6001
* Use IP-filter: set IP-address of allowed streaming client (PS3), all other will fail to connect (not working when HTTP Engine v2 is enabled!)
* HTTP Engine v2: brand new feature which is very experimental – a new code to communicate for PMS which should be deactivated when communcation problems appear (new engine should improve network performance and better support for alternate streaming clients)
* prevents OS from sleeping when streaming: you can make sure that your computer won’t go to standby while streaming

Plugin system
* change your settings for PMS plugins like last.fm and movie info

Navigation/Share settings

* thumbnails generation: activate for automatic creation of thumbnail pictures of your media files
* thumbnail seeking position (in seconds): Most video files begin with some seconds of a black background before the movie starts. You can set the time in seconds for the video thumbnail position.
* Use mplayer for video thumbnails: the tool mplayer sometimes gets better results for thumbnail creation then default way, so just try it…
* DVD ISO thumbnails: create thumbnails for DVD ISO-images
* audio thumbnails display (dropdown): You can chose default behaviour (search for thumbnail pictures in filesystem) for audio thumbnails or let PMS download album art from Amazon or Discogs.
* alterate video cover arts folder: chose your folder in filesystem which contains cover art
* browse .rar/.zip/.cbr archives: If activated PMS is able to show content of archives. If a media file in archive is chosen for playback it will be decompressed before streaming starts
* hide # video settings # folder: There is a virtual folder available called # video settings #. You can navigate to this folder on your PS3 and change some values for PMS online. You can hide this folder if you don’t want to confuse your girlfriend.
* hide # Transcode # Folder: don't show this virtual folder on XMB
* hide file extensions: some people might get confused if they see file extensions like jpg or avi, so you can hide them
* hide transcoding engine names: PMS can stream your media file with different technologies. You can chose the technology (transcoding engine) in virtual folder # transcoded #. The default transcoding engine for playback is displayed after the name of each media file. You can hide that of course.
* hide empty/non media folders: only display folders which contain media files
* show iTunes library: only available when iTunes is installed
* show iPhoto library: only available when iPhoto is installed
* enable the media library / cache: When you browse folders on your PS3 PMS scans each folder in real time and displays the results on your PS3. Additionaly there is an builtin media database which can be activated. If you scan your hard drive for media files additional infos for each file will be collected, e.g. MP3-tags (title, album name, …) for MP3 audio files. You can browse the media library in a virtual folder on your PS3 after scanning.
* reset media library: If the media database is corrupt you can use this feature to reset the content of the database.
* hide media library folder: don't show this virtual folder on XMB
* sort file method (dropdown): chose if you want your file list on PS3 sorted by name or date
* shared folders: All local drives are made available to PS3 by PMS. In a more secure environment you might want to chose the folders which are presented to your PS3. Press green + icon to add folders for access by PMS/PS3. Select folder and press red – icon to remove access to a folder. Press up and down arrows to change order of these folders.
* magnifying glass: Start first scan on your hard drive for media files to collect infos about them in a media library.

transcoding settings

common transcoding settings

* transcode buffer maximum size: This value is about how much temporary space should be used for buffering a video before sending it to PS3. Default is o.k..
* Number of cores used for transcoding (dropdown): This value is bout how many cpu cores should be used for transcoding. The maximum value depends on the physical available count of “real prpocessor cores”. That means hyperthreading virtual cpu cores don’t count! If you’re not sure analyze your cpu with free tool cpu-z on windows systems. On linux have a look at the virtual proc-filesystem. In file /proc/cpuinfo you will find more details about your cpu. You also get much infos about CPUs from AMD and Intel at the wikipedia-articles. Nevertheless PMS should be able to detect and set the correct amount of cores.
* Chapters # Transcode # folder support / interval in minutes: enable automatically creation of chapters every x minutes in virtual folder
* number of audio channels (dropdown): If you have a surround A/V-receiver or amplifier connected to your PS3 select 5.1, otherwise 2 channels stereo.
* AC3 audio bitrate: Here one can set the quality of digital audio sound. Your AV-receiver or amplifier has to be capable of playing this quality. Default is o.k..
* Keep DTS audio in stream: This enables playback of DTS digital surround sound via optical digital audio output (toslink) of your PS3. Keep in mind that this increases network traffic. Your AV-receiver or amplifier needs an integrated DTS-decoder for playback.
* DTS/FLAC – LPCM-remux: This enables playback of DTS digital surround sound via HDMI output of your PS3. Keep in mind that this increases network traffic. Your HDMI connected device (TV or AV-receiver or amplifier) needs an integrated DTS-decoder for playback.
* remux when audio track is AC3: Transcoding of audio will be avoided when it is AC3 (Dolby Digital). AC3 digital audio track will muxed into PS3 compatible container if necessary. This should be activated if your PS3 is connected to a TV or AV-receiver or amplifier which has an integrated Dolby Digital Decoder. This feature is not supported when using Avisynth based transcoding engines.
* maximum bandwith: This is some kind of network throttle. One may think it’s a brilliant idea to reduce network bandwith in order to get HD videos streaming via WLAN. My experience is that it won’t work as expected. You need lots of CPU power for transcoding. If that’s not a problem you will get really poor video quality when stream HD videos on low network bandwith. So better leave the default value 0. You should also note that this etting won’t affect muxed videos. You may have to enforce transcoding by choosing another transcoding engine.
* MPEG2 video quality settings (dropdown): If PMS isn’t able to stream directly or mux the audio/video to a PS3 compatible container it will transcode to MPG2, which is PS3 compatible. This costs lots of CPU power. This also will increase the network traffic because MPG2 compression isn’t very good for HD videos. You will need a 100MBit/s LAN or DLAN for playback of transcoded HD videos – WLAN won’t work (mabye some 720p videos will do). You are able to control the quality settings of MPEG2 encoding which corresponds to needed network bandwidth. So there are some parameters available to control MPG2 quality. Keyint means keyframes, keyint=3 means that every third frame is a keyframe which is a complete picture. In between there are two pictures which only contain differences to the predecessing picture. A high value for keyint will result in a lower network bandwith but will also cause bad quality in fast action scenes in movies. There are also so called quantizer values (vqmqx, vqmin, vqscale). High values result in low quality. I suggest to try out some of the Values available in dropdown.
* Definitly disable subtitles: Displaying subtitles will automatically enforce transcoding. If you won’t to avoid transcoding and definitly don’t need subtitles enable this feature.
* skip transcode for following extensions: enforce direct playback for certain filetypes
* force transcode for following extensions: enforce transcoding for certain filetypes

video files engines: MEncoder

* enhanced multicore support for h.264 HD content: Enable usage of special multicore version of mencoder tool. This will improve performance on multicore systems.
* skip loop filter deblocking for h.264: disable deblocking filter for h.264 HD videos
* A/V sync alternative method: If video and audio get out of sync disabling this might help.
* use video scaler / width / height: Usually the TV or PS3 is used to upscale the video to optimal video resolution. MEncoder is also able to do that for you which will cost additional cpu power.
* force framerate parsed from ffmpeg: If framerate isn’t recognized correctly (video is running too fast/slow) change this setting.
* deinterlace-filter: Enable deinterlace filter which will usually is done by your PS3 or TV.
* switch to tsmuxer when video when h.264 video is PS3 compatible: Enable this! When MEncoder transcoding engine is used and PMS recognizes a PS3 compatible video it will switch to transcoding engine tsmuxer. The video will then be streamed directly or muxed but not transcoded! This setting will dramatically reduce the need of transcoding. Matroska video (mkv) for example aren’t supported on PS3. Mostly the contained audio and video stream is PS3 compatible. So tsmuxer creates a PS3 compatible m2ts container which contains the original audio and video stream and the PS3 is able to playback. This feature reduces both network traffic (because of better compression as MPG2) and CPU power needed for playback.
* Expert settings: press button to change MEncoder parameters for certain codecs
* Custom options: add MEncoder options
* audio language prority: Fill in the abbreviation of your native language so that PMS will automatically select the right audio track.
* subtitles language priority: Fill in the abbreviation of your native language so that PMS will automatically select the right subtitle.
* audio/subtitles language priority: I think this language selection is special for DVD playback.
* subtitles codepage: The codepage should match the codepage setting on your PS3. cp1252 should be default.
* FriBiDi mode: enable FriBiDi GNU implementation of Unicode algorhithm
* ASS/SSA subtitles: support for ASS/SSA subtitle format
* autoload *.srt/*.sub subtitles: support for SRT subtitle format

video files engines: tsmuxer

* force fps parsed from ffmpeg: If framerate isn’t recognized correctly (video is running too fast/slow) change this setting.
* mux all audio tracks: Enable it in order to get all audio tracks muxed

FFMPEG DVR-MS remux

* alternative ffmpeg path: This feature is for users of Microsoft Windows Mediacenter Edition. If you have recorded some tv shows and want to watch the DVR-MS files with PMS/PS3 you need a special version of ffmpeg. Download and unzip this file in your PMS installation directory and restart PMS.

by **delli** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 7:19 pm

this is the best thread for ages.
been missing one of these threads.
great to collect all info under one instead of lookin back and forth in the forums

thumbs up!

by **strictlyfocused** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 12:25 am

I vote for this thread be stickied ... I would have killed for a post like this when I was new to PMS.

Thanks, otmanix

by **delli** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 4:10 pm

A tut for IMDB would be great aswell...still struggle with that part...installed everything (latest of everything but cant get it to work anyways)

goin on vacation now anyways so I will continue later on with it :twisted:

by **otmanix** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:02 pm

delli wrote:A tut for IMDB would be great aswell...still struggle with that part...installed everything (latest of everything but cant get it to work anyways)

First of all download latest PMS beta http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3217 (>= rev348, at the moment rev356) and install it.
After that read latest movie info plugin release notes http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2126.
Download movie info jar-file at http://jaqb.servehttp.com/. Uncompress zip-file and copy content (MOVIEINFO.conf and MovieInfo.jar) to PMS plugin directory (C:\Programme\PS3 Media Server\plugins).
Customize MOVIEINFO.conf with text editor: I didn't want thumbnail downloads but also German movie infos, so I changed it... see code below!

Code: Select all: ... ###Which plugins to use and in which order, Plugins available: IMDB , FILMWEB, CSFD, MOVIEMETER, ALLOCINE, MYMOVIES, OFDB, FILMDELTA, SENSACINE, ONFILM, KINOPOISK #Plugins=IMDB,FILMWEB,CSFD,MOVIEMETER,ALLOCINE,MYMOVIES,OFDB,FILMDELTA,SENSACINE,ONFILM,KINOPOISK #Plugins=IMDB Plugins=OFDB,IMDB ###Number of how many cast to display NumberOfActors=99 ###Cover Downloading, Enable = 1 Disable = 0 #Cover=1 Cover=0 ###Which info to use and in which order, default setting is: title,rating,tagline,genre,plot,cast,director,agerating DisplayInfo=title,rating,tagline,genre,plot,cast,director ...

At the moment only rev356 is available at latest beta downloads. This version has a bug regarding movie info. You can fix it by either compile current beta rev358 yourself or download fixed jar-file. That file has to be decompressed and content (pms.jar) copied into PMS install directory (C:\Programme\PS3 Media Server).
Download fixed jar-file for Windows http://members.chello.nl/j.kulikowski/index.html or MacOsX http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2126&start=150#p10265.
If revision 358 or later is available in latest beta download you don't need the fixed pms.jar anymore...

Usage in XMB
Read plot (English): enter virtual folder #-- movie-info --# in XMB > movie title > IMDB INFO
Read plot (German): enter virtual folder #-- movie-info --# in XMB > movie title > OFDB INFO
Watch trailers (English): enter virtual folder #-- movie-info --# in XMB > movie title > IMDB INFO > title: movie title > [HD] movie title trailer or [SD] movie title trailer

enjoy it... Otmanix

by **otmanix** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 7:38 pm

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Over 1000 views in 3 days for this thread and no more than 2 forum users who write a comment. Is nobody interested in documentation, howto, faq, etc.? Is nobody interested in sharing knowledge with other PMS users? This forum is really strange...

by **marco275** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 9:27 pm

otmanix wrote:
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Over 1000 views in 3 days for this thread and no more than 2 forum users who write a comment. Is nobody interested in documentation, howto, faq, etc.? Is nobody interested in sharing knowledge with other PMS users? This forum is really strange...

Sorry Otmanix, i did appreciate your tutorial very much only forgot to thank you.

thnx

by **extravirgin** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 10:22 pm

otmanix wrote:This forum is really strange...

It is appreciated otmanix and you're correct, the forum is a little strange. I don't know who the mods or admin are but I guess quite rightly that shagrath is busy with PMS itself. I'd say that your tutorial and blog should be stickied. And I'm not the first to say that.

by **otmanix** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 8:09 pm

Hi extravirgin and marco275,

thank you for your positive response. It's nice to hear that at least someone thinks documentation is useful.
My intention for the last comment was not to be praised for writing docs but to get some opinions about the howto and suggestions for new topics. Maybe other advanced users are also interested to share their knowledge.
Maybe I write lots of bullshit in the howtos but there's nobody who writes a comment. Therefore I updated the list of configuration options and their descriptions and put it in this thread. But not a single comment about that.
I think there are lots of special interest topics where only few people have good knowledge but many PMS users are interested in. Let's share this knowledge. At the moment I don't see a PMS users community like in other open source applications. That's a pity.

Some ideas:
Their is no howto for certain streaming clients like XBOX360, XBOX/XBMC, Sony Bravia TVs, ...
There are no howtos for correct installation of PMS as a service in Windows, Linux and OS X.
What about special topics like correct usage of subtitles?
Most people don't know howto use mediainfo or analyze debug.log in order to don't ask silly questions here in PMS forum.

If you have already seen some good howtos or helpful discussions please write a comment with a link included...

I don't know who the mods or admin are but I guess quite rightly that shagrath is busy with PMS itself.

I appreciate their work but I also think there's a lack of communication.

Best regards, Otmanix

PS3 Media Server

PS3 Media Server for dummies / tutorial howto documentation

PS3 Media Server for dummies / tutorial howto documentation

description of all configuration options / PMS tutorial

Re: PS3 Media Server for dummies / PMS tutorial

Re: PS3 Media Server for dummies / PMS tutorial

Re: PS3 Media Server for dummies / PMS tutorial

Movie info plugin - tutorial

Re: PS3 Media Server for dummies / PMS tutorial

Re: PS3 Media Server for dummies / PMS tutorial

Re: PS3 Media Server for dummies / PMS tutorial

Re: PS3 Media Server for dummies / PMS tutorial

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