PS3 Media Server for dummies / tutorial howto documentation

[meskibob]

I think pmsencoder is getting updated, so go through the links actually provided in the thread.

[otmanix]

Java Runtime Environment (JRE) or management of memory for JRE is causing trouble in some systems:
- high memory usage
- settings aren't saved after pressing the save button
- Java 6 update 18 is reported very often to cause problems

You may change memory usage in pms.bat (Windows) or pms.sh (UX - Linux, ...).
Open file named before with text editor and change value for memory "-Xmx768M"(standard is 768M = 768 Megabyte), save file and start PMS by using the file.

Also have a look at hanging java-processes (javaw.exe). Maybe you have to kill not responding java-processes or restart your OS.
Also have a look at the value for transcode buffer. If it's very high (e.g. 600MB) you only have 168MB left for PMS itself and database. You may have to increase the -Xmx value. This is also valid if you use plugins like PS3radio which loads a lot of radio stations in web.conf. Enabling itunes in PMS may also cause this problem.
If you use Java 6 update 18 you should try a different version, e.g. Java 6 update 16.

The -Xmx argument defines the max memory size that the heap can reach for the JVM. You must know your program well and see how it performs under load and set this parameter accordingly. A low value can cause OutOfMemoryExceptions or a very poor performance if your program's heap memory is reaching the maximum heap size. If your program is running in dedicated server you can set this parameter higher because it wont affect other programs.
The -Xms argument sets the initial heap memory size for the JVM. This means that when you start your program the JVM will allocate this amount of memory instantly. This is useful if your program will consume a large amount of heap memory right from the start. This avoids the JVM to be constantly increasing the heap and can gain some performance there. If you don't know if this parameter is going to help you, don't use it.

[manys]

If we have to to Xmx to 768MB, that means the problem lies in PMS itself.

[otmanix]

There are bugs related to JRE6u18 but the other problems mentioned are related to memory management for JRE.
The memory problem lies in your usage of PMS. It's about what you expect PMS to do: PMS will run fine on Windows XP with 256MB RAM when streaming MP3s to your PS3. You won't be able to transcode 1080p h.264-videos with this memory configuration (about max 120MB of free RAM).
So if you won't to do transcoding of hd-videos and use PS3radio plugin, etc. the default value of max. 768MB RAM for PMS may be not big enough. This also means that PMS expects your PC to have 768MB of free RAM available in default configuration - otherwise you may get a "out of memory" error...
If you want to decrease the max memory for PMS you probably also have to decrease the transcoding buffer.

[otmanix]

here are some interesting links:
- optimized portal for watching youtube hd videos directly with ps3 browser: http://www.ps3youtube.com
- creating a rss-feed-file in order to stream web videos via web.conf: http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5643

[otmanix]

What is the best firewall you used for windows xp?

The best firewall is not using PPPOE connections to your router (this will diable a router integrated firewall). The router itself should be configured with logon data from your provider so it will do "dial on demand". In most cases your router will then be DHCP-server and firewall. The personal firewall on your PC isn't that important if the routers firewall is working as expected. The personal firewall may help a bit to protect the pc in an insecure WLAn and DLAN networks (when no or old encryption technlogy like WEP is being used).

[OmegaII]

Why doesn't anyone make a decent wiki out of this ? It's great info, but not everything is here yet. Alot is still clogged in all the threads. Wiki's where invented to prevent this.

The forum is 1 big mess at the moment.

Btw could anyone describe all the options possible in the config file, like they would have to be in the actual config file and not the description of the GUI options. Those are totally pointles for any newcomer who doesn't have a clue where to find all the options available in the config file pms.conf. Like me. (I'm not new, but still have no clue where I could fetch myself the complete list) I hope I didn't look over them somewhere, cause afaik this same question has been asked for quite some time now.


And another problem I am still having after all the time I'm using PSM:

Would anyone care to make a complete howto on how mencoder/ffmpeg/tsmuxer works, how they work together and the best of all, what options you have to use to get better performance for high and low bandwidth. Maybe even the calculations if needed. And not only for the video but also for the audio part. Ofcourse related to the way it is used for PSM, and not to encode your own Blu-Ray sort of speak.

Cause I'm able to run PMS on an EEE PC 901 wich is great. But I see some degradation of the image quality, and have no clue whatsoever where to start to tweak the options of both, and keep the same performance. I just like to have some control, and not mess it up bigtime.


Just some questions, idea's and personal frustrations. Certainly no troll what so ever, so please don't take it that way either ^^

[otmanix]

Why doesn't anyone make a decent wiki out of this ? It's great info, but not everything is here yet. Alot is still clogged in all the threads. Wiki's where invented to prevent this.
The forum is 1 big mess at the moment.

At the moment this project is mainly developed by one developer in his rare spare time. There are max. 5-10 people to support him by doing forum moderation, providing useful addons, writing howtos/faqs, compiling and testing betas and answering questions in forum in their spare time. There's no sponsor and keeping this forum alive costs money.
Doing further activities will cost money and require more people to participate in doing active work and not only asking questions and complaining about everything. I started writing howtos a year ago and also suggested starting a wiki but there was no interest in participating.
It's easy to complain but are you (or anybody else) willing to do sth for this project? I doubt that.
If you are interested in helping this project please reply to this thread. If there are enough people willing to help I think there will be ways to improve the situation.

Best regards, Otmanix

[saeba79]

Can I request a clarification for a Transcoding setting in this very useful guide?

In http://otmanix.de/english/2009/05/21/ja ... iguration/
it states:
- skip loop filter deblocking for h.264: disable deblocking filter for h.264 HD videos

It's unclear to me from this description and from the description in the software if I should check this or not to get best quality. In the software, it states:
- Skips loop filter deblocking for H264: COULD DEGRADE QUALITY, disable this is your CPU is fast enough!

I take "disable this" as uncheck it for better quality? Is that correct?

Thanks again for this great resource!!

[otmanix]

As I already wrote in the guide you can turn the deblocking filter for h.264-videos on or off. If you you want to know what is the effect of using this filter read the linked wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deblocking
For more infos about this topic please ask Shagrath, I'm not an expert in video codec settings.