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ATv 2 + xbmc or plex
- Thread starter h00ligan
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for software that is not apple, you're probably better off checking their forums.
XBMC iOS forum
and on that you'll find a post titled XBMC for iOS current issues at a glance
from which i quote
XBMC iOS forum
and on that you'll find a post titled XBMC for iOS current issues at a glance
from which i quote
I have XBMC on my ATV2 now and I have to say it's not without problems. Nice interface but a pain to set up, at least in my experience so far. I have a NAS with my iTunes library, ATV2 and XBMC and I cannot for the life of me to get the three to play nice together. The only thing that will play so far is music. Pictures and videos will not.
I installed Plex on my MBP and I hooked it up in a way as if I had a mac mini. So far I liked what I saw. Set up was a breeze. 3 or 4 questions as to where my files are and Plex did the rest. The interface is beautiful. There are still some unkowns for me that I have to solve yet but at this point, I may be looking at a mini in my future if some of those unknowns are solved. FWIW
Works flawlessly with me with a ATV2 and a Netgear ReadyNas. Had to tinker with directory and file structures to match what XBMC was looking for, but once that was done it was all automagic. I'll agree it's not always intuitive, but it works well once you dive into their Wiki to understand what it's looking for.
Plex -
- Requires a computer (currently windows or os x) to be running their media server, the server will transcode your files, meaning pretty much anything will play. But if you have transcodes going, the server computer will have to be pretty beefy, especially if you're doing some hi-res video files.
- also because it's all coming from a central server, you can watch something on one device, stop, and pick up on another. They have an app for iOS and Android ($5 each), and the media center on OS X currently (free). (iOS and android are transcoded by the server, OS X plays on the computer watching the media)
- supposed to have an app built into new LG TVs coming out this summer.
- has plugins for different web content (hulu, netflix, south park, etc...), will transcode and serve most of these also.
XBMC -
- files are played locally on the
TV, so you're limited on the types of files you can play reliably. - everything is handled inside the TV so no need for a second computer running, except to serve file sharing for the actual media files.
I don't have an
TV, but do use plex as my home media center.
I have Plex and it streams 720p mkvs just fine. It transcodes 1080p mkvs down to 720p as well, so there's no need for conversion.
I wasn't aware that the computer running the media server did the actual conversion of files. That explains why 720p videos don't play that well on Plex on my ATV2. I have an Atom 1.6GHz server hosting my movie library. XBMC plays them fine.
Hi. I also fount XBMC to be a pain to set up, and the community at XBMC forums isn't very friendly. But, after many days of trying and trying, I found a perfect set up. It has worked perfectly for the last week and a half at least. This is what I found:
1. I found that having my Airdisk formatted to FAT32 was a problem, Airport Extreme seems to have problems with this format. So I used Mac OS Extended (not journaled), and it has worked flawlessly so far. Before it would randomly disconnect and I would be unable to connect to it from either my Mac or Apple TV.
2. Use SMB to connect from your Apple TV to your NAS. Select add source and then select Windows SMB. After clicking you will see many fields you need to complete. Just introduce your Airport Extreme (router) IP and the name of the disk in the first two fields, leave the rest empty.
If you have an Airport Extreme, just make sure sharing files is enabled and that guests are available to read and write on the disk.
3. 720p and 1080p movies in .m4v format suffer from a buffering issue. So far I've found that 720p mkv files play without a single buffering thru all the movie/tv show. This seems to be a XBMC bug.
This is what I made, and it has worked almost perfectly for a week. I hope it helps.
XBMC -
- files are played locally on the
- everything is handled inside the
I don't have an
So far I've found that XBMC has problems with HD movies in the .m4v and .avi format. Not when using mkv movies.
LOL You saw that too, eh? The community there seems to be a bit prickly. Not the first I heard about it though.
I have tried almost every variation and folder paths of SMB to get it to work. From browsing to manually entering the IP address of my NAS. Pictures and iTune movies and shows will not budge.
Not sure if some are related to the above. I have a mix of Handbreak ripped DVDs and content from iTunes from SD to HD. They just freeze in the buffer.
Thanks! Gives me some hope. I will probably just keep plugging away. There is got to be a right combo somewhere.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but you can't play iTunes movie purchases with XBMC because of the DRM. You have to play those with the native Home Sharing option. And to use Home Sharing, you have to have a computer serve the library; it can't read it straight off the NAS.
Correct, the only way to play iTunes purchased video is with an Apple option (native
TV, front row, iTunes).and to play a video from your library on the
TV2, you must have an actively running copy of iTunes.
Correct, the only way to play iTunes purchased video is with an Apple option (native
and to play a video from your library on the
Hmm, so for me to have all my media on my NAS, including iTunes purchased video, I would have to have something like the Mac Mini solution running Plex?
Would there be a need for
TV2 with a Mini solution?Thanks!
Hmm, so for me to have all my media on my NAS, including iTunes purchased video, I would have to have something like the Mac Mini solution running Plex?
Would there be a need for
Thanks!
If Plex can do Netflix (full Netflix, not just TiVo-like queuing) then if you get a Mini, the ATV2 wouldn't really be necessary. I know you can do Netflix on the Mini in a web browser, but whether it would be menu-based, or just the standard browser interface is what I'm not sure of.
I don't know the answer to that, yet. I am sure there will be trade offs somewhere. There always is....
Or Playback?
Hello
An Apple friend of mine told me he uses Playback, which cuts through all of the PC messiness of XBMC. For a few dollars more than free, it accesses straight out of the box and collects all of your stuff from your Mac and any HD you have connected to the Mac, including .vlc movies.
Hello
An Apple friend of mine told me he uses Playback, which cuts through all of the PC messiness of XBMC. For a few dollars more than free, it accesses straight out of the box and collects all of your stuff from your Mac and any HD you have connected to the Mac, including .vlc movies.