I need a better solution for watching movies/tv shows

[Red Squirrel]

I used to use Kodi but I find after a while it just breaks, and then requires updating/reinstalling. I was spending more time troubleshooting it than actually using it.

Then I found out about Jellyfin so I set that up, but it's SOOOO SLOOWWWW. Like every click you do, it just spins forever.

I want something simple that just remembers what I watched. That's it. I'm thinking some kind of web based script that I point to a folder and I can just browse through the files, and it tracks when I already watched something. Does something like this exist?

All my data is stored on raid and accessed through NFS, and the client part at the TV is a Raspberry PI. So I want something that will work with such environment. Ex: Linux based. Anything else I can look into?

 

[sdifox]

Plex?

Downloads

Click here to Download the Plex media server for Windows, Mac, Linux FreeBSD and more free today.

www.plex.tv

 

[RearAdmiral]

Yea plex is pretty darn easy to use.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Is it free and local? I always had the impression it was a subscription service. I may give that a shot.

They recently made changes to OTA TV here and my TV no longer supports the 1 channel we have so had to resort to my own local stuff for any time I want to turn on the TV to have anything playing (Ex: when eating supper). But Jellyfin is just too damn slow at loading anything that I'm done eating by the time it loads.

 

[sdifox]

Is it free and local? I always had the impression it was a subscription service. I may give that a shot.

They recently made changes to OTA TV here and my TV no longer supports the 1 channel we have so had to resort to my own local stuff for any time I want to turn on the TV to have anything playing (Ex: when eating supper). But Jellyfin is just too damn slow at loading anything that I'm done eating by the time it loads.

Server is free, I don't know what you mean by local. It has to fetch metadata from web when you add media. you can just run rasplex on your rpi.
actually, it uses imdb and tvdb directly, so I guess it is ok if you don't setup the plex server port to connect to internet.

I don't understand why you have issue with OTA... get a real antenna.
I get US TV from Buffalo and that is over 100km away as crow flies...not that I watch it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'm talking more about the content. Don't care too much about the metadata that's just added bonus. Sounds like Plex might be what I need.

My OTA was working fine, only now it stopped, says "mode not supported". Guessing something changed with the protocol they are using and it's not compatible with my TV anymore.

 

[sdifox]

I'm talking more about the content. Don't care too much about the metadata that's just added bonus. Sounds like Plex might be what I need.

My OTA was working fine, only now it stopped, says "mode not supported". Guessing something changed with the protocol they are using and it's not compatible with my TV anymore.

no they just shut you out lol. Call your own company to whine

Bell Media wants to shut down 28 more CTV transmitters | Fagstein

blog.fagstein.com

There is free content on Plex but I don't watch that either.

I think I have had a Plex server setup for a decade now.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Oh interesting so maybe they did shut off the station here. Need to make room on the tower for 5G lol.

But yeah looks like I'll check out Plex.

 

[Motostu]

+1 on Plex. I have it chugging away on my Freenas server.

 

[MrSquished]

I've heard the name Plex around here a few times in regards to folks building HTPC's and stuff and never paid much mind to it. Anyways, I just installed it on my desktop, pointed it to a folder where I have a couple movies, installed the Plex app on my Roku TV, signed in, and bam - those movies are right there.

Honestly could not get much easier than that.

 

[deustroop]

I've heard the name Plex around here a few times in regards to folks building HTPC's and stuff and never paid much mind to it. Anyways, I just installed it on my desktop, pointed it to a folder where I have a couple movies, installed the Plex app on my Roku TV, signed in, and bam - those movies are right there.

Honestly could not get much easier than that.

Did any of that have a charge to it ? I can do the same with a samsung smart TV. Install a software app on the computer and load up the films etc in the app. Then they will wifi themselves to the TV.

 

[sdifox]

Did any of that have a charge to it ? I can do the same with a samsung smart TV. Install a software app on the computer and load up the films etc in the app. Then they will wifi themselves to the TV.

I think you have to pay for mobile app, not the tv ones.

 

[Muadib]

Did any of that have a charge to it ? I can do the same with a samsung smart TV. Install a software app on the computer and load up the films etc in the app. Then they will wifi themselves to the TV.

Plex should be an app on your Samsung. It is on mine. You can install the server on your pc.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Do I really need to rename everything, is there a better way?

Installation

Preparation Before You Begin Before you begin installing Plex Media Server, it’s strongly recommended that you check that your media...

support.plex.tv

It seems all these solutions are really keen on trying to be fancy with trying to detect stuff, I just want to get a file list and be able to click the file and play it and then have it remember that I already watched it. Does Plex have such functionality? I did not start setting it up yet.

 

[mxnerd]

MPC-BE

Download MPC-BE for free. Media Player Classic - BE. Media Player Classic - BE is a free and open source audio and video player for Windows. Media Player Classic - BE is based on the original "Media Player Classic" project (Gabest) and "Media Player Classic Home Cinema" project (Casimir666)...

sourceforge.net

==

Oops, you want Linux based. So you don't like VLC?

 

[Red Squirrel]

VLC is basically way I'm doing it now as I just ended up getting a keyboard with touchpad for the htpc, just kind of a pain having to manually keep track of what I already watched. (ex: TV episodes).

If I can't find anything I might look to see how hard it is to write something myself, the tricky part is going to be the video playback but I imagine I can probably find a library for that. I basically just want to be able to browse my existing folder structure and watch stuff that way, and then have it show what I already watched.

Kodi was the closest thing I had, but it gets buggy after a few weeks where it stops tracking what is already watched.

 

[sdifox]

Lol at least give plex a try

 

[Red Squirrel]

I will, I just won't get around to setting it up for a bit so still open to other options meanwhile in case it does not work out. From what I'm reading it looks like it's very fussy about the naming of files and that may be an issue. jellyfin is kind of similar too, the way it tries to organize stuff is weird. Something like Star Wars for example, instead of being able to show each movie in order they are just jumbled up. Basically the issue is it seems most of these things ignore the folder structure that I already defined and try to be too fancy.

 

[mxnerd]

Maybe the easiest way is just move the videos you already watched to another folder after you watched them.

Or rename the filename to filename-watched.

 

[sdifox]

Or be like Muse and document every watch with dates and thoughts....

 

[Muadib]

Another Plex fan here, but a different choice is Emby.

Emby

media server for personal streaming videos tv music photos in mobile app or browser for all devices android iOS windows phone appletv androidtv smarttv and dlna

emby.media

 

[Red Squirrel]

Or be like Muse and document every watch with dates and thoughts....

Lol that's what I do now, which I want to get away from. So I will try Plex and hopefully that will work with my folder structure. Not liking Jellyfin at all, it's too slow and since it does not show a proper folder view, stuff is just kind of scattered everywhere. Like if I want to watch a multi part movie it's not even organized in order that I put it in the folder. Every time you click on something it just spins forever too. There's too much waiting. If I just want to casually watch a TV episode while I eat a meal it takes longer to get the episode fired up than it takes for me to eat. Too much screwing around.

But yeah I'll see how Plex is and if it fits my needs.

 

[mxnerd]

Just remembered that I tried https://www.team-mediaportal.com/ years back.

Windows only though. A lot of features. Including TV recording with TV cards.

IIRC it uses Client/Server architecture.

 

[Scarpozzi]

It sounds like you're getting tired of keeping up with the nonsense like I am. I mean, the pi's are great, but essentially you have to use USB to write to them and reformat/configure. That's a total burden.

If I was doing what you're doing, I'd be looking at a platform like Roku and see if someone's written a custom app for plex or whatever you choose to host your data on. That way you're only dealing with the server side and not the client side.

 

[sdifox]

It sounds like you're getting tired of keeping up with the nonsense like I am. I mean, the pi's are great, but essentially you have to use USB to write to them and reformat/configure. That's a total burden.

If I was doing what you're doing, I'd be looking at a platform like Roku and see if someone's written a custom app for plex or whatever you choose to host your data on. That way you're only dealing with the server side and not the client side.

Plex client is available for rpi though.