PS3 Alternate use

drbrock

Golden Member
Feb 8, 2008
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I have an extra ps3 and would like to turn it into a media center. Is there a hack or program I can install to change into an XBMC like machine.

I don't care to play illegal backups of games, The only thing I would use it for is netflix and other media.

Any help would be great. I figure this would be cheaper than buying a HTPC.
 

drbrock

Golden Member
Feb 8, 2008
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I have that already but I was hoping to skip the extra steps. I can turn on my pc and connect it with HDMI. Just wanted something work right out of the box if that makes any sense.
 

Krynj

Platinum Member
Jun 21, 2006
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Has Sony given any reason as to why the PS3 doesn't support MKVs?
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
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With the proper codecs I was able to get MKVs streaming almost perfectly on my 360 through TVersity. However the PS3 still continued to have problems with them. I think the PS3 is destined to struggle with these unless you pre-convert them.
 

MikeyLSU

Platinum Member
Dec 21, 2005
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yeah, download playstation media server on your computer.

Then you just follow the steps to share the folders you want and it will show up as a server on your playstation 3.

It allows it to play just about anything(including mkv and iso files that are videos).

Works perfectly for me.
 

drbrock

Golden Member
Feb 8, 2008
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cool thank you mikey. I have a pc hooked up to my big screen but I don't want to have to power it on everytime i want to watch a movie. I

I was hoping for an external hard drive connected to my ps3 and done. I can do it with regular xvid files but can't do it for hd content without a conversion.
 

Krynj

Platinum Member
Jun 21, 2006
2,816
8
81
yeah, download playstation media server on your computer.

Then you just follow the steps to share the folders you want and it will show up as a server on your playstation 3.

It allows it to play just about anything(including mkv and iso files that are videos).

Works perfectly for me.

Huh. Never heard of that before. Definitely gonna check that out. Thanks.
 

Krynj

Platinum Member
Jun 21, 2006
2,816
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Why do they need to provide a reason?

Because Sony wants everybody to think the PS3 as the all-in-one-everything-you-need media player. It supports most popular file types, except some that really matter (like MKV). You think they'd offer at least *some* explanation as to why the PS3 doesn't have native support for the most popular HD media container.

Doesn't matter to me though. I use my Boxee Box for all my network streaming needs.
 

Tristicus

Diamond Member
Feb 2, 2008
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www.wallpapereuphoria.com
Because Sony wants everybody to think the PS3 as the all-in-one-everything-you-need media player. It supports most popular file types, except some that really matter (like MKV). You think they'd offer at least *some* explanation as to why the PS3 doesn't have native support for the most popular HD media container.

Doesn't matter to me though. I use my Boxee Box for all my network streaming needs.

Piracy.
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
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tbqhwy.com

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
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The problem I have using ps3 as media streaming device is its constant buffering when streaming HD mkv over wifi. I heard this isn't a problem if your using wired but its terrible performance over wireless wifi is a dealbreaker for me. That's why I bought Apple TV.
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
The problem I have using ps3 as media streaming device is its constant buffering when streaming HD mkv over wifi. I heard this isn't a problem if your using wired but its terrible performance over wireless wifi is a dealbreaker for me. That's why I bought Apple TV.

yea the WIFI bufering is annoying. however it happens with every wireless device i have thats capable of streaming media through it. its not just a PS3 issue. an d 1080 LOL im not sure anything can do it,
 

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,688
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yea the WIFI bufering is annoying. however it happens with every wireless device i have thats capable of streaming media through it. its not just a PS3 issue. an d 1080 LOL im not sure anything can do it,

Nope. I run everything except the main computer through WiFi. No other device suffers from WiFi buffering. Just PS3.

My Apple TV2 plays the same 720p content just fine through WiFi.
 
Oct 25, 2006
11,036
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Nope. I run everything except the main computer through WiFi. No other device suffers from WiFi buffering. Just PS3.

My Apple TV2 plays the same 720p content just fine through WiFi.

You could you know, tweak some settings and try to fix it.
 

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,688
2,811
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Such as downgrading the bit rate because no wifi system can support HD video with no compression.

If you REALLY REALLY don't want to.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1149527

There is a massive settings thread

I don't see anything about changing some settings to stop Wifi buffering when playing 720p mkv on the PS3 using PS3 Media server. Again my Apple TV2 with XBMC will play the same 720p mkv video perfectly over Wifi with zero studdering or buffering. So tell me what settings you used to eliminate the constant buffering pause on your PS3. Because I would like to be able to do the same on my PS3.
 
Oct 25, 2006
11,036
11
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I don't see anything about changing some settings to stop Wifi buffering when playing 720p mkv on the PS3 using PS3 Media server. Again my Apple TV2 with XBMC will play the same 720p mkv video perfectly over Wifi with zero studdering or buffering. So tell me what settings you used to eliminate the constant buffering pause on your PS3. Because I would like to be able to do the same on my PS3.

I increased the buffer and lowered the bitrate in the settings. No buffer or stutter problems.
 

AzNKiD

Senior member
Apr 1, 2002
261
0
0
There is some misconception here about ps3 and mkvs. First, mkv is a container like avi and mpg. Ps3 does not understand a mkv container due to piracy issue, but it plays the video/audio contents within most HD mkv. Pretty sure your mkv file contains h.264 video with either AAC or DTS audio muxed together. There is a setting in pms to use tsmuxer to demux mkv files and stream your contents in mpeg transport. In short what this does is the pms server will open the mkv file and demux the audio/video, then put them in mpg container to stream to your ps3 and will play in its original native format. thats what mkv2vob does, but on the fly instead, which usually very little cpu. I been using pms to stream all my mkvs fine for years and even got a receiver to decode dts audio. my file server is a old dell p4 1ghz machine that only takes a second or two to start streaming 1080p mkvs and then pretty much less then 5% cpu thur out the movie.

as for the person asking about wifi and getting a apple tv, its the same issue. look at the numbers, most 1080p movies are 8+gb, no way wifi can transfer that size within a typical 2 hour period. ps3 can do 720p via wifi easily and should be no shutter. you probably not demuxing the mkvs and instead transcoding/encoding the media to a high bitrate mpeg transport. just gotta fix your settings to play the contents in its original format and you should have no problems streaming 720p. your better off wiring your ps3 and you can watch 1080p mkvs in its original format natively no problem. look at your servers cpu usage. if its demuxing correctly, your usage should just spike a little bit then idle out. if you see your cpu usage very high for longer then a few seconds, then your trancoding/encoding, which is bad
 

Duder1no

Senior member
Nov 1, 2010
866
1
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you can thinker with the Playstation Media Server settings if you have issues

i know i did, did a little reading of the PMS settings and fixed them right away

so far no issues, working perfectly
 

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,688
2,811
126
I'll check tsmuxer setting when I get home and see if that's the fix. Thanks. I just want 720p videos to work.