Best way to stream BD ISO files throughout house?

Kmical

Gawd
Joined
Jan 23, 2003
Messages
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I have been archiving my Blu-Ray collection (to ISO format) over the last year or so. At the moment, I have the discs backed up to 2x4TB and 2x3TB SATA hard drives. For playback, I have a HTPC in a mid-sized tower case in a theater room in the basement.

Right now, if I want to access movies from the drives, I am using a hot-swap bay in the HTPC to insert the hard drive that has the ISO files on it. Playback is via MPC-HC.

My concern is that I am limited to playback in just the theater room - unless I want to dig out the original discs. I have four additional TV's in the house, all with Roku boxes. I have a wireless network set up using an AC3200 router from Linksys.

What is the easiest/cheapest/simplest way to make the content on the hard drives accessible from the other rooms? I have read some about Plex, and that app seems to be supported by all of the Roku boxes. Also, what is the best method of making all four drives available at once?

I have another older system set up with WHS (V1) for data backups. I know I can do something with it and Windows Media Center, but the original version of WHS is limited to 2TB hard drives. I would prefer a method that can use the existing 3TB and 4TB drives.

Ideas? Suggestions? Guides?

Thanks in advance.
 
plex won't play iso files. you could always convert to mkv. fairly simple.

wdtv will play bluray iso files via regular file shares. although, they haven't really updated the hardware much since it's introduction and the interface isn't nearly as smooth as plex.
 
Buy a Synology and migrate the drives over to it. If you have all the drives full it'll take some time since you'll be required to format them, but you should be able to do it one drive at a time and then expand the array as you free up each drive.

Install Plex on the HTPC and mount the share(s) from the Synology on it and point Plex at the appropriate directories. You'll want to run all your ISOs though MakeMKV and convert them like wirerouge mentioned already so Plex can handle them.
 
I have my ISOs on a file server running emby. I have an 8 bay raid enclosure where I keep my blu ray ISOs. I play them using emby as the frontend in WMC and powerdvd is my player on my HTPC. Now as far as other devices the only thing I've used that plays ISOs native is kodi. Depending on the title not all of them worked correctly. I think there was a setting that just played the movie and didn't do any menus and I think that worked better.

The easiest way to have accessible is probably a network share. Emby used to transcode ISO but now it doesn't they've pretty much all but abandon ISO at this point. But you could try this it says it can transcode ISOs.

http://www.conceiva.com/products/mezzmo/features.asp
 
XBMC/Kodi

I understand how that would work for content on the HTPC, but am a little lost on how to feed the movies to Roku devices.

It looks like the Roku boxes can access the Kodi content using the Roku Media Browser, but will Kodi play back an ISO directly ... or does the ISO need to be converted first? The Kodi FAQ says it will not transcode ISO files.

That Mezzmo application looks promising. If it can transcode the ISO files as needed, and can serve up the results via DLNA to the Roku boxes ... then it would solve the "how do I stream to any of the TV sets?" question.

One thing that I still am curious about is the fastest/easiest way to provide access to the content on all four current archive drives. I would prefer to avoid having to re-encode them, saving the results on yet another collection of large hard drives. I just finished consolidating them on the four current drives - after having built up the collection on 8 random 1TB - 2TB drives.

Is there a cheap external solution that would allow me to see each drive as an individual drive for playback purposes? Something where I could plug them all in, have each get assigned a drive letter, then let Mezzmo build a catalog from all of the drives? Maybe even an external enclosure where I can eventually add up to 8 drives?

Maybe something like this to start? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003X26VV4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=A2WSTUX2A6RQ1A
 
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I have 100% quality MKV rips on my HTPC. Rip with makemkv, can play with kodi or stream with plex. I really have never understood why people want ISO files as they are more difficult to work with.
 
I have 100% quality MKV rips on my HTPC. Rip with makemkv, can play with kodi or stream with plex. I really have never understood why people want ISO files as they are more difficult to work with.

Well, it's a little late since I already have about 300 ISO files on the drives ;)

Maybe I can spend a few weeks re-ripping everything to MKV ... but I'd rather not unless it was absolutely necessary.
 
Well, it's a little late since I already have about 300 ISO files on the drives ;)

Maybe I can spend a few weeks re-ripping everything to MKV ... but I'd rather not unless it was absolutely necessary.

You don't have to re-rip it, makeMKV can open the iso directly and you can dump the extras, audio tracks and subtitles you don't need in the process.
 
You don't have to re-rip it, makeMKV can open the iso directly and you can dump the extras, audio tracks and subtitles you don't need in the process.

Does it have a batch mode where I can do all 300 at once, or do I have to repeat the process 300 times?
 
I understand how that would work for content on the HTPC, but am a little lost on how to feed the movies to Roku devices.

It looks like the Roku boxes can access the Kodi content using the Roku Media Browser, but will Kodi play back an ISO directly ... or does the ISO need to be converted first? The Kodi FAQ says it will not transcode ISO files.

That Mezzmo application looks promising. If it can transcode the ISO files as needed, and can serve up the results via DLNA to the Roku boxes ... then it would solve the "how do I stream to any of the TV sets?" question.

One thing that I still am curious about is the fastest/easiest way to provide access to the content on all four current archive drives. I would prefer to avoid having to re-encode them, saving the results on yet another collection of large hard drives. I just finished consolidating them on the four current drives - after having built up the collection on 8 random 1TB - 2TB drives.

Is there a cheap external solution that would allow me to see each drive as an individual drive for playback purposes? Something where I could plug them all in, have each get assigned a drive letter, then let Mezzmo build a catalog from all of the drives? Maybe even an external enclosure where I can eventually add up to 8 drives?

Maybe something like this to start? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003X26VV4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=A2WSTUX2A6RQ1A

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817576012&cm_re=mediasonic-_-17-576-012-_-Product
 
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Kodi will play decrypted bd iso files just fine, menus, 3d, everything.

You need an android streamer

http://www.amazon.com/Element-Andro...ie=UTF8&qid=1454571098&sr=8-2&keywords=Pigfly

Works just like an android phone, you can sign in with your Google account and access all the Google apps you have already purchased. Kodi or plex will run on a box like this, you can also install Netflix app or games or whatever, can plug in a keyboard or mouse or external hd to it
 
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Well, it's a little late since I already have about 300 ISO files on the drives ;)

Maybe I can spend a few weeks re-ripping everything to MKV ... but I'd rather not unless it was absolutely necessary.

Based on my calculations you shouldn't have much choice. You should really be nearing the end of your storage with 300 be isos
 
I can't believe that no one here knows about this program. Use this
http://www.mymovies.dk
It works very well and you can try it out for free.
Also visit this guys site.
http://www.heronfidelity.com
He knows his shit.
That looks like an option. I'll need to read more about it.

Based on my calculations you shouldn't have much choice. You should really be nearing the end of your storage with 300 be isos

LOL - you are correct. Between the four archive drives, I do not believe I have more than about 300GB free.

I have a 5TB Toshiba drive that I haven't gotten around to opening yet. If I do end up converting the ISO files to MKV, I can make that a target drive. After converting the contents of each drive, the ISO source drive can then be made available as the target for the next set of MKV files from the next drive. When I'm done, I'd probably have a couple of free drives.

I'm getting the four-bay Mediasonic enclosure today. Supposedly, it will allow me to simply plug in my four archive drives, then assign them individual drive letters to access the content without having to copy or reformat anything.

Mezzmo has a free 15-day trial, so I'll start with that and the ISO files and see how it works.
 
I have 100% quality MKV rips on my HTPC. Rip with makemkv, can play with kodi or stream with plex. I really have never understood why people want ISO files as they are more difficult to work with.

I don't understand it either. I'm curious as to why anyone would keep them in ISO format as well.
 
I don't understand it either. I'm curious as to why anyone would keep them in ISO format as well.

I originally did ISO files as a backup so that I could restore to a BD-R disc if something happened to the original. My stack of unused BD-R discs is tribute to the fact that I keep better track of my Blu-Ray discs than I ever did with DVDs or CDs ;) In addition, hard drive prices make it more economical/convenient than physical disc backups.

So now it's gone from a backup project to a streaming project. I just decided that if I have all of the ISO images preserved on some hard drives, there must be some way to use the images and not worry about moving Blu-Ray discs around and between houses.
 
I don't understand it either. I'm curious as to why anyone would keep them in ISO format as well.


AV purists who are very particular with their video quality.


Of course I just use the disc.
 
I don't understand it either. I'm curious as to why anyone would keep them in ISO format as well.

I keep mine in ISO format. Its easy to rip and it keeps all the extra features intact if I decide I want to view them. I'm also a home theater enthusiast and want the full experience of the blu ray disc as well.
 
That looks like an option. I'll need to read more about it.



LOL - you are correct. Between the four archive drives, I do not believe I have more than about 300GB free.

I have a 5TB Toshiba drive that I haven't gotten around to opening yet. If I do end up converting the ISO files to MKV, I can make that a target drive. After converting the contents of each drive, the ISO source drive can then be made available as the target for the next set of MKV files from the next drive. When I'm done, I'd probably have a couple of free drives.

I'm getting the four-bay Mediasonic enclosure today. Supposedly, it will allow me to simply plug in my four archive drives, then assign them individual drive letters to access the content without having to copy or reformat anything.

Mezzmo has a free 15-day trial, so I'll start with that and the ISO files and see how it works.

Make sure you get the non-raid enclosure. I've had the 8 bay versions of each and the raid version doesn't give you the option to have different drives have individual drive letters.
 
AV purists who are very particular with their video quality.


Of course I just use the disc.

But that is a false statement. MakeMKV will make zero changes to the video and audio subfiles if configured correctly. So, the purists are operating under a false or dishonest premise. The only reason to "technically" keep the ISO is if you have an app/program that deal with BR menus.

Being able to re-burn the disc seems like an odd effort considering the chance of losing so many to rationalize effort seems a bit unreasonable. If you lose one disc out of 50...seems like a cheap cost to be able to play your discs on multiple systems with minimal effort. :)
 
Being able to re-burn the disc seems like an odd effort considering the chance of losing so many to rationalize effort seems a bit unreasonable. If you lose one disc out of 50...seems like a cheap cost to be able to play your discs on multiple systems with minimal effort. :)

You've never met my wife or experienced her ADD ;)

"Where did I put that original Criterion DVD of "The Killer" that you had up here? I'm not sure" --- my wife (2007)
 
But that is a false statement. MakeMKV will make zero changes to the video and audio subfiles if configured correctly. So, the purists are operating under a false or dishonest premise. The only reason to "technically" keep the ISO is if you have an app/program that deal with BR menus.

Being able to re-burn the disc seems like an odd effort considering the chance of losing so many to rationalize effort seems a bit unreasonable. If you lose one disc out of 50...seems like a cheap cost to be able to play your discs on multiple systems with minimal effort. :)


Ah I apologize. I thought people were talking about ripping and reencoding to a smaller file size.
 
MakeMKV + Plex like many have stated already. You can keep original BD quality for HTPC's, and allow Plex to transcode to any other device that doesn't have direct playback support (Roku).

MyMovies is good if you use WMC and want to play back via ISO. It's very limited other than that.
 
Make sure you get the non-raid enclosure. I've had the 8 bay versions of each and the raid version doesn't give you the option to have different drives have individual drive letters.

Yes, I saw that in the comments and ordered the 4-bay non-raid enclosure.
 
FYI, Mezzmo seems to work just fine with my existing BD ISO files.

I had no problem playing them through the Roku boxes, with the transcoding taking place on the HTPC.

There were a few ISO files that Mezzmo complained about being unsupported. For those, conversion to MKV seems to be the solution.
 
can MakeMKV verify bit/for/bit integrity of the copy?

That's the main reason I like ISOs
 
Like you guys can tell the difference between a JPG saved at 95% versus 90%.....aside from it being a different number.
 
Make sure you get the non-raid enclosure. I've had the 8 bay versions of each and the raid version doesn't give you the option to have different drives have individual drive letters.

I have the Sans Media version

Sans Digital MobileSTOR MS4UM+B 4 Bay eSATA Port Multiplier and USB 3.0 JBOD Tower (Black)
31np7rh9zfL._SY355_.jpg


I use the eSATA port along with an eSATA controller that supports port multiplication and my computer (Mac Pro) sees them as 4 separate harddrives. It has been running 24/7 for over a year with no problems. The power supply was the only thing I saw real complaints about. I keep mine on a cheap battery backup (APS ES350) which might help it stay alive since it doesn't see voltage fluctuations.
 
You don't need to store disc's in an ISO file to keep all the menus and extras. Nearly everything will recognize the file/folder structure.
 
You could also replace your Roku with a Shield TV and run Kodi on it natively. (As an aside, Shield TVs are pretty awesome).
 
You could also replace your Roku with a Shield TV and run Kodi on it natively. (As an aside, Shield TVs are pretty awesome).

So ... $200 X 4 (Rokus that would need to be replaced) = $800 ... just to run Kodi?

I'm pretty happy with the $20 investment in Mezzmo at the moment.
 
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