Can this be done?

TeeJayHoward

Limpness Supreme
Joined
Feb 8, 2005
Messages
12,258
Foreword: I know almost nothing about HTPCs. I've got my PS3 set up to play netflix. I was really pleased that I could use my TV remote to control it (CEC?), even if it does take a full second to recognize a key press. I downloaded PS3 Media Server, and now I can send movies from my NAS to the PS3. It's all right, I guess. I'm curious, though, just how far one can stretch the home theater.

Right now, navigating through a movie collection is a pain. Press the down arrow, wait. Press the down arrow, wait. Press the right arrow, wait. Wait. Wait. Select the movie. Start. I'd love to have some sort of a tablet setup with the ability to swipe through the movies and press on the one I want to watch. It'd also be great if I could select the TV to send it to. I'm also interested in pausing the movie in the living room and resuming it in the bedroom. I want to retain the ability to control the movie via my TV remote, but it'd be nice if I could do it through the tablet as well. I also don't want to try and find the tablet if I'm already sitting down and comfortable, so I don't want to lose the ability to navigate using the remote either.

If the system could read metadata from the .mp4 files, that'd be lovely. I'd also like it to search an online database and pull data from there if it can't find it in the .mp4. (Although, I'm not sure how that would work - Off the filename?) Is it possible to stream the .ISO instead of ripping/reencoding it?

edit: PS3 is not a requirement. You can safely assume that I'm running this on a Pi or traditional PC.
 
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Once your collection reaches a certain size it gets to the point where you need a HTPC program which actually catalogs your collection. I can use my PS3 as well to browse my collection but honestly it really isn't built for HTPC use. It can get by but there are many programs that just do it better and faster. My personal fav is XBMC but there will be people who recommend others I'm sure.
 
HTPC software discussion in 2011:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1574446

I use xbmc because it works and I already have it setup.
Plex is another option, but I'd investigate MyMovies before i considered Plex. http://www.mymovies.dk/

From what I remember, I am interested in MyMovies because it saves library data on the server instead of having to configure it separate for each HTPC.

Also, MyMovies supports iso playback. It will automatically mount the image, but you must have Virtual CloneDrive installed.
http://wiki.mymovies.dk/(S(rv0uj145zsytkq55oxobao55))/Playing ISO Images.ashx

Splashtop and UnifiedRemote are two Android apps that allow control of the software. Splashtop gives you full desktop control, but UnifiedRemote only allows you to control certain media programs.
http://www.unifiedremote.com/features

*edit* oh, sorry OP, I don't think these programs are PS3 compatible.
I used my ps3 for a few years with ps3 media server, but my ps3 died so I built a regular htpc with a spare motherboard. I added a SSD and a cheap processor and video card. It performs much better than the ps3 for movies. The interface is MUCH more responsive, as is Fast-forward & rewind.
My ps3 would hang and glitch sometimes.
 
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You might want to look at Plex Media Server. It does support the PS3 and you can control it with an Android tablet via the Plex for Android app.

As for streaming .ISO, AFAIK, that's not possible at this time with Plex Media Server. I would not recommend the Pi as a replacement for the PS3 if you're looking for a substantial performance improvement.
 
I am also aiming for the same goal as the op I have done some reading and a lot of that is possible however I am still working my way through the Xbmc forums to figure it out/gather research. It seems you will have to do a bit of DIY programming. I will also leave this nifty video here for the op to show what kind of control you can have over your tv/house from a phone/tablet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi2mYrLNq5U&feature=youtube_gdata_player

If you like I can post some of my research here for you to read up on yourself but be warned everything except using the tasker program I can't do at the moment because I am in the middle of moving to a different state.
 
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XBMC all the way in my opinion.

Here is my setup.

All my media is stored on a Synology NAS. It has been Sorted and renamed using -
http://www.therenamer.com/
and Ember Media Manager.

The i have a SQL setup of XBMC which i then just have tiny front end machines which access it for each of my PC's.
 
Is there a good easy to understand tutorial for the SQL portion, like how you set it up and what it's capable of? I want to use it to sync all of my Xbmc installs so I am not managing repositories on multiple devices and am wondering what else I would gain with Xbmc and SQL
 
Yep. Honestly with as cheap as you can build (or buy used) a htpc capable machine I feel like its a no brainer.
 
XBMC. Get a logitech programmable remote, and a cheap rosewill Windows remote from Egg to use the receiver. I think this is the guide I used to set up the remote.
 
i use an Android Tablet + Yatse for my remote with XBMC. It works very well. That being said i also have a HP MS Remote which I also like. Sometimes it's just easier to use that instead.
 
Another vote for Plex. It is just so easy and works. I use it with a PS3, Roku 2 XS, and watch it at work during lunch.
 
As for streaming .ISO, AFAIK, that's not possible at this time with Plex Media Server.

I don't know if there is official support but a friend of mine told me that he is able to stream .ISO with limited functionality (no FF, RW and maybe some issue with the audio, I can't remember). That was with the latest version of PMS for Windows and Plex App for Samsung TVs.
 
I have two RasPis, one in the living room and one in bedroom. They boot from NFS root, use SMB share to play videos from and share the same library in MySQL. Resume on one and continue watching on another one works perfectly. SDs only contain kernel + boot parameters (<100MB) for network booting, so you can pick the smallest & cheapest ones.

2x RasPis: $90
2x small SDHCs: ~$15
2x Rii mini keyboards: ~$40-$70

http://dx.com/s/rii

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW-TO:Share_libraries_using_MySQL

http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=NFS


//E

You can use your tv remote instead of those keyboards if your tv supports CEC.
 
I use MyMovies and WMC. Mymovies has an app for various devices and I use mine with the Ipad. You can set up your Ipad app to control your HTPC, choose the movie you want to play and it will play it on your HTPC. Pretty easy navigation. Can't comment on the other platforms.
 
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