Plex alternative

[Wolfeman0101]

I have a Roku and use Plex but Plex isn't opensource and won't port to FreeBSD. I want something so I can stream to my Roku without have to leave my desktop running Plex on.

 

[cyberjock]

Yeah.. good luck with that. The only advice I can give is to use dlna. But, don't expect all of your library video/audio to be compatible.

There's a reason why I still have a machine running 24x7 just for plex.. there is no easy alternative.

 

[II GAV II]

Hi cyberjock

I know this is an old thread but it's right on topic.

So, I missed the fact that freeNAS does not work with plex media server which I am completely gutted about as that is what I was planning to run, alongside plex media client on my Samsung Smart TV (i.e. you can access your media library in plex on the TV).

Now, I don't have an issue with having my laptop on for doing this, but said laptop is nowhere near powerful enough to transcode - so, is it possible to do what I want as explained above, with the laptop on 24/7 but still using the freeNAS (once built!) to transcode the files?

Many thanks as always
Gav.

 

[cyberjock]

Nope. That's why I said what I said back in March. You must have a dedicated machine for Plex. Plex has no FreeBSD version. This has been a regular disappoinment for alot of people and you can be sure that the second Plex has support there will be threads popping up all over the place to make it work with FreeNAS.

 

[II GAV II]

Thanks for that. I thought so but had to check. Bummer.

 

[Derix]

Will Plex work with FreeNAS 9.1?

 

[jgreco]

That would seem to be a question for the Plex guys, as it is their decision what they will and will not support Plex on. The other two possibilities are to experiment with Linux emulation on FreeBSD to see if you can "make it work", or to use virtualization to host a small Plex VM. I will note that while virtualizing FreeNAS is generally frowned upon here in the forums, there's a sticky to help you do it more-right-than-wrong, and it is really aimed at situations like people who want to have a single server to run their Plex, FreeNAS, and pfSense.

 

[rjgould]

Will Plex work with FreeNAS 9.1?

http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/36631-pms-on-freenas/?p=413604

 

[jgreco]

Yeah, I was going to try to make a Plex jail on FreeNAS but had trouble figuring out how to get the "warden" jail stuff to work. I'm used to phk's plain simple jails.

 

[Wolfeman0101]

Plex is now available on FreeBSD.

 

[cyberjock]

This has been disucssed a few times. Plex has a beta for FreeBSD out with a forum section devoted to it. :)

But.. AFAIK there's no PBI for it.. yet.

 

[jgreco]

Yeah I was going to do that for the heck of it but ran into problems even getting jails to work. Bah.

 

[Wolfeman0101]

Yeah I was going to do that for the heck of it but ran into problems even getting jails to work. Bah.

I'm going to build a VM tonight and I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[jgreco]

And I'm missing out on it this weekend, slacking off in Chicago instead of hacking. ;-)

 

[cyberjock]

You should have told me you'd be in Chicago. Could have met and had real Chicago-style pizza. :P

 

[thelambentonion]

Just an update to the whole Plex situation: a FreeBSD binary is now being released alongside all of the other PlexPass preview releases (previously there was just the one port that was done for developer interest); a ports package also exists for installation from .tbz or the ports tree.

Additionally (from behind the PlexPass paywall)...

Along with a complete package for FreeBSD, we are working on getting to a phase where we can start to create PBI packages for FreeNAS. But before we can get there, we need to fix a few bugs and finalise how we want the final packaging to work.

I've been having some issues running FreeNAS jails within VirtualBox, and my server is still waiting on a replacement stick of RAM so I haven't been able to do any tinkering, but I'm very excited that so much effort has been concentrated on FreeBSD in such a short amount of time.

 

[cyberjock]

Thanks for the update! It looks like I should go buy a PlexPass account. :P