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Plex Server on Rasp Pi

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Jimmy Higgins

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So, I've been struggling to get a stable setup for a media server. I put Plex on a laptop, but it is a Windows 7 box, and the stability was there sometimes. I looked online and sites were pretty happy about the possibility of a Plex Server on Raspberry Pi. And I have since learned you need to read every website, or look for troubles before making the leap.

Not much money spent, Raspberry Pi 3 B+ (I was reading the 4's run hot with all the "power" they have, and I didn't want to risk that) and it works great on SD, 480i/p media... but 1080p, it just fumbles.

From what I've learned in hindsight, Plex Server is fine at running stuff through, but the moment it needs to adjust anything, Raspberry Pi is useless. I have noticed that different devices work differently. The Fire Stick isn't great, the older Roku 2 (2016 or 2017?) was able to go from incapable of playing 1080p to playing it for a few minutes, then buffering. I managed that by rejecting Direct Stream (which is the exact opposite of what websites say), as with only Direct Stream... it wasn't playing more than a few seconds before buffering.

So my confusion falls around confirming that the device being used to play is the issue. Some sites say the newest Rokus can handle this stuff. Some say Firestick sucks for this.

My files are generally straight MKV from MakeMKV. Am I right with the presumption that the device streaming from the server is the weak link and if the right device is used, it can anything, at least in the Blu-Ray range of 1080p? Or is the Raspberry Pi incapable of managing the streaming of such far files (30 to 35 Mbps)?
 
My experience with Plex has been that the real trouble comes when it starts transcoding. I guess that's what you're referring to when you say "needs to adjust anything." If it's running on equipment with a strong enough GPU the transcoding happens so quickly it doesn't cause problems. The PI 4 runs circles around the 3 when it comes to graphics performance but I have no idea if that's going to be enough horsepower to deal with transcoding.

Personally I use a Windows 10 Mini desktop with a decent half-height NVidia graphics card for my Plex server. It doubles as a DVR for OTA broadcast with MediaPortal and also serves up my copious movie and TV libraries, so there's a lot more going on there than just being a Plex server.
 
Realtime transcoding requires decent CPU power. Plex is bound to fall over if it doesn't have a beefy enough CPU.
 
I wanted a smaller solution, the Pi is cheaper, for obvious reasons, and I believe more secure as well. It handles SD just fine, but I didn't rip 1080 MKVs to rerip into 480p. Though, as noted, I think it might be the Audio Codec which is causing issues, because for whatever reason I ripped Guardians of the Galaxy in 2 channel stereo, and I think they played fine.

The question I have is does a newer Roku fix this problem as the device can handle the codecs in DirectPlay?
 
Curiosity got the best of me so I did a little digging and can vouch that if there is any need for transcoding the RPI will hold up like a jack stand made of Reynolds Wrap. Using a Roku will provide for better local play but the real bang behind a Plex server is not so much the ability to play its content on the local TV or monitor, it's the ability to access it from anywhere you have Internet access. I don't think you can do that with a Roku but maybe I'm wrong.

Although Loren Pechtel is right about the CPU being Plex's main victim when it comes to transcoding, I read that newer Plex software (on specific systems) can take advantage of GPU capabilities to offload transcoding duties. Doesn't sound like the beefier graphics hardware in an RPI4 lets you cash in on any of that though.

I never use my Plex server when I'm at my house, I just open the file directly with whatever equipment I want to play the file on. I only use Plex when I want to watch some of my content and I'm away from home (using my tablet or even my phone).
 
Atheos said:
Curiosity got the best of me so I did a little digging and can vouch that if there is any need for transcoding the RPI will hold up like a jack stand made of Reynolds Wrap. Using a Roku will provide for better local play but the real bang behind a Plex server is not so much the ability to play its content on the local TV or monitor, it's the ability to access it from anywhere you have Internet access. I don't think you can do that with a Roku but maybe I'm wrong.
Click to expand...
There is a setting for how to send out to exterior sites. If that is set to directplay (if available), then it can work (in theory), but you need to a good Internet connection to do that. Otherwise, it puts a limit on the file streaming, which means transcoding the file.

My real goal is to be able to use it at home. I've done the Kodi thing, but it requires a couple extra steps. I was impressed with how well Plex generally accepted most of the media.
 
I have hooked the Roku Premiere 4k device and it appears it can handle the H.264. Just about all of my ripped 1080i/p stuff can play. Half Blood Prince isn’t though, it isn’t H.264. Need to set it as original for the stream.

Sucks the Firestick can’t handle it, but the Pi pops up on my Vizio, so I probably can just go directly through it.
 
My experience is odd. Was playing Firefly on the Firestick in HD, and I'm not certain why that was working, as other 1080p was requiring transcoding. I need to double check the codec. The Roku Premiere plays everything quite nicely except the first Harry Potter films which are the VC1 Codec.

Took a couple tries to fully load the Metadata, but it worked.

So, as long as you have newer Roku equipment to stream from, RaspPi 3+ works very well as a media server, at least locally. My interest in out of home streaming is limited. Now I need to fix episodes for a few shows that aren't labeled in the correct order. First world problems.
 
So, the 3+ seems to have issues streaming anything roughly above 35 Mbps. It isn't a transcode problem. I have the Pi hard wired into the router, and that thing can 500+ Mbps.

Is there an overclocking thing I need to try to get it over the hump? It is annoying to being this close to having everything accessible via the Roku/Firestick (which seems fine now), but to have the slightly beefier streams not able to keep up.
 
So a bit of research and I'm an idiot. For some reason I thought the 3B+ had a couple USB 3.0's. It doesn't. It is USB 2.0's... and those, depending on what you read, are limited to 20 to 35 MBps... and I'm struggling above 35 MBps. So it is the USB port that is my problem. *sigh* Hard drive is new enough, it is USB 3.0.

DVD's (so old movies and TV Shows) all work great. But blu-ray can get to be a problem. So close here.
 
In my continuing blog to myself...

Upgraded to a Raspberry Pi 4. Performance is good, however!!!, I had a problem after installing Linux. With Noobs, I was able to select the OS while having the device plugged via HDMI into my receiver, which I believe is 4K ready. However, after booting up after installing the OS, black screen. After several minutes, it finally showed the screen but it was two overlays, one with a full screen image and another the top half being repeated on the bottom half of the screen. WTF?

I checked the video and it was outputting to 4K, didn't need 4K. Made change, but wasn't able to accept it quick enough, and then went back to black screen. On a hunch, plugged it into the 4K tv directly, worked fine. Made it step down to 1080p, accepted the change, plugged into receiver, it works.

Got everything re-sync'd with the new device, streams Captain Marvel. I had 4 moments of buffering during the movie, but that was it.
 
I noticed that my Roku 3920x has a "low" or "weak" WIFI signal. The Roku is sitting a floor above the router, which is almost directly below it. While this Roku allowed more Codecs, this might have also been a potential issue, as many seem to complain about the WIFI strength. I tried playing Incredibles 2 at about 30 MBps and it stumbled on it. I've played a 40 MBps film, and it was fine. So curious.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
I noticed that my Roku 3920x has a "low" or "weak" WIFI signal. The Roku is sitting a floor above the router, which is almost directly below it. While this Roku allowed more Codecs, this might have also been a potential issue, as many seem to complain about the WIFI strength. I tried playing Incredibles 2 at about 30 MBps and it stumbled on it. I've played a 40 MBps film, and it was fine. So curious.
Click to expand...

Does your router have external antennas? If they're pointing straight up, try tilting them at a 45 degree angle.
 
ZiprHead said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
I noticed that my Roku 3920x has a "low" or "weak" WIFI signal. The Roku is sitting a floor above the router, which is almost directly below it. While this Roku allowed more Codecs, this might have also been a potential issue, as many seem to complain about the WIFI strength. I tried playing Incredibles 2 at about 30 MBps and it stumbled on it. I've played a 40 MBps film, and it was fine. So curious.
Click to expand...

Does your router have external antennas? If they're pointing straight up, try tilting them at a 45 degree angle.
Click to expand...
And pointing toward the outside wall to give better coverage inside the house.
 
No antennas. I have much better Wifi signal with the newish router I got when I went Fiber. So I know it isn’t the router, though I did reposition a little a year or so ago when I realized I sorta had it in a dead zone.

The 3920x has a rep for wifi issues apparently.
 
So to finalize my RaspPi Plex Servers by an Idiot series, I likely didn't need to get the RaspPi 4 (embarrassed about the little b and big B thing, USB 2.0 might have been just fine), but I'm not wasting anymore time to prove that much. The Roku 3920X was definitely the issue. The trouble occurs when streaming. Usually streams are 10 Mbps or less until you jump up to 4K (or you stream ripped Blu-Rays to get the MKVs, which don't include any additional compression). My only 4K streamer is located 5 to 10 feet from my router, and it works great.

And the Roku 3920X works great at streaming... compressed HD. But the second I needed to go up to 20 Mbps or 40 Mbps, it became iffy. I shifted the router position a little, and I moved the Roku underneath the table, leaving only the floor between it and the Router, and that improved the signal, but not by much. Going to the System Network settings of the Roku confirmed that it just didn't have enough signal for 30 Mbps. The odd thing was, I had good results with some higher bitrate files (40+ Mbps) and flunking on (30+ or even high 20s). No idea why that was, unless the bitrate in the file was a mistake, I assume it is metadata in the file. And sometimes, it could play a movie 1/2 to 2/3's through, and then choke. Likely the Wifi.

Long story short... wait... too late for that. Much too late, ethernet. I need ethernet! So I got the Roku Ultra, which has the ethernet, and it works well now... just like the other times I said it did, and then it didn't. Things choked up on playing Guardians of the Galaxy 2, but I saw that Plex was trying to transcode. I undid that, allowed for MPEG-2 for the older DVDs, and... well, it should work. I'm out of kinks in the armor really. One thing I thought was weird, I checked the signal in for the ethernet connection and it reported 6 of 9 strength (80 Mbps rated capacity). ??? It's wired!

I'll follow up with my next post when something else goes wrong. Until then, remember, don't do as I say... or do... ask someone else for help. :)
 
Coda.

It is now January 2022. The Plex server is generally very reliable. It'll hack up once or twice a month and I'll reboot the server. Power outages require a server reboot. Only thing one needs to be weary of is that darn VC-1 codec 1 in 50 to 100 discs use!

Now only if someone at TVDB can be hung, for breaking down episodes of cartoons by the individual fucking skits!
 
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