Home media center configuration (xbmc, plex, nas, pogoplug, wtf?)

jhoffy22

jhoffy22

yes i do, m8
Apr 28, 2011
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Setting up home media center and would like some advice. I've got:

-Asus RT-N56U router (Networking - RT-N56U) - supports DLNA Upnp

-Pogoplug Pogoplug Devices: Back Up, Access and Share From Anywhere

-2TB External Hard drive

-LG Smart TV

I want to be able to download movies/tv shows on my laptop, have them stored on my external hard drive automatically, and be able to stream them to either my LG Smart TV or 360. I don't have an extra computer that I want to leave running all the time (is this necessary for Plex or XBMC?).

Would really appreciate some direction.
 


I have a desktop pc that I use as a media centre with 4 TB of space (almost all full). I remote desktop into it from my laptop and download directly on it.

I Watch TV and vids via Windows Media Center (with IR remote) and even have it hooked up with a satellite TV card attached to my dish to watch normal TV, which I can pause, record etc. onto the hard drive. It automatically starts on Media Center when the pc starts.

Love my set up as I have a massive media library and it's so easy to control and get new stuff on.

Switch it off when I am not using it directly from Media Center.
 
You don't have Plex built into your LG smart tv? I would just attach your external drive to your router and add it as a mapped drive through the Plex interface.
 
I've been cordcutting for years. Here's my setup:

Hardware
  • 48" Samsung TV, a few years old. No needless "smart" features.
  • 24" LG TV
  • Server, detailed below
  • HDHomerun Prime - CableCARD based networked TV tuner
  • Roku 2 HD - small box for bedroom TV
  • Various laptops, tablets, and phones to consume video

Server:
  • Windows 8.1
  • AMD A10 (CPU/GPU)
  • 4GB RAM
  • 10TB HDD (2x 3TB, 2x 2TB using Windows 8 drive pooling)

Subscriptions:
  • ISP - $44.95/mo for 50Mbps unmetered, unthrottled connection.
  • ISP - $1.80/mo for CableCARD rental (bastards killed ClearQAM channels). Used for local broadcast channels - ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, CW
  • Netflix - $8/mo
  • Amazon Prime - $80/year
  • HockeyStreams.com - $99/year
  • Usenet - roughly $3/mo

Software:
  • XBMC
  • Plex Media Server
  • Sabnzbd - Usenet downloader
  • Sickbeard - TV download scheduler
  • CouchPotato - Movie download scheduler
  • NextPVR - Live TV and PVR backend software
  • Steam Big Picture - Gaming

XBMC Plugins:
  • Aeon Nox (skin)
  • PlexBMC (uses Plex Media Server as library, rather than XBMC's native library)
  • Amazon Prime Fix - to load Amazon Prime from XBMC
  • Advanced Launcher - to launch external programs like the Windows 8 Netflix app and Steam Big Picture
  • HockeyStreams - to load live and on-demand hockey streams (no blackouts, available leagues: NHL, AHL, Candain junior leagues, Olympics, World Champships. Also random UFC pay-per-view streams.)
  • NextPVR

Basically, I use Sickbeard and CouchPotato to automate downloading TV shows and movies I want to watch, which are downloaded via Usenet within minutes of them becoming available. Upon download completion, they are loaded into Plex and Plex is refreshed to make them available immediately to my living room TV (connected directly to my server, running XBMC) and to the Roku.

I can watch downloaded videos, Netflix, Amazon Prime, live TV, recorded TV or my beloved Flyers from any TV or device on my home network. I can also do light gaming via Steam Big Picture on my living room TV. Total monthly cost is about $30 above and beyond my Internet connection. I save over $130/mo from what I used to pay, although the purchase and ugprade of hardware pushed my break-even point to about 9 months.

I have over 5,000 TV episodes and over 400 movies downloaded, most in 1080p.
 
liams said:
Blah, blah blah...
Click to expand...

How does your AV aficionado wanker bragging help the OP in any way shape or form?

Jizzlobber said:
You don't have Plex built into your LG smart tv? I would just attach your external drive to your router and add it as a mapped drive through the Plex interface.
Click to expand...

The TV probably comes with a proprietary media player that won't necessarily play all formats like .mkv, for example, though can probably read files off the network. I doubt he can install Plex on it though.
 
Fatbat said:
How does your AV aficionado wanker bragging help the OP in any way shape or form?
Click to expand...
Shit, I did forget to get to the OP's question, didn't I?

For what you are looking for, your best bet is probably a Raspberry Pi hooked up to a USB hard drive via powered hub, running an XBMC fork called RaspBMC. That ought to be able to play any common codec up to 1080p without too much trouble. It'll cost you less than $100, plus the cost of the drive.

The Raspberry Pi probably isn't strong enough to run Sabnzbd, Sickbeard, and CouchPotato as well as XBMC at once, so you'll probably have to leave those running on your laptop then transfer to the Pi, or just do things manually. Or get a second Pi.
 
'miring your setup liams

i'm trying to get some system for my parent's house and it's a pain in the balls. i just want something taht's easy, i don't want to waste time. i bought a Ferguson Ariva box but the software is shit. i really want to run XBMC somehow.

does anyone know what's a good brand of pre-built HTPCs that's capable of running Windows and XBMC? I've no interest in asssembling my own though I might have to as I need a tuner card with both DVB-T and DVB-S for Irish terrestial channels and the BBC from Britain.
 
I just want something simple with what I have right now. Pretty sure I have all of the components necessary to have a nice media ecosystem at home just not sure on the best way to put it all together (have all puzzle pieces, don't know how the puzzle goes together type of deal).

My router accepts USB connections. But I have my pogoplug setup to be a cloud server at home. I guess that's kind of redundant. Sounds like the best thing to do would be to buy an actual server/computer of some sort and hook it up to the external hard drive and run XBMC from it. Problem with Plex is that it doesn't transcode properly through the xbox 360 which is on a different TV.
 
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