Ask HN: What is your home media player setup? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What is your home media player setup?

I download movies on to my external HDD and plug that into the TV to watch them.

The issue with this is the frequent plugging (and un-plugging) to copy movies, fix bugs (e.g. audio track not working), adding subtitles and so on.

I am looking at ways to hack this to make it simpler. I have a Chromecast and PS3.

Is there any way I can use these to make this process simpler?

Thanks!

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I lived without Plex for a very long time, but could not find a good media player now that the WDTV is no longer in production. Plex is ubiquitous. Smart TVs have a Plex app, nearly every media player has the ability to load a Plex app.

And my five year olds can use it. And I can prevent them from watching anything I haven't allowed them to watch. I kind of wish I hadn't resisted for so long, but now I'm on board.

My Plex server runs Ubuntu, which connects via NFS to a Synology that stores the data on a mirrored array. Since it is connected via network files are placed on the server over the network using rsync over ssh or just scp depending on the source.

There's a PS3 media server Java app you can serve out content from a PC etc. Not a full media center but can be handy.

https://github.com/ps3mediaserver/ps3mediaserver

Raspberry pi with Retropie. Connected it to a large external HDD, set up samba and installed KODI. Input with a Logitech f710 gamepad and a Logitech k400 keyboard.

Problems: - I couldn't find a way to control kodi with the gamepad. - I can't restart the Raspberry Pi in KODI. It just hangs the system. (And it's only way to go back to "gaming mode")

I have a PC that I sometimes turn on that acts as a Plex server. I download my movie, it gets automatically added to the Plex library and my Sony Android TV set has a Plex client installed.

My Sony tv also runs Kodi that has some interesting plugins for watching movies.

Apple TV and Amazon Fire stick. Subscribe to Hulu for recent shows, and a bunch of sports (NFL, MLS, WNBA) season streaming packages. Buy/rent whatever else I want to watch from iTunes or Amazon.

Take a look at the Videostream app for Chromecast.

Thanks! This looks very promising and it works without streaming over the Internet (from what I could gather on first pass).

Will try this and post a quick review here.

I use Twonky for media streaming movies / music over the local network. It supports DLNA/UPnP so should work with most players. I use either a blu-ray player or Xbox One to play movies streamed from Twonky but the Xbox One sometimes refuses to connect for unknown reasons.

Aside from that I have a Chromecast for playing anything else that I don't have stored locally.

Desktop PC, TV, wireless keyboard/mouse and a fifteen meter HDMI cable.

Android phone, Kodi (Exodus) and a Chromecast.

You may want to look at running a Plex server.

i have a ps4

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