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For the past few weeks (since Deej) moved in, I have desperately been trying to get his PlayStation3 access to the large collection of video files on my NAS.
The PS3 2.10 update added proper DivX/XviD support so it could play the files but couldnt see the damn things. Copying them onto DVD proved it was capable of playing them but how to play them from the network was the problem?????
The answer is a streaming media server that supported UPnP (Universal Plug And Play) and also DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance). However, finding one that did everything needed for the PS3 was another challenge altogether.
So after weeks of downloading, compiling, adding dependencies, etc for about 10 different open source UPnP servers, I now have a working solution. And it works a treat. And I stopped the PS3 saying "Unsupported data" for every file apart from .mpg files.
Firstly, on your linux box, obtain, compile and install MediaTomb. Once installed, run it, stop it and then edit the ~/.mediatomb/config.xml file.
On the line above </server> add the line:
<protocolInfo extend="yes"/>
Then above the line </extension-mimetype> add the lines:
<map from="avi" to="video/x-divx"/>
<map from="divx" to="video/x-divx"/>
<map from="vob" to="video/x-mpeg"/>
This makes the server tell the PS3 that certain files are mime types that it understands (not a problem I have with XBMC in my room). I only have avi/divx and vob so thats the ones I needed - other formats are supported but you will need to fiddle around to get that working if required.
Start MediaTomb again (I use the command mediatomb -d -l /var/log/mediatomb to run as a daemon and give me a log file) and then add your files to the container/database and enjoy your video files streamed to your PS3.
NOTE: Adding the files after and not before changing the config.xml file is important as it classifies the files during the scan, not retrospectively
I have also set the directories to be re-scanned every 24hours for updates, so I can just leave it running and not bother with it.
So I now have an Xbox with XBMC in my room, another in Chans room and a PS3, all streaming videos off of my network. All I need is a solution for the lounge (that is quiet enough - possibly an XBMC solution with the fans turned down) and I'll be all sorted.
The next big test is to have all 3 boxes streaming/playing at the same time (different video file to prevent cacheing from helping out too much) plus my laptop, to see if my network and NAS can handle it. Then I know a machine in the lounge would be a viable reality...
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