Plex Media Server on AC68U in debootstrapped debian

[m0thman]

Did somebody succeeded to run Plex on asuswrt? I was trying different arm packages available on plex.tv website. So the one for Synology NAS have started and I was able to even configure it through web interface and add couple of media folders to library, but as soon as I'm starting to browse media it crashes with segmentation fault. I have couple of .dmp files from plex. Can anybody help me to analyze them?

Of course I understand that transcoding will not work properly on my device. But may be direct playing will?

 

[tim]

IMO i think you are asking too much of the router hardware.

 

[m0thman]

If things like transmission, udproxy, dlna, etc… work, why Plex can not? It even starts, work for some time and uses less then 100MB of memory. And I don't need transcoding feature. I'm just trying to understan what is causing Segmentation Fault.

 

[sfx2000]

have you considered building from scratch rather than pull in a package from another platform? That way you're certain to get the right libraries and kernel modules.

Most of the ARM based NAS boxes are built on Marvell's implementation - and Marvell doesn't use off the shelf ARM cores, they're a lot like Qualcomm and Apple in that they're an architecture licensee, and they design their own cores (and they also have some old XScale stuff...).

So you might be running code that is not fully supported on the BRCM implementation...

In any event, as Tim above pointed out, you might be asking more than the router is really intended to deliver.

 

[m0thman]

That's sad. Anyway Plex is not open source, so it's not possible to compile it from source

 

[sfx2000]

The other option is target a platform that is broadcom based, like the RaspPi 2, which is very similar... I know Plex packages exist there...

 

[m0thman]

Package for raspberry pi compiled for armhf architecture and does not work. I've tried to create debootsrapped debian for armhf but it also not running on asuswrt.

Only Synology and QNAP packages are able to start (with chroot). I've tried all of them.
If I try to run any of them without chroot, they return

Plex Media Server: not found

That's weird. Seems like it can not find some loader (?). ldd returns the same result.

 

[Nullity]

Ouch.

Disregarding that this is a bad idea, I would use a less bloated, more minimal media daemon than Plex.

Do you have no other options for hardware? Intel NUCs are cheap.

 

[sfx2000]

Do you have no other options for hardware? Intel NUCs are cheap.

NUC's are one solution - also might consider the Compute Stick, or some of the small form factor PC's like the Minix Neo Z64w or PIPO X7 as these are Win81 w/Bing with enough RAM and CPU to actually support most codec and can transcode...

The Neo Z64w is a fun little box... step up about 20 bucks, and the Dell Ispiron 3050 is a compelling choice with USB3.0 support, GiGE, and a real SSD vs. eMMC - the HP Stream mini-PC is also interesting...

 

[ColinTaylor]

I wrote this guide for Buffalo NAS a couple of years ago. That used the Synology ARM package. You might be able to use it as a starting point. http://forum.buffalo.nas-central.org/viewtopic.php?t=26989

It looks like others have deleoped the idea more since then, i.e. http://www.tomatosoft.hu/gadgets/portfolio/buffalo-linkstation-plex/

In the end I got fed up trying to use low powered CPUs for media streaming. It was just too frustrating. I went out and bought a HP micro server for running Plex on Centos and life is so much easier! (Looking to replace that now with a NUC ).

 

[m0thman]

Currently I'm using default minidlna. But Plex looks sooooo nice. I was using Plex server on my mac before I bought this router. And router have everything I need to be happy: ovpn, time machine, transmission, dc++ client, dlna, php web server which converts my provider iptv playlist to use udproxy. Everything except of plex

The only thing I really like in Plex is metadata fetching for shows and movies. And I just don't want to have one more device on table only for metadata fetching And I don't need transcoding. I did not met any video file my tv can not play. Of course I can buy something like Pi or odroid device, but I feel like router may run plex. The only problem is lack of compatible build.

 

[kvic]

The other week a guy complained about minidlna and preached running Twonky on rasp pi. Like you I thought why not try to run the binary on Asus. I didn't want to buy a license just for proof of concept. So I downloaded the freely available version (which is very old and not good for daily use) from Twonky. It did manage to run. The trick is to pick a binary linked with uclibc instead of glibc.

So i'm kind of a believer in your game. The ARM cpu in recent Asus is way more powerful than people think, especially after overclock. At the moment one my of apps is running on-demand live video streaming on the router! Of course, I disable transcoding. So ffmpeg does trivial work and leaves plenty idle cycles for everything else.

For OP's issue, have you tried Asuswrt with Entware+QNAP ARM-X31 binary? I thought they could get along better..

 

[System Error Message]

The thing about ARM is that while a core may be designed differently it is still binary compatible. That means that code compiled for the ARMv7 arch will work on the stock ARMs, kraits and even marvel's implementation. The licensed bit is the instruction set making it binary compatible so you can run the plex media server on broadcom ARM but with poorer speeds.

 

[voipair]

Asuswrt with Entware+QNAP ARM-X31 binary

is this something magical that will allow me to install QNAP packages on my Asuswrt-Merlin 378.55 ?

 

[m0thman]

Yeah! Finally it works!
Netgear PMS for ARM5.x works fine for me in debootstraped debian jessy with /lib partially replaced by entware /lib!

For OP's issue, have you tried Asuswrt with Entware+QNAP ARM-X31 binary? I thought they could get along better..

QNAP ARM-X31 binary compiled with armv7hl architecture and just not working.

I was not able to test playback yet. For web interface it displays message "This server is not powerful enough to convert video." – and I don't understand why does it want to convert it. I hope it will not try to convert video for my TV app. Will try it in the evening.

 

[ColinTaylor]

I was not able to test playback yet. For web interface it displays message "This server is not powerful enough to convert video." – and I don't understand why does it want to convert it. I hope it will not try to convert video for my TV app. Will try it in the evening.

https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/ar...-not-powerful-enough-to-convert-video-message-

 

[kvic]

is this something magical that will allow me to install QNAP packages on my Asuswrt-Merlin 378.55 ?

No, it's not. Entware provides many packages commonly available on Linux. It's not a plug&play environment for QNAP packages.

But if you have to borrow a binary from QNAP which might be missing some dependencies in your ARM based Asus, Entware perhaps can provide some of them.

 

[m0thman]

Yeah! It works on my TV! Direct playing works with no problems

 

[TeHashX]

Yeah! Finally it works!
Netgear PMS for ARM5.x works fine for me in debootstraped debian jessy with /lib partially replaced by entware /lib!


QNAP ARM-X31 binary compiled with armv7hl architecture and just not working.

I was not able to test playback yet. For web interface it displays message "This server is not powerful enough to convert video." – and I don't understand why does it want to convert it. I hope it will not try to convert video for my TV app. Will try it in the evening.

I tried some time ago the same version but didn't succeed to play videos, I got plex web interface, no errors in log or terminal, library scanned but after pressing play, I get server not responding, maybe because was a slow usb drive, should try on hdd usb disk but I don't have arm router anymore, and I think is more a memory issue than cpu, needs at least 512 mb.

 

[System Error Message]

Once you install the plex server disable encoding and make sure to force only direct play. It should work so wont need to use much ram or CPU.