OK, KODI sucks really really bad

D

Deadjasper

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 28, 2001
Messages
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What's a good HTPC program? Don't need a lot of bells and whistles, just a basic easy to use program that will manage my media collection and retrieve info from the web.

TIA
 
Does it need to run on many device, Plex if you do not want many bells and whistles work well and can run on phone os, smarttvos, xbox, etc... with nice free app on their store out of the box without having to do anything. It can track what you watched by users, some subtitle stuff and other basic things.

Hum I am not sure if I ever ran a plex server without all the Radarr-Sonnarr that was retrieving the info from the web of the content too.
 
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Plex uses imdb, listings etc as long as you follow their file naming conventions
 
Thanks. It only needs to run on a couple of PC's. Linux preferred but I can use Windows if I must. I've been researching Linux HTPC software and nothing looks promising. Seems like streaming has or is in the process of killing the HTPC. This is a shame, KODI was never any good. I spent an hour looking thru KODI trying to determine which server it was connected to so I wouldn't redo it all. I moved the PC and it could not, for some reason, find the server but it would not tell me what the sever was and I could not find it. No changes were made and the server was definitely out there. I redid the connection without running into any problems so I have no idea why Kodi lost it. Anyway, that's just one issue, I could go on and on but I digress.
 
Yea, I'm gonna give Plex a try. I've been avoiding it due to it's need for an Internet connection.
 
Plex, jellyfin, emby. I use jellyfin cuz I like FREE, and no internet neded once you have it downloaded and your library info downloaded. It's been great when internet goes down to watch stuff on local. You can get the app on fire tv and all sorts too
 
rhkcommander959 said:
Plex, jellyfin, emby. I use jellyfin cuz I like FREE, and no internet neded once you have it downloaded and your library info downloaded. It's been great when internet goes down to watch stuff on local. You can get the app on fire tv and all sorts too
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Interesting. Thanks!
 
Deadjasper said:
Yea, I'm gonna give Plex a try. I've been avoiding it due to it's need for an Internet connection.
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Internet connection is for when it need the internet (say you do not access to the server locally), but on the same network it can work without it.

You need to tell in advance a list of IPs that can connect without a authorization:
https://www.howtogeek.com/303282/how-to-use-plex-media-server-without-internet-access/

You can set a mask to say all of your local ip address are allowed, if you are in a place that has electricity but on Internet from time to time.

Plex is also free if you do not need-want gpu decoding and some more advanced users account options
 
I use plex, more user friendly than Kodi and way, way easier to share media with friends. Also, i can easily watch stuff on Plex on pretty much anything with a screen (aside from the Switch) without having to think about it too much. Just sign in and everything is available.

I can also verify that you can set plex to work offline on the same network.

Also PlexAmp is probably the best music program out there if you have a large collection of MP3s.
 
I use KODI on a RPi4 in the car for the kids when on long car rides. Works great.

The house system is Plex on Ubuntu. I don't have it open to the world. Only way to access my Plex from the outside is via VPN.
 
Plex. It runs on a Docker container, FreeBSD, Linux, Windows, most prebuilt NAS, etc... Try it out for free to see if you like it, which gives you LAN only access.

If you end up liking it and don't want to pay anything, you can do a VPN back to your home network and watch it from anywhere. If you want "native" remote access buy the Lifetime Plex Pass, it's usually $120 but goes on sale sometimes. This gives you "easier" remote access that just requires a port forward. Also with the Plex Pass you can share your library with other people (assuming you have the upload bandwidth and horsepower necessary if transcoding).

The IMDB integration and being able to skip intros is awesome. Bonus points if you set it up with Sonarr and Radarr to automatically grab things, and super extra bonus points if you setup Ombi to integrate with those.
 
I, like many here, use Plex (on Linux). Prior to that XBMC (what Kodi used to be called). So, I've been a Plex (and lifetime Plex Pass) user for a long time. But like others, I will call out Jellyfin as one to look at as well, but mainly just what I've read and seen on that one. I've upgraded my Plex server 3 times (totally different hardware) and have never lost anything. Currently using an 8th gen i5 Optiplex SFF.
 
Deadjasper said:
What's a good HTPC program? Don't need a lot of bells and whistles, just a basic easy to use program that will manage my media collection and retrieve info from the web.

TIA
Click to expand...

Plex server and Kodi front end. best solution

Kodi can be a pain for scrapping media, but its excellent customizable player.
Plex does the dirty work in the background.
 
I use Plex now, but I do still have MediaPortal installed. I used version 1 mainly, and it was my go-to for a long time. Not sure how well it holds up today, but they do have a version 2 now.
 
I like Plex's manageability far more than Kodi, but its transcoding b.s. is leaving me looking elsewhere or at hybrid solutions.
 
harbingerofdoom said:
I like Plex's manageability far more than Kodi, but its transcoding b.s. is leaving me looking elsewhere or at hybrid solutions.
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Transcoding only if the player is not able to play the content, i.e. that only a plus no ?

If you have a modern player on the client side that is able the file format you will be in direct play

https://support.plex.tv/articles/200430303-streaming-overview/

Direct Play​

If an app tells the server that it has capabilities that exactly match the file you want to watch, the file can be sent to the app exactly as-is, so the work done by the server is almost zero.

Direct Stream​

If an app tells the Server that it is capable of handling the video and audio streams in the source file, but it can’t handle the file container (.mkv, .avi, etc), the server will copy the streams into a new compatible container and send that to the app. There’s a little more work required by the server, but not a lot.

Transcode​

If an app tells the server it can’t handle the video or audio in the stream at all, the server will convert the incompatible tracks to a compatible one and send that to the app
 
harbingerofdoom said:
I like Plex's manageability far more than Kodi, but its transcoding b.s. is leaving me looking elsewhere or at hybrid solutions.
Click to expand...
What clients and what codec are you using? 90% of my content is HEVC and I'm seeing direct plays from pretty much all clients (any TV e.g. LG/Samsung/Vizio built in Plex app, people "casting" to a TV, web browsers on desktops/laptops etc....)
 
Dopamin3 said:
What clients and what codec are you using? 90% of my content is HEVC and I'm seeing direct plays from pretty much all clients (any TV e.g. LG/Samsung/Vizio built in Plex app, people "casting" to a TV, web browsers on desktops/laptops etc....)
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Most of my stuff is now 4k hybrid Dolby Vision/HDR10 .265
Even compressed it's about 10gb an hour.
 
Depending on the streaming device, Plex's compatibility with Direct Play/Direct Stream can be hit and miss. For example, my CCwGTV device has issues with certain titles and formats, such as LOTR: Two Towers in Dolby Vision. When using Kodi, on the other hand, I've been able to get these titles working. Unfortunately, Kodi is otherwise pretty lackluster. Some people like it, though.
 
Dolby Vision is a pain in the ass, period. Layers, layers, layer, bah!

Honestly I think Dolby wants you to continue using physical media with as a pain in the ass as it is.
 
Kodi on Nvidia Shield is working absolutely fine. Have two of them pointing to a Linux file server that also runs MySQL for a central library database.
 
I use Plex because I paid for a lifetime license years ago. Then I use the Infuse app for no playback problems based on the content and my particular TV.
 
A few years ago I moved off of windows media center and had to figure something out. I am the odd one apparently as I went the emby route. I can't remember why...I think it was that it handled live tv better. It works for me. It also does transcoding and can use a gpu...I actually use a 1080ti.

In the last month I just finished getting the whole system moved from windows to truenas scale.

Jellyfin shares the same DNA as emby. They forked several years ago. Ultimately I didn't go Jellyfin because they didn't have an app for samsung tvs.
 
Dopamin3 said:
If you end up liking it and don't want to pay anything, you can do a VPN back to your home network and watch it from anywhere. If you want "native" remote access buy the Lifetime Plex Pass, it's usually $120 but goes on sale sometimes. This gives you "easier" remote access that just requires a port forward. Also with the Plex Pass you can share your library with other people (assuming you have the upload bandwidth and horsepower necessary if transcoding).

The IMDB integration and being able to skip intros is awesome. Bonus points if you set it up with Sonarr and Radarr to automatically grab things, and super extra bonus points if you setup Ombi to integrate with those.
Click to expand...
Just to mention that you can remote access into a Plex server and share your libraries perfectly fine without actually *needing* a Plex Pass - you do however miss out on hardware transcoding which may or may not be an issue depending on how strong your CPU is, the client's codec support and bandwidth availability, and how many clients you're trying to serve simultaneously. You also don't get fine-grained access permissions for said clients or the ability to autoskip intros, but for many people they're probably "nice-to-have" features rather than absolutely essential.
 
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