Plex server on Pogoplug E02 and Debian?

I have seen that I can install Plex Server on a pogoplug running Arch (http://blog.qnology.com/2013/03/tutorial-pogoplug-e02-with-arch-linux.html) but can I also install it on Debian?

I prefer Debian very much and was only confused by Arch the last time I tried it out.

Any suggestions?

===========================
Blog: https://rmkrug.wordpress.com/

1 x Pogoplug E02 (pink): Logitech media server

1 x Pogoplug E02 (pink): FTP server only (throw away configuration - quick to rebuild)

1 x GoFlex Net: running OpenMediaVault

Plex works great on PogoPlug. Here is the file I compiled a while ago http://www.mediafire.com/file/zwy6gv23br823qr/plexmediaserver_0.9.12.8.1362-4601e39_armel.deb

I use it with https://github.com/Kayomani/PlexExternalPlayer in order to use external player instead of browser player.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2017 05:43PM by Almaz.

Almaz, I hope my experience at your uploadex.com page was a false positive, but some scary popups appeared, at first telling me I don't have Flash installed, and to call a telephone number for help, but I have a feeling if I had Flash installed it would have boa constrictor-ed my ThinClient to death.

=========
-= Cloud 9 =-

:) that's what you get from uploading files to a free site. Anywho the file I uploaded is safe but popups from uploadex is a nightmare. You should really start using adblocks + hosts file. I'm using my personal adblocking with dnsmasq and pixelserv so I get 0 popups and no ads.

Almaz,

Thanks for this file. I'm waiting to get my pogo to Jessie and then I will install it.

But can you say though how to install it, since it's not in repo?

Also, what are your experiences using Plex on this pogo? And what version of Debian are you using?

Thanks a lot, again for this file.

Well, Plex works fine on my PogoPlug for internal network, sometimes it might delay for a few seconds when you scroll fast. Plex will not convert videos but you can use your favorite external player such as MPC to play any video. If you want to use Plex web player then you must have all the video files in MP4 files and AAC audio. If you have MKV files with AAC audio then you can easily convert them with PogoPlug to MP4 container in 60 seconds. Just install it with dpkg -i plexfile.deb Don't remember right now about dependencies.

Almaz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, Plex works fine on my PogoPlug for internal
> network, sometimes it might delay for a few
> seconds when you scroll fast. Plex will not
> convert videos but you can use your favorite
> external player such as MPC to play any video. If
> you want to use Plex web player then you must have
> all the video files in MP4 files and AAC audio.
> If you have MKV files with AAC audio then you can
> easily convert them with PogoPlug to MP4 container
> in 60 seconds. Just install it with dpkg -i
> plexfile.deb Don't remember right now about
> dependencies.

Does this mean it does not transcode. My client does not work on all kinds of files and I want plex to convert as demand by the client. It does not sound like plex on pogo can do that. Or is it just this version that you have here that does not?

Pogoplug is not powerful to transcode. It works great with PC or Android devices

Hi Almaz, sorry to revive a year old thread, but I'm just going down the road of exploring Plex on the Pogo and was wondering if remote access would to media would be possible? On the client side I've got Kodi with the Plex plugin, so I should be able to play back any file format directly on the device. But I'm wondering if remote access is even possible on what I'm sure is an older version of Plex Media Server running on the Pogo. Thanks for any feedback.

It'll stream only supported files as long as there is no encoding is involved. I use it on a daily basis but at home using local LAN. I'd probably wouldn't use it for remote access. For remote access just use your main PC by using WOL.

Thanks for the quick reply. What is WOL?

WOL means Wake ON Lan
You can remotely turn on your PC from any device such as phone, router, pc and etc

Can anyone please upload plex again ? URL above isn't working.

Here you go http://www.mediafire.com/file/zwy6gv23br823qr/plexmediaserver_0.9.12.8.1362-4601e39_armel.deb

I didn't update to the latest version because this one is stable enough to what I do but I might update to the latest version if it has any improvements.




a Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Can anyone please upload plex again ? URL above is
> n't working.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2017 05:44PM by Almaz.

Directions to install Plex media server on PogoPlug

Download and install Plex package Plex package

dpkg -i plex*

I don't remember if I included start init script but just in case

nano /etc/init.d/plexmediaserver

#!/bin/sh
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          plexmediaserver
# Required-Start:    $remote_fs $syslog $networking
# Required-Stop:     
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
# Short-Description: Plex Media Server
# Description:       Plex Media Server for Linux,
#                    More information at http://www.plexapp.com
#                    Many thanks to the great PlexApp team for their wonderfull job !
# Author:            Cedric Quillevere / origin@killy.net
# Rewamped	     Christian Svedin / christian.svedin@gmail.com
# Version:           1.2
### END INIT INFO

# Read configuration variable file if it is present
[ -r /etc/default/plexmediaserver ] && . /etc/default/plexmediaserver

test -f "/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/start.sh" || exit 0

plex_running=`ps ax | grep "\./Plex Media Server" | awk '{ print $1 }' | wc -l`

case "$1" in
    start)
	if [ "$plex_running" -gt 1 ]; then
		echo "Plex already running..."
		exit 0
	fi
	echo -n "Starting Plex Media Server: "
	su -l $PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_USER -c "/usr/sbin/start_pms &" >/dev/null 2>&1
	sleep 1
	echo "done"
	;;
    stop)
	if [ "$plex_running" -eq 1 ]; then
		echo "Plex Media Server is not running (no process found)..."
		exit 0
	fi
	echo -n "Killing Plex Media Server: "
	# Trying to kill the Plex Media Server itself but also the Plug-ins
	ps ax | grep "Plex Media Server" | awk '{ print $1 }' | xargs kill -9 >/dev/null 2>&1
	ps ax | grep "Plex DLNA Server" | awk '{ print $1 }' | xargs kill -9 >/dev/null 2>&1
	ps ax | grep "Plex Plug-in" | awk '{ print $1 }' | xargs kill -9 >/dev/null 2>&1
	sleep 1
	echo "done"
	;;
    restart)
	sh $0 stop
	sh $0 start
	;;
    status)
        if [ "$plex_running" -gt 1 ]; then
                echo "Plex Media Server process running."
	else
		echo "It seems that Plex Media Server isn't running (no process found)."
        fi
	;;
    *)
	echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|status}"
	exit 1
	;;
esac

exit 0

then

chmod +x /etc/init.d/plexmediaserver
update-rc.d plexmediaserver defaults

Default configuration for Plex

nano /etc/default/plexmediaserver

# default script for Plex Media Server

# the number of plugins that can run at the same time
PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_MAX_PLUGIN_PROCS=2

# ulimit -s $PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_MAX_STACK_SIZE
PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_MAX_STACK_SIZE=3000

# where the mediaserver should store the transcodes
PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_TMPDIR=/tmp

# uncomment to set it to something else
# PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR="${HOME}/Library/Application\ Support"

# the user that PMS should run as, defaults to 'plex'
# note that if you change this you might need to move
# the Application Support directory to not lose your
# media library
PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_USER=root

Plex data takes a lot of space and if you are using a small storage such as USB stick, it's better to store data somewhere else

move Plex Media Server folder to a new destination

assuming you wish to move data to /mnt/usb/PlexData

ln -s '/mnt/usb/PlexData' '/root/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server'

or if it doesn't work

ln -s '/mnt/usb/PlexData' '/root/Library/Application Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/'

I use MPC-HC player to watch movies in Plex but if you wish to use internal Plex player then you can convert MKV container to MP4. It usually takes under 2 minutes per movie and it'll automatically scan your folder and convert them.

Put the above script in cron and install avconv, mkvinfo
Modify movie folder from /mnt/usb/movies to your movie folder location

#!/bin/bash
service cron stop
OIFS="$IFS"
IFS=$'\n'
for f in $(/usr/bin/find /mnt/usb/movies -type f -name '*.mkv'); do
AC3=`/usr/bin/mkvinfo "$f" | /bin/grep AC3` #check if it's AC3 audio
if [ -z "$AC3" ]; then
/usr/bin/avconv -i "$f" -codec copy "${f%.mkv}.mp4"
fi
if [ -f "${f%.mkv}.mp4" ];
then
/bin/rm "$f"
fi
done
service cron start
IFS="$OIFS"

service plexmediaserver start

Plex will be available on its default port 32400 which can be accessed at http://ip.address:32400/web

If you'd like to use an external player such as MPC-HC instead of internal plex player then you'd need to install on your client.
https://github.com/Kayomani/PlexExternalPlayer

If you wish to compile the latest version of Plex then here are the directions.
http://www.htpcguides.com/install-plex-media-server-on-raspberry-pi-2/



Edited 9 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/2017 06:09PM by Almaz.

Hi Almaz,

Our Wiki thread does not yet have a Plex tutorial/tips. Would you like to create a simple post for it? does not have to be elaborate, just some commands and download link.

Quote

Media Streaming

OpenMediaVault
Streaming music from Kirkwood plugs to IOS devices via WiFi
Create Your Own In-Home Radio Station Using a Pogoplug Mobile
Install Logitech Media Server on Debian wheezy
Install Logitech Media Server on Debian jessie
Install Logitech Media Server with nightly build (WIP)

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

I made a quick guide, not really detailed but it'll help someone in a long run
http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,25241,32725#msg-32725

Thanks Almaz! Added to the Wiki thread.

Quote

Media Streaming

OpenMediaVault
Streaming music from Kirkwood plugs to IOS devices via WiFi
Create Your Own In-Home Radio Station Using a Pogoplug Mobile
Install Logitech Media Server on Debian wheezy
Install Logitech Media Server on Debian jessie
Install Logitech Media Server with nightly build (WIP)
Plex media server on PogoPlug

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

Thank you Almaz! This is awesome. Just want to confirm that this is only feasible on the E-02 models with 256mb of RAM? Are you using swapdisc as well?

And Bodhi, any idea why New user registration broken on the forum?

Cdlenfert2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thank you Almaz! This is awesome. Just want to con
> firm that this is only feasible on the E-02 models
> with 256mb of RAM? Are you using swapdisc as well?
>
> And Bodhi, any idea why New user registration brok
> en on the forum?

It was but should work now, try again!

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

Cdlenfert2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thank you Almaz! This is awesome. Just want to con
> firm that this is only feasible on the E-02 models
> with 256mb of RAM? Are you using swapdisc as well?
>
> And Bodhi, any idea why New user registration brok
> en on the forum?

It can be used on any model and I suggest to use swap disk.

Thanks for the replies. I'v got my account set up and can follow topics now. Will post my results if I'm able to get Plex running.

I've managed to install and log into Plex running on the Pogoplug Pro thanks to Almaz's deb file and instructions. The problem for me is that it's not running for very long before it apparently crashes.

I know swap disk is recommended, but I'm honestly not sure how to set that up. I've only got my rootfs USB (4gb) attached to the pogo, and my understanding is that I should not set up swap on a flash drive. I'm just guessing that lack of ram is the issue I'm running into with Plex crashing. Any thoughts on if swap would help, and how to get swap in place would be much appreciated.

Currently I have a E-02 plug running a SMB share with my media attached, and want to use the Pro to connect to that SMB share and share it through Plex. So If I can keep Plex running, I'll eventually also need to figure out how to get the Pro to reliably mount the SMB share.

Thanks for any input.

cdlenfert,

> I know swap disk is recommended, but I'm honestly
> not sure how to set that up. I've only got my root
> fs USB (4gb) attached to the pogo, and my understa
> nding is that I should not set up swap on a flash
> drive.

> I'm just guessing that lack of ram is the i
> ssue I'm running into with Plex crashing. Any thou
> ghts on if swap would help, and how to get swap in
> place would be much appreciated.

Running something like plex, you should always have swap.

You could set up a swapfile and use zswap to reduce the disk access. And it is best to use a second USB flash drive for this swapfile. That way you protect your rootfs a little bit better. So basically:

1. Use 2nd USB flash drive, format it as EXT4
2. Create a swapfile on that 2nd drive.
3. Enable zswap in the kernel bootarg.

> I'll eventually
> also need to figure out how to get the Pro to reli
> ably mount the SMB share.

Add the mount command to /etc/fstab or /etc/rc.local, and specify the option that if it fails to mount then ignore the failure.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

Thanks Bodhi. So far (I thought) I managed to get a 512mb USB (it's old) formatted to EXT4 and created a 384mb swap file (called swampfile.img). After I formatted the USB and replugged it it auto mounted to /media/usb0

It took a very long time to build the swapfile.img file. Also when I do "fdisk -l" I get the following output:

Disk /dev/sdb: 521 MB, 521142272 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 63 cylinders, total 1017856 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1              63     1017827      508882+   b  W95 FAT32

So it looks like the drive is still being seen as (and probably is) FAT32 format.
I used the following command to format the usb:

mkfs.ext4 -L "IOMEGA512" /dev/sdb1

If it's indeed not the correct format, can you point me to a better method than this for getting the drive formatted at EXT4 - https://debiantalk.wordpress.com/2015/02/16/format-a-usb-flash-drive-in-debian-7/

Once I get there, I want to make sure I set up zswap properly. I was looking at an old thread and particularly your post on May 23, 2015 - http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,21784,22015 - for guidance. I'm on Kernel 3.18.5 so It seems like I should have zswap already available. Do I just need to set swappiness? Any recommendation on how to do that, and what value?

Thanks again!

cdlenfert,

It is the right command:

> mkfs.ext4 -L "IOMEGA512" /dev/sdb1

But this is not right, it should show Linux partition 83.

/dev/sdb1              63     1017827      508882+   b  W95 FAT32

> Once I get there, I want to make sure I set up zsw
> ap properly. I was looking at an old thread and pa
> rticularly your post on May 23, 2015 - http://foru
> m.doozan.com/read.php?2,21784,22015 - for guidance
> . I'm on Kernel 3.18.5 so It seems like I should h
> ave zswap already available.

> Do I just need to set
> swappiness? Any recommendation on how to do that,
> and what value?
>

Setup zswap by enabling it in bootargs or use uEnv.txt to set it.

zswap.enabled=1

cat /proc/cmdline

console=ttyS0,115200 root=LABEL=rootfs rootdelay=10 mtdparts=orion_nand:1M(u-boot),4M(uImage),32M(rootfs),-(data) zswap.enabled=1

You should see this in dmesg if it was activated:

[   10.046110] zswap: loaded using pool lzo/zbud

And then set swapiness to 10. Since you are using a flash drive, and not runing a desktop, we don't want to swap too often, but not forcing it not to swap. If 10 seems slow for plex, then set it back incrementally to 60 (which is the normal swapiness).

And use vmstat get swap statistics, and determine what number is best for running plex.

Example: every second for 5 minutes:

vmstat 5 300

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/2017 11:33PM by bodhi.

On the formatting to EXT4, here are my results.

root@DebianPlugPro:/# mkfs.ext4 -L "IOMEGA512" /dev/sdb1
mke2fs 1.42.5 (29-Jul-2012)
Filesystem label=IOMEGA512
OS type: Linux
Block size=1024 (log=0)
Fragment size=1024 (log=0)
Stride=0 blocks, Stripe width=0 blocks
127512 inodes, 508880 blocks
25444 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=1
Maximum filesystem blocks=67633152
63 block groups
8192 blocks per group, 8192 fragments per group
2024 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks: 
	8193, 24577, 40961, 57345, 73729, 204801, 221185, 401409

Allocating group tables: done                            
Writing inode tables: done                            
Creating journal (8192 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done 

root@DebianPlugPro:/# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/mtdblock0: 14 MB, 14680064 bytes
171 heads, 42 sectors/track, 3 cylinders, total 28672 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xaaaaaaaa

This doesn't look like a partition table
Probably you selected the wrong device.

          Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/mtdblock0p1   ?  2863311530  1431655763  1431655765   aa  Unknown
/dev/mtdblock0p2   ?  2863311530  1431655763  1431655765   aa  Unknown
/dev/mtdblock0p3   ?  2863311530       21843   715838805   aa  Unknown
/dev/mtdblock0p4   ?  2863311530  1426085203  1428870485   aa  Unknown

Disk /dev/mtdblock1: 119 MB, 119537664 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14 cylinders, total 233472 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/mtdblock1 doesn't contain a valid partition table

WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.


Disk /dev/sda: 3932 MB, 3932160000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 478 cylinders, total 7680000 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x66222bc1

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1              63     7679069     3839503+  83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 521 MB, 521142272 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 63 cylinders, total 1017856 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1              63     1017827      508882+   b  W95 FAT32
root@DebianPlugPro:/# 

I think I got it. Had to do some fdisk stuff and eventually it showed up properly

Disk /dev/sdb: 521 MB, 521142272 bytes
92 heads, 28 sectors/track, 395 cylinders, total 1017856 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xc74fc307

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1            2048     1017855      507904   83  Linux

added the uEnv.txt file to my root. with contents zswap.enabled=1

however cat /proc/cmdline shows only:

console=ttyS0,115200 root=/dev/sda1 rootdelay=10

Also noticed this in dmesg, where I made an initial swap before realizing size was in bytes. I deleted the smaller swap file, but it still shows here in the dmesg output.

[5828804.972889] Adding 368k swap on /media/usb0/swapfile.img.  Priority:-1 extents:3 across:876k 
[5831057.495173] Adding 383940k swap on /media/usb0/swapfile.img.  Priority:-1 extents:13 across:432876k

If I search the output for "swap" thought the next instance it finds doesn't show the smaller swap file.

And finally, I can see where Plex is crashing

[5570413.454773] 0 pages swap cached
[5570413.458071] [ pid ]   uid  tgid total_vm      rss nr_ptes swapents oom_score_adj name
[5570413.467468] [  273]     0   273      688       82       5        0         -1000 udevd
[5570413.475665] [ 1544]     0  1544     1231      428       5        0             0 dhclient
[5570413.484067] [ 1589]     0  1589     1489       98       6        0             0 wpa_supplicant
[5570413.493573] [ 1638]     0  1638     1231      431       6        0             0 dhclient
[5570413.501964] [ 1737]     0  1737      591       53       5        0             0 rpcbind
[5570413.510192] [ 1769]   105  1769      671      101       5        0             0 rpc.statd
[5570413.519270] [ 1781]     0  1781      738       52       5        0             0 rpc.idmapd
[5570413.527874] [ 1946]     0  1946      581       35       4        0             0 klogd
[5570413.536135] [ 1947]     0  1947      613       48       5        0             0 syslogd
[5570413.544578] [ 1976]   102  1976      806       57       5        0             0 dbus-daemon
[5570413.553246] [ 2098]   103  2098      921      140       5        0             0 avahi-daemon
[5570413.563182] [ 2101]   103  2101      855       54       5        0             0 avahi-daemon
[5570413.571947] [ 2125]     0  2125     1567      105       6        0         -1000 sshd
[5570413.579960] [ 2188]     0  2188      519       30       5        0             0 getty
[5570413.588088] [ 4953]     0  4953    12654      411      14        0             0 shairport-sync
[5570413.597089] [14669]     0 14669      687       83       5        0         -1000 udevd
[5570413.605232] [ 2424]     0  2424      440       16       4        0             0 start_pms
[5570413.613795] [ 2427]     0  2427    94012     7167      94        0             0 Plex Media Serv
[5570413.622778] [ 2474]     0  2474    47707     1881      48        0             0 Plex DLNA Serve
[5570413.632153] [ 3571]     0  3571    49572     5181      43        0             0 python
[5570413.640353] [ 3701]     0  3701    29908     4136      28        0             0 python
[5570413.648660] [ 3725]     0  3725    24779     3144      24        0             0 python
[5570413.657144] [ 3745]     0  3745     5562     2362      14        0             0 python
[5570413.665374] Out of memory: Kill process 2427 (Plex Media Serv) score 233 or sacrifice child
[5570413.673953] Killed process 3571 (python) total-vm:198288kB, anon-rss:20724kB, file-rss:0kB

cdlenfert,

> added the uEnv.txt file to my root. with contents
> zswap.enabled=1
>
> however cat /proc/cmdline shows only:
>

> console=ttyS0,115200 root=/dev/sda1 rootdelay=10
>

>

Ah. Sorry I was not clear in in my post. That was what the bootargs need.

In the uEnv.txt you need to set custom_params to set it in the bootargs (if you are running my released u-boot-2016.05):

custom_params=zswap.enabled=1

-bodhi
===========================
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