Streaming Films From Manjaro to Android TV Without Plex

[Unison]

Streaming Films From Manjaro to Android TV Without Plex​

I've recently set up my Manjaro Linux PC to stream films directly to my Android TV using MiniDLNA (ReadyMedia).

I originally thought I'd probably need something like Plex, but for simply watching films stored on the PC, MiniDLNA does the job nicely and keeps everything simple.

The films are stored on my Manjaro PC, and the Android TV can see the media server over the home network and browse and play them directly.

One useful command I've found is forcing MiniDLNA to completely rescan the media library. If I add a new film and it doesn't appear on the TV, I run:

sudo systemctl stop minidlna
sudo minidlnad -R
sudo systemctl start minidlna

After that, the newly added film appears on the Android TV.

So my setup is basically:

Manjaro PC → MiniDLNA/ReadyMedia → Android TV

No Plex account, no subscription and very little configuration once it's working.

For anyone running Linux with an Android/Google TV, it's definitely worth trying if all you want is a simple way of accessing your films across your home network.

Does anyone else still use DLNA for this, or have most people moved over to Plex or Jellyfin?

 

[CyborJaX]

I run a Emby Server for myself and my family odd friend' I bought a lifetime licence that many years back I cant remember when lol. But that was for more than just F and F no more to said about that lol.
The great thing about this that with the server running on network I love watching the films on my VR Goggles just like being at the Cinema and they just pick up the movies or whatever I have on there on the home network side No Emby needed for that. I don't have a android TV so I cant try that I am afraid

 

[Unison]

I run a Emby Server for myself and my family odd friend' I bought a lifetime licence that many years back I cant remember when lol. But that was for more than just F and F no more to said about that lol.
The great thing about this that with the server running on network I love watching the films on my VR Goggles just like being at the Cinema and they just pick up the movies or whatever I have on there on the home network side No Emby needed for that. I don't have a android TV so I cant try that I am afraid

That's pretty much why I was looking at it.

I've got an Android TV and I've just set up MiniDLNA on my Manjaro PC. The TV picks up the films from the PC over the home network and plays them directly, so for what I need it saves me installing something like Emby or Plex.

I can definitely see the attraction of Emby though, especially if you've already got the lifetime licence. Watching your own film collection through VR goggles sounds brilliant — your own private cinema.

 

[CyborJaX]

Out of curiosity as stated above I don't have a android TV so I thought try it out on the Samsung TV and hey Presto after connecting tv to Network I found all the files on my Emby server and can watch any of them without Emby just pick them up direct, so thank you Unison for tweaking the curiosity

 

[Unison]

Out of curiosity as stated above I don't have a android TV so I thought try it out on the Samsung TV and hey Presto after connecting tv to Network I found all the files on my Emby server and can watch any of them without Emby just pick them up direct, so thank you Unison for tweaking the curiosity

changed scan to this but glad its all working

sudo systemctl stop minidlna
sudo rm -f /var/cache/minidlna/files.db
sudo systemctl start minidlna

 

[Curious123]

I have had a Panasonic Viera TV which had the DLNA connection but that stopped working as the movie codecs became too complicated for the tv. I have now installed Kodi on my Amazon Firestick and use that to connect to my ReadyNAS 104 NAS with all my media.