Plex App streaming with Apple TV

Forum History DroboApps
1

Does anyone know how to setup an Apple TV to stream from the 5N using the plex app? Is this possible? Seems to be possible using the MAC plex app, but trying to see if I can do the same using the 5N.

Thanks in advance,

2

Plex server is Plex server, it doesn’t matter what hardware it’s running on, as long as your playback device has a Plex compatible function (or even just DLNA) it will be able to connect. The main issue is the need for transcoding of your media. If your playback device is unable to direct-play your media then the server will need to transcode it before streaming it to your player. This is a very CPU-intensive function and the 5N doesn’t have the raw horsepower to do it effectively. I’m not familiar with the Apple TV’s stream requirements so I can’t offer suggestions on that front, but if you do a Google search for something like “plex direct play apple tv” you should find the information you need.

3

The best way to use stream videos served by Plex Media Server on your AppleTV is using PlexConnect.

https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/forum/136-appletv-plexconnect/

It basically hijacks the trailers app to open a plex client (PlexConnect) running on another computer or even the Drobo5N itself if you install Python on it (I had it running this way). But I would mention that trancoding is CPU intensive and the Drobo5N won’t be able to do it if you run the Plex Media Server on it. You can get around that by converting your videos to mp4 and it will play directly on the AppleTV. This is a third party client and not by the Plex team though.

4

What about running the Plex Media Server application on a mac mini server in conjuction with the 5N? Could I run the app from a mac mini server and source the location to the shares on the 5N? Would that work?

5

Hi Isaacrdz
Could you document how you got your Drobo 5n to act as a PlexConnect server? The Plexconnect guys documented how to do it on Mac or Windows Plex servers, but I’d like to know how to do it on my new Drobo 5n.

I’ve got PlexConnect working successfully on my mac mini using the Drobo as a fileshare. But I’m new to the Drobo world. Is there an accessible command line where I can generate the certs and run the python scripts?

Thanks in advance,
Laotzu