spammy

I only stream, so it's not that. I DO have 8GB ram, so maybe it pessimistically fills up as much as possible? Oh well, I'm too old to think about this stuff now, so if the results work then I'm all good. Thanks for the tips anyway

Hmm, I assumed this was just how Plex worked and it would use as much resources as it could. What CPU do you hit on your current set up? I guess I should test this. I'm pretty sure I have a few 1080ps that transcode okay - perhaps they're the low bitrate stuff you allude to though. Will check.

I humbly disagree with this. The CPU will max out, but my N40L transcodes at 3-4x - the poor bugger managed to serve three streams over the web anyway (although I think that they were 720p). But yes, use direct play when you can!

Have you tried manually installing the SPK from the Plex website?

>i would like to run my OS from the internal SSD instead of the USB drive Sorry I can't help in what you're asking, but it's worth pointing out that you only boot from USB - the OS is actually on your storage disks (distributed redundantly if you have more than one). You might be embarking on a world of pain for very little value.

I use Pulseway AKA Mobile Pc Monitor - you'll need debian chroot to install it, but once you do it's pretty compelling, esp if you use it for other servers too.

I genuinely believe worrying about wear and tear to be more trouble than it's worth. Have a good redundant solution and replace things as they wear out. I guess electricity might be a concern too, but when you sit and work out the actual cost I don't think it's too hard to swallow.

I think this depends on whether you want the most stable scene set up vs the latest DSM from Synology. My take (which comes with no warranty): 1) Trantor - Xpenology, so custom and based on a relatively older version of Synology, but rock solid and well supported. 2) Gnoboot - enables installing of an original unmodified DSM5, but not quite the latest. 3) nanoboot - allows installing of the latest DSM5, but via a method some might find not entirely pure. If you don't need bells and whistles and you're only within a LAN, then Trantor may suit. If you are exposed on the internet and need DSM 5 and don't mind the live patching that nanoboot implements then nanoboot might be the best bet.

No problems here - did you install the package from Synology or manual download from Plex website? The latter is the recommended way I think.

For completion, its worth knowing that you won't hibernate if you have specific apps running - including Plex.

>One of the awesome features of Plex is it's ability to transcode on the fly (if you have the hardware power to do it), this is what separates it from DLNA (and XBMC) In DNLA's defense, DNLA should be able to do this too. When it works. I guess having the client and servers from the same place helps with the config/compatibility issues people often see with DNLA. But yes, zero config, sharing, centralised users, prograss saving/continuation across devices. It's impressive stuff. Those in the UK can even build a Plex client for £10 with a NowTV box.

BTW the PLEX server also can do DNLA, so you won't need an extra server for that.

48h sounds excessive. Something probably went wrong. But again, if a solution works for you then there's no need to change.

Well if it helps I didn't really understand the benefits of Plex over DNLA till I trashed the latter either. It would probably take you 30 mins to try if you were genuniely curious in understanding what the fuss was about. But yes, there's no reason for you to be impressed by it if DNLA works.

Because of the rich native client support and availability - including smart TVs. DLNA may be just as available, but the UX in Plex is pretty impressive.

>What "Apps" should I install to serve the XBMC? I think you're asking the wrong question. XBMC is a client that (typically) runs over file shares. Syno doesn't need an app to share files and folders. Plex is a client/server solution that provides almost zero config (so no folders need to be shared) and transcoding. But it has nothing to do with XBMC and you cannot (normally) use XBMC to access it. Plex Server is available in Syno's package manager, but it is reccommended you install the SPK from the plex website instead. The are native Plex client apps for most platforms - what do your clients look like? And to further complicate the issue there is a Plex plugin for XBMC that allows it to use a Plex server - but in most cases this won't bring anything more than installing Plex natively.

Maybe not much help, but I'd wait for SynoCommunity to come back. I'd also use the Custom versions of sick and cp and git pull the repos. Finally, make sure all the config files are writeable.

*waiting patiently for the HP Microserver guide* EDIT: so what's the difference between the modified and unmodified PAT file? EDIT2: when we moved from trantor -> gnoboot, we used "install" from syno assistant instead of the website. Does the website method retain user data?

Thanks for the positive confirm - but when you mention "issues with DSM5" do you mean you don't like DSM5 personally or is there something broken (by the upgrade etc). Did the Gnoboot -> nanoboot upgrade preserve your shares?

Great news! I read the thread but it's unlcear whether there is an upgrade path from Gnoboot -> nanoboot. Has anyone done this?

What Schnapps says should work... But as your current disk is so small I'd prefer to (in order of what I'd do): 1) Start again with the WDs and use a host computer to transfer the 250GB to the new SHR volume over the network. 2) Start again with the WDs and use a spare bay in the N54L to transfer the 250GB to the new SHR volume locally. 3) Add 2-3 WDs to the existing setup, create a brand new SHR volume and copy over the 250GB locally. Then dump the 250GB and expand the new volume with the new WDs. Assuming that you want to run SHR over the 4 WDs of course.

The way I solve this and similar issues is to use VPN. No ports to forward (expect for the VPN server), no major worries about vulns, can access other devices and services for free. Takes an effort to set up but worth it imo.

Sorry I'm a little confused - has anyone actually managed to install this? If so, how?

AFAIK that's working fine - at this stage you use Synology Assistant to actually install DSM.

>Of course DATA cannot be preserved if your HDDs are not initialized with DSM from the very beginning, if that is what you concern. Do you mean if I'm not coming from a previous version of DSM? I'm using Trantors 4.3 beta, so I'm assuming the upgrade path is there.