PlayStation Tips #4 – DLNA media server

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Some of you may have heard the term “DLNA” on this blog or elsewhere, and the term has been discussed recently with the 2.10 firmware update that added DivX video support. For those who aren’t familiar or want a refresher, DLNA stands for Digital Living Network Alliance – it’s basically a group of companies developing technology to make it easier to share videos, music, and photos between devices. PS3 is DLNA-compliant, so the system can “talk” to your PC and access media files on your PC’s hard drive. There are multiple ways to setup DLNA on your PC, and Eric Lempel covered one of them here. Another great option is TVersity.

What’s cool about PS3’s DLNA feature is that it’s not limited to your living room. Combine the feature with Remote Play, and you can play back media files using your PSP wherever there’s a Wi-Fi hotspot. If you’re traveling for the holidays and you’re stuck at the airport, DLNA and Remote Play won’t make your delay any shorter, but it can certainly make the time go by faster.

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94 Comments

  • @PushinNshovinMe

    From the AMS site:

    When I get my PS3, I’ll have to give it a shot… but its only a timed demo…. :(

    “Does AMS work with the Sony PS3?

    Not currently. The Sony PS3 requires a DLNA 1.0 compliant media server and does not work with UPnP Media Servers that are not DLNA 1.0 compliant. A future version of AMS will add this capability.”

  • i figure this out yesterday is freaking awesome :) i always needed something like this.

    my only problem is that i spent 5-8 hours figuring it out “not knowing if i could do it” can’t u guys make tutorials accessible on the xmb??

  • How about getting the PS3 to recognize a Mac Formatted Ipod… that would be great… hopefully this isn’t falling on Deaf Ears

  • I thought I might mention this again as it seemed like an appropriate place to post this

    I like many use the Tversity program to stream our Music, Photo’s & Video’s from our PC’s to our PS3’s. The Problem is that since FW 2.00 the PS3 has been misreading the time on the Files therefor cutting them off prematurely. For Example I have this 1 min video I like to watch and it stops prematurely at 13 secs. Too make sure weather it was the program or PS3 I decided to copy the files to the PS3 and it still stopped at 13 secs. So it has something to do with the PS3. It is really annoying to be streaming a TV show and it stop in the middle of the show because the PS3 thinks it is only 12 min long when it is 29 mins long. PLEASE FIX THIS!!!

    I really love this feature on the PS3 but it is no longer functioning properly. I hope you can fix this in the next update.

    Thank You Sony & Keep up the Good Work!!!

  • Sony really needs to advertise this function. It might help attract attention to the PS3 as a media machine, drawing in those who only think it’s for games. They don’t even cover this function on the PS3 preview thingy on the PS3 page on the website.

    And Sony should come out with it’s own media server progran. TVersity is really complicated to set up intially. And sony can keep up with their own firmware updates faster than TVersity can, seeing as how TVersity would have to basically backwards engineer the the PS3 OS.

  • Yeah, I really wanted to get something this thursday on the PS Store, but we’ll have to wait another week.

    However, I can´t make the goddamn TVersity to be recognized by my PS3, how can I get all this to work, the Windows Media worked fine, but there are some files it never finds, like my PSN downloaded vids…

  • Features that Sony should implement ASAP on next firmware updates:

    – Samba support (so that it’s possible to access and use shared folders from PCs)

    – OpenDML AVI Container support for files >2GB in size

    – H.264 Codec support in .AVI Container

    – .MKV Container support

    – H.264 Codec support in .MKV Container

    – External Subtitles support for .AVI files

    – Subtitles support in .MKV container

    – .M2TS Container support

    – .TS Container support

    – H.264 Codec support in .M2TS Container

    – VC-1 Codec support in .M2TS Container

    – H.264 Codec support in .TS Container

    – VC-1 Codec support in .TS Container

    – FLAC Lossless Audio Codec support

    – APE Lossless Audio Codec support

    – WAVPack Lossless Audio Codec support

    – OGGVorbis Lossy Audio Codec support

    – AC3 5.1 Audio Codec support in MPEG PS/TS/M2TS containers (many HDTV short movies demos like those from Pioneer,Sony,Hitachi,Panasonic found on the ‘net just play without audio)

    – AAC Audio Codec support in MPEG PS/TS/M2TS containers (many HDTV short movies demos like those from Pioneer,Sony,Hitachi,Panasonic found on the ‘net just play without audio)

  • you have to turn off WMP media sharing, and make sure the connection between the PS3 and the PC is the first on the list. Read the setup guide on the TVersity website very carefully, and follow it to the letter.

  • TwonkyMedia is what works best for me. The most customisable, and lowest memory footprint. It always works flawlesly, and comes in Linux, Windows, Mac and NAS flavours.

    http://www.twonkymedia.com

    My Vaio laptop came with a media server. If Sony REALLY wanted to, they could release this, but I don’t think there is really a need, and people currently have many options.

    WMP11
    Twonkymedia
    TVersity
    MediaTomb
    Fuppes

    and so on…

  • Any of you guys heard any info about the Dual Shock 3 controllers? I’ve been waiting awhile to grab a new controller. I’m hopping to see the new Controllers in January.

  • I use TwonkyMedia for my Mac and PS3. You have to pay a little, but it works perfectly.

    It would just be awesome if the Twonky Media server supported DivX. Now I’ve gone and bought a 500GB external hardrive for DivX videos and Rips of my own DVDs for my PS3.

  • What would be even ‘cooler’ is if after every firmware update you don’t break network streaming from external DLNA NAS drives.

    Firmware 2.0 needed v2.01 to correct problems it introduced and now v2.10 has caused problems with playing wmv files, i.e. some play, some stop after a few seconds.

  • I think its great that you can watch PC media files on your Ps3. i also like that you can also copy them if you want to keep them even when you PC is turned off. Only thing i didn’t like was that the PS3 only looks in MY Documents. All my music was on a second hard drive and i had to move it to MY Documents which took 2 hours. I don’t know if you can change that but if you can please tell me.

  • Oh i almost forgot.
    I don’t get why if you go under music and select your PC it will show you Music photos and videos. I already went under music in my XMb so it should show only Music files on my PC not everything else. Plus if you select music and go to the PC media server you cannot select videos since your under music, its really anoying.

  • @50, they should make the home page of PS3 browser into an extended picture guide. The current flash-based promo is annoying and plain useless (not effective at selling PS3 anyway).

  • @terminatorDOTru

    In WMP11 go to library tab, then click “add to library”

    it will ask you what folder you want to watch for media files, and you can specify which ones you want it to access!

    My Documents is watched by default.

  • Very cool feature,definitely

  • @ 50 myself and others have suggested they make each and every one of these tutorials into Videocast and put them on the site and on PSN. I think that would be the best way moving forward.

  • with what WildCoder said if you have osx you can easily install mediatomb via fink (h–p://www.applesource.com.au/how-to/how-to-stream-media-to-a-ps3-from-a-mac/210/)
    it free (of course) and a supports divx with in the configuration file

  • First off, I would like to say I have never owned an MS X-Box game console of any type, nor do I plan on buying one. Ever. But all these supposedly ” New Features ” the PS3 and PSP are completely useless to me, simply because I CANNOT GET MY PS3 TO FUNCTION CORRECTLY. Since purchase, my PS3 has been full of Error Codes, timed out internet advisory’s, unexplainable playstation network disconnections, and anything to do with remote start/play- forgetaboutit. I have called Sony, adjusted settings/ports on my PS3 and home network, but none of that made any difference in system performance. Did Sony sell me a lemon? Is there anyone else experiencing these issue’s as well ?? As I read most playstation blog comments during firmware updates, most of these knuckleheads yap about ” In Game XMB “, as for me, I just want my 1000.00 investment with Sony to work as advertised..

  • @frito

    Thanks man really needed that.

  • @67, thanks. I will try that too. Twonky for Mac is not that great.

    @68, go back to the store and change your PS3 unit

  • Love DLNA, and the added Divix, now we just need some support for vorbis (OGG) and I’m a happy camper.

  • I’m not sure where exactly I’d report this,but if I have Media Server enabled I will constantly be disconnected from the Playstation Network.Also when I try to use Media Server,after a little bit of use or even just scrolling through pictures it will freeze my PS3.I’ve opened all the ports I needed to & even did DMZ and none of that works unless I leave off Media Server.Only problem is I like streaming my PC content to my PS3 :( Where do I go to report these issues so it may be fixed?

  • im having some problems creating a ps3 network account when it comes to the place to enter ur street address…it keeps saying invalid address. help!

  • QUESTION:

    1.This DLNA with windows media player, is it the same thing is Tversity??…I mean, do they basically perform the same function??

    2. I managed to synchronize my windows media player with my ps3, I can view my videos on my ps3. However, before the video ends, it tells me that there was an http or somethin along those lines.
    What gives.

    3. I managed to dowload the Tversity, and I have the icon on my XMB.
    I cant seem to get it running though; is there a link I can go to for a preview/tutorial??

    4. Does having the windows media player and the Tversity on my ps3 effect anything??

    Thanks for your assistance in advance.

    You may post right here or email me @ loch4life@yahoo.com

    Thanks.

  • sry- for question 2, the error msg says there is an http error.

  • Love DLNA with my PS3! I’m using TVersity mostly and its working great – although I’d like it to organize my files more. I’ve just installed Mezzmo as a new media server on my PC and its impressive so far.

    Oh, I agree – it would be great when they update the firmware to support OGG vorbis. Please…

  • Hi i need some help!
    i turn on the ps3 and enable this feature but when it check the “share my media” in window media player than click ok, nothing happen all
    please help

  • how about just letting us browse folders shared from our computers? that would be much better t han this ‘dlna’ bollocks.

  • ever tried TwonkyVision…?

    it works with all platforms, Windows or Mac.

    for all my Mac peeps… i was going to sell my old G4 but when i found out about this whole DNLA thing, I started doing some research… and yes this TwonkyVision DNLA things works great with my Mac and PS3.

    I don’t think i am going to be selling my Mac anytime soon now that my old G4 as a new purpose.

    check it out, TwonkyVision is easy to set up and use, there is a free 30Day trial version u can use but after that if you wish to continue… you can own it for about 30 or 40 $$bucks

    i bought it and i am loving it, ia m gonna go out and add another hard drive so that i can add more movies and music… check it out, do a search for TwonkyVision.

  • this is great… but how long is external subtitle support via at least .sub and .idx files going to be ignored for?

  • Hi,

    I want to use my PS3 as a media HUB. But not having a DNLA server for the PS3 makes this impossible.

    Please can we have a DNLA server for the PS3?

  • Gentoo user
    2 new ebuilds in Gentoo Sunrise to install ushare with dlna support and use it with your PS3
    Doc for french user :
    http://geeklog-devlinuxgame.blogspot.com/2007/12/dlna-sous-gentoo-linux-playstation-3.html

  • Divx support is great, but what about FLAC? I need FLAC so I can play back my music collection with the highest possible quality. I know several DLNA servers claim to transcode, but I’ve tried all the ones I know of and they all have prolbems which make them unusable.

  • I don’t know if anyone can answer this question. But I’ve got the DLNA up and running w/ Media Player. I can see my music and I can play most of it (I think some of my files have DRM on them) but I have to choose each song individually. I can’t just pick a folder (artist, album, etc.) and aks it to play the entire thing. Am I missing something? Or is this by design? If it’s by design then that is the first thing Sony needs to look into for the next update. Please. I don’t want to pick every song or have to be contantly copying and deleting file to and from my PS3. Thanks.

  • What would really be useful is if the PS3 would remember the IP address of the Media Servers it found and send Wake-On-LAN packets if it can’t communicate with one.

    That way, I can have my PC running TVersity go into sleep mode when nothing is being used, but wake up when I want to stream video/music to my PS3 later in the day.

    It sucks that in order to have media serving, I have to keep the PC running full power 24/7. With Wake-On-LAN, I’d save a lot of energy – come on, Sony, think green!

  • I am having some problem with the Media Player running on the Vista business latop. I am able to connect to the Laptop from PS3 with the 2.1 update and play Pistures, Vidoes and Music, however, in about 5 mins PS gives a message “PS3 has been disconnected from the Media server”. I then have to start over again and in another 5 min ….

    Any help? ideas?

    I love this feature, however, i need to make it work.

  • Side note… As a hobby I record concerts and needed a RAID network storage device outside the PC as a place to back up all my shows and other things.

    The Buffalo Terastation (and probably some other models) are fully DNLA compliant. Works 100% with the PS3 and you can also access any of your media over the web with the built in server.

  • Hey guys, this is fantastic. However, minor problem with Divx / mp4 (AVC) playback. Some files don’t playback. Even if I copied it to the PS3. There’s nothing wrong with the file because I know it plays back ok on my computer and (i hate to say this) on my x360. So all files that don’t playback on PS3, including DVD rips using Handbrake 0.9.1 (with the PS3 preset), plays back on X360. Handbrake rips have sound but no picture. I would highly suggest to Sony to fix both these compatibility issues.

    BTW, I must say that the PS3 has become my favorite machine in my house. Streaming video using DLNA, Blu-ray playback (and upgradable profiles), and GAMING!!! Only have to wait until developers get more comfortable programming for it. Still would like to see games play at same frame rates and resolution as X360 so that I can get rid of my X360. GO SONY!

  • Twonky Media Server, not the best! I tried it on 3 different machines including an OSX 10.4 Server and it would not hold up. It would drop out after anywhere from 5 minutes to 1 hour but would ALWAYS drop out and you would have to start your movie all over again. I tried every DLNA server I could find for Mac and found that Nullriver’s MediaLink server to be simple as pie to setup and has been working great nonstop for the past week or 2. To add/remove content, you can either use the preference pane or add/remove folders/files into an already shared folder. It will play most formats including DIVX without destroying the 5.1 surround. I have even been able to play m2ts files, which currently the mac does not support, by renaming the extension to mpg so it will stream. Then the PS3 plays them fine. Not only does it stream well, it gives you total control over the video (FF/REW/etc). As long as the server stays up and you don’t shut off the PS3, it will remember where you left off in more than one movie. It also runs as a service and will stay operational through restarts, unlike Twonky which is an app that must be launched to start the server. The demo may help for testing but is limited to 30 minutes. It is only $20 so won’t break your bank. Yeah, I know we should have free versions like the pc BUT, just remember, if you have an Intel Mac, you do have a fully functional Wind(bl)ows machine too.

    Hope this helps some of you out. BTW, you can find these and other servers on versiontracker.com.

  • Have DLNA working with Tronk Media Server. My question is will Sony ever support DRM Music on PS3, namely in WMA files? I have so much purchased music that it is a shame that I can’t play it on PS3. Do they need to license DRM from Microsoft?

    Does anyone have a workaround, or is there something else I am missing?

  • hi I just bougth my PS3 and the owners manual does not tell much about all the PS3 aplications and i ll like learn evrything the PS3 can do. Does anybody knows a site that can tell me this. i`ll really apreciate the note. thanks

  • I use WMP11 with no issues..

    Also check out the PS.com site they have manuals etc…

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