Previously I had used smb to share files from my vero device to a fire stick (with trakt to sync status of items) but the fire stick has started to buffer like mad.
If I add the source via upnp, playback is much improved but these files do not seem to show in my library, rather it’s just a file structure I need to browse - functional but not pretty.
I see there are a few options (jelly fin etc) out there but unsure which are still current and recommended for my use case.
I believe that @jeff2 had stated a few times that his Mezzmo add-on has support for adding UPnP content to a Kodi library. It seems a bit off to me that the same content will play using UPnP doesn’t using SMB. Are you sure that it isn’t something like a wireless connection operating at the margins and your issue would be cured by tweaking your network connection (changing wireless channels or shifting physical locations of hardware for example).
Don’t think connection as server is wired and client next to router. Tested with smb and same source buffers after 10 secs, whereas with upnp playback is flawless
Kodi offers a number of sharing solutions to serve multiple Kodi (and non-Kodi) clients from a single source. There have been a number of issues reported in the Kodi forums regarding SMB performance issues. It looks like some fixes are available but that would only address performance not sharing.
Mezzmo defaults to HTTP as the transport protocol to serve media to clients. UPnP is just used to find and register clients. Here’s a How it Works page for Mezzmo and some performance benchmarks I ran serving 6 clients 1080Pand 4K UHD streams at the same time.
The Mezzmo Kodi add does not copy the media to the Kodi clients, just the media actor, metadata and artwork etc… The background sync process keeps all clients 100% in sync and you never have to touch your Kodi databases again. The addon handles all of it automatically.
There are many more advantages to sharing solutions. I have more than 12 Kodi and non-Kodi clients and I spend next to no time with the care and feeding of the system.
Cheers Jeff. I had a cursory look tonight and the documentation seems to show that the server is running on a Windows machine and serving the Kodi clients. It may just be me misreading it but I wanted to just have 1 vero serve to a firestick ( or my Tv as I see there is an app for LG) - si that possible?
You read correctly. Mezzmo does require a Windows instance to run the server software. That is a limitation for some folks. I find it an advantage as Mezzmo leverages some Windows features. Some of the other Kodi sharing options may run on a Vero V. I’ve just never done it.
I had a similar issue. My solution was to use OSMC/Kodi as playback devices only and keep the media center content inside a Jellyfin server on the LAN. It can be accessed by any devices, including kodi, but also over my VPN or through a SOCKS proxy via ssh that is easy to setup from my laptop workstations.
I prefer the Kodi UI for playback, especially on the projector.
My OSMC/Kodi systems don’t hold any data. Plus, Jellyfin can transcode the media to a format by playback devices can handle, since some will choke on mpeg2 or h.265 content, being able to transcode them to h.264 on-the-fly is a huge help.
There are a few Jellyfin plugins for Kodi that work fine. One will clone all the media and status into Kodi, I understand. I don’t use that.
The Kodi and Jellyfin library layouts are the same, so trying Jellyfin isn’t a huge investment. See how it works by just pointing the program at the media storage.
Most of the time, I’ll use jellyfin on an old Android tablet as the controller. Telling to to send the output to one of the Kodi system in the house, if not local. No need to provide direct NAS access to the media this way either. That simplifies lots of things.
Yep. A number of the Kodi sharing solutions are similar (i.e. Jellyfin, Plex, Mezzmo etc…) and offer similar features including centralized library management, transcoding and more.
FYI, Mezzmo supports both GUI mode (browsing) and native mode (full metadata syncing with support for multiple versions of Kodi) all in a single addon. Most of the other solutions require separate addons. I prefer GUI mode myself. I’ve tried to provide near 100% feature support between modes but you can switch anytime you want, run both at the same time etc…
You have to drill down another layer to see the differences, which is way beyond the scope here but often entail features like flexibility, automation, diagnostics / logging, library management, trailer handling, view mode handling, artwork tools, multi-Kodi version support, dynamic media storage management and more.
I concur that sharing solutions really help Kodi shine and be the best UI it can be for multi-Kodi / non-Kodi environments.
Mezzmo is commercial software and doesn’t run on standard Linux from what I can see. 100% non-starter for me. We don’t have MS-Windows here, just Linux workstations. Don’t think I can run it.
I saw a post in 2014 where Mezzmo forums claimed a Linux Server was on their roadmap. 10 yrs later. No Linux server? Guess it isn’t high on the roadmap or technical debt was/is too high. I spent 15 yrs as a cross-platform developer, so I know that porting off MS-Windows can be impossible if that wasn’t part of the original requirements.
Perhaps I missed the TV tuner integration - or does it not have any? Jellyfin provides that, no added cost, just the tuner and access to schedule data which is free in most of the world (except N. America).
My audio collection is all in vorbis format in ogg containers. This is why plex doesn’t work for me. Clarity is needed on the Mezzmo site, since not all audio files in ogg containers use vorbis encoding.
Jellyfin definitely has some issues, but at least they don’t sell our watch and listen data to anyone. Same for Kodi. What about Mezzmo? I always have fears about proprietary media software selling our personal information.
Are you just really happy with Mezzmo or are you paid to post?
I am not here to debate Kodi sharing solutions as you seem to be. Nor am I trying to convince you of anything. If you are happy with Jellyfin, so be it. Mezzmo has free and paid versions, similar to Plex and others.
I do not get paid to post here and I am not the one with Spammer in my name.
Debating Kodi sharing solutions is the whole point of this thread, bit of a weird statement that you aren’t here for that. What is the reason you entered the discussion then?
It seems you are at least affiliated with Mezzmo.
The forum name of this person is irrelevant, the way you respond seems you feel cornered and makes you justify responding this weird way.
I am using Plex Media Server with Plex Kodi Connect myself, free version. Runs on the Vero and works great, also runs all my files good now with the Vero V, where I had some rare files (but usually applied to a full season of a show) that played great on the 4K(+), but didn’t want to pause/stop or FF.
Other reason for me was to use my TV’s native Plex app on my bedroom TV as well, as it saved an extra box there. For me it is the easiest way to keep my watchlists and all that synched cross platform.
The point of the thread was to share information and options. The originator asked for suggestions.
I took over development of the Mezzmo Kodi addon when Mezzmo indicated they were stopping further development. I make occasional feature requests and have been using Mezzmo for 10 years
Nope you drew conclusions on what you read from me. I did from the other user based upon the name used.
Yep. Plex and Mezzmo are very similar here. No debating just information. Plex is a perfectly viable sharing solution as are Emby, Jellyfin, MySQL and others. Each has strengths and weaknesses. That is my only point.
Thanks all for pointing this out, I used to run a MariaDB database for sharing between devices.
I checked Jellyfin some time ago and thought it would be a nice extra for the wife or maybe when away from home, but that it could replace the MariaDB database and be more flexible with Kodi versions … that made me try it instantly.
And thus now I switched entirely to Jellyfin plugin on Kodi, I can use the iPad for series with some transcoding while doing exercises, works perfectly!
Yeah I got a Synology with all my media and on there I got the docker container running, it was quite easy to do.
Although I have quite some docker containers running, so I have a head start with that.
Then the Jellyfin client on your device and you are done.
If I’m understanding things correctly, if I wanted to try Jellyfin which I would also spin up in Docker on my Synology NAS … that it wouldn’t impact the Kodi library I have? So if I decide I don’t like it, I can go back to what I’m using and it won’t mess with the watched status of the shows etc.? Then, if I do like it - I can ignore the Kodi status and just use the Jellyfin plugin on it instead?
Depends what plugin you use probably, the Jellyfin for Kodi plugin interacts with your local db.
So if you want to try it and experiment with this, I would suggest making a backup of your .kodi folder and/or using a separated user for the test.