I am looking at purchasing either the ReadyNAS 316 or 516 in the near future, and have some questions about the built in DLNA server versus installing the Plex Media Server.I understand the difference in horsepower available on the units (atom 2.1 GHz vs I3-3220), and that the 516 comes with twice as much ram onboard.Is there a list of file types supported by the ReadyDLNA program? I already know what the Plex Media Server supports for file types.Main purpose for either of the NAS's is to provide backup for 8 computers and provide media streaming to various TV's, computers and tablets. From reading at the Plex support site, the 516 supports video transcoding at 720p and up, whereas the 316 may begin to be underpowered at 720p and up. Is this really a big deal? Does the Plex Media Server have better support than ReadyDLNA?Any information would be greatly appreciated.ThanksJerry

If you have 1080p content, and are streaming over the internet to a mobile device, then you will often need to transcode it (to reduce the bit rate). If you are home, then there are still cases where you might need transcoding, but generally less of them.ReadyDLNA doesn't transcode at all.Personally I'd go with plex, even if your NAS doesn't trasncode.ReadyDLNA content is here: http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detai ... y-readynas• Music. wav, wma, pcm, ogg, mp3, m4a, flac, aac• Video. 3gp, mp4, wmv, xvid, vob, ts, tivo, mts, mpeg, mpg, mov, mkv, m4v, m4p, m2t, m2ts, flv, flc, fla, divx, avi, asf• Photo. jpg, jpegSupport for "wav", "avi","mkv" doesn't mean that all wav, avi, mkv files will play. There are many different compressors used inside these formats, and which ones work depends on both the player and the dlna server.

I'm running a 314 with a custom boost in RAM to 4GB. I've all but abandoned the built-in ReadyDLNA in favor of Plex. Plex is updated more frequently, has dealt with every file type I've thrown at it, and offers a great GUI for compatible devices like Smart TVs, Roku and Android/iOS. The Plex Sync feature (which I think might still be Plex Pass-only) is invaluable for mobile devices.There are some quirks to the ReadyDLNA — e.g., files not appearing, subfolders inexplicably looping back to top-level directories, inconsistent automatic rescanning — that have led me to keep it active as a last-report fallback, but I haven't actually used it to play media in months.Plex's transcoding has worked for me in about 90% of all cases. It's dished up TV episodes (ripped all kinds of wacky formats) to my iPad without any noticeable indication that they're actually being transcoded. It's even capable of transcoding the movies I've ripped to HEVC (H.265) with a minimal hit to video quality and rare stutters on a 1080p TV. During those rare stutters I did wish for a bit more CPU horsepower. So in terms of future-proofing, the 516 might be a wiser choice, but the 316 should be adequate based on my own experience.

Anybody using a readyNAS with Plex and found since the lastest Plex update I'm having problems?I'm using a Netgear Ready NAS 314, I have recently installed the update to version of Plex to 0.9.11.7.803-87d0708 and then my problems started?There is now a several second delay in starting playing my video's on my Panasonic Viera Smart TV, but once it starts it might play for a few second before I loose the sound, or it pauses briefly or the sound might come back sounding like a darlic? This makes the whole experience unwatchable.below is taken from the server.log fileFeb 16, 2015 12:00:22 [0x7f7c27ffd700] DEBUG - [Universal] Using local file path instead of URL: /data/Videos/Music Videos/YouTube/Sam Smith - Lay Me Down.mp4Feb 16, 2015 12:00:22 [0x7f7c27ffd700] DEBUG - [Universal] Transcoding to http/mpegts/h264/ac3Feb 16, 2015 12:00:22 [0x7f7c27ffd700] DEBUG - Using existing transcode session.Feb 16, 2015 12:00:22 [0x7f7c287fe700] DEBUG - [TranscodeOutputStream] Input processing thread started at offset 0 for -1 bytes.Feb 16, 2015 12:00:22 [0x7f7c41bfe700] ERROR - handle_stream_read error 104 Connection reset by peerFeb 16, 2015 12:00:22 [0x7f7c41bfe700] DEBUG - Removed transcode output stream 0x7f7c2d4a5000, active count 3 => 2Feb 16, 2015 12:00:22 [0x7f7c423ff700] ERROR - handle_stream_read error 104 Connection reset by peerFeb 16, 2015 12:00:22 [0x7f7c423ff700] DEBUG - Removed transcode output stream 0x7f7c2ce0b000, active count 2 => 1Feb 16, 2015 12:00:23 [0x7f7c287fe700] ERROR - Throttle: timed out trying to read chunk 1Feb 16, 2015 12:00:23 [0x7f7c237ff700] ERROR - Throttle: timed out trying to read chunk 1What does all this mean? anyone? Before it used to start immediately with no problems what's so ever with the previous version of Plex

Have you tried asking about this on the Plex forums? Do you have PlexPass?

Hi Yes I have a thread running on there but as yet no answers :-( Sorry I don't have a Plex pass)It's related to the Transcoding output to a Panasonic 3DTV, as if I use my BluRay DLNA enabled player, iPad or iPhone they all work just fine, however when I try to stream to my Panasonic 3D TV this action "Cooks" the CPU and within seconds you can see the temperature rise rapidly from 51 deg C to well over 70 deg C in just a few seconds? and hence it crashes the process with stalling, burbling sound, pausing and becomes unwatchable playback :-(Do anyone here know how I can "ROLLBACK" the app to an earlier version? I have downloaded the previous version's install file and it's just a .BIN file? How can I run this file to install this version back onto my Netgear readyNAS314 ?I have already found I can easily take off the new version, as I've already removed it once and re-installed it to no avail :-( What I want to try is putting back the version which actually worked?Thanks

316/516 + DLNA/PLEX questions | NETGEAR Communities

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mdgm-ntgr
NETGEAR Employee Retired
Feb 18, 2015
A clean install may be the way forward here unless you can get someone on the Plex forums to look at your Plex logs and find something that would explain what is going on.
pauls898
Aspirant
Feb 18, 2015
Yes Thanks, it all started to go wrong after I received an update for Plex? From then on every time I run Plex using my Panasonic 3DTV it just "Cooks" my NAS CPU, you can watch the temperature suddenly rise from a normal operation level of about 51 deg C to over 70 deg C in matter of seconds and the app then falls over :-(. If I steam to my iPhone yes it has to do some transcoding and the temp does rise slightly to about 60 deg C but no higher and everything is fine :-)
The really strange thing is if I use my DLNA enabled BluRay player as the client that works fine too as no transcoding is taking place and Plex is using the Generic Profile here? There's something strange happening with this Panasonic Viera 3DTV Profile to make it "COOK" my CPU, because before this update everything worked perfectly fine so I don't know what's going on or if anything in that Profile has been changed? If any other users can comment here I'd be glad to hear? Thanks
pauls898
Aspirant
Feb 18, 2015
Ok hears my findings? I don't know what's going on so maybe you could advise me on what I have discovered?
I have completely removed Plex app completely from my NAS Drive system.
I then installed the older version, I set up a small folder of music videos as a test as I didn't want to wait while it scans in over 1000!
I enabled my DLNA Server, tried the TV and it WORKED!!! What I noticed on the Media Server screen on the TV was it tells me that the Video I'm selecting from the list on the media server is a MP4 format which is correct and everything play as per normal :-)
Now here's the strange thing? I then log onto plex server to Connect it up, give me two green tick and says successfully connected to server.
Then I go back to TV and try it again, the first time I notice that the DLNA service is now missing? So I go back to plex and the tick has gone from the Enable DLNA Server ? So I re-check it and save the changes
Then I go back to TV again select the same Video which played moments earlier and the TV tell me now it's format is VIDEO and guess what it's broken??? I get a "Please Wait" then stuttering playback starts after about 6 seconds?
So what is happening when I connect my Plex to the server and it somehow chances the format of my videos from MP4 to VIDEO and hence the TV doesn't like it?
Another observation was if I do a clean install of the current version that won't work at all???
With the older version installed I have no "Remove" option, so to enable me to remove it, I have to upgrade it to the current version and then the "Remove" option has returned?
So I'm now quite confused as to what to do next? and I've also lost ALL my libraries and there's no point me re-building them till I can get to the bottom as to what's going on?
Something changes once I connect to the Plex server to change this format option from MP4 to VIDEO?
Any ideas???? Please!!
mdgm-ntgr
NETGEAR Employee Retired
Feb 19, 2015
Not sure on this. Hopefully someone on the Plex forums can help with this.
btaroli
Prodigy
Feb 19, 2015
If your goal is to completely start from scratch with PLEX, you might want to take a peek around after removing the app from Frontview. As I recall, the PLEX package has a habit of leaving bits of itself around... to avoid people losing their media libraries. But, yes, I'd strongly suggest posting in the plex.tv forums about this.
pauls898
Aspirant
Feb 19, 2015
Hi Could you explain what "Front View" is and how I use it? I use PC's and I'm not a Linux person, so all this is new to me?
I did check that after removing Plex that the data\app folder where it goes was completely empty.
It's fine after a fresh re-install, but as soon as I connect to Plex server that's when it screws things up for me?
StephenB
Guru - Experienced User
Feb 19, 2015
"frontview" is the admin web interface in the RN314. (https:/nasname/admin)
pauls898
Aspirant
Feb 19, 2015
Oh thanks I've been in there before I just use the IP Address of ReadyNAS and admin and Password, but you get this RED Certificate error come up which I don't think you can do anything about? I didn't know it was called Front View though, but I've heard it mentioned before?
Thanks
mdgm-ntgr
NETGEAR Employee Retired
Feb 19, 2015
What web browser do you use?
pauls898
Aspirant
Feb 19, 2015
Hi

I always use IE11.00

I have Chrome and Fire Fox installed on my PC but I prefer Internet Explore TBH.

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316/516 + DLNA/PLEX questions

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