Emby Server on OpenATV?

dvbnoob

Newbie
Hi all, I need some help and I'm not sure if this is the best place.

Some context:

I have a zgemma (H9 Twin 4K 1TB HDD), and have flashed OpenATV + wooshbuild and using the SkyQ skin, all working nice. However I just find everything a bit clunky from a UI experience (almost all of it around the recording UX).

To that end, I've looked at other UI /clients I could use, then I realised I could create `m3u` playlists via the OpenWebIf and use ANY standard IPTV player client, now this opened up a LOT of possibilities.

Now I have a separate Kodi box running on Raspberry Pi 3 (using openElec), and the "simple IPTV" player was amazing!

Channel switching is fast, EPG is great etc, but no recording!.

So I looked at a bunch of options, and finally found out about Emby.

So its seems that *IF* I could install an Emby server onto the zgemma, in theory I could either feed the `m3u` into that server OR perhaps even pick up the DVB-S tuner directly? and then use Kodi as the client?

I like the Emby client UI in terms of recording + EPG guide etc.

So is this possible, has anyone had experience of installing an Emby Server on OpenATV or an Enigma2 box (I can SSH into my box if that helps?)
 
I haven't played with that for a while, but as you probably already know, the choices you have are quite extensive when you start to go down a rabbit hole like that.

On the OpenATV UX point - - - I know what you mean about a 'clunky' experience (even on a box as capable as a H9). Personally I care little for sly-look-alikes and stick with the Metrix type skins which IMHO are much snappier. If you are wedded to the sly-look-alike then you might find that KiddaC's skins more agreeable.

Emby - - being a free software advocate, I would urge you to investigate Jellyfin as a better option all round. (the back story that lead to the fork of Emby and the creation of jellyfin is well known). Either way, I doubt very much that there is any point in using the H9 as a base for a server as you suggest. That said, Emby/Jellyfin can happily leverage the H9's tuners and any resource on an attached disk. Client wise you could just use the E2 DLNA Client plugin on the H9, but as you say, the Kodi client is very nice indeed. On the other hand, you could just point Kodi directly at your H9 and do-away with the middle-man so to speak.
 
thanks xero50 !

I've heard of Jellyfin, but wasn't sure about it, but I'll take another look at it.

I did try the VU+ Client add on for Kodi, and this did initially work (after enabling the "wait for network" option in openElec settings), but since then its stopped working (mind you I was installing /uninstalling it so might have broken it some how). The only issue was the ultra slow channel switching (like around 5 seconds or more!)

In essence, the H9 basically has the tuner + HDD, which is fine and Kodi/Smart TV the client that I like, and some server software to act as the DVR/PVR in between.

So can Emby Server/ Jellyfin Server installed on these E2 boxes?
 
So can Emby Server/ Jellyfin Server installed on these E2 boxes?
Well, never say never and all that, but I somehow doubt that an E2 box would have the resources to perform. Server setups like Emby are really all about managing and pulling-in resources from other devices and places (like the H9 for example) and then allowing them to be accessed over the LAN from other devices, but if you end up turning them back in on themselves all you really achieve is a load of different machines working allot harder than they need to.
 
so at the moment, I have "simple IPTV" on Kodi and using the m3u playlist from the H9 and this almost does everything I need, except recording :(

So ultimately I need some way to do recording on this IPTV playlist (but use the HDD that's available on the H9 box).

I don't mind installing emby server on the kodi box and there are official guides to do this, this would at least allow me to record these IPTV streams

are there any plugins / settings on the E2 box that will make the HDD available as a network drive?

failing this, I could always rip out the HDD from the H9 and put it into a HDD enclosure and directly attach to the Pi3
 
OK - again you have a ton of choices available.

Firstly your Zgemma already has running a number of network server services including SMB/CIFS, FTP, NFS, SSH, and as a result is already available as a network drive by default. To connect to it the simple answer is probably to just pick one protocol that you like the look of and use that. (Being a die-hard Linux user myself I would tend towards just using SSHFS, but that won't work for many client devices). Maybe as an experiment you could try mapping the Zgemma's disk from within your OpenElec/Kodi installation and see how you go. Start with say SMB (probably be presented as 'windows network' or something like that), and see how you go. Kodi is really very good at that sort of thing. - the map would look something like this for example :-
smb://IP-AddressOfZgemma/Media/HDD/

Another option would be to put the disk on your LAN as a central resource. Your Zgemma can map LAN based disks and be set to record to them is desired, and in turn you can point individual clients at it as well (ie kodi, emby, android etc etc). Also, remember that DLNA is very simple and tends to work very well with a very low overhead on the vast majority of devices.

If all you are really wanting to do is record stuff (that the Zgemma is looking at anyway) for later replay on the Zgemma or other LAN connected clients, then you probably don't need things like emby and you already have all of the hardware, services and client devices needed to do the job - - - - just a case of gluing them together across your LAN using traditional network services and protocols
 
ah yes I'm familiar with SSHFS, I think if I recall I'll need to add it to my fstab so that the auto mounts on reboot, but since it'll be a local LAN wouldn't the extra encryption layer add over head?

ok so here's what I'll try:

* reflash the Kodi box from openElec to libreElec (as it seems to have better support for emby via docker)
* try and connect H9 HDD via SMB/NFS from Kodi (or just create a network mount manually on the Kodi box)
* install emby server on the Kodi box (via docker as per official docs)
* install the emby client as a Kodi add on (also install emby client on android phone + LG Smart TV for lolz)
* setup the emby server to see the network drive as well as m3u playlist from the H9 box

Then in "theory" I should get all the EPG/PVR UI goodness from emby with H9 just really feeding the "resource" as well as storing the data
 
so an update


* attempted install of emby server on my arch machine (yes I use arch btw :laughing: ) started the systemD service which blew up on start!
* installed docker and used the official emby server docker image, success!
* feed the E2 m3u list into the emby server
* installed the emby client on my LG server
* was able to access E2 HDD via SMB, but no SMB is not configured correctly (left it to one side for now)
* find out that emby server DVR/LiveTV requires premium subscription !!
* ripped everything out
* installed JellyFin docker image instead
* it initially loaded worked, then channels froze (also LG client refused to connect, because it was not emby or an "older version")
* ripped everything out and cried in the corner

another attempt at using the E2 Kodi add on:

* everything works!
* channel switching is ok
* tv guide is ok
* timeshift is ok
* recording is ok
* EPG recording is ok
* NO TIME SERIES recording ?!!?!

more crying..

So new approach:

* Sat>IP can be installed on E2 box
* sort out SMB for HDD on E2 box (recordings will go here)
* install TVHeadEnd on Kodi box (or another machine)
* install HTSP client to connect to TVHE ??
* hope everything works including series link??
 
update 2:

So some searching around on other forums, and it seems the Kodi Vu+/Enigma2 add-on DOES do series link, its just the terminology used is confusing! this is an answer on the TVHE forum by some one:

Not quite but it did point me to the right location - as it turns out it's just terminology that's different in the Kodi TVH addon - "Record" means "Record this single programme" whilst "Timer" should be used to set up recurring events. So in EPG view, I can go to a programme, select "Timer" and create a recurring event from there which kind of does what I wanted to do. The only thing I'm not sure of is does this GUI make use of series links. I think TVH is a bit more intelligent than your average series linking as it can inspect episode names, numbers and even descriptions (which is what I use) which works really well at preventing duplicate recordings (they still get scheduled but then get deleted once the event passes).

That guy is right TVHE uses "CRID" data from the DVB stream to do series linking (which is exactly as all Set Top boxes including Sky does it).

So this means now:
  • Channel switching speed reasonable
  • EPG guide works
  • timeshift works
  • EPG recording works
  • series link works, BUT have to live with confusing terminology
This means now, no more weird setups, just clean E2 (acts as proper tuner + PVR/HDD ) ---> Kodi (client)

Is it perfect? no, but its "good enough", with bonus of now using our Kodi box for more then just a movie library (we have USB HDD attached)
 
Update : 2030

It's been a while since I've looked at this stuff, but here is the new setup:

* Kodi Box (Raspberry Pi 3) has been wiped and now I've installed debian with docker
* I've setup an Emby server and a bunch of custom launch scripts to maintain the container
* the Zgemma satellite acts as a NFS mapped 1TB drive and I've moved all my movies/TV shows there
* the NFS mount is then volume mounted into the emby docker container
* Official Emby client is running on WebOS LG TV
* I've ripped out the out SkyQ LNB and replaced with a Universal LNB and now get all the FTA channels
* I have installed the "Dream" player on android so have "multi room" live viewing
* although I've not yet tried it, but I should be able to use an IPTV player on the LG TV and then supply the M3U list from the Zgemma box

Emby has a proper PVR section (with M3U source), however this is a paid feature,

I'm fully away of JellyFin which is a fork and where the PVR feature is free, HOWEVER they don't have an official LG client and even though I've tried connecting the official Emby client to a JellyFin server in the past, it refused to work saying the versions don't match.

Now I know its technically possible to "side load" the JellyFin client into the LG TV, but that requires setting up a developer account with LG which I've heard is a chore, and then putting the TV into "debug" mode and and then deploying the app via USB. While I could do all this, I'd rather just plug a FireStick and be done with it that way
 
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