Plex.tv

I have never found anything relating to Plex to be simple.  

Simple, pick your favorite 64K tracks and try to index them. If that doesn’t work try trimming the meta-data in the files back a bit. If you submit a diagnostic Sonos can tell you a bit about your track’s internal storage.

Nothing else sounds simple to me.

I’ve been running Plex on a Raspberry Pi with a couple of large hard drives attached containing my audio libraries. It’s been working very well, and there’s very good integration as a Sonos service.

I found it simple to install and set up (as a Docker container), but it does require a bit of technical know-how.

Would you consider posting a How To article for folks?

If you don’t have a place to post it I’d suggest Live Journal as they are free and simple. I use them for my Pi How-To stuff.

Live Journal

Thanks, Stanley. I may do this if I get time.

I know you’re quite familiar with using the Pi, so here’s a very quick guide from the top of my head:

1. Start with a Raspberry Pi running Raspbian
2. Install Docker using the convenience script c1]
3. Download and start a containerised version of Plex f2] for ARM with the following script:

   docker run -d --restart=always --name plex --net=host  \
       -v /mnt/raid1/nas/music:/media \
       -v /home/pwt/plex:/root/Library \
        jaymoulin/plex
   In the above, the first volume mapping points to the root directory of the media collection (/mnt/raid1/nas/music), the second volume mapping is where Plex stores its application data (/home/pwt/plex). Adjust each of these as required for your installation.

4. Plex is now running, and one can connect to it over the local network on port 32400. It’s useful to have a reserved IP address for the Pi, and to port-forward TCP/32400 on your router to the Pi.

5. Continue Plex setup using the guide at u3].

6. Add your Plex account as a Sonos music service using a Sonos app (mobile or desktop).

7. To update the Plex container in future, use:
       docker stop plex
       docker rm plex
       docker pull jaymoulin/plex
   Then re-run the script in step 3.

1] https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/debian/#install-using-the-convenience-script
o2] https://hub.docker.com/r/jaymoulin/plex/
/3] https://support.plex.tv/articles/200264746-quick-start-step-by-step-guides/

I haven’t seen one.

As far as I can see, assuming standard control (not voice), the main options for local data are :-

1. Cut down the numbers of tracks to fit into Sonos limits - works fine but why would you not want all of your music available?
2. Cut down the amount of store data - e.g. reduce folder lengths, track info and tag info. Works OK but you have to compromise over what you do and don’t want available. In particular, complicates issues if you wish to keep your main data pristine, as you need to cater for even larger number of backups due to the two datasets. Personally, Sonos is just the system that I’m using at the moment - I don’t want to cut down the data in any way as the next system that I choose will be more capable.
3. Plex - I found setting up a Plex server on a NAS fairly straightforward. Setting up the service via a browser was more complex, and I seem to remember having problems with security issues. However, once working, using the NAS via a web browser was fairly good and the sort categories worked fine. Using the Sonos version, though, seemed like going backwards - (IIRC) I could only view my music by either artist or song, which was an absolute mess when viewing a mix of classical and contemporary music. I don’t think that it had a folder view, which is what I usually use due to Sonos’s lack of support for certain tags (e.g. composer). As I didn’t want to run the system via a browser, I gave up on the idea.
4. Various Raspberry solutions - others here have experience with these and can advise. It all seems a bit overly complex to me, simply to get round deficiencies in the Sonos system, so I haven’t looked at them at all.
5. Casting using an audio server on a NAS. Setting up an audio server seemed quite straightforward. I haven’t explored all the options available, as I simply wanted to get it working with Chromecast - something that Sonos still doesn’t support. Using a Chromecast Audio plugged into the line in on a Play 5, I use Hifi Cast to cast the music from the server to the CCA, and hence to the Play 5. Works fine, has no restrictions on library size or capabilities and (for those who care about such things) also plays hi-res files. You can send the same line input to other Sonos kit, playing in sync as the music is then in the Sonos ecosystem. You can also use the same setup to cast to any other CC compatible device - in my case, an AV receiver. The Sonos software simply shows the line in as the music source. Oh, and it gets round the SMB v1 problem.
6. Casting direct to the Sonos device using the same setup as in (v) above. This can be done, thereby avoiding the issue of using a CC device, but it can get a bit confusing. Although the music plays on the Sonos kit, there’s no indication of what’s happening on the Sonos controller, which shows no music playing, can’t stop/start the music, even though it thinks that there’s something in the queue. When/if you want to go back to ‘Sonos mode’, you can’t delete what’s in the queue, as it doesn’t know about, so you have to add music to the queue and then clear it. A bit messy.

There are a number of other ways of controlling the system (e.g. voice), but I don’t know whether or not they address the core limitation - I doubt it, though.

Personally, the only method that I found to be easy, powerful and that addresses the main problem was number (v) above. Having said that, I often use the Sonos software as it’s the only one that controls the Sonos kit itself, so I also have a cut down version of the dataset on a separate NAS (option (i) above) that I use with the Sonos software. I don’t bother backing up this dataset  at all as the full set is kept on the other NAS for casting.

Sorry for rambling on, but hope this is of some use.

Thanks, grabbed a copy and I’ll try it when I have some free time. Might work well for the spouse that quit using Sonos when they killed her beloved CR-100 collection.

http://www.anderware.org/software.php?page=dev/M3U4U.htm

after a lot of trial and error with various suggestions, i have found this workaround to be the easiest.

split your digital archive into 2 areas, one is indexed as per normal, the other is stuff that can be indexed using the above m3u file generator eg ‘extra_music’.

then you add the directory of the m3u files as another location for sonos and boom.

i have about 62K tracks in my m3u directory, and 35K in my standard directory.

you just have to be selective re the other directory.

i have it broken down into sub-sections eg : /extra_music/reggae, /extra_music/downtempo, /extra_music/mixtapes, /extra_music/electronica etc.

as the Sonos search does not dive into the m3u files, and so you have to know where you have put certain albums so you can drill down to get to the album you require.

however, one it’s up and running it’s brilliant.

my current process :

• i add an album to my electronica sub-dir in the directory that will get read by the m34u generator
• run the m3u4u.exe file to add the new album to the m3u4u mirror
• then wait until the overnight indexing, or run the sonos library update manually
• in Sonos you then go to the extra_music directory (i added as a favourite as it makes it easier), and drill down to the album as per.

good luck ! 

m.

Interesting… I didn’t bother with playlists due to their limitations, but a variation on this approach could work for me, as I tend to play large boxed sets of particular composers.

My first choices of M3U generators didn’t work, presumably as they used IP addresses rather than network name, but I found an older one that works - Playlist Creator. However, it doesn’t respect the order of the CDs in a set - e.g. CD01, CD02 etc.

The editor that you mention talks about mirroring etc - I’m just after an editor that respects the order for boxed sets - recommendations, anyone?

In general I don’t see much value in preserving the identity of CD01, CD02 … in the index. I keep the CD’s in separate folders on the drive because it’s a little easier for maintenance, but I don’t care about this in the index. If one renumbers the tracks consecutively from the first CD in a set, it’s easier to play the box in order. (of course this breaks down if there are more than 99 tracks in the set.)

“However, it doesn’t respect the order of the CDs in a set - e.g. CD01, CD02 etc.”

when you rip, make sure you have each cd in a separate folder.

this way the method i laid out works easily.

also, you may have noticed that Sonos search is painful re albums that have guests on.

i.e. you search for an artist, find your album, and boom off you go, only to realise its missing tracks as it plays.

for electronica albums that feature a lot of guests this is a massive pain, meaning you have to then search for the album by title in order to play the whole album properly.

the solution  i posted up there bypasses all that.

an album is listed in a folder, and cares not re who/where/what.

you drill down to the album, press play … 

there are some quirks that you need to be aware of re unsupported characters in the names of tracks, but this is easy to fix (edit the name of the mp3, edit the name in the associated m3u file basically).

The box sets are of the major composers works, so are each quite large (e.g. 170 CDs Mozart, 157 for J S Bach etc) - they are usually 2-3,000 tracks.

I don’t use Sonos indices or lists - I always use the folder views so that I can navigate to what I want easily and I don’t get offered pages of unwanted info - especially where Sonos mixes up contemporary and classical music - it’s just a mess.

Yes, I do. Every CD is in it’s own folder. e.g. the hierarchy would be something like Mozart Complete Works/CD01 First pieces, CD02 Second pieces etc.

The editor that I am using generates the lists OK, but it seems to mix up the albums, so it may put CD101 before CD09. As most of my preferred works are usually during the first half of the CDs, the order is important. In addition, if you have 21 CDs of Baryton works, you don’t want them mixed in with everything else.

I can make the playlist work, but only by adding each directory individually - which would be rather time consuming. I’d like something that simply goes through each top level folder recursively - in order - and generates the playlist.

JOOI, Foobar 2000 seems to work fine.

Currently experimenting in moving a couple of large box sets out of the main Sonos library to see how it pans out.

Thanks for making me revisit this. I discarded the idea of external playlists fairly early on, but in my particular circumstances this works well.

I’ve shifted two ‘complete works’ box sets out to an external directory and produced playlists for them, and it seems to be working fine. Having deleted them from the main data set, I now have about 320 CDs worth of headroom :-)

glad it worked for you.

like you, my music can often cause a lot of problems for standard Sonos indexing (multitracked mixtapes with multiple guests etc), and i have found this m3u config makes life so much simpler,  hence why i have now much more in my extras/M3U directory.

i also separate off whole chunks of my digital archive according to record label which is great as when i drill down into the record label folder i am reminded of albums i would normally forget about …

I may have spoken too soon - it seems to lose the remaining tracks when it’s been paused for a while, although AFAIA the NAS is set to never spin down. More investigation required ;-)

weird.

that’s not something i have ever experienced.

there are times, a track wont play, and Sonos throws up an error about the track being unavailable and yet its listed. 

i have found that the problem is down to the filename and the associated listing in the M3U file - especially if there are non standard characters in the name of the track.

the solution is to change the name of the digital file, and then edit the M3U file so it connects to the renamed digital file.

as i said, there are a few quirks, but once you get things settled and used to the way it all hangs together, its a very easy workaround to the 65k limit.

m.

Yes, I think that you’re right - it seems as if Sonos indexes the files differently, as it finds and plays the same files perfectly - and the casting approach also has no problem. I’ll stick with those methods for now.