Frequently Asked Questions

I do not see PMS from my DLNA client?
Consult the Troubleshooting section of the installation page.
I get "Data corrupted" or a black screen when streaming web content?

Install the plugin PMSEncoder for improved web content support.

Where are the PMS configuration, log and web-temp files located?

There are a few possible default locations, some only at the install directory or inside the application.

Linux

OSX
Note: open a Terminal and use "cd" and "ls" to view invisible directories

Windows 7, Windows Vista

Windows XP

How do I install the Movie Info plugin?

Usage in XMB

Read plot: enter virtual folder #-- movie-info --# in XMB > movie title > IMDB INFO

Watch trailers (English): enter virtual folder #-- movie-info --# in XMB > movie title > IMDB INFO > title: movie title > [HD] movie title trailer or [SD] movie title trailer

I receive the error message "No images", "No tracks", or "No titles" when trying to view a folder that does contain valid media.

Solution 1: You are in the wrong section of the XMB. You have to be in "Photos" to view pictures, in "Music" to listen to music and in "Video" to watch videos. For example "Photos > Web videos" will be empty, but "Video > Web videos" will show files.

Solution 2: You have hit the folder-depth limit (8 folders) and cannot browse any further in the folder tree. You have to share a different folder that is within the folder limit to the media you're trying to access (includes virtual folders like the #Transcode# folder). Note: this is a PS3 limitation.

Playback of video file stops at end of file and does not continue with next video file.

Solution: PlayStation 3 XMB: Settings - Video Settings - Sequential Playback. Set the PS3 system to sequentially play multiple videos that are saved on the hard disk or storage media. See http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/settings/bdsettings.html#3616.

I receive two "Media Server Error: A DLNA protocol error (2006) has occurred" followed by "There are no titles" on the PS3 when trying to view the video folder that does contain valid video media.

Cause: There is a timing bug with PMS (as of the latest PMS beta 356 version) where the Media Library data is not being sent in a timely matter (ideally within the first 30 seconds, up to 1 minute) to the PS3. The results is the above error and the PS3 timing out. If you restart PMS or the PS3, the process will start all over again. This error can not be avoided by using the Magnifying Glass in the Shared folders tab and section. Previous Media Library processed data is always checked and re-checked, making it impossible to be avoided.

Solution 1: For unattended results; reduce the amount of files contained in the shared directory. You will need to find your own balance between your processor speed, the amount of files contained in the shared directory and the timeout of the PS3.

Solution 2: For attended results; after entering the Video PMS directory on the PS3, exit up one level. On the PMS installed machine, watch and wait for the JavaW.exe process to finish (measure the length of time between entering the directory and JavaW.exe finishing, you will need this information for later). Re-enter the Video PMS directory and shortly the names will now begin to be displayed regardless of the amount of files. Later, when this happens again, like before go up one level, but you will now know how long to wait before re-entering the PS3's Video PMS directory.

How do I play DTS Music with PS3 fw 3.0?

Music settings:

Sound settings:

Audio volume on PS3 has to be in the middle = Normal.

How do I change settings when PMS is running as a service?

You cannot change settings when PMS is running as a service. So you will have to stop the service and start the program to change settings as follows:

I receive errors or frozen playback when trying to Fast Forward, Rewind, or "Scene Search" through a video.
This is to be expected on slower LAN connections or for any media that is being transcoded or remuxed. Use the PS3's "Go To" feature instead: http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/video/panel.html#9
Why are the native subtitles missing for the non-native parts of a native audio movie?

Play the movie with the UND language subtitles, either directly from the #Transcode# folder or add UND to the "subtitle priority" setting under the MEncoder settings.

If there is no UND language subtitle track, you'll have to either:

Is there a list of supported media renderers (streaming clients) for PS3 Media Server?

At the moment the PS3, Xbox 360, and Philips (networked) TVs are well supported. There is experimental support for Sony Bravia and Samsung Wiselink TVs, XBMC (e.g. on Xbox), PopcornHour, FreeboxHD, and Realtek chip based media renderers. Other media renderers may work. You have to create a conf-file in renderers subdirectory of PMS installation directory.

If you need assistance getting a new renderer working you should do the following:

You may also need to provide the Get Device XML (right click on device)

I want to run more than one PMS instance in my home network and identify them easily.
There is no option to rename PMS in the interface. One has to change sourcecode and compile PMS in order to get a renamed version of it.
I installed PMS, started it and PMS found PS3 immediately. Next time I started PMS and PS3 could not be found.
PMS is programmed in Java. Sometimes the Java Runtime environment (JRE) does not shut down all Java processes properly after stopping PMS. If this happens stop all other Java based applications, start Windows task manager and kill all javaw.exe processes. After that start PMS once again and PS3 will be found. If that happens regularly update to the latest version of Java.
How do I manually set up the Windows firewall
PMS needs incoming port 5001 TCP/UDP to run properly. Instead of that you can also set up a firewall exception for the Java program "javaw.exe" (JRE/JDK) and "wrapper.exe" if PMS is running as a service. Windows firewall settings can be changed by GUI or command line. For detailed commandline instructions see http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=30#p18802.
I enabled and scanned the media library on Windows 7, but I cannot use it on the XMB?

Solution 1: Start PMS as Administrator or change properties of pms.exe to run as Administrator

Solution 2: Change NTFS permissions on folder C:\Program Files (x86)\PS3 Media Server\database\. To do this, start a commandline as Administrator.

C:\> cd C:\Program Files (x86)\PS3 Media Server
C:\Program Files (x86)\PS3 Media Server> cacls database
C:\Program Files (x86)\PS3 Media Server\database NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller:(ID)F
                                                 NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller:(CI)(IO)(ID)F
                                                 NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(ID)F
                                                 NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(OI)(CI)(IO)(ID)F
                                                 BUILTIN\Administrators:(ID)F
                                                 BUILTIN\Administrators:(OI)(CI)(IO)(ID)F
                                                 BUILTIN\Users:(ID)R
                                                 BUILTIN\Users:(OI)(CI)(IO)(ID)(Beschränkter Zugriff:)
                                                                               GENERIC_READ
                                                                               GENERIC_EXECUTE
                                                 CREATOR OWNER:(OI)(CI)(IO)(ID)F

C:\Program Files (x86)\PS3 Media Server> cacls database /T /G Otmanix:C /E
Bearbeitetes Verzeichnis: C:\Program Files (x86)\PS3 Media Server\database
Bearbeitete Datei: C:\Program Files (x86)\PS3 Media Server\database\medias.8.log.db
Bearbeitete Datei: C:\Program Files (x86)\PS3 Media Server\database\medias.data.db
Bearbeitete Datei: C:\Program Files (x86)\PS3 Media Server\database\medias.index.db
Bearbeitete Datei: C:\Program Files (x86)\PS3 Media Server\database\medias.trace.db

C:\Program Files (x86)\PS3 Media Server> cacls database
C:\Program Files (x86)\PS3 Media Server\database og1\otmanix:(OI)(CI)C
                                                 NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller:(ID)F
                                                 NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller:(CI)(IO)(ID)F
                                                 NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(ID)F
                                                 NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(OI)(CI)(IO)(ID)F
                                                 BUILTIN\Administrators:(ID)F
                                                 BUILTIN\Administrators:(OI)(CI)(IO)(ID)F
                                                 BUILTIN\Users:(ID)R
                                                 BUILTIN\Users:(OI)(CI)(IO)(ID)(Beschränkter Zugriff:)
                                     GENERIC_READ
                                     GENERIC_EXECUTE
                                                 CREATOR OWNER:(OI)(CI)(IO)(ID)F

After that the PMS startup and loading of the media database is fine.

Data corrupted at playback of CD / DVD ISOs or rips
If you have problems with CD/DVD ISOs or rips you probably use a later version of the MPlayer tool. Streaming will encounter a timeout during building of the MPlayer font cache. You can create the font cache manually by playing a video directly without usage of PMS. In order to do that drag and drop a video file to MPlayer.exe (located in win32 subdirectory). Restart PMS after doing that.
Streaming SiriusXM

Requirements of course PS3, PS3 Media Server, Windows, LAN and SiriusXMStreamer. (http://www.permanence.com/sirius/)

Once SiriusXMStreamer is set up, run the program and go to "Configuration". Enter your account info for either Siriux/XM (or both). Under "Default Stream Format", set it to "HTTP - M3U". "SiriusXMStreamer Server" is already prefilled so leave it alone. You will notice "TVersity Media Server", but leave that alone since that is not what you are using. Apply the settings and start the Server. Now you will need to make two entries in the "WEB.CONF" file of PMS. Below is an example:

#audio podcasts
audiofeed.Web,Podcasts=http://podcasts.engadget.com/rss.xml
audiofeed.Web,Sirius=http://192.168.1.101:51710/sirius/feed?category=&genre=&format=m3u
audiofeed.Web,XM=http://192.168.1.101:51710/xm/feed?category=&genre=&format=m3u

The IP address will be different depending on how your LAN is configured.

To get the correct addresses for your feeds you can either just substitute the static IP of your PC running PS3 Media Server or go to SiriusXMStreamer and click on the "Sirius Channels" and "XM Channels", select "Feeds" then directly to the right using the drop down arrow, choose "Copy URL M3U" and paste the info into your "WEB.CONF.

Restart the PS3 Media Server and both feeds should appear under "WEB - Sirius / XM". Somehow the feed shows a total run time of 1:45:32. When it reaches this time lapse, it will automatically move to the next feed.

Sometimes Java is causing trouble

The Java Runtime Environment (JRE) or management of memory for JRE is causing trouble in some systems:

You may change memory usage in "pms.bat" (Windows) or "pms.sh" (Linux). Open file named before with text editor and change value for memory "-Xmx768M" (standard is 768M = 768 Megabyte), save file and start PMS by using the file.

Have a look at hanging Java processes ("javaw.exe"). Maybe you have to kill not responding Java processes or restart your computer.

Also have a look at the value for transcode buffer. If it is very high (e.g. 600 MB) you only have 168MB left for PMS itself and its database. You may have to increase the -Xmx value. This is also valid if you use plugins like PS3radio which load a lot of radio stations in web.conf. Enabling iTunes in PMS may also cause this problem.