Nvidia Shield Pro (2015) as media server?

[Marisa Herzog]

Hi!
I'm new here, so please bear with me

I am a life time Plex user using the Nvidia Shield Pro (2015) as a media server for a very long time, i.e. before I bought the Shield in 2015 and I'm just fed up with Plex giving me the run around after every update. The April update killed it again and so I'm looking for alternatives.

I tried to find out if Jellyfin would work as an android media server and I found very old answers stating that it only works as a client on the Nvidia Shield. Is this still the case or is there a possibility to run it as a server on the Shield with an external harddisk connected to it?

As I don't need any outside connection and only use it as a home entertainment system with me as the sole user, I really don't want to go through the hassle to set up an external NAS. I don't need live TV as well, as I cut the cord many years ago and never looked back.

I would appreciate a relatively easy search for subtitles as well, as some of my family members are hearing impaired.

Thank you for any clarifying comments!

[Serge K]

It seems to me that Plex for Nvidia Shield is also client not server. Where do you store your media library?
If you have notebook with windows you can install Jellyfin server on it and install Jellyfin client on your Shield.

[Marisa Herzog]

Hi Serge!

As I said, I want to continue using the Shield as my media server. I'm not going to setup a separate machine as it works absolutely fine.

So my question remains... possible or not with Jellyfin?

[TheDreadPirate]

As long as it is running an OS the server supports, I don't see why not. You can run Jellyfin on a Raspberry Pi. Not too different in terms of instruction set from an Nvidia Shield.

If your shield is running Android TV, AFAIK, there is no easy way to make our server run on it.

[Marisa Herzog]

So that's a 'no it won't work on an Nvidia Shield as a media server', TheDreadPirate?

Or, asked the other way round, where can I see the supported OSs? And would I find Android there?

[niels]

We do not build the server for Android. While technically possible, it would require additional changes to the server and in the end only a few Android devices are performant enough to run a media server.

So no it is not possible to run the Jellyfin server on your Nvidia Shield.

[Marisa Herzog]

Thanks niels, I'm sad to hear that but at last a clear answer although a raspberry isn't much more performant as a Shield Pro which was fine to run Plex media server for years.

Seems I'll have to stick with Plex, unwillingly, or just install VLC player and call it a day.

[daryl425]

It seems to me that Plex for Nvidia Shield is also client not server. Where do you store your media library?
If you have notebook with windows you can install Jellyfin server on it and install Jellyfin client on your Shield.

That's not true. The Shield Pro 2015 also comes with a Plex Media Server instance that customers can use to serve their library. You can attach an SSD to it or, like I do, connect it to a CIFS NAS. So asking about a Jellyfin Server for Shield TV feature request is not unreasonable. As to why I would prefer this over Plex - Jellyfin feels more private.

[daryl425]

Thanks niels, I'm sad to hear that but at last a clear answer although a raspberry isn't much more performant as a Shield Pro which was fine to run Plex media server for years.

Seems I'll have to stick with Plex, unwillingly, or just install VLC player and call it a day.

I want this as well, but i think the big challenge for the Jellyfin team is not only the architecture change to Android but, for our use case, the need to rebuild ffmpeg for the Tegra X1 chip and support their features. My suggestion is to use a cheaper low power Intel or AMD mini PC that supports QuickSync or has an AMD GPU and install Jellyfin Server there (or use the Docker version!). I do that today on a machine that draws 12W with Docker and DietPi, and it runs great, transcoding at about 3x the speed of Shield TV Pro.