Plex on Raspberry Pi troubles

Recently, I decided to run Plex on Raspberry Pi for a couple of reasons. And it went well. At first.

To briefly recap, I maintain a Plex server for a family member. It went out, and I gave them access to some of the content on mine while I work on theirs. Well, it turns out their computer is toast. Not sure what happened, but we have a situation that will be expensive to replace.

As I said, they have access to some of the content on my Plex server, so they're up and running, relieving pressure while I deal with this in my spare time. And, since I recently did a couple of Raspberry Pi projects, I thought I would try it as a Plex server. And the initial results were promising. Now, I've run into some issue. And some weird issues, at that.

First, I'm new to Raspberry Pi, so I'm not as familiar with all the peculiarities of what can go wrong. And since it's been years, close to two decades, since I've even touched Linux, I'm finding that catching up is harder than I thought it would be. And, throw in that this is the first time I've tried something like this, and I'm not sure when things go wrong, that my troubleshooting is up to standard. I'm treading slowly, because I'm learning and troubleshooting at the same time, not troubleshooting with what I already know. I'm not always clear what results to expect, since I'm a little outside my element. But hey, that's half the fun, right?

Anyway, after a couple of days, videos began to crash. I had loaded videos from my Plex server on to the external drive so I could do some testing. I put full length movies, some short films (Looney Tunes, etc), and TV shows. After initial testing of a movie or two, I decided to set up a series to autoplay. That is, when one finishes, the next starts. I don't normally do it this way, but for testing purposes, I thought it a good idea. I let it run while I didn't watch, just listened for audio so I knew it was playing. Stress testing it, if you will.

Well, videos started crashing. Then the device itself wouldn't play after an update. So, back to the drawing board.

I've got to do some serious study of this and figure out what's going on. If a Raspberry Pi can be a reliable Plex server, that's a big deal to me. But I'm not sure if that is something that can be a part of my Streaming Life.

USLF schedule announced

I'm still trying to decide if I care about the USFL. The startup league seems to be banking on a nostalgia factor with some football fans, although that really doesn't make much sense.

The original USFL played for three seasons in the 1980s and included some players that were later NFL or CFL stars, such as Herschel Walker, Jim Kelly, Doug Flutie, Reggie White, and Steve Young, among others. Since Jacksonville was close by, the Bulls, which existed during the league's final two seasons, were my team, and I enjoyed the hours I spent in the Gator Bowl watching them play.

But am I really anybody's target audience any more? Probably not. But this new USFL seems to be banking on that old league to at least some degree, with all eight teams using names and logos from the old league.

I won't spend much time wondering why. I'm still undecided on whether or not the league is something I care about, but it is something somebody cares about. And when the league announced their opening week schedule recently, I was quite remiss in not covering it. I don't know how important this league will be, but I should have covered that. I'm fixing that now.

The USFL schedule for the first week of the season was announced, and there will be a Saturday night game, and three Sunday afternoon games. All games will be broadcast on either Fox, NBC, Peacock, USA, or FS1.

The inaugural season will kick off Saturday, April 16, when the New Jersey Generals face the Birmingham Stallions at 7:30 p.m. ET in a game that will be simulcast nationally on FOX, NBC and Peacock.

The USFL will then showcase a tripleheader on Sunday, April 17, with the Houston Gamblers meeting the Michigan Panthers at noon ET, the Philadelphia Stars playing the New Orleans Breakers at 4 p.m. ET and the Tampa Bay Bandits battling the Pittsburgh Maulers at 8 p.m. ET.

It would be nice to see the league succeed, if for no other reason than more games will be available for sports fans. And, all of the games will be available streaming.

Now we know when this new league will enter my, and maybe your, Streaming Life.

Are these deals good deals?

Everybody likes to save money. Well, maybe not everybody, because I don't know everybody. But I don't know anyone who doesn't like a good deal.

Sometimes, the deal is on something we've been thinking about anyway. Sometimes the deal is about something that never crossed our minds, but now they have our attention. Which was the idea, after all. So a deal will catch our eye.

However, since many of the people I know are older -- the ones that are still alive, that is -- have been around the block a time or two, when we squint our eyes and wonder what's really going on.

We know there's a reason for the deal, and it's probably not that they are just giving stuff away. There's a reason. They know it. We know. They know we know it. And we know they know we know it. It's a game. Well, kinda. And there will probably be a winner. Best outcome is both are winners. That doesn't always happen, as you know. And if you don't know, you'll eventually find out.

So, when this game is played, it usually involves some company offering a really good price on something. And some of us wonder what's really going on, and we squint our eyes.

There are actually two reasons for us squinting our eyes. First, it's a reaction to someone telling you something you're not sure you believe. You probably do it. And if you don't, you will. Trust me. (You that doubt me just squinted your eyes, didn't you? Told ya so.)

The second reason? To read the fine print. There's always fine print. And that's where this really good deal turns out to be for someone else. We don't quality for some reason. "Offer valid only days that do not end in 'Y'" or something like that.

Every now and then, though, there is no fine print that removes the offer from us. We "qualify" for the offer. So what then? Is this good deal, that actually is for us, a good deal? Well, yeah, sometimes. But sometimes not. And in streaming, you really have to be careful.

Of course, you should always be careful, but streaming is still relatively new. Ten years ago, I was a veteran streamer. But I was also part of a very small minority of people: streamers. Put it this way. When I started streaming, Netflix was primarily a DVD service. Think about that.

In the last few years, streaming has really taken off. But it's still a new landscape. Not a virgin landscape, but not a slutty one either. But there are people who will offer wonderful opportunities that aren't all that wonderful.

Here's one I saw recently, and I'll use it as an example. I'm not picking on them, but ... well, okay, maybe I am.

So, what's the problem? Well, this is from Amazon. It lets you subscribe to Epix from within the Amazon app, or on your Amazon Fire TV device.

Still not seeing the problem? Here's what you're not seeing. This subscription can only be used on an Amazon device or within the Amazon app.

So, why is that a problem? Well, it may not be. If you are only going to use your Amazon Fire TV device to watch Epix, then fine. Or if you are only going to use the Amazon app to watch Epix, then fine. But if you try to use the Epix app on your Roku, then you are out of luck. You're also unable to watch on Apple TV, on Google/Android TV, on your iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Android tablet, Web browser, and so on. You are locked in to Amazon to use the subscription.

Now, if that's not a problem, then that's not a problem, and that means it's a very good deal.

Oh, and while I used Amazon and Epix in this example, this is also true for deals through Roku, to include the Roku Channel. This isn't directly solely against Amazon. This isn't actually directed against anyone. It's simply a reminder to look at all the details and thing it all through.

Sometimes these deals can indeed be great deals, and make your Streaming Life easier. But not always.

AMC+ again

Some months back, I looked at subscribing to AMC+. I was undecided about it. They were running a really good special that worked out to around $2/month for a one year subscription. Regular price is around $9/month. I considered it because three months at regular price is more than one year at the discount. But, I couldn't decide, which means I actually did decide, because the special went away, meaning I decided no.

Fast forward to this month. A family member likes Outlander, an AMC show that is apparently a big hit. The only thing I know about it is a lead character is a Scotsman during the Jacobite Rising, and he's named after a Doctor Who character and actor. Yes, Jamie Fraser is named for Fraser Hines' character of Jamie McCrimmon, who met the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) at the Battle of Culloden. Jamie was one of my favorite Doctor Who characters, so when some other TV show named a character after him and the actor who played him, I became aware.

Anyway, she likes the show, and I said I would subscribe. Well, I went to subscribe, and I couldn't. That wasn't really a bad thing, because it turns out I had already subscribed. Remember when I said I couldn't make up my mind and then waited too late? Yeah, that's how I remembered it, but that's not how it happened. Turns out I had subscribed for a year for $24. So, I didn't need to spend $9/month for the next three months to have Outlander for her to watch. I had it all along.

Which means that I had it all along. I could have been watching it and trying it out. Well, last weekend, I did. I started watching Ragdoll, a British series. It's interesting. I'll watch some more, just to give it a full examination.

I'm not sure how I'll like it overall. I mean, I've had it for about four months and didn't remember. So now I have some catching up to do. I'll watch it for a bit, and decide if I want to keep it after November. I doubt that I will, simply because of the way I rotate subscriptions, but it is something I will consider.

All these months, my Streaming Life could have had AMC+ in it. Boy do I feel silly.

Roku and Private Channels

For a while, Roku allowed a group of apps that didn't go through Roku's app certification process. They still do, but with enough restrictions that you can say that they don't. Let me explain.

First, understand that Roku doesn't refer to apps by the term "apps." Roku calls them "channels," but they're apps. You call them apps. I call them apps. Roku calls them channels. In Rokuland, channels = apps. Mostly.

Roku allowed Private Channels, also called Non-Certified Channels, on the platform. But here's the thing. Private/Non-certified Channels/Apps were not supposed to be forever and ever. You see, Roku wants to do this little thing called making money.

Apple makes a lot of money from services and subscriptions. Most of their money isn't from selling Macs or iPhones. It's from the services that come along with that. Apple gets a cut of any sales or subscriptions purchased through their App Store. And that is the source of most of Apple's money.

Roku is similar in that it makes money from sales and subscriptions through its system. Roku Pay, as they call it, allows you to easily purchase or subscribe to content. It also makes it easier for Roku to get a cut of that sweet sweet subscription money.

To get an app in Roku's Channel Store, the developer must offer purchases and subscriptions through Roku Pay. Now, this does not mean the user can only subscribe via Roku Pay. The user could still subscribe directly to the service using their Web browser, for instance, and use those credentials to log in to the app and use the service on Roku. But, Roku requires them to include Roku Pay as an option. Private/non-certified apps don't go through the certification process, and Roku gets nothing from them.

So why would Roku even allow private/non-certified apps? Well, now they don't. Not really. But they did in order to allow the developer to put the app out there and work all the bugs out before getting it certified and into the Channel Store. It was a huge unrestricted beta app program.

Here's where it all fell apart. App developers would develop apps (duh) and put them into the private/non-certified app library. Users could enter a code and install the app on their system. That's great, right? Well, not for Roku. Remember, Roku is in business to make money. Same reason everyone in business is in business. And these private/non-certified apps don't generate money if they never get certified and moved into the Channel Store.

So, why didn't these developers move their apps into the Channel Store? Three main reasons.

1. Laziness. They didn't go through the trouble of coding the app to the standards Roku set forth. Some private apps actually caused problems for some Roku devices. Some couldn't be removed from the devices. Standards reduced the threat of apps causing problems. Plus they ensure Roku Pay works and Roku gets its share of subscription money.
2. Greed. If the app is moved to the Channel Store, they have to include the ability to use Roku Pay. That means Roku gets a cut of the subscriptions. If the app isn't in the Channel Store, then Roku doesn't get a cut. The developer gets around it, mooching off of Roku's platform.
3. Incompetence. Some app developers simply can't code well enough to get their app into the Channel Store. If coding was easy, everyone would do it. But it's not. And for some, it's too hard. Sometimes, the developer doesn't want to go through the trouble (see Laziness) but sometimes the developer just isn't good enough of a developer to make it happen. The tough word for this is incompetence.
4. Other. Probably other reasons too. So more than three, but I only went into three. Sue me.

What Roku did was to revamp their system. They still allow non-certified apps, but they call them "beta apps" and there are a lot of restrictions.

• Developers can have only 10 beta apps at a time.
• Only 20 users can have any one beta app at a time.
• Each app has a life of 120 days, then *poof* it goes away.

I personally think the 20 users restriction is too low, but it is what it is.

So if your precious app that you need or your entire world falls apart and you find yourself on the ledge of a building, now you know why.

Oh, and if your Streaming Life depends on non-certified Roku apps, you're doing it wrong.