Does Roku Have Playlist m3u Support?
The Roku Media Player is not recognizing the m3u playlist files that are links to the actual audio files on USB drive. Does Roku Ultra not support m3u files?
Forum Discussion
Hello,
I did a re-scan of the USB Drive. It then found my sample Playlist m3u however it wouldn't recognize links:
"No compatible media found in Playlist_Dan.m3u"
I created the playlist using Text Edit on MacOS:
/Volumes/KMUSIC/Phil Collins/The Singles Disc 2/05 Phil Collins - One More Night.mp3
/Volumes/KMUSIC/Poco/Legend/05 - Love Comes Love Goes.mp3
/Volumes/KMUSIC/Outfield, The/Play Deep/01 - Say It Isn't So.mp3
/Volumes/KMUSIC/Romantics, The/Super Hits/02 Talking In Your Sleep.mp3
/Volumes/KMUSIC/Jump, Little Children/Vertigo/09 - Words Of Wisdom.mp3
So these links work on MacOS but not on Roku. Is there a Universal way to specify folder path so works on all platforms?
Try creating a M3U playlist in the following format. (you should be able to use any text editor and just save as m3u file type.)
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:,One More Night.mp3
Volumes/KMUSIC/Phil Collins/The Singles Disc 2/05 Phil Collins - One More Night.mp3
#EXTINF:,Love Comes Love Goes.mp3
Volumes/KMUSIC/Poco/Legend/05 - Love Comes Love Goes.mp3
#EXTINF:,Say It Isn't So.mp3
Volumes/KMUSIC/Outfield, The/Play Deep/01 - Say It Isn't So.mp3
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In the above, make sure you specify the file is a M3U by including #EXTM3U at the head (first line) of playlist. In the #EXTINF line (this is the title that displays/shows), make sure to include the " , " before the title unless you include the length of the track/song (generally the number of seconds. A 3 min song would be formatted as #EXTINFO:90,SongName) You do not need to add a track length, but need this comma so the title will display.
Just have to make sure that your file tree structure is correct when using playlists with Roku. Different media players will treat different characters differently and Roku Media Player (RMP) can be a bit finicky.
Try eliminating that first " / " preceding "Volumes" directory in your m3u file and see if that is was your sticky point.
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There is a discussion on another thread https://community.roku.com/t5/Features-settings-updates/What-is-the-specific-usb-m3u-file-format-for-playlist-on-Ultra/m-p/853279 where the file folder location is discussed (with links to other threads as well for further info), and atc98092 addresses how to create PLS file formats if you want to try that playlist format as well.
I find PLS format playlists are simpler to create, although I use a free Windows program called Playlist Creator. It is capable of creating both M3U and PLS format playlists. It's far simpler than trying to create them yourself. One tiny typo and the entire list won't work.
Volumes with '/' and without '/' prefix makes no difference on Roku. Still doesn't recognize Playlist content:
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:,One More Night.mp3
Volumes/KMUSIC/Phil Collins/The Singles Disc 2/05 Phil Collins - One More Night.mp3
#EXTINF:,Love Comes Love Goes.mp3
Volumes/KMUSIC/Poco/Legend/05 - Love Comes Love Goes.mp3
#EXTINF:,Say It Isn't So.mp3
Volumes/KMUSIC/Outfield, The/Play Deep/01 - Say It Isn't So.mp3
#EXTINF:,Talking In Your Sleep.mp3
Volumes/KMUSIC/Romantics, The/Super Hits/02 Talking In Your Sleep.mp3
#EXTINF:,Words Of Wisdom.mp3
Volumes/KMUSIC/Jump, Little Children/Vertigo/09 - Words Of Wisdom.mp3Why doesn't Roku have Wiki on how to format Playlist for Roku Media Player? KMUSIC is the name of the USB drive.
What worked for me to play on Roku...remove Volumes and start with /Folder only. So like this
#EXTINF:,One More Night
/Phil Collins/The Singles Disc 2/05 Phil Collins - One More Night.mp3So /indicates root folder on USB then Phile Collins folder.
Unfortunately this doesn't work in VLC on MacOS. Wish there was a Standard to format for all OS's.
If I had to guess, when you connect your USB drive to the Roku, the directory mapping doesn't match what you have. Rather than a complete file path, instead use a relative path, such as ./KMUSIC.
Thanks for the Relative Path tip. I did that but had to also remove the Volume Name 'KMUSIC'. Now my playlist works on MacOS and Roku. Like this:
#EXTINF:,Words Of Wisdom
./Jump, Little Children/Vertigo/09 - Words Of Wisdom.mp3
