Channels & viewing

[LarryPrebis]

I just purchased a Roku Ultra and using the media player app I can see all of the movies on my computer hard drive that is setup using Windows 10 media server.  However I cannot see any of my playlists that I created in the past.  My old WD Live could see and play them.   Any suggestions??  They are .PLS files.

Thanks

Larry Prebis

[AvsGunnar]

@LarryPrebis 

From the Roku Support article https://support.roku.com/article/208754908 (How to use Roku Media Player to play your videos, music and photos)...

Support for playlists
Roku Media Player supports .pls, .m3u and .m3u8 playlists on a USB drive. The media in the playlist should have an extension that indicates the media type, for example .mp3, .mkv, .jpg, etc. Playlist entries can also point to a URL. Make sure the URL begins with http:// and the extension should indicate the media type. If the playlist entry does not have a recognizable extension, it will be treated as a video and will try to detect the actual media type when it starts playing. Some DLNA servers will convert playlist files to folders that the Roku Media Player can access using DLNA.

----

Is the above what is occuring to you?

---

If not, maybe try rescanning the DLNA server (reboot and rescan), and "back-out" of the Roku Media Player (RMP) one level at a time. (Do not press Home button, use the Back button located upper left on Roku remote).  Then when you go into each folder forward, this will refresh/recycle any changes you make.

I will mention that on my MiniDLNA server, I cannot see M3U or PLS files either on my RMP, so may be a setting or just a limitation of my router's DLNA.  I can see M3U and PLS if I directly connect the drive to the Ultra 4660 and use RMP.  Since I don't use Playlists, I really haven't explored too much why this occurs.  If i really need to, I could just use another media player to connect to the drive, see the Playlists, and then send it to the TV.

-----

If still having issues, feel free to post back.  Perhaps @atc98092 can keep an eye on this thread and offer some insight for you.

[atc98092]

To be charitable, Windows Media Server is "lacking" in their capabilities. I never bothered using it, mostly because it doesn't transcode a lot of media, and Roku devices only support a small handful of codecs and containers. There are other DLNA servers available for Windows (most free), and there's also some dedicated servers that have Roku channels, such as Emby and Plex. However, Plex doesn't support playlist files (it does have internal playlists, but can't use PLS files), and I don't believe Emby does either. 

I have used Serviio for over ten years now. Disclaimer: I am the author of the Roku profiles that are included with Serviio, and I am a forum moderator there. Serviio works great with playlist files in the PLS and M3U format. For home use, the free version is all you need. But there is a paid version that provides access remotely via a web based player.

If you want to give Serviio a try, remember you have to manually select the Roku profile for your player. I never could get them to auto assign correctly. For any current 4K Roku player, you should use the "Roku 4K Media Player w/MPEG2" profile. 

[Zokage269s]

After having the same issue and doing some troubleshooting, I decided to find this question to answer.

For some reason, windows DLNA won't detect playlists unless they're in the "Playlists" folder within the "Music" folder. Why do why do they do this? idk.

Also, it only will pick up on .m3u files with

"#EXTM3
#[playlist title].m3u8"

in the header.
Again, I don't know why. Ask Microsoft.

[atc98092]

This is going to depend on your DLNA server. I can't speak about how Windows Media Server might read them, but for Serviio here's an example of a complete M3U playlist which works just fine on Roku devices as well as other players. This playlist was created with Playlist Creator 3.6 for Windows. It hasn't been updated in ages, but still seems to work just fine for me.

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:6507, - - fish called WANDA
..\A Fish Called Wanda (1988).mkv
#EXTINF:5263, - - AIRPLANE
..\Airplane! (1980).mkv
#EXTINF:6524, - -
F:\Video3\Animal House (1978).mkv
#EXTINF:5526, - - Beetlejuice (1988)
F:\Video3\Beetlejuice (1988).mkv
#EXTINF:6252, - - BIG
..\Big (1988).mkv
#EXTINF:5881, - - CADDYSHACK CE
G:\Media\Movies\Caddyshack (1980).mkv
#EXTINF:5810, - - CLUE
..\Clue (1985).mkv
#EXTINF:5809, - - CROSSING DELANCEY
F:\Video3\Crossing Delancey (1988).mkv
#EXTINF:8390, - - Death on the Nile
..\Death on the Nile (1978).mkv
#EXTINF:7927, - -
F:\Video3\Die Hard (1988).m2ts
#EXTINF:7711, - - DIEHARD with a v
..\Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995).mkv
#EXTINF:6359, - - Dragnet (1987)
F:\Video3\Dragnet (1987).mkv
#EXTINF:5711, - - EDDIe and the CRUISERS
..\Eddie And The Cruisers (1983).mkv
#EXTINF:5192, - -
I:\Media\Movies_8\Recorded TV\Eye of the Needle (1981).ts
#EXTINF:5372, - -
F:\Video3\Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).mkv
#EXTINF:0, - -
I:\Media\Movies_8\Recorded TV\Firefox (1982).ts
#EXTINF:6449, - - Future World
F:\Video3\Futureworld (1976).mkv
#EXTINF:6308, - -
..\Ghostbusters (1984).m2ts
#EXTINF:6629, - - Grease
G:\Media\Movies\Grease (1978).mkv
#EXTINF:5452, - -
I:\Media\Movies_8\Recorded TV\Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989).mpg
#EXTINF:6192, - - Little Shop of Horrors
..\Little Shop of Horrors (1986).mkv
#EXTINF:5678, - - Murder by Death
F:\Video3\Murder by Death (1976).mkv
#EXTINF:6340, - -
I:\Media\Movies_8\Recorded TV\Murphy's Romance (1985).mp4
#EXTINF:6562, - - NINE_TO_5
..\Nine to Five (1980).mkv
#EXTINF:5355, - - OFFICE SPACE
..\Office Space (1999).mkv
#EXTINF:6727, - - OVERBOARD
..\Overboard (1987).mkv
#EXTINF:5509, - -
I:\Media\Movies_8\Recorded TV\Perry Mason Returns (1985).mkv
#EXTINF:7472, - - PLEASANTVILLE
G:\Media\Movies\Pleasantville (1998).mkv
#EXTINF:5803, - -
G:\Media\Movies\Pretty in Pink (1986).mkv
#EXTINF:6166, - - Robocop
F:\Video3\RoboCop (1987).mkv
#EXTINF:5513, - - Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion
..\Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997).mkv
#EXTINF:5384, - -
I:\Media\Movies_8\Recorded TV\Seems Like Old Times (1980).mp4
#EXTINF:7138, - - SHALL WE DANCE
..\Shall We Dance (1996).mkv
#EXTINF:6391, - -
G:\Media\Movies\Signs (2002).mkv
#EXTINF:5759, - -
G:\Media\Movies\Smokey and the Bandit (1977).mpg
#EXTINF:5772, - - Spaceballs
I:\Media\Movies_8\Mel Brooks\Spaceballs (1987).mkv
#EXTINF:7376, - - Stripes - Extended Cut
G:\Media\Movies\Stripes (1981).mkv
#EXTINF:5850, - - SUMMER_SCHOOL
..\Summer School (1987).mkv
#EXTINF:9086, - -
F:\Video3\Superman (1978).m2ts
#EXTINF:5564, - - support your local SHERIFF
..\Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969).mkv
#EXTINF:7396, - -
I:\Media\Movies_8\Recorded TV\Taps (1981).mp4
#EXTINF:6156, - -
G:\Media\Movies\Telefon (1977).mpg
#EXTINF:5744, - - Tremors
G:\Media\Movies\Tremors (1990).mkv
#EXTINF:5747, - - Tron
I:\Media\Movies_8\Sci-Fi\TRON (1982).mkv
#EXTINF:5865, - - BLACK_HOLE_
..\The Black Hole (1979).mkv
#EXTINF:7528, - - the HINDBRG
G:\Media\Movies\The Hindenburg (1975).mkv
#EXTINF:5101, - -
F:\Video3\The Naked Gun From the Files of Police Squad! (1988).mkv
#EXTINF:5588, - -
I:\Media\Movies_8\Recorded TV\The Odd Couple (1968).mp4
#EXTINF:5902, - -
G:\Media\Movies\The Princess Bride (1987).mpg
#EXTINF:6176, - - The Truman Show
F:\Video3\The Truman Show (1998).mkv
#EXTINF:6993, - -
G:\Media\Movies\The War of the Roses (1989).mkv
#EXTINF:4966, - - This Is Spinal Tap
..\This Is Spinal Tap (1984).mkv
#EXTINF:5406, - - TOP SECRET (1984)
G:\Media\Movies\Top Secret! (1984).mkv
#EXTINF:8448, - - TRUE LIES
..\True Lies (1994).mkv
#EXTINF:5979, - - UNCLE_BUCK
G:\Media\Movies\Uncle Buck (1989).mkv
#EXTINF:6761, - - Used Cars
G:\Media\Movies\Used Cars (1980).mkv
#EXTINF:5023, - - Waiting for Guffman
..\Waiting for Guffman (1996).mkv
#EXTINF:6765, - - Wargames
G:\Media\Movies\WarGames (1983).mkv
#EXTINF:5340, - - WESTWORLD
G:\Media\Movies\Westworld (1973).mkv
#EXTINF:6233, - - WHO_FRAMED_ROGER_RABBIT
..\Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).mkv
#EXTINF:6341, - -
I:\Media\Movies_8\Mel Brooks\Young Frankenstein (1974).m2ts