Many Windows Home Server users have experienced issues playing media files on their Playstation 3 consoles - this is due to the fact that the PS3 does not support Windows Media Connect, the media serving software embedded in Windows Home Server.
Up until recently, the solution to this was to install Packet Video’s PVConnect/TwonkyMedia DLNA-compliant media serving software, which works well with the PS3. However, a recent software update by Sony changed the UPnP handshake string that it sends out to identify itself to media streamers. This caused the PS3 to once again be unable to play files from Windows Home Server.
WGS Forum user ctewsley posted a fix for this issue over at our forums.
Below are the steps to follow for getting PVConnect / Twonky to recognize your PS3 correctly again:
1) Open a remote desktop connection to your home server.
2) From windows explorer go to the following path: C:\TwonkyMedia\resources
3) Open the file clients.db (use notepad don’t worry its just a text file)
4) You will find an entry marked ID:060 It will look like this
ID:060
NA:PS3
HH:PLAYSTATION3
DB:FIX
XM:DLNA10
XM:DATETIME
DL:MP4DLNA
HP:chunked
MT:mpeg,mpeg2,vdr,spts,tp,ts video/mpeg
MT:m4a audio/mp4
MT:avi,divx video/avi
AV:no-m3u
5) You need to put a space between PLAYSTATION and 3 so it should look like this: PLAYSTATION 3
6) Exit notepad saving your changes.
7) From the windows home server console select PVConnect
Select the Media Receivers Tab
9) Click on reset list
10) From the PS3 scan for media center under any of the Photo / Music / Video search for media centers or whatever it is
After that PVConnect (aka Twonky) will recognize the PS3 as a PS3 and your video problem will be solved.
Let us know how you get on with this fix.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Hello!
I don’t have a problem using Windows Media Connect to stream media to my PS3. It’s worked since day one. Matter of fact, I only ever used Windows Media Connect from a Vista environment before I purchased Windows Home Server.
My two cents…
July 25th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Same as above, i had terrible trouble trying to get music to stream from my desktop pc to my ps3. But streaming the same music collection from my home server to my ps3 has been faultless. Nice to know there is alternatives if i get a problem though
July 26th, 2008 at 2:08 am
And Twonky works great streaming VOB’s with dvd quality. DVDFab Platinum works well converting…
July 26th, 2008 at 6:16 am
For me, PVConnect is about the crappiest piece of crap I’ve ever seen. It’s like some terrible alpha version that some 9-year-old with an IQ of 47 put together. So many things it does wrong:
1. Can’t determine it’s a PS3 (2.41) I’ve got hooked up to the network (yes, even after fiddling with the clients.db file). Have to pick that manually from the list. Lame.
2. Can’t stream about 9954 of the 10,000-ish video files I’ve got (primarily DivX and Xvid). Although it does play a Matrix trailer I had from 2003, so maybe I shouldn’t complain so much.
3. Can’t even identify the “Photos” directory on the MSS as the main directory containing photos, which of course it is. PVConnect instead fixates on some obscure, buried sub-sub-subdirectory (that has only 16 photos in it) as the main photo directory. Huh??
OK, that’s only three things that it does wrong. But they’re pretty big things. Sorta like a baseball player not being able to hit, catch, or throw.
Good thing I’ve got an HTPC, because PVConnect is a steaming pile.
August 4th, 2008 at 6:25 am
Terry…You are the man!! I installed firmware 2.42 on my PS3 and all of the sudden my streaming was broken. I have spent hours pulling out my hair and cursing Sony.
You fix did the trick! Thanks a bunch…
August 4th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Well, I got it working. At least mostly. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling PVConnect, but that didn’t help. What did help was to uninstall PVConnect *and* the McAfee thing, then reinstall PVConnect before reinstalling McAfee. Then I re-modified clients.db as instructed, and now everything seems to work the way everybody else’s did from the start.
I still maintain PVConnect isn’t that great, but at least now it’s for reasons everyone else can confirm for themselves, rather than some anomalous behaviour only I was experiencing.