How to setup Windows Home Server and the Playstation 3

These instructions explain what is needed to get your PS3 and Windows Home Server integrated and working together. The outcome of setting these things up to work together is that you can view pictures, listen to music, and watch videos you store on your server (only certain formats are supported by the PS3).

Assumptions before you start following these instructions you should have:


Both the server and the PS3 should be on the same network. If you have more than one router in your home and these devices are not sharing the same router, this will require more advanced networking setup than what is covered.
•You should have windows home server up and running ok on your network, same goes for PS3.
•You should have access to your server’s media shares (music, photos, videos …etc) from a local personal computer.
•The PS3 must be on firmware version 1.8 or later. If you are not sure about this, go into the system update section and double check. (This firmware was released a while ago, but if you have a new PS3 you will need to make sure it gets updated. See ps3 docs for more info.)

Ok… Here you go….

1.Start the windows home server console. Go into the settings section (use the settings button in the upper right corner). Highlight the “Media Sharing” item on the left, and make sure the shares you want to use for sharing your media with are turned on. (note: you can only use the shares listed for media sharing). Click on ok / save your changes and you can now exit the home server console.

2.Next, place some media on the shares you are interested in. You might have iTunes media aggregation already placing some files on your music share, but just make sure you have some media on your shares. A JPG image on the Photos share and an mp3 on the Music share are the best test files.

3.Go into your PS3, and access the Settings > Network Settings > Media Server Connection menu. Make sure this is set to enable, save your settings.

4.(Optional). Go into the Settings > System Settings > Enable WMA Playback. This will make it so windows media music files can be played on your PS3.
NOTE: When ripping WMA files, I typically try to remove the DRM settings and have not validated all the DRM stuff. Also, the latest WMA file formats (i.e. pro) don’t seem to work well on the PS3, so try to pick plain old wma or stick with mp3.

5.Ok… now here is the good stuff… go into your ps3 and view Photos / Music (whatever you shared), and you should see your media server listed. If not, you might have to initially search for your media server.

Other tips
•When you download videos from the Playstation Store, save them to a usb memory stick (or move existing videos on your usb media stick). Then use the USB stick in your pc to move these files to your video share. This will help you from eating too much space on your PS3 if you like to download video trailers / previews.

Common Issues:
•PS3 does not support many video file formats. See the following link:
http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/video/filetypes.html
• PS3 does not support many audio file formats (not huge issue for me, but some people might have problems). See the following link:
[url]http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/music/filetypes.html
[/url]• I can’t find my server listed on my PS3. Either:
oYou don’t have media sharing turned on within the server. Use the home server console to fix.
oYou have your server on a separate network / router than your PS3. Either put them on the same network (router), or get your own in house IT staff .

Hi Pete, thanks a lot for your contribution! I've not personally tried this since I don't have a PS3, but I've used my Xbox360 with WHS. I hope this benefits our visitors!

Now if only there was a simple guarantee way of getting other non-PS3 supported formats to transcode and play on the PS3.. I've tried Nero Media home and Tversity with only bits and pieces of success...

my mediasmart gets discovered easily by the ps3, but there are some issues i can't figure out.

first, i decided to use the mediasmart as my primary itunes location for my desktop. at first it was a problem, but now it appears to be working. just mapped it as a z drive. a problem i'm encountering though, is that when i view "album" on the ps3, 2 copies of each file show up. i'm assuming this has to do with replication, but it just shouldn't happen.

second, and the bigger pain, is playlists. for some reason, the ps3 does not properly play back the itunes m3u playlists. it took me quite a while to discover that you can't just hit play or start on the files within the playlist. you actually have to select a file, hit option, then play. weird. even worse, every playlist stops playing after the second song.

here's a random question too. i know that playlists in itunes can be linked to radio stations. is there a way to create a playlist linking to a station and accessing it via my ps3 to play through my tv or stereo? it seems like it should work, or that it can, but i don't think it's possible now.

any ideas would be great! thanks.

I have the same problem with the "one song at a time" issue.

it seems to be related to the latest 2.01 PS3 firmware. I play one song, and then it stops playing, waiting for the next song.... it does not do this with CD's in the drive.... just the networked audio stuff....

earlier firmware versions worked ok for me.... I am not sure what happened, but seems to be related to a PS3 firmware version.

They should be adding divx in the next few weeks, and I bet they will have the media streaming stuff fixed with this release.

I have also tried your radio station stuff... but instead I installed TVersity media server.... it has a bunch of internet radio (plus TV) channels that show up... but I could not get it working with my PS3 either.... not sure if it was something I did or the software settings or device problems....

ah, lovely. is there a way to reset the firmware on a ps3 or is it too late since it's already updated?

sony forums state there is no way... even with a system restore...



I will try to do some more tinkering to get this working better.... it could be a media server / streamer fix could help this as well...

it's too bad this isn't more smooth... the ps3 user interface is such a sweet looking dma, as opposed to the box of crayola's that is the xbox ui

i did post the issue on firefly and they say it's not them. they say it's the ps3 or whs.

I got my PS3 connected to my server tonight. It works, but the PS3 interface, and acceptable formats is sooo limiting, it's not going to do me any good.

You can't fast forward or reverse through video. The only videos in my collection that showed up were mpeg, and I don't have many of those.

mine does connect as well, but the primary issue is advancing through playlists properly (for music). have you gotten that working?

i have managed to find a ps3 at firmware 1.9 (1.93 I think)... and it works fine for the music.

I think the firmware is the issue....

like i said... I think with divx support added, these issues should get resolved.

good. i was supposed to get a call back from a sony tech, but hasn't happened yet. i hope they do get it resolved. thanks again!

so we updated the older firmare to 2.01.... and it still works!

so then we also copied so mp3 files, encoded with windows media player, at 320kbs (highest quality) to the server... and they have this problem.

but the older files that worked were mp3 files, at something like 160kbps... and they still work fine.... it is unknown where the files where ripped from....

fyi....

now that's just plain odd. i'm at the office, so don't know what my bitrate is...i think it's 320 though. so, you're saying that 160 bitrate on the server, using an m3u playlist (also on the server) is working??? just not the higher bitrates for some reason?

I am using the music browser, browse to artist, then play a song for the artist..... the songs will continue to play for my lower bitrate song, but hang after the first bitrate song.

i believe the same thing will happen, regardless of msu playlist or how the list of music is generated.... it seems to be that the ps3 just hangs at the end of the played song.

from what I can tell.... it could be one of the following:
- higher bitrate
- what software originally ripped the file

I will go grab a cd and do some more testing.... will let you know....