Playstation 3 Media Server Setup

LEVEL TWO: Connect to your computers

Go into the PS3’s Settings menu and navigate to Network Settings – Media Server Connection, and select Enabled. This allows the PS3 to detect networked computers running Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) server software.

Playstation Media Server Connection

WINDOWS XP/Vista: Windows users have a number of useful options when it comes to serving media files from their PCs. Windows Media Player 11 still stands as the go-to option since it comes preinstalled with Windows, but a number of third-party applications also exist that offer better file compatibility and more advanced features. TVersity and PS3 Media Server are two extremely popular packages that both transcode file formats the PS3 doesn’t natively support. For instance, the PlayStation 3 doesn’t natively support playback of lossless FLAC files, but PS3 Media Server will transcode them into other compatible formats on the fly.

We used Windows Media Player 11 for our guide due to the simplified setup and broad install base – you probably have it on your PC already.

Open WMP, right-click on Library, and select Media Sharing. Check the box next to “Share my media to:” and select either PlayStation 3 or Unknown Device (if the former doesn’t appear).

WMP 11 Library Menu

Media Sharing in WMP 11

MAC OS X: UPnP software is available for Mac OS X, too. We used Nullriver’s MediaLink ($20, www.nullriver.com) because it’s quick and painless. The freeware we looked at generally required familiarity with Unix commands.
After downloading and installing the software, you access the interface in System Preferences.

Mac MediaLink System Preferences

Click on Start to begin UPnP sharing; you can also use this screen to configure the software to limit access to specific items like iTunes playlists or iPhoto albums.

Mac Media Sharing

Once sharing is enabled, go to the Devices tab and verify that either “PlayStation 3″ or “Unsupported device” is listed in the pane.You should also see a MediaLink icon in your Mac’s menu bar; you can start and stop sharing or open the preferences pane from there.

Mac Media Sharing Devices