MiniDLNA media server

[rufwoof]

Hi,
I've installed minidlna on my Puppy Slacko... then restarted it... but how can I use it?
How can I see my samsung smart TV and viceversa

I've taken the more direct approach. TV VGA input from PC VGA output (nvidia card in my case). External HDD plugged into PC USB, download to/play anything on that directly from PC to TV. Option to unplug the HDD and plug it into the TV's USB and play movies via the TV's media browser.

In short, TV (32 inch £100 cost in my case) is PC's monitor.

[greengeek]

I'd imagined that I would see the server on the television Sources menu anyway, and from that the content of sdb1 as listed above. But I see no server.

Hi, could you list what the TV sees as possible sources please? (does it show Upnp or DLNA or "network services" or something similar?). As far as I understand it the dlna link is not like a normal network share it is a special protocol that should be listed separately. Maybe there is some other menu item which enables/disables some types of network services.
Also - have you ever had any dlna link running to this TV before?

Would some other instruction in the .conf file be needed to either wake MiniDLNA, or reveal those folders to the program?

I don't think so. The proramme will be aware of them but the question is whether or not the TV has the capabilities to search recursively. When I tried it I only made the media directory change that Shinobar suggested and my media player box was able to find the files, search recursively and play them on the TV. (OK my philips media box has different code to your TV but the principle is the same).
EDIT : - It would pay to check what port your TV expects a dlna link to be incoming on. If different to what is shown in your conf file then update the setting in the conf file.

Should I specify the path as .../mnt/sdb1/Photos and thereby wake it?

That should not be necessary but I think it is certainly worth a try. I imagine that different devices have different abilities in terms of recognising filesystems or folder/directory structures.

Are you able to post the contents shown in your terminal when you start the server? The hyphenated options you mentioned do not appear when I start the minidlna server here.

EDIT :If you continue to have problems I would recommend you try booting your Dell from a CD containing Slacko 5.6 (enter puppy pfix=ram at the boot prompt) and run the dlna server as mentioned in my previous post (it will also need the ffmpeg pet suggested by Shinobar). At least I know that combination works so it might be worth a trial if nothing else is successful.
.

[BJF]

Trapster: This is my .conf file. Comparing it to yours and expecting to look into sdb1, what do you see wrong with it. I notice for instance that my network interface to serve (fourth line) is commented out. Bingo?? Critique please, since in ignorance as a consumate file share Noob I only changed the path.

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# port for HTTP (descriptions, SOAP, media transfer) traffic
port=8200

# network interfaces to serve, comma delimited
#network_interface=eth0

# set this to the directory you want scanned.
# * if have multiple directories, you can have multiple media_dir= lines
# * if you want to restrict a media_dir to a specific content type, you
#   can prepend the type, followed by a comma, to the directory:
#   + "A" for audio  (eg. media_dir=A,/home/jmaggard/Music)
#   + "V" for video  (eg. media_dir=V,/home/jmaggard/Videos)
#   + "P" for images (eg. media_dir=P,/home/jmaggard/Pictures)
media_dir=/mnt/sdb1

# set this if you want to customize the name that shows up on your clients
#friendly_name=My DLNA Server

# set this if you would like to specify the directory where you want MiniDLNA to store its database and album art cache
#db_dir=/var/cache/minidlna

# set this if you would like to specify the directory where you want MiniDLNA to store its log file
#log_dir=/var/log

# this should be a list of file names to check for when searching for album art
# note: names should be delimited with a forward slash ("/")
album_art_names=Cover.jpg/cover.jpg/AlbumArtSmall.jpg/albumartsmall.jpg/AlbumArt.jpg/albumart.jpg/Album.jpg/album.jpg/Folder.jpg/folder.jpg/Thumb.jpg/thumb.jpg

# set this to no to disable inotify monitoring to automatically discover new files
# note: the default is yes
inotify=yes

# set this to yes to enable support for streaming .jpg and .mp3 files to a TiVo supporting HMO
enable_tivo=no

# set this to strictly adhere to DLNA standards.
# * This will allow server-side downscaling of very large JPEG images,
#   which may hurt JPEG serving performance on (at least) Sony DLNA products.
strict_dlna=no

# default presentation url is http address on port 80
#presentation_url=http://www.mylan/index.php

# notify interval in seconds. default is 895 seconds.
notify_interval=900

# serial and model number the daemon will report to clients
# in its XML description
serial=12345678
model_number=1

# specify the path to the MiniSSDPd socket
#minissdpdsocket=/var/run/minissdpd.sock

# use different container as root of the tree
# possible values:
#   + "." - use standard container (this is the default)
#   + "B" - "Browse Directory"
#   + "M" - "Music"
#   + "V" - "Video"
#   + "P" - "Pictures"
# if you specify "B" and client device is audio-only then "Music/Folders" will be used as root
#root_container=.
[code]

[/code]

[greengeek]

yes, uncomment the network eth0.

[trapster]

I would use:

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media_dir=/mnt/sdb1/Photos

if you indeed have a directory named "Photos" on sdb1.

Also, make sure sdb1 is mounted.

[BJF]

Greengeek: Answers...

I can see son's Windows laptop as his machine name in Sources menu on the tv, and can play photos from my Galaxy S2 by choosing it from Sources once I activate DLNA on it. Son won't let me near his laptop for fear of what I might discover! All this implies that the tv is alive and well and the server isn't.

The phone can be searched for video, photo, or music from the tv and once a choice has been made, open folders. It is definitely recursive then?

If I do / / minildna -restart I don't get the hyphen options! Curious... wonder where they came in then. Ah yes. Typed just minidlna and they appear.

A question then would be how do we know if it is running? The lack of error messages in terminal?

Trapster: Added the /Photos to the /mnt/sdb1 line, saved and did -restart in terminal. sdb1 is being mounted by PCManFM but is that only for itself and not the whole system? Does MiniDLNA need to mount it? And the fundamental question still remains: Why doesn't the tv see the server (yet)?

Cheers guys.

[trapster]

Most important is to see if it's actually running.
To check to see if it's running, type in a terminal:

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top 

or

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htop

I do not think the hyphen "-" works with minidlna -restart

I believe the proper command is:

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/etc/init.d/minidlna restart

I use

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minidlna &

in my /etc/rc.d/rc.local to have it start when booting.

what messages do you get in the terminal when you type

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minidlna -restart

[BJF]

Trapster: htop shows no sign at all of MiniDLNA as a running item.
If I type the restart with a hyphen, or without, there is equally no response.

Interestingly, my phone shows on the tv as an Allshare device and is completely searchable.

I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but i believe MiniDLNA isn't loading at all and won't tell me why.

Rufwoof: you might just have something there!

Thanks for your time, guys.

[greengeek]

Hi BJF - does your Dell have a CD drive? Could you temporarily boot from a Slacko 5.6 CD and try again? I feel you need to try a Puppy that is proven to work and then go back to your current Puppy. (you wont need to set up any of the usual network shares etc - just boot from CD, load the 2 pets and configure the conf file and it should work)

[gcmartin]

I know this thread discusses use of @Shinobar's PET for serving media to DLNA devices, but, @ETP has produced this PET.

His concept is that one can have a FULL USB dedicating to booting and serving DLNA protocol media files on the home LAN.

One needs to have a blank USB handy and if you follow these instructions, you are completed with a operational server ready for your use. Once booted it is reasonably simple to use. It has sample media files setup in the folders for DLNA. In this case, the user need do NOTHING and all is operational upon booting.

There should be no problem as a 5 yr/old PC is a 64bit PC.

I seem to remember another PUP offering containing DLNA built-in but my memory fails.

Hope this is helpful

[BJF]

THIS IS OFF-TOPIC.

g.c.martin: Thank you for your advice. It may well be of use were I to ultimately abandon my MiniDLNA quest without success in LXPrecise.

Many thanks,
John (BJF)

[gcmartin]

Hi John.

...my MiniDLNA quest without success in LXPrecise. ...

I understand how frustrating these subsystem can be. What I suggest in no way is meant for you to abandon your goal. It was merely meant to provide you a 2nd manner to check DLNA use on your LAN from a Linux platform.

There is another platform that may also be useful. It is the DLNA TahrPUP distro floating around somewhere which also, has it working OOTB. Thus, this WOOFCE generated distro may help you to your pathway. IIRC, it can be run directly from a CD/DVD boot. If so, adding LXDE to either suggestion may shorten the frustration by giving you manners to test a particular PC in DLNA streaming.

Just trying to offer something helpful in your miniDLNA quest.

[greengeek]

Hi BJF
- what method are you using to turn off your firewall?
- Is it possible for you to post the terminal messages that you see when you start the minidlna server.
- Also - any chance you could post the contents of /tmp/minidlna/minidlna.log after starting the server?

cheers!

[BJF]

greengeek: The firewall has never deliberately been turned 'on' on this install, and if I go to the Firewall Wizard thingy (technical term) in the Utilities>PupControl panel it offers options to set it up. Is there a terminal command to definitively turn it off that I should know? In addition none of our laptop machinery has a problem talking to its printer or Samba-ing its files when I started down that track.

The reaction when I start MiniDLNA in terminal? Absolutely nothing!

And as to /tmp/minidlna/minidlna.log.... There isn't one! /tmp contains no minidlna reference at all.

What do you make of that, Watson?

[BJF]

greengeek: Correction, this:

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# minidlna start
Unknown option: start
Usage:
	minidlna [-d] [-f config_file]
		[-a listening_ip] [-p port]
		[-s serial] [-m model_number] 
		[-t notify_interval] [-P pid_filename]
		[-w url] [-R] [-V] [-h]

Notes:
	Notify interval is in seconds. Default is 895 seconds.
	Default pid file is /var/run/minidlna.pid.
	With -d minidlna will run in debug mode (not daemonize).
	-w sets the presentation url. Default is http address on port 80
	-h displays this text
	-R forces a full rescan
	-V print the version number
# 

But a restart produces no result.

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[greengeek]

OK, reboot and try again using exactly this syntax:

/etc/init.d/minidlna restart

Please post the terminal output for that syntax and we'll see where we're at.
(then have another look for the log file that was missing before)

If that doesn't work then I think you should look at hiding your savefile (or savefolder) and trying that same syntax on a fresh boot without savefile (in case it is contaminated somehow or just incompatible with the original pet).



EDIT : If the use of the syntax above does not help then I would like you to try the following:

- make a backup copy of your savefile.

- Download (and save somewhere) this pet that I have made for you: minidlna autostart sdb1 pet for BJF only !!
(It is set up for sdb1 and is fully automatic so you don't even have to make any changes to the config file).

- Hide your savefile (or savefolder) so that you can boot into a fresh version of your usual Puppy

- Boot without savefile,

- Load the pet and read/follow the onscreen instructions. (This will load the minidlna server, start it, and access the media files on sdb1).
(When you shutdown say no to creating a new savefile - just go back to your original one for the next boot. If the pet has worked successfully then we can talk about how to graft it into that original savefile)

I'm hoping you won't need to resort to the pet, and that the syntax correction mentioned earlier will be enough.

Note: I think your problem has been this: - using the syntax of "minidlna restart" does not work even though it appears to be accepted, when it should probably say "command not found" because you are not referencing the actual location of minidlna. I believe that when you use the /etc/init.d/minidlna restart syntax it should work providing the pet has loaded correctly in the first place.

Here is a comparison of the bad syntax followed by the correct one on my system:
.

[BJF]

greengeek: Did Reboot and typed /etc/init.d/minidlna restart to terminal.
Again, no response, and no .log file created.

Thank you for your work on the .pet, but I fear that there is a complication: the server is a Full install. I just thought a Full was all I needed on something dedicated like that server and haven't fully embraced the Frugal concept. I need a mind-set change to read the options as Normal and Full installs perhaps!

With a Full install, how do we go about this then. Uninstall MiniDLNA, and use your .pet? That would be my choice unadvised, but I am only the pupil here.

Cheers,
BJ.

[stemsee]

BJ

try

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chmod 755 /etc/init.d/minidlna
/etc/init.d/minidlna start

worked for me

[greengeek]

Did Reboot and typed /etc/init.d/minidlna restart to terminal.
Again, no response,

If you can post the terminal output that is helpful in triggering the thought process for troubleshooting. What I have seen is that the minidlna sometimes gives different forms of "no response" - if I can compare what your terminal says with what I have seen on mine it might suggest to me what is happening. (sometimes no response indicates the server is already running. Sometimes it means it never started - depends on the exact message or non message that is returned to terminal)

With a Full install, how do we go about this then. Uninstall MiniDLNA, and use your .pet?

No - lets not touch the full install at all. What I think is best is this - make a CD containing the default iso image (specifically "image" - not "file") of your current pup LXPup-Precise-Retro 14.10 (you probably already have this on disk from when you downloaded it originally). Then boot your Dell from that CD. Enter the following at the boot: prompt:

puppy pfix=ram

This boots the puppy into RAM only, ignoring any previous files, savefiles etc.

Once booted use a terminal to enter the following:

ifconfig

This will probably indicate that the network is already active (because you are connected via wired eth0). If not already connected run the network setup wizard to get hooked up to your router.

Then click on the pet I made for you. It will prompt you to check that the firewall is off (this will be the default anyway i guess), tell you to mount sdb1, and make sure your media files are already available on sdb1.

Just read the onscreen message box and when you are ready close it and the minidlna server should automatically start. You won't see anything onscreen to tell you it's running but you should at this point be able to see the dlna upnp connection in the TV sources list. It should let you browse to the location of the media files.

If this just doesn't work for you then I think it is possible that LXPup-Precise-Retro 14.10 has some incompatibility with this pet. The purpose of doing the RAM boot from CD is that it clears out the possibility of any minidlna fragments that might be in your saved files (as part of the full install).

As an alternative to doing the CD test with LXPup-Precise-Retro 14.10 it may be better to try it with Slacko 5.6 as I know the minidlna pet works with that.

Sorry to be so verbose - just trying to be clear.

[BJF]

greengeek: Verbose is good. I subscribe to the theorum that silly questions are better than silly excuses. And verbose results in fewer silly questions!

When I do /etc/init.d/minidlna restart the cursor drops to the next line and waits as long as I do. There is simply nothing going on. Nothing to post.

I'll fish out the install cd and run that live as you direct, and see what happens. Wait one.......

ATB,
BJ.