Home Entertainment Center

 Nothing has changed since last post, but, now when I boot the system in the morning, I just have to wait and the library will be online and accessible after a few minutes. In brief, a Raspberry Pi 4B computer was loaded with the miniDLNA software to provide network access to the 12TB video library. An unexpected benefit and byproduct of the project is a database file of the drives' video contents. This will be used with the router's DLNA database file for the WD Passbook 4TB drive connected to one of the router's USB ports. The drive access project is done. Addendum: Things are so inconsistent due to the slow reaction of the system and system variable respones (AI of a sort). I keep having to restart the minidlna service after the system has booted. There is indication the drives are not mounted when the service begins execution. I'm looking at the  ' RequiresMountsFor' option in systemd. The recent flurry of problems were caused by a single drive that was adde...

 The system is almost done. Currently, the home network is powered up then, after a few minutes, the RPi is plugged in. The RPi is the only mechanical connection not made before network boot. About two ot three minutes after plugging in the RPi, an SSH session is attempted fro my laptop. No monitor or keyboard is used with the RPi. This is known as 'headless' operation of the RPi. Once a SSH session is started, the next step is to check for minidllna operation. At this time, the software does not function correctly, however, by running a couple of commands, the software functions as expected. Before the commands, the drives are listed, but empty when viewed from the TV or the VLC player on my laptop. The drives and contents are visible from a SSH session on the laptop. The commands to be run are: sudo systemctl restart minidlna && sudo systemctl force-reload minidlna I may end up plaing them at the end of the service file or writing a boot script for them. I suspect the...

  At this point in time, I have tried connecting USB drives to the LG oled Smart-TV, and the TP-Link router. Both approaches have issues. The router recreates a database for all drives attached to the router. This means drive access is not available until some time after booting up. Remember, I live off-grid and power down the house every night. This means I have to wait on the router to make the database every day. The TV has limits on the drive space as well as the number of drives. Bottom line: only some of the drives would be accessible. When I first began the study, I ran across mention of a software program, miniDLNA. I had installed the Windows version on my laptop but had access issues and quickly moved on. Some months ago, I purchased a new version of the SoC(System on a Card) Raspberry Pi. A model 3B+ has been running 24/7 on my system as a controller and monitor for my solar power station. I new I would probably want the newer model 4B as a media server for my entertainm...

     For the last two years, I've been experimenting with connecting USB drives to my system, with, on at leats one occasion, disasterous results. However, I proceeded, learning from my mistakes, and succeeding to a greater or lesser degree. The current status:    USB drives can be connected to both the LG oled TV and the TP-Link router. There are issues and limitations, I have discovered.    For example, the router seems to have a limit of six USB drives on a hub attached to one of the USB ports. This is a total of twelve drives. I have only tested the combination of a WD 4TB drive on one and a Belkin 7-input powered hub, on the other.    The LG-TV has four USB ports and a limitation of  4TB  total. A powered hub can be used. In fact, I have an Amazon Basics 7-port powered hub connected to the TV now.  The port connects three drives to the TV.    Currently: TP-Link router : Belkin hub with 5 drives attached plus WD P...

    I have, for some years now, been downloading and curating videos, mostly movies, covering the last 120 years.    There is a lot of work in acquiring and managing the collection. Methods of acquistion that were valid ten years ago, do not work today. Continual adaptation to the current technology is needed.    But I digress. During work with my system, I discovered the router was building a hidden database of  the contents of drives connected to the router. The file format is SQLite.    The online movie database IMDB, allows users to download the dataset. I did, and used a Python script, I discovered online, to create an IMDB database file in SQLite format.    For years, I've been cataloging all my disks using a small but fast cataloger named Cathy. All my movie drives are included. I hope to connect the databases together. Cathy can export a text file of a drive's contents.    There are two Movie database catalogers I ...

 I replaced the Pioneer VSX-42 with a Pioneer VSX-1023. This model is newer than the VSX-42 and has anadded feature that is useful. The speaker setup system has a new mode, 'Bi-Amp.' I've altered the programming to run in Bi-Amp speaker mode. Previously, the 'Surround Side' speakers were used for the speaker wooers, and the 'Surround Front' speakers were used for the horns.

 I have suffered significant hearing loss over my life and decided to make an adaptation. I enjoy listening to and performing music, on occasion. What I hear is determined by my ears' frequency response curves. An equalizer allows me to epmphasize weak frequencies in my hearing. My AVR does not have an adequate equalizer. The headphone input on the AVR now has an Alesis M-230 30 band stereo equalizer attached. The equalizer was already in my stockpile. All I needed were a couple of adapters for the headphone-to-AVR interface. I had one and ordered the other online. The equalizer's 30 bands allowed precise modification and therefore an accurate representation and compensation of hearing loss, in each ear. I can now listen to music as played for normal hearing ability.

  The LG oled Smart TV does not handle USB external drives very well. I often get false error messages. This is in part, I think, due to the fact I have often exceeded the 6TB limit on external USB drives. I have tentatively removed the drives and taken a different approach, for the time being. I have catalogs of the drives' contents that can be browsed and searched. I will use the catalogs to decide what I want to watch, then attach the drive(s) required for viewing. If I limit myself to the 6TB limit, there may not be any problems, but I suspect the Western Digital 4TB Passport is not completely compatible with LG software. The drive seems to work fine most of the time. I've not done exhaustive testing for a conclusive observation. One option not tested is the use of six 1TB drives, four on the TV and two on the router's USB drive inputs.