Video access almost complete

 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 drives are not being mounted for some reason. 
The next system boot, I will try 'sudo mount -a.' This command may do the same as the previous two.

Bottom line, the system is running and I have access to the viideo library from  an LG oled Smart-TV and an iPhone. Performance and ease of access could be improved.

What I have discovered is new equipment is important. Over time, used equipment can develop loose mechanical connections making testing and usage difficult. Intermittent electrical connections due to worn and loose mechanical connections can wreak havoc on a testting procedure. Once installed, the hardware is not (or rarely)  touched.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Drive rack, ventilation and wiring.

 My drives have a new rack to hold them. Hot glue and square wood dowels provided the materials with which to build the rack. I used zip ties and a small computer fan attached to the end of the rack to provide cooling air ventilation for the drives. This will increase the lifetime of the drives. Previously the were stacked on top of each other and became noticeably warm during use. The wiring really was bad. Too many cables/wires held together with zip ties. I added a surge protected outlet strip of a newer, more sophisticated design. I rearranged the system wiring to minimize the number of outlet strips and the disarrayed wires. Two strips were screwed to the wall. One was removed. The circular strip was moved from the entertainment center to a work table beside the other two strips and combined with them to supply all devices attached to the system. The strip removed replaced the circular strip in the entertainment system.  Overall, the current setup works better. Both syste...
Read more

Philips Hue lights Updated

 Philips Hue lights are known for the ability to program brightness, saturation, and hue using software. Most people use one or more cellphone apps to control their Hue lights. I've a history in computrer science and electronic technology and engineering, so took this up as a new interest. WiFi control of light bulbs' colors has interested me ever since I read aboout the topic some years ago. There happened to be seven Hue bulbs available from one eBay seller and for a reaosnable fee, approximately $20. A bridge device is used to communicate with the bulbs, so I waited for a good deal on eBay and got one. Philips has evolved a developer community and resources for those who want to explore the possibilities in lamp light control. The user joins the communnity and gets a temporary API key, formerly referred to as a 'username', good for one session. Then a browser or app, can be used to send commands to the bulbs. There are other avenues of communication. Python libraries...
Read more

Jellyfin media server

 The owner of Emby has blocked my using the WebOS access method of using Emby. I discovered the method and posted on the product's forum. That software is no longer my media server and has been removed from my computers. I replaced Emby with Jellyfin. Jellyfin is the evolved Emby open sourced. Emby was originally open source (and free) but was privatized and monetized by the creator. Many considered that move unethical.  The last open source version became the basis for Jellyfin,  easily competitive with Emby and almost, if not equally, well known. I've been using Jellyfin for about a year, perhaps more. The software has issues but is in constant development but is very useful in the current state, version 10.8.5.
Read more