Current status October 2023

   The hardware set is much the same. The most recent addition is the Surround Center speaker I constructed from two open back bookcase speakers.

   I have moved the Asus X510UAR into the server position. There was a pixellation problem with some videos in VLC but help from a web poster gave me the tweak I needed to make the correction.

   The server is Plex for Windows. I also maintain a Jellyfin server and may add simpleDLNA or miniDLNA for offline use. Both Plex and Jellyfin seem to require an internet connection to function.

   I use RenameMyTVSeries to rename television series prior to adding metadata and adding to the servers' lists. Free software.

   MetaX is the current metadata software. The app has problems but the functionality is unequalled by others, so far. Worth the ten dollar fee.

I use the mkvtoolnix suite extensively, CMD and GUI.

There is a grep alternative, ripgrep, that is much faster than the version in WSL Ubuntu linux. That program made collecting data on a mass scale practical.

   I placed the ffmpeg and mkvtoolnix programs on the system Path variable.

   Avidemux is handy for simple edits snd troubleshooting.



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