Oops, I almost upgraded my Lion Server to Mountain Lion without checking to see what differences there were. So far I have found two inconsistencies: the blogs seem to indicate that there is no DHCP server (Apple seems to indicate that there is one, should look at the errata) and you have to load Mountain Lion, followed by OS X Server (for a total of $40). I have the money for the latter issue, but I want to make sure that I am not doing something completely stupid before my purchase. Interestingly enough, it would seem that Apple left out the DNS server as well. Maybe they left out the user interface to DHCP and DNS and you have to do it from the command line. More study with a lot of not available time.
- LW
This is a blog mostly about techie things, what I am doing to my apartment network on the cheap, IOT, 3D Printing, Raspberry Pis, Arduinos, ESP32, ESP8266, Home Automation, Personal Weather Stations, Things That Go Bump in the Night, and some side issues that need discussing. Remember, sometimes the journey to an end is as much fun as the goal achieved!
Friday, July 27, 2012
Whats with my new drive?
Well, I have a 3TB Seagate drive that I purchased a couple of weeks ago and up until this morning, I have not tried loading the software from it. I tried this morning and it failed to install. Curious, I followed the directions to the letter and it issued a failure message. I'm not sure if it is because the File Server is trying to use it, or exactly what is going on here. I will look at the Seagate website to see if others have had this problem.
- LW
- LW
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Project #6 - Configure OpenWRT on a Router
My Buffalo router (running DD-WRT) is currently being used as a Wireless Access Port. I would like to have this router changed over to OpenWRT and make it the incoming router for the home network. In addition, since the router has a USB port, and I can add a USB drive, I would like to take advantage of the forked-daapd addin which would turn the router into an iTunes network audio server.
Project #5 - Configure MythTV to access Plex
Configure a desktop system to plug into my TV downstairs to serve as an HDHomeRun Prime client, probably Windows 7 WMC or Ubuntu running MythTV. The difficulty with this approach is that there is no easy remote control for the set without investing in some IR based control.
OBE
Project #4 - Plex Client / Server on Raspberry Pi
Get a Raspberry PI and configure it to run a Plex client and maybe later on get it to run as an HDHomeRun Prime client.
OBE
Project #3 - Media vlan through the house
Run two to three virtual lans through the house to separate out the media related services from the day-to-day internet usage on laptops and iOS devices.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
New Projects for the Home Network
I have been musing about projects for a while now. I should buckle down and complete some. I have been thinking of some new projects to spend time on:
(1) My Buffalo router (running DD-WRT) is currently being used as a Wireless Access Port. I would like to have this router changed over to OpenWRT and make it the incoming router for the home network. In addition, since the router has a USB port, and I can add a USB drive, I would like to take advantage of the forked-daapd addin which would turn the router into an iTunes network audio server.
(2) Configure a desktop system to plug into my TV downstairs to serve as an HDHomeRun Prime client, probably Windows 7 WMC or Ubuntu running MythTV. The difficulty with this approach is that there is no easy remote control for the set without investing in some IR based control.
(3) Get a Raspberry PI and configure it to run a Plex client and maybe later on get it to run as an HDHomeRun Prime client.
(4) Run two to three virtual lans through the house to separate out the media related services from the day-to-day internet usage on laptops and iOS devices.
Sounds like a challenge.
LW
(1) My Buffalo router (running DD-WRT) is currently being used as a Wireless Access Port. I would like to have this router changed over to OpenWRT and make it the incoming router for the home network. In addition, since the router has a USB port, and I can add a USB drive, I would like to take advantage of the forked-daapd addin which would turn the router into an iTunes network audio server.
(2) Configure a desktop system to plug into my TV downstairs to serve as an HDHomeRun Prime client, probably Windows 7 WMC or Ubuntu running MythTV. The difficulty with this approach is that there is no easy remote control for the set without investing in some IR based control.
(3) Get a Raspberry PI and configure it to run a Plex client and maybe later on get it to run as an HDHomeRun Prime client.
(4) Run two to three virtual lans through the house to separate out the media related services from the day-to-day internet usage on laptops and iOS devices.
Sounds like a challenge.
LW
Monday, July 16, 2012
Media Center Thingies
So here I am, an Apple TV upstairs and a Roku downstairs, Plex Media Server and iTunes running on the Mac Mini downstairs. I am a little frustrated that manufacturers want to have it all to themselves and not let individuals have a choice in how they view their media. Well, now I can watch the audio and video that I have stored away on the Mac Mini, but right now I have duplicate files on the system. I am not exactly sure of how PMS and iTunes will play together. I do know that I can let PMS access the iTunes library so that is one way of reducing the amount of files available. Right now I have 3TB of storage to do my thing, but I am the type of person that watches how much data I store since I have been burned in the past.
I am seriously thinking of moving the desktop system from upstairs to downstairs and plugging it into the HDTV. In that way, I should be able to use WMC to play the TV channels from the HDHomeRun Prime. Such a simple idea and yet to get it to work, it causes great grief. Not sure what the next round of experiments will bring.
- LW
I am seriously thinking of moving the desktop system from upstairs to downstairs and plugging it into the HDTV. In that way, I should be able to use WMC to play the TV channels from the HDHomeRun Prime. Such a simple idea and yet to get it to work, it causes great grief. Not sure what the next round of experiments will bring.
- LW
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Thinking Differently about Home Media Servers
Since last post, I have been on a quest to direct myself on what other tidbits need to be added to my home network. I was pleasantly surprised to find that TV Streamer/GoodPlayer App combo on my iPad is actually able to stream an HD TV program from the HDHomeRun Prime. That means that the HDHomeRun App by Elgato will probably be eliminated from my iPad 2. It doesn't make any sense to have more than one App to perform a function especially if the second App not only performs the functions of the first but exceeds it in many ways. The GoodPlayer App actually has some other capabilities that I had not explored previously. So I consider it worth the extra money. So now I have pretty much full up streaming to my iPad 2, at least until Verizon changes their CableCard policies (got wind of that one with a letter from them about some coming changes affecting CableCards). So far, the TV programs that I like can be watched where I like on the iPad. It would really make it a whole lot simpler and obviate the need for all these network changes if I could just stream to anything from any STB or DVR like a number of competitors do.
I am currently paying about $170 a month (1 STB and 1 DVR with no movie channels) for TV / Internet [25/25] / Telephone. That is a big hunk of change and as the economy starts changing more, I will be looking for ways to cut that amount down. I typically get into these things for the long haul until the company does something that causes me to leave. That's what happened with our subscription to Cox Communications - they didn't have some of the niceties that Verizon FIOS did. However, speaking from experience, Verizon is in the business of making money and I have noticed a definite cost per month creep that is just about to the tilt point of $175. It won't matter that they have a blue zillion channels or have really top of the line data speeds if I can't afford it. I don't have movie channels because I already have a stash of DVDs at home and I rent DVDs. I don't stream from Netflix anymore because I found myself not interested in what movies they did have to offer. I don't use video on demand because its an additional cost that I am not willing to pay. I am not interested in going to see latest releases multiple times because I am pretty much a see it one time person, unless I really like the movie then I will buy a DVD. I rip my DVDs so that it is easier to pull them up and watch them in my house using Plex Media Server / Windows Media Center / iTunes, and no I don't loan my ripped DVD files to anyone - so don't go around and accuse me of being a pirate just because I want convenience. This constant push to charge for every view of a movie is for the birds. The big houses are wondering why they are not getting customers at the movie houses it's because of the cost of going there.
My real desire is to be able to get to my TV and movies from any TV or computer in the house with a minimum of cost and do it while learning a little about media streaming.
I am currently paying about $170 a month (1 STB and 1 DVR with no movie channels) for TV / Internet [25/25] / Telephone. That is a big hunk of change and as the economy starts changing more, I will be looking for ways to cut that amount down. I typically get into these things for the long haul until the company does something that causes me to leave. That's what happened with our subscription to Cox Communications - they didn't have some of the niceties that Verizon FIOS did. However, speaking from experience, Verizon is in the business of making money and I have noticed a definite cost per month creep that is just about to the tilt point of $175. It won't matter that they have a blue zillion channels or have really top of the line data speeds if I can't afford it. I don't have movie channels because I already have a stash of DVDs at home and I rent DVDs. I don't stream from Netflix anymore because I found myself not interested in what movies they did have to offer. I don't use video on demand because its an additional cost that I am not willing to pay. I am not interested in going to see latest releases multiple times because I am pretty much a see it one time person, unless I really like the movie then I will buy a DVD. I rip my DVDs so that it is easier to pull them up and watch them in my house using Plex Media Server / Windows Media Center / iTunes, and no I don't loan my ripped DVD files to anyone - so don't go around and accuse me of being a pirate just because I want convenience. This constant push to charge for every view of a movie is for the birds. The big houses are wondering why they are not getting customers at the movie houses it's because of the cost of going there.
My real desire is to be able to get to my TV and movies from any TV or computer in the house with a minimum of cost and do it while learning a little about media streaming.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Decided to go Down the Apple Rabbit Hole Again
Yesterday, while the power was out in various parts of the county, I went with the family to one of our local malls. The mall has an Apple store in it and while the others were occupied, I went in with my grandson. While in the store, I asked one of the employees whether I could stream a non-iTunes purchased video from iTunes to the Apple TV. His response was that it had to be a purchased item from the iTunes store. So I put the Apple TV back on the shelf and walked out the door - I don't feel like re-purchasing things that I already have in my library.
While outside, my grandson hinted that I had not phrased the question correctly. Brilliant! So he and I talked for a few minutes about the wording and we went back in the store. I then asked a different employee if I ripped a DVD that was in my library to a form which could be imported to iTunes, if I then could stream that movie from my Mac Mini to the Apple TV through my home network. I then got a positive response to my question. I then decided to purchase the Apple TV (ATV), the newest version (can't jailbreak it yet).
My motive for doing this is twofold, I want to stream movies I have already ripped and I want to be able to stream to the Apple TV from my iPad. When I got the ATV home, I unboxed it and tried it out one my TV downstairs by following the instructions on the enclosed booklet.
It was an easy install, I unplugged the STB and plugged the HDMI cable into the Apple TV. By simply following the instructions on the screen, including the part about connecting to the wi-fi with my password, I was soon able to get the ATV up and running. I then located the "Computer" block on the front screen. When this was selected, I was asked to enter my AppleID and password. Apparently, Apple does it's home streaming based on a common AppleID rather than a specific IP address. I am not doing anything illegal here so I went with the flow. The ATV then instructed me to set up home serving on iTunes with my AppleID. I then went and booted iTunes up with a new configuration file (press option while launching iTunes), did an add of all media that I had, set the home streaming bit on (from the menu), and made sure I was using the same AppleID that I put into the ATV. Once that was complete I was able to link into the library that I had created and stream pictures, audio, and video from my library.
Other things I learned:
1. Leave iTunes running because it breaks the connection. There does not seem to be a way of keeping the streaming running without a copy of iTunes running.
2. In order to stream to the ATV, the format must be either mp4 or m4v.
3. Do not make the mistake of pointing to all material because if it gets to some TV rips, it will place the contents into the movie category, not the TV category - should probably look to see what format is required.
4. You will need to spend some time getting the cover art and movie metadata squared away.
Other than that, once I get a remote controlled HDMI switch I will be all set on the downstairs TV.
- LW
While outside, my grandson hinted that I had not phrased the question correctly. Brilliant! So he and I talked for a few minutes about the wording and we went back in the store. I then asked a different employee if I ripped a DVD that was in my library to a form which could be imported to iTunes, if I then could stream that movie from my Mac Mini to the Apple TV through my home network. I then got a positive response to my question. I then decided to purchase the Apple TV (ATV), the newest version (can't jailbreak it yet).
My motive for doing this is twofold, I want to stream movies I have already ripped and I want to be able to stream to the Apple TV from my iPad. When I got the ATV home, I unboxed it and tried it out one my TV downstairs by following the instructions on the enclosed booklet.
It was an easy install, I unplugged the STB and plugged the HDMI cable into the Apple TV. By simply following the instructions on the screen, including the part about connecting to the wi-fi with my password, I was soon able to get the ATV up and running. I then located the "Computer" block on the front screen. When this was selected, I was asked to enter my AppleID and password. Apparently, Apple does it's home streaming based on a common AppleID rather than a specific IP address. I am not doing anything illegal here so I went with the flow. The ATV then instructed me to set up home serving on iTunes with my AppleID. I then went and booted iTunes up with a new configuration file (press option while launching iTunes), did an add of all media that I had, set the home streaming bit on (from the menu), and made sure I was using the same AppleID that I put into the ATV. Once that was complete I was able to link into the library that I had created and stream pictures, audio, and video from my library.
Other things I learned:
1. Leave iTunes running because it breaks the connection. There does not seem to be a way of keeping the streaming running without a copy of iTunes running.
2. In order to stream to the ATV, the format must be either mp4 or m4v.
3. Do not make the mistake of pointing to all material because if it gets to some TV rips, it will place the contents into the movie category, not the TV category - should probably look to see what format is required.
4. You will need to spend some time getting the cover art and movie metadata squared away.
Other than that, once I get a remote controlled HDMI switch I will be all set on the downstairs TV.
- LW
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