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Monday, October 10th, 2011 08:51 am
me and my server; we are getting along in a very disturbing way
So okay, I have said I never call V's husband about computer problems because calling a computer science PhD for anything I need is like calling Batman to help you step over a puddle. A very small puddle. That doesn't exist. It's overkill, is what I'm saying, and embarrassing.
Reference: Mediatomb - this is a free UPnP media server for Linux. What it does is create a sqlite or sql database and using the web-based gui, you add your folders of video and audio files to it.
This is what the web gui looks like. Currently in the left frame is the database folders and in each folder is what you have added to the database. You play files from here by clicking down the happy little files (this is very cheering). You add files by going to where it says near the top of that frame "Database Filesystem" and click on Filesystem, where all your folders on your computer are. Then you pick your folder and in the main window up top, click the little +.
In a straight install from ubuntu packages, it is stupidly easy to use. You install your packages, go into the config file, and change 'no' to 'yes' on the file where it asks if you want to enable the ui. Then you go to your shortcut menu and click on Mediatomb and it opens for you. And you add things. Once this is up, pretty much any computer you have networked can open up the local address (your linux computer's local address plus the port; example: 192.168.1.30:49152.) and you assign a video player when you click on a movie (ie, VLC, et al), or if you are on windows, MediaPlayer will actually sense Mediatomb like some weird Force is involved and show all your movies in their organized folders.
This I got to work, but then I became ambitious, and rather stupid. As I had a bluray player that could see Mediatomb but not like, play it. So yeah, I called in Batman.
However, I really wanted Mediatomb to be visible and work on all the DLNA-enabled (let's call them smart) bluray players we have. And in like, five minutes, despite the fact his first words were "Don't know much about DLNA" he wrote in a line somewhere and it worked. It was a line. Like, a mapping line. Somewhere. I can't even find what he did. But it works, so I am okay with this. Unless I accidentally erase it.
Feeling good about this, I decided--one last time--to try and compile Mediatomb from source and get the custom javascripting feature so I could create my own directory structure when adding video.
In a fair, sane world--one I am happy not to live in, by the way--what I did should not have worked, even though sure, the instructions said it should, that works for people who know what the hell they're doing. But this is not that world, and reading carefully off three webpages, abruptly, the thing not only compiled correctly, but all the configuration files worked, and now I can write my own cheerful javascript to create my own directory structures that will make me happy forever. Or for a month or two, or whatever, happy.
It does worry me, on occasion, that "DLNA" is not only now in my active vocabulary, but it's possible the reason that the compiling thing worked this time was I actually did understand the instructions and performed them correctly.
Right. That's--kind of scary, actually.
Reference: Mediatomb - this is a free UPnP media server for Linux. What it does is create a sqlite or sql database and using the web-based gui, you add your folders of video and audio files to it.
This is what the web gui looks like. Currently in the left frame is the database folders and in each folder is what you have added to the database. You play files from here by clicking down the happy little files (this is very cheering). You add files by going to where it says near the top of that frame "Database Filesystem" and click on Filesystem, where all your folders on your computer are. Then you pick your folder and in the main window up top, click the little +.
In a straight install from ubuntu packages, it is stupidly easy to use. You install your packages, go into the config file, and change 'no' to 'yes' on the file where it asks if you want to enable the ui. Then you go to your shortcut menu and click on Mediatomb and it opens for you. And you add things. Once this is up, pretty much any computer you have networked can open up the local address (your linux computer's local address plus the port; example: 192.168.1.30:49152.) and you assign a video player when you click on a movie (ie, VLC, et al), or if you are on windows, MediaPlayer will actually sense Mediatomb like some weird Force is involved and show all your movies in their organized folders.
This I got to work, but then I became ambitious, and rather stupid. As I had a bluray player that could see Mediatomb but not like, play it. So yeah, I called in Batman.
However, I really wanted Mediatomb to be visible and work on all the DLNA-enabled (let's call them smart) bluray players we have. And in like, five minutes, despite the fact his first words were "Don't know much about DLNA" he wrote in a line somewhere and it worked. It was a line. Like, a mapping line. Somewhere. I can't even find what he did. But it works, so I am okay with this. Unless I accidentally erase it.
Feeling good about this, I decided--one last time--to try and compile Mediatomb from source and get the custom javascripting feature so I could create my own directory structure when adding video.
In a fair, sane world--one I am happy not to live in, by the way--what I did should not have worked, even though sure, the instructions said it should, that works for people who know what the hell they're doing. But this is not that world, and reading carefully off three webpages, abruptly, the thing not only compiled correctly, but all the configuration files worked, and now I can write my own cheerful javascript to create my own directory structures that will make me happy forever. Or for a month or two, or whatever, happy.
It does worry me, on occasion, that "DLNA" is not only now in my active vocabulary, but it's possible the reason that the compiling thing worked this time was I actually did understand the instructions and performed them correctly.
Right. That's--kind of scary, actually.
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