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[Awesome Donkey]

This tutorial aims to aid users into setting up JRiver Media Center 22 onto computers running Debian 8.x Jessie. This tutorial does borrow ideas and parts done by InflatableMouse and his excellent Debian 7.x Wheezy tutorial found here, so please thank him. I thought I'd take the time to create a new tutorial for the Debian Jessie release, since installing MC on Debian Jessie is easier thanks to the APT repository. Let's get started, shall we?

But before we continue, please note the following;

- If you're using a derivative of Debian, e.g. Ubuntu or Linux Mint, please read this tutorial instead!
- Before installing, please read the outstanding issues topic! Some of the issues noted might still are present in the latest build.


Step 1 - Setting up Debian Jessie for Media Center 22:

First, we need to set your user account as an administrator, add your user to the sudoers file and add your user to the audio group. Fortunately, this can done in two simple steps. If for whatever reason you're using the root account on Debian, you may skip this step.

First, open a Terminal (by either pressing CTRL+ALT+T or by searching for the terminal in your desktop environment) then type the following command and press Enter. You WILL be prompted for the root password!

Code: [Select]

su
Next, either type the following command or copy and paste the command into the Terminal and press Enter. Be sure to change youruser to the name of your user account you chose when installing Debian!

Code: [Select]

usermod -a -G adm,sudo,audio youruser
If the command was successful, it's time to reboot the PC to make sure the changes above are applied properly. You can probably just log out of the account and log back in, but to be safe it's easier to just reboot the PC.

That's it! Proceed to step 2!


Step 2 - Add the JRiver APT Repository:

The APT repository is required to install Media Center 22 and keep Media Center 22 updated with every new release. There's three available repositories; Stable, Latest and Beta. Decide for yourself which one you want to use - descriptions of each are below. Choose and use only one repository!

First, open a Terminal (by either pressing CTRL+ALT+T or by searching for the Terminal in your desktop environment) and either type the following command or copy and paste the command in and press Enter (you *may* be prompted for your password);

Code: [Select]

wget -q "http://dist.jriver.com/mediacenter@jriver.com.gpg.key" -O- | sudo apt-key add -
Next, with the Terminal still open, we need to download and add the correct mediacenter.list file to /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ depending if you're using 32-bit or 64-bit. If you're using ARM, look at the ARM repository found in this topic. Also, you can pick which repository you want to use (Stable, Latest or Beta - choose only one!) so either type one the following commands or copy and paste the command in and press Enter;

Media Center 22 (Stable) Repository:

This repository is using the latest stable release of Media Center 22 and is currently the default repository that should be used. It may be out-of-date compared to the Latest repository, however these builds have been thoroughly tested and are considered stable.

If you're using 64-bit Debian Jessie:

Code: [Select]

sudo wget http://dist.jriver.com/stable/mediacenter/mediacenter22jessie.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter22.list
Or...

If you're using 32-bit Debian Jessie:

Code: [Select]

sudo wget http://dist.jriver.com/stable/mediacenter/mediacenter22.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter22.list

Media Center 22 (Latest) Repository:

This repository is using the latest up-to-date release of Media Center 22. There *may* be instability issues!

If you're using 64-bit Debian Jessie:

Code: [Select]

sudo wget http://dist.jriver.com/latest/mediacenter/mediacenter22jessie.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter22.list
Or...

If you're using 32-bit Debian Jessie:

Code: [Select]

sudo wget http://dist.jriver.com/latest/mediacenter/mediacenter22.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter22.list

Media Center 22 (Beta) Repository:

This repository is for beta builds - not intended for users who prefer stability! These builds are likely buggy, may crash, etc.

If you're using 64-bit Debian Jessie:

Code: [Select]

sudo wget http://dist.jriver.com/beta/mediacenter/mediacenter22jessie.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter22.list
Or...

If you're using 32-bit Debian Jessie:

Code: [Select]

sudo wget http://dist.jriver.com/beta/mediacenter/mediacenter22.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter22.list
Finally, we need to reload the packages list, so with the Terminal still open either type the following command or copy and paste the command in and press Enter;

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get update
That's it! Proceed to step 3!


Step 3 - Installing Media Center 22:

It's finally time to install Media Center 22! First, open a Terminal (by either pressing CTRL+ALT+T or by searching for the terminal in your desktop environment) or re-use the Terminal from the previous step. Next either type the following command or copy and paste the command in and press Enter (you *may* be prompted for your password);

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get install mediacenter22
During this process it should say something along the following;

Code: [Select]

The following extra packages will be installed:
  lame libcue1 libreplaygain1 musepack-tools vorbis-tools
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  lame libcue1 libreplaygain1 mediacenter22 musepack-tools vorbis-tools
0 upgraded, 6 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
However, if you receive an error like;

Code: [Select]

dependency problems prevent configuration of mediacenter22:
 mediacenter22 depends on ....
This means all dependencies have not been met. Don't fret, this can usually be taken care of by using the following command in the Terminal by either typing the following command or copying and pasting the command in and press Enter;

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get install -f
It'll show you the missing dependencies, after looking them over just press enter to install them. But thanks to the apt repository all dependencies should be satisfied upon installing Media Center 22.

Now assuming all dependencies are met, you've been successful at installing Media Center 22 in Debian Jessie! To start Media Center either go into the Activities menu and look for Media Center 20 or you can run it from the Terminal by either typing the following command or copying and pasting the command in and press Enter;

Code: [Select]

mediacenter22
Now, we're going to cover installing the license for those who have purchased in step 4!

[Awesome Donkey]

Step 4 - Installing A Media Center 22 Linux License Or Master License:

This portion of the tutorial will explain how to manually install your purchased license (either Linux licence or Master licence) in Media Center 22. Thanks for purchasing a license and supporting the development!

First, make sure MC22 is closed and either download the .mjr by either restoring the license here or if you just purchased a Media Center 22 Linux or Master license, then use the .mjr file downloaded with your purchase. After downloading your license file, open a Terminal and either type the following command or copy and paste the command in and press Enter (you *may* be prompted for your password);

If you're using a Linux license:

Code: [Select]

mediacenter22 /RestoreFromFile "Media Center22 Linux-YYYYYY.mjr"
NOTE: Replace the X's and Y's with the correct numbers from your specific .mjr file AND adjust the path to your file.

If you're using a Master license:

Code: [Select]

mediacenter22 /RestoreFromFile "Media Center22 Master-YYYYYY.mjr"
NOTE: Replace the X's and Y's with the correct numbers from your specific .mjr file AND adjust the path to your file.

If your code is located in the default downloads directory, the following command should work (remember to replace the X's and Y's with the correct numbers and change Linux to Master if you're using a Master license!);

Code: [Select]

mediacenter22 /RestoreFromFile ~/Downloads/"Media Center22 Linux-YYYYYY.mjr"
If you do not encounter an error while restoring your license from the file, open Media Center 22 up then go to the Help menu > Registration Info... - if it's registered, congratulations, your MC 22 for Linux is now registered!

Additional information and discussion regarding licenses can be found in this topic.

Once you're done, you should be ready to go! Congratulations, you've successfully installed Media Center 22 on your Debian Jessie 64-bit machine!  The next step will aid you in keeping Media Center 22 up-to-date.


Step 5 - Updating Media Center 22:

Okay, so you've got Media Center 22 installed and you might be wondering "how do I keep MC 22 up-to-date?". Well, there's several different ways available to accomplish this.

The easiest method to check for updates and update Media Center 22 if an update is available? Simple! Just open a Terminal and either type the following command or copy and paste the command in and press Enter (you *may* be prompted for your password);

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Let the command run and it should prompt you with a list of updates for your Linux distribution of choice. Just type Y (or yes) and the system should be updated. It's HIGHLY recommended to run this command once a week - not just for MC 22 updates but for keeping up with the latest patches for vulnerabilities and various other potential security concerns.

The other ways to update Media Center 22? Well, if you Have Synaptic Package Manager installed you can update your system from there as well. Or you can just use the built-in update manager, if one is available for your Linux distro of choice!

Okay, what's next? The next post contains various information and tips you may find handy. Enjoy!

[Awesome Donkey]

Setting Default Pulseaudio Device Via PulseAudio Volume Control (pavucontrol):

If desired, you can also output using Pulseaudio - keep in mind both ALSA and Pulse are both bit-perfect. I'd highly recommend sticking with ALSA instead of Pulseaudio, but if you wish to use Pulseaudio you'll need to set it up first. When you try to use the Pulseaudio output in Media Center, you might find yourself with this type of error when trying to play music...



This means the correct output device for Pulseaudio isn't being used, thus why this error is encountered. Fortunately, there's a way to fix this. Open up a Terminal window and either type the following command or copy and paste the command in and press Enter (you *may* be prompted for your password);

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get install pavucontrol
After installing, either start PulseAudio Volume Control by typing pavucontrol into the Terminal or searching for Pulseaudio until you see PulseAudio Volume Control. Once open, you'll want to go to the Configuration tab like seen here;



Notice how there's multiple output devices listed here? As seen above, what I want to use as the default is my Schiit Modi 2 Uber aka USB Modi Device. In this example, to set this card up I setup the Configuration tab to the following...



And take a look at the Output Devices tab now. See how it's using the USB Modi Device as the default device?



Please setup your device(s) accordingly for your own needs! And if desired setup your input devices via the Input Devices tab! If everything looks good, try playing music through Pulse again in Media Center. If sound works, congrats, you have working sound via Pulse!


How To Remove Media Center 20 and Media Center 21:

If you've updated from Media Center 20 and/or Media Center 21 to Media Center 22, you might find yourself with several versions of Media Center installed. If you don't want multiple versions of Media Center installed, you can remove the old Media Center.

Step 1: Backup your library and settings. Read the wiki article on how to backup your library and settings.

Step 2: Open a Terminal and input the following (you *may* be prompted for your password - answer yes when it prompts!);

For Media Center 20:

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get remove mediacenter20
For Media Center 21:

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get remove mediacenter21
Step 3 (Optional): If you want to completely remove Media Center 20's files, with the Terminal open and input the following (you *may* be prompted for your password - answer yes when it prompts!);

For Media Center 20:

Code: [Select]

sudo rm -rf '/usr/lib/jriver/Media Center 20'
For Media Center 21:

Code: [Select]

sudo rm -rf '/usr/lib/jriver/Media Center 21'
And...

For Media Center 20:

Code: [Select]

sudo rm -rf '~/.jriver/Media Center 20'
For Media Center 21:

Code: [Select]

sudo rm -rf '~/.jriver/Media Center 21'
Step 4 (Optional): If you want to remove the old mediacenter20.list and/or mediacenter21.list file from the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ directory;

For Media Center 20:

Code: [Select]

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter20.list
For Media Center 21:

Code: [Select]

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter21.list
If all goes well, your Media Center 20/21 installation(s) should be removed.



How To Remove Media Center 22:

If you don't like Media Center 22 or it's the wrong fit for you, you can easily remove it!

Step 1: Open a Terminal and input the following (you *may* be prompted for your password - answer yes when it prompts!);

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get remove mediacenter22
Step 2 (Optional): If you want to completely remove Media Center 22's files, with the Terminal open and input the following (you *may* be prompted for your password - answer yes when it prompts!);

Code: [Select]

sudo rm -rf '/usr/lib/jriver/Media Center 22'
And...

Code: [Select]

sudo rm -rf '~/.jriver/Media Center 22'
Step 3 (Optional): If you want to remove the mediacenter22.list file from the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ directory;

Code: [Select]

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter22.list
If all goes well, your Media Center 22 installation should be completely removed.



Adding Additional Skins In Media Center 22:

Media Center 22 for Linux supports additional skins, like the Windows and Mac builds. I've created Linux-based skins (based on the excellent Modern Cards) with a Adwaita skin for GNOME 3 (the default theme is Adwaita), a Ubuntu Ambiance skin, a Arc Theme skin, a Mint-X Cinnamon skin and a Elementary OS skin. You can find them in this topic.

Now the easiest way to add skins is by doing the following; open the Home folder (using the native file manager on your distro), pressing CTRL+H to show the hidden files then going to the .jriver folder. From there open the Media Center 22 folder and you're met with multiple folders, including a Skins folder. Open Skins then Standard View and the folders inside contain the additional skins. Just drag and drop the skin you want to add (make sure you drag and drop the extracted skin folder from the Skins/Standard View directory inside the downloaded skin's archive) and change the skin within Media Center 22. If you don't see your skin listed, then the skin probably wasn't installed correctly.


Tutorial changelog:

1.0 (07-15-2016): First version of the Debian Jessie tutorial for Media Center 22!
1.1 (11-28-2016): Added all kinds of stuff!