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Author Topic: Moving from macOS  (Read 2030 times)

Library Eye

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Moving from macOS
« on: January 31, 2018, 12:00:35 am »

Thinking of making my next main usage computer a Linux desktop since this old Mac is getting so slow. Have a couple of concerns upfront. Maybe by some long shot someone here has already found out either or both answers… though I expect almost anyone here who has run JRiver on two OSs would be experienced in Windows & Linux instead. But maybe…

~ is performance any better or worse under Linux compared to macOS? I have a universal license. I can see clearly on this old machine not only is JRiver obviously a Windows program later ported to macOS , and not only are there some features on Windows side that don't work on macOS, but it also just plain runs better / faster in Windows. Wondering if I should expect something closer to Windows JRiver performance or further from it in linux land.

~ anyone migrate a JRiver library from macOS to Linux? I have moved a library from one Mac to another, and that was successful after an initial misstep. I know mac & linux file paths are much more similar than under Windows. But I am sure there are issues that would arise, and maybe it wouldn't even work at all.

thanks
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JimH

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Re: Moving from macOS
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2018, 06:50:15 am »

On the same hardware, I would not expect much difference in performance among the three OS's.
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Awesome Donkey

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Re: Moving from macOS
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2018, 07:32:32 am »

In my own experience... Windows MC is the 'fastest', Linux MC is second and Mac MC is the third. But there's some things Mac MC is better at versus Linux MC and vice versa.

I can see clearly on this old machine not only is JRiver obviously a Windows program later ported to macOS

Not exactly, the performance issues on Mac likely have to do with the way MC renders the UI - for example non-Retina Mode MC performs better than MC in Retina Mode. With Retina Mode enabled, MC looks great on Mac, but the handoff is worse performance (e.g. scrolling is bad, but tolerable if you're music-only) so I run MC for Mac in non-Retina Mode currently. Otherwise MC is a cross-platform application compiled for Mac. Try reading this topic for more insight to why Mac MC is 'slower' versus Windows/Linux MC, especially Hendrik's posts;

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,111729.0.html

It's not an easy thing to fix, unfortunately. Hopefully eventually it is fixed and MC for Mac's performance is as fast as Windows and Linux... or at least Linux, which is pretty good already, IMO. I don't think MC for Linux suffers from the same issue(s) with UI rendering. If it does, I've not noticed it at all. Personally, since MC 23 for Linux and Mac is pretty close to "feature" complete (at least of the major stuff) for the MC 24 development cycle I'd like to see performance improvements to Linux and Mac being one of the main focuses, including fixing the rendering performance issue(s) on Mac.

and not only are there some features on Windows side that don't work on macOS, but it also just plain runs better / faster in Windows.

It'll also apply to Linux too in addition to Mac vs Windows. This is an ongoing thing development-wise actually as the 'missing' features are slowly being added to Mac and Linux builds of MC. It's not a simple thing to do as Windows MC uses things like Direct3D, DirectShow, etc. whereas those are not available on Mac and Linux and need to be developed from scratch (if possible at all, some things aren't, e.g. things like madVR). But it's a lot better now than it was a couple years ago - MC for Linux/Mac 23 supports video playback, image support, Theater View, etc. There's still some missing stuff, e.g. television support which *may* not even be possible on Linux and Mac.

is performance any better or worse under Linux compared to macOS?

In my own testing, Linux MC is the second 'fastest' and Windows is the first.

anyone migrate a JRiver library from macOS to Linux? I have moved a library from one Mac to another, and that was successful after an initial misstep. I know mac & linux file paths are much more similar than under Windows. But I am sure there are issues that would arise, and maybe it wouldn't even work at all.

This is where you're going to run into issues. Even though paths on Mac and Linux are similar, for example by default mounted volumes are located in different locations. I suggest you use the Rename, Move, & Copy Files tool and read the Wiki about moving files: https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Moving_Files

In addition if you're using a NAS or an internal/external hard drive to store your media files the file system itself might be an issue. If you're using HFS+ or APFS you will likely run into issues on Linux - there's no APFS driver for Linux and I'm not sure if HFS+ partitions can be written to in Linux either, never tried. If you're using FAT32 or exFAT, you should be fine. If you're using NTFS, you'll likely need to use ntfs-3g for best results on Linux.
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Library Eye

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Re: Moving from macOS
« Reply #3 on: February 01, 2018, 02:35:42 am »

Thank you both for your replies

MC is a cross-platform application compiled for Mac.

~ I knew "ported" wasn't really the fair word to use. Sorry about that, it was late.

In my own testing, Linux MC is the second 'fastest' and Windows is the first.

~ good to know

This is where you're going to run into issues. Even though paths on Mac and Linux are similar, for example by default mounted volumes are located in different locations. I suggest you use the Rename, Move, & Copy Files tool and read the Wiki about moving files: https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Moving_Files

~ I am tempted to just use old mac as media server to host library , so I can access whether I am a mac, windows, or linux client (I use all three) and so I do not lose all my involved library edits I have made already but one thing I like about being a client on same OS as host is I can use the "play local files when available" feature (better playback it seems, with all my web use and with me playing over Airplay) but that is not cross platform - i did check. Was hoping it could work with linux client from mac host but mac path for external HDD involves "Volumes/" and on Linux it is "media/" {as you mention "by default mounted volumes are located in different locations"} (yes, by the way, Linux has HFS+ write support, I used at some point. Not sure how reliable it is. Do not know of reliable eXFAt solution for Linux) . I have read the Moving Files page in past and will have to look over again. Sounds like what I would wanna do if I am permanently switching OSs.

I just recalled, I can't really switch to linux as long as I am relying on playback to an AirPlay device - there is no Linux solution (I have AirFoil for Mac & Windows). So if I am going to switch to non-Apple hardware I guess I'd be stuck using Windows, as much as I prefer Fedora or Mint, and rebuilding library or maybe somehow I could use "Copy and update database to point to new location" or some other "Moving Files" approach.

thanks again!
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