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[Awesome Donkey]

This tutorial aims to aid users into setting up JRiver Media Center 25 onto computers running the following Debian-based GNU/Linux operating systems/distributions/variants (others listed here *may* work, but your mileage may vary!);

Debian
Ubuntu
Linux Mint

Recommended distros/versions:

Debian 10.x Buster
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Bionic Beaver
Ubuntu 19.10 Eoan Ermine
Linux Mint 19.2 Tina


Ubuntu Studio and Linux Mint Debian Edition have not and likely will not be tested! Again, your mileage with those may vary. There *may* be issues with Ubuntu 16.04.x LTS too (e.g. segfaults) so unless the issue(s) aren't identified and corrected, you might want to consider upgrading to Ubuntu 18.04 LTS as soon as possible once it's released to avoid any possible issues.

NOTE: This tutorial does borrow ideas and parts done by InflatableMouse and his excellent Debian Wheezy tutorial found here, so please thank him.

Before we continue, please note the following;

- Media Center 25 for Linux is developed on Debian Jessie/Stretch - support for distros other than Debian Jessie/Stretch, e.g. like Ubuntu and Linux Mint are not officially supported!
- This tutorial will focus on the operating systems above, any others you're on your own with.
- This *should* also apply to Ubuntu/Mint derivatives like Xubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Linux Mint (MATE), Linux Mint (Xfce), elementaryOS, etc. However, extra steps may be required!
- Before installing, please read the outstanding issues topic! Many of the issues noted for Debian also apply to Ubuntu/Linux Mint!


Step 0 - Debian Only - Adding yourself to the required groups:

NOTE: If you're indeed using Debian, you'll likely will need to install sudo and add your user account to the sudo group FIRST as explained in this tutorial before proceeding with this tutorial: http://milq.github.io/enable-sudo-user-account-debian/

This step is for Debian only - you can skip this step if you're using Ubuntu/Linux Mint! Got sudo installed and your user account added to the sudo group already? If not, read the note above! If you do, let's begin then! By default on Debian user accounts aren't automatically added to the adm and audio groups upon creation of the account (like with the case of sudo). This is absolutely required if you're running Debian Jessie or Debian Stretch! Okay, in a detailed nutshell we're going to set your user account as an administrator, add your user to the sudoers file and add your user to the audio group. Fortunately, all of this can done in just two simple steps! If for whatever reason you're using the root account on Debian or again you're using Ubuntu/Linux Mint/etc., 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,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 1!


Step 1 - Add the JRiver APT Repository:

The APT repository is required to install Media Center 25 and keep Media Center 25 updated with every new release. There's three available repositories; Latest, Stable and Beta. Decide for yourself which one you want to use - descriptions of each are below. Choose and use only either the latest or stable repo - you *can* use the beta repo alongside either the stable or latest repos!

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 the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ directory. Also, you can pick which repository you want to use (Latest, Stable or Beta - choose either the latest or stable repos, but the beta repo can be run alongside either one!) so either type one the following commands or copy and paste the command in and press Enter;

Media Center 25 (Latest) Repository:

This repository is using the latest up-to-date release of Media Center 25. There *may* be instability issues! NOTE: I'd personally recommend using the latest repo unless you're intending to run a "stable" system (e.g. HTPC or a Raspberry Pi).

Code: [Select]

sudo wget http://dist.jriver.com/latest/mediacenter/mediacenter25.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter25.list

Media Center 25 (Stable) Repository:

This repository is using the latest stable release of Media Center 25. It may be out-of-date compared to the Latest repository and is updated every few months (so you might have to wait for bug fixes), however these builds have been thoroughly tested and are considered stable.

Code: [Select]

sudo wget http://dist.jriver.com/stable/mediacenter/mediacenter25.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter25.list

Media Center 25 (Beta) Repository:

This repository is for beta builds - not intended for users who prefer stability! These builds are likely buggy, may crash, etc. But this repo can be used alongside either the stable or latest repos!

Code: [Select]

sudo wget http://dist.jriver.com/beta/mediacenter/mediacenter25.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter25beta.list

And that's it for adding the repo(s). Proceed to step 2!

--- Edit by JimH --- Start here the next time you install. ---

Step 2 - Updating the packages list:

After adding the repository, we need to reload/refresh the packages list. This step is absolutely required or the next steps will NOT work! 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 25:

It's finally time to install Media Center 25! 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 mediacenter25
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 mediacenter25 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 mediacenter25:
 mediacenter25 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. Now assuming all dependencies are met, you've been successful at installing Media Center 25 in Ubuntu/Mint/etc! However, I recommend rebooting since this will allow MC to load up fonts correctly - otherwise if you run MC without rebooting first, fonts may look pretty horrendous!

Now, after rebooting you can start Media Center either go into the GNOME menu, Xfce menu, Unity dash, KDE menu, LXDE menu, Cinnamon menu, MATE menu, etc. and search for Media Center 25 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]

mediacenter25
Now, we're going to cover installing the license for those who have purchased in step 3!

[Awesome Donkey]

Step 4 - Installing A Media Center 25 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 25. Thanks for purchasing a license and supporting the development!

First, make sure MC25 is closed and either download the .mjr by either restoring the license here or if you just purchased a Media Center 25 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]

mediacenter25 /RestoreFromFile "Media Center25 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]

mediacenter25 /RestoreFromFile "Media Center25 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]

mediacenter25 /RestoreFromFile ~/Downloads/"Media Center25 Linux-YYYYYY.mjr"
If you do not encounter an error while restoring your license from the file, open Media Center 25 up then go to the Help menu > Registration Info... - if it's registered, congratulations, your MC25 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 25 on your Ubuntu/Linux Mint machine! The next step will aid you in keeping Media Center 25 up-to-date.


Step 5 - Updating Media Center 25:

Okay, so you've got Media Center 25 installed and you might be wondering "how do I keep MC 25 up-to-date?". Well, there's several different ways available to accomplish this.

The easiest method to check for updates and update Media Center 25 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 MC25 updates but for keeping up with the latest patches for vulnerabilities and various other potential security concerns.

The other ways to update Media Center 25? 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]

Get Thread Priorities Working:

With the release of Media Center 25, it'll automatically set this up for you now! So there should be nothing to do here.



Get Pulseaudio Output Working:

If desired, you can also output using Pulseaudio - keep in mind though that ALSA output is bit-perfect. I'd highly recommend sticking with ALSA instead of Pulseaudio since Pulseaudio requires resampling to one sample rate, but if you wish to use Pulseaudio for whatever reason you'll need to set it up...

Pulseaudio *should* work out-of-the-box on Debian 8+/Ubuntu 14.04+/Linux Mint 17+ however if you want to cover all your bases on getting Pulseaudio working try the following commands in a Terminal by either typing the following command or copying and pasting the command in and press Enter (you *may* be prompted for your password);

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get install libasound2-plugins
NOTE: You don't need to use this command in Debian Jessie/Stretch 64-bit, Ubuntu 15.04+ 64-bit and Linux Mint 17+ 64-bit!

Just open Media Center up, go to Tools > Options > Audio > click the Device settings... button and select pulse as the output device but keep in mind you may need to specify the default output device Pulseaudio uses via the pavucontrol utility.



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

When trying 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 by typing in Pulseaudio into the Unity dash 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 20/21/22/23/24:

If you've updated from Media Center 20, 21, 22, 23 and/or 24, 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 23:

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get remove mediacenter23
For Media Center 24:

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get remove mediacenter24
NOTE: I only listed Media Center 23 and 24 here. If you're using an older version than this, simply adjust the command above to your needs!

Step 3 (Optional): If you want to completely remove Media Center 20/21/22/23/24'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 23:

Code: [Select]

sudo rm -rf '/usr/lib/jriver/Media Center 23'
For Media Center 24:

Code: [Select]

sudo rm -rf '/usr/lib/jriver/Media Center 24'
And...

For Media Center 23:

Code: [Select]

sudo rm -rf '~/.jriver/Media Center 23'
For Media Center 24:

Code: [Select]

sudo rm -rf '~/.jriver/Media Center 24'
NOTE: Again, like above, I only listed Media Center 23 and 24. If you're using an older version than these, adjust the commands above to your needs!!

Step 4 (Optional): If you want to remove the old mediacenter20.list and/or mediacenter21.list and/or mediacenter22.list and/or mediacenter23.list and/or mediacenter24.list file from the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ directory (NOTE: If you're also using the beta repo, repeat the step below and add beta at the end, e.g. mediacenter24beta.list to remove the older beta repo files as well);

For Media Center 23:

Code: [Select]

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter23.list
For Media Center 24:

Code: [Select]

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter24.list
If all goes well, your Media Center 20/21/22/23/24 installation(s) should be removed.



How To Remove Media Center 25:

If you don't like Media Center 25 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 mediacenter25
Step 2 (Optional): If you want to completely remove Media Center 25'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 25'
And...

Code: [Select]

sudo rm -rf '~/.jriver/Media Center 25'
Step 3 (Optional): If you want to remove the mediacenter25.list file from the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ directory (NOTE: If you're also using the beta repo, repeat the step below and add mediacenter25beta.list to remove the beta repo file(s) as well);

Code: [Select]

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter25.list
If all goes well, your Media Center 25 installation should be completely removed.



Adding Additional Skins In Media Center 25:

Media Center 25 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 (GNOME) 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 25 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 25. If you don't see your skin listed, then the skin probably wasn't installed correctly.



Tutorial changelog:

1.0 (03/25/2019): Media Center 25 tutorial for Ubuntu/Mint/etc. is up! Did some simplifying too!

[Awesome Donkey]

For the time being, I wouldn't recommend using the stable repo, as there's no stable build yet. If you're going to install Media Center 25 right now, I'd advise using the latest and/or beta repo instead!

[kensn]

Awesome Donkey, Thanks again for taking the time to post these instructions.
Upgrade to 25 went smooth on my RPI streamer just copying and pasting from your posts.
I truly appreciate it!!

Ken

[Awesome Donkey]

Of course, MC25 works fine with the newly released Ubuntu 19.04 Disco Dingo.

[JimH]

On the Pixelbook, if I do this:
sudo apt-get update

I'm getting this:

W: GPG error: http://dist.jriver.com/beta/mediacenter jessie InRelease: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY C30B25C6077765D5
W: The repository 'http://dist.jriver.com/beta/mediacenter jessie InRelease' is not signed.
N: Data from such a repository can't be authenticated and is therefore potentially dangerous to use.
N: See apt-secure( manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.

MC installed and runs.

[bob]

On the Pixelbook, if I do this:
sudo apt-get update

I'm getting this:

W: GPG error: http://dist.jriver.com/beta/mediacenter jessie InRelease: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY C30B25C6077765D5
W: The repository 'http://dist.jriver.com/beta/mediacenter jessie InRelease' is not signed.
N: Data from such a repository can't be authenticated and is therefore potentially dangerous to use.
N: See apt-secure( manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.

MC installed and runs.

Did you do this step from above?

Code: [Select]

wget -q "http://dist.jriver.com/mediacenter@jriver.com.gpg.key" -O- | sudo apt-key add -

[drmimosa]

Thanks, I will try these suggestions. It is time for me to integrate authentication properly in my setup anyway.

[Library Eye]

- I find if I really want to completely remove and do a clean install from scratch, after the steps detailed above I need to delete the ".jriver" folder in Home, otherwise when I reinstall then everything is just as I left it before uninstalling. Also, the library backups remain in a JRiver folder in Documents; this folder can be easily deleted as well

[bob]

- I find if I really want to completely remove and do a clean install from scratch, after the steps detailed above I need to delete the ".jriver" folder in Home, otherwise when I reinstall then everything is just as I left it before uninstalling. Also, the library backups remain in a JRiver folder in Documents; this folder can be easily deleted as well

Correct.
Your settings, library, downloaded plugins, etc are in ~/.jriver.
The library backups are in ~/Documents/JRiver. You don't really want to delete this one unless you want to delete all of your library backups.

[SwissChriss]

Hi,
I'm pretty new to Linux, I'm using Ubuntu 19.04 and I get this message when I try to update the packages,
N: Ignoring file 'mediacent' in directory '/etc/apt/sources.list.d/' as it has no filename extension

what am I doing wrong?!?

Thanks

[Awesome Donkey]

Well, looks like the mediacenter25.list repository file didn't download correctly. Try...

Code: [Select]

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacent
Then re-add the repository you want above. Double check the command, because it has to end with .list for it to work correctly, e.g. for the latest repo:

Code: [Select]

sudo wget http://dist.jriver.com/latest/mediacenter/mediacenter25.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mediacenter25.list
I would recommend carefully copying and pasting.

[SwissChriss]

Fixed! Many thanks indeed    Chris.

[Grundgütigster]

Great job, as a newbe to Linux I could manage to install Media Center 25 without any problems. Thanks for that!

Two questions though, which are propably more about Linux in general (which I don't know much about yet):

I installed MC 25 on Linux Mint and it somehow automatically adjusted itself and all programms to my monitor. MC 25 however takes advantage of the huge resolution of my monitor and displays itself with tiny little font and symbols, etc. How can I resize MC 25 so I can use it properly?

As I think about using a laptop as a server for music files managed by MC, I do think it is possible to close the lid and get access to MC, when the laptop itself supports this?

Thanks!

[Awesome Donkey]

Try going to the View menu then Size and you can increase or decrease the size of the skin's elements. Otherwise if you want just a larger font, open MC's Options then go to Tree & View and click on select font... on the bottom and you can increase the font size there too.

The second I guess depends on the laptop. Typically when closing the lid, the laptop/OS would usually use this as a signal to go to sleep or hibernate, so I guess it depends.

[Grundgütigster]

Thanks, Awsome Donkey! The view menu did the trick. I was browsing everything in the option menu through a magnifying glass without success. Now I know why :-)

As all the other programms I used so far with Linux seemed to use the general monitor setting, it could be something to add to a next MC version.

Best!

[tjmski]

So, I am installing the latest release on Debian 9 on my Pixelbook. Step 3 looks good until it looks like it is hung on "Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.24-11+deb9u4)". I do notice that this command was executed successfully a few commands prior? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[JimH]

I wrote about the Pixelbook and using it with MC here:
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,114616.0.html

Maybe you'll find something useful there.   I'm running MC25.0.108 on it now and it's working well.

[tjmski]

Hi Jim, Well it appears that I may have been experiencing network issues. I came back to the terminal, later in the evening, and it appeared the install had completed. Typed in mediacenter25 and it started right up. Onward.  ...Tim

[Awesome Donkey]

Tested MC25 in the newly released Ubuntu 19.10 Eoan Ermine... and MC runs just fine, as expected.

[bob]

Tested MC25 in the newly released Ubuntu 19.10 Eoan Ermine... and MC runs just fine, as expected.

Thanks for the report!

[organics1]

Have installed MC25 to my Linux Debian10 machine. Working fine...but license won't activate.
I keep getting error, "Could not restore license from file."
At some point during the 12 hours or so since I upgraded to a MC26 Master license i was herded to the 'PAYPAL DID IT' page. Clicked on the button, and, NOTHING. No activation.

[JimH]

Manually install MC25.0.108 or higher.  Then license it.

[bob]

Have installed MC25 to my Linux Debian10 machine. Working fine...but license won't activate.
I keep getting error, "Could not restore license from file."
At some point during the 12 hours or so since I upgraded to a MC26 Master license i was herded to the 'PAYPAL DID IT' page. Clicked on the button, and, NOTHING. No activation.

The easiest way with Linux is to license it through the UI, copy and paste in the code into help->registration

[valtix73]

Hi,

I purchased a license for Linux. However, they gave me version 26. Well, there is no version 26 for linux. Now, I can't get it to register?  Why offer a license for a version that is not available? Or is there a media 26 for linux?  please help!

[JimH]

Hi,

I purchased a license for Linux. However, they gave me version 26. Well, there is no version 26 for linux. Now, I can't get it to register?  Why offer a license for a version that is not available? Or is there a media 26 for linux?  please help!

Please read this :
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,122612.0.html

[hksarac]

when will release JRiver 26???

[JimH]

when will release JRiver 26???

In a few weeks.