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[Robad]

I have spent all day yesterday on this and I think I'm nearly there...

Yesterday I upgraded the firmware on my QNAP NAS.  This updated HD Station and removed MC (22.0.114).  I have tried but failed (even with QNAP's help) to down grade.
So I decided to try another approach - using Docker on a Container.  Not being one for buzzwords, I have been mostly stumped and partly lucky.

- In Qfinder I can run 'Container Station'.  In the Overview I have two items: "APP jrivermc" containing with "DOCKER jrivermc26 (shiomax/jrivermc26)", and "DOCKER jrivermc26-1 (shiomax/jrivermc26:latest)".  If I click the link on the latter I get a browser window showing "JRiver MediaCenter 26" with a UI similar to the Windows app.  If I stop the former (DOCKER jrivermc26) I can still use the UI. 

      - Should I have (apparently) 2 instances of mc26 running?  I can't open a browser window from the former, so I assume they are somehow different.

- I have managed to import my audio folder from the NAS using the browser UI.
- I have also (I believe) set up 'Media Network'.

So I was in the unusual situation - I could connect to either server from JRemote (usinf its access key), i.e. the old MC22 and the new MC26!  (Sure the old one isn't still running somehow, as the upgrade rebooted.) However, I can't see any songs in either server!  I had been using JRemote successfully for some years connected to the MC22 server.

Today I looked on my TV connected to the QNAP's HDMI output.  Much to my surprise, along with Chrome (the only App I installed there) I see an open MC26 window!  Only it has no songs in the library.  So I load the library I imported all my songs to yesterday.  Now when I connect from JRemote I see the songs!  I added an Access Key to the HDMI MC26.  It doesn't matter which access key (of the three) I use, I see the same...

Current situation is I can play songs using to JRemote if I select zone "This Device", and I see that device on the HDMI MC26 (the above browser link doesn't change).  But when I try 'sending' the audio to my CSN, it plays the first few seconds on JRemote a few times then stops.  On the CXN playback is "paused".

Any ideas where I go from here?

Thanks in advance,

 Rob

[Scobie]

I believe one of those instances is the actual MC App and the other is a data container. I believe you need both but the App is the only one that needs to run. There’s plenty in here on the Docker images if you search around, and the older threads explain the config quite well.

Re your CXN, have you gone through the DLNA setup and associated a server to your CXN renderer?

[Robad]

Thanks for the reply.  But I have to say I'm completely stumped.  It doesn't seem to make much difference what settings I change.

So now I have:
- Two GUIs for MC26. One via the web.  The other on the QNAP's HDMI output.
- They are not the same instance.  Unless I load the web MC's library on the HDMI MC I can't see any tracks/songs albums on JRemote.
- You might think this implied that JRemote was connecting to the HDMI MC.  But I'm using the Access Key from the web MC...  And it's identical when I use the HDMI MC's access key.
- When I power-up the CXN I can see it in the 'Playing Now' list on the HDMI MC, but not on the Web MC.  Does this mean the Web MC can't access my network and the other MC can?  I have no idea.
- When I try to send any track, using JRemote, to the CXN it plays on JRemote for ~3 seconds then stops.  On the CXN I see the Album Art but playback is paused.
- However, if the selected zone is "This device", JRemote will happily play to my phone or tablet.

Please can someone point me in the right direction?

[Robad]

OK.  Seem to have made some progress by trial-and-error.

Am using the 'docker-compose.yml' for "host" but noticed the Container said "NAT".  Changing the Container to host made things worse (less communicative).  So I tried changing "network_mode" and the Container to "bridge".   And it seems to be working as expected...

Whether it will be tomorrow, remains to be seen.

[Scobie]

I'm not sure what's going on with your 2 instances of MC, and I don't believe (could be wrong) that you would see the Docker version of MC on the HDMI output, this should only be accessible via a browser or VNC. It maybe you still have a mashup of both.

I use shiomax/jrivermc26:latest and it is the only one I need. MC plays to all my DLNA devices and I access MC via a browser.

If you are using Container Station just follow the bouncing ball on image creation, it guides you quite well. My files are all on the same QNAP and all I needed to do was create a shared folder, and point to this in the Shared Folders option in Advanced Settings. I also use Bridge Networking and assigned MC static IP on my network.

The other thing you will need to do is assign a Container Mac Address as this will stop MC asking for a license key every time the container is restarted. You can grab one of these from one of the online generators, there are several.

Don't have time right now, but if you are still stuck later on I can share some screenshots.

Re your CXN, it sounds like the DLNA Controller options may need to be set correctly. If you right click on the CXN under "Playing Now" and change the setting for "Disable SetNext Support'" and see if that helps.

[Robad]

Thanks for the response Scobie.  I decided I had to start again so I've removed everything container-station-related.  Trouble is, when I try creating new ones it fails!  I can make some progress by un/re-installing Container Station.  But I can't even get where I was before!

If you could tell me the necessary steps in simple terms, I'd be extremely grateful...

I'm currently at the "freshly installed Container Station" stage.

 Rob

[Robad]

I had another go.  I created an "Image" from 'shiomax/jriver26".  But it didn't allow me to specify anything.  Now I can change some things - like NAT to Bridge - but I can't add a MAC address.  How would I go about that?

[Scobie]

You can only add those details on creation - through container station anyway. There are docker commands that allow you to do that via the docker command shell post creation, but that requires you to terminal into the NAS and find your way around. Much easier to do it on image create.

[Robad]

I seem to have got it to work properly now...

For anyone else following in my footsteps:
- I had to create a container with Network mode set to "NAT".  This allows you to enter a MAC address.
   (Previously I created an "Application" - prefix "APP" - which allows you to use docker-compose.  But it didn't work.)
- I also used DHCP.  There seem to be conflicting opinions as to which is best.  If you go for "static" you can't use the QNAP's IP address!
- After the container creation had completed, I changed the Network mode to "Bridge".
- So far so good...

I read somewhere on this forum that you should use 'HUP' instead of 'TERM' when killing the process.  I have no idea how to do this.  The console output shows that the QNAP container is using 'TERM'.  However, I haven't upgraded my MC23 Master license yet, so I wouldn't know whether restarting the QNAP removes the authentication...

 Rob

[Robad]

Hi,  I have got the trial version of MC26.0.87 running in Container Station on a QNAP NAS.
Two things I don't know how to do now:
- How do I install the license once I've purchased it?
- How do I upgrade? (My Windows version kindly told me an update was available.  Not so with the Linux version...)

[Scobie]

You should be able to install the license via the GUI. It will either prompt you on startup to input your key or you can do so any time using Help -> Install License.

With updates on Linux you need to run the apt-get update command from the terminal. If you're using Container Station run up a terminal session by clicking on the terminal icon related to the container instance and type bash, and then type apt-get update (or sudo apt-get update if you are not authenticated as root) and once the updates for all packages are downloaded type apt-get upgrade to actually update the system. You should see mediacenter as one of the packages getting updated.