Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[macdonjh]

I have set up user accounts on my media server computer (Windows 11):
   - Me (admin, read/ write)
   - Family (user, read only)

When I logged into the Family account I found JRiver and started the program.  I opened the Library Manager and clicked <Add Library> and was asked for an Access Key or URL.  I double checked and Media Server is not activated for this User-level account.  Is it normal for MC to ask for an Access Key for a new Library in a User account?  Why?  My goal is simply a Library for my family to use which doesn't affect the tagging I have when I use MC through my account.

Extra Credit Question (for those who know more about Windows than me-- so everybody): when I logged in to the Family account and checked the File Tree I didn't see my NAS (where I keep all my media files).  This particular computer is recognized by my NAS when I am logged into my account.  Do I need to add credentials  for this computer when the Family account is active? 

[zybex]

MC database lives, by default, under the user profile folder, in %AppData%\J River\Media Center 30\Library. It's a per-user app. When you start MC in the Family user it does not see your DB; you need to create one for that user, or connect to an MC Server library - this is what it means when it asks you for the AccessKey/URL. You can either create a new DB (point it to an empty folder) or connect to an existing *networked* library.

Sharing a local DB for multiple users on the same machine is not supported, I think. There are several workarounds, none ideal:

1. on the main user, move the DB to a common folder outside of the user profile and grant NTFS permissions for both users to the folder. Then just add that Library to the MC on both user accounts. The problem here is that both users will be admins, and you cannot have MC open on both accounts simultaneously.

2. Enable Media Server on the first account, then login to the Family account and connect to the library on localhost:52199. This allows you to set the Family account as readonly, but requires that you first login into your main account to start the Media Server before the Family account can work; both accounts need to be logged in (caveat: not sure if MC supports this)

3. Add a login script to the family account that quickly overwrites the Family MC database with your Main account MC database. Then it just works, they can do whatever they like to the DB as it will be overwritten on next login. The minus here is the added delay on login for the DB copy, but that should be only a few seconds on an SSD. You can also do this by replacing the MC startup shortcut.


The ideal solution is, of course, to have a second PC on your network holding the DB and acting as the MC Media Server, and then both accounts on your main PC can connect to the shared library (one as admin, one as readonly).

[macdonjh]

Thank you for explaining.  I am still confused why MC asked for an Access Key when I was trying to create a new Library. 

This is embarrassing, if I'd looked at the bottom half of the New Library pop-up, I'd have seen the check box for creating a non-network Library.  That problem is solved.  Now to figure out NAS permissions so our Family account can "see" our NAS and the media files there.

[zybex]

Apparently there's another solution to have one account running as a Server and another as a read-only client:
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,134942.msg934549.html#msg934549

The downside is that you still need to login to your main account to start the server and then switch to the other one.

[DJLegba]

Apparently there's another solution to have one account running as a Server and another as a read-only client:
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,134942.msg934549.html#msg934549

The downside is that you still need to login to your main account to start the server and then switch to the other one.

If you don't need to access the server from the desktop you can set it to run as a task at startup.

[macdonjh]

DJLegba, all our media files are on our server, so she'd need access to the server, unless she wanted to copy files to her local computer.  I don't think she wants that.

zybex, I didn't know that was supported.  However, that's sort of how Media Server behaves for me, and I wish it was different.  When I want to use my network Library, I have to confirm my server computer is on and has MC running.  Then I can grab my client computer, start MC and play media files. 

Before my son moved to college, he had a copy of MC and read-only access to our server.  He could run MC whenever he wanted to, had his own Library configured the way he wanted.  I can set that up for my wife on her computer, no problem. 

What I need to do now is figure out how to make that second User Account on my Server computer work the way I want.  My account has read/write access to the server.  I think I need to set up credentials for the Family account on the Server computer to have read only access to the server and then everything will work.  Sometimes she wants to use our stereo to have music in the house...

[DJLegba]

DJLegba, all our media files are on our server, so she'd need access to the server, unless she wanted to copy files to her local computer.  I don't think she wants that.

Sorry, I should have made it clear that I was referring to "Media Server", the JRiver software. She'd still have access to the files on the server. You can do a lot of library management from a JRiver client, but for some things you need to run Media Center from the "Media Server" instance, and that's not possible when you use a startup task to launch Media Server.

[zybex]

@macdonjh, apparently Windows can do what you need after all:
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,134942.msg934623.html#msg934623

With that Windows option enabled and the "allow multiple instances" enabled in MC, you should be able to have your main account running MC Server and starting automatically on reboot, and your family account connected to it as guest (read-only).

[macdonjh]

Thank you zybex, I'll try that.  I also need to try to remember how to create/ update credentials on our server, though.  "Use it or lose it".

I think I might have seen your post in that other thread, since I also have a response there.