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[eruse]

Hello-

Is it possible to get to a command line on the Id Pi?  I ask because I would like to copy a library from a Mac Mini onto the Id Pi and use that library to restore the library on the Id Pi.  The reason is because I created a custom library view for internet radio stations and it would be easiest to restore the library that has the internet radio stations view instead of recreating the view de novo.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Awesome Donkey]

Why not restore the library in Media Center itself? Do a library backup on the Mac Mini, restore the library backup on the Id Pi. That's much easier than mucking around in a terminal.

https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Library_Backup

[eruse]

Thanks for the reply-

How do I restore a backup from a library that is on the Mac Mini over my home network?  I do not see the Mac Mini when I use the "Browse" option to find the library on it.

[bob]

Thanks for the reply-

How do I restore a backup from a library that is on the Mac Mini over my home network?  I do not see the Mac Mini when I use the "Browse" option to find the library on it.

The IdPi runs both nfs and smb.
You can browse to it on a Mac either way using the IP address.
Copy the library into the InternalStorage share (SMB) and restore it on the Pi from MC on the Pi.

[Awesome Donkey]

Or even use something like a USB to manual transfer the library backup is also possible.

[eruse]

Thanks for the replies-

I was able to access the Id Pi from another Mac over my home network but could not drag and drop the library from the Mac Mini to the InternalStorage share on the Id Pi.  I also tried copying the library using the terminal on the Mac but received a permission denied message.  Regarding using a USB drive to copy the library onto the Id Pi, would that not require using command line instructions in a terminal app on the Id Pi?  Similarly, wouldn't command line instructions be needed to change permissions to allow copying files to the Id Pi over a network?

The version of Raspian on the Id Pi only seems to allow the user to enter several options from a numbered list and none of those options are to open a terminal to enter command line instructions, regardless of whether using the GUI or headless/text interface on the Id Pi.

[bob]

Thanks for the replies-

I was able to access the Id Pi from another Mac over my home network but could not drag and drop the library from the Mac Mini to the InternalStorage share on the Id Pi.  I also tried copying the library using the terminal on the Mac but received a permission denied message.  Regarding using a USB drive to copy the library onto the Id Pi, would that not require using command line instructions in a terminal app on the Id Pi?  Similarly, wouldn't command line instructions be needed to change permissions to allow copying files to the Id Pi over a network?

The version of Raspian on the Id Pi only seems to allow the user to enter several options from a numbered list and none of those options are to open a terminal to enter command line instructions, regardless of whether using the GUI or headless/text interface on the Id Pi.

Sorry I should have said
InternalStorage->media
You can drop stuff in there.
As for external drives, the Id will auto add them if you enable it in the disk submenu.
You can browse to it then with MC restore library as usual on the Id to restore it.
There is no command line access.

[eruse]

Thanks for the help-

I was able to copy the library I wanted to restore to the "media" folder and was able to restore the library and preserve the "Radio Stations" view that I created.  Unfortunately, only about 25% of the CDs in the library were restored.  I had to select and delete them and then re-import the files from the external SSD on which the files are stored.

A bigger concern is that there is no command line access.  One reason I wanted to get an Id Pi was to use it to create a truly portable music server powered by an external power bank and with it's own wifi network similar to the portable hard drives with built-in wifi that it seems all companies have abandoned.  I think this is possible on a Raspberry Pi 4B or 5.  It would be nice if the developers would create such a version of the Id Pi with MC installed.

In looking at the Interact forum, it does seem that MC can be installed on a "stock" Raspberry Pi system per the following:

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,123770.0.html

Is my understanding correct?  I think that this may be my best option to try to create the portable server described above.  If there are reasons that what I would like to do can't be done, I would appreciate knowing about it.

Thanks again for the help.

[bob]

The purpose of the IdNUC/IdPi is to provide a turnkey system with as much flexibility as possible.
All of the flexibility that's built into it, like providing a renderer,  creating network shares, running in text or gui mode, providing for remote access, ability to connect to any network wirelessly or wired, providing other services (airplay, etc) and on and on are meant to cover as much as we could anticipate.

Past that you can create your own with a linux build of MC on a stock rasberrypi 3-5.
You will have none of that turnkey system however so if you want a custom system and have a lot of time on your hands that's an option.

[eruse]

Thanks-

I do understand and appreciate the purpose of the Id Pi.  Apologies if my posts appeared to be dismissive of those efforts.  If the current version of the Id Pi could be modified to allow it to do what it does now but to also have its own wifi network, that would be greatly appreciated.

[bob]

Thanks-

I do understand and appreciate the purpose of the Id Pi.  Apologies if my posts appeared to be dismissive of those efforts.  If the current version of the Id Pi could be modified to allow it to do what it does now but to also have its own wifi network, that would be greatly appreciated.

Are you thinking about this as the IdPi PROVIDING the network? As in providing an access point or just being independent of an existing network?

[eruse]

Hi-

To be specific, I would like to use the Id Pi as a portable music server for the MC library I have on an external SSD while on long road trips.  If functioning as an access point to connect to an iphone or ipad running Panel or JRemote allows for that then, yes, that is the functionality I would like the Id Pi to have.

I'm not very tech savvy so the term "access point" doesn't suggest (to me) the ability to have the device's own wifi network, only the ability to connect to a device (such as a home router) that does have its own wifi network.  Based upon your question, it appears I may be mistaken and that access points may have their own networks to which devices can connect without an actual internet connection.

[bob]

Hi-

To be specific, I would like to use the Id Pi as a portable music server for the MC library I have on an external SSD while on long road trips.  If functioning as an access point to connect to an iphone or ipad running Panel or JRemote allows for that then, yes, that is the functionality I would like the Id Pi to have.

I'm not very tech savvy so the term "access point" doesn't suggest (to me) the ability to have the device's own wifi network, only the ability to connect to a device (such as a home router) that does have its own wifi network.  Based upon your question, it appears I may be mistaken and that access points may have their own networks to which devices can connect without an actual internet connection.

I was curious because of your use case and because the IdPi can already present itself as a network access point (like guest networks that show up in coffee shops, etc) but that's only used for configuring it's own connection to another network (this is a very commonly used approach when configuring a new wireless device to an existing wireless network).

I can see where it could be useful as a standalone network, there might be issues with it not being able to get to the internet in that case. MC generally expects to be able to get to the internet to do things like update it's access key status, download necessary codecs on demand, etc.

[eruse]

Thanks for the information-

I do think it would be useful for the IdPid to function as a standalone server without the need (at least on a temporary basis) to be connected to the internet.  I began to search the web for information on how to configure a Raspberry Pi to have its own network and found the following to be potentially helpful:

https://www.stevemurch.com/setting-up-a-raspberry-pi-for-ad-hoc-networking-tech-note/2022/12

Based on this article, it appears that a Raspberry Pi can be configured to have its own network while at the same time also having a connection to the internet.  Since the IdPi does have the ability to function as an access point, it would be great if a future update could implement this functionality.

[bob]

Thanks for the information-

I do think it would be useful for the IdPid to function as a standalone server without the need (at least on a temporary basis) to be connected to the internet.  I began to search the web for information on how to configure a Raspberry Pi to have its own network and found the following to be potentially helpful:

https://www.stevemurch.com/setting-up-a-raspberry-pi-for-ad-hoc-networking-tech-note/2022/12

Based on this article, it appears that a Raspberry Pi can be configured to have its own network while at the same time also having a connection to the internet.  Since the IdPi does have the ability to function as an access point, it would be great if a future update could implement this functionality.

That's pretty much what it does now but only when configuring its own wifi to connect to a local router/access point. After that's configured the wifi goes back into client mode.
It can't be a client and host (access point) at the same time.

If it's running in hostap mode it obviously can't reach the internet because IT's the host. Now the exception to this would be if on connected the ethernet port on the same Id but becoming a internet/wifi router isn't really the design purpose of the Id.

[eruse]

Thanks again for the info and replies-

Perhaps the Id Pi could be configured with a toggle option from the menu to run as a standalone server or to run as it does now?  I do hope the developers consider implementing standalone media server functionality in a future release.  There is at least one person who would take advantage of that. 

[bob]

Thanks again for the info and replies-

Perhaps the Id Pi could be configured with a toggle option from the menu to run as a standalone server or to run as it does now?  I do hope the developers consider implementing standalone media server functionality in a future release.  There is at least one person who would take advantage of that. 

I think that is a good suggestion and since all of the pieces are already in place it's along the lines of what I was thinking as well.

[eruse]

Thanks Bob.  Very much appreciated.