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[bob]

Information on running "non-gui"

If you run mediacenter with the switch /mediaserver it will try to run without producing windows.
At this time however, we still need a xserver running either on the machine running MC or via an ssh forward of X to the remote machine.

What you can do to get it running from the command line without a gui is this:
Install and run once remotely via ssh and X forwarding to get the configuration setup.
Then exit mediacenter.
sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-dummy (and the other packages it pulls in).
create the following configuration in /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Code: [Select]

Section "Files"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
        FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
        # path to defoma fonts
        FontPath        "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
EndSection
Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Configured Video Device"
    Driver      "dummy"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier  "Configured Monitor"
    HorizSync 31.5-48.5
    VertRefresh 50-70
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "Default Screen"
    Monitor     "Configured Monitor"
    Device      "Configured Video Device"
    DefaultDepth 24
    SubSection "Display"
    Depth 24
    Modes "1152x864"
    EndSubSection
EndSection


Then in the local startup file
/etc/rc.local
you can put
nohup Xorg >/dev/null 2>&1 &
#give X  some time to start
sleep 5
su - someuser -c"export DISPLAY=:0;mediacenter19 /mediaserver"
(replace someuser with your username)

and restart or just run this command from the command line with sudo
sudo nohup Xorg >/dev/null 2>&1 &

Then as a normal user
export DISPLAY=:0
mediacenter19 /mediaserver

The requirement for an xserver may go away in the future.

[Stream]

I've got MC running great when I forward X over ssh. Now I'm trying to get MC to run at boot without the GUI.

I'm using Voyage Linux and I followed all the above instructions but MC doesn't appear to run at boot. If I run the commands manually I get a set fault. Is there a log I should check to see what's happening at boot?

[Stream]

OK more info.

When I login as my non-root user and run /etc/rc.local I am prompted for a password. I enter the non-root user's password then get a seg fault. I'm guessing the set fault is because it's trying to run in my ssh session, but the fact that it's asking me to authenticate might be a larger issue.


non-root@voyage:~$ /etc/rc.local
Password:
JRiver install path (process: 3761): /usr/lib/jriver/Media Center 19/
CJRSharedToolsHelper::AuthenticateJRSharedLib
JRFileSystem::GetDirectoryAppdataCommon
CJRSharedToolsHelper::AuthenticateJRSharedLib
JRFileSystem::GetDirectoryDocuments
JRFileSystem::GetDirectoryDesktop
JRTools checking thread
CJRSharedToolsHelper::AuthenticateJRSharedLib
CJRSharedToolsHelper::AuthenticateJRSharedLib
JROs -- analyze operating system
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
JRFileSystem::GetDriveType
-su: line 1:  3761 Segmentation fault      mediacenter /mediaserver

[bob]

As that same user, try xterm.
If it looks like it hangs, that's good (it's outputting to the dummy display).
If you get a DISPLAY error, you've not got things setup right.

[Stream]

Ok I got a display error with xterm. Not sure what to reconfigure.

[Stream]

I've been running more tests.

I can run xterm when I ssh -X into the Linux PC, but I can't run it locally. Does this give you any hints as to what might be the issue?

When I run it locally the message says

xterm: Xt error: Can't open display:
xterm: DISPLAY is not set


after running export DISPLAY=:0 followed by xterm the error I receive is

xterm: Xt error: Can't open display: :0

[JimH]

after running export DISPLAY=:0 followed by xterm the error I receive is

xterm: Xt error: Can't open display: :0

Did you try

export DISPLAY=0

The colon seems unnecessary, but I don't know.

[Stream]

Did you try

export DISPLAY=0

The colon seems unnecessary, but I don't know.

Just tried it. No luck.

[bob]

The colon is required.
This indicates that the dummy xserver isn't running on the machine you are logging into.

ps -ef | grep Xorg | grep -v grep
will tell you if Xorg is running. If you get nothing back, it's not.

[Stream]

The colon is required.
This indicates that the dummy xserver isn't running on the machine you are logging into.

ps -ef | grep Xorg | grep -v grep
will tell you if Xorg is running. If you get nothing back, it's not.

I think you're on to something. I got nothing back. Any idea how to change that?

[bob]

I think you're on to something. I got nothing back. Any idea how to change that?

Did you do the /etc/rc.local setup from the first post to invoke it?
I just realized there is upper/lower case problem with the name there. It's Xorg not xorg. I'm correcting it.

[Stream]

Did you do the /etc/rc.local setup from the first post to invoke it?
I just realized there is upper/lower case problem with the name there. It's Xorg not xorg. I'm correcting it.

Yes, I copied it letter for letter :~)

I'll try the uppercase X.

[Stream]

I'm getting further. I see an error"

Parse error on line 2 of section Files in file /etc/X11/xorg.conf
        "  " is not a valid keyword in this section.

Fatal server error:
no screens found


I'll take a look at the file.

[Stream]

The xorg.conf is missing an EndSection at the end. I re-pasted everything from above and added EndSection and I believe it works. More testing.

[bob]

The xorg.conf is missing an EndSection at the end. I re-pasted everything from above and added EndSection and I believe it works. More testing.

Sigh.
There were more lines missing from the code block. Fixed it in the first message.

[Stream]

Bingo. It's working now. I just rebooted as a headless PC and it appeared in MC running on Windows. I can stream audio to it perfectly.

Major step!

[bob]

Thanks for the debugging help!

[InflatableMouse]

Can I run MC on my server as a service (daemon) and still run the MC client like on Windows? In other words, the client doesn't 'connect' to its local server but opens the local database natively. But MC client isn't needed for serving media to the rest of the network.

Reason I ask is that a daemon can run at a certain runlevel and doesn't require me to login.

[bob]

Can I run MC on my server as a service (daemon) and still run the MC client like on Windows? In other words, the client doesn't 'connect' to its local server but opens the local database natively. But MC client isn't needed for serving media to the rest of the network.

Reason I ask is that a daemon can run at a certain runlevel and doesn't require me to login.

The preferences are all user based and when MC is run with the /mediaserver switch from the command line it needs to be run as a user (note the line running it as a user in rc.local in the top post).
If I was going to try to do this, I'd use a different user account for the MC that's going to run as a server only. Configure it so that it's not rendering or controlling and run it from rc.local.
The only caveat with this approach is that an xserver of some kind, real or dummy needs to be running first.
On the MC running as a client you could just turn off the DLNA server and change the base media network port under advanced options to, say, 52198.

[InflatableMouse]

But the client frontend then connects to its locally running mediaserver am I understanding that correctly? It would connect as if it were running on another box and stream media.

Also running that way would have the same restrictions with tagging, importing, renaming and moving as it has on Windows with a client connecting to a server which is not handy. How would I deal with that in this situation? Would I have to logout and back in as the user that mediaserver is running under?

[bob]

Oh I see, you are trying to do that windows thing where there is a "separate" mediaserver under the same user.
It's not really a system process in windows either.
I'll have to find out how that's done and see if there is a analog for linux.

[InflatableMouse]

Oh I see, you are trying to do that windows thing ...

lol.

One day that will be out of my system

Thanks for looking into it!

[shadowlight]

New member here. 

Any update on no longer requiring X-Windows on Linux JRiver install?

Still reading through the various threads but have not found the answer yet.

[bob]

New member here. 

Any update on no longer requiring X-Windows on Linux JRiver install?

Still reading through the various threads but have not found the answer yet.

At this time you still must run at least the dummy server.
I have this setup running on a fanless dual core 1ghz amd system running wheezy i386. You power it up and all is good, no user intervention needed.

[audiolover]

I installed it yesterday and it works. In my situation, maybe that is how it should work, to get to the normal desktop you have to reboot in failsafe mode.
Is there another way to get to the desktop in case you need to adjust something?

[bob]

I installed it yesterday and it works. In my situation, maybe that is how it should work, to get to the normal desktop you have to reboot in failsafe mode.
Is there another way to get to the desktop in case you need to adjust something?

Not really. I just connect with ssh, kill the running mediacenter19 and run it X over ssh.
Alternately, when I just need to make a small change I edit the Settings files with a text editor.

[InflatableMouse]

I'm looking into whether I can make a systemd thingy for Arch to start mediaserver at startup.

When I run it manually from the command line I see:

Code: [Select]

mediacenter20 /mediaserver
p11-kit: couldn't load module: /usr/lib32/pkcs11/gnome-keyring-pkcs11.so: /usr/lib32/pkcs11/gnome-keyring-pkcs11.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
p11-kit: couldn't load module: /usr/lib32/pkcs11/gnome-keyring-pkcs11.so: /usr/lib32/pkcs11/gnome-keyring-pkcs11.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Found 0 devices (devices will be listed below)

Total time: 1 ms
Result: 0
I've searched for this p11-kit message but it leads to all sorts of things related to either debian 32-bit compatibility libraries or pipelight application.

I'm not even sure whether that message is important or can it be safely ignored?

[mwillems]

Mouse, I'm getting the same error on recent builds.  I didn't see it two or three builds ago so it may be related to the new authentication dependency

[InflatableMouse]

Did it change with 20.0.20?

2. Changed: Switched to gnutls from openssl for https support because of a bug in the openssl static libs that prevented some websites certificates from being verified.

[mwillems]

Did it change with 20.0.20?

i don't recall exactly when, but I definitely didn't used to get the error.

[bob]

I think it makes sense that it changed with the gnutls switch. I see that on 64 bit ubuntu 14.10 but it doesn't seem to hurt anything as far as I've seen so far.

[InflatableMouse]

Sounds good. Thanks Bob!

[astromo]

I'm after some help please. Running Ubuntu 14.04 x64.

First I was stuck with trying to remote in via ssh. I glossed over this bit:

What you can do to get it running from the command line without a gui is this:
Install and run once remotely via ssh and X forwarding to get the configuration setup.

Then I twigged that I needed to install SSH (you could misread this as "install MC" by the way), so I did a:

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get install sshand then remoted in but got a no-can-do along the lines of errors to do with p11-kit + core dump / seg fault. So, I looked around and gave the info here a bash:
Switching to gnutls from openssl in the next build

Now when I remote in, the p11-kit errors have disappeared but I'm still getting core dump (segmentation fault) when I run the command "mediacenter20" from the remote terminal.

Thoughts?

[bob]

I'm after some help please. Running Ubuntu 14.04 x64.

First I was stuck with trying to remote in via ssh. I glossed over this bit:Then I twigged that I needed to install SSH (you could misread this as "install MC" by the way), so I did a:

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get install sshand then remoted in but got a no-can-do along the lines of errors to do with p11-kit + core dump / seg fault. So, I looked around and gave the info here a bash:
Switching to gnutls from openssl in the next build

Now when I remote in, the p11-kit errors have disappeared but I'm still getting core dump (segmentation fault) when I run the command "mediacenter20" from the remote terminal.

Thoughts?

You probably don't have x11 forwarding setup.
Try this on the machine that you ssh'd into:
sudo apt-get install xterm
then after it finishes, just type xterm and hit enter. I bet it won't run.
in debian, the config file is in /etc/ssh/sshd_config
enable X11 forwarding
restart: /etc/init.d/ssh restart
logout and ssh back in again.
retry xterm
if it works you should be set, if not logout and ssh back in again using the -X flag arg to ssh, ie
ssh -X someremotemachine.com

[mwillems]

And if the -X argument doesn't work, you may need to pass the -Y argument instead (I did, as I recall).

FYI, I had pretty poor luck doing remote admin of an MC instance via normal X-forwarding; I had much better luck using a VNC client over ssh as described in step-by-step detail here: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=91227.0

I especially recommend it if you need to use the MC GUI on the server instance (I found it very hard to use the GUI w/ X-forwarding due to lag).  The VNC over SSH method has the added advantage of making your linux MC instance easier to log into from non-linux boxes and android devices.

[bob]

And if the -X argument doesn't work, you may need to pass the -Y argument instead (I did, as I recall).

FYI, I had pretty poor luck doing remote admin of an MC instance via normal X-forwarding; I had much better luck using a VNC client over ssh as described in step-by-step detail here: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=91227.0

I especially recommend it if you need to use the MC GUI on the server instance (I found it very hard to use the GUI w/ X-forwarding due to lag).  The VNC over SSH method has the added advantage of making your linux MC instance easier to log into from non-linux boxes and android devices.

For some reason, X forwarding over ssh seems pretty slow.
If you are on the same lan though and just export the DISPLAY variable to your client machine with xhost + to enable display you can get pretty good performance.

[mwillems]

For some reason, X forwarding over ssh seems pretty slow.

Yeah, I don't know what the story is, but it definitely does.

If you are on the same lan though and just export the DISPLAY variable to your client machine with xhost + to enable display you can get pretty good performance.

My server is wired to a gigabit switch, and I did manage to get acceptable performance with X-forwarding when accessing it from a client box wired to the same switch, but trying to connect within the same LAN from a wireless client was pretty rough, much less from outside the LAN.  The VNC connection works pretty well over wireless, even from outside the LAN.

[astromo]

Thanks to you both.

Looks like mwillems has done some extensive research with blow by blow descriptions. I'll give that a crack and see how I fare and let you know how I went.

Cheers

[posixx]

running mediacenter as mwillems described works very good; my preferred way of going this as we often need config access. thanks mwillems!

[outis]

BTW and a little bit OT.

If you wont change MC's configuration on the fly (and not only once at the beginning with ssh -X or e.g. with vnc) you can start mediacenter with xpra.

http://xpra.org/
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Xpra

Then you can manage MC from a remote machine whenever you want.

HTH

[posixx]

Hello outis,

Could you give us a short description how to use xpra with mediacenter? It seems the way to go for my setup is i don't want to  run an xserver on the console

Frans

[outis]

Hello Frans,

have a look on the second link above.

regards

[Patatorz]

Hello,

i just installed JRiver MC20 on a Ubuntu 15.04 server. I access and setup JRiver through mobaxterm that allows me to open a X window.
I run the configuration as followed :

>> Install and run once remotely via ssh and X forwarding to get the configuration setup.
>> Then exit mediacenter.
>> sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-dummy (and the other packages it pulls in).
>> create the following configuration in /etc/X11/xorg.conf

>> I create a file named "rc.local" in /etc/
>> I put inside

nohup Xorg >/dev/null 2>&1 &
#give X  some time to start
sleep 5
su - someuser -c"export DISPLAY=:0;mediacenter20 /mediaserver"

in my case someuser is qnap the user name i use to connect

>> type : sudo nohup Xorg >/dev/null 2>&1 &. The answer is "[1] 1886"

>> as qnap user :
export DISPLAY=:0 ..... Answer : nothing
mediacenter20 /mediaserver....Answer : Erreur de segmentation (core dumped)

So it seems that is does not work for me. Could you help me to figureout this issue ?

Thanks for your support.

Ludovic


But

[bob]

Hello,

i just installed JRiver MC20 on a Ubuntu 15.04 server. I access and setup JRiver through mobaxterm that allows me to open a X window.
I run the configuration as followed :

>> Install and run once remotely via ssh and X forwarding to get the configuration setup.
>> Then exit mediacenter.
>> sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-dummy (and the other packages it pulls in).
>> create the following configuration in /etc/X11/xorg.conf

>> I create a file named "rc.local" in /etc/
>> I put inside in my case someuser is qnap the user name i use to connect

>> type : sudo nohup Xorg >/dev/null 2>&1 &. The answer is "[1] 1886"

>> as qnap user :
export DISPLAY=:0 ..... Answer : nothing
mediacenter20 /mediaserver....Answer : Erreur de segmentation (core dumped)

So it seems that is does not work for me. Could you help me to figureout this issue ?

Thanks for your support.

Ludovic


But

Your system (QNAP?) is missing some pieces.
When you use mobaxterm to connect you are using a x server on the machine running mobaxterm.
This server supplies many of the dependencies (like fonts).

Just installing the dummy xserver on a remote machine and configuring it will not necessarily supply all of MC's requirements.
You could be missing the necessary fonts (very likely if it's a qnap) or some gtk or other packages.

[Patatorz]

Thanks for your quick feedback. any idea where I could find some support to find these dependencies ?

Ubuntu 15.04 server is running as a virtual machine on my QNAP TS-251.


or at least is there a way to launch mediacenter20 at the startup of the session without any X server. I just need to access in order to modify.

BR

Ludovic

[bob]

Thanks for your quick feedback. any idea where I could find some support to find these dependencies ?

Ubuntu 15.04 server is running as a virtual machine on my QNAP TS-251.


or at least is there a way to launch mediacenter20 at the startup of the session without any X server. I just need to access in order to modify.

BR

Ludovic

Check here:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=83929.0

You are probably just missing the fonts.

[Patatorz]

Thanks bob ! I Will have a look and come back to you.

[Patatorz]

Hello i installed libX11-6 (apt-get install libX11-6) and also the 32 bit version (apt-get install libx11-6:i386). Seems to be the same problem.
Not possible to launch mediacenter20 without X window....
I still continue to look for a solution.
Is there any chance to launch mediacenter20 at the start of the session ?

Best Regards

[bob]

Hello i installed libX11-6 (apt-get install libX11-6) and also the 32 bit version (apt-get install libx11-6:i386). Seems to be the same problem.
Not possible to launch mediacenter20 without X window....
I still continue to look for a solution.
Is there any chance to launch mediacenter20 at the start of the session ?

Best Regards

You need xfonts-75dpi for sure.

[Patatorz]

You are right I forgot this one :-)