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More => Old Versions => Media Center 17 => Topic started by: preproman on June 21, 2012, 04:09:40 pm

Title: unRAID
Post by: preproman on June 21, 2012, 04:09:40 pm
Specifically MC Server on Linux is a yes for me.  I would like to run it on my NAS as a server.  I have no interest in a MC Client on Linux.

Nick.


This is sort of a +1 for me.  First I would like it to be a version of slackware so it can run as an instance on my unRAID server..  I also have no interest in a MC client on Linux.
Title: unRAID
Post by: preproman on June 21, 2012, 07:37:00 pm
The limitation to unRAID or such appears too much 'Nerdy' to me to provide significant sales. But I can be wrong..

Please elaborate.
Title: unRAID
Post by: fitbrit on June 22, 2012, 01:05:13 am

This is sort of a +1 for me.  First I would like it to be a version of slackware so it can run as an instance on my unRAID server..  I also have no interest in a MC client on Linux.

THIS is a complete +1 for me; MC and unRAID are great together. MC server on unRAID would be bliss.
Title: unRAID
Post by: preproman on June 22, 2012, 04:29:40 am
For the average user it makes more sense to buy something like a Sysology NAS, install the drives and use the pre-installed apps in the DSM from backup to surveillance. These devices are perfect SOHO out of the box solutions and widely in use. Some of the models even support VMWare and Hyper-V, but who wants to install Linux in a VM on a NAS system?

Still have to see somebody with a unRAID in his basement. Of all the people I know not one knows about Linux in general, or unRAID in particular.


Ok I see.  However,  have you ever visited the unRAID forum?  The community is huge.  They have new people joining the unRAID technology all the time.  I would be what you call an average user.  I don't a thing about Linux.  However, at the time where the " Synology NAS" didn't fit my needs and was way more expensive - unRAID did.  Especially when you have spare drives laying around that you can put in use.

Alos reading the unRAID forums it seems to be more users like myself - even lots of users coming from other NAS platforms like the one you mentioned.

So - I don't know.
Title: unRAID
Post by: ckewinjones on June 22, 2012, 11:52:52 am
Still have to see somebody with a unRAID in his basement. Of all the people I know not one knows about Linux in general, or unRAID in particular.

unRAID isn't that nerdy.  You don't have to be a Linux gearhead to install and use it.  You can get it up and running without touching the Linux command line, and all the management of the box is done using a web interface from your desktop or laptop computer (which can be running Windows, OSX, or whatever you like).  When you run out of storage, you do have to be geeky enough to open up the case and put a new drive in your system, but that has nothing to do with Linux.  Once the new drive is physically installed, it's back to the web interface to format the drive and add it to the array.

I've been running unRAID for more than a year, and I've only touched the Linux command line a couple of times, to install some plug-ins to the system.  And that, of course, is optional.  unRAID isn't a Linux hobby toy.  It's an appliance, and it just works.
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: JustinChase on June 22, 2012, 01:34:57 pm
...have you ever visited the unRAID forum?  The community is huge.  They have new people joining the unRAID technology all the time.  I would be what you call an average user.  I don't a thing about Linux...Also reading the unRAID forums it seems to be more users like myself - even lots of users coming from other NAS platforms like the one you mentioned...

I agree completely.

unRAID isn't that nerdy.  You don't have to be a Linux gearhead to install and use it.  You can get it up and running without touching the Linux command line, and all the management of the box is done using a web interface from your desktop or laptop computer (which can be running Windows, OSX, or whatever you like).  When you run out of storage, you do have to be geeky enough to open up the case and put a new drive in your system, but that has nothing to do with Linux.  Once the new drive is physically installed, it's back to the web interface to format the drive and add it to the array.

I've been running unRAID for more than a year, and I've only touched the Linux command line a couple of times, to install some plug-ins to the system.  And that, of course, is optional.  unRAID isn't a Linux hobby toy.  It's an appliance, and it just works.

I mostly agree, but haven't had such good luck.  I've had some issues with the plugins, and a couple of other things, and my lack of Linux knowledge has cause me to struggle to get good answers, but, overall, at this point, it does pretty much just work.

I've been very happy with it so far, maybe 6-9 months of use.

I think the community would welcome another media server option, it might get some people to look at MC on windows (again?).
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: preproman on June 22, 2012, 09:01:32 pm
A good poll might be what version of Linux do people want.  As I understand it, there's more than a few out there.
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: imugli on June 23, 2012, 03:34:50 am
I run Ubuntu, so that would be +1 for a Debian version.
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: preproman on June 23, 2012, 08:08:55 am
I run Ubuntu, so that would be +1 for a Debian version.

Why Debian if you run unRAID - wouldn't it be slackware?
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: imugli on June 23, 2012, 09:15:16 am
Why Debian if you run unRAID - wouldn't it be slackware?

I run Ubuntu Server, not unRAID  ;)
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: preproman on June 23, 2012, 10:38:42 am
I run Ubuntu Server, not unRAID  ;)

OOOOOO - I see..
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: fitbrit on July 09, 2012, 10:24:08 am
Just wanted to chime in with more support for MC Server on unRAID. It would mean that I could leave just one computer on when I go travelling instead of two. Currently, I need to leave on my MC Server PC and the unraid server too. I'd very much look forward to not having to do this any more. Also, with some hacking Air Video is available for unRAID already, so having MC server as well would allow experiencing media in several possible ways. I'm all for that.
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: JimH on July 09, 2012, 10:31:19 am
Just wanted to chime in with more support for MC Server on unRAID. It would mean that I could leave just one computer on when I go travelling instead of two. Currently, I need to leave on my MC Server PC and the unraid server too. I'd very much look forward to not having to do this any more. Also, with some hacking Air Video is available for unRAID already, so having MC server as well would allow experiencing media in several possible ways. I'm all for that.
You could use Wake on Lan (http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Wake_on_Lan) to wake the PC remotely.  Then set the PC to sleep after a period of inactivity.
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: JustinChase on July 09, 2012, 12:30:28 pm
You could use Wake on Lan (http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Wake_on_Lan) to wake the PC remotely.  Then set the PC to sleep after a period of inactivity.

I've not gotten around to trying to set this up yet, so sorry if this is a dumb question.

can anyone confirm that any effort to open/play any media file will cause the sleeping server PC to wake (on LAN)?

In other words, does it "just work" all the time, or do I have to actually open an instance of MC forcing that to try to connect to the sleeping server?

I'm wondering if I double-click a file in explorer if that will play, or if I have to initiate with MC.


Never mind...the more I think about it, this action would actually just launch the local copy of MC, which I assume will wake the server, and since the actual media file is on the unRAID server, it's not reliant on MC to give me the file I request, and the copy of MC I caused to open will handle it, so yeah, this must work it seems.

I guess I'll have to work on getting the sleep settings all configured on the HTPC and the unRAID box.

Having MC server just run on unRAID would be most welcome, in case it hasn't been made obvious yet ;)  Having to wake the HTPC just to have it ask unRAID to pass the file to me is ... what's the right word ... an opportunity for improvement  :D

Keep up the good work!
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: preproman on July 09, 2012, 04:19:14 pm
It's great to see some of the MC beta team members using unRAID.  

On with the push - CHARGE!!!!!
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: fitbrit on July 10, 2012, 12:29:23 am
You could use Wake on Lan (http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Wake_on_Lan) to wake the PC remotely.  Then set the PC to sleep after a period of inactivity.

I've never tried it before, or if I have it hasn't worked in the past for me. It's not a bad idea. I'll see if I get brave enough to go into the BIOS and set it up. Brave, because I have time to install configure things, but never time to troubleshoot!
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: JimH on July 10, 2012, 06:47:31 am
I've never tried it before, or if I have it hasn't worked in the past for me. It's not a bad idea. I'll see if I get brave enough to go into the BIOS and set it up. Brave, because I have time to install configure things, but never time to troubleshoot!
You might not need to edit the BIOS settings.  You should be able to turn it on in the properties for the network device.

To use it from the outside world, you will need to have your firewall and router set to pass the signal.
Title: Re: Re: unRAID
Post by: apgood on July 28, 2012, 11:31:24 pm
+1 for a server / headless version for unraid.
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: Rudy81 on December 18, 2012, 05:26:08 pm
+1 on this MC server idea.  I keep my music on the unRaid server and use WOL from my HTPC to wake the server.  My HTPC strictly runs JRiver and I have no other use for it.  I know this is an older post, but was wondering if there has been any interest in this topic.
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: flydeep on March 19, 2013, 07:13:42 am
++1 for MC server on unraid.

On a related Unraid question (didn't mean to hijack the thread but not getting a solution posting in the general forum):
My unraid server currently houses about 15TB of media serving to a Win7 HTPC running MC18.

Off late I have been having trouble MC18 auto-importing new media from the server. My unraid shares are mapped to a local drive and MC18 accesses these through auto-import folder. There are times when even running auto-import manually misses importing the media. Right clicking on a project share from explorer and selecting import seems to do the right thing.

I posted earlier and folks have been pointing me to NAS issues. I am skeptical on NAS issues since firing up xbmc sees the most recent media without any issues. Any other Unraid users having these issues?

Thanks!
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: fitbrit on March 20, 2013, 10:13:25 am
I also use unraid, and I have also noticed some auto-import weirdness in the past few builds. i.e. it not seeming to import anything. However, I am not sure that it's due to the interaction between unraid and MC, or whether it's just a glitch in some builds of MC. I need to do some more thorough testing to figure out whether it's my imagination, or indeed whether it's been fixed already.
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: JimH on March 20, 2013, 10:17:30 am
I also use unraid, and I have also noticed some auto-import weirdness in the past few builds. i.e. it not seeming to import anything. However, I am not sure that it's due to the interaction between unraid and MC, or ...
MC doesn't interact with unRaid.  MC interacts with the OS.
Title: Re: Re: unRAID
Post by: apgood on March 24, 2013, 07:37:26 am
I use unraid (rc11) for media storage and mc18 with auto import and don't have any issues with it detecting new files.

I use the full inc path though not drive mappings as well as cache dir on unraid so that might be the difference, because that means the windows pc sees a full directory listing even when drives are spun down.
Title: Re: unRAID
Post by: m4f1050 on June 10, 2013, 07:22:16 pm
JRiver runs on unRAID?  I would like a how-to please!   :)

I have a few media centers running:  Plex, Subsonic, Twonky, AirVideo and would like to add JRiver if available (but not as a VM)  Got a quad-core CPU and 8GB ram.
Title: Re: Re: unRAID
Post by: apgood on June 11, 2013, 04:39:11 am
No mc18 doesn't run on unraid. Though there are a few of us which wish there was some sort of headless / browser based server edition that did.

At the moment it is just media storage on unraid then connect to it with smb or whatever it is that you use....