[TruckNorris]

Hello all, this is my first post on this forum and first server build in general. To be short and sweet I've been researching on what to install on my current setup and have a few questions as to what would work best.

Here is what I want to do:

1) Use server as HTPC on my main tv
2) Stream video and transcode to PS3
3) Connect to Windows PC for file sharing
4) Remote desktop connection to set things up, etc.

Here is what I have come up with:

1) Install XBMCubuntu as OS
2) Install PS3 Media Server in background for streaming/transcoding
3) Link to windows file share (samba? not sure)
4) Figure out how to remotely connect. lol

Basically I am looking for criticism, opinions, etc on whether or not this will work. I'm completely new to Linux but there seems to be a lot of support out there and i'm willing to put in the time.

Your help will be greatly appreciated before I take the plunge. Right now nothing is installed on the server, it is freshly built.

Build:
Pentium G860
Gigabyte 1155 GA-B75M-HD-3
4GB Ram
60GB SSD (for OS)
2 x 2TB Seagate Barracuda drives

[teeedubb]

Welcome,

2. I think its now ums (ultimate media server or something.) I liked using serviio.
3. Yeah samba is what you're after. Its included in xbmc, not sure about the xmbcbuntu desktop but it wouldn't be hard to install.
4. Lots of ways. I use x11vnc. Search for 'vnc' in xbmcbuntus package manager (synaptic?)

[rflores2323]

Have you looked at plex? They have a server/client set up that is fantastic.

[fullmoonguru]

I like Teamviewer much more than VNC for remote desktop.

Samba can be a toal PITA. Here's my setup. Low security but easy & works well. Install Synaptic if it's not there:

In terminal:

Code:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install synaptic

For a fully functional workstation that shares and receives resources on a small business workgroup or a home LAN, you need packages smbclient, libsmbclient, samba-common, nautilus-share and samba. All except package samba are installed by default.

setup Samba with this in the smb.conf file on the server

Code:

sudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf

Code:

[global]
workgroup = voodoonet
netbios name = [b][i]nameofyourserver[/i][/b]
name resolve order = bcast host lmhosts wins

map to guest = Bad User
local master = yes
preferred master = yes
os level = 65
usershare allow guests = Yes
usershare max shares = 100
usershare owner only = False

wins support = no

Right click on top-level folder in Nautilus & create Samba share


Enter this in the terminal:

Code:

sudo chmod -R 0777 /[b][i]path_to/share [/i][/b]

and this in the smb.conf file on Ubuntu workstations (sudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf):

Code:

[global]
workgroup = [b][i]nameofyournetwork[/i][/b]
netbios name = bob
name resolve order = bcast host lmhosts wins
server string =
map to guest = Bad User
local master = yes
os level = 33
usershare allow guests = Yes
usershare max shares = 100
usershare owner only = False

Restart Samba:

Code:

sudo service smbd restart  

sudo service nmbd restart

[TruckNorris]

So my system is now running XBMCbuntu Eden with the XBMC updated to Frodo (12.0). Apprently after reading forums all morning there is a problem with the newest XBMCbuntu and sandy bridge cpus which hangs up the system as it tries to boot. (Ask me how I know).

Next i'm going to remotely connect from my Vista PC to the XBMC server. So suggestions were plex, or x11vnc? I don't need anything complicated I just don't want to have to transfer the keyboard and mouse each time I want to alter something on the server.

@fullmoonguru Thanks for the info on setting up Samba/etc. I'll go through that after I get my remote connection setup.

[TruckNorris]

Putty and X11VNC are working well for me. I may switch from XBMCbuntu to a full OS such as ubuntu or linux mint. From what I've read they may be easier to edit and modify as I'm not using XBMC primarily. The server side of things in XBMCbuntu are annoying the hell out of me. For each problem I solve a few more arise.... such is the way of linux I gather. lol

I partitioned and mounted 2 x 2TB drives using Gparted and was able to map to them using my windows pc. Great. When the server is shut down and restarts. Samba doesn't automatically start, the drives don't mount because Gparted isn't open. Mapped network drives fail. Everything works if I putty, x11vnc and start both, but that is annoying and the whole point of the server is not not have to leave my desktop on all the time to access it and change settings.

So... tried mounting the drives within the terminal using UUID's. Failed miserably the first time.

UUID=41c22818-fbad-4da6-8196-c816df0b7aa8 /media/Data ntfs defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1

Then tried:

UUID=41c22818-fbad-4da6-8196-c816df0b7aa8 /media/Data ntfs errors=remount-ro 0 1

The OS was able to boot, the drives come up with an error (I forget now of course) in file manager. And the network locations in the pc pull up one error, the other drive shows up as the 60gb SSD which is wierd.

So unless someone has a solution to this I'm probably going to install ubuntu tonight and then Putty/x11vnc, then figure out the best way to Auto-mount the two HardDrives.

[teeedubb]

Those lines arw meant to be in the file /etc/fstab

Google fstab for more info

[TruckNorris]

Sorry I wrote all of that quickly on my lunch. They were in /etc/fstab. I only showed one example but I added one for each of the two NTFS drives. I'm going to go with Ubuntu or Linux Mint anyways and i'll try again and see where I get with that.

[fullmoonguru]

Yeah it can definitely be more complicated. The biggest problem is that there are so many versions of Linux. There seem to be a hundred answers for every question.

I'm running XBMC on Mint 13.

The easy way to set up a partition/drive to auto-mount at boot is to install pysdm. It should show up in the menu as "Storage Device Manager".

[TruckNorris]

Installed Ubuntu. I cannot believe how simple it is to use compared to XBMCbuntu. Its ridiculous, there i was in the terminal messing around and hoping my lines were correct when Ubuntu does most things in the GUI and terminal files such as fstab are editable as a seperate file! It's great, especially for someone newer and the forum support is incredible. I guess its good to know the terminal process as well as the more involved you become the more you will edit within it.

I partitioned/mounted the drives during install so they automount fine now.