Building a hands-off HTPC/NAS

Hey Guys,

I wanted to share my project with everyone so that maybe it will help others looking to build a similar device. I wanted to build a HTPC/NAS computer that functioned so seamlessly that my wife could use it and I wouldn't have to tinker with it all the time. I know that there are thousands of similar projects out there but what I am really happy with is the fact that all of the software pieces work together so well that acquiring new content is as easy as checking a box. The system automatically sorts and handles the media without me having to babysit it (special thanks to the SortTV perl script).

Feedback welcome!

http://somethingtangential.com/2010/07/2...a-toaster/

*obligatory note: I'm not condoning the use of these programs to get any media you cannot obtain legally in your country. Use at your own discretion *

Update: I finally put together the detailed step by step instructions for those of you that are trying to set up these programs. This includes all the commands I used. Hopefully this will save you days of looking around online for the right way to install something. For people that want to get more into the weeds the instructions can be found here: http://somethingtangential.com/detailed-htpcnas-setup/

Kudos on the work! And thanks a lot for taking care on documenting it so well and sharing.

Thanks! I took very detailed notes on the set up of each piece of software too (and I mean every single command used) which I might edit in there for people that have issues at any of the steps. but in the mean time I'm happy to field questions

The main reason behind the heavy documentation is because I did something like this a year ago, didn't take any notes, and then when I tried to repeat it I had to pretty much start from scratch with the research. Didn't want to have to do that again!

davemex Wrote:Thanks! I took very detailed notes on the set up of each piece of software too (and I mean every single command used) which I might edit in there for people that have issues at any of the steps. but in the mean time I'm happy to field questions

The main reason behind the heavy documentation is because I did something like this a year ago, didn't take any notes, and then when I tried to repeat it I had to pretty much start from scratch with the research. Didn't want to have to do that again!

thanks for sharing
and yes, I should done the documentation when I did my poor man server/NAS
one question though, which fs (samba or NFS) have you found best for XBMC?
Cheers,

wazzer99 Wrote:thanks for sharing
and yes, I should done the documentation when I did my poor man server/NAS
one question though, which fs (samba or NFS) have you found best for XBMC?
Cheers,

I have been using Samba with no issues. After looking around it seems like most people go this route too. Using Samba I can stream media from that computer to other tvs and laptops in the house without any stuttering. Windows 7 and Samba seem to play nice too! I haven't used NFS so I would really be able to comment on it though.

Hope that helps!

Dave

davemex Wrote:I have been using Samba with no issues. After looking around it seems like most people go this route too. Using Samba I can stream media from that computer to other tvs and laptops in the house without any stuttering. Windows 7 and Samba seem to play nice too! I haven't used NFS so I would really be able to comment on it though.

Hope that helps!

Dave

Dave, thanks for the info...
The reason I ask, bc, I was using samba initially and found it way too slow for viewing photos/pictures (stored on the NAS); switching to NFS seems to have sped it up just a wee bit
Cheers,

I have samba running on my Unraid box and it is more than fast enough to stream my Avatar Blu Ray rip, which is the largest Blu Ray currently possible. If its too slow for you to serve up something simpler like pictures, something is not setup right....

Davemex,

any chance some of the detailed notes you took are in electronic format?

I'm trying to do something very similar for my parents, but my lack of experience with server configuration scares me. I'm about a 1 year user of ubuntu and I'm relatively comfortable on the terminal but I lack some basic knowledge that I'm sure would help.

My biggest concerns are SSH and Webadmin. A few questions. . . .

Is ubuntu server 100% terminal based?

Can using SSH and Webadmin give me some form of a GUI thats relatively noob friendly?

I found this site that details how to set up server edition in Karmic. Do you think this guide still rings true today?

Do you utilize proxies for your "questionable" downloads? (don't answer if you wish)

I'm planning to run software RAID 1 on two WDGreen 1TB drives. Will performance be acceptable for 720p playback? I was thinking running the OS on a SSD might be a better approach. What do you think?

Basically, I'm just looking for more details about what you did. Please let me know.

thanks

I really hope that topic is not dead yet. I really wanted to try some of the programs that he used and hope that we can help each other here =)

poofyhairguy Wrote:I have samba running on my Unraid box and it is more than fast enough to stream my Avatar Blu Ray rip, which is the largest Blu Ray currently possible. If its too slow for you to serve up something simpler like pictures, something is not setup right....

yes, something was not setup right
I had set thumbnails on, and they were created/stored on the usb flash drive
anyways, NFS still seems to be faster than Samba on my network