Encoding A LOT of video in linux | [Documentation]

November 9, 2012 / Leave a comment

For my Raspberry Pi Media Server to be able to stream to mobile (a topic I haven’t yet covered here) I need to convert ALL of the video in my family’s 700+ file, 400+ gb, media collection to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC. I recently acquired a hard drive to consolidate and store all of this hard drive on. For the past week or so I’ve been making some progress in converting the video. On my windows tower I’ve been using the program Format Factory to convert the video. I’m running into a few problems with this. For one, my windows computer is my main machine, and multithread converting really bottlenecks it. It also takes a long time – having to watch it while it does it’s thing waiting for it to convert instead of just going to the next set of files is annoying. I could just convert

So I’ve decided to get back into python and write a program that will perfect the conversion process. Like in my PiScanner project, I’ll be using an existing program within python and my code will automate the process.

Goals are as follows:

1. Convert the video

2. Make sets of folders for the video

3. Have it all done on the external HDD

4. Have it be more “efficient” than the setup I’m running now. I.E be able to be on all the time – which shouldn’t be a problem as the server you’re viewing this website on is on all time time and I can just run the script here.

5. Make the end program useable for anyone.

WordPress installation on ubuntu 10.04

October 29, 2012 / Leave a comment

There are probably a million tutorials out there to do this, but as I’m doing it for the second time, I figure that I should probably write it down.

First thing’s first, make sure you’re all updated:

sudo apt-get update

1	sudo apt-get update

Then install lamp

sudo apt-get install lamp-server^

1	sudo apt-get install lamp-server^

and run through the install process. Make sure you write all of that info down.

Then download wordpress. Assuming they still have their download architecture the same as the time I’m writing this, you can just use this command.

wget http://www.wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz

1	wget http://www.wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz

And unzip this file.

tar -xzvf latest.tar.gz

1	tar -xzvf latest.tar.gz

You should see a LOT of stuff unzipping.

Then remove the tarball

rm latest.tar.gz

1	rm latest.tar.gz

Now you need to create a database.

mysql -u WHATEVER YOUR USERNAME IS -p YOUR PASSWORD
mysql&gt; CREATE DATABASE wordpress;
mysql&gt; GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress_risp.* to &quot;AUSERNAME&quot;@&quot;localhost&quot;
#hit enter and make a new line
 -&gt; IDENTIFIED BY &quot;password&quot;;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT

mysql -u WHATEVER YOUR USERNAME IS -p YOUR PASSWORD

mysql> CREATE DATABASE wordpress;

mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress_risp.* to "AUSERNAME"@"localhost"

#hit enter and make a new line

-> IDENTIFIED BY "password";

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

EXIT

Write down this information.

Next move your wordpress folder to where it’s going to be seen by the web, in my case /opt/bitnami/wordpress/risp

mv wordpress /opt/bitnami/wordpress/risp

1	mv wordpress /opt/bitnami/wordpress/risp

rename the file “wp-config-sample.php” to “wp-config.php”

mv wp-config-sample.php wp-config.php

1	mv wp-config-sample.php wp-config.php

edit it using your favorite text editor, in my case vim

vi wp-config.php

1	vi wp-config.php

Follow the instructions in the document to add your MySQL DB stuff that you established earlier.

At this point you’re pretty much done. Navigate you localhost/wp-admin/install.php in your favorite browser to set it all up.

To be able to upload images, you will need to run the following command:

 sudo chown -R 755 www-data:www-data /var/www

1	sudo chown -R 755 www-data:www-data /var/www

To be able to use custom permalinks within wordpress, we’ll need to make a couple modifications. The first is modify the apahce2 virtual host settings with:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default

1	sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default

Change the /opt/bitnami/wordpress/ settings so AllowOverride None is set to all like so:

We will also need to give the proper permissions of apache to the .htaccess (found in the root directory of your wordpress install, mine is /opt/bitnami/wordpress/) file by running the following commands:

sudo chown -v :www-data /opt/bitnami/wordpress/.htaccess
sudo chown -v 664 /opt/bitnami/wordpress/.htaccess

1 2	sudo chown -v :www-data /opt/bitnami/wordpress/.htaccess sudo chown -v 664 /opt/bitnami/wordpress/.htaccess

Note: If the file does not exist, you can create it with:

sudo nano /opt/bitnami/wordpress/.htaccess

1	sudo nano /opt/bitnami/wordpress/.htaccess

Raspberry Pi Media Server | Streaming To Any Source Using miniDLNA [Documentation]

October 7, 2012 / 3 Comments

I’ve made some progress on the RPi Streaming Server.

To replicate this you’ll need to do the following:

1. Install miniDLNA

sudo apt-get install minidlna

1	sudo apt-get install minidlna

2. Edit the config file to how you want it. Edit it using vim

sudo vi /etc/minidlna.conf

1	sudo vi /etc/minidlna.conf

3. Here’s what I’m working with, and it works.

# This is the configuration file for the MiniDLNA daemon, a DLNA/UPnP-AV media
# server.
#
# Unless otherwise noted, the commented out options show their default value.
#
# On Debian, you can also refer to the minidlna.conf(5) man page for
# documentation about this file.

# Path to the directory you want scanned for media files.
#
# This option can be specified more than once if you want multiple directories
# scanned.
#
# If you want to restrict a media_dir to a specific content type, you can
# prepend the directory name with a letter representing the type (A, P or V),
# followed by a comma, as so:
#   * &quot;A&quot; for audio    (eg. media_dir=A,/var/lib/minidlna/music)
#   * &quot;P&quot; for pictures (eg. media_dir=P,/var/lib/minidlna/pictures)
#   * &quot;V&quot; for video    (eg. media_dir=V,/var/lib/minidlna/videos)
#
# WARNING: After changing this option, you need to rebuild the database. Either
#          run minidlna with the '-R' option, or delete the 'files.db' file
#          from the db_dir directory (see below).
#          On Debian, you can run, as root, 'service minidlna force-reload' instead.
media_dir=A,/home/pi/stream_files/media/audio
media_dir=P,/home/pi/stream_files/media/pictures
media_dir=V,/home/pi/stream_files/media/video
media_dir=/home/pi/stream_files/media

# Path to the directory that should hold the database and album art cache.
db_dir=/var/lib/minidlna

# Path to the directory that should hold the log file.
#log_dir=/var/log

# Minimum level of importance of messages to be logged.
# Must be one of &quot;off&quot;, &quot;fatal&quot;, &quot;error&quot;, &quot;warn&quot;, &quot;info&quot; or &quot;debug&quot;.
# &quot;off&quot; turns of logging entirely, &quot;fatal&quot; is the highest level of importance
# and &quot;debug&quot; the lowest.
#log_level=warn

# Use a different container as the root of the directory tree presented to
# clients. The possible values are:
#   * &quot;.&quot; - standard container
#   * &quot;B&quot; - &quot;Browse Directory&quot;
#   * &quot;M&quot; - &quot;Music&quot;
#   * &quot;P&quot; - &quot;Pictures&quot;
#   * &quot;V&quot; - &quot;Video&quot;
# if you specify &quot;B&quot; and client device is audio-only then &quot;Music/Folders&quot; will be used as root
#root_container=.

# Network interface(s) to bind to (e.g. eth0), comma delimited.
#network_interface=

# IPv4 address to listen on (e.g. 192.0.2.1).
#listening_ip=

# Port number for HTTP traffic (descriptions, SOAP, media transfer).
port=8200

# URL presented to clients.
# The default is the IP address of the server on port 80.
#presentation_url=http://example.com:80

# Name that the DLNA server presents to clients.
#friendly_name=

# Serial number the server reports to clients.
serial=12345678

# Model name the server reports to clients.
#model_name=Windows Media Connect compatible (MiniDLNA)

# Model number the server reports to clients.
model_number=1

# Automatic discovery of new files in the media_dir directory.
#inotify=yes

# List of file names to look for when searching for album art. Names should be
# delimited with a forward slash (&quot;/&quot;).
album_art_names=Cover.jpg/cover.jpg/AlbumArtSmall.jpg/albumartsmall.jpg/AlbumArt.jpg/albumart.jpg/Album.jpg/album.jpg/Folder.jpg/folder.jpg/Thumb.jpg/thumb.jpg

# Strictly adhere to DLNA standards.
# This allows server-side downscaling of very large JPEG images, which may
# decrease JPEG serving performance on (at least) Sony DLNA products.
#strict_dlna=no

# Support for streaming .jpg and .mp3 files to a TiVo supporting HMO.
#enable_tivo=no

# Notify interval, in seconds.
#notify_interval=895

# Path to the MiniSSDPd socket, for MiniSSDPd support.
#minissdpdsocket=/run/minissdpd.sock

# This is the configuration file for the MiniDLNA daemon, a DLNA/UPnP-AV media

# server.

# Unless otherwise noted, the commented out options show their default value.

# On Debian, you can also refer to the minidlna.conf(5) man page for

# documentation about this file.

# Path to the directory you want scanned for media files.

# This option can be specified more than once if you want multiple directories

# scanned.

# If you want to restrict a media_dir to a specific content type, you can

# prepend the directory name with a letter representing the type (A, P or V),

# followed by a comma, as so:

# * "A" for audio (eg. media_dir=A,/var/lib/minidlna/music)

# * "P" for pictures (eg. media_dir=P,/var/lib/minidlna/pictures)

# * "V" for video (eg. media_dir=V,/var/lib/minidlna/videos)

# WARNING: After changing this option, you need to rebuild the database. Either

# run minidlna with the '-R' option, or delete the 'files.db' file

# from the db_dir directory (see below).

# On Debian, you can run, as root, 'service minidlna force-reload' instead.

media_dir=A,/home/pi/stream_files/media/audio

media_dir=P,/home/pi/stream_files/media/pictures

media_dir=V,/home/pi/stream_files/media/video

media_dir=/home/pi/stream_files/media

# Path to the directory that should hold the database and album art cache.

db_dir=/var/lib/minidlna

# Path to the directory that should hold the log file.

#log_dir=/var/log

# Minimum level of importance of messages to be logged.

# Must be one of "off", "fatal", "error", "warn", "info" or "debug".

# "off" turns of logging entirely, "fatal" is the highest level of importance

# and "debug" the lowest.

#log_level=warn

# Use a different container as the root of the directory tree presented to

# clients. The possible values are:

# * "." - standard container

# * "B" - "Browse Directory"

# * "M" - "Music"

# * "P" - "Pictures"

# * "V" - "Video"

# if you specify "B" and client device is audio-only then "Music/Folders" will be used as root

#root_container=.

# Network interface(s) to bind to (e.g. eth0), comma delimited.

#network_interface=

# IPv4 address to listen on (e.g. 192.0.2.1).

#listening_ip=

# Port number for HTTP traffic (descriptions, SOAP, media transfer).

port=8200

# URL presented to clients.

# The default is the IP address of the server on port 80.

#presentation_url=http://example.com:80

# Name that the DLNA server presents to clients.

#friendly_name=

# Serial number the server reports to clients.

serial=12345678

# Model name the server reports to clients.

#model_name=Windows Media Connect compatible (MiniDLNA)

# Model number the server reports to clients.

model_number=1

# Automatic discovery of new files in the media_dir directory.

#inotify=yes

# List of file names to look for when searching for album art. Names should be

# delimited with a forward slash ("/").

album_art_names=Cover.jpg/cover.jpg/AlbumArtSmall.jpg/albumartsmall.jpg/AlbumArt.jpg/albumart.jpg/Album.jpg/album.jpg/Folder.jpg/folder.jpg/Thumb.jpg/thumb.jpg

# Strictly adhere to DLNA standards.

# This allows server-side downscaling of very large JPEG images, which may

# decrease JPEG serving performance on (at least) Sony DLNA products.

#strict_dlna=no

# Support for streaming .jpg and .mp3 files to a TiVo supporting HMO.

#enable_tivo=no

# Notify interval, in seconds.

#notify_interval=895

# Path to the MiniSSDPd socket, for MiniSSDPd support.

#minissdpdsocket=/run/minissdpd.sock

You can grab the file itself here. The only thing that’s different is where I put the media directories. The rest of the instructions are still in the .conf, it’s much simpler than mediatomb for example.

Here’s a video of the whole thing working on 3 devices!

Rpi Media Server | Testing video playback from external data source [Documentation]

September 29, 2012 / Leave a comment

So first we need to make sure I can output video files from a usb source.

I’ll be using “usbmount” and omxplayer, to get these packages make sure you’re pi’s setup correctly and run the following commands:

Note: make sure no storage devices are plugged into the usb port when you install “usbmount”

sudo apt-get install usbmount
sudo apt-get install omxplayer

1 2	sudo apt-get install usbmount sudo apt-get install omxplayer

Once those are installed you can start trying to play videos off of the usb drive (eventually the thumb drive will be replaced with a large hdd

I’ll be using filezilla to transfer to and from the pi.

Check out the video below to see omxplayer in action:

Edit: The upload failed and I forgot to check on it. Come back soon for the video.

I’m choosing to debug my Pi over composite. The reason being is because I’m going to be working a lot with video outputs, and I don’t have a second hdmi ready monitor. I’m going to be using the EasyCAP usb video capture card. This will also give me the ability to record what i’m seeing as well. This 100% better / much more efficient than buying a second monitor and filming on it. Of course when this is ready for implementation, it will be plugged into a television with HDMI so the picture will be amazing.

Rpi Media Server | [Declaration]

September 29, 2012 / Leave a comment

The goal of this is to become independent from cable TV while still being able to do all of the same things we would with a cable service – I.E still consume content in the living room on the television.

It should also improve upon the experience. I want to be able to stream content from the Pi to any capable device. That list includes but is not limited to:

1. Windows XP
2. Windows 7
3. Linux Debian
4. Linux Ubuntu
5. iOS 6 (ipad)
6. iOS 5.3 (ipod Touch)
7. OSX and up
8. Android &quot;Gingerbread&quot; and up

1. Windows XP

2. Windows 7

3. Linux Debian

4. Linux Ubuntu

5. iOS 6 (ipad)

6. iOS 5.3 (ipod Touch)

7. OSX and up

8. Android "Gingerbread" and up

I’ll be working on this post most of today, so they’ll be a few posts coming.

esologic

Tag: linux

Encoding A LOT of video in linux | [Documentation]

WordPress installation on ubuntu 10.04

Raspberry Pi Media Server | Streaming To Any Source Using miniDLNA [Documentation]

Rpi Media Server | Testing video playback from external data source [Documentation]

Rpi Media Server | [Declaration]