Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 3:17 Post subject: How to: UPNP Media sharing with MiniDLNA
This is a how-to on setting up MiniDLNA from scratch. Boke has assembled a downloadable ipkg that makes this process very simple, but non-standard, called EasyMiniDLNA. It can be found here: http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=534742
If you'd rather do it yourself, continue on.
How to: UPNP Media sharing with MiniDLNA
This is how to get UPNP sharing working from your router using MiniDLNA. I also got sharing working via UShare, but will write this with MiniDLNA because ushare is less compatible and no longer in development. This is a pretty straight forward and simple process if you're familiar with working in the DDWRT environment. The guide is derived from my install using a Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH running Buffalo's official DDWRT distribution, svn 14889, but can be used for other builds.
Edit: Buffalo's official build mentioned above does not work with inotify. This module in the program allows scanning of watched folders without completely re-building the database. Use the most recent SVN. I currently use 15962, but you may want to use one older/newer as this one has a few bugs.
First off, you need to have a useable IPKG or OPKG installed to automatically retrieve and install MiniDLNA and it's dependencies (if you can use ipkg, use the ipkg command instead of opkg below). I used the 2-part process detailed in this blog (thank you, uiaa for the site, and the commenters for fixes... Please keep support requests for this part in their respective threads):
http://g300nh.blogspot.com/2010/06/software-installation-on-dd-wrt-part-1.html
1. After installing the custom libraries above run the command:
Code:
opkg install minidlna
This will install the MiniDLNA server and any missing dependencies. Wait for it to fully complete.
Edit: If you see libffmpeg install and overwrite the custom libraries installed in the pres section you will need to repeat the prep process above. If this occurs, comment so I can edit the tut. Thanks.
2. Edit MiniDLNA's configuration to fit your set-up/needs.
You can use ssh or telnet to do this manually from shell using vi/nano, or you can edit the file using an SCP client. Just make sure not to use Windows' Notepad!
MiniDLNA's configuration file is located at ./opt/etc/minidnla.conf
The network_interface needs to be changed to the appropriate one, br0. If you want more than one interface serving files you need to run multiple instances of minidlna with the interface set manually in the command call (ask if you need help with this). Uncomment the network interface line by deleting the # in front and change 'eth0' to 'br0', so the finished line reads:
Code:
network_interface=br0
Next you need to set your media share directories. As the config file states, these are separated by multiple media_dir lines, and content is defined by a preceding A, V, or P. Keep in mind the Linux is a case-sensitive OS, so your directories MUST match your file structure exactly, or the files will not be found. My finished share config look like:
**Important** We have found a bug in the scanner used in minidlna. Enter any music libraries last, because they can cause the movies scanner to freeze.
Set your friendly name to whatever you want your network to see it as. I use the the generic 'Media Server.'
Code:
friendly_name=Media Server
If you have a large library and want your library database kept between program runs, you MUST change this setting. If you aren't hosting many files, or don't mind it rebuilding every reboot, you can leave this the same.
Create a directory on your mount for the library db, error log, and the art cache. If you do this, create an isolated directory, becuase running the rebuild command deletes everything in the configured directory. I put mine on ./mnt/tmp/minidlna. (All will be moved with this setting)
Code:
db_dir=/mnt/tmp/minidlna
Set inotify to watch for new files to be added to the library. Inotify searches for new files every 60 seconds. Keep this on, or turn it off, you're choice. no=off yes=on
Code:
inotify=yes
The same goes for enabling Tivo, and strict dlna. Although, strict dlna will make the server (aka your router) scale jpeg images, and may impact performance, so I leave it off (and I don't have a Tivo either).
Code:
enable_tivo:no
strict_dlna:no
This is important: You MUST CHANGE the presentation url or your devices will not see the server. Set it to your router's IP address with 8200 port, ignoring the page url. DDWRT default would be:
Code:
presentation_url=http://192.168.1.1:8200/
Set the notification interval, serial, and model numbers to whatever you please. The notification interval of 900s is frequent enough, so don't worry about changing it.
In the end, my conf file looks like:
Code:
# port for HTTP (descriptions, SOAP, media transfer) traffic
port=8200
3. After finishing configuring and saving the file, test it by running the program and trying it out on your device(s). Run it with the command:
Code:
minidlna -f opt/etc/minidlna.conf
If you decide to edit the conf file more, make sure to kill minidlna, or the file will not save.
Code:
killall minidlna
4. Once it runs to your satisfaction, then set it to run on reboot.
Change directory to /opt/etc/init.d and edit the file minidlna, if the file isn't there, create it. Replace all contents with:
5. Reboot your router and verify that the program ran on boot. 'ps' is the command to see running programs.
If at any point you want to re-build your library fully you can delete the contents of your db_dir folder. Or you can run minidlna using the -R switch at the end. (ie: minidlna -f /opt/etc/minidlna.conf -R)
MiniDLNA requires pre-built media libraries to scan media for library population. The version located in the repo is stripped down, so a custom libraries with all features are required.
1. Download the libraries from this post (lib.zip).
2. Transfer the extracted files to your router in whatever way you prefer. They need to be placed in the ./opt/usr/lib/ folder. Replace the files that are already located in the folder when/if prompted.
3. Create the symbolic links for the program to recognize the libraries.
4. You need to use the export command to point to the libraries since they aren't in the default directory. You may already have this in your router's start-up script, or in another program's script. If not, you can add this to the minidlna script in init.d (before the minidlna run command) or to the start-up commands in the web interface.
Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 17:17 Post subject: Re: How to: UPNP Media sharing with MiniDLNA
mdneilson wrote:
How to: UPNP Media sharing with MiniDLNA
This is how to get UPNP sharing working from your router using MiniDLNA. I also got sharing working via UShare, but will write this with MiniDLNA because ushare is less compatable and no longer in development. This is a pretty straight forward and simple process if you're familiar with working in the DDWRT environment. The guide is derived from my install using a Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH running Buffalo's official DDWRT distribution, svn 14889.
Code:
It doesn't run perfectly on my install. My modestly large library of music, just over 10k songs, loads a bit slowly in Windows Media Player. The movies that I have aren't populated in the videos library, but in music as "Unknown Artist" (and all videos do not appear to be present). Lastly, the program rebuilds it's library EVERY time it starts up, even after moving db locations. With my ~300gb of 11k files it takes roughly 20-30 minutes to fully populate.
First off, you need to have OPKG installed to automatically retrieve and install MiniDLNA. I used the 2-part process detailed in this blog (thank you uiaa for the site, and the commenters for fixes... Please keep support requests for this in their own threads):
http://g300nh.blogspot.com/2010/06/software-installation-on-dd-wrt-part-1.html
I've seen postings elsewhere citing Samba, but I don't believe it is required for MiniDLNA to function. (Unfortunately the developer doesn't provide much info as it is maintained by a Netgear employee for Netgear's NAS devices.) I prefer using Samba over ftp to manage files from my Windows and Linux installs, so I had it installed already. More info on installing Samba 3 can be found on the same blog as the opkg tutorial, if desired.
On to the tutorial:
1. After installing opkg run the command:
Code:
opkg install minidlna
This will install the MiniDLNA server and any missing dependencies. Wait for it to fully complete.
2. Edit MiniDLNA's configuration to fit your set-up/needs.
You can use ssh or telnet to do this manually from shell using vi/nano, or you can edit the file using an SCP client. Just make sure not to use Windows' Notepad!
MiniDLNA's configuration file is located at ./opt/etc/minidnla.conf
The original configuration look like this:
Code:
# port for HTTP (descriptions, SOAP, media transfer) traffic
port=8200
# network interface to bind to (this is the only interface that will serve files)
#network_interface=eth0
# set this to the directory you want scanned.
# * if have multiple directories, you can have multiple media_dir= lines
# * if you want to restrict a media_dir to a specific content type, you
# can prepend the type, followed by a comma, to the directory:
# + "A" for audio (eg. media_dir=A,/home/jmaggard/Music)
# + "V" for video (eg. media_dir=V,/home/jmaggard/Videos)
# + "P" for images (eg. media_dir=P,/home/jmaggard/Pictures)
media_dir=/opt
# set this if you want to customize the name that shows up on your clients
#friendly_name=My DLNA Server
# this should be a list of file names to check for when searching for album art
# note: 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
# set this to no to disable inotify monitoring to automatically discover new files
# note: the default is yes
inotify=yes
# set this to yes to enable support for streaming .jpg and .mp3 files to a TiVo supporting HMO
enable_tivo=no
# default presentation url is http address on port 80
#presentation_url=http://www.mylan/index.php
# notify interval in seconds. default is 895 seconds.
notify_interval=900
# serial and model number the daemon will report to clients
# in its XML description
serial=12345678
model_number=1
The network_interface needs to be changed to the appropriate one, br0. Uncomment the network interface line by deleting the # in front and change 'eth0' to 'br0', so the finished line reads:
Code:
network_interface=br0
Next you need to set your media share directories. As the config file states, these are separated by multiple media_dir lines, and content is defined by a preceding A, V, or P. Keep in mind the Linux is a case-sensitive OS, so your directories MUST match your file structure exactly, or the files will not be found. My finished share config look like:
Set your friendly name to whatever you want your network to see it as. I use the the generic 'Media Server.'
Code:
friendly_name=Media Server
If you have a large library and want your library database kept between program runs, you MUST change this setting. If you aren't hosting many files, or don't mind it rebuilding every reboot, you can leave this the same. (note: it currently rebuilds my library every boot, but I do have roughly 100 file errors while building to resolve, so it may be because of that.)
Create a directory on your mount for the library db, error log, and the art cache. I put mine on ./mnt/tmp/minidlna. (All will be moved with this setting)
Code:
db_dir=/mnt/tmp/minidlna
Set inotify to watch for new files to be added to the library. Inotify searches for new files every 60 seconds. Keep this on, or turn it off, you're choice. I have it off currently for troubleshooting, but plan to have it on later. no=off yes=on
Code:
inotify=no
The same goes for enabling Tivo, and strict dlna. Although, strict dlna will make the server (aka your router) scale jpeg images, and may impact performance. So, I leave it off (and I haven't a Tivo either).
Code:
enable_tivo:no
strict_dlna:no
This is important: You MUST CHANGE the presentation url or your devices will not see the server. Set it to your router's IP address with 8200 port, ignoring the page url. DDWRT default would be:
Code:
presentation_url=http://192.168.1.1:8200/
Set the notification interval, serial, and model numbers to whatever you please. The notification interval of 900s is frequent enough for me, and anyone really.
In the end, my conf file looks like:
Code:
# port for HTTP (descriptions, SOAP, media transfer) traffic
port=8200
# network interface to bind to (this is the only interface that will serve files)
network_interface=br0
# set this to the directory you want scanned.
# * if have multiple directories, you can have multiple media_dir= lines
# * if you want to restrict a media_dir to a specific content type, you
# can prepend the type, followed by a comma, to the directory:
# + "A" for audio (eg. media_dir=A,/home/jmaggard/Music)
# + "V" for video (eg. media_dir=V,/home/jmaggard/Videos)
# + "P" for images (eg. media_dir=P,/home/jmaggard/Pictures)
media_dir=A,/mnt/share/Music
media_dir=V,/mnt/share/Videos
media_dir=P,/mnt/share/Pictures
# set this if you want to customize the name that shows up on your clients
friendly_name=Media Server
# set this if you would like to specify the directory where you want MiniDLNA to store its database and album art cache
#db_dir=/mnt/tmp/minidlna
db_dir=/mnt/tmp/minidlna
# this should be a list of file names to check for when searching for album art
# note: 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
# set this to no to disable inotify monitoring to automatically discover new files
# note: the default is yes
inotify=no
# set this to yes to enable support for streaming .jpg and .mp3 files to a TiVo supporting HMO
enable_tivo=no
# set this to strictly adhere to DLNA standards.
# * This will allow server-side downscaling of very large JPEG images,
# which may hurt JPEG serving performance on (at least) Sony DLNA products.
strict_dlna=no
# default presentation url is http address on port 80
presentation_url=http://192.168.1.1:8200/
# notify interval in seconds. default is 895 seconds.
notify_interval=900
# serial and model number the daemon will report to clients
# in its XML description
serial=12345678
model_number=1
3. After finishing configuring and saving the file, test it by running the program and trying it out on your device(s). Run it with the command:
Code:
minidlna -f opt/etc/minidlna.conf
If you decide to edit the conf file more, make sure to kill minidlna, or the file will not save.
Code:
killall minidlna
4. Once it runs to your satisfaction, then set it to run on reboot.
Change directory to /opt/etc/init.d and edit the file minidlna, if the file isn't there, create it. Replace all contents with:
Since it rebuilds the library db every boot, I have it running last. I may change this if this error is resolved.
ive tried something like this before. its alright for audio files but no good for videos. espeacially not if you were trying to watch those videos on a TV. some videos do show up in windows media player like you said but under music so i guess this somehow prevents the tv from playing it.
btw ive tried gmediaserver on a wrt160nl and it seems to work fine too with music files, maybe even better. its been sometime since ive tried either so i dont really remember.
Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 20:04 Post subject: Re: How to: UPNP Media sharing with MiniDLNA
I got all video files to be read by the server, but still no luck on getting them in the right library. You need to install a custom compiled full build of libffmpeg, the one in the repo is not complete. I will add this to the tut soon.
Sorry for the delay. I've been working on getting the libraries working correctly before updating. After doing some research, minidlna doesn't have issues building libraries on a linux pc install, nor on kong's dd-wrt builds (I don't think he has a compatible build for us *tear*). I suspect that dd-wrt's toolchain is the problem; apparently dd-wrt's uClibc is missing functions that minidlna wants. I'm, obviously, still working on getting full functionality.
I will update with the library install instructions and let y'all know when I make any more progress.
Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 18:08 Post subject: Re: How to: UPNP Media sharing with MiniDLNA
anees.sw wrote:
ive tried something like this before. its alright for audio files but no good for videos. espeacially not if you were trying to watch those videos on a TV. some videos do show up in windows media player like you said but under music so i guess this somehow prevents the tv from playing it.
btw ive tried gmediaserver on a wrt160nl and it seems to work fine too with music files, maybe even better. its been sometime since ive tried either so i dont really remember.
Thanks. If I can't get the library population issues resolved, or resolved easily, I will give gmediaserver a try.
You say it handles videos well? Does it serve UPNP-AV well?
Edit: Upon researching gmediaserver, it is NOT a good package for this device. From the developers site: "GMediaServer keeps information on all audio files in memory. If your audio collection is huge, this might be a problem." A huge collection or not, keeping the library populated in memory is a HUGE waste of resources, and very poor programming. I will keep working on minidlna, or other programs if necessary.
Last edited by mdneilson on Sat Jan 08, 2011 18:31; edited 1 time in total
ok. the libraries are still all mixed up
3 different video file formats mp4, avi, mpeg are in library. Only mp4 file shows up in the player and under music library
pictures are not being served somehow, music works fine
ok. the libraries are still all mixed up
3 different video file formats mp4, avi, mpeg are in library. Only mp4 file shows up in the player and under music library
pictures are not being served somehow, music works fine
I've had a few avi files not populate correctly, but not all of them, and no issues with pictures (I currently only have 4.8gb of pictures, all jpeg). Did you take a look at the minidlna log to try and narrow down the issue for either of these?
Last edited by mdneilson on Sun Jan 09, 2011 5:41; edited 1 time in total
Just out of curiosity, do you have Samba installed?
I can see from the first run that inotify couldn't locate the media directories and found them on a second run. But I don't know what these errors are for:
[2011/01/09 11:08:39] upnphttp.c:818: warn: / not found, responding ERROR 404
[2011/01/09 11:08:40] upnphttp.c:818: warn: /favicon.ico not found, responding ERROR 404
It really doesn't look like an error from missing Samba, but who knows... try restarting the router, i had a few bugs that were solved by restarting for some reason (sorry, should have put that in the tut)
