FreeNAS file server

So, I somehow managed to hose my Debian distro last weekend, and decided this would be the perfect opportunity to try out FreeNAS. My old Dell C610 Latitude laptop (PIII / 256MB / 30GB) was already the home network's file server using netatalk for AFP, but (a) this wasn't geeky enough, and (b) I wasn't backing it up. So, I bought another 1TB Seagate FreeAgent external drive to match the one I already had, and got to work.

FreeNAS Installation and AFP Configuration

My original hope was to run FreeNAS as a Live CD distro, with configuration files stored on a USB key flash drive. Needless to say, I never got that working, so I ended up going with a two partition install on the laptop's internal HDD. So, I downloaded the ISO from the FreeNAS site, gave the FreeNAS partition a whopping 256 MB of drive space (TWICE the required space - ya know - just in case), and kept the remaining 29+GB for, I don't know, maybe a temporary torrent storage location. 

Before I did this, I pulled everything off the original drive and on to my iMac for safe keeping. That gave me the confidence to go ahead and format the old drive as UFS (FreeNAS' native filesystem), and start setting up AFP shares. I had some difficulty at first. They seemed to be set up, but my Macs couldn't see them. I did the whole thing from scratch one more time (with help from here), and it just worked. Either I missed something in the allow/deny read/write user configuration step, or a mid-process reboot did the trick. Oddly, the best way to get the files off my iMac and back to the server turned out to be scp. I had a hell of a time with the hidden files and directories. I think this is because I pulled the files off the old server the same way (not through AppleTalk, but over scp with a Puppy Linux Live CD because I'd hosed Debian), and all the hidden Mac files (DS_Store, etc.), came along in a non-Mac-aware way. Now that that's done, the server works as advertised.

RSYNC Configuration

Since a primary objective of this whole project was to get a good backup going, my next step was to configure RSYNC. This was very straightforward. I just added the second 1TB drive and formatted it, then used the WebGUI to set up my regular backup schedule ("local"). The whole thing took about five minutes. Now I have daily (non-deleting) backups from the main share to the backup drive. Now I can breathe a little sigh of relief. 

Once I let the whole setup run for a few days, and everything seems to be working, I'll delete the duplicate files from my iMac, and move the whole file server setup into a closet somewhere. Future geekiness will include migrating to a low-power, small, quiet box built for this kind of thing. Oh, and at some point I need to clean up this swine sty of an apartment. 

In which Mike bores you with his HTPC-building journey

If you bothered to check out my blog, you deserve the geeky borefest I'm about to commence. Or, maybe you're thinking you might build an HTPC, and google somehow sent you here (unlikely but not impossible). In any case, I'm about to start tracking my HTPC project here. This should be marginally more interesting than my attempted "Hacking Roomba" wiki about a year ago. OK, maybe "interesting" isn't the word. How about useful? OK, how about free and easily ignorable?

Anyway, let me start from the beginning - what I want to accomplish from an HTPC solution.

My Requirements

Play DVD's

This is the first - and probably the easiest - requirement. My DVD player is the only single-function component in my "entertainment center." I have no immediate interest in playing Blu-Ray discs. I'd prefer to skip right over that technology step to streaming HD video. So, just about any DVD drive will work. An obvious bonus is that I can rip the DVD's I own and store them for easy playback later. I don't own many DVD's, but it would be nice to box them off to storage.

Access to HD movies on demand

My experience with Netflix streaming on the Xbox tells me that I can get HD movies almost instantaneously on my TV. However, the selection is somewhat limited. I'd like a much wider selection, and more recent movies, and I'm willing to pay for the privilege of watching these - when I want - in my own home. 

YouTube, Hulu and other streaming sources

If I'm going to go to the trouble of building an HTPC, I should have easy access to the best video the web has to offer - ideally packaged neatly in a media center app (more later). 

Flexible file formats

Getting video files to play is one of the most infuriating tasks I can imagine. I need something that can play all formats I'm likely to encounter today, and that will be out front as new codecs, etc., become common.

Broadcast TV shows

I have a couple of TV shows on each of the major networks that I like to watch - preferably the same week or so that they air. I also need to be able to watch them when I want to watch them and pause, FF, rewind. I don't mind short commercials, but will want skip capability for anything over 30 seconds.

HBO/Showtime series

Easily 50% of my non-sports tv watching is from one of these two channels. I rarely watch movies on these channels, though. I'd really prefer to watch them in HD.

Oh, yeah, HD

I bought a big beautiful TV so I could watch HD programming. Any solution needs to have HD output capability - preferably at least 1080i.

Audio

I'm no audiophile, and my current audio solution is old and clunky. I'll eventually need to upgrade, but I'm assuming any standard Dolby 5.1 solution will be sufficient. I haven't given this enough thought, though, so can't speak to required connection (e.g. TOS), etc. For now, I'm OK with a couple of RCA cables. I'm interested in iTunes, Pandora & last.fm connectivity, but this will be more important if/when I upgrade the audio. 

Basic cable

This is not a must, but access to ESPN is great for Penn State football, and I do like me some Comedy Central (Daily Show, South Park), FX (Damages) and Sci Fi (used to be BSG).

Easy to use media center

I'd rather that using the tv not be an exercise in hacking. It should operate (for most uses, anyway) like a tv or set top box - not a computer. Remote control - not a wireless mouse, you know?

Where I landed

Well, I'll spare you the intrigue, and outline the basic solution below. I've been wrestling with some config problems for the past couple of weeks (and traveling a LOT), so my patience for building up the story is diminished. I'll try to cover how I chose the elements I chose as I dig into the details in future posts.

• Hardware platform: base model Mac mini ($599)
• Primary media center: Plex (free)
• Other software: Transmission (BitTorrent), Boxee (Plex alternative), Handbrake (DVD ripper), Air Mouse (turns iPhone into mouse/keyboard), VLC (flexible media player)
• Connections: DVI-to-HDMI converter for the TV, mini jack to RCA converter for audio
• OS X Screen Sharing for remote administration
• File server (NAS) for media storage

Anyway, more to come on what I learned as I installed and configured these pieces...

The unending list of projects on tap at Casa Alpaca

Well, I have a source of inspiration to amuse myself on this little blog - the ongoing geek projects being undertaken at home and elsewhere. I hope someone will find something useful (if even just a google search to see what worked and what didn't for one hapless geek-wannabe). 

Here are the projects I've begun, completed or imagined. Watch this space to be enlightened on...

• A Mac Mini HTPC project (with Plex)
• A FreeNAS-based file & torrent server on my old Dell laptop
• Cleaning up and making more robust my backup strategy at home (four computers and a lot of data make this critical)
• Deploying File Server 2.0 - probably also FreeNAS-based, but built on a low power, tiny, dedicated hardware platform like the VIA ARTiGO A2000 or a some nano-ITX system
• Leveraging File Server 2.0 and the Mac Mini to allow me to shut down the iMac when I'm away - further reducing power consumption
• Replicating File Server 2.0 in my weekday home (outside Philly) to extend the omni-media experience there - possibly to include Turnpike-net or online backup for better offsite protection
• Building a really cheap Linux-based PC for my mom (while technically quite simple this, practically speaking, is a potential minefield)
• Probably a complete bottoms-up look at security and access on my home network(s), including a possible Linux geek project to rule it all
• A remote charging/syncing station for my iPhone in the hallway (away from the computers)
• Automated monitoring of my netwrok, and the apartment(s) in general.
• Pipe iTunes into my bathroom somehow.

I spend a lot of time in hotel rooms or a small apartment in the Philly burbs. This list can only grow. Hope you're having a great day!

So, where from here?

I have this urge to do something with this blog - even if for my own amusement. I'm not really inclined to talk about my work here. And I don't have the attention span to pick a hobby and ramble ad nauseam about it. Every post would be a new hobby.

I guess I'll just stick to documenting my travails in geekdom, and maybe rant about topics that irk me when I really think I can be clever. Since I likely have an audience of one, I should get rave reviews. 

So, here's to a future of trees falling in the woods. May some of them be worth the effort. 

Airport Express Ordeal

So, against my own better judgment, I made my way to the Apple Store last night around midnight in hopes of getting me one of those sexy new 3G iPhones the kids are talking about. There was no line - which meant that they weren't selling iPhones. I guess they needed a break until this morning, because they certainly had plenty to sell. In fact, they were still going strong today at about 3PM. 

Apparently, they're now posting updates online about iPhone availability. It would appear that they wouldn't dar leave the Manhattan stores short. Does anyone know the difference between the "white" and "black" 16 GB models? Is that an iPod Touch thing?

I digress. My point is that - while I was at the Apple Store - I picked up an Airport Express for wireless access in my other place, and as another toy. I'll spare you the details (mostly because I've pushed them out of my mind), but Simon Brown's blog about two hours to set this thing up is hardly overstatement. It took me two days, and I never really knew what was wrong. I ended up switching the security on my network to WPA instead of WPA2, and now it works as advertised. Whatever. So now I can broadcast audio to my MacBook in the bedroom, my Linux laptop under the TV and an Airport Express outfitted with my old iPhone earbuds. Chicks will completely dig it. 

The Airport Express is moving to Philly, where it will be a full-on wireless access point once I get an apartment down there. For now, though, it's another toy in the arsenal. 

Hacking Diary: Airfoil, including installing Airfoil Speakers in Linux

So, last night, while more productive people were on line at the Apple Store waiting for an iPhone 3G, I was deploying a wireless music distribution solution on my home network. I started by considering an Airport Express (even going so far as to request that my friend on line at the Apple Store pick one up for me when he got inside). 

However, I finally decided to go the cheaper - and arguably more flexible - route of downloading's Airfoil software. Unlike the Airport Express solution, this software is able to stream audio from any app on my iMac - which will be key when I solve the "bathroom problem" and want to listen to Howard Stern in the shower in the morning. More on that later.

So, I moved my new MacBook into the bedroom, and returned to the iMac to do all the magic. Gotta love screen and file sharing. I downloaded Airfoil, and installed it, then downloaded Airfoil Speakers, copied it to the MacBook and installed that there. It was all very painless. The result? You can see it on the right. I'm broadcasting audio from iTunes (or whatever) to my MacBook. 

In the specific case of iTunes, I'm able to control the music from my iPhone using the new Remote from the App Store. Pretty cool. I only wish they had something like this to control Airfoil. I'm told it has something to do with the iPhone SDK restrictions. So, I can control iTunes, but I can't turn certain speakers on and off that way. I have to schlep to the iMac to make it happen.

That all brings me to today. Since the MacBook is for my place in Philly (another long story), I need a more permanent solution at the party pad in Queens, NY. That's when I returned to my lost obsession - hacking my Linux laptop. It turns out there's an unsupported Airfoil Speakers app for Linux. I downloaded the Debian version and got to work. 

Some of the challenges:

1. I had to "upgrade" my distro to the "testing" configuration to get a new enough version of a package called "mono" to work with the airfoil speakers package. I think this wrecked my wiki server - ahh the opportunities abound.
2. I had never configured the sound card for Linux. That was an adventure in itself.
3. I never did figure out how to run airfoil speakers as anything other than root.

However, finally, I have achieved success! Now my iTunes are happily broadcasting to three computers in the party pad. 

As for the bathroom problem, I'm seriously considering buying a ruggedized embedded Linux device and some outdoor speakers to replicate this success in the bathroom - although I'm not sure what sort of sound card I can expect. I might go with the decidedly lower tech option of deploying a USB to FM transmitter like the RocketFM (which, I hear, is discontinued?), and a standard bathroom FM radio. That would be a good idea, if I can find the appropriate transmitter. I'll keep y'all posted.

Is Your Alpaca a Cracka?

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