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General => Users => Topic started by: purps on August 01, 2011, 10:40:07 am

Title: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: purps on August 01, 2011, 10:40:07 am
Hi all, have bought my first NAS (a Netgear Stora), and after some help from Thom getting it recognised initially, I have some basic questions about the best way to set it up; the wiki doesn't seem to answer many questions for the NAS noob, so I would like to change that, and add some info for my NAS specifically also.

The goal is to have a NAS that uses the LMCE file structure, and automatically store myth recordings (as well as being the main storage for all my media).

1. After plugging the NAS in, 3 things are detected; MyComputers, FamilyLibrary, MyLibrary, all as children of "STORA". Some are detected as file servers (one of them I think), some are detected as window shares (two of them I think). Is it important which one is chosen, or do all three need to be present? My understanding is that FamilyLibrary is the "general use" one.

2. When adding two (or all three? Damn you memory!) of these NAS items, a username and password needs to be set - can this be anything, or does it need to match the Kubuntu password or the LMCE password? Think it said samba password, so I assume these are to do with the window shares?

3. Once added, does anything need to be done manually to set up permissions? I read a few posts about people have to change permissions before PVR recordings could take place - is this normal? And if this does have to be done, is there a correct way of doing it that minimises the risk of breaking things?

Cheers,
Matt.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: Marie.O on August 01, 2011, 11:06:37 am
Let me answer this generally:
* You plug a NAS into the network
* LinuxMCE detects a new file server that you agree to use
* LinuxMCE detects a new share on said file server that you agree to use with LinuxMCE structure and automatically.
* LinuxMCE detects additional new shares, that you say Ignore always
* Enjoy!

That's the plan how it should work. If you have added username and password to the NAS share you selected above, you need to provide the information from your NAS. That information is independent of your LinuxMCE usernames and passwords.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: purps on August 01, 2011, 11:52:59 am
Thank you for the lightening fast reply. Let's just make sure I've got this right...

- So one must add it as a file server first, and then at least one windows share in addition? Adding it as a file server alone is no good?

- For the username and password, this is the username and password used to access the NAS admin page itself? Or is there another username/password specifically for the share that should have been set up WITHIN the NAS admin page?

Thanks again, much clearer already.

Cheers,
Matt.



Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: totallymaxed on August 01, 2011, 12:12:16 pm
Thank you for the lightening fast reply. Let's just make sure I've got this right...

- So one must add it as a file server first, and then at least one windows share in addition? Adding it as a file server alone is no good?

- For the username and password, this is the username and password used to access the NAS admin page itself? Or is there another username/password specifically for the share that should have been set up WITHIN the NAS admin page?

Thanks again, much clearer already.

Cheers,
Matt.
Hi Matt,

Setup the NAS with either its default Shares or create one specially etc. Now attach it to the LAN side of your Core. The PnP system will detect a file-server and present a detection screen for it - click on the file-server and add it. Do the reload router when prompted. Now wait for the share to get detected and select it and choose to use the LinuxMCE directory structure, enter any user/pass you have set when setting up the NAS's share. Job done.

All the best


Andrew

Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: purps on August 01, 2011, 02:23:51 pm
OK that makes sense, thank you.

I will need to look at the settings when I get home, but I do know I never specified a username/password for the default shares (I only have the default ones), so I guess user and password should be left blank in this case?

I'm not sure one can add their own new share with this NAS, as it is very basic.

Cheers,
Matt.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: purps on August 01, 2011, 11:33:52 pm
Well I set up the NAS as recommended by possy and Andrew, and all seemed to go well. I don't think however that myth can access it, as I cannot watch live TV; the screen flicks between the frontend menu screen and the "1" countdown screen forever and ever. I have no other storage, which would explain this behaviour I guess.

Is this a permissions problem? If so, what is the correct way of changing it?

I am certain the username/password is entered correctly. It turns out that the username/password is the same as the Netgear Stora admin login/pass by the way, which I verified by logging into the samba share from a standard desktop on the internal network.

(I'll get all this info, both general and specific to the Stora, in the wiki)

Cheers,
Matt.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: purps on August 02, 2011, 12:06:49 pm
Bit more information...

If I access the Stora directly through another computer, I DO have write access (after entering the Stora credentials of course).

However if I access the Stora through another computer VIA the symlinks in the LMCE public folder, I do NOT have write access. Same goes if I try to access the share from the core itself in dolphin.

Cheers,
Matt.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: klovell on August 02, 2011, 07:21:22 pm
Bit more information...

If I access the Stora directly through another computer, I DO have write access (after entering the Stora credentials of course).

However if I access the Stora through another computer VIA the symlinks in the LMCE public folder, I do NOT have write access. Same goes if I try to access the share from the core itself in dolphin.

Cheers,
Matt.

I used to have that problem.  I don't have a stora but I'm familiar with them, the general concept is the same as my nas and most others.  I had to add the administrative credentials to the nas device in web admin.  So in the device tree, find your nas, add the admin credentials (the logon to the website) and select the requires password option.  For the share I left it as public and manually created the LMCE structure.  I don't know why but I found that if I used the LMCE structure I can read and write to the share from LMCE (most of the time) but from a PC I could only read.  Now I can read and write from Lmce and PCs.  Also, before adding the admin credentials the shares worked but It didn't know how much space was available on the share....weird.   I should add that I don't use MYth so I don't know how this will affect watching TV.

Another option that worked for me but for unrelated reasons i opt not to use; Create a password protected share and a user on your Stora and assign that user full access to the share.  If the user is an admin on the nas, use that user for both the nas device and the share in LMCE.  I founds that if I did that I could use the LMCE structure and have full access to the share from LMCE and PCs.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: purps on August 02, 2011, 10:05:31 pm
Thank you for the suggestion. I entered the NAS admin credentials for the file server itself in web admin (the parent of the windows share), but myth still can't put its live stream/recordings on the NAS. And still can't write to it via the symlinks the LMCE public folder (not that I really care about that, but I guess it's all the same problem).

Any other suggestions as to what might be causing this issue please?

Cheers,
Matt.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: purps on August 03, 2011, 03:05:43 pm
WTF - when I put my external IP in on an outside computer to access the LMCE admin page, it shows the NAS admin page!

If I put in https://XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX/lmce-admin/index.php it says "Not Found. The requested URL /lmce-admin/index.php was not found on this server." Same if I try to access the web orbiter with https://XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX/lmce-admin/weborbiter.php.

How on Earth can that be happening??

EDIT: I came up with a solution... it's called an RMA. How it associated itself with my external IP I don't know, but I certainly don't like it. Have ordered a D-Link DNS-320 instead.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: purps on August 13, 2011, 01:43:50 am
Right, got a different NAS now, the D-Link DNS-320, and guess what, same problem. I've set the NAS up exactly as recommended, but LMCE still does not have permission to write to the NAS (live TV will not work).

I can fix the problem temporarily by doing a "chmod -R 777" on the symlink for the NAS windows share in the /home/public/data/pvr folder, but this does not stick after a reload or a restart.

What is the problem here? Is there any way I can permanently fix this? Can I permanently give LMCE permission to write to the NAS?

Cheers,
Matt.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: pigdog on August 13, 2011, 02:56:38 am
Hi,

I just gave this thread a quick read and am presently over tired but...

... are you talking about having to put in username/passwoed in webadmin to connect to the NAS and things aren't going well?
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: klovell on August 13, 2011, 03:34:14 am
Right, got a different NAS now, the D-Link DNS-320, and guess what, same problem. I've set the NAS up exactly as recommended, but LMCE still does not have permission to write to the NAS (live TV will not work).

I can fix the problem temporarily by doing a "chmod -R 777" on the symlink for the NAS windows share in the /home/public/data/pvr folder, but this does not stick after a reload or a restart.

What is the problem here? Is there any way I can permanently fix this? Can I permanently give LMCE permission to write to the NAS?

Cheers,
Matt.


How are you trying to write to the nas?  Are you ripping a disc, browsing to \\dcerouter from a pc, kde, etc?
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: purps on August 13, 2011, 11:41:55 am
Myth not being able to store live TV is the primary concern.

LMCE does not appear to have permission to write to /home/public/data/pvr/"Windows Share-Volume_1 [107]", but doing a chmod -R 777 to "Windows Share-Volume_1 [107]" temporarily fixes the problem and allows me to watch live TV via myth. After a reload/reset, the problem returns.

I followed this guide http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/D-Link_DNS-323_How_To_Install_On_LMCE-810 to the letter, checked all the info in web admin, and all the passwords are set up properly as far as I can tell.

Cheers,
Matt.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: pigdog on August 13, 2011, 12:55:57 pm
Hi purps,

There are presently two options using the DNS-323 with minimum firmware version 1.07.
      - Don't use username/password - no authentication required.
      - Use username/password with smb.conf parameter.

Just curious - do you have the same problem without using password/smb.conf?

Cheers
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: purps on August 13, 2011, 01:36:23 pm
Sorry pigdog, could you expand on those two things please?

     - Don't use username/password - no authentication required.
Are you referring to the windows share itself here? Remove the username and password in both the NAS admin page (or the user itself?) and in the LMCE admin page?

     - Use username/password with smb.conf parameter.
Are you referring to /etc/samba/smb.conf on the core? Do I edit smb.conf, or am I changing the username/password to something that is already in smb.conf?

My smb.conf is attached by the way.

Cheers,
Matt.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: purps on August 13, 2011, 04:11:04 pm
OK, I tried removing my user from the NAS, and removed the username/password from LMCE web admin, and after a reset LMCE has access to everything EXCEPT the livetv folder in "/home/public/data/pvr/Windows Share-Volume_1 [107]". When I try to do a chmod on this folder, it says permission denied.

LMCE can write to "/home/public/data/pvr/Windows Share-Volume_1 [107]" however! Just not the livetv folder itself! Any clues?

Cheers,
Matt.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: pigdog on August 14, 2011, 03:05:39 pm
Hi purps,

In LMCE no webadmin username/password and no lanman in smb.conf.

In DNS volumes are read/write and user groups all.

This might have some ideas - http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php/topic,8626.0.html

Cheers

Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: purps on August 15, 2011, 11:59:15 pm
Still no luck.

I formatted the NAS, and restored it to factory settings. I restored LMCE to a previous backup that has not been anywhere near a NAS. The NAS has no password set. smb.conf on the core is default. MythTV still cannot store live TV on the NAS.

If I chmod -R 777 the NAS via /mnt/device/107/public, it works straight away, but after a reset it stops working correctly again.

What is strange, however, is that everything else is still writeable; the only thing that is no longer writeable after a reset is the livetv folder i.e /home/public/data/pvr/Windows Share-Volume_1 [107]/livetv

Why does the chmod -R 777 command not stick for the livetv folder, and only the livetv folder? But works for everything else?

Cheers,
Matt.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: Andanotherusername on August 16, 2011, 03:06:37 am
I did not read all the posts, because I just wanted to post what helped me with my LMCE and Openfiler NAS problems. The user on the NAS needs to be in the group "public", and this solved various problems for me (LMCE Admin website no access & mythtv write/read problems. Mythtv on LMCE is in public group). This is required for Openfiler, but it might help you as well.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: purps on August 16, 2011, 10:30:17 am
I assume you are talking about adding the username for the NAS share to the group "public" on the core? Or do you mean make a group called "public" on the NAS, and add the user to that?

Currently I don't actually have any user set up on the NAS, or any password set; surely this can't be the problem if I don't have any user set up, because everything is open?

Also I'm not sure this explains why my chmod -R 777 command doesn't stick for the livetv folder.

Cheers,
Matt.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: purps on August 17, 2011, 11:19:26 am
OK, it appears to be working now. Big thank you to Thom for helping me understand the ins and outs and ultimately solve the problem.

Initially I set up a username/password on the NAS, and in the permissions settings for the share, selected the "only this user" option. That gave me the permissions problem across the whole NAS. A chmod -R 777 temporarily sorted it, except for the livetv folder (it would appear that myth was doing something to this folder after a reset). Interestingly(!), if I tried the chmod command again, permission was denied on this livetv folder.

So based on the advice on this thread, I tried with no username and no password on the NAS, and selected the "all users" for the permissions, and again no joy, some problem, but didn't have the same permissions problem when I tried to reapply the chmod command. Still no good though obviously.

After seeing some strange things with how the NAS was being mounted (strangely it had a "guest" username, plus a few other oddities permissions-wise), we tried to add a user "guest" to the NAS with no password, but the NAS wouldn't allow that. So we tried setting another arbitrary username/password as before, but this time I selected "all users" for the permissions, and it worked, even after a reset. No good from a security point of view (anybody on the internal network could access the NAS), but at this point I didn't give two poops.

What is really strange (I discovered this after I had left IRC), is that I changed the permission setting on the NAS back to the "only this user" setting, just to convince myself what the problem was, and it still bloody works LOL, even after several resets of both the core and NAS. I promise that I didn't do anything extra/different (I keep a meticulous log whenever I do anything with LMCE), and for some reason it still works as it should, which is good of course, but puzzling.

Still reading? Apologies for the saga, but I just wanted to get it all down somewhere in case somebody else has a similar problem. I'm not convinced these issues are unique to this NAS, because I had similar problems with a Netgear Stora that got sent back, but obviously I didn't look into the problems with that NAS in as much depth.

Cheers,
Matt.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: pigdog on August 17, 2011, 12:02:05 pm
Hi purps,

Congratulations!  Great work.

Cheers.
Title: Re: Basic NAS questions - what's the correct installation method?
Post by: Esperanto on September 11, 2011, 11:57:31 am
I have the same problem with Freenas. I added
Code: [Select]
force create mode = 0777
directory mask = 0777


to the Auxiliary parameters of the share.

Not really a proper solution.....

anyone knows a better way to fix this?