Guide to Installing and Running MiniDLNA on an Ubuntu Server

[styelz]

My minidlna wouldn't update anymore, even if i did a rescan.

After looking at the logs i noticed the SQL DB (/var/cache/minidlna/files.db) was corrupt/read only. I had to manually delete the db file to get it working again.

Here is a sample of the errors I saw:

[2012/05/19 21:02:01] sql.c:40: error: SQL ERROR 8 [attempt to write a readonly database]
INSERT into DETAILS (PATH, SIZE, TIMESTAMP, DURATION, DATE, CHANNELS, BITRATE, SAMPLERATE, RESOLUTION,  TITLE, CREATOR, ARTIST, GENRE, COMMENT, DLNA_PN, MIME, ALBUM_ART) VALUES ('/var/lib/storage/recordings/1012_20120519202800.mpg', 3356234468, 1337425320, '0:34:00.420', '2012-05-19T21:02:00', '5', '1644874', '48000', '1440x1080', '1012_20120519202800', NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, 'MPEG_TS_HD_NA_ISO;DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_CI=0', 'video/mpeg', 0);
[2012/05/19 21:02:01] scanner.c:498: warn: Unsuccessful getting details for /var/lib/storage/recordings/1012_20120519202800.mpg!
[2012/05/19 21:22:12] sql.c:40: error: SQL ERROR 8 [attempt to write a readonly database]
DELETE from DETAILS where ID = 32
[2012/05/19 21:22:12] sql.c:40: error: SQL ERROR 8 [attempt to write a readonly database]
DELETE from OBJECTS where DETAIL_ID = 32

[Buggrit]

Great guide - thanks for all the effort. I have a query that I'm hoping may be within your expertise to answer....

I had been using Minidlna for about a year with great success. I use the wonderful 'get-iplayer' app to download shows from the BBC over night during my ISPs free period. Minidlna picks these up when I get 'crontab' to rescan the library (sudo minidlna -R) and then restart the minidlna server (sudo /etc/initial.d/minidlna restart). This allows me to stream the shows to the Sony tv or to my Android mobile using 'upnp', at leisure - all good so far. But...

During an upgrade to Precise Pangolin last week, the Linux OS install failed! All was not lost as I had a backup of my home folder but I had to reinstall all my software - including minidlna. I re configured the minidlna.conf file in a similar way to yours but now find the shows have no proper titles - dates and thumbnail yes - titles no. Any thoughts would be appreciated as I'm at a bit of a loss as to what has changed.

Many thanks

JB

[damo12]

Hi JS,

I'm afraid I have not come across this problem before although someone else in the forums might have. My first thought would be to check that the files themselves have not become corrupt (ie can you play the files when you copy them onto another computer and not streamed).

If you can play the files without problems then I would suggest following styelz's solution to replace the database in case that is corrupt. The guide can be found at http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...0&postcount=21.

I hope one of these solutions helps you,

Damian

[skyrail02]

Hi,
I don't know if it can help. I am experiencing a similar issue.
I am using minidlana, the last version on debian with plugcomputer Dockstar.
I have a samsung smarttv browsing folders through minidlna from my dockstar.
I can see videos thumbnails, as well as music album covers (folder.jpg for both) But I cannot see pictures thumbnails in any folder. theses pictures may be photos or simple image illustrations of any size and dimensions.
In two case only, I can see picture thumbnails.
First, when the picture come from a camera ans is untouched. If a alter it from photoshop, it's ok, but alter from office picture manager, I loose the thumbnail.
If I open an untouched camera picture in photoshop, paste any image into, resize, or alter contrast, color ... and save as jpg (not save for web), the new picture supposedly keep exif, ipc.
And this new picture, i can see its thumbnail on my TV.

I Guess there is some missing info minidlna as to send to my smart tv. But I don't know what.

I also noticed, any picture that is not necessarily a camera picture, shw thumbnail on tv, when I browse windows7 dlna store.
So the problem come from minidlna

Hope some dev encountered this issue before I switch to mediatomb or other friendly dlna server for smarttv

[shirike]

Hi damo

bit of crossover post from the other thread:

Hi shirike,

As far as I can tell from my experience with miniDLNA, this is the normal procedure the rescan function. On my system at least when I perform a rescan through the Webmin module, miniDLNA deletes its database and album art file and creates a new one.

With video clips (films etc) it does this quite quickly although I have noticed that with pictures this can take some time. I must admit that I have not checked to see how long it takes to do this with music.

I believe it does this as there is no way to manually remove files from its database and so the only way it can do this is to wipe everything and start from scratch again.

With regards to album art, when it carries out the rescan it will re-create the art based on the art encoded into the file.

I hope that this answers your question but if you are still having problems and you do not get a suitable reply on this thread, you could try asking at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1866520 which is a guide I wrote on miniDLNA and there are quite a few miniDLNA experts on there.

Good luck,

Damian

The issue I'm having is that rescan deletes the folder rather than just the art cache/files.db.

I imagine this is due to giving the user/group too high a permission?

[damo12]

Hi shirike,

Sorry, I misunderstood your original post. I have never heard of the rescan deleting the actual folder. On my system (now running Ubuntu 12.04.1), I have noticed that restarting the server seems to forces MiniDLNA to perform a re-scan without being told to. It could be worth seeing if that works.

Failing that, you could try seeing what happens when you force a re-scan through the command prompt. Although it did not work for me, some people have achieved this using the commands:

minidlna -R

or

minidlna -R -f /tmp/minidlna.conf

Hopefully one of these will resolve this problem for you.

[craigchambers]

Hi damo

bit of crossover post from the other thread:

The issue I'm having is that rescan deletes the folder rather than just the art cache/files.db.

I imagine this is due to giving the user/group too high a permission?

This sounds familiar, and if it's the same problem it is quite an old bug. The problem arises when your media is in the same location as your database etc.

It's been fixed for quite some time... What version are you using?

/Craig

[ssreesanth]

i am using 10.10 and have configured minidlna. my problem is that my tv is showing my server and the audio video and pictures option. and only video files are getting listed. the audio files and pictures are not showing up on my tv.
any ideas???

media_dir=V,/home/sree/Media/server
media_dir=P,/home/sree/Media/Pictures
media_dir=A,/home/sree/Media/Music

[damo12]

Hi ssreesanth,

I also have this problem after performing a rescan. For some reason it can take days (or even a week or so) for the pictures and music to show up.

This has always baffled me as the audio and pictures folders are much smaller in size than the video folder. The only thing I can think of is that MiniDLNA caches thumbnails of the album art and pictures which takes some time to do this.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge on this matter will be able to confirm this or provide a work around for you.

Damian

[cariboo907]

i am using 10.10 and have configured minidlna. my problem is that my tv is showing my server and the audio video and pictures option. and only video files are getting listed. the audio files and pictures are not showing up on my tv.
any ideas???

media_dir=V,/home/sree/Media/server
media_dir=P,/home/sree/Media/Pictures
media_dir=A,/home/sree/Media/Music

10.10, eol'd in April 2012, I'd suggest updating/fresh installing 12.04, as minidlna is in the repositories. My music library is updated fairly quickly, I've never actually timed it, but if I restart the minidlna service, it takes about 5 minutes for new titles to show up on screen.