From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux


I am awaiting a HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 which I plan to use as a home media server and to create iso files from DVDs with Brasero.

I am pretty well 100% Windows user although I am using Brasero on one of
the original micro servers to prepare iso files at the moment, the Gen8
has a Xeon processor so I expect it to be a bit more responsive.

I will be using Linux Mint Mate as it's cleanish and reasonably
lightweight. My understanding is it will split the OS drive by using mount points rather than partitions (on Windows I use separate drives C:(OS) and D:(Data)). The Microserver was made before the days of UEFI, I hope Linux
can live with that.

I will use 2 x additional drives, first one for shared media, second to
back it up (in turn this will be backed up to my home server).

If I understand it a add the second drive after the install, set it up as
GPT then mount it so it can be seen on the network.

Does it matter where I mount it i.e. in /root or /home or /mnt?

If I put it in /mnt and call it "Mediashare" with sub directories "Music", "Pictures" and "Videos" is the network path /Mediashare/Music or /mnt/Mediashare/Music?

I want to try and follow any conventions that exist as if I need to shout
for help it's easier for people if the base is a conventional layout.

Many thanks :-)
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
Remember, the Flat Earth Society has members all around the globe.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Mon, 3/9/2026 11:57 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

I am awaiting a HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 which I plan to use as a home media server and to create iso files from DVDs with Brasero.

I am pretty well 100% Windows user although I am using Brasero on one of the original micro servers to prepare iso files at the moment, the Gen8 has a Xeon processor so I expect it to be a bit more responsive.

I will  be using Linux Mint Mate as it's cleanish and reasonably lightweight. My understanding is it will split the OS drive by using mount points rather than partitions (on Windows I use separate drives C:(OS) and D:(Data)). The Microserver was made before the days of UEFI, I hope Linux can live with that.

I will use 2 x additional drives, first one for shared media, second to back it up (in turn this will be backed up to my home server).

If I understand it a add the second drive after the install, set it up as GPT then mount it so it can  be seen on the network.

Does it matter where I mount it i.e. in /root or /home or /mnt?

If I put it in /mnt and call it "Mediashare" with sub directories "Music", "Pictures" and "Videos" is the network path /Mediashare/Music or /mnt/Mediashare/Music?

I want to try and follow any conventions that exist as if I need to shout for help it's easier for people if the base is a conventional layout.

Many thanks :-)

Conceptually, Linux mounts things as Windows mounts things.
Windows has a namespace, things are mounted underneath it.
Whole drives are mounted, processed one partition at a time. Using
the "Online" or "Offline" setting, can cause an entire
disk drive to be fully-mounted or fully-dismounted. You cannot
dismount C: of course, which means one of the drives will
tend to answer "busy" or the like, if you tried that.
In Windows, C: (Win10) has top level items like C:\Windows
while in Linux it could be /mnt/MediaCenter or /media/mint/MediaCenter
or it could be the partition mounted at the top as / (the slash partition). Linus allows partitions to be mounted on top of one another.
Windows has a scheme where unlabeled partitions can be mounted
in a folder below the root of the partition. Linux is definitely
more precise about things. Windows behavior "changes your
dining habits". Windows requires some adjustment and squirming
in your chair. But that does not change the fact that both
are computers, they have storage, the storage is arrange-able.
By lunch time, both can be serving your movies (Windows Media Player Legacy
has a media server in it!).

*******

sudo gparted /dev/sdb

GParted is a partition manager. It does all sorts of stuff. It is good
for processing brand new disks, "initializing" them, "partitioning" them.

1) The disk is not designated yet, as a legacy MSDOS (MBR) partitioned
disk (<= 2.2TB) or a GPT disk (>2.2TB disks). The legacy disk can have
a large number of partitions, via the Extended/Logical mechanism.
Only a stub boot thingy need be a Primary, you can have multiple Linux
OSes with a lot of them hosted in Logical partitions. Same would go for
Windows, it should not have a problem chain-loading something from a Logical.
Windows will even boot from a .vhd file.

GPT supports up to 128 partitions or so. The partition table is small.
I got the mistaken impression once that the partition table was
128MB -- boy, was I wrong. The primary GPT table is down at the beginning
of the disk, the secondary GPT table is up in the end of the disk.
(Lots of metadata shares space in the last cylinder or 8MB of space, so
a secondary partition table pretty well has to be smaller than 8MB by that
criterion.) Maybe (128 * 128 bytes) is enough for the table.

OK, so our first step, is to "initialize" the disk. Look for something that
offers MBR or GPT as options in gparted. I like gparted, because it is
graphical. sudo fdisk is for legacy command line. sudo gdisk is for GPT command line.

sudo gdisk /dev/sdb # Later on, after project is finished. Use P for Print, Q for Quit.

2) Once we have the partition scheme selected, the entire disk is "unallocated".
We create a partition, set the size of it, set the partition type
(the GPT identifier does not say exactly what the file system is, it
might say a partition is a "Linux disk" versus the "Windows disk" type
which covers NTFS/ExFat and so on).

If at that point, you are defining the partition type (it is not RAW),
like EXT4, then the partition will be formatted, superblocks written out and so on.
For a high capacity drive, this might take a minute. On an NTFS, it would
be writing a $MFT instead.

There is a place to assign a label. Whatever fields will accept a name,
I generally put a name in there like "MediaServer" for the label. When
I use the "df" command to list my partitions mounted, now they can have
the nicer label-name and so on. df stands for "disk-free".

3) Now, we have a partition.

If we used gnome-disks and clicked on our new partition, using the triangle
thing in the lower left corner is the "Mount". But, that would be the
auto-mount in /media/mint/MediaServer. We don't want that. We want a static
mount set up in /etc/fstab

sudo nano /etc/fstab # after OS install, a couple partitions sit there as examples.
# You only need sudo, if updating/writing the file with new info.

3b) Old-school, would be to make a mount point for a static mount, then edit
/etc/fstab. For example

sudo mkdir /mnt/MediaServer # That's a mount point for our mount to go.
# Root owns /mnt and will also own Mediaserver point.

But we can also try the automation offered in gnome-disks (aka disks aka Palimpset)

"Re: Mint Won’t Automatically Mount SATA Drives

Post by nielo Thu Aug 07, 2025 12:08 pm

Use the "Disks" application. Click the "Additional partition options" icon
(looks like a light blue envelope, under the Partition block) then choose
"Edit mount options". Deselect "User session defaults" and select

"Mount at system startup" + "Show in user interface".

You could create a suitable mount point e.g. /mnt/DRIVE2 and
choose how you want to identify it.

Works for me...
"
4) Then later, you'd review

cat /etc/fstab # print fstab to the screen for a quick check

or

sudo nano /etc/fstab

And see if the automation selected good options. Any time an automation
is offered, it covers a "general case" and the operator may have some
"tweaks" to add to that.

5) Everything in /etc/fstab is mounted if

sudo mount -a

which stands for mount all.

we can also do

sudo mount /mnt/MediaServer # Command line way
sudo umount /mnt/MediaServer

The "gnome-disks" also allows highlighting the MediaServer partition
with our mouse and using the lower left "square/triangle" for
mounting and unmounting. At boot, the /etc/fstab contents can all
be mounted for you, which is why we went with a static mount in
the first place. We want to make it, so every time the machine is
booted, MediaServer receives a quick fsck and then a mount.
If a partition is clean, it can mount.

*******

You can do (recommended)

/mnt/MediaServer
/mnt/OtherDisk

or you could do it this way (not particularly recommended, for sanity sake):

/mnt/MediaServer # Mount this partition first! Don't forget!
/mnt/MediaServer/OtherDisk # Now mount this one

sudo mount /mnt/MediaServer/OtherDisk # When you chroot, some of the chroot items
# can be arranged like this.

There are several ways to specify which partition you want in a
/etc/fstab static mount. If you use the "BLKID" of the partition,
then it does not matter which SATA cable the drive is plugged into.
Drives on SATA cables can be /dev/sda and /dev/sdb, but if you move
them on the cables, that's not a good identification scheme. Do not
be shocked, if you use the automation in (3b) above and a BLKID
is used to identify the MediaServer partition. The blkid command
can dump the strings for that, for you to look at.

For /etc/fstab

https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man5/fstab.5.html

the two numbers on the end of a mount definition are describe as:

The fifth field (fs_freq) 0 for "don't dump"
The sixth field (fs_passno) 2 means check my partition, after you do the 0 and 1 items.

The mount carries many options. On the command line, it is like "-o loop"
and loop is the option we are asking for. The fstab should have a bunch
of options like that, in the middle of the line somewhere. No, I'm not
going to list them, as I don't know them by heart :-)

That's a basic intro to setting up static mounts for
your "server OS that happens to have a GUI". Linux IT guys
would screw up their face, if they saw you using "gnome-disks",
because they expect you to be able to do everything in a
24x80 text terminal. And you would have memorized all the
mount options too. That's how a he-man does it, apparently.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 09/03/2026 16.57, Jeff Gaines wrote:

I am awaiting a HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 which I plan to use as a
home media server and to create iso files from DVDs with Brasero.

I am pretty well 100% Windows user although I am using Brasero on one of
the original micro servers to prepare iso files at the moment, the Gen8
has a Xeon processor so I expect it to be a bit more responsive.

I will  be using Linux Mint Mate as it's cleanish and reasonably lightweight. My understanding is it will split the OS drive by using
mount points rather than partitions (on Windows I use separate drives C: (OS) and D:(Data)). The Microserver was made before the days of UEFI, I
hope Linux can live with that.

You will need a mount point, which is just a directory somewhere on the
file system, I do recommend not not have a mount point inside another
mount point, as it can give you issues.

As long your ntfs drives aren't encrypted, it will be quite simple to
mount those, you can add those to the /etc/fstab. It's possible to mount encrypted drives, but tend to require a bit more work and having access
to the recovery the key.

If I understand it a add the second drive after the install, set it up
as GPT then mount it so it can  be seen on the network.

That only applies if you use zfs which has option to share a zpool as
for example nfs share, you can then mount it at a remote machine.

Does it matter where I mount it i.e. in /root or /home or /mnt?

yes, it does, if you mount inside /root then only root user will be able
to access the mounts. If you have multiple users then you may want to
mount it in a general location like /mnt, but you are the only user then
sure you can mount it in your home directory.

If I put it in /mnt and call it "Mediashare" with sub directories
"Music", "Pictures" and "Videos" is the network path /Mediashare/Music
or /mnt/Mediashare/Music?

This depends on your configuration.

I want to try and follow any conventions that exist as if I need to
shout for help it's easier for people if the base is a conventional layout.

I'm an old school user, so the simple typing rules are, you answer under
the text that is relevant to your replay, text that you will not write a replay to, you remove it.

If you crosspost (one post with multiple newsgroups), don't use
followup-to as you will cause people in other newsgroups to miss the conversation.
Don't do multipost (posting a post in one newsgroup, then post a copy of
that to another newsgroup, and so on) as that is multiple conversations
which has no interaction with each other.

Have a subject that in a few words describes what is the problem you
have, then go more into details in your post, provide as much relevant information, say you have some samba issue, then you may want to tell
which distribution you have, which version of samba you have installed
and of course what you have tried to do.
If you need to provide configurations it can be better to use pastebin
or similar and just provide a link in your post.

Be kind, if someone calls you names, just put that person on your
banlist and don't reply.


Sorry for the lack of exact details, but I don't use samba or ms-windows drives, so I let those who tend to do that more help you with the details.
--
//Aho
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Mon, 09 Mar 2026 15:57:00 +0000, Jeff Gaines wrote:

I am awaiting a HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 which I plan to use as a home media server and to create iso files from DVDs with Brasero.

I am pretty well 100% Windows user although I am using Brasero on one of
the original micro servers to prepare iso files at the moment, the Gen8
has a Xeon processor so I expect it to be a bit more responsive.

I will be using Linux Mint Mate as it's cleanish and reasonably lightweight. My understanding is it will split the OS drive by using mount points rather than partitions (on Windows I use separate drives C:(OS) and D:(Data)). The Microserver was made before the days of UEFI, I hope Linux can live with that.

I will use 2 x additional drives, first one for shared media, second to
back it up (in turn this will be backed up to my home server).

If I understand it a add the second drive after the install, set it up as GPT then mount it so it can be seen on the network.

Does it matter where I mount it i.e. in /root or /home or /mnt?

Yes, sort of.

Linux standards reserve the use of a number of directories, including
/root and /mnt. Your "shared media" doesn't fit within the use of /root
and (if you squint with one eye closed) might fit within the use of /mnt
or /media. If you really want to keep out of trouble, you can either
create a media sharing data directory under
a) /home (like the quintessential /home/ftp directory), or
b) /usr/local/share, or
c) /var, or
d) /opt, or
e) under the root directory
and mount your "shared media" drive there.

If I put it in /mnt and call it "Mediashare" with sub directories "Music", "Pictures" and "Videos" is the network path /Mediashare/Music or /mnt/Mediashare/Music?

Probably not.

If you are sharing with Windows systems, you will either need to run a
Samba (SMB) server in Linux on your Microserver, in which case, the
network path is whatever you configure Samba to externalize it as, or
you run a Linux NFS server on the Microserver, (and a Windows NFS client
on the Windows boxes), and externalize as
<microserver_host_name>:/mnt/Mediashare/Music

I want to try and follow any conventions that exist as if I need to shout for help it's easier for people if the base is a conventional layout.

Placement is the easy part; mountpoints are just directories (they don't
need to be empty) that you want to overlay with the device to be mounted.
Just pick a mountpoint that won't interfere with the system (something empty that isn't required by the OS or it's utilities) and go with it.

Setting up the networking will be the hard point.

Many thanks :-)

Luck be with you
--
Lew Pitcher
"In Skills We Trust"
Not LLM output - I'm just like this.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 2026-03-09 18:04, Paul wrote:

On Mon, 3/9/2026 11:57 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

...

OK, so our first step, is to "initialize" the disk. Look for something that
offers MBR or GPT as options in gparted. I like gparted, because it is
graphical. sudo fdisk is for legacy command line. sudo gdisk is for GPT command line.

Modern fdisk can do gpt.

sudo gdisk /dev/sdb # Later on, after project is finished. Use P for Print, Q for Quit.

2) Once we have the partition scheme selected, the entire disk is "unallocated".
We create a partition, set the size of it, set the partition type
(the GPT identifier does not say exactly what the file system is, it
might say a partition is a "Linux disk" versus the "Windows disk" type
which covers NTFS/ExFat and so on).

If at that point, you are defining the partition type (it is not RAW),
like EXT4, then the partition will be formatted, superblocks written out and so on.
For a high capacity drive, this might take a minute. On an NTFS, it would
be writing a $MFT instead.

There is a place to assign a label. Whatever fields will accept a name,
I generally put a name in there like "MediaServer" for the label. When
I use the "df" command to list my partitions mounted, now they can have
the nicer label-name and so on. df stands for "disk-free".

Two places. One inside the partition metadata, and one in the partition
table, if it is GPT. A format destroys the former, but not the later.

...

You can do (recommended)

/mnt/MediaServer
/mnt/OtherDisk

One old criteria was to use /mnt to mount external disks, manually,
while /media was for automatically mounted external disks. And /data for
any kind of stable data storage. Never under /home or /root.


Ah, don't use names like "/dev/sda" in fstab. Use labels, uuid,
whatever. The former can change in another session.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 9 Mar 2026 15:57:00 GMT, Jeff Gaines wrote:

I will be using Linux Mint Mate as it's cleanish and reasonably
lightweight. My understanding is it will split the OS drive by using
mount points rather than partitions (on Windows I use separate
drives C:(OS) and D:(Data)).

Partitions are partitions. Perhaps you meant “my understanding is it
will mount volumes on mount points (with descriptive names) rather
than (cryptic) drive letters”. Note I said “volumes”; this can apply
to entire disks or to partitions. Linux doesn’t actually require you
to set up a partition table; it can happily format and use an entire
disk as a filesystem volume. ;)

Does it matter where I mount it i.e. in /root or /home or /mnt?

/root is the home directory for the root user, and not accessible to
anybody else, so don’t put stuff that needs to be available systemwide
there. /mnt is meant for temporary use, so try to avoid leaving stuff
there long-term.

/home would make sense. Users (other than root) have their home
directories here; if you want your media files to be owned by their
own user, separate from your own user (e.g. “media”), then it makes
sense to keep them in the corresponding “/home/media” directory.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Mon, 9 Mar 2026 18:32:48 -0000 (UTC), Lew Pitcher wrote:

b) /usr/local/share ...

This is really for read-only stuff.

c) /var ...

Systemwide writable stuff.

Note there are different subdirectories under this, e.g.

/var/tmp
-- temporary files (which might be bigger than comfortable for
/tmp, or should be kept for longer)
/var/cache
-- stuff which it is convenient to keep locally, but can be
(re)downloaded/(re)created as necessary if deleted
/var/lib
-- stuff maintained by some systemwide code, which is
important and should be backed up (e.g. application
databases)
/var/log
-- logfiles
/var/mail
-- user mail files, if not kept in their own home directories
/var/spool
-- supposedly for data which can grow quite large, e.g. outgoing
mail queues and printer queues

d) /opt ...

/opt and /usr/local are explicitly set aside as areas where the
standard distro packages will never put anything. So yes, you can use
these how you like. I think the convention is, /opt is available for third-party applications that don’t install through the package system
(e.g. proprietary apps), while /usr/local is available for whatever
the local sysadmin wants to install there.

e) under the root directory

Yes, create your own directory hierarchy under “/”, why not:

/jeffserver/media

;)
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Mon, 9 Mar 2026 18:16:51 +0100, J.O. Aho wrote:

I do recommend not not have a mount point inside another mount
point, as it can give you issues.

You don’t have a choice. The only mount point not inside another mount
point is the root filesystem, “/”.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Mon, 9 Mar 2026 21:07:07 +0100, Carlos E.R. wrote:

Modern fdisk can do gpt.

That was fixed ages ago, so long ago I can barely remember. When did
2TB drives become commonplace?
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Mon, 3/9/2026 2:32 PM, Lew Pitcher wrote:

If I put it in /mnt and call it "Mediashare" with sub directories "Music", >> "Pictures" and "Videos" is the network path /Mediashare/Music or
/mnt/Mediashare/Music?

Probably not.

If you are sharing with Windows systems, you will either need to run a
Samba (SMB) server in Linux on your Microserver, in which case, the
network path is whatever you configure Samba to externalize it as, or
you run a Linux NFS server on the Microserver, (and a Windows NFS client
on the Windows boxes), and externalize as
<microserver_host_name>:/mnt/Mediashare/Music

<snip>

You can get mediaserver software, which uses its own protocol.
Something like VLC (available for Windows and Linux), should be
able to connect to a media server.

There is one utility, that "lists" what the media server
has stored on it, for your selections. Then, when you use
a "client" software such as VLC, you expect the client to
also reproduce the list of entries for a ten foot interface
(selecting a movie with your TV remote in your movie room).
it is when the mediaserver fouls up, that the diagnostic
does not show anything, and then you know when the
client or viewer-software is also not showing the list,
it is not the fault of the client, and is the fault of the server.

"AI Overview

A DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) media server allows you
to stream videos, music, and photos from a storage device (PC, NAS, phone)
to compatible devices (Smart TVs, consoles) over a local network.
It uses UPnP for easy, automatic discovery of content. Popular software
solutions include Plex, Universal Media Server, and Windows Media Streaming.
"

How this differs then, is it is supposed to be a bit more "predictable"
than SMB in the computer room. It's for humans to use, not nerds on vacation.

https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/UPnP-Inspector

From my notes, 2014.

I've used upnp-inspector on Linux, to list the contents of DLNA
servers. That seemed to do the best job of it, and helped while
I was debugging stuff. I don't know how it does on playlists,
or whether it recognizes their presence or not.

http://coherence.beebits.net/wiki/UPnP-Inspector#Screenshots # appears to be gone as of 2016 or so

https://web.archive.org/web/20130705011152/http://coherence.beebits.net/wiki/UPnP-Inspector#Screenshots

At the time, this was an example of a mediaserver.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serviio

If you were just doing SMB-based serving, then that might as
well be a NAS doing it. It's up to you whether you feel
using a TV remote for selecting a movie, is cool or not.
A networked-TV may interact with a DLNA server.

Windows Media Player Legacy, has a mediaserver on it. And the
UPnP-Inspector should be able to list what it is serving.
That's if the UPnp-Inspector package is still in the
tree, you'll have to check. But at the time, that was
the most useful tool in my collection. The screenshot is important,
because it shows why the tool was a keeper.

You don't absolutely need a diagnostic, but what are the
odds something as complex as a mediaserver, works on the first try ?
My luck was not so good, but I eventually got one running.

I got MythTV running once. I don't know if I could manage
that today. We have a MythTV user who compiles his own driver
on USENET, but he's not around very often.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Mon, 9 Mar 2026 23:47:01 -0400, Paul wrote:

At the time, this was an example of a mediaserver.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serviio

No need to use anything proprietary, or even dedicate a machine to it.

<https://packages.debian.org/trixie/gerbera> <https://packages.debian.org/trixie/minidlna>

Windows Media Player Legacy, has a mediaserver on it.

Whatever happened to Windows Home Server?

Couldn’t compete with Linux.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Tue, 3/10/2026 12:42 AM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On Mon, 9 Mar 2026 23:47:01 -0400, Paul wrote:

At the time, this was an example of a mediaserver.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serviio

No need to use anything proprietary, or even dedicate a machine to it.

<https://packages.debian.org/trixie/gerbera> <https://packages.debian.org/trixie/minidlna>

Windows Media Player Legacy, has a mediaserver on it.

Whatever happened to Windows Home Server?

Couldn’t compete with Linux.

The Windows Media Player one is convenient for people
who don't drop to command line regularly. It's not
really a server thing as such, and it is just a toy
to play with between two desktop machines if you like.

The OP is buying a new-to-him computer, and putting
a new disk drive on it, so it looks for all the world
like a server project of some sort. I think he
already has a NAS. It could be a media server
with some transcoding going on.

I played with Serviio, because at the time it
was one of the first I could try out.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 09/03/2026 in message <[email protected]> Jeff
Gaines wrote:

I want to try and follow any conventions that exist as if I need to shout >for help it's easier for people if the base is a conventional layout.

Many thanks for all the replies :-)

The new (to me) box should arrive tomorrow so I thought I would practice
on my existing Microserver, (running Linux Mint)I have managed:

To physically install an SSD, to find it, create a partition, format to
ext4 and change ownership to me.

Confession - after half an hour trying to achieve this I asked myself why
the new drive had 212 MB of data on it, the answer was it wasn't the new
drive I was working on but the existing one, fortunately what I did
(giving it a name and mounting it in /etc/Mediashare) hasn't broken it.

Changing ownership was fun as I created a link not a directory and needed
the -h flag, anyway done now. Before I did that whenever I tried to drag a file on to the new drive a little icon appeared and scurried back to the source directory, is that Linux humour :-)

I couldn't see the drive from Windows so installed Samba but have hit the
snag that smb.conf is read only. Is there a Linux file manager that has options such as change permissions or open as root or whatever is needed?

I can't connect from the NVidia TV either at the moment either.

Is Samba the best way to connect from Windows or is there a better way? I don't want to spend ages trying to get Samba working if there is a better
way to do it!

Keeping the gray cells circulating...
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
This mess is what happens when you elect a Labour government, in the end
they will always run out of other people's money to spend.
(Margaret Thatcher on her election in 1979)
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 10/03/2026 in message <10oo7fp$3v925$[email protected]> Lawrence
DOliveiro wrote:

On Mon, 9 Mar 2026 23:47:01 -0400, Paul wrote:

At the time, this was an example of a mediaserver.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serviio

No need to use anything proprietary, or even dedicate a machine to it.

<https://packages.debian.org/trixie/gerbera> ><https://packages.debian.org/trixie/minidlna>

Windows Media Player Legacy, has a mediaserver on it.

Whatever happened to Windows Home Server?

Couldn’t compete with Linux.

The NVidia TV Show can just share a network without DLNA, Kodi (the app on
the NVidia) treats iso files as DVDs, a rare accomplishment but enormously useful!
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
We chose to do this not because it is easy but because we thought it would
be easy.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 2026-03-10 00:08, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On Mon, 9 Mar 2026 21:07:07 +0100, Carlos E.R. wrote:

Modern fdisk can do gpt.

That was fixed ages ago, so long ago I can barely remember. When did
2TB drives become commonplace?

Not that long ago, because I remember about it. :-)

I asked chatgpt:

Period fdisk GPT capability

≤ util-linux 2.22 (~2012) No GPT support
util-linux 2.23 (2013) GPT support added (experimental)
util-linux 2.26+ (~2015) Mature GPT support
Modern util-linux Full GPT support, widely used
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 2026-03-10 00:06, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On Mon, 9 Mar 2026 18:32:48 -0000 (UTC), Lew Pitcher wrote:

...

d) /opt ...

/opt and /usr/local are explicitly set aside as areas where the
standard distro packages will never put anything. So yes, you can use
these how you like. I think the convention is, /opt is available for third-party applications that don’t install through the package system (e.g. proprietary apps), while /usr/local is available for whatever
the local sysadmin wants to install there.

Commercial packages that come via the distribution also go there.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 2026-03-10 00:07, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On Mon, 9 Mar 2026 18:16:51 +0100, J.O. Aho wrote:

I do recommend not not have a mount point inside another mount
point, as it can give you issues.

You don’t have a choice. The only mount point not inside another mount point is the root filesystem, “/”.

That one doesn't count :-)

He means to put all points in the "/" filesystem, not in another
partition. Leads to problems, but can be done, of course. I do it.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 2026-03-10 04:47, Paul wrote:

On Mon, 3/9/2026 2:32 PM, Lew Pitcher wrote:

If I put it in /mnt and call it "Mediashare" with sub directories "Music", >>> "Pictures" and "Videos" is the network path /Mediashare/Music or
/mnt/Mediashare/Music?

Probably not.

If you are sharing with Windows systems, you will either need to run a
Samba (SMB) server in Linux on your Microserver, in which case, the
network path is whatever you configure Samba to externalize it as, or
you run a Linux NFS server on the Microserver, (and a Windows NFS client
on the Windows boxes), and externalize as
<microserver_host_name>:/mnt/Mediashare/Music

<snip>

You can get mediaserver software, which uses its own protocol.
Something like VLC (available for Windows and Linux), should be
able to connect to a media server.

There is one utility, that "lists" what the media server
has stored on it, for your selections. Then, when you use
a "client" software such as VLC, you expect the client to
also reproduce the list of entries for a ten foot interface
(selecting a movie with your TV remote in your movie room).
it is when the mediaserver fouls up, that the diagnostic
does not show anything, and then you know when the
client or viewer-software is also not showing the list,
it is not the fault of the client, and is the fault of the server.

"AI Overview

A DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) media server allows you
to stream videos, music, and photos from a storage device (PC, NAS, phone)
to compatible devices (Smart TVs, consoles) over a local network.
It uses UPnP for easy, automatic discovery of content. Popular software
solutions include Plex, Universal Media Server, and Windows Media Streaming.
"

Not Kodi?
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 10/03/2026 in message <[email protected]> Jeff
Gaines wrote:

I couldn't see the drive from Windows so installed Samba but have hit the >snag that smb.conf is read only. Is there a Linux file manager that has >options such as change permissions or open as root or whatever is needed?

OK, a cup of tea later...

I did chmod 777 smb.conf which I think removes permissions then edited the file and I can now see the Mediashare directory from Windows.

However, I think that was overkill but all the help I have found for chmod produces reams of stuff when I just want something simple.

What about the following:

chmod +w smb.conf

Do the editing and save

chmod -w smb.conf

Would that do it? If not can somebody tell me what I need please?
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
Those are my principles � and if you don�t like them, well, I have others. (Groucho Marx)
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Tue, 3/10/2026 7:52 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

    "AI Overview

     A DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) media server allows you
     to stream videos, music, and photos from a storage device (PC, NAS, phone)
     to compatible devices (Smart TVs, consoles) over a local network. >>      It uses UPnP for easy, automatic discovery of content. Popular software
     solutions include Plex, Universal Media Server, and Windows Media Streaming.
    "

Not Kodi?

I think that is a Gemini summary.

Remember that, when you are "generating a billion summaries a day"
like that, the model size will be reduced, and the answers
can leave something to be desired.

It's missing here as well. Maybe Gemini just reached into Wiki
to pull out the answer ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Media_servers

It seems a decent keyword match.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodi_%28software%29

"Kodi was initially designed as a multi-platform media center application
that has grown to become a multi-purpose technological convergence platform.
"

Perhaps then, Gemini isn't exactly sure what it does.

Paul


--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Tue, 3/10/2026 10:19 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 10/03/2026 in message <[email protected]> Jeff Gaines wrote:

I couldn't see the drive from Windows so installed Samba but have hit the snag that smb.conf is read only. Is there a Linux file manager that has options such as change permissions or open as root or whatever is needed?

OK, a cup of tea later...

I did chmod 777 smb.conf which I think removes permissions then edited the file and I can now see the Mediashare directory from Windows.

However, I think that was overkill but all the help I have found for chmod produces reams of stuff when I just want something simple.

What about the following:

chmod +w smb.conf

Do the editing and save

chmod -w smb.conf

Would that do it? If not can somebody tell me what I need please?

On a Linux machine, you wear two hats.

When unelevated, you slap things around without a care in the world.

When a job calls for "changes" to a secured thing, you think about
all the implications while wearing your "root hat". You are, after all,
the *provider* of security for the user community time-sharing the
Linux box. As the administrator/root , you don't take chances.

*******

sudo nano smb.conf # We leave the permissions alone. Security.
# Yes, Jeff, you can make Windows 98 out of it by chmod 777 the-whole-world
# but then when the box tips over, do remember to tell us
# it is a "Windows 98 setup" :-)

Some things inadvertently have the wrong permissions when unpacked
from a ZIP or something. Those are the ones we chmod to correct the
situation. But lots of stuff in /etc needs security and root ownership,
and we can't be smashing the permissions in /etc . Everything in
there was prepared for us, and should already have correct permissions.

Linux Mint is already set up for sharing.

Yes, it is good to make sure the SAMBA package is installed.

sudo apt install samba

But if you use Nemo or Thunar, you click to highlight a particular
"thing", Properties has a "Sharing" tab, and using that should allow
setting up the sharing of it. The first time the Sharing tab
was added, it was installing two packages on its own. Today
it might install one package.

If I use smbpasswd for my share, I set the password to the same
value as the equivalent regular account.

This is my very-terse summary of SAMBA things on Linux. No
comment text particularly, just things I can type into a
Google for elaboration.

Some amount of SAMBA was neutered for security reasons.
This is a constant annoyance. You are unlikely to ever
see a "Network Neighbourhood".

*******
workgroup = WORKGROUP # /etc/samba/smb.conf
server min protocol = NT1 # WinXP compat
server max protocol = smb3
client min protocol = NT1
client max protocol = smb3
ntlm auth = yes

wins support = yes \
local master = yes \
preferred master = yes /

sudo apt install wsdd <=== network neighbourhood (unlikely to work) ?

sudo smbpasswd -a bullwinkle # a = add this account to smbpasswd file
# bullwinkle is a common account in the room for shares

*******

nemo smb://wallace/shared
nemo smb://192.168.1.3/shared # Works when browse master is unreachable
# ifconfig a node, to determine IP address in usage.

On Windows

explorer.exe \\wallace\shared
explorer.exe \\192.168.1.3\shared # ipconfig a node, to determine IP address in usage.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 10 Mar 2026 11:33:35 GMT, Jeff Gaines wrote:

Whatever happened to Windows Home Server?

Couldn’t compete with Linux.

The NVidia TV Show can just share a network without DLNA, Kodi (the
app on the NVidia) treats iso files as DVDs, a rare accomplishment
but enormously useful!

Not actually that rare -- Kodi is Linux-based, after all. And Kodi
boxes are what killed Windows Media Center.

Windows Home Server was left in the dust by versatile NAS boxes
running Linux.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Mon, 09 Mar 2026 23:47:01 -0400, Paul wrote:

On Mon, 3/9/2026 2:32 PM, Lew Pitcher wrote:

If I put it in /mnt and call it "Mediashare" with sub directories "Music", >>> "Pictures" and "Videos" is the network path /Mediashare/Music or
/mnt/Mediashare/Music?

Probably not.

If you are sharing with Windows systems, you will either need to run a
Samba (SMB) server in Linux on your Microserver, in which case, the
network path is whatever you configure Samba to externalize it as, or
you run a Linux NFS server on the Microserver, (and a Windows NFS client
on the Windows boxes), and externalize as
<microserver_host_name>:/mnt/Mediashare/Music

<snip>

You can get mediaserver software, which uses its own protocol.
Something like VLC (available for Windows and Linux), should be
able to connect to a media server.

True enough. I've used jmaggard's mini-DLNA (now known as ReadyMedia)
on and off for several years. But, such applications don't export
directories, and the OP asked about the path of exported directories.

If the OP serves up media via a DLNA server, he won't have to
worry about export paths; just point the dlna client at the
server host, and let the DLNA protocol take care of locating
the individual media.

[snip]
--
Lew Pitcher
"In Skills We Trust"
Not LLM output - I'm just like this.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 2026-03-10 16:23, Paul wrote:

On Tue, 3/10/2026 10:19 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 10/03/2026 in message <[email protected]> Jeff Gaines wrote:

I couldn't see the drive from Windows so installed Samba but have hit the snag that smb.conf is read only. Is there a Linux file manager that has options such as change permissions or open as root or whatever is needed?

OK, a cup of tea later...

I did chmod 777 smb.conf which I think removes permissions then edited the file and I can now see the Mediashare directory from Windows.

However, I think that was overkill but all the help I have found for chmod produces reams of stuff when I just want something simple.

What about the following:

chmod +w smb.conf

Do the editing and save

chmod -w smb.conf

Would that do it? If not can somebody tell me what I need please?

On a Linux machine, you wear two hats.

When unelevated, you slap things around without a care in the world.

When a job calls for "changes" to a secured thing, you think about
all the implications while wearing your "root hat". You are, after all,
the *provider* of security for the user community time-sharing the
Linux box. As the administrator/root , you don't take chances.

*******

sudo nano smb.conf # We leave the permissions alone. Security.
# Yes, Jeff, you can make Windows 98 out of it by chmod 777 the-whole-world
# but then when the box tips over, do remember to tell us
# it is a "Windows 98 setup" :-)

Some things inadvertently have the wrong permissions when unpacked
from a ZIP or something. Those are the ones we chmod to correct the situation. But lots of stuff in /etc needs security and root ownership,
and we can't be smashing the permissions in /etc . Everything in
there was prepared for us, and should already have correct permissions.

Ok, I don't need to get in and do the lecture again :-)

I'll just mention that there are several editors which you can choose
the one you like. You can use joe, which comes in 5 names: joe, jstar,
jmacs, rjoe, jpico. Choose the one you prefer. Another one you can use
is "mcedit", which is actually the editor of "Midnight Commander" or "mc".

The two traditional Linux editors are "vi" and "emacs". There are
flamewars about the two. Both very powerful, but neither is easy to use, specially coming from Windows. But "vi" is present in every Linux or
Unix machine.


I recommend you edit /root/.bashrc and create this line:

export EDITOR=/usr/bin/jstar

Put there the editor you prefer. This way, when you call a command like "visudo" or "crontab -e", the edit will happen using your preferred
editor instead of the default "vi".
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 10/03/2026 in message <[email protected]r> Carlos E.R.
wrote:

On a Linux machine, you wear two hats.

When unelevated, you slap things around without a care in the world.

When a job calls for "changes" to a secured thing, you think about
all the implications while wearing your "root hat". You are, after all,
the provider of security for the user community time-sharing the
Linux box. As the administrator/root , you don't take chances.

*******

sudo nano smb.conf # We leave the permissions alone. Security.
# Yes, Jeff, you can make Windows 98 out of it by chmod 777 the-whole-world
# but then when the box tips over, do remember to tell us
# it is a "Windows 98 setup" :-)

Some things inadvertently have the wrong permissions when unpacked
from a ZIP or something. Those are the ones we chmod to correct the >>situation. But lots of stuff in /etc needs security and root ownership,
and we can't be smashing the permissions in /etc . Everything in
there was prepared for us, and should already have correct permissions.

Ok, I don't need to get in and do the lecture again :-)

I'll just mention that there are several editors which you can choose the >one you like. You can use joe, which comes in 5 names: joe, jstar, jmacs, >rjoe, jpico. Choose the one you prefer. Another one you can use is
"mcedit", which is actually the editor of "Midnight Commander" or "mc".

The two traditional Linux editors are "vi" and "emacs". There are
flamewars about the two. Both very powerful, but neither is easy to use, >specially coming from Windows. But "vi" is present in every Linux or Unix >machine.

I recommend you edit root.bashrc and create this line:

export EDITOR=/usr/bin/jstar

Put there the editor you prefer. This way, when you call a command like >"visudo" or "crontab -e", the edit will happen using your preferred editor >instead of the default "vi".

[snipped]

To get back on track what about the following:

chmod +w smb.conf

Do the editing and save

chmod -w smb.conf

Would that do it? If not can somebody tell me what I need please?
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
We chose to do this not because it is easy but because we thought it would
be easy.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

"Jeff Gaines" <[email protected]> writes:

To get back on track what about the following:

chmod +w smb.conf

Do the editing and save

chmod -w smb.conf

Would that do it?

No, don’t do that.

If not can somebody tell me what I need please?

Use:
sudo <your favorite editor> smb.conf
--
https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Tue, 3/10/2026 6:08 PM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 10/03/2026 in message <[email protected]r> Carlos E.R. wrote:

On a Linux machine, you wear two hats.

When unelevated, you slap things around without a care in the world.

When a job calls for "changes" to a secured thing, you think about
all the implications while wearing your "root hat". You are, after all,
the provider of security for the user community time-sharing the
Linux box. As the administrator/root , you don't take chances.

*******

sudo nano smb.conf    # We leave the permissions alone. Security.
                      # Yes, Jeff, you can make Windows 98 out of it by chmod 777 the-whole-world
                      # but then when the box tips over, do remember to tell us
                      # it is a "Windows 98 setup" :-) >>>
Some things inadvertently have the wrong permissions when unpacked
from a ZIP or something. Those are the ones we chmod to correct the
situation. But lots of stuff in /etc needs security and root ownership,
and we can't be smashing the permissions in /etc . Everything in
there was prepared for us, and should already have correct permissions.

Ok, I don't need to get in and do the lecture again :-)

I'll just mention that there are several editors which you can choose the one you like. You can use joe, which comes in 5 names: joe, jstar, jmacs, rjoe, jpico. Choose the one you prefer. Another one you can use is "mcedit", which is actually the editor of "Midnight Commander" or "mc".

The two traditional Linux editors are "vi" and "emacs". There are flamewars about the two. Both very powerful, but neither is easy to use, specially coming from Windows. But "vi" is present in every Linux or Unix machine.


I recommend you edit root.bashrc and create this line:

export EDITOR=/usr/bin/jstar

Put there the editor you prefer. This way, when you call a command like "visudo" or "crontab -e", the edit will happen using your preferred editor instead of the default "vi".

[snipped]

To get back on track what about the following:

chmod +w smb.conf

Do the editing and save

chmod -w smb.conf

Would that do it? If not can somebody tell me what I need please?

It doesn't happen too often, but there are web pages which
actually display "best practices", the same "best practices"
that get you hired as an IT person.

It's a pain in the ass to do

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf # and type in that password

The sudo means "do it as if I was root right now". It
has the elevation needed for the job of editing
things in the /etc area.

In the Windows world, one individual was demonstrating
how an IT person handles Windows permissions. Most of
us, while editing Windows, we smash a permission and don't
put it back. This leaves a gap-toothed mess on a disk
with regard to permissions.

The IT class person, demonstrated how you can use ICACLS
utility, and record all the permissions on a tree section.
Then, reach in and smash to your hearts content. Finally,
after all necessary permissions have been restored by an
ICACLS playback command, now it is as if the IT class person
had never been there and mucking about.

These are the kinds of lessons we're suppose to learn
while repairing/preparing computers.

The one and only time I've had malware on a computer,
the truth of the matter is, I left the barn door open
and that's how the malware got in. I did not explicitly
"pull a Windows 98", but I was fascinated by an obscure
way of installing the OS. And I had not even considered
what a mess that made. And that's the foothold the
malware needed. It was easy malware to remove, but
it spoils my "track record".

I can share that experience with you by telling you
to "not leave any barn doors open" :-) If you start
fiddling write bits, sooner or later, you leave
them open.

At work, I used to do very minor admin tasks with "local root"
(a permission that isn't worth shit). But, as part of the
local IT allowing me to do that, I have to keep my house
in order and keep my nose clean with regard to "making a mess".
That's how you lose your privileges at work. (This
was on Sun Sparc machines and Unix.) Did I make grievous errors
while running as local root ? You betcha :-)

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Tue, 3/10/2026 2:43 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On 10 Mar 2026 11:33:35 GMT, Jeff Gaines wrote:

Whatever happened to Windows Home Server?

Couldn’t compete with Linux.

The NVidia TV Show can just share a network without DLNA, Kodi (the
app on the NVidia) treats iso files as DVDs, a rare accomplishment
but enormously useful!

Not actually that rare -- Kodi is Linux-based, after all. And Kodi
boxes are what killed Windows Media Center.

Windows Home Server was left in the dust by versatile NAS boxes
running Linux.

Windows Media Center was killed by the cost of providing
certain things. In a similar way to how Windows users
are expected to pay $0.99 for a HEVC license. A similar thing
happened to an NVidia feature, where a license fee had to be
paid for each user (whether they used a certain feature or not).
And on the very next chipset, the feature was removed (and it's
because "it cost us too much to do it").

Just recently, something on Windows had Grace Notes disconnected,
which is not really a surprise.

On a lot of TV tuner packages, the TV Guide Data cost money,
and no central authority can pay those forever, and they stop
providing them after a while. And any small companies
that sell the listings, also go out of business because they
don't sell enough subscriptions to pay a TV network $50,000 for
a year of listings.

These are all the sorts of expenses that kill projects like this.

I believe there was a new version of Windows Media Center spun up
and perhaps in beta test, but it would be the usual thing.
The execs have a business meeting. They spend an hour
discussing some "$0.99 per node cost", and before you know
it, some project is cancelled. Part of the concern, is the
shareholders will be displeased, and there's some deal with
Sarbanes Oxley about "giving things away when you should be
charging for them". Apple once had to make users pay for
something trivial, and this seems to be one of those
Sarbanes Oxley type issues, where you cannot pay the
customer per-node expense for them.

This is how recently two laptop companies got their
shipments to Germany blocked, because some judge
decided they had not made an honest effort to pay
the HEVC tax. Each time, it's $0.99 at work. To put
that $0.99 in their pockets, now it is costing them
big time. But this is how you run a business, $0.99
at a time. That's why we hire the expensive CEOs,
to make those sorts of business decisions.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Tue, 10 Mar 2026 19:59:27 -0400, Paul wrote:

On Tue, 3/10/2026 2:43 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

Windows Home Server was left in the dust by versatile NAS boxes
running Linux.

Windows Media Center was killed by the cost of providing certain
things.

Also, the much-vaunted “10-foot interface” didn’t work very well.

Linux is much more flexible at supporting alternative GUIs that are
not primarily designed for desktop use.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 10/03/2026 in message <10oqaen$m3rn$[email protected]> Paul wrote:

[snipped]

[snipped]

To get back on track what about the following:

chmod +w smb.conf

Do the editing and save

chmod -w smb.conf

Would that do it? If not can somebody tell me what I need please?

It doesn't happen too often, but there are web pages which
actually display "best practices", the same "best practices"
that get you hired as an IT person.

It's a pain in the ass to do

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf # and type in that password

I have no idea what "nano" is, on my Linux Mint install I edit text file
with something that describes itself as a text editor.

The sudo means "do it as if I was root right now". It
has the elevation needed for the job of editing
things in the /etc area.

Indeed, I know what sudo does.

In the Windows world, one individual was demonstrating
how an IT person handles Windows permissions. Most of
us, while editing Windows, we smash a permission and don't
put it back. This leaves a gap-toothed mess on a disk
with regard to permissions.

Indeed. This is not a Windows system but I do want to ensure I don't leave
any security holes. For some reason smb.conf is write only even though the copper plate that is installed won't do what anybody wants. I need to be
able to edit it then put its permissions back as they were.

The IT class person, demonstrated how you can use ICACLS
utility, and record all the permissions on a tree section.
Then, reach in and smash to your hearts content. Finally,
after all necessary permissions have been restored by an
ICACLS playback command, now it is as if the IT class person
had never been there and mucking about.

Wow, I must try and find the video.

These are the kinds of lessons we're suppose to learn
while repairing/preparing computers.

Indeed, I hope I have learnt something since I started using and then
building computers in 1981.

The one and only time I've had malware on a computer,
the truth of the matter is, I left the barn door open
and that's how the malware got in. I did not explicitly
"pull a Windows 98", but I was fascinated by an obscure
way of installing the OS. And I had not even considered
what a mess that made. And that's the foothold the
malware needed. It was easy malware to remove, but
it spoils my "track record".

I was hit by "Form" in the days of DOS and sometime more recently the
Java exploit that hit browsers. What I am trying to do is ensure I edit
this file and reset the permissions so I don't leave any backdoors.

I can share that experience with you by telling you
to "not leave any barn doors open" :-) If you start
fiddling write bits, sooner or later, you leave
them open.

I am aware of that which is why I have asked how I can change the
attributes to edit the file then change them back.

At work, I used to do very minor admin tasks with "local root"
(a permission that isn't worth shit). But, as part of the
local IT allowing me to do that, I have to keep my house
in order and keep my nose clean with regard to "making a mess".
That's how you lose your privileges at work. (This
was on Sun Sparc machines and Unix.) Did I make grievous errors
while running as local root ? You betcha :-)

Astonishing.
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
There is absolutely no substitute for a genuine lack of preparation
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 2026-03-10 23:08, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 10/03/2026 in message <[email protected]r> Carlos E.R. wrote:

On a Linux machine, you wear two hats.

When unelevated, you slap things around without a care in the world.

When a job calls for "changes" to a secured thing, you think about
all the implications while wearing your "root hat". You are, after all,
the provider of security for the user community time-sharing the
Linux box. As the administrator/root , you don't take chances.

*******

sudo nano smb.conf    # We leave the permissions alone. Security.
                      # Yes, Jeff, you can make Windows 98 out of it
by chmod 777 the-whole-world
                      # but then when the box tips over, do remember
to tell us
                      # it is a "Windows 98 setup" :-) >>>
Some things inadvertently have the wrong permissions when unpacked
from a ZIP or something. Those are the ones we chmod to correct the
situation. But lots of stuff in /etc needs security and root ownership,
and we can't be smashing the permissions in /etc . Everything in
there was prepared for us, and should already have correct permissions.

Ok, I don't need to get in and do the lecture again :-)

I'll just mention that there are several editors which you can choose
the one you like. You can use joe, which comes in 5 names: joe, jstar,
jmacs, rjoe, jpico. Choose the one you prefer. Another one you can use
is "mcedit", which is actually the editor of "Midnight Commander" or
"mc".

The two traditional Linux editors are "vi" and "emacs". There are
flamewars about the two. Both very powerful, but neither is easy to
use, specially coming from Windows. But "vi" is present in every Linux
or Unix machine.


I recommend you edit root.bashrc and create this line:

export EDITOR=/usr/bin/jstar

Put there the editor you prefer. This way, when you call a command
like "visudo" or "crontab -e", the edit will happen using your
preferred editor instead of the default "vi".

[snipped]

To get back on track what about the following:

chmod +w smb.conf

Do the editing and save

chmod -w smb.conf

Would that do it? If not can somebody tell me what I need please?

NOOO!

We are telling to not change the permissions!

Use "sudo SOMEEDITOR smb.conf"
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 2026-03-11 00:59, Paul wrote:

On Tue, 3/10/2026 2:43 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On 10 Mar 2026 11:33:35 GMT, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On a lot of TV tuner packages, the TV Guide Data cost money,
and no central authority can pay those forever, and they stop
providing them after a while. And any small companies
that sell the listings, also go out of business because they
don't sell enough subscriptions to pay a TV network $50,000 for
a year of listings.

On Spain, on the digital TV over the air system, each station has to
broadcast their own timetable. Tuners have a button called EPG that
displays the collected information for all stations. It needs to have
tuned once recently each group of stations (multiplex?).

It is gratis.

I had a tuner, that no longer works because the system has changed to
high definition, the Gigaset M740 AV, which ran a daily cronjob task to
tune all the groups in sequence and fill the complete EPG for the day.

Unfortunately, nobody now sells a tuner box as good as this one. But all tuners here support the EPG guide.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_program_guide




Obsolete information follows:

Siemens Gigaset M740 AV

The Siemens Gigaset M740 AV is a digital television set-top box and
multimedia network receiver developed by Siemens in the mid-2000s. The
device was designed to receive DVB-T (digital terrestrial television) broadcasts and to integrate television viewing with home network
multimedia playback.

Overview

The M740 AV is a DVB-T receiver intended primarily for free-to-air
digital television. In addition to basic reception, it can function as a personal video recorder (PVR) when connected to an external USB hard drive.

The device also supports networking features, allowing users to stream
media files stored on a personal computer to a television via an
Ethernet connection.
Features

Main features of the Gigaset M740 AV include:

Reception of DVB-T digital terrestrial television
Twin tuners for watching one channel while recording another
Time-shifting (pause and rewind live TV)
Recording of television programs to external USB hard drives
Electronic Program Guide (EPG) for scheduling recordings
Playback of media files from a PC via network shares
Picture-in-picture capability

Recorded broadcasts are stored in MPEG-2 format, which was the standard encoding used for DVB-T transmissions.
Hardware

The device is built around an NEC µPD61130AS1 system-on-chip with a MIPS processor and integrated MPEG decoding hardware.

Typical hardware specifications include:

2× DVB-T tuners
Ethernet (10/100 Mbps) network interface
2× USB 2.0 ports
2× SCART connectors (TV and VCR)
RCA stereo audio outputs
S/PDIF digital audio output

Software

The system runs Linux on a MIPS architecture, enabling networking
functions and allowing enthusiasts to modify the firmware or develop additional software for the device.

Release and availability

The Gigaset M740 AV was introduced around 2004–2005 as part of Siemens’ Gigaset home-entertainment line and initially retailed for approximately €299.95 in Europe.


There were community supplied alternative firmware with improved
capabilities.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

At Mon, 9 Mar 2026 18:32:48 -0000 (UTC), Lew Pitcher <[email protected]> wrote:

On Mon, 09 Mar 2026 15:57:00 +0000, Jeff Gaines wrote:

I am awaiting a HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 which I plan to use as
a home media server and to create iso files from DVDs with Brasero.

I am pretty well 100% Windows user although I am using Brasero on
one of the original micro servers to prepare iso files at the
moment, the Gen8 has a Xeon processor so I expect it to be a bit
more responsive.

I will be using Linux Mint Mate as it's cleanish and reasonably lightweight. My understanding is it will split the OS drive by
using mount points rather than partitions (on Windows I use
separate drives C:(OS) and D:(Data)). The Microserver was made
before the days of UEFI, I hope Linux can live with that.

I will use 2 x additional drives, first one for shared media,
second to back it up (in turn this will be backed up to my home
server).

If I understand it a add the second drive after the install, set it
up as GPT then mount it so it can be seen on the network.

Does it matter where I mount it i.e. in /root or /home or /mnt?

Yes, sort of.

Linux standards reserve the use of a number of directories, including
/root and /mnt. Your "shared media" doesn't fit within the use of
/root and (if you squint with one eye closed) might fit within the
use of /mnt or /media. If you really want to keep out of trouble, you
can either create a media sharing data directory under a) /home (like
the quintessential /home/ftp directory), or b) /usr/local/share, or
c) /var, or d) /opt, or e) under the root directory and mount your
"shared media" drive there.

If I put it in /mnt and call it "Mediashare" with sub directories
"Music", "Pictures" and "Videos" is the network path
/Mediashare/Music or /mnt/Mediashare/Music?

Probably not.

If you are sharing with Windows systems, you will either need to run
a Samba (SMB) server in Linux on your Microserver, in which case, the
network path is whatever you configure Samba to externalize it as, or
you run a Linux NFS server on the Microserver, (and a Windows NFS
client on the Windows boxes), and externalize as
<microserver_host_name>:/mnt/Mediashare/Music

I want to try and follow any conventions that exist as if I need to
shout for help it's easier for people if the base is a conventional
layout.

Placement is the easy part; mountpoints are just directories (they
don't need to be empty) that you want to overlay with the device to
be mounted. Just pick a mountpoint that won't interfere with the
system (something empty that isn't required by the OS or it's
utilities) and go with it.

Setting up the networking will be the hard point.

Good advice. Just wanted to point out that some systems have /srv
for mounts that will be exported.

For example, I have:

$ mount | grep srv
/dev/sda1 on /srv/Extreme_Pro type ext4 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro,stripe=512,data=writeback)

Which looks like:

_[/srv/Extreme_Pro]_(vallor@lm)🐧_
$ ll -n
total 28
drwxrwx--- 2 0 1026 4096 Sep 5 2025 Backup
drwx------ 2 0 0 16384 Jan 6 2025 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x 3 1026 1026 4096 Mar 11 02:00 timemachine
drwxr-xr-x 9 0 0 4096 Mar 10 15:06 timeshift

Mrs. vallor's Mac Studio uses my workstation as a time capsule.

I'm running Samba with the "fruit" modules.

Many thanks :-)

Luck be with you

Best regards,
--
-v System76 Thelio Mega v1.1 x86_64 Mem: 258G
OS: Linux 7.0.0-rc3 D: Mint 22.3 DE: Xfce 4.18 (X11)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090Ti (24G) (595.45.04)
"I was arrested for selling illegal sized paper."
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

At Tue, 10 Mar 2026 11:23:01 -0400, Paul <[email protected]d> wrote:

Some amount of SAMBA was neutered for security reasons.
This is a constant annoyance. You are unlikely to ever
see a "Network Neighbourhood".

Just wanted to mention, Linux seems to thrive in the aloha/bonjour
world.

Here is Thunar's network tab:

https://ibb.co/Rp1d7BmH
--
-v System76 Thelio Mega v1.1 x86_64 Mem: 258G
OS: Linux 7.0.0-rc3 D: Mint 22.3 DE: Xfce 4.18 (X11)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090Ti (24G) (595.45.04)
"A camel is a horse planned by committee."
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