What The #%&$, I need Seriuos help

[MikeOhlh]

I am a noob to Amahi but have had a Linux home server for about 12 years or more. I realize this is an old thread, but in the interest of someone (like myself) researching, there is something I caught early in this thread. I noticed the OP was using NTFS for the data drives in Fedora/Amahi, and I know there are some very quirky permission issues there, the NTFS format cannot contain all the permissions of a native Linux filesystem. That could cause a serious issue, especially with a backup from Win7. Im thinking of all the issues I had at one time with windows and user.machine.domain because it didn't like the network settings and permissions and user could not access files. I definately found out that fat, ntfs, hpfs file systems are a BAD idea on linux, because Linux can't function proper with it's arm tied behind it's back. At the very least use ext3, it can be checked, (and "journaling" is faster than ext2 with the larger drives). Anyhow, my 2 cents worth; and, I can certainly understand the frustration level dealing with Linux and reading forum after forum, and still having no solution. I wonder if there is an app for yoga...

[asylum]

It's been awhile. I needed time off. I ended up shutting down my HDA, my stupidity in the words "easy setup" has been taxed to the point of "I Don' Care". Well, I'm at it again. I've redone everything, again, this time with the latest, Amahi 6.1. Funny how I still have some of the same issues, even after all this time. I don't remember what I did the last time to end my career with Home Servers, I think I tried to install something, from a CD or something, anyway, I wasn't able to get the machine to reboot, hence, I Quit. Now, a new install, all drives accounted for (I think), I can see my HDA from my Win7 laptop, my wife's Win7 Laptop, (too scared to try my daughters). I can create shares on the HDA. I even sent a movie to the "Movie" folder. WOW, isn't this cool. This morning I wanted to send a few more movies over and, well, my laptop said I didn't have permission to access the HDA. "WHAT! I did yesterday", I said to myself. I could see it there. But I wasn't allowed to do anything. Ok, so what. I'll work on it latter. I'm sure it's something stupid. So, I tried to get access form work. No go. Won't connect. Same problems as before. I've went as far as to almost purchase the Windows 2011 server program (I punched myself in the knee for even thinking of that as a solution). Now I have a limp and a sever that don't serve. I'm laughing as I reflect back on my experience. After reading some more post, I see I may need to fine tune some of my network settings ( fine tune), in English this means to redo. Can't do that from work 'cause I can't get into my router from work. On a positive note, my router's DHCP is disabled and I forwarded the port as described, did that yesterday.

[ghstryder]

It doesn't sound like you are that far off. Once you have it up and running you'll probably be amazed at how easy it was once you knew what to fix. I really think half the battle is just knowing what to ask about. Just take the problems one at a time.

The HDA really has nothing to do with your being able to access your router. It is still doing what routers do, you have just passed off the DHCP and DNS functions to the HDA. Generally speaking, you have to explicitly allow remote management of the router - go into your settings and look for it. Once you have it set up, it is usually a matter of something like xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:80 or 8080 to access the routers web set-up. Again, half the battle is the language or terminology. If you can't get it going, post your Router Make/Model, someone will be able to offer guidance.

[sgtfoo]

For the record, it's easier to map drives in Windows 7 than I remember it it XP.
Once you're on the same workgroup as your HDA, and you can ping your HDA, things should be fine.

Once the shares are mounted/mapped into '(my) computer' it's easy to setup windows backup to automagically send the files to the shared folder.

...This is under assumption that all your install procedure is setup correctly, etc, etc.

Don't just give up and drop this cuz you're frustrated.... go have a beer, relax, then you finish your beer you'll remember you don't believe in this windows over linux crap, and you'll feel right as rain.

Just ask in the forums.... most of us who have running HDAs can answer most questions.

[asylum]

I appreciate the encouragement and the support that I've been given from the Linux community. I'll be the first to admit that my lack of terminology in understanding the most fundamental of concepts IS an issue. So then, for a question (humph, what to ask, where to start). I guess I'll start with my network this time. I have three HP laptops with Windows 7 Home on them. My TV is a 55" Samsung hard wired to my 8 port hub. there are a couple of Apple products, 2 iTouches and an iPhone. When I push the Media.P button on the remote, for the TV, sometimes I can see my laptop with the Windows Media player program on it. I've searched around through the various folders but nothing is in them. Why doesn't my TV show the HDA? Should I assign static IP's to all my devices even if the HDA is set to manage the DHCP address and not my Cisco E3000 router? I understand that every day a new lease is assigned from my ISP, but I'm lost in understanding the significance of that if the HDA is managing the actual IP's. I don't know how to ask this one...can I access my HDA root user area from my laptop? I really don't want to go to the garage every time I need to check on stuff. Like, to see all the device network address's the HDA has assigned. From my laptop I can see the network settings, ipconfig /all, but the names that I see are crazy. I really don't know what device is what. How can I change them once identified? I may still be miles away to where I need to be. VPN and VNC, wow, maybe later, too much confusion there for me. I did manage to install AjaXplorer per the wiki's. It's pretty cool, though not sure on it's capabilities yet. I'll ping the HDA to see what I get. Never had to map any drives before. Shoot, I'm scared to even mess around there. Do I just pick "Z" as the drive to map? I need to check more on this. I'll keep going until this thing works, might need lots more beer though. Maybe just buy a $300 network hard drive, probably way less fuss but not as cool.

[bigfoot65]

Why doesn't my TV show the HDA? Should I assign static IP's to all my devices even if the HDA is set to manage the DHCP address and not my Cisco E3000 router? I understand that every day a new lease is assigned from my ISP, but I'm lost in understanding the significance of that if the HDA is managing the actual IP's.

I would recommend you assign static IPs to all your devices via the Amahi Dashboard. That's what I do for all my clients as this ensures the retain the same IP address when powered off.

I don't know how to ask this one...can I access my HDA root user area from my laptop? I really don't want to go to the garage every time I need to check on stuff. Like, to see all the device network address's the HDA has assigned.

You can SSH into your HDA or use VNC to access it. See the wiki for guidance.

http://wiki.amahi.org/index.php/Key-Based_SSH_Logins

http://wiki.amahi.org/index.php/VNC

From my laptop I can see the network settings, ipconfig /all, but the names that I see are crazy. I really don't know what device is what. How can I change them once identified?

If you set static IPs for each device, you can name them. That's what I do for devices like my printer.

I may still be miles away to where I need to be. VPN and VNC, wow, maybe later, too much confusion there for me. I did manage to install AjaXplorer per the wiki's. It's pretty cool, though not sure on it's capabilities yet.

You can also try OpenVPN ALS (http://www.amahi.org/apps/openvpn-als) as it will give you security and works well remotely. You might also try HDA Connect (http://wiki.amahi.org/index.php/VPNWindows) if you have a Windows client. Once you install it and connect, it's just like being on your network machine. The dashboard and shares are available using the same methods, i.e. http://hda and \\hda.

I'll ping the HDA to see what I get. Never had to map any drives before. Shoot, I'm scared to even mess around there. Do I just pick "Z" as the drive to map? I need to check more on this.

Mapping drives in Windows clients is fairly straight forward. You can often find guidance in the wiki on how to do things. Also recommend you use Google as well.

The best way to learn the capabilities of Amahi is to play around. I hope my advice is beneficial. If you need more assistance, consider stopping by the IRC for live help. There are usually some technical saavy folks there who would be glad to assist.

[asylum]

I think I screwed things up, again. I started to assign static IP's to the devices I recognized, 2 so far. The list in my dashboard showed 10 before I started. Now it only shows 1. Where did the rest go? I have 2 of the same named devices, both show Brians-Laptop, but one is my router. Whats up with that? How do I change the names? I've tried the dashboard but the option isn't there, only the IP address. My PS3,manual settings, is asking for more numbers than I have recorded to input. It wouldn't connect so I set it back to auto config. Think I'll delete the static IP's and get back to where I started and try again. If I'm doing something wrong (obviously), I again don't know what. What are all these names: h104.home.com, h100.home.com, h105.home.com, h106.home.com, HPFE4C9C.home.com, h146.home.com, Brians-Laptop.home.com, Brians-Laptop.home.com, cheries-iPod.home.com, Jens-iPhone.home.com? I kinda got the obvious ones, but I didn't name them. Should I unplug everything except for the HDA from the network and one by one, plug each device in and then assign the static address to each? Seems like the way to go to get back to simplicity.
Sorry this stuff is easy for most, but I just don't get it, YET.

[bigfoot65]

Ok, here's how things work.

When Amahi assigned an IP to a device via DHCP, it tries to poll the device name. When it cannot get it, it makes one up, hence the h106.home.com.

So, the best way to do this is remove all static IPs via the dashboard. Then, one by one add them based on the DHCP screen. Look at the first one and determine what device it is. Then copy the MAC address from that one and go to the Static IP area.

Once there, create a new Static IP and name it. Only one word as the domain is automatically added. Enter the IP address < 100 that you want it assigned and paste in the MAC address from the DHCP. Click create and when you switch back to the DHCP screen, it will be gone.

Now to make it easier, what I recommend is you make a list from the DHCP part of the Dashboard and identify what devices are what. Add the MAC address for each to the list. Then go to the Static IP area and create them all at once.

Make sure when you paste in the MAC address that there are no leading or trailing spaces in the address or it won't work. Also you cannot change the name of a device once it is created. You have to delete it, then create a new one with the name you desire, IP, and MAC address.

That's how I do mine, make a list of all the devices, what I want to name them, and the IP < 100 that I will assign along with their respective MAC address. I usually start with a range and work my way down from 99 in order. For example, 98 is a printer, 97 is a desktop, etc. You get the idea. I have had no issues so far.

Does that make sense? Remember the key here is to ensure the router DHCP/DNS server is off and the HDA is providing that service. Hopefully your HDA has an IP < 100 as well. Also do not put an entry for your router as it's not needed.

[asylum]

That's what I inadvertently had done, changed the router's goodies. It was labeled as my Laptop (didn't understand that at the time), I thought, some where, 2 IP's for Laptop were created some how. I deleted the statics and am in the process of identifying all the devices. Thanks again for the patience.