SOLVED:Worked semi-fine in beginning and then no apps worked

[herbzkim]

Greetings. Please pardon the long explanation. I'm trying to be as thorough as possible so that you may be able to offer the best solution possible.

I am very new to creating a home server, and m not very computer literate in that I have no idea what DNS and DHCP and many other computer acronyms mean. I've been trying to go through the Amahi forums for answers and going through every step in the interactive troubleshoot (all the way to the end) to no avail.

I set up my server per instructions provided. Once I got it up and running, installed a few apps that would serve the purpose of my server. I plan to make it into a torrenting/media server that would allow for streaming to devices that are connected to my home network. As such, I got the DLNA, Couchpotato, and Transmission app. I also thought I needed a way to "visualize" the files and manipulate those that I DL'd so I thought I would also make use of AjaXplorer (thinking this is somewhat like a file explorer) and ownCloud (with the same rationale as AjaXplorer). Upon obtaining ownCloud, I couldn't access it. Rather, it would take me to the Amahi homepage and offer the interactive troubleshooter to remedy it. I went through all the steps to no avail. I tried restarting the server via my dashboard hoping that would help. But, shortly afterwards, all of the apps, including the ones that were functioning previously, stopped working. I would instead get directed to the amahi homepage.

I also cannot seem to connect to my server via my Mac. Is it even possible to do so? I tried "Go" --> "Connect to server" --> input my HDA's IP address, but no connection can be established.

So then, I thought maybe there's something wrong with how I went about setting up my home network. I have a cable modem that is connected to a wireless router. My Amahi server is then connected to the router. I thought I would have to disable DHCP on my router, and going into my router's dashboard, the only way to do so is to choose another method of networking (static IP, PPPoE, etc). But, I don't know how to set that up. Therefore, this was a dead end. I have a WD MyNet N750, if that is of any help. There is no clickable option to disable DHCP on my router.

What am I doing wrong in terms of my setup?

Thank you very much in advance, for all your help and guidance.

[bigfoot65]

I am very new to creating a home server, and m not very computer literate in that I have no idea what DNS and DHCP and many other computer acronyms mean. I've been trying to go through the Amahi forums for answers and going through every step in the interactive troubleshoot (all the way to the end) to no avail.

It would be a good idea to learn about these things as they are critical to your network.

I have a WD MyNet N750, if that is of any help. There is no clickable option to disable DHCP on my router.

You might check the instruction manual for your router on how to disable the DHCP. If that is not possible, maybe you can restrict it to one IP address and assign that to your HDA.

You can also disable DHCP on the HDA. There are options here, depending on what you want to do. On the HDA, you need to enable Advanced Settings in the Settings tab. Then under Network, go to Settings and you will see DHCP. Uncheck it to turn it off.

There are many who are new to Linux and share the same struggles you do. Most find it useful to browse the wiki and research on the internet. The only way to learn is to play around with things.

[herbzkim]

Thanks so much for your response. I will definitely take a moment to study up on those two topics. In the meantime, could you please let me know if my guess as to what is wrong with my setup is correct or not? Do you think it is truly a network issue?

Thanks again.

[bigfoot65]

I would think it's a network issue. Cannot run two DHCP servers on the same subnet. It will cause conflicts.

[herbzkim]

Okay. Thank you.

Will attempt to resolve network issue and report back.

[herbzkim]

Went ahead and disabled DHCP on my router, ensured DHCP and DNS was checked on my HDA's dashboard, then basically shut down everything and rebooted (modem, my laptop, and router). Went through all 13 steps of the interactive troubleshooter. Still, cannot access any of my apps.

Does it matter that DNS proxy is enabled on my router? Should it be disabled? I'm lost.

[herbzkim]

So I noticed something strange (at least to me).

When I attempt to click on the applications installed on my hda via my dashboard, it directs me to the internet home of amahi.net.

But, when I go to Setup --> Network --> DNS aliases and then click on the URL of a downloaded app (for example, Couchpotato), I am directed to the proper webpage. I wanted to verify that it is indeed where I want to go by going into its settings, and it's just as I remember them being in that I have it set up to DL files into the specified folder. In my case its: /var/hda/files/torrents/.

Thought I would try to provide more info to properly troubleshoot this issue.

Thanks again for your help.

[bigfoot65]

Sounds like a DNS issue. Ensure your browser cache is cleared and try the dashboard links again. Might consider trying a different browser.

[herbzkim]

Thanks bigfoot65. Really appreciate your help. I think it's awesome you all are taking the time to address each post in the forum.

I will heed your advice and report back.

[bigfoot65]

No problem. Just trying to help out where I can.