HAKAI Build Help?

[markiteight]

I haven't thrown in the towel just yet! In fact I've made enough forward progress, thanks in no small part to your patience and willingness to help a clueless n00b, to put it down...for the time being.

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-N3160N
OMV image: openmediavault_4.1.3-amd64.iso flashed to USB thumb drive using Etcher
Yes, USB drive is used only to install OMV onto boot drive (Intel 320 SSD).

Monitor is a 21" Viewsonic connected via D-Sub with no adaptors.

Ahhhh...ok! I wasn't making the connection between "reset the motherboard" and resetting the bios (but now it seems painfully obvious...my bad). This dim bulb actually came on earlier today and (after palm of hand applied to forehead briskly) I cleared the bios using the pins on the mobo (it didn't dawn on me there would be a command in the bios to do this...derp), reset the primary boot drive to USB and the install program loaded and displayed normally.

Problem solved.

Now that OMV is up and running I followed the video tutorial and have made a lot of progress, but I've run into another brick wall (hey...I made it several steps without hitting a wall - a first!). I'm at the point where I'm ready to transfer my music onto the NAS, but I'm having trouble connecting to the NAS. It wants a server address. I don't know what that is, nor can I find it. Is it the same IP address I use to log into OMV's GUI? Or is it the name I gave the server during the install process? The error message I get is, "You do not have permission to access this server." Apparently there's a setting somewhere in OMV I'm missing. I have deviated from the video tutorial in two ways:

Drives mounted with NFS rather than SMB/CIFS
Union plugin used to create a single 1.2T volume out of the two 600G drives

I'm trying to mount the NAS on my MacBook Pro, as it is currently housing all my music, and this is where I get the above message. Did I bite off more than I could chew choosing NFS, or is there something else I'm missing?

Massive thanks to you, tokenbrit, for all the time you're dedicating to hand-holding a clueless wonder. You're a life (and towel) saver!

[tokenbrit]

Problem solved.

Now that OMV is up and running I followed the video tutorial and have made a lot of progress, but I've run into another brick wall (hey...I made it several steps without hitting a wall - a first!). I'm at the point where I'm ready to transfer my music onto the NAS, but I'm having trouble connecting to the NAS. It wants a server address. I don't know what that is, nor can I find it. Is it the same IP address I use to log into OMV's GUI? Or is it the name I gave the server during the install process? The error message I get is, "You do not have permission to access this server." Apparently there's a setting somewhere in OMV I'm missing. I have deviated from the video tutorial in two ways:

Drives mounted with NFS rather than SMB/CIFS
Union plugin used to create a single 1.2T volume out of the two 600G drives

I'm trying to mount the NAS on my MacBook Pro, as it is currently housing all my music, and this is where I get the above message. Did I bite off more than I could chew choosing NFS, or is there something else I'm missing?

Awesome! Happy to help; glad you've made progress.

Yes, same IP address as you use to logon to the GUI.
Quick question:
- did you share one or both of the 600Gb drives first (as NFS) then use the Union plugin to make it a 1.2Tb volume, or make the 1.2Tb volume first then share it?
- did you create a user & password associated with the share, as in the video? (I'm assuming OMV still applies user access control on NFS shares, same as SMB/CIFS...)

I'm not familiar with how to connect to a network share on a MacBook, but you should use the OMV (GUI) IP address, plus the username & password for the share*, as set up in OMV, when you map to it on your MacBook Pro, then it ought to be setup ready to copy your music files.

* There were 2 accounts mentioned in the YouTube video:
1. the admin account used for initial login (web administrator) - this is just for use in the GUI
2. the user you setup for the shared folder (watch from 12:08 in the YouTube video) - this is the username & password that should give you permission to access the server (share) from the MacBook Pro. I expect that you'll need to do something similar on your Apple laptop as he describes from 15:00 in the video, even though he's using Windows.

[markiteight]

Yes, same IP address as you use to logon to the GUI.
Quick question:
- did you share one or both of the 600Gb drives first (as NFS) then use the Union plugin to make it a 1.2Tb volume, or make the 1.2Tb volume first then share it?

I formatted and mounted each drive separately (EXT4), created the single volume, and then set up NFS and sharing.

- did you create a user & password associated with the share, as in the video? (I'm assuming OMV still applies user access control on NFS shares, same as SMB/CIFS...)

Yes.

I'm not familiar with how to connect to a network share on a MacBook, but you should use the OMV (GUI) IP address, plus the user & password for the share as set up in OMV when you map to it on your MacBook Pro, then it ought to be setup ready to copy your music files.

And that's where I hit the wall. When I enter the address it comes up with the afore mentioned error. It doesn't even give me the chance to enter user/pw. Annoyingly, in OSX it doesn't appear there's a way to discover hardware on a network like you can in windows (as shown in the video). You have to know the exact address. I don't know if I'm entering the complete (and correct) address and I don't know where I can go to find it.

[tokenbrit]

Interesting: quick search on the Interwebs - NFS isn't as simple on OS X as I thought it'd be... Looks like the address should be nfs://<omvipaddress>/<omvsharename>, but you're right: the username & password for the share don't appear to be an obvious part of the mapping process on OS X. The more I read, the more confusing it gets / the less consistent the answers...

Thinking back on what I did from Debian, there was no username & password needed, but I didn't need to associate a user on my NAS for the share either - from memory the mapping was to nfs://<ipaddress>:/<sharename> though - I can check tomorrow & confirm.

In the meantime, just to test things out, how about starting with an SMB/CIFS share from OMV?

Otherwise, hopefully, someone else here is familiar with setting up an Apple laptop as an NFS client.

[markiteight]

Whelp...I screwed something up. I made some changes to the network hardware in an attempt to get things working and the IP address for the NAS changed. OMV is supposed to provide the IP address on startup, but it never has. Rather I'm left to my own devices to figure it out. No big deal, just log into the router and look at the device list under DHCP Clients. Except now it doesn't show up! I've reverted the network back to the way it was before it stopped working, restarted the NAS, restarted the switch...nothin' doin'.

I'd love to give your latest suggestions a try but I shut the door without first checking I had the key!

Grrrr...towel back in hand.

[tokenbrit]

What network (hardware?) changes did you make? Did you restart the router, as well as switch & the computer? If you haven't already, it might be worth leaving the NAS off, reboot the router, then the switch, then boot up the NAS. After you've booted the NAS, is there any light activity on the in-use LAN port on the back?

Let's get your NAS working again, then we can work through NFS.

[markiteight]

What network (hardware?) changes did you make? Did you restart the router, as well as switch & the computer? If you haven't already, it might be worth leaving the NAS off, reboot the router, then the switch, then boot up the NAS. After you've booted the NAS, is there any light activity on the in-use LAN port on the back?

Let's get your NAS working again, then we can work through NFS.

I was trying different combinations to see if I could find one that worked. I have two routers: One connected to the outside world and one that isn't. The plan is to use the "isn't" for control point duties (I have no desire to use internet radio...for the time being), safely away from the interweb's prying eyes. The router connected to the internet is a relatively sophisticated device that also handles physical firewall and VPN duties and features a very extensive and powerful web GUI, but it's very persnickety about acknowledging devices physically plugged into it. The isn't...isn't. Since whatever software package I end up with requires internet access to properly install I've been using the internet connected router, but I also tried the other router as well as NAS->switch->computer, all with no success.

Last night I only tried resetting the switch and the NAS. The router was busy handling traffic I couldn't interrupt, so I didn't restart it (plus it takes an eternity to boot up). Today I powered everything down and restarted in the order you suggested (Router->switch->NAS). Lo-and-behold the NAS reappeared in the router's device list, complete with IP address.

Back in business.

In the meantime, just to test things out, how about starting with an SMB/CIFS share from OMV?

I deactivated NFS and implemented SMB/CIFS and guess what? It works! I was able to enter the user/pw I set up for the shared folder in OMV and the NAS now appears on the device list on my Mac.

Eeeeeee progress!

Interesting: quick search on the Interwebs - NFS isn't as simple on OS X as I thought it'd be... Looks like the address should be nfs://<omvipaddress>/<omvsharename>, but you're right: the username & password for the share don't appear to be an obvious part of the mapping process on OS X. The more I read, the more confusing it gets / the less consistent the answers...

I tried the following combinations with NFS to no avail:
<omvipaddress>
<omvipaddress>/<omvsharename>
nfs://<omvipaddress>
nfs://<omvipaddress>/<omvsharename>
nfs://<omvipaddress>/<omvsharename>.local (I didn't specify a domain during initial installation)

Is it possible that since my computer now recognizes the presence of the NAS I can switch back to NFS? Or is it more a case of the computer recognizing the presence of the shared folder and is indifferent as to its physical location? I did a quick search and didn't come up with anything substantive, but I'll try again.

[tokenbrit]

Good news on the router, and on success with SMB/CIFS.

Try NFS with the colon in the address - nfs://<omvipaddress>:/<omvsharename>

Out of interest, do you know that NFS is running on your MacBook Pro? I read that it doesn't start automatically but that may be in older versions of OS X.

[markiteight]

Good news on the router, and on success with SMB/CIFS.

Try NFS with the colon in the address - nfs://<omvipaddress>:/<omvsharename>

It appears the colon after the ip address is the correct syntax. I found this:

Here are some helpful commands to run from Terminal:

showmount -e <serverIP> ::: If showmount is enabled on the server, this will give a list of all exports, and what hosts have the right to mount
rpcinfo -p <serverIP> ::: This will send back a list of all ports listening, helping ensure the server is indeed running nfsd.

If you want to mount, I would suggest mounting from the terminal. Here is the syntax for NFSv3:

sudo mount -t nfs -o vers=3 <server_ip>:/path/to/export /local/mount/point

Ok...so that syntax is a lot more extensive than what I've been trying. Unfortunately they fail to define "path", "to", "export", "local", "mount", and "point". Without knowing what these are and what I'm supposed to put in their place this doesn't do me much good!

Out of interest, do you know that NFS is running on your MacBook Pro? I read that it doesn't start automatically but that may be in older versions of OS X.

I don't know for certain and I don't know how to find out, however I'm pretty sure it is. I haven't come across anything saying I need to install/activate/etc. NFS, which implies that it's standard equipment...at least on the version of OS X I'm running:

You can connect your Mac to:

Mac computers that have file sharing turned on

Windows computers with shared folders

AirPort disks and Time Capsules

Servers on your network that use Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) over TCP/IP, including servers with OS X Server installed

SMB/CIFS, NFS, FTP, and WebDAV servers running on OS X Server, UNIX, Linux, and Windows servers

FTP servers

[tokenbrit]

If you can work your way around a Terminal session on your MacBook Pro, with guidance, try the following:

Code: Select all

showmount -e <omvipaddress>

That should give you the "/path/to/export" on your NAS, which is hopefully something simple like /<omvsharename>

The "/local/mount/point" is just a local directory on your MacBook Pro - I think convention is to create a directory under /mnt to use for this, such as:

Code: Select all

mkdir /mnt/nfstonas

Then, based on the mount example that you shared, you would type this: (I would not specify a version of NFS, but I would add rw for read-write since you want to write (copy) to the NAS)

Code: Select all

sudo mount -t nfs -o rw <omvipaddress>:/<omvsharename> /mnt/nfstonas

Fingers crossed ;)

[markiteight]

If you can work your way around a Terminal session on your MacBook Pro, with guidance, try the following:

Code: Select all

showmount -e <omvipaddress>

That should give you the "/path/to/export" on your NAS, which is hopefully something simple like /<omvsharename>

The "/local/mount/point" is just a local directory on your MacBook Pro

Ahhhhh ok. Now that makes a lot more sense. I entered the above command and discovered there's an additional "/export/" between "<omvipaddress>:/" and "/<omvsharename>". So the correct syntax appears to be:

Code: Select all

nfs://<omvipaddres>:/export/<omvsharename>

I entered this into the "Connect to Server" dialog box (not Terminal) and the NAS mounted. No request for user/pw, however, which appears to be problematic. More about that later.

- I think convention is to create a directory under /mnt to use for this, such as:

Code: Select all

mkdir /mnt/nfstonas

When I do that I get

Code: Select all

mkdir: /mnt: No such file or directory

so I left that out when I tried the above, and it worked...at least to mount the NAS to my computer.

Then, based on the mount example that you shared, you would type this: (I would not specify a version of NFS, but I would add rw for read-write since you want to write (copy) to the NAS)

Code: Select all

sudo mount -t nfs -o rw <omvipaddress>:/<omvsharename> /mnt/nfstonas

Fingers crossed ;)

I haven't tried this yet because mkdir failed and entering the syntax without "/mnt/nfstonas" in the "Connect to Server" box worked. Or so I thought. In accordance with the standard practice of running into a brick wall every step of the way, I've run into another brick wall. Now that the NAS is mounted with NFS, if I try to transfer a file to the NAS I get

Modifying “<omvipaddress>” requires an administrator name and password.
To move “Unknown Album”, click Authenticate.

There is no "Authenticate" to be found anywhere.

[tokenbrit]

.. the correct syntax appears to be:

Code: Select all

nfs://<omvipaddres>:/export/<omvsharename>

I entered this into the "Connect to Server" dialog box (not Terminal) and the NAS mounted. No request for user/pw, however, which appears to be problematic. More about that later...

.. Now that the NAS is mounted with NFS, if I try to transfer a file to the NAS I get

Modifying “<omvipaddress>” requires an administrator name and password.
To move “Unknown Album”, click Authenticate.

There is no "Authenticate" to be found anywhere.

I think Connect to Server is giving you read privileges only, not read-write, so it's not letting you transfer (write) a file to the NAS... (I don't think it's to do with user/pw, or lack of)
See the answer at the bottom of this page for a solution to the problem .. hopefully :)

[markiteight]

I think Connect to Server is giving you read privileges only, not read-write, so it's not letting you transfer (write) a file to the NAS... (I don't think it's to do with user/pw, or lack of)
See the answer at the bottom of this page for a solution to the problem .. hopefully :)

I tried your first suggestion (prior to editing your post) and found that yes, I can remove user/pw from the shared volume, and yes, that seemed to help. I can now drop a file/folder into the NAS and not get an error message. But lordy is it sloooooooow! And buggy. I click the X to stop the file transfer process, it says "Stopping" and nothing happens. I try to eject (dismount) the NAS and it won't let me because there's a process in progress. I try restarting the computer but it won't let me because there's a process in progress. I try to force restart the Finder but it won't let me because there's a process in progress. I try to power down my computer but it won't let me because there's a process in progress. Left with no other choice I do the unthinkable and shut it down manually.

I then tried the procedure you posted above, but it didn't seem to change anything. The file transfer takes several minutes to start, makes it to 6.5mb (out of 70), and freezes. Force shutting down my computer is the only way clear it.

I swear these brick walls are getting closer and closer together. But I think I can see a light at the end of the tunnel!

[tokenbrit]

Lots on the 'Innertubes' about slow NFS transfers from OS X... Most promising I found was that Connect to Server doesn't choose wisely for mount options, and using Finder just makes things worse, so it's better to mount manually.

You said you got /mnt doesn't exist when you tried mkdir in the Terminal. I saw examples that created a folder under /Volumes, and others that made a /private/<something> folder.

Keep it simple - in Terminal, on your Mac, try:
mkdir ~/nfstonas

From there, try the mount command again:
sudo mount -t nfs -o rw <omvipaddress>:/export/<omvsharename> ~/nfstonas

Create a target test directory:
mkdir ~/nfstonas/test

Then copy some music from the command line:
cp -a /<music>/<artist>/<album>/. ~/nfstonas/test/

(maybe pick a small album to start)

Is that any quicker?

[markiteight]

Lots on the 'Innertubes' about slow NFS transfers from OS X... Most promising I found was that Connect to Server doesn't choose wisely for mount options, and using Finder just makes things worse, so it's better to mount manually.

You said you got /mnt doesn't exist when you tried mkdir in the Terminal. I saw examples that created a folder under /Volumes, and others that made a /private/<something> folder.

Keep it simple - in Terminal, on your Mac, try:
mkdir ~/nfstonas

Worked

From there, try the mount command again:
sudo mount -t nfs -o rw <omvipaddress>:/export/<omvsharename> ~/nfstonas

Worked

Create a target test directory:
mkdir ~/nfstonas/test

Didn't work. I get

Code: Select all

mkdir: /Users/<me>/nfstonas: No such file or directory

Then copy some music from the command line:
cp -a /<music>/<artist>/<album>/. ~/nfstonas/test/

Didn't work. I tried

Code: Select all

cp -a /<music>/<artist>/<album>/. ~/nfstonas/

instead since I couldn't get /test to work. I get the same error as above. I may not have had the directory tree right.

But

I just went back to the desktop, drag-and-drop the same album as before into the NAS volume and it completes the transfer successfully. It still takes ~5 minutes to transfer a 70mb file, but it worked. I clicked on a music file inside the NAS, iTunes launched, and music issued forth. I HAVE A NAS!!!

:: does a happy dance ::

I'm wondering if the speed issue has more to do with communicating over wifi as opposed to a direct ethernet connection.

[tokenbrit]

Does sound a bit slow but great that it worked. WiFi will likely be a little slower than Gb LAN, but forums suggest something else is going on with NFS on OS X, which makes it slow, without really coming up with a solution .. not one that I understood, at least. Still, you have music on your NAS... And it plays!!! :)

If you know you're in the /Users/<me> directory in Terminal, you can get rid of the ~ in the above code examples, but I'm not convinced it'll work any better than drag-and-drop (if at all - enough walls for one day ;)

[markiteight]

Does sound a bit slow but great that it worked. WiFi will likely be a little slower than Gb LAN, but forums suggest something else is going on with NFS on OS X, which makes it slow, without really coming up with a solution .. not one that I understood, at least. Still, you have music on your NAS... And it plays!!! :)

Yes! I'm thrilled, and I can't express how much I appreciate all your help. I owe you a beverage of choice (or 2...or 5) if we ever meet.

I'm looking into this:
http://www.bresink.com/osx/NFSManager.html
as a possibility for optimizing NFS performance...or seriously screwing it up.

If you know you're in the /Users/<me> directory in Terminal, you can get rid of the ~ in the above code examples, but I'm not convinced it'll work any better than drag-and-drop (if at all - enough walls for one day ;)

You'll have to excuse my ignorance of command line syntax. What does the tilde mean? Come to think of it, is there a syntax dictionary online? That will probably come in handy for the next step: Stretching HAKAI.

[tokenbrit]

Virtual beverage accepted - cheers.

The tilde is a shortcut to the user's home directory so it shouldn't matter what directory you were in, in Terminal, you'd still create nfstonas under your user home. It was a safe(r) way to direct you on the mkdir, but maybe it didn't work the same when trying to make the directory on the NAS from the Mac... Again I was trying to keep it a little safer by suggesting you transfer some files to a known location under the OMV share. It was also in anticipation of copying all albums for an artist, or more... Nevermind.

There are some tweaks - lots actually - to NFS. A common comment in the event of slow transfer was to make sure both client and server were configured the same with regard to sync (preferred) or async. There are others too, to take you deeper (& deeper) down the rabbit hole, but I'm not familiar with OMV or NFSManager to advise...

[OscarH]

Troubleshooting help needed.

I have assembled all parts, but I strongly suspect some small bit is missing - there is no proper mechanical interface between the power button and the power PCB.

Consequently, I can’t switch it on.
I get an intermittent blue light on the LED when I fiddle with it, but not consistent.

Wonder if my PCB is faulty. Anyone have pictures or a description of the complete power button assembly? Streacom’s manual glosses over this, presumably because it should be obvious.

[OscarH]

A couple of pictures showing how the PCB looks. In my mind there’s surely supposed to be something sitting inside the little box in the centre, for the button to engage.

Also a picture of how it’s connected, to the power switch + and -.

[OscarH]

Further update: I can switch the machine on and off by “hotwiring” it, i.e. placing a screwdriver over the ‘power switch’ pins on the motherboard.

So the issue is indeed with the switch/PCB/button.

[OscarH]

Solution, until further notice.

I’ve fitted the power PCB as is but have turned the button inside out so it’s effectively a removable cover.

To switch machine on (or off, though disconnecting the mains power also achieves this) I take the ‘cover’ off and bridge the two lower pins on the right side of the opening with a screwdriver. The cover can then go back on and everything looks tidy enough to be approved by Mrs H.

I might change this at some point but for now it allows me to get going with the OS. In a way I rather like that it’s switched on with a screwdriver; steampunk Hakai.

[FairPlayMotty]

rps20200201_182948.jpg

Power is to the right as you look at the pic. The writing on my plugs are all adjacent to the case wall.

[OscarH]

Oh it’s close now...

I have a Hakai that can play Spotify Connect through the headphone out.

Working on the USB-output.

Once the NAS is ready I’ll also try other players.

But the build was reasonably smooth!

[Errol]

Hi,
Just for curiosity, how do you enable Spotify Connect on Hakai?
Do you use debian 9 stretch or something else?

Thanks!
-e-