On Thu, 2014-10-09 at 07:31 +1100, Stephen Morris wrote: > I have had an issue with a wall double power point that has a power > board plugged into each socket, where when there was a power blackout > the red led on one power board went out but the red led on the 2nd > power board remain lit the entire time of the blackout, when there is > power into the power boards the red light is lit on both. This makes > no sense to me if the wall socket is the same as that sold by the > electronics store where there is only one connection point for the > mains wiring, as with only one connection point how could one side be > out and the other side be active in a power blackout? Sounds more like a brownout, than a blackout. A brownout (horrible choice of words), is when the mains goes low voltage, rather than completely cuts out. It's possible for it to go far too low for electrical devices to run, but there might still be enough for things like LED pilot lights to still illuminate. Brownouts are a common cause of bogus repair jobs. The mains went low, and caused equipment to behave oddly, but it never went completely of, so people assume the equipment failed rather than the mains, and take it in for repair, when it didn't have anything wrong with it. Or, the low mains power upset the circuitry and it randomises settings in computerised gadgets (televisions, video recorders), so the clock goes funny and all the tuner settings go askew. All those gadgets really needed was to be turned off, completely, for a few seconds, and turned back on again. And perhaps go through the tuning process, again. But people take the gadget in for repair, and the serviceman finds nothing wrong with it.

On Fri, 2014-10-03 at 07:46 +1000, Stephen Morris wrote: > I'm in Australia too. The electronic store I bought the powerboard > from tells me that a 2000W room heater, which draws 8.3 amps, if > plugged in to a powerboard will weaken the surge protector and destroy > the circuits, which probably explains why the surge protector kept > tripping when the heater had been in use for some time. Bad advice... A surge protector does its work when the mains voltage goes above normal, and does *NOTHING* at other times. When you plug devices into a surge protector, such as your telly, they are not drawing current through the protective device, your telly is connected directly to the mains, in parallel with the surge protector. The protective device sits across active and neutral, and shunts any excessive voltage and current together, should the mains supply go high (a surge). If the surge is high enough, the protection device will blow a fuse or circuit breaker (because they blow under high current conditions). Hopefully, it trips the breaker while the surge is building up, before it reaches a level that can fry other things on the circuit. However, some devices, may be fried before a surge protector kicks in. Your telly might not like being run on 255 volts (a surge above the nominal 240), but your surge arrestor might only activate at 260 volts. They are a bit of a false economy, for that reason. Our mains is nominally 240 volts, regulated to about +/- 10 volts, so all mains powered equipment must be able to run normally from 230 to 250 volts, at least. I've forgotten the specs for the range of AC voltage that the mains may surge up to without it being considered a fault condition, but some rather poorly built modern appliances don't cope with it, and most surge protected power boards don't kick in until *above* that point, too. The average surge protected power board doesn't really protect you against small (yet still destructive) mains surges, they're more designed to shunting seriously high surges that can cause fires in equipment (nearby lightning strikes, fallen power lines onto other power lines). You'll probably still get wrecked equipment, but it'll go splat, and quickly finish, rather than catch fire and burn under a prolonged severe surge. You really want surge protection at the mains supply to the house. Have everything protected, including all the wiring in your walls. A large surge can burn all the house wiring, which can be catastrophic for the modern house which isn't all brick walls inside and out, but made from flammable materials. Simple surge protectors (as found in most power boards) can wear out, eventually. You get lots of little surges on our mains, which take their toll, over the years. You'll often see a little red LED on these devices, supposedly to show you that the surge protector is still working, and to tell you to throw away the board if the indicator LED has failed. What they can do is wear out circuit breakers. Having an over-zealous surge arrestor continually shunting lots of current, means that the breaker is being stressed. These surge arrestor boards are really trying to solve a wrong problem, to use bad english. Our mains can fluctuate, quite a bit, and every appliance sold on our market should be able to deal with that, on their own. If your telly can't handle occasional mains spikes up to 270 volts, for instance, it's badly manufactured.

Tim: >> But how is that any different from the wall socket? Any powerboard >> that cannot handle the full load that could be plugged into a wall >> socket shouldn't be sold. Rick Stevens: > Completely different certifications, construction and materials. Wall > sockets have to be certified by UL and several government agencies (at > least in the USA). Devices that plug into outlets only have to meet > what they're labeled as supporting (and often don't even do that). > Take a careful look at the VA (wattage) rating of an extension cord or > outlet strip. Often they don't support the full wall socket rating. In > the USA, that's about 1800VA or 1270W (120VAC, 15A) and the same is > probably true of a lot of powerboard units. Might explain some of the crap chinese powerboards we see on sale, these days. Until recently, in my country, Australia, you'd find the powerboards were mostly the same mechanical construction as the wall sockets. They have the same electrical rating, but the grip on the plug pins is getting really crappy. Here, wall sockets are 240 volts, 10 amps (2400 watts). And powerboards are all the same. You can connect that total into the one object. Likewise with extension cords. It'd be a really bad idea to sell any that were underrated, and I've never seen one (probably for that reason). We only have to worry about people plugging too much in at once (e.g. an electric kettle, a toaster, and a room heater).

Stephen Morris: >> My main concern with using a powerboard, because I don't have any >> choice, was using the homeplug device with other devices overloading the >> powerboard having had issues with a 2000W heater destroying powerboards, >> and having the electronic store that provided the powerboard tell me I >> should never plug the heater into the powerboard, that I should only >> ever plug it into the wall power socket as powerboards are not designed >> for that load. Rick Stevens: > Yeah, probably way too much juice to pump through the powerboard. 2000W > heaters draw, what, 11.8 amps at 120VAC (5.9A at 240VAC)--probably with > a pretty nasty power-on spike. That's quite a bit to be asking of a > circuit board and plastic. But how is that any different from the wall socket? Any powerboard that cannot handle the full load that could be plugged into a wall socket shouldn't be sold.

> Simply adding new content doesn't usually require an explicit rescan > because the server is watching a given set of directories. Changing the > structure typically does mean a rescan because the set of directories to > be watched has changed. Yup. Adding content sometimes requires it as well. Some servers don't do a good job of scanning. I agree they're supposed to watch, but minidlnad won't unless you enable inotify and event then only on filesystems that support inotify. I know of at least one FS that doesn't. Not sure if NFS does.

On 09/17/2014 10:09 PM, Patrick O'Callaghan wrote: > On Wed, 2014-09-17 at 08:01 +1000, Stephen Morris wrote: >>> Keeping the neighbours out is just standard network practice: use a >>> decent WPA password on the router, and keep a tight control on >> incoming >>> connections via the server firewall. IIRC the server config can also >>> restrict clients to certain IPs though I haven't bothered with that. >> My concern with dlna from Windows or Linux was not so much with >> neighbours hacking into the network, but if the dlna stream is not >> transmitted to a specific device like Miracast is, then it was >> potentially conceivable that it could be broadcast and inadvertently >> played on the neighbours receiver without really meaning to. > It *is* transmitted to a specific device, but the transmission is > initiated by the client pulling it from the server rather than the > server pushing it to the client. At the transport level it's exactly the > same. The neighbours are not going to be bothered a) because it's not a > multicast service, i.e. each client gets its own individual stream, and > b) because they can't see inside your network (as long as you set it up > correctly as mentioned last time). > >> One of my collegues that I work with uses a homeplug type device and >> tells me it works very well, so I could look at that although I'm not >> sure how well it would work in a powerboard as I don't have any spare >> wall power points. > No way to tell without trying it, but these things are designed for > fairly noisy environments and even multiple phases (i.e. homes with > several power rings). All the same, I would put the Homeplugs on their > own sockets and move something else to the multiconnector if possible. > >> I have a few other issues I need to sort out as well. >> I have finally managed to get nfs on the nas usable but the playback >> on >> the android player is worse than the playback via smb on the same >> device. I can use dlna to get the player to stream movies from the >> nas >> which seems to give a bit better performance, but I have movies in 3 >> directories, with one directory containing mp4 files, the 2nd with >> mov >> files and the 3rd with an mkv files, but dlna is unable to even see >> the >> directory containing the mkv files and at the moment I don't know >> why. >> The 2 directories that dlna can see were created by Windows whereas >> the >> directory it can't see was created from Fedora via Samba, which might >> explain the issue but I don't know why that should be any different. > It may also depend on the client side. In the past I've had problems > with some clients which couldn't see MKV files (because they didn't have > the codec). However you should recheck the server config file. Does it > list all the places you keep content? What happens if you put an MKV > file in the MP4 directory? Does it show up or not? It would be helpful > to know what server you're using now. As I said before, minidlna is very > easy to set up. > > I don't have a separate directory per format, but use directories for > TV, Movies, Home Video etc. I have similar directory structures, but I have now resolved my issue with dlna not being able to see the top level directory that contained the sublevel directories containing mkv files. I tried renaming the top level directory from windows but the client still couldn't see it. It wasn't until I refreshed the multimedia service on the server that the client could then see the directory, sub-directories and mkv files. What I don't understand is why dlna had trouble seeing the directories but NFS and Samba had no issues at all.

I'm using a Dlink DNS-320L Nas box with 2 Western Digital Nas 1TB disks configured as Raid 0 connected via ethernet to my wireless modem/router/phone for my server. Now that I have the Nas sorted out I need to sort out ffmpeg and why it does the things it does. Its giving me grief when I convert videos to mp4 format in that it insists on using aac for the audio codec, and then refusing to undertake the conversion unless I supply 2 additional parameters because aac is still beta. If it really is beta why is it using that codec by default when not explicitly told to?

My main concern with using a powerboard, because I don't have any choice, was using the homeplug device with other devices overloading the powerboard having had issues with a 2000W heater destroying powerboards, and having the electronic store that provided the powerboard tell me I should never plug the heater into the powerboard, that I should only ever plug it into the wall power socket as powerboards are not designed for that load.

>> I don't have a separate directory per format, but use directories for >> TV, Movies, Home Video etc. > I have similar directory structures, but I have now resolved my issue > with dlna not being able to see the top level directory that contained > the sublevel directories containing mkv files. I tried renaming the top > level directory from windows but the client still couldn't see it. It > wasn't until I refreshed the multimedia service on the server that the > client could then see the directory, sub-directories and mkv files. What > I don't understand is why dlna had trouble seeing the directories but > NFS and Samba had no issues at all. Most DLNA servers create a database containing the content. If you changed the layout or anything like that, you have to have the DLNA server rescan the directories to find the content and hand it off to the clients.

Dunno how well people cope with non-polarised two-pin mains plugs that can be plugged in either way. Some people realise to try plugging it in the opposite way, many probably would not. That's a problem we don't have in my country, the plugs can only fit one way.

On Wed, 2014-09-17 at 08:01 +1000, Stephen Morris wrote: > One of my collegues that I work with uses a homeplug type device and > tells me it works very well, so I could look at that although I'm not > sure how well it would work in a powerboard as I don't have any spare > wall power points. I can't see see why an ordinary powerboard would be a problem, it's just a series of sockets wired in parallel, just like your wall sockets are. However, if you have a filtered powerboard, of the type that remove electrical noise (usually with a core wound around ferrite), it's quite likely that they'll filter out the networking RF.

> Keeping the neighbours out is just standard network practice: use a > decent WPA password on the router, and keep a tight control on incoming > connections via the server firewall. IIRC the server config can also > restrict clients to certain IPs though I haven't bothered with that. My concern with dlna from Windows or Linux was not so much with neighbours hacking into the network, but if the dlna stream is not transmitted to a specific device like Miracast is, then it was potentially conceivable that it could be broadcast and inadvertently played on the neighbours receiver without really meaning to.

One of my collegues that I work with uses a homeplug type device and tells me it works very well, so I could look at that although I'm not sure how well it would work in a powerboard as I don't have any spare wall power points.

I have a few other issues I need to sort out as well. I have finally managed to get nfs on the nas usable but the playback on the android player is worse than the playback via smb on the same device. I can use dlna to get the player to stream movies from the nas which seems to give a bit better performance, but I have movies in 3 directories, with one directory containing mp4 files, the 2nd with mov files and the 3rd with an mkv files, but dlna is unable to even see the directory containing the mkv files and at the moment I don't know why. The 2 directories that dlna can see were created by Windows whereas the directory it can't see was created from Fedora via Samba, which might explain the issue but I don't know why that should be any different.

> Also, I suspect you may be labouring under a misconception: you don't > stream media to your remote device, the device streams media *from* the > server (using the DLNA protocol). You don't have to tell the server what > the device is. It will just stream to any device on the LAN that can > find it. I can stream to my phone or tablet without any further setup > other than installing a suitable app. Thanks Patrick. I was assuming Linux was the same as Windows. Under Windows having done the necessary steps to ensure that Windows can see the wireless device, I have to start the app I want to stream from as setting up Miracast using the built in interface won't work unless the app is running (and it only works with the built in video player, it doesn't work with mediaplayer), I then have to select the device charm to tell miracast that I want to project to an external screen only (this is so the video doesn't play on the pc screen as well), then I have to select the device charm again and select Play which then prompts for which of the devices it can see I want to stream to, and then once I select the android smart player the video appears to be then streamed to the device and appears on the TV using whatever of the multiple players on the device is its default.

Some of my issues may be my modem/router not being good enough for streaming as well. When I try to get the device to play a video directly of my NAS device over wireless the playback stops every thirty seconds and buffers, but if I put the flash disk that the video came from into the device and play the video from there it plays fine without any buffering.

Thankyou for your responses. I probably need some more assistance on these. I have minidlna installed already but haven't been able to figure out how to use it. I have also been told that XBMC to XBMC streaming is not a godd idea, how valid is that? Also, like Miracast under Windows, doesn't Linux have to be able to see the device before any of the mentioned package can stream to it?

Hi, I was given a Smart Media Player for fathers day, which I have connected to my TV via HDMI. When I power it on and it establishes its wireless connection to my router, Windows 8 automatically detects it and adds it as a device it can stream to. Under Fedora 20 none of the network interfaces available to Dolphin can see the device. What do I need to do to get the same automatic setup under Fedora as I do under Windows, or if Fedora has detected the wireless device, how do I find out? Also, under Fedora how do I set up Miracast (which is native to Windows 8) or Airplay streaming to the device once Fedora can actually see and use it? regards, Steve

Hi, I was given a Smart Media Player for fathers day, which I have connected to my TV via HDMI. When I power it on and it establishes its wireless connection to my router, Windows 8 automatically detects it and adds it as a device it can stream to. Under Fedora 20 none of the network interfaces available to Dolphin can see the device. What do I need to do to get the same automatic setup under Fedora as I do under Windows, or if Fedora has detected the wireless device, how do I find out? Also, under Fedora how do I set up Miracast (which is native to Windows 8) or Airplay streaming to the device once Fedora can actually see and use it?

> But how is that any different from the wall socket? Any powerboard > that cannot handle the full load that could be plugged into a wall > socket shouldn't be sold.

Completely different certifications, construction and materials. Wall sockets have to be certified by UL and several government agencies (at least in the USA). Devices that plug into outlets only have to meet what they're labeled as supporting (and often don't even do that). Take a careful look at the VA (wattage) rating of an extension cord or outlet strip. Often they don't support the full wall socket rating. In the USA, that's about 1800VA or 1270W (120VAC, 15A) and the same is probably true of a lot of powerboard units.

Hi, I was given a Smart Media Player for fathers day, which I have connected to my TV via HDMI. When I power it on and it establishes its wireless connection to my router, ...