Complete Beginner

[montyonthebonty]

Hi

I'm looking to digitise my DVD library to free up a bit of space in my house and I've sourced an old Mac mini for this. I've done a bit of research and I think Jellyfin looks like the ideal solution for me, but I do have a few questions.

1. Am I right in thinking that using Jellyfin I could set it up as a server and access them away from home?

2. How risky is it having it connected to my home WiFi? How likely is it people could attack my home network by getting in through that?

3. Do I just keep the old Mac OS and install Jellyfin on that? Or is it better to try and put a different OS on.

4. I don't have the budget yet to buy too much storage - is it possible to put the first few on the Mac itself and then add Network Attached Storage at a later date? Or would I have to completely rebuild it if I wanted to add that? Ideally I would like to transfer a few directly to the computer now, so I can get a bit of practice in and then add more storage as the collection grows.

Thanks
Chris

[TIMFLIX1138]

Welcome!

1. Correctomundo!

2. If you do not setup any outside Local Area Network connections there threat is no more than any other internet connection you already have. To open JF to yourself to use outside your LAN there are great guides to get things setup with protections. The risk isn't zero but follow the guides and you should be ok as so many others of us already do this.

3. I run on Windows 10 PCs so can't speak to anything Mac. I'd say Windows is likely easier from my reading plus the hardware capable of using other setups where Mac is more restrictive.

4. Depending and you main server setup you for sure can add additional storage through various means as your server grows.

5. Start slow and play around, test things, make mistakes and learn, you must learn! Figure out how JF works for you and see what you want JF to do itself. Understand best practices for file management, naming conventions, ability to utulize outside clients (smart apps, Kodi etc). Understand the metadata (information from providers) and it's importance to store locally once you have scraped it from the providers. Same goes for artwork, trailers, extras and what ever else you may want. Go throuw the pains now when things are small and more simplified before you get neck deep in the ball pit and don't have the energy to reach the edge.

6. Back-up!

7. Have fun and actually consume your media! You can spend months bilding a gorgeous mohagany bookcase, organize an entire library of books, dust, clean and repeat but if you never sit down to read one then it's all just for show!

[montyonthebonty]

Thanks - that's helpful.

I look forward to having a play around with it. One other question, I have been digitising my few remaining VHS tapes. I have them as .mov files currently, presumably I could put those onto JF too?

Chris

[Rastin]

I have 1 .mov file and its plays fine direct play no transcodeing. So i don't see any problems with your files not playing.

[TIMFLIX1138]

Yeah that shouldn't be an issue. Worst case you convert the format with Handbrake but really it's the container type and then the formats winth. If that sounds greek it's more googling research to leanr and help understand all of this (and still ask questions).

[paulie]

I took my very first breath yesterday. Installation was super easy and fast. I linked a folder on my Linux Mint OS, running on my T61 ThinkPad and added an .mkv file to it. When I opened JF on my Roku TV I saw a picture of the movie I’d added. I had to take a break from this to do something and when I went back I got a “cannot connect” error. Today, early this AM, same story. Yesterday I was in Heaven and it’s all crashed down. Yes, I know it can be fixed. But boy, what a letdown. Now I guess I have to learn more about what EXACTLY I need to enter as my address, the IP or URL or whatever. I do not give up and am ready to WORK!    P.S. I will be 88 in 4 weeks, maybe that’s slowing me down?

Please forgive me if I’ve put this post in the wrong place.

[Rastin]

You are in the wrong place as you should really start your own thread. When posting in someone else thread can cause confusion.

First off check and make sure you server has not gone to sleep or powered off.

If you need your local address open terminal and type in ipconfig
look for an address like 192.168.x.xx for your address then add :8096 to the end of it to access jellyfin.

[paulie]

You are in the wrong place as you should really start your own thread. When posting in someone else thread can cause confusion.

First off check and make sure you server has not gone to sleep or powered off.

If you need your local address open terminal and type in ipconfig
look for an address like 192.168.x.xx for your address then add :8096 to the end of it to access jellyfin.

Thank you so much. I will "try" to delete my post. One thing though -  do I need "https://" in front of it ?

[Rastin]

You are in the wrong place as you should really start your own thread. When posting in someone else thread can cause confusion.

First off check and make sure you server has not gone to sleep or powered off.

If you need your local address open terminal and type in ipconfig
look for an address like 192.168.x.xx for your address then add :8096 to the end of it to access jellyfin.

Thank you so much. I will "try" to delete my post. One thing though -  do I need "https://" in front of it ?

No i don't beleave you will need to add it. but that could depend on the device.