Tools used:
- Sick Beard
- Couch Potato
- Transmission
- Sorting script

These tools combined give you a system able to download, rename and sort any tv-series or movie, and will even update your mediacenter (XBMC, Plex etc) with the new content. Hell, it will even notify you via twitter when it’s done downloading!

So, first things first, configure your SAN (or your basic GNU/Linux computer with <insert distro name here> installed), and make sure you have sufficient of storage. Preferably in a raid 0 (or raid 5 if you want to secure your data). My current setup contains a mere 3x750gb disks, but it works for me at the moment. Replacing them with some 3TB disks would be far better, but currently it requires substantial funds to do so.

Once everything is up and running, install transmission. If you use a linux distro, simply download it from the provided link above, if you have a Synology NAS just like myself, use the following page to get the packages needed http://synoblog.superzebulon.org/category/tr/ . I have a complete configuration that I’m currently running here, but feel free to modify it to your wishes:

{
    "alt-speed-down": 0,
    "alt-speed-enabled": true,
    "alt-speed-time-begin": 480,
    "alt-speed-time-day": 62,
    "alt-speed-time-enabled": true,
    "alt-speed-time-end": 1020,
    "alt-speed-up": 1024,
    "bind-address-ipv4": "0.0.0.0",
    "bind-address-ipv6": "::",
    "cache-size-mb": 4,
    "dht-enabled": true,
    "download-dir": "/path/to/your/seeding",
    "encryption": 1,
    "idle-seeding-limit": 30,
    "idle-seeding-limit-enabled": false,
    "incomplete-dir": "/path/to/your/incomplete",
    "incomplete-dir-enabled": true,
    "lpd-enabled": false,
    "message-level": 2,
    "open-file-limit": 32,
    "peer-congestion-algorithm": "",
    "peer-limit-global": 240,
    "peer-limit-per-torrent": 60,
    "peer-port": 52442,
    "peer-port-random-high": 65535,
    "peer-port-random-low": 49152,
    "peer-port-random-on-start": true,
    "peer-socket-tos": "default",
    "pex-enabled": true,
    "pidfile": "/usr/local/transmission/var/transmission.pid",
    "port-forwarding-enabled": true,
    "preallocation": 1,
    "prefetch-enabled": 1,
    "ratio-limit": 2,
    "ratio-limit-enabled": true,
    "rename-partial-files": true,
    "rpc-authentication-required": true,
    "rpc-bind-address": "0.0.0.0",
    "rpc-enabled": true,
    "rpc-password": "encrypted password",
    "rpc-port": 9091,
    "rpc-url": "/transmission/",
    "rpc-username": "admin",
    "rpc-whitelist": "127.0.0.1",
    "rpc-whitelist-enabled": false,
    "speed-limit-down": 100,
    "speed-limit-down-enabled": false,
    "speed-limit-up": 100,
    "speed-limit-up-enabled": false,
    "start-added-torrents": true,
    "trash-original-torrent-files": false,
    "umask": 2,
    "upload-slots-per-torrent": 14,
    "utp-enabled": true,
    "watch-dir": "/path/to/your/watchdir",
    "watch-dir-enabled": true
}

This basic configuration gives you several nice features. Amongst others are:

- It works with several folders to make sure everything is sorted as well as possible. Namely, we want the content that are downloading in the incomplete folder, the seeding content in the seeding, and we want a folder where our two other systems (more specifically sick beard and couch potato), can dump their .torrent files for transmission to start them automatically.
- It seeds the content to 200%, which is good in any bit-torrent scenario.

Next, you will have to work out how to configure the script from this page http://1000umbrellas.com/2010/04/28/how-to-automatically-move-and-remove-transmission-daemon-downloads which will in turn move torrents from transmission and to a folder called completed, which in turn sickbeard and couchpotato will keep track of and move things to the correct folders.

With this in place, simply install sickbeard and couchpotato according to installation instructions (or use the packages provided in the following link http://synoblog.superzebulon.org/category/sb/). The installation itself is pretty self explanatory, but use the information on which folders you want your torrents downloaded, and where they are stored once done, and it should configure everything on its own.

After the final configurations are done, mount up your storage from your medacenter with either nfs or cifs, specify the type of content for each of your movie and tv-series folders, and your XBMC or other mediacenter should be able to find all the content perfectly fine, as it is sorted according to how they prefer it.

A few notes though. I have yet to see couchpotato in action, this is mostly due to it only downloading movies I want myself, and not simply basing it on year and imdb rating (which it can also do), so until one of the movies I want release, I will be paying close attention to it. If it turns out to work as intended, I will be very happy, if not, I’ll just have to refer you to my other guide about flexget, and refer you to their pages where you can specify movies you wish to get, but it is allot more rudimentary, and requires allot more tinkering.

Hope you enjoyed this little quick guide. I will no doubt be updating it as I go along, but for now, this is what I’m using. If you have any comments or questions, do not hesitate to post them in the comments section below.

Jailbreak it. I know, it’s not very legal now is it? Or at least it’s a gray zone. However, it enables you to fully enjoy your phone the way it should be. No limitations, and all the benefits of jailbreak tweaks and applications. Be aware though, you will break your warranty by doing this, and it seems Apple have started finding new ways to block jailbreakers from enjoying their phones (ref: The 3.1.3 update).

Also, it seems they have started blocking users to the app store that are running jailbroken software (ref: Apple Bans iPhone hackers). Note: This might be users that are running pirated app store apps, not jailbroken apps, which is what I will present here.

Step 2:

Ok, so you’ve jailbroken your phone, now what? I’ll tell you what. Here’s a small list of tweaks and applications that is in no way available through the regular Apple ways.

- Android lock: (Free) Yeah, someone has made an effort and made an lock screen more similar to the one Android uses. This will make it harder for your buddies to tamper with your phone and surf on your pay-pr-kilobyte connection for for large non-iPhone supported sites.

- SBsettings: (Free) Tired of having to go into settings to enable and disable the wifi, Bluetooth or airplane mode all the time? With sbsettings you simply swipe across the topbar, and you have instant access to all settings you would ever need.

- qTweeter: (About 1$) If your an avid Twitter user, then you want your tweets out as fast as possible. This app is another swipe-to-access app, where you slide your finger down from the top bar. This produces a window for instant tweets (and Facebook updates).

- Backgrounder/Kirikae: (Free) This is a combo suggestion, as both apps really work well together. Backgrounder enables you to do exactly that, place running applications in the background. This way you can run your last.fm/spotify in the background, while surfing the web or reading your mail. Kirikae enables you to quickly do switches between your running apps by a simple tap on the specified button (in my case i double click the home button).

Backgrounder doesn’t really have something to take a screenshot of, but works by simply holding the home button. You then get a message saying the app has been backgrounded, and you can change to and from with Kirikae.

Step 3:

Have fun! With these additions to your iPhone, you might feel it’s worth keeping for a little while longer. And if not, enjoy your next gadget!

I have a few options:

- I could try buying up the .no/.com domain I want from another owner, but the downside would be that I might have to end up paying allot of money for it.

- I could get an obscure ccTLD (Country code Top-Level domain), but the problem then is, normal people don’t know about that many extensions. The main extensions are .com/.net/.org and for Norwegians it’s .no. Having an extension like .sh, .tc, .cx or .la as an extension would just confuse people.

- Another option is to simply sit and wait for a domain to “maybe” expire and steal it before it’s re-registered by the owner, but this involves allot of waiting, and domains these days usually don’t expire unless the owner does not pay for it.

I might just ending up with the second solution. It’s not the best, but I don’t want to pay allot of money, and I can’t be bothered waiting for the domain I want to be released. I am monitoring the domains, and will no doubt snatch it if it does release, but I can always forward mail to another domain when I get it.

If you have any suggestions to what domain I should try to go for, please don’t hesitate to drop me a note!

Installing homebrew channel

The first step will be to have access to the homebrew channel on your Wii. This can be accomplished by several ways. I used the Twilight hack described here http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Twilight_Hack however, this has been fixed in later updates of the Wii firmware. However the Indiana Pwns hack explained here http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Indiana_Pwns currently works with the latest 4.0, 4.1 and 4.2 system menus.

You can also use the BannerBomb hack which is explained in this article http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Bannerbomb

I am however not going to explain in detail the software hacking of the Wii, as this was something I did when I first got the Wii, by going out and buying The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, so I could load the hacked save game and start installing home brew. This is all explained in the links I posted and should be enough to get you started.

Installing the latest IOS package cIOSCORP

In order for the system to be able to load the latest games without having to update the system itself, we need the latest IOS packages. These packages can be installed in numerous amounts of ways, but I found it easiest to use a package installer called cIOSCORP. This installed all the latest IOS packages, patched with whatever it needed to have patched, and as many as needed to run any game available on the market. More info and download of the package can be found here http://cioscorp.com/

Simply explained is that you download the package, place it under apps/ on your SD card and start the install through the homebrew channel. Some basics about how you do this here http://sites.google.com/site/completesg/how-to-use/homebrew-channel

Making a WBFS USB stick with wbfsmanager

In order to play games from an USB stick, the file system on the USB stick have to be altered to use the WBFS system the Wii uses to read the game DVD’s etc. This can be accomplished by using a simple application called WBFS Manager, and can be downloaded here http://wbfsmanager.codeplex.com/ Simply follow this guide http://adewii.wordpress.com/2009/07/31/howto-wbfs-manager-for-windows-basics/ and you will have the USB stick converted to WBFS in no time. This guide also explains how to transfer the ISO files onto your USB stick.

Scrubbing Wii game isos and adding to usb stick

It is also possible to do a “scrub” of the ISO images for games you backup. This makes them smaller, which is what we want when we are storing games on an USB stick. You can download the Wii scrubber here http://wiiscrubber.com/ Once the game you have scrubbed is done, transfer it to the WBFS USB stick as shown in the link above.

Installing an USB loader

I’m currently on a slight experimental stage with this, but right now I’m using an USB loader called WiiFlow which is working quite well. Download it here http://wiiflow.wiitdb.com/ Simply place the package inside the apps/ folder on your SD card to run it from the homebrew channel. If everything is working as it should, you will be asked to insert the USB stick and the games placed on the stick will show up!

I know there is another launcher available, enabling you to launch games directly from the channel menu explained here http://sites.google.com/site/completesg/backup-launchers/usb/loadstructor which I’m going to try out, but I just managed to boot up Super Mario Galaxy, and my girlfriend has now claimed the Wii for the evening ;)

Disclaimer:

I take no responsibility for the use of pirated games with this walk through. This guide is strictly for information use only (and as my personal reference). I also take no responsibility for any damage to your Wii caused by this guide, neither do I take responsibility for any harm made to other hardware.

Also, there are probably several errors in this guide. If you wish to correct my post, please leave a comment and I will do the necessary updates.

After searching around a bit, I stumbled upon a python script called Flexget. The easy explanation for what kind of script this is the following:

You specify where to download from, what to download, and where to download it to.

The long explanation all tough, is so much more interesting!

Here is a config file I have compiled together:

global:
  statistics:
   file: /path/to/your/wwwroot

  email:
    from: flexget@myserver.com
    to: your@mailaddress.com
    smtp_host: mail.mailaddress.com
    smtp_port: 25
    smtp_login: true
    smtp_username: your@mailaddress.com
    smtp_password: yourpassword123

feeds:
  tv-shows:
    rss: http://www.website.com/rssfeed.php
    series:
      - True Blood:
          timeframe:
            hours: 6
            enough: 720p
      - Eureka:
          timeframe:
            hours: 12
            enough: 720p
      - Family Guy
      - Dirty Jobs

    download: /path/to/torrent/watchdir

  movies:
    rss: http://www.website.com/rssfeed.php
    limit_new: 3
    imdb:
      min_score: 6.2
      min_votes: 6000
      min_year: 1997
    download: /path/to/torrent/watchdir

  flexget:
    interval: 3 days
    html: http://download.flexget.com/0.9/
    regexp:
      accept:
        - flexget.*zip
    download: /root/fgreleases

  diggnation:
    interval: 3 days
    rss: http://revision3.com/diggnation/feed/MP4-hd30
    limit_new: 1
    regexp:
      accept:
        - diggnation*.mp4
    exec: wget -b -P /path/to/podcast/directory %(url)s

And here is an explanation on what each part does:

First part:

global:
  statistics:
   file: /path/to/your/wwwroot

Basically, this part sets all the global settings of the entire config file. in this section I’ve only set up that statistics for all downloads should be parsed to an index file on my box. Here you will see what kind of sites that generate the most results.

Second part:

  email:
    from: flexget@myserver.com
    to: your@mailaddress.com
    smtp_host: mail.mailaddress.com
    smtp_port: 25
    smtp_login: true
    smtp_username: your@mailaddress.com
    smtp_password: yourpassword123

This part is very cool. It’s for setting up so you get a mail as soon as a new show/movie/whatever is downloaded. Combine this with an iPhone and a push mail service, and you got yourself an instant notification as soon as your favorite show has started downloading. Also, If you combine this with the Deluge plugin in Flexget, you can set up Deluge to mail you as soon as the download has finished!

Third part:

feeds:
  tv-shows:
    rss: http://www.website.com/rssfeed.php
    series:
      - True Blood:
          timeframe:
            hours: 6
            enough: 720p
      - Eureka:
          timeframe:
            hours: 12
            enough: 720p
      - Family Guy
      - Dirty Jobs
    download: /path/to/torrent/watchdir

Now for the things that really matter. The downloads. Here I have specified the following values:

• feeds: – This indicates that the following list will consist of rss feeds
• tv-shows: – This just tells flexget that the feed we are about to parse will consist of tv-shows. It will then make it easier for flexget to understand how to parse the names, focus on season and episode numbers and so on.
• rss: – Here we just specify the rss feed for a place to get the latest tv-shows.
• series: – This part is the fun part. Here you just write the name of the show you want to get. There are no real rules needed to specify, no regexp to focus on, just write the name, that’s it. Just remember to write it as it’s shown in the feed, otherwise flexget will get confused.
• timeframe: – Here we want to specifiy some extra settings. The timeframe value can make use of the settings “hours” and “enough”. This makes it so that IF the 720p version of a release has not been displayed within 6 hours, the SD (Standard definition) version should be downloaded.
• download: Here is where the .torrent file will get downloaded. After this, the torrent client (in my case transmission) will take over and start downloading.

Fourth part:

  movies:
    rss: http://www.website.com/rssfeed.php
    limit_new: 3
    imdb:
      min_score: 6.2
      min_votes: 6000
      min_year: 1997
    download: /path/to/torrent/watchdir

This second part is for downloading the latest HD movie releases, which in turn gets checked through IMDB to check the rating (I’ll explain this later).

• movies: – This just tells flexget that we are now dealing with movies, not tv-shows.
• rss: – Same as above, the rss feed for a site where you are to download from.
• limit_new: 1 – I had to add this in order to not kill of my box completely. Basically it only checks one link each time the cron job is run (which is once every hour).
• imdb: – Here we tell flexget that the following will be values used to check towards imdb.
• min_score: 6.2 – We don’t want crap movies in our archives, so here we tell flexget to only download movies with a rating ABOVE 6.2 on IMDB.
• min_votes: 6000 – We also don’t want the script to download movies where there are only 100 votes (which is mostly the actors and cast of the movie) and have received a high initial rating.
• download: – Same as above, download path is to the watch-dir for your torrent client.

The third part:

  flexget:
    interval: 3 days
    html: http://download.flexget.com/0.9/
    regexp:
      accept:
        - flexget.*zip
    download: /root/fgreleases

We of course want to keep up with the latest updates of the script. There might be changes to IMDB that require the script to be updated, or new features which we can take use of. That’s where this part comes in.

• flexget: – Loads the flexget module, which is made specifically for downloading latest updates of flexget.
• interval: 3 days – Check every 3 days for new updates.
• html: – Seeing as there is no rss feed for releases, we have to rely on html parsing. That’s where this module comes in.
• patterns: – Here we have to use regexp in order to dive through the html code, and finding the file we need.
• download: – Aaand where to download the release. Here we just dump it in a folder on our home path.

The last part:

  diggnation:
    interval: 3 days
    rss: http://revision3.com/diggnation/feed/MP4-hd30
    limit_new: 1
    regexp:
      accept:
        - diggnation*.mp4
    exec: wget -b -P /path/to/podcast/directory %(url)s

I watch a lot of Diggnation, so naturally it would be cool to have the latest episodes waiting for me on my box when they are available. This part simply uses more or less the same functions as the flexget section, except it also specifies that it should only download the newest link found. I have also set it to use wget to download it, and not flexgets own get function, as 1. It takes up a lot of load, and 2. The download can last for quite some time, which in turn can make the script start running in several instances.

So that’s it! I really love this script and how versatile it is. If you wish to read more about using flexget and how to modify it to your needs:

Configuration samples: http://flexget.com/wiki/CookBook

Usage for various plugins: http://flexget.com/wiki/Modules

Last edited: 10/11/2009 at 14:15

Yes, new gadget! I got myself a Western Digital My Book World edition (White Edition), and man I love this little box of fun!

It’s running GNU/Linux stripped down edition (which by the way is GPL and can be downloaded here), it’s got a 1TB Western Digital hard drive, 1 Ethernet 10/100/1000 Mb  and a USB 2.0 connection.

I have been working on and off for some time now to set up a new server with some old spare parts I got from work, but as always with old hardware it’s slow, not a 100% compatible with GNU/Linux and the cabinet is too big and bulky to place anywhere, also, it’s usually pretty noisy, either with the CPU fan acting as a small air-plane or the BIOS fan being slightly off, which makes the whole cabinet vibrate (personal experience ™).

Here’s what made me decide on buying one:

Torrent client - Check! – The box runs Transmission perfectly and download speeds are very good. There are also hacks enabling RSS feed downloading, which makes it perfect for getting TV-Shows as soon as they are available.

Media server system – Check! – This box has a system called Twonkyvision running, which enables it to be discovered on our Popcorn hour A-110 with no problems! All our media is displayed directly and streaming works flawless (all tough I have not tried HD-Content yet, but I kind of doubt it would be any problem). This system also support iTunes, which makes it possible to stream all our music to our machines directly.

Access to GNU/Linux shell - Check! – This box doesn’t only allow you to access the shell, it seems they even encourage it. In the advanced settings on the web interface, you’re allowed to enable SSH access, and you are given the root password. You are also able to compile applications with gcc (all tough pre-installed gcc was removed in the latest firmware, it’s still available to install).

Basically, this device is just as good as any old server. I have also later found out that I can do the following with this box:

CUPS – Enables the NAS to serve as a printer server for the local network.

Net-SNMP - Makes it possible to poll the box for any info you would like to graph into ex. MRTG or RRDTool. This makes monitoring the device load, memory, temperature, disk size etc. incredibly easy.

vsftpd – FTP server support for transferring files super fast to and from the device.

rsync – Ability to run as a rsync server, which enables it to receive backups and incremental backups from other machines and keep everything up to date.

Now, when I first got it, I had a bit of a problem. At home in our current appartement, we don’t have any Internet connection, not directly into our apartment anway, but we share a wireless connection with our neighbours. This works all well when we have computers that have WLAN, but when I get a device that requires cable, It gets a bit difficult.

So I decided to set the box up like this:

Western digital My book connects to a 10/100Mbit switch I have. This switch is then connected to my computer by regular Cat5 cable. In my computer I set up NAT routing the traffic from eth0 (the wired network) to wlan0 (the wireless network). This makes it possible for the My book to download torrents, update firmware etc. etc. If anyone would be interested in the setup needed, I’d be glad to share it.

I might be posting more about this device later, as I’m no doubt going to be hacking and tweaking away at it until I’m a 100% satisfied.

All in all, this is a fantastic device, and so far I’ve had no problems with it. Sure, some might show up, but that’s usually due to me being a bit too curious on how things work ;)

error while loading shared libraries: libexpat.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

during compile. So, time to Google some. Turns out there’s a bug in the latest portage from Gentoo which breaks all applications running some XML Parsing libraries called Expat, so i try re-emerging Expat, no luck. Try uninstalling it, then reinstalling it, still no luck. So i seek support at the one place i know I’ll always get help when i need it, the Gentoo Forums. After some searching around i stumble upon this thread, which really explains allot of various ways of getting the system up and running again (with the one or two whines from the local newbies).

Currently I’m going trough an revdep-rebuild which requires to re-compile 39 packages, but hopefully it won’t break like it did previously, and my system will be back up and running. I’ll keep this post updated for those interested (all tough I doubt anyone but myself are, so I guess I’ll just keep it updated for my own amusement :p)

Update:
I ran

emerge fontconfig && emerge pango && emerge gtk+

which seems to have done the trick. Now I’m running

revdep-rebuild -X && emerge -uvD

which supposedly is going to update the rest of the broken dependencies.

Update 2:
Most of the builds compiled successfully, except for Audacious which is compiled from SVN, so I’ll probably have to find a way to unmerge that, or exclude it from the rebuild and get it to finish the rebuilds of packages.