Installing MinimServer 2 on an ASUSTOR NAS
Table of contents
Installing or updating MinimServer 2
Installing MinimWatch 2
Usage notes
Uninstalling MinimServer 2
Installing or updating MinimServer 2
[NEW] If you are running MinimServer 2.1 or 2.1.2, the simplest way to update to MinimServer is to use the new "update install." For details, see the Update install section.Alternatively, you can install MinimServer by following the instructions below.
- If you are currently running MinimWatch 0.8, you need to update to MinimWatch 2. See the Installing MinimWatch 2 section for details.
- Login to the NAS using your web browser and click App Central.
- If your NAS has an Intel or ARM64 processor (all models except the AS10 series), you need to install the JRE app before installing MinimServer. In the Browse section of App Central, select Categories and select the Framework & Library category. If the JRE app isn't already installed, install it. If an update is available for the JRE app, apply the update.
- If your NAS has an ARM (not ARM64) processor (AS10 models), the MinimServer install package includes a tailored version of the OpenJDK Java Runtime Environment (identified as MinimJRE) that is suitable for running MinimServer. This means the JRE app from App Central isn't required.
- MinimServer isn't yet available in App Central, so you need to do a manual install. On the MinimServer 2 Downloads page, find the ASUSTOR row in the table of MinimServer downloads and click the download link (x64, x86, ARMv8 or ARMv7) for your ASUSTOR model (see the list of models and processor types).
- Accept the license and download the package file. For x64, the package file is . For x86, the package file is . For ARMv8, the package file is . For ARMv7, the package file is .
- In App Central, select Manual Install and install the package file you downloaded in the previous step.
- The MinimServer icon will appear on your NAS desktop. Click this icon.
- Accept the MinimServer license and click Confirm. The MinimServer configuration web page will be displayed.
- If this a new installation of MinimServer, you need to enter a content directory. This is the folder on your NAS where your music files are stored. Follow the instructions on this page to use File Explorer to obtain the correct path and copy and paste it into the "Content directory" field on the status page. After you have pasted the content directory path, click the Update button.
- MinimServer will now scan all the music files under the content directory. Depending on how many music files you have, this might take some time. When this scan starts, the media server status on the MinimServer status page will change from Stopped to Starting. You can refresh the status page in your browser to see how the scan is progressing. When the scan is complete, the status will change to Running if the scan completed successfully or Error if a problem occurred.
- If the MinimServer status page is showing the media server status as Running, you should be able to see your MinimServer library in a UPnP AV control point.
- If you have updated from MinimServer 0.8 to MinimServer 2, some of your configuration properties in MinimWatch might be missing or greyed out. To restore any missing properties and enable all features previously available in MinimServer 0.8, select the License tab of the MinimServer configuration page and activate a trial or full license as described in this section. You might also need to reinstall the MinimStreamer package (see the Installing MinimStreamer section).
- If this is a new MinimServer installation, it will be running as MinimServer 2 Starter Edition with limited functionality and some configuration settings disabled (see the Starter Edition page). To use all features and configuration settings of MinimServer 2, you need to activate a trial license or full license as described in this section.
- If your installation was successful, the final step is to install the current update to ensure you have the latest fixes and features. To do this, you need to install and run MinimWatch on another computer as described in the next section.
Installing MinimWatch 2
To update, configure and manage MinimServer, you need to install MinimWatch 2 on another computer on your home network. This computer can be running Windows, Mac or a Linux distribution with a graphical desktop (for example, Ubuntu). MinimWatch 2 is compatible with MinimServer 2 and also with previous versions of MinimServer.
For details of how to install MinimWatch 2, see the MinimWatch page.
If your MinimServer installation isn't at the current update level, MinimWatch will prompt you to install the current update. Follow the prompts to install this update and relaunch MinimServer.
ASUSTOR models and processor types
If you're doing a manual install of MinimServer, you need to know the processor type for your ASUSTOR model. This isn't necessary if you're installing using the MinimServer icon in App Central.
The following ASUSTOR models have an x64 processor: AS31/32 models, AS50/51/52/53 models, AS6xx models, AS61/62/63/64/65/66 models and AS70/71 models.
The following ASUSTOR models have an x86 processor: AS2xx and AS3xx models.
The following ASUSTOR models have an ARMv8 processor: AS40 models.
The following ASUSTOR models have an ARMv7 processor: AS10 models.
Usage notes
- When you start MinimServer, it will scan all the music files under the content directory that you configured during the installation process. Depending on how many music files you have, this might take some time. While this scan is in progress, MinimWatch will display a yellow icon with a minim symbol (musical note) in the system tray or menu bar. When the scan has finished successfully, the colour of the minim icon will change to green (transparent on Mac). If MinimServer startup fails for any reason, the colour of the minim icon will change to red and you'll see a pop-up message describing the problem.
- It's a good idea to check the MinimServer log to see if there are any warning or error messages about problems found by MinimServer while scanning your music files. To view the log, right-click on the minim icon (left-click on Mac) and select 'Show log'. A warning in the log means that MinimServer has found something wrong with a file, but has been able to read the file and make it available for browsing and playing. An error in the log means that MinimServer wasn't able to read the file. If you see a message you don't understand, you can get help by creating a new thread in the MinimServer support forum as described on the Support page.
- The MinimWatch minim icon pop-up menu provides a number of selections that you can use to configure and manage MinimServer. For information about these selections, see the Controlling MinimServer using the minim icon section of the User guide.
- You can use App Central to stop MinimServer. This stops MinimServer immediately and prevents it from starting when the NAS is restarted. MinimServer is still installed on the NAS and you can restart it at any time using App Central. If MinimServer is running when the NAS is restarted or shut down, it will be started automatically when the NAS restarts.
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The MinimServer application data is stored in the
datasubfolder of theMinimServershared folder and can be viewed by launching File Explorer from the ASUSTOR home page. Modifying the files in this folder can cause problems and is not recommended.
Uninstalling MinimServer 2
If you have activated a MinimServer 2 full license on your ASUSTOR NAS, you should deactivate this license before uninstalling MinimServer 2. This frees up the license activation for use on any other devices you have. You don't need to do this if you intend to reinstall MinimServer 2 on the same ASUSTOR NAS. You won't be able to do this deactivation after MinimServer 2 has been uninstalled.
To deactivate the license, open the MinimServer 2 configuration page by clicking the MinimServer icon on your NAS desktop. Select the License tab followed by Deactivate full license and follow the prompts. You need an active internet connection to deactivate the license.
To uninstall MinimServer from your ASUSTOR NAS, select the Uninstall action from the MinimServer app in App Central (My Apps). Your MinimServer configuration settings will be retained in case you install MinimServer again later. To completely delete all MinimServer data from your NAS, use Access Control to remove the MinimServer shared folder.