Installing MinimServer 2 on Mac
Installing Java on Mac
Installing Java on Mac (Intel)
Installing Java on Mac (Apple Silicon)
Installing or updating MinimServer 2 on Mac
Uninstalling MinimServer 2 on Mac
Installing Java on Mac
MinimServer is written in Java and needs the Java runtime to be installed.
If you are running MinimServer on an Intel-based Mac, see the section Installing Java on Mac (Intel) for details of how to do this.
If you are running MinimServer on an Apple Silicon Mac (M1, M2), see the section Installing Java on Mac (Apple Silicon) for details of how to do this.
Installing Java on Mac (Intel)
On Intel-based Macs, MinimServer 2 supports all versions of Java from Java 8 onwards. You can install the JRE (Java Runtime Environment) for Java 8 as follows:
- Visit the Java Download page and click the "Java Download" button.
- After the download has completed, double-click the downloaded file.
- You should see a window containing a package icon. Double-click this icon and follow the installation prompts.
Alternatively, you can download a later version of the Java Development Kit (JDK) from the Oracle Java Downloads page. For some downloads from this page, you need to have an Oracle account. For most users, the JRE is more suitable as it is quicker and easier to install.
Note: For macOS 10.12 (Sierra) and earlier, you cannot use JDK 11 or later versions of Java because these versions of Java have been built using a code signing scheme that requires macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) or later. If you get a JVMLoadError message when starting MinimServer, this is the reason for the message.
Installing Java on Mac (Apple Silicon)
For Apple Silicon (M1, M2) Macs, download the latest version of the Java Development Kit (JDK) for macOS (arm64) from the Oracle Java Downloads page. To find the correct download, select the macOS link, then select the "Arm 64 DMG Installer" file.
See the "Installation Instructions" link on this page for details of how to install the downloaded package.
Installing or updating MinimServer 2 on Mac
[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.
- Before installing MinimServer, install the Java runtime if it isn't already installed. For installation instructions, see the Installing Java on Mac section.
- If a previous version of MinimServer is installed, click Exit from the minim icon and drag the MinimServer application to the trash.
- On the MinimServer 2 Downloads page, find the macOS row in the table of MinimServer downloads and click the 'Intel and Apple Silicon' download link. This link selects a "universal" macOS download that can run on Intel-based Macs and also on Apple Silicon (M1, M2) Macs.
- Accept the license and download the installation package. The downloaded file is .
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Open your Downloads folder and double-click the file you have just downloaded.
This opens a window containing two files: LICENSE.txt and MinimServer.
Drag the file named MinimServer from this window into your Applications folder.
Note: The MinimServer file must be dragged into the Applications folder before you try to run it. If you try to run it from inside the .dmg window, it will not work correctly.
- Start MinimServer by double-clicking the MinimServer application in your Applications folder. You might see a message saying '"MinimServer" is an application downloaded from the Internet. Are you sure you want to open it?'. If you see this message, click Open to confirm that you want to run MinimServer.
- You might see a message saying 'Do you want the application "MinimServer" to accept incoming network connections?'. If you see this message, click Allow and then click Refresh from the minim icon on the menu bar (see below).
- On macOS Big Sur or later, you might see a pop-up saying that MinimServer notifications may include alerts, sounds and icon badges. Close this pop-up.
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The MinimServer icon (a musical minim note) will appear towards the right of the menu bar.
If you click on this, you will see a menu with various selections.
Note: You can't interact with MinimServer via normal menu bar selections such as Edit and View. Also, there isn't a MinimServer application icon in the Dock. Instead, you need to use menu selections from the minim icon in the menu bar.
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If this is a new MinimServer installation, the minim icon will be pale yellow and a
dialog will prompt you to select the initial content directory. This is the
top-level folder that contains your music files. Navigate to this folder,
then press the Select button. If you need to add additional content directories,
you can do this later.
Note: If your music files are on an external disk, you need to start by selecting 'Macintosh HD' from the directory list (below the "File:" entry field). Look for 'Volumes' in the list of files, and double-click this entry. You should now see all your disks, including external disks. Navigate to the external disk and folder containing your music files, and press Select.
- MinimServer will scan all your music files and complete its startup. This will take a bit longer than usual if it's the first time you've done this. If startup is successful, the minim icon in the menu bar will become transparent. If startup fails for any reason, the minim icon will change to red and you'll see a 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 do this, right-click on the minim icon 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.
- If MinimServer has started successfully, you can now use a UPnP control point to browse your music library and select and play music. You can also use the minim icon menu to configure and manage MinimServer. See the Controlling MinimServer using the minim icon section for details of the available menu selections.
- 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 license 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.
Uninstalling MinimServer 2 on Mac
If you have activated a MinimServer 2 full license on your Mac, 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 Mac. 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 selecting Configure from the pop-up menu of the minim icon in your Mac menu bar. Select the License tab followed by Deactivate full license and follow the prompts. You need an active internet connection to deactivate the license.
Before uninstalling MinimServer, make sure MinimServer isn't running. If MinimServer is running, stop MinimServer by clicking the minim icon in your Mac menu bar and selecting Exit. You can now uninstall MinimServer by dragging the MinimServer application to the trash.
Uninstalling MinimServer doesn't delete your MinimServer configuration settings. This is useful if you want to reinstall MinimServer or move up to a newer version.