Newbie needs help setting up an AS5402T

[Dehenry]

Hi All,

I hope this is the right forum as there is no dedicated newbie section… I just received my AS5402T (my first NAS) and have a few questions setting it up. I went through the respective tutorials.

1. So far I only plugged in one NVME SSD (Lexar NM790) and it seems to work fine. I am planning to also add an HDD, but only want to use that as internal backup for the SSD and data archive so that it only spins up rarely. If I insert it, will ADM be copied also to the HDD (resulting in it to spin up more often) or is it possible to keep ADM only on the SSD?
2. I currently have my data on external HDDs with a folder structure I want to keep. I am not sure how to do this with the concept of shared folders on the top level. Most of the subfolders in my current structure should only be accessible to me, but I want to make some of them (e.g. music and pictures) accessible to other individual users. Is that possible if access to the main folder is limited to me? Also, it seems I can only grant access rights to subfolders to groups, not to individual users – is that so?
3. I installed OnlyOffice, but it doesn’t appear on my home screen, so I can’t launch it. What is wrong? Same for Docker.
4. What is NextCloud needed for? I thought my NAS is my “cloud”, so what is the added value of NextCloud?
5. Is an Asustor ID technically needed to access the NAS from the internet? I read that this results in data flows being routed through Asustor which, even if encrypted, I would not want.

Many thanks!

Dehenry

[snapshot]

1. I have an AS6706T with two NM790s as Volume 1 and a bunch of HDDs as Volume 2. The HDDs virtually never spin up unless they're accessed so I think it's safe to say that ADM stays on Volume 1 only.

2. Hmm, it looks like you're right and individual access can only be applied at the top level but below that it's groups only. That's a bit poor.

3. Docker is a framework and just sits there in the background. You need to talk to it via Portainer. https://www.asustor.com/online/College_ ... 45&lan=eng should help.

[Dehenry]

Thanks! In the meantime I got OnlyOffice to work, but I still don't understand why it cannot be launched as a standalone app from the ADM home screen but only as (kind of) a plugin within Nextcloud. It would have helped a lot if Asustor had mentioned this in the description of OnlyOffice...

I came across a new issue: Most of my videos are m2ts files shot with a Sony RX100. I get an ADM error message if I try to open them in the file explorer or in Photo Gallery 3 (I use Chrome as browser), asking if I want to convert them into a compatible format. PhotoPrism can't playback these files either. What could be wrong here? m2ts is listed several times on the Asustor website, in FAQs etc. as a compatible file format in ADM.

[snapshot]

Sorry, can't help with the video problem as it's not something I do. I had a look at the various pdfs I have for my RX100 VII and M2TS isn't mentioned anywhere.

[Dehenry]

Could anyone please share their experience with playing videos in m2ts format or the H.264 codec in general? I still get an error message each time I want to play m2ts videos that I recorded with my Sony RX 100. I have to convert each video before I watch it on the NAS for the first time, which even for a very short clip takes ca. 10-20 seconds before playback starts, so no real time transcoding. The converted copy is permanently stored (i.e., it eats up storage space) because the next time I can watch that video right away. I have installed FFmpeg, X.org and LooksGood.

I sent a sample clip to Asustor Support. They could play it right away on different NAS. After writing back and forth with Asustor Support several times it looks as if they have no solution for my problem. H.264 should definitely be supported, so what could be wrong with my unit? Could this be a hardware issue?

[Nazar78]

What you're experiencing is actually normal. IIRC browsers don't support mts containers so the webapp will try to convert them (transcode) for you to view. The transcoding on the other hand depends on your device capabilities and even it does, the speed of the transcoding (how long you need to wait) is also reliant on the hardware. I'm not using any of the Asustor apps so I'm not sure if it's using hardware transcoding. I also don't have your unit, it has something called Media Mode which you can enable it not sure how's the performance though as I only know it reserves some of the ram.

You can try other 3rd party apps such as Plex (subscription based) or open source Jellyfin see if the transcoding improves. The transcoded files are temporary and will be removed after one day or customizable schedule.

[Dehenry]

Asustor support told me (and showed me screenshots) that they could play the m2ts videos right away without any problem with an FS6706T (which has the same processor as my AS5402T) and also with other (including older) devices. If transcoding was required, it should work in real time with hardware transcoding according to Asustor Support and this list: https://www.asustor.com/en-gb/knowledge ... oup_id=913. I have tried it with and without Media Mode and it doesn't change anything. I can play the files with Jellyfin on my Windows computer, but I have other problems with Jellyfin on the mobile client side so unfortunately this isn't a real solution either.

[Nazar78]

You can play with Jellyfin on the Windows computer but have problems with the mobile client of Jellyfin? So that shows it's not the problem with the NAS because in Windows it will also transcode due to mts unsupported container.

I tested with this sample mts, 8mbps h264 with no issues, https://software-download.name/sample-m ... -video.zip. I also have no issues transcoding using the JF mobile client casting to the TV of the accommodation even when I'm in a different continent, unless of course the Wifi sucks.

Maybe you could share a link of your sample file? Or you can pm me the link let me download and test.

[Dehenry]

Many thanks, Nazar! I can play your clip in Jellyfin, but not directly from the File Explorer in ADM. Support said that they can play my video directly from the File Explorer. I would prefer not to be bound to a single app to play back video and understood that the NAS as a platform should generally be able to handle my m2ts videos.

The problem with the JF mobile client (Android) is that I get a "source error" unless I manually set the bit rate to 20 Mbps or less. The "auto" setting doesn't work. I already tried setting the quality to 20 Mbps (or less) in the user settings of Jellyfin, but that doesn't seem to have any effect because I still have to set a reduced bitrate manually for each video each time I play it.

Is it possible to cast video from the NSA to a TV using the mobile to select the videos, i.e., like a remote control? I can occasionally see my mobile as a target device for streaming, but most of the time not even if Jellyfin is running on the mobile. Same for my FireTV stick.

[Nazar78]

Many thanks, Nazar! I can play your clip in Jellyfin, but not directly from the File Explorer in ADM. Support said that they can play my video directly from the File Explorer. I would prefer not to be bound to a single app to play back video and understood that the NAS as a platform should generally be able to handle my m2ts videos.

I tested the sample https://software-download.name/sample-m ... -video.zip in ADM File Explorer, had set the option to ask me about the conversion, there's a loading screen for just few seconds and the video played. Sometimes it would take slightly longer to wake my raid array disks.

The problem with the JF mobile client (Android) is that I get a "source error" unless I manually set the bit rate to 20 Mbps or less. The "auto" setting doesn't work. I already tried setting the quality to 20 Mbps (or less) in the user settings of Jellyfin, but that doesn't seem to have any effect because I still have to set a reduced bitrate manually for each video each time I play it.

Not sure about this as I don't have this issue. You can ask questions in the Jellyfin Github. I set my max bitrate to 10mbps for internet transcoding and direct play for home. My NAS does struggle slightly at 60mbps but lower than that it's fine.

Is it possible to cast video from the NSA to a TV using the mobile to select the videos, i.e., like a remote control? I can occasionally see my mobile as a target device for streaming, but most of the time not even if Jellyfin is running on the mobile. Same for my FireTV stick.

Not exactly sure what you mean. When travelling, I use Jellyfin to cast to the Android TVs or brought along my Chrome Cast, for Samsung TVs I mirror using Smart View. At home I just use Jellyfin app on Samsung TV (need to compile and install manually) and Jellyfin app on Android TV.