Tech Tips: 2024

31 December 2024

ASUS ROG Charger Dock

In order to simplify connecting my chromebook to my tv, I wanted a small dock. As Best Buy has been running sales on the ASUS ROG Charger Dock for $30, I decided to snag it.

Pros

Price when on sale
Size (about the size of a deck of cards cut in half, but twice as thick)
65 Watt charging capability
Ports:

USB-C to laptop
USB-A
HDMI

Comes with a braided USB-C cable
Charges chromebook and outputs to tv with a single laptop connection

Cons

Limited ports (no ethernet or downstream USB-C)
HDMI 2.0 limits output to 4K 60Hz

Other Thoughts

USB-C cord was packaged with sharp bends that may lead to longevity issues

Firmware

Mine came with firmware B41 and I updated it to B59 (version 1.4.1)

Appendix

Links:

23 December 2024

Replacing drives in ZFS take two

As it had been ~3 years since the last storage upgrade and there was only about 20% free space remaining, I wanted to take advantage of Black Friday prices. From WD.com, I grabbed 2 x 16TB Red Pro drives with a 5 year warranty.

Verify the drives

smartctl short tests

smartctl -t short /dev/sdX
smartctl -t short /dev/sdY

check smartctl test status after ~5 minutes

smartctl -a /dev/sdX
smartctl -a /dev/sdY

badblocks

Does 4 iterations of a write followed by a read. For my 16TB drives, each step took ~24 hours for a total of around 8 days.
nohup badblocks -wsv -b 4096 /dev/sdX >16TB_serial_1.log 2>&1 &
nohup badblocks -wsv -b 4096 /dev/sdY >16TB_serial_2.log 2>&1 &
The logs will continue to grow as it runs. Mine got to 5.3MiB each for my 16TB drives after ~8 days

Create script to check status of verification

echo "" > newline.log
echo "cat 16TB_serial_1.log newline.log 16TB_serial_2.log newline.log" > status.sh
sh status.sh

Add the drives to the mirror

Attach the drives

zpool attach [POOLNAME] [EXISTING_DRIVE] [NEW_DRIVE_1]
zpool attach [POOLNAME] [EXISTING_DRIVE] [NEW_DRIVE_2]

Resilver both drives at once

resolves: (awaiting resilver) on [NEW_DRIVE_2]
zpool resilver [POOLNAME]

Check on resilver

zpool status [POOLNAME]
resilver in progress since Wed Dec 18 17:37:48 2024
I had 4.35TiB to resilver with an estimated runtime of around 7 hours, it ~7 hours and 45 minutes

Remove the old drives

I am planning on waiting at least 11 days to ensure the new drives are functioning as expected, but this is the step to remove them.

zpool detach [POOLNAME] [DISKNAME]

Appendix

Sources

03 November 2024

Ubuntu VM add storage

Since my Ubuntu VM was running out of space, I needed to expand it.

Steps I used

Expand the storage in Proxmox

Proxmox web GUI -> Select the VM -> Hardware
Select the Hard Disk
Disk Action -> Resize
Type the number of GB to add -> Resize disk

Have the VM use the additional storage

Proxmox web GUI -> Select the VM -> Console
login
sudo cfdisk /dev/sda

sort (This should hopefully put your FreeSpace right after your Linux filesystem
resize
Write

Reboot
sudo resize2fs /dev/sda4

Appendix

Sources

https://askubuntu.com/questions/116351/increase-partition-size-on-which-ubuntu-is-installed

Repair La-Z-Boy Office Chair Lumbar support

Similar to https://www.reddit.com/r/fixit/comments/1btyyg3/lazboy_ergonamic_mesh_chair_lumbar_pad_came_off/ my lumbar support fell off on my La-Z-Boy Ergonomic Mesh Swivel Task Chair model 60021 (Joel). The lumbar support was always loose and had to constantly be readjusted to where I wanted it.

The problem

The single screw that holds the padding to the lumbar support arm backed all the way out which caused it to fall off.
There is no apparent way to easily reattach it

The solution

remove the arm the padding attaches to by removing the 2 screws with an allen key
separate the padding from the plastic backing by carefully pulling them apart until the 4 posts pulled out of the padding (one in each corner)
attach the plastic backing to the arm using the plastic adjuster, locking washer, and screw

I screwed it in really tight, but if you have some thread lock you may want to use it

snap the padding back onto the plastic backing by pressing it into place
reattach the arm to the chair

The result

The lumbar support is reattached and now much better at staying in place (better than new)

Update: Since I did not use thread lock the lumbar support has loosened some

14 September 2024

Adding a USB card to Dell r730xd

As I was tired of being limited to just 2 USB ports, I picked up the Inateck RedComets U21 20Gbps on Prime Day for $31.99 plus tax.

Specs

2 lanes of PCIe 2.0/3.0/4.0 (3.0 or 4.0 required for full speed)
Max combined throughput 16 Gbps
10 Gbps dedicated port

USB-A

10 Gbps split between

2 x USB-A
2 x USB-C

Add USB Card

Shutdown containers and VMs
Turn off the server
Install the USB card

I installed it above the 2.5" drive bays in the back in Riser 3 (Slot 6)

Turn on the server
Fix fan speed

apt-get install ipmitool
ipmitool -I lanplus -H 192.168.1.X -U root -P <password> raw 0x30 0xce 0x00 0x16 0x05 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x05 0x00 0x01 0x00 0x00
response:

16 05 00 00 00

Shutdown the VM you want to add it to
Add the USB Card to a VM

Select your VM -> Hardware -> Add -> PCI Device
Select Raw Device -> Device: ASM2142/ASM3142 USB 3.1 Host Controller
Check All Functions
Add

Start the VM
Check that it is working

lsusb -t

Test a USB hard drive

plug in the USB hard drive
determine what drive letter it is:

ls -l /dev/disk/by-id

Mount it

sudo mount -m /dev/sdb1 /mnt/backup-plus

Error: unknown filesystem type 'exfat'

sudo apt-get install exfat-fuse
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/backup-plus -t exfat-fuse

Appendix

Sources

Setting up a Jellyfin media server

I wanted to install a media server to help manage my growing library. The top two options that I found are Plex and Jellyfin. I have used Plex in the past, but disliked when they started requiring an account so I went with Jellyfin.

Create the container

bash -c "$(wget -qLO - https://github.com/tteck/Proxmox/raw/main/ct/jellyfin.sh)"

Set Static IP and hostname

Proxmox -> jellyfin -> Network -> net0 -> Edit

set static ip

Restart the container
Proxmox -> jellyfin -> Console

ping 192.168.1.1

this ensures that the container will show up on Unifi's list of clients

Unifi -> Clients -> Select the jellyfin -> Settings

give it a memorable name
check "Fixed IP Address"

it should auto-populate with current IP

check "Local DNS Record"

jellyfin.home.arpa

Setup Jellyfin

Self signed SSL certificate:

https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/networking/
jellyfin -> Console

mkdir -p /home/jellyfin
cd /home/jellyfin
openssl req -x509 -days 3650 -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout ./privkey.pem -out cert.pem -nodes -subj '/CN=jellyfin.home.arpa'

-subj '/' can work if you can override ssl verification on the client, but Kodi doesn't have that option
-subj '/CN=localhost' was causing jellyfin to crash here are some keywords from the crash:

Error occurred during a cryptographic operation
MapOpenSsl30Code

openssl pkcs12 -export -out jellyfin.pfx -inkey privkey.pem -in cert.pem -passout pass:
chown -R jellyfin /home/jellyfin
chgrp -R jellyfin /home/jellyfin

http://jellyfin.home.arpa:8096

create user/pass
hamburger menu -> Dashboard -> Networking

Check "Enable HTTPS"
Check "Require HTTPS"
Custom SSL certificate path -> /home/jellyfin/jellyfin.pfx
Save

Restart the jellyfin container
Test the self-signed certificate

curl --cacert cert.pem https://jellyfin.home.arpa:8920

https://jellyfin.home.arpa:8920

hamburger menu -> Dashboard -> Users

Add User
Name
Password
Check "Enable access to all libraries"

hamburger menu -> Dashboard -> Plugin -> Catalog -> Kodi Sync Queue

Install

Restart jellyfin

Add to Kodi on Google TV

Have Kodi trust the self signed certificate
Enable adb (Android Debug Bridge)

Determine IP of the Google TV

Settings -> System -> About -> Status

Enable Developer mode

Settings -> System -> About -> Build Number -> Click 10 times or until developer mode is unlocked

Enable USB debugging (also enables remote debugging)

install adb onto a computer to be able to modify the Google TV remotely

sudo apt install android-tools-adb

Used adb to add new certs file to existing

adb pull /sdcard/Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/files/.kodi/addons/script.module.certifi/lib/certifi/cacert.pem
cat cacert.pem cert.pem > updatedcacert.pem
adb push updatedcacert.pem /sdcard/Download/
echo -e '<advancedsettings version="1.0">\n<network>\n<catrustfile>special://masterprofile/updatedcacert.pem</catrustfile>\n</network>\n</advancedsettings>' >advancedsettings.xml
adb push advancedsettings.xml /sdcard/Download/

Have Kodi use the new certs

Google TV -> Settings -> Apps -> Kodi -> Permissions -> Files and Media -> Allow management of all files
Kodi -> Settings -> File Manager

Left Side

Add Source -> Browse -> External Storage -> Download -> OK
Open Download

Right Side

Profile directory

Long press the files one at a time in the Left pane and select copy

Restart Kodi

Install Jellyfin on Kodi

Kodi -> Settings -> File Manager -> Add Source

https://kodi.jellyfin.org

Kodi -> Settings -> AddOn Browser

Allow install from unknown sources when prompted
Install from zipfile -> jellyfin -> repository.jellyfin.kodi.zip
Install from Repository -> Kodi Jellyfin Add-ons -> Video Add-ons
Select Jellyfin add-on and install

Cancel adding the server
Disable "Verifiy connection" -> OK
Restart Kodi
Select Manual server add (as auto does it by IP)

https://jellyfin.home.arpa:8920
sign in using user/pass
Playback -> Addon (default)
Choose which libraries you want to sync

click "All"
click "OK"

After Syncing is complete restart Kodi
Settings -> Add-ons -> My add-ons -> Video add-ons -> Jellyfin

Configure -> Sync -> Enable Kodi Sync Queue -> OK

Appendix

Sources

samba

Jellyfin

kodi

curl

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9879688/difference-between-cacert-and-capath-in-curl

ssl certificate

https://ruk.ca/content/setting-self-signed-certificate-expiration-date

18 July 2024

Debugging Windows 11 crashes

Once to twice a week, I have been finding my system asleep when it should have been folding. After looking at "Event Viewer" after each of these I noticed a trend of a Kernel-Power event proceeded (but not immediately) by a volmgr one.

To view the events open up "Event Viewer", expand "Windows Logs", and click on "System"

Simplified Example:

Level	Date and Time	Source	Event ID	Task Category
Critical	5/7/2024 2:13:36 AM	Kernel-Power	41	(63)
	The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.
Error	5/7/2024 2:13:36 AM	volmgr	162	None
	Dump file generation succeded.
Warning	5/7/2024 2:11:00 AM	Display	4101	None
	Display driver amduw23g stopped responding and has successfully recovered.
Warning	5/7/2024 2:06:07 AM	Display	4101	None
	Display driver amduw23g stopped responding and has successfully recovered.

Updating Drivers

As a first step to try and remedy this, I always update drivers. I updated the following:

chipset:

4.07.13.2243 -> 5.11.02.217 (from Asus)
6.02.07.2300 (from AMD after above didn't fix it)

video: a version installed in 2024 -> 24.5.1

Updating the BIOS

I found some posts online that said it could be due to the motherboard, so I decided to try updating the BIOS to see if that would help. Unfortunately, it did not.

Before updating the BIOS/UEFI make sure to write down your changes as they will be reset.

BIOS/UEFI Settings

Expo -> Enabled
Fan Curves

20C -> 20%
60C -> 40%
85C -> 70%
90C -> 100%

System

20C -> 30%
50C -> 50%
85C -> 80%
90C -> 100%

Advanced Mode (F7)

Tool -> ASUS Armoury Crate

Download & Install -> Disabled

AI Tweaker -> Precision Boost Override

Curve Optimizer

All Cores
Negative
30

Precision Boost Override -> AMD Eco Mode
AMD Eco Mode -> cTDP 65W

AI Tweaker -> SOC Offset -> negative -> 0.03 (however this caused the pc to hang on warm-boots so I use the below settings instead)
AI Tweaker -> CPU SOC Voltage -> Manual

VDD SOC Voltage Override -> 1.2

Update the BIOS

https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/motherboards/tuf-gaming/tuf-gaming-x670e-plus-wifi/helpdesk_bios/?model2Name=TUF-GAMING-X670E-PLUS-WIFI
1618 (2023-05-25) -> 2613 (2024-04-17)

After updating the BIOS, you will need to reapply the settings.

Old video drivers

Since all the updates didn't work, I tried installing old video drivers that I knew worked from 24.5.1 to 23.10.2. Luckily this seems to have done the trick and my system is stable again with >27 days of uptime.

Slow folding

Unfortunately, it looks like my solution may be short lived as to get expected folding performance, I need to update to 24.6.1: https://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?t=41637&sid=d9b1c6f33f52801aaca8c31fc3fe52d1 So fingers crossed that this release is also stable.

Update 2024-07-29: I had a freeze after roughly 11 days of uptime

Update 2024-07-31: My PC crashed overnight after only 1.5 days of uptime

24.7.1

Update 2024-07-31: I updated the graphics drivers to 24.7.1. Here is the process that I used:

Downloaded the AMD driver cleanup utility (from here)
Downloaded the full updated AMD graphics driver (for 5600 XT)
Disabled Ethernet/Wi-Fi

I do this so that Windows doesn't try to "helpfully" download and install other graphic driver versions

Ran the AMD driver cleanup utility

Had it reboot me into Safe-Mode
It removed the drivers and prompted me to reboot, which I did

Installed the new drivers (had to approve the big red scary box because of no internet)
Rebooted
Enabled Ethernet/Wi-Fi

Update 2024-08-02: My computer has crashed twice in the past 2 days so I decided to try DDU

Downloaded Display Driver Uninstaller (aka DDU)

I downloaded from Guru3D

Disabled Ethernet/Wi-Fi
Rebooted into Safe Mode

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode-in-windows-92c27cff-db89-8644-1ce4-b3e5e56fe234
Settings -> System -> Recovery

next to "Advanced startup", select "Restart now"

System will reboot
Troubleshoot -> Advanced options -> Startup Settings -> Restart
System will reboot again
Type "4" for Safe Mode

Extracted the EXE from the ZIP file
Ran the EXE, it will extract even more files
Ran "Display Driver Uninstaller.exe"
Unchecked the final option (Disable Windows Update Driver Downloads)

Since we already disabled internet access this is unnecessary and DDU recommends reenabling afterwards anyway so this saves a step

Close the options
Device Type -> GPU
Device -> AMD
Clicked "Clean and restart"
Waited for it to do its thing and reboot
Installed the 24.7.1 drivers again
Rebooted
Enabled Ethernet/Wi-Fi

Appendix

Sources

15 July 2024

Intel SSD upgrade for r730xd

I got 2 used intel ssds to improve VM performance and to reduce power usage

Check SMART attributes

General Health

smartctl -H /dev/sdX

Wearout

100 is best aka no wear (https://www.solidigm.com/support-page/product-doc-cert/ka-00033.html)
smartctl -A /dev/sdX | grep Wearout

General

smartctl -A /dev/sdX

Lucky for me my drives came at 89% and 90% life left with ~60K hours and ~1PiB of Host writes out of the Intel spec (pdf) of 5.3PB

Firmware Update Adventure

Intel Memory and Storage Tool CLI

My first attempt was to use Intel cli to update the firmware, but it did not work.

Installation

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19520/intel-memory-and-storage-tool-cli-command-line-interface.html
mkdir intelmas && cd intelmas
wget https://downloadmirror.intel.com/822151/Intel_MAS_CLI_Tool_Linux_2.5.zip
unzip Intel_MAS_CLI_Tool_Linux_2.5.zip
dpkg -i intelmas_2.5.0-0_amd64.deb

Usage

https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/intelmas-quick-guide.36165/
intelmas show -intelssd

Solidigm: This drive is no longer supported.

intelmas show -a -intelssd 4

EnduranceAnalyzer : Drive is not an Intel SSD.

unfortunately, it listed the SSDs as not supported, but it did point me Solidigm

Solidigm

My second attempt was to use Solidigm cli to update the firmware, but it did not work through the raid controller and had to be attached to a different SATA controller.

Installation

https://www.solidigm.com/support-page/drivers-downloads/ka-00085.html
mkdir solidigm && cd solidigm
wget https://sdmsdfwdriver.blob.core.windows.net/files/kba-gcc/drivers-downloads/ka-00085/sst--1-13/sst-cli-linux-deb--1-13.zip
unzip sst-cli-linux-deb--1-13.zip
dpkg -i sst_1.13.288-0_amd64.deb

Usage

https://sdmsdfwdriver.blob.core.windows.net/files/kba-gcc/drivers-downloads/ka-00085/sst--1-13/solidigm-storage-tool-cli-user-guide-727329-010us.pdf
sst show -ssd
sst show -a -ssd <index> | grep Firmware

Firmware Update

sst load -ssd <index>
Status : Firmware update failed.

If your drives are behind a RAID card, you may have to remove them for updating.

Firmware Update using a USB to SATA enclosure

sst show -ssd
Unfortunately, the drive no longer appeared :-(

Firmware Update using Windows with USB to SATA enclosure

The drive appeared and would run tests
However attempting to update the firmware resulted in an error and the USB port being disabled until the PC was rebooted

Firmware Update using a JMB585 PCIe to SATA card, a SATA to eSATA bracket, and an external eSATA enclosure

Finally was able to update the firmware
Notes:

the firmware did not jump to the latest version and had to be updated incrementally

G2010140 -> G2010160 -> G2010170

the firmware update requested a reboot after installing so I did that

sst show -ssd
sst show -a -ssd <index> | grep Firmware
sst load -ssd <index>
Status : Firmware updated successfully. Please reboot the system.

Replacing the existing 1.2 TB drives

Setup the partitions

I used my rpool mirror instructions from here but made the following changes

removed the last-lba line
removed the start from all lines
removed the size from the final partition
don't run the zpool attach

Copy the rpool data

I am following the wizardry provided here
Add a mirror of the new disks to form a striped mirror

zpool add rpool mirror /dev/disk/by-id/ata-INTEL_SSDSC2BX800G4_<SERIAL1>-part3 /dev/disk/by-id/ata-INTEL_SSDSC2BX800G4_<SERIAL2>-part3

Check the mirror names and size

zpool status rpool
zpool list rpool

Remove the old mirror

zpool remove rpool mirror-0

Check for when "Evacuation of mirror" is done

zpool status rpool
remove: Removal of vdev 0 copied 10.7G in 0h1m

Check new size

zpool list rpool

Shutdown and remove the drives and reboot to make sure everything is working as intended
Remove the old drives from proxmox-boot-tool

proxmox-boot-tool status
proxmox-boot-tool clean
proxmox-boot-tool status

Remove all data from old drives

put the drives back in
wipe them using your favorite tool (eg. shred or dd)

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX -bs=1M status=progress
dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sdX -bs=1M status=progress

Conclusion

I saw a 7-8W drop in idle power usage and an increase in responsiveness.

Appendix

Sources

10 June 2024

r730xd Server Part 3: Software

I will be using Proxmox Helper Scripts (https://tteck.github.io/Proxmox/ or https://Helper-Scripts.com) to help configure the different LXCs and VMs that I want.

Disable nag screen

As I was tired of having to confirm that I didn't have a subscription, I ripped these commands from Proxmox VE Tools -> Proxmox VE Post Install (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tteck/Proxmox/main/misc/post-pve-install.sh) and ran on the Shell command line

echo "DPkg::Post-Invoke { \"dpkg -V proxmox-widget-toolkit | grep -q '/proxmoxlib\.js$'; if [ \$? -eq 1 ]; then { echo 'Removing subscription nag from UI...'; sed -i '/.*data\.status.*{/{s/\!//;s/active/NoMoreNagging/}' /usr/share/javascript/proxmox-widget-toolkit/proxmoxlib.js; }; fi\"; };" >/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/no-nag-script
apt --reinstall install proxmox-widget-toolkit

Setup Users

My philosophy was to put all actual users in the 1000s and system users in the 2000s

user1

useradd user1
usermod -g users user1
adduser user1 user1
id user1

user2

useradd user2
usermod -g users user2
adduser user2 user2
id user2

mythtv

groupadd -g 2001 mythtv
useradd -u 2001 -g 2001 mythtv

nginx

groupadd -g 2002 nginx
useradd -u 2002 -g 2002 nginx

edit /etc/subuid and add

root:1000:1000
root:2000:1000

edit /etc/subgid and add

root:100:1
root:1000:1000
root:2000:1000

Import ZFS

zpool import storage
I decided not to map the drive in Proxmox, but if you wanted to you would do that here

proxmox -> Datacenter -> Storage -> Add -> ZFS

Fix Directory/File Permissions

/storage/mythtv

cd /storage/mythtv
ls -al
find ./ -user <current owner> -print0 | xargs -0 chown -h mythtv
find ./ -group <current group> -print0 | xargs -0 chgrp -h mythtv

/storage/containers/mythtv

cd /storage/containers/mythtv
ls -al
find ./ -user <current owner> -print0 | xargs -0 chown -h mythtv
find ./ -group <current group> -print0 | xargs -0 chgrp -h mythtv

/storage/containers/webserver

cd /storage/containers
chown -R nginx webserver
chgrp -R nginx webserver

Create a Docker LXC

Now I needed a Docker LXC to run my webserver and MythTV

bash -c "$(wget -qLO - https://github.com/tteck/Proxmox/raw/main/ct/docker.sh)"
I then edited the config to set a static IP and change the hostname

docker -> Network -> net0 -> Edit
docker -> DNS -> Hostname -> Edit

Add users

groupadd -g 2000 nas
useradd -u 2000 -g 2000 nas

mythtv

groupadd -g 2001 mythtv
useradd -u 2001 -g 2001 mythtv

nginx

groupadd -g 2002 nginx
useradd -u 2002 -g 2002 nginx

MythTV

Edit /storage/containers/mythtv/docker-compose.yml

Change the User Ids and Groups Ids to 2001

Test

docker compose up -d

If it looks like API port changed from 6544 to 6744, then you need to fix the IPs
Check pin and update backend ip

apt-get install default-mysql-client
mysql -p -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306 mythconverg

select * from settings where value like '%pin%'
update settings set data = '192.168.1.31' where data = '192.168.1.11' ;
quit;

Restart MythTV and Test

docker compose down && docker compose up -d

This time I put a copy of docker-mythtv.service in /storage/container/mythtv so I can easily copy it to /etc/systemd/system/ in the future

make sure to change `docker-compose` to `docker compose`

docker compose down
systemctl enable docker-mythtv
systemctl start docker-mythtv

Webserver

Test

docker compose up -d
docker compose down

This time I put a copy of docker-webserver.service, certbot.service, and certbot.timer in /storage/container/webserver/systemd so I can easily copy it to /etc/systemd/system/ in the future

make sure to change `docker-compose` to `docker compose`

cp certbot.service certbot.timer docker-webserver.server /etc/systemd/system/
systemctl enable docker-webserver
systemctl start docker-webserver
systemctl enable certbot.timer

Create a Debian LXC for File Sharing

following:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu3t8pcq8O0

bash -c "$(wget -qLO - https://github.com/tteck/Proxmox/raw/main/ct/debian.sh)"
Add users/groups

<container> -> Console
user1

useradd user1
usermod -g users user1
adduser user1 user1
id user2

user2

useradd user2
usermod -g users user2
adduser user2 user2
id user2

groupadd -g 2000 nas
useradd nas -u 2000 -g 2000 -m -s /bin/bash
adduser nas sudo
passwd nas

shutdown the container
Set a static IP and change the hostname

<container> -> Network -> net0 -> Edit
<container> -> DNS -> Hostname -> Edit

Add more compute/memory (2 cores/1024MB)

<container> -> Resources -> Cores -> Edit
<container> -> Resources -> Memory -> Edit

Add our storage

edit /etc/pve/lxc/<container id>.conf
add a line for each of your datasets like the below examples:

mp0: /storage/folder1/dataset1,mp=/storage/folder1/dataset1
mp1: /storage/folder1/dataset2,mp=/storage/folder1/dataset2
mp2: /storage/dataset3,mp=/storage/dataset3

Map the users

Notes

/etc/subuid and /etc/subgid need to specify the user starting the lxc container (root)
/etc/pve/lxc/<container id>.conf needs to map all ids and not just the ones you want to remap

edit /etc/pve/lxc/<container id>.conf add these lines

lxc.idmap: u 0 100000 1000
lxc.idmap: u 1000 1000 1000
lxc.idmap: u 2000 102000 63535
lxc.idmap: g 0 100000 100
lxc.idmap: g 100 100 1
lxc.idmap: g 101 100101 899
lxc.idmap: g 1000 1000 1000
lxc.idmap: g 2000 102000 63535

~~Change the drive permissions~~

I couldn't get the container to boot with trying to remap root so don't do this step
~~cd /rpool/data/subvol-<container id>-disk-0~~
~~find ./ -user 100000 -print0 | xargs -0 chown -h 2000~~
~~find ./ -group 100000 -print0 | xargs -0 chgrp -h 2000~~

Start the container
Install cockpit

apt install cockpit --no-install-recommends
wget https://github.com/45Drives/cockpit-file-sharing/releases/download/v3.3.7/cockpit-file-sharing_3.3.7-1focal_all.deb
wget https://github.com/45Drives/cockpit-navigator/releases/download/v0.5.10/cockpit-navigator_0.5.10-1focal_all.deb
wget https://github.com/45Drives/cockpit-identities/releases/download/v0.1.12/cockpit-identities_0.1.12-1focal_all.deb
apt install ./*.deb
rm *.deb

Configure cockpit

https://192.168.X.X:9090
use nas to login
enable administrative access
Identities

Set a Samba password for each of the users

File Sharing

Click "Fix Now"
Global Settings

Toggle Global MacOS Shares
Add `allow insecure wide links = yes` to Advanced
Apply

Add your shares
I used the following to ensure all users can access others files in advanced

create mask = 0664
force create mode = 0664
directory mask = 0775
force directory mode = 0775

I used the following to be able to follow symlinks

follow symlinks = yes
wide links = yes

Create a Ubuntu VM for VNC and Handbrake

I have read that x264 sees reduced performance with over 6 threads, so I gave the VM 12 virtual cores since I want to be able to process 2 discs at a time.

bash -c "$(wget -qLO - https://github.com/tteck/Proxmox/raw/main/vm/ubuntu2404-vm.sh)"
Edit Cloud-Init

ubuntu -> Cloud-Init
set user/pass
set static IP

Disable start at boot

ubuntu -> Options -> Start at boot -> Edit
uncheck and the hit OK

Change resources

12 Cores
24 GB of memory (2 GB per core)
added 16 GB of storage

Console

start VM
login

Enable ssh with password

/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/10_users.conf

Match User username

PasswordAuthentication yes

sudo systemctl restart ssh

VNC server

sudo apt install tigervnc-standalone-server

A window manager and terminal to use inside VNC

sudo apt install xfce4 xfce4-terminal

Keep proxmox console as text

sudo systemctl set-default multi-user.target

Start VNC

tigervncserver :1 -geometry 1600x900 -depth 24 -localhost no -SecurityTypes VncAuth,TLSVnc -xstartup /usr/bin/startxfce4

Add handbrake

sudo apt install handbrake libdvd-pkg
sudo dpkg-reconfigure libdvd-pkg

Set timezone (Added 2024-0620)

timedatectl list-timezones
sudo timedatectl set-timezone America/New_York

Setup samba shares

sudo apt install cifs-utils
create a file to save samba credentials in (eg smbcredentials)

username=username
password=password

mount the shares

sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.1.XX/nas /storage/encrypted/nas -o credentials=/home/<username>/smbcredentials,uid=<username>,gid=users

Add qemu agent (added 2024-07-29)

sudo apt install qemu-guest-agent
sudo systemctl start qemu-guest-agent

Appendix

Error

Failed to run lxc.hook.pre-start for container

are your zfs pools mounted?

make sure cifs-utils are installed
- sudo apt install cifs-utils
samba files are all owned by root

make sure to add the uid and gid to the mount command

Sources

samba masks:

https://www.samba.org/samba/docs/current/man-html/smb.conf.5.html#FORCEDIRECTORYMODE

samba follow links:

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/5120/how-do-you-make-samba-follow-symlink-outside-the-shared-path

id mapping:

ssh:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1450980/enable-ssh-login-with-password-for-a-user

libdvdcss:

https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/installing-plugins-codecs-libdvdcss-in-debian-ubuntu-linux/

revert ubuntu console from gui back to text mode inside proxmox

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/90554/how-to-boot-linux-to-command-line-mode-instead-of-gui

timezone

https://askubuntu.com/questions/3375/how-to-change-time-zone-settings-from-the-command-line

05 June 2024

r730xd Server Part 2: Lowering Idle Power

As the plan is to have the server on 24/7, I wanted to lower the idle power usage. All power numbers were manually captured from a smart outlet.

Baseline

1 x e3-1225v3, 4 x 8GB, 1 SSD, 2 x WD Red Plus 6TB, 1 x JMB585

in Ubuntu no load

~35W

2 x e5-2670v3, 8 x 16GB, 1 x 10K 2.5" SAS

in Proxmox no load

~95W (93.6 to 100)
4% fans

stress -c 48

290W
8% fans
70C + 77C (inlet 16C, exhaust 39C)

Removing a processor

This will lower the PCIe connectivity, but should save power. To be able to remove a processor, I needed to buy a CPU socket cover and an airflow guide

Socket 2011-3 cover: $6.99 + tax
Dell CPU Blank airflow guide 21PJD: $11.02 + tax

Note: this will not allow you to install blanks into the memory slots so dust could be an issue

Updated total: $452 + tax

1 x e5-2670v3, 4 x 16GB, 1 x 10K 2.5" SAS

in Proxmox no load

~81W (80.5 to 85.4)
4% fans

stress -c 24

166W
8% fans
67C (inlet 15C, exhaust 27C)

1 x e5-2670v3, 8 x 16GB, 1 x 10K 2.5" SAS

in Proxmox no load

~82W (81.4 to 85.2)
4% fans

stress -c 24

174W
8% fans
68C (inlet 15C, exhaust 27C)

This means that the memory used only about ~1W at idle for all 4 sticks and ~8W at full load. This means that running a single processor will save me about 13W.

Adding a second drive

Adding the second 1.2TB SAS drive increased my idle power usage by ~4.5W

in Proxmox no load

~86.5W
4% fans

Making the jump from a Xeon v3 (22nm) to v4 (14nm)

For this upgrade I bought used processors

2 x 2680 v4: $21.58 + tax
Updated total: $474 + tax

I moved from a 2670 v3 to a 2680 v4 in hopes that it would shave off a couple of watts at idle, unfortunately it uses ~1.5W more. So it seems that each core uses about 1W at idle.

in Proxmox no load

~88W (87.4 to 89.1)
4% fans

stress -c 28

205-206W
80C (inlet 17C, exhaust 30C)

While not improving the idle power usage, it will be a large boost in both single-core (13%) and multi-core performance (23%) https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/2779vs2337/Intel-Xeon-E5-2680-v4-vs-Intel-Xeon-E5-2670-v3

Setting governor to powersave

Tried changing the governor to save idle power, but did not notice any change.

apt-get install linux-cpupower
cpupower frequency-set -g powersave

Appendix

Sources

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/CPU_frequency_scaling#Scaling_governors

26 May 2024

Dockerize MythTV

To prepare for my new server, I needed to migrate the rest of MythTV including its MySQL database to Docker containers.

Migrate MythTV Backend and MySQL to Docker

Edit docker-compose-webserver.service to remove references to mysql.service

This step is only necessary if you followed my other guide that dockerized mythweb
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Stop and Disable MythTV Backend

sudo systemctl stop mythtv-backend
sudo systemctl disable mythtv-backend

Create directories and set permissions

sudo mkdir -p /storage/containers/mythtv/mysql/lib
sudo chown -R mysql /storage/containers/mythtv/mysql
sudo chgrp -R mysql /storage/containers/mythtv/mysql

Dump the current mythconverg database to a file and update the hostname

sudo su
mysqldump -p<existing root password> mythconverg > mythconverg.mysqldump
sed "s/'<old hostname>'/'mythtv-backend'/g" mythconverg.mysqldump > mythconverg.mysqldump.host
exit

Stop and disable current MySQL instance

sudo systemctl stop mysql
sudo systemctl disable mysql

Identify the needed UIDs and GIDs

id mysql && id mythtv

Create the docker-compose.yml with just a MySQL section

# Begin docker-compose.yml
version: '3.5'
services:
mythtv-mysql:
container_name: 'mythtv-mysql'
hostname: 'mythtv-mysql'
user: '<mysql uid>:<mysql gid>'
image: mysql:latest
restart: always
ports:
- '3306:3306'
environment:
- MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=RootSuperSecretPassword
- MYSQL_USER=mythtv
- MYSQL_PASSWORD=YourSuperSecretPassword
volumes:
- ./mysql/lib:/var/lib/mysql
# End docker-compose.yml

Restore the database:

sudo docker-compose up --build
sudo mysql -p -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306

create database mythconverg ;
connect mythconverg ;
source mythconverg.mysqldump.host ;
grant all privileges on mythconverg to 'mythtv'@'%' ;
grant all privileges on mythconverg.* to 'mythtv'@'%' ;
quit ;

Use Ctrl-C to stop the container

Add the backend to docker-compose.yml

# Begin docker-compose.yml
version: '3.5'
services:
mythtv-mysql:
container_name: 'mythtv-mysql'
hostname: 'mythtv-mysql'
user: '<mysql uid>:<mysql gid>'
image: mysql:latest
restart: always
ports:
- '3306:3306'
environment:
- MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=RootSuperSecretPassword
- MYSQL_USER=mythtv
- MYSQL_PASSWORD=YourSuperSecretPassword
volumes:
- ./mysql/lib:/var/lib/mysql
mythtv-backend:
container_name: 'mythtv-backend'
hostname: 'mythtv-backend'
user: '<mythtv uid>:<mythtv gid>'
image: dheaps/mythbackend:latest
restart: always
depends_on:
- mythtv-mysql
network_mode: host
# entrypoint: 'echo backend disabled'
environment:
- USER_ID=<mythtv uid>
- GROUP_ID=<mythtv gid>
- DATABASE_HOST=host.docker.internal
- DATABASE_PORT=3306
- DATABASE_NAME=mythconverg
- DATABASE_USER=mythtv
- DATABASE_PWD=YourSuperSecretPassword
- TZ=America/New_York
volumes:
- /storage/mythtv:/var/lib/mythtv
extra_hosts:
- host.docker.internal:host-gateway
# End docker-compose.yml

Test it out

docker-compose up --build
Ctrl-C to stop it once you confirm it works

Add it to systemd: /etc/systemd/system/docker-mythtv.service

# Begin docker-mythtv.service
[Unit]
Description=Docker Compose MythTV Service
Requires=docker.service
After=docker.service

[Service]
Type=oneshot
RemainAfterExit=yes
WorkingDirectory=/storage/containers/mythtv
ExecStart=/usr/bin/docker-compose up --build -d
ExecStop=/usr/bin/docker-compose down
TimeoutStartSec=0

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
# End docker-mythtv.service

Enable and start the service

sudo systemctl enable docker-mythtv
sudo systemctl start docker-mythtv

I also had to update docker-compose.yml for mythweb to use DATABASE_HOST=host.docker.internal and add the extra_hosts

Appendix

Errors

MythCoreContext::CheckSubnet(): Repeat denied connection from ip address

Connect to the MySQL database

sudo mysql -p -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306

Run one of the following:

update settings set data = 1 where value = 'AllowConnFromAll' ;
OR
insert into settings(value, data, hostname)
values('AllowConnFromAll', '1', 'mythtv-backend')
;

only one instance of "host" network is allowed

ensure that you are using either external host network or network_mode

Sources

https://hub.docker.com/r/dheaps/mythbackend
https://www.ramin-hossaini.com/2021/06/migrate-mysql-from-native-installation-to-dockerubuntu/
Unable to connect to HDHomerun (use host network for backend):

AllowConnFromAll:

MythTV change hostname:

https://lists.mythtv.org/pipermail/mythtv-users/2004-January/026455.html

MySQL import data

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17666249/how-to-import-an-sql-file-using-the-command-line-in-mysql

Docker Restart Policy

https://docs.docker.com/config/containers/start-containers-automatically/#use-a-restart-policy

Alternative migration strategy

https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Database_Backup_and_Restore

17 April 2024

r730xd Server Part 1: Initial Build

In order to support more than the 2 hard drives I could in the TS140, I needed a new system. Here were my requirements:

price < $500
reasonable noise level
more than 4 cores
ECC RAM (preferably at least 128GB)
8 or more spots for hard drives

I was looking at some older SuperMicro and Dell systems. I read several posts about the power supplies being louder on the SuperMicro so I decided to go with the Dell r730xd that supports 12 x 3.5" drives in the front and 2 x 2.5" drives in the rear.

Hardware

r730xd used - $350 + tax

2 x e5-2670v3 12 cores each
128 GB ECC DDR4 (8 x 16GB)
PERC H730p Mini raid controller
1 x 2.5" caddie with 1.2TB 10K SAS drive
iDRAC 8 Enterprise license

12 x 3.5" used caddies - $60 + tax

SAS or SATA caddie both work for holding sata drives

1 x 2.5" caddie with 1.2 TB 10K SAS drive - $24 + tax

this is a second drive for a boot mirror

total: $434 + tax

TLDR; Pros/Cons

Pros

Many many cores
Loads of RAM with expandability
Thermal solution works quite well even under full load with fans at 6-8% (2640-2880 rpm) on auto keeping the processors around 77C
iDRAC is quite useful especially the HTML5 virtual console (requires Enterprise license)

Cons

No hardware reset for iDRAC

Somewhere in the middle

idle power usage of 94-96W (with a single 2.5" drive) is higher than I would like

Fans @ 4% (2280 rpm)
18W for iDRAC even when powered down

installing hard drive

when installing an older drive (250GB WD) fans spun up to 40% (7320 rpm), this may have been because it was unable to read temp or was failing
installing a 3TB WD Red drive caused the fans to go to 6% (2680 rpm)

Fan noise

45-50% (8880-9840 rpm) is noticeable with the basement door closed
30% (6480 rpm) is noticeable with the basement door open
15-20% (4080-4920 rpm) about as loud as a running fridge
10% (3240 rpm) a low constant hum
6% (2640 rpm) quieter than seeking dvd drives

BIOS/iDRAC reset and setup

First I did a BIOS reset by moving the jumper. Unfortunately, this did not reset the iDRAC, and there does not seem to be a way to do this with hardware. For this you will need a VGA monitor and keyboard. I followed this video to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5pYfqDtzQw

Reset BIOS

F2 for System Setup
System BIOS
Default
Finish and Confirm
Reboot

BIOS Settings to change from default

Boot Settings -> Boot Mode -> UEFI
System Profile Settings -> System Profile -> Performance per Watt (OS)
Integrated Devices -> USB 3.0 Setting -> Enable (Added 2024-06-07)
Finish and Confirm
Reboot

Reset iDRAC

F2 for System Setup
iDRAC Settings
Reset iDRAC configurations to defaults
Finish and Confirm
Reboot

Then I was able to configure iDRAC from its default 192.168.0.120 to an unused IP on my network.

F2 for System Setup
iDRAC Settings
Network
Update Static IP Address (and Subnet/Gateway if applicable)
Back
Finish and Confirm
Reboot

Memory Testing

While memtest86 isn't the best memory tester available, it is free and doesn't require an OS to be installed. I used version 10.7, which I downloaded the ISO for loading onto my Ventoy USB from here: https://www.memtest86.com/downloads/memtest86-iso.zip

It took about 24 hours to do all 4 passes of the test patterns.

Update iDRAC

Here is where I downloaded the iDRAC update from: https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/poweredge-r730xd/drivers. You should download the version for windows for uploading through the Web UI. Then apply the updates from the iDRAC interface: Login to iDRAC -> iDRAC Settings -> Update and Rollback -> upload

At first I download the win64 version of the latest available (2.85.85.85), but the update would fail due to it not validating. Here is the update path that I went with: 2.61.60.60 -> 2.63.60.61 (win32) -> 2.75.100.75 (win32) -> 2.85.85.85 (win64)

After the first update the iDRAC appeared to be unresponsive, so I let it sit for ~20 minutes and it was still unresponsive, however I could ping it. At this point I held in the "i" button for ~20s to restart the iDRAC. This brought it back to life.

Here is a video that I found helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dea-PA1na0c

Update the rest of the firmware

I always update the BIOS separately

Update BIOS/UEFI:

Login to iDRAC -> iDRAC Settings -> Update and Rollback -> HTTPS
HTTPS Address: downloads.dell.com
Check for Updates
Select the BIOS update and click "Install and Reboot"
The system will then reboot and install the new BIOS

Update Raid/Network:

Login to iDRAC -> iDRAC Settings -> Update and Rollback -> HTTPS
HTTPS Address: downloads.dell.com
Check for Updates
Select the Raid and Network update and click "Install and Reboot"
The system will then reboot and install the new BIOS

Set Raid card to HBA mode

This will pass the drives directly to the OS to manage the software raid.

Proxmox install

I downloaded Proxmox 8.1 from: https://www.proxmox.com/en/downloads

I was using a Ventoy USB to do my Proxmox 8.1 install, but it was giving me an error. However, I found that you need to use Ventoy >= 1.0.97 (https://github.com/ventoy/Ventoy/releases/tag/v1.0.97). So I updated my Ventoy USB and then the install proceeded.

During the setup here are some of the values that I chose:

Target -> Options

If you only have 1/2 of your boot drives

ZFS (RAID0)
Harddisk 0 - 1.09TB
Harddisk 1 - Do not use

If you have both go ahead and setup the mirror

ZFS (RAID1)
Harddisk 0 - 1.09TB
Harddisk 1 - 1.09TB

Timezone: America/New_York
Password and Email
Management

Make sure to select the correct management interface (easier if network is hooked up before starting setup)
Hostname: r730xd.home.arpa
IP Address: pick a free IP
Gateway/DNS

After the setup, login to the web ui: https://<IP>:8006

Disable Proxmox Enterprise repos as they require a license

Click on the hostname (r730xd)
Remove the subscription update repository

Updates -> Repositories
Highlight "pve pve-enterprise" and click "Disable"
Highlight "ceph-quincy enterprise" and click "Disable"

Add the No Subscript update repository

per https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/chapter-sysadmin.html for NON-PRODUCTION updates
Click "Add"
Select "No-Subscription"
Click "Add"
Click "Add"
Select "Ceph Quincy No-Subscription"
Click "Add"

Update your install

Updates
Click "Refresh"
Close the window when it is done
Click "Upgrade"
Type "y" and enter

Add the rpool mirror (if not configured at install)

Determine if using grub or systemd-boot

proxmox-boot-tool status
efibootmgr -v

Copy the partition table over (removing disk label-id and uuids so sfdisk generates new ones)

sfdisk -d /dev/sda > part_table
sed -e '/^label-id:/d' -e 's/,\s*uuid=[-0-9A-F]*//g' part_table | sfdisk /dev/sdb

Copy the bios boot

dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/sdb1

Prepare EFI partition

~~dd if=/dev/sda2 of=/dev/sdb2~~ Don't do this as it keeps the UUID
OR
proxmox-boot-tool format /dev/sdb2

Initialize the EFT partition

proxmox-boot-tool init /dev/sdb2
OR if using grub
proxmox-boot-tool init /dev/sdb2 grub

Get current zpool drive

zpool status

Add the mirror

zpool attach rpool scsi-XXXXXXXXX-part3 /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-YYYYYYYYY-part3

ZFS will then resilver the drive, to check if done run

zpool status

intel_pstate

Trying to lower the idle power usage, I wanted to try a different cpu governor driver.

check whether it is intel_pstate or intel_cpufreq

apt install cpufrequtils
cpufreq-info | head -n 13

Determine if using grub or systemd-boot

proxmox-boot-tool status
efibootmgr -v

to enable intel_pstate for grub boot:

edit /etc/default/grub
add intel_pstate=active to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT

example: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet intel_pstate=active"

proxmox-boot-tool refresh
wait for grub to finish updating and then reboot

to enable intel_pstate for systemd-boot

edit /etc/kernel/cmdline
add intel_pstate=active to the end
proxmox-boot-tool refresh
wait for it to update and then reboot

ensure it is now intel_pstate

cpufreq-info | head -n 13

unfortunately this did not change idle power usage

Fan Information

Here are the fan values from my r730xd

4% -> 2280 rpm -> 10 cfm
6% -> 2640 rpm -> 12 cfm
9% -> 3000 rpm -> 18 cfm
12% -> 3600 rpm -> 21 cfm
15% -> 4080 rpm -> 24 cfm
20% -> 4920 rpm -> 30 cfm
25% -> 5640 rpm -> 36 cfm
30% -> 6480 rpm -> 41 cfm
40% -> 7320 rpm -> 53 cfm
50% -> 8160 rpm -> 64 cfm

Appendix

Sources

copying part tables

intel_pstate:

04 April 2024

Checking if two video files are the same aside from metadata

As I wanted to make sure that two video files were identical aside from metadata, I decided to write a script to help me. The script will create a hash from the audio and video data without the header data.

Caveats:

There is a chance for hash collisions, so double check the results manually before deleting
This script doesn't flag videos as duplicates if they are the same video but have different resolution, bitrate, audio data, etc

Requirements

ffmpeg
md5sum

Shell Version

Initial shell script to compare to 2 files:

#!/bin/sh
file1="$1"
file2="$2"

flags="-fflags +bitexact -flags:v +bitexact -flags:a +bitexact -c copy -f matroska"

file1hash=$(ffmpeg -i "$file1" $flags -c copy -f matroska -loglevel error - | md5sum | cut -f1 -d" ")
file2hash=$(ffmpeg -i "$file2" $flags -c copy -f matroska -loglevel error - | md5sum | cut -f1 -d" ")

echo "$file1hash $file1"
echo "$file2hash $file2"

Example Shell

$./diffvideo.sh file1.m4v file2.m4v
cb31XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX file1.m4v
cb31XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX file2.m4v

Python Version

Expanded python script to compare more files:

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import argparse
import shlex
import subprocess

def setup_cli():
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
prog='',
description='',
epilog='',
)
parser.add_argument('filenames', nargs='*')
return parser

def check_files(filenames):
hashes = {'not_a_video': []}
for file in filenames:
flags = '-fflags +bitexact -flags:v +bitexact -flags:a +bitexact'
cmd = f'ffmpeg -i "{file}" {flags} -c copy -f matroska -'
ff_proc = subprocess.run(shlex.split(cmd), capture_output=True)
if ff_proc.returncode != 0:
hashes['not_a_video'].append(file)
continue
hash_proc = subprocess.run('md5sum', capture_output=True, input=ff_proc.stdout)
filehash = hash_proc.stdout.decode().split()[0]
if filehash not in hashes:
hashes[filehash] = []
hashes[filehash].append(file)

return hashes

def print_results(hashes):
not_a_video = hashes.pop('not_a_video')
singles = {}
dupes = {}
for key, value in hashes.items():
if len(value) > 1:
dupes[key] = value
else:
singles[key] = value

if not_a_video:
print('\nNot a video:')
for each in not_a_video:
print(f' {each}')

if dupes:
print('\nDuplicates found:')
for key, value in dupes.items():
print(f' {key}')
for v in value:
print(f' {v}')

if singles:
print('\nNo Duplicates for these files:')
for key, value in singles.items():
print(f' {value[0]}')

if __name__ == "__main__":
parser = setup_cli()
args = parser.parse_args()
hashes = check_files(args.filenames)
print_results(hashes)

Example Python

$./diffvideo.py *

Not a video:
test.txt
file.docx

Duplicates found:
cb31XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
file1.m4v
file2.m4v
ab76XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
file5.m4v
file6.m4v

No duplicates for these files:
file3.m4v
file4.m4v

Appendix

Sources