Please note, this procedure only applies to the MV1.  The MV2 comes shipped with Firefly already installed so there's no need to hack it.  If you don't know which one you have, please check out this section of the FAQ.  

( These procedures were modified to accommodate a new way of installing modules on the HP Media Vault as explained in this webpage.   Previously, the directions were to run Firefly from FileShare )

The open source server called Firefly, also known as mt-dappd, emulates the network sharing function of iTunes. This program  has been ported to a number of embedded Linux devices and these instructions will guide you through the installation on the HP Media Vault. It's popular with Roku owners because it supports more of that product's features than the DLNA server that is built into the HP Media Vault. This software is experimental and although there is very little risk of damaging your HP Media Vault, please understand that the only support for it will be through the HP Media Vault Yahoo Group via Lee Devlin and other group members. It's NOT an official release from HP.

One  limitation to this open source server when compared to a PC or a Mac iTunes server is that it will not stream DRM-protected files, such as those purchased from the iTunes music store to a device that doesn't support DRM-protected files.

This installation requires some Linux skills, namely the ability to log in to your HP Media Vault via telnet and perform a few simple commands.    Before proceeding, go to the Media Vault's web interface and set up a new Shared Folder on Volume1 called 'ShareApps'.   Just use the default settings for it.  Open this new folder in Windows Explorer and create a folder in ShareApps called opt.  Then create two more sub-folders in opt called firefly and lib.

Download firefly version svn 1463 and shared libraries, unzip them on a PC.   

Patrick S.  has made a much newer version (svn 1696) of Firefly available.   Thanks to Patrick and to Bob for testing it.

Just drag and drop them 'as is' on to the MediaVault's ShareApps/opt/firefly directory you set up in the previous step.  Don't try to put them in a different directory because if you do, the startup scripts won't work.

One of the files is called mt-daapd.conf.  This is a configuration file that includes changes to allow FireFly to run on the Media Vault.   You can take a look at it and make any changes you deem necessary with Notepad or similar text editor.  The file has fairly detailed explanations for each setting.  One edit you may need to make is the location of the music files on your Media Vault if they are not already stored in folders under the Shared Folder "MediaShare."  The mt-daapd.conf file is set up by default to look there for your song files. Otherwise, you shouldn't have to make any changes to mt-dappd.conf.

After you've unzipped and copied all the files and folders to ShareApps, telnet into your HP Media Vault using telnet by following the procedure for enabling telnet in the FAQ and execute this command to install and launch the server.

If you've already installed the Twonky server and its auto-launch script, all you need to do is edit the file called ext-script.sh and add these two lines:

cd /shares/Volume1/ShareApps/opt/firefly
./mt-daapd -c mt-daapd.conf

You can then  type these commands from the telnet prompt to start firefly.

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/shares/Volume1/ShareApps/opt/lib:/lib
cd /shares/Volume1/ShareApps/opt/firefly
./mt-daapd -c mt-daapd.conf

If you have not installed Twonky, you can telnet into the HP Media Vault and perform this command:

/shares/Volume1/ShareApps/opt/firefly/firefly-auto

This will copy a few files to the appropriate locations and then it will start the firefly server. You can see the contents of this file and the scripts it will install here.  The firefly server should now be running.  You can check for it by checking the "process status" with this command:

ps

You should see some processes at the end of this list called mt-daapd, that look like this:

...
311 root 780 S ./mt-daapd -c mt-daapd.conf
312 root 696 S ./mt-daapd -c mt-daapd.conf
313 root 696 S ./mt-daapd -c mt-daapd.conf
314 root 696 S ./mt-daapd -c mt-daapd.conf

 

You can then use iTunes on your PC or Mac to see if a new server has appeared on your network with the name you entered in the mt-daapd.conf file (The default name is HPMediaVault svn-1463).   On iTunes it will appear just above Playlists in a category called 'Shared'.  In the image to the right, there are two Firefly Servers on the network, one running on a PC called Firefly Media Server and the one running on the HP Media Vault.   Make sure that iTunes is configured to look for servers on your network.  To do that, in iTunes select Edit->Preferences->Sharing and enable 'Look for Shared Libraries'.

If you ever want to kill the firefly server, you can use this command from the telnet prompt:

killall mt-daapd

to manually restart it, use these commands:

cd /shares/Volume1/ShareApps/opt/firefly
./mt-daapd -c mt-daapd.conf
 

Since you launched the firefly server from a telnet session, it will die when the telnet session dies, but the installation script copied some files to automatically start it when the Media Vault restarts.  You must be running firmware version 1.2.5.6 or later on your Media Vault for the startup.sh script to work. 

Now when you restart the Media Vault, you should see Firefly (mt-daapd) running automatically when you do a 'ps' command from a telnet session..

Please email me if you run into any difficulty with these instructions.

If you have a Linux system and wish to compile a version of Firefly based on something newer than version 1463, here are the Firefly compiling instructions.

Return to the HP Media Vault FAQ