[Part 3] Download torrent & newsserver packages

[Fred]

The new all-in one download package (3.0) is out. For everyone new to this, this is an all-in one fully automated newsserver and torrent downloader. After configuring all you will have to do is tell it what movies, tvshows and music you like and it will be downloaded once available.

Biggest improvement compared to the previous package is that this one is configured such that it can run while you are watching a movie on XBMC. So no more worrying about pause downloads or shutting down services when you want to watch a movie. For all changes see the section 'Changes since download package 2.0'

This is a long post because I tried to make it as complete as possible. It’s divided in sections and you are not required to read all sections, so you can choose what to read.

Sections overview
Information about the package
-Included packages
* Transmission
* NZBGet
* Sick Beard (TPB edition)
* CouchPotato
* Headphones
-Changes since download package 2.0
Installation
Installation step 1: Preparation
Installation step 2: Download Package 3.0
Configuration
General configuration
Optional configuration
-Use an external usb storage device
-Enable/disable packages
-Changing process priorities

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Information about the package

Included packages

A short description of all the packages included in the download package:

Transmission
For downloading torrents.

Quote:Transmission is an open source, volunteer-based project. Unlike some BitTorrent clients, Transmission doesn't play games with its users to make money:
- Transmission doesn't bundle toolbars, pop-up ads, flash ads, twitter tools, or anything else.
- It doesn't hold some feaures back for a payware version.
- Its source code is available for anyone to review.
- We don't track our users, and our website and forums have no third-party ads or analytics.

NZBGet
For downloading from newsservers.

Quote:NZBGet is a cross-platform binary newsgrabber for nzb files, written in C++. It supports client/server mode, automatic par-check/-repair and web-interface. NZBGet requires low system resources and runs great on routers, NAS-devices and media players.

Sick Beard (TPB edition)
For automating your tv series downloads.

Quote:Sick Beard is a PVR for newsgroup and torrent users. It watches for new episodes of your favorite shows and when they are posted it downloads them, sorts and renames them, and optionally generates metadata for them.

CouchPotato
For automating your movies downloads.

Quote:CouchPotato (CP) is an automatic NZB and torrent downloader. You can keep a "movies I want"-list and it will search for NZBs/torrents of these movies every X hours. Once a movie is found, it will send it to NZBGet or download the torrent to a specified directory.

Headphones
For automating your music downloads.

Quote:Headphones is an automated NZB downloader, similar to Sick Beard and CouchPotato, but for music!
Most of it is pretty automated - click a button and your whole music library gets imported.... or if you prefer, you can add your favorite artists in one by one.
It'll let you know when one of the artists on your list is coming out with a new album, and it will grab the nzb/torrent it as soon as it's available

Changes since download package 2.0

General changes made
Adjustable process priorities
The nice priorities of each package are adjustable and their default is set such that the packages can run while xbmc is running. So you can watch a movie without stutter while your downloaders and searchers are still running.

Fixed auto updaters
Sickbeard, CouchPotato and Headphones are configured to auto update to the latest version on github. Due to wrong permissions this did not work, it is fixed now so these will be updated automatically (if enabled by you of course).

Package specific changes
Transmission changes:
No specific changes made.
13-07 update: Upgraded from version 2.76 to 2.80

NZBGet changes:
Upgraded from version 9.0 to 10.2 (latest stable version)
13-07 update: Upgraded to version 11.0

Sick Beard changes:
We decided to move from the original Sick Beard to the Sick Beard ThePirateBay edition.
This edition has more functionality (without losing any features). Some extra features:
- Better torrent support
- Better GUI
- Automatic subtitle downloader

CouchPotato changes:
Upgraded to the newest version.

Headphones changes:
Upgraded to the newest version.
Fixed bug that prevented the user from changing NZBGet login details.

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Installation

This installation guide is based on installing via SSH commandline (How to connect via SSH).
If you are running Beta1 you can also install this with xbian-config in SSH or XBMC.


Upgrading from previous package

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You can skip this part and continue at step 1 if you haven’t used/installed the download package before or have completely removed it.
You can upgrade from the previous download package but it is not guaranteed to work in all cases. You can always try upgrading and if it does not work do a clean install.
If you decide to upgrade, I would recommend to backup settings files and database files.

Some remarks on upgrading for specific packages:

NZBGet
Unpacking of rar files is now an included feature, so the old post-process script won’t be required anymore.
After upgrading, he first time you start it, go to its web interface (x.x.x.x.:9092), navigate to settings and press the button 'save all changes' and then reload NZBget. This will upgrade some settings that were not in previous versions.

Sick Beard
The database from the previous Sick Beard cannot be used in this newest version, due to the fact this is ThePirateBay edition. So you will have to import your tvshows all over again, this is not a lot of work for you but the Raspberry Pi will need some time for this.

CouchPotato
The database from the previous version will be re used. The database will be migrated to the new version, I can’t guarantee this to work always. If this fails you will have to re add your movies and wanted list manually. You will have to stop couchpotato and remove the .db files from the folder /etc/couchpotato/, then start it again.


After upgrading it is recommended to manually check your settings per package. It is known that some settings reset to default. Also give the packages enough time to migrate the databases before you continue configuring.

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Installation step 1: Preparation

Run an apt-get update to make sure you’ll get the latest available packages:

Code:

sudo apt-get update

Optional 7z installation

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For most users this won't be necessary to install. If it turns out you need it anyway, you can always install it afterward.
If you download from newsservers 99% will be packed in rar archives. Therefore unrar-nonfree is automatically installed if you install the download package. However in some rare occasions it might be packed in a 7z archive.
To extract these you will need 7zip, you can install it simple with the following command:

Code:

sudo apt-get install p7zip-full

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XBian <=Alpha5 only

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If you are installing this on beta1 or higher you can skip this part and continue with step 2. For alpha5 this is optional but strongly recommended. It will allow you to run the download package and watch movies at the same time.

Add this line ‘kernel.sched_autogroup_enabled = 0’ (without the quotation marks) at the end of the file /etc/sysctl.conf. Edit this file with a text editor, for instance nano:

Code:

sudo nano /etc/sysctl.conf

After you have made these changes reboot your system.

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Installation step 2: Download Package 3.0

Install the actual package, very simple:

Code:

sudo apt-get install -y -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confdef" -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confold" xbian-package-download

This will take some time, be patient.

If you want to install packages separately replace xbian-package-download in the previous line by one of the package names listed below:

Quote: xbian-package-transmission
xbian-package-nzbget
xbian-package-sickbeard
xbian-package-couchpotato
xbian-package-headphones

Congratulations, you have installed the download package. Wait a couple of minutes for the packages to start and then continue with configuring the packages.

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Configuration

General configuration

All the packages have a web interface, these can be accessed through your internet browser. Enter the following in the address bar (replace x.x.x.x by the IP address of your raspberry pi)

Code:

Transmission: http://x.x.x.x:9091/
NZBGet: http://x.x.x.x:9092/
Headphones: http://x.x.x.x:9093/
Sick Beard: http://x.x.x.x:9094/
CouchPotato: http://x.x.x.x:9095/

Browse to the settings section of the package and change it to your wants and needs. CouchPotato has actually a wizard that can be accessed on:

Code:

CouchPotato: http://x.x.x.x:9095/wizard

Now you are finished and you can start adding movies, tvshows and music. Enjoy!

Optional configuration

Use an external usb storage device
If you want to save your downloads on an external storage device follow these steps:
- Make sure your device is connected.
- Check the folder where it is mounted ( enter ‘df’ in command line to list all mounted devices + their mount locations )
- Move folders to this location and create symbolic links (replace /media/usb by the folder found in the previous step):

Code:

mv /home/xbian/downloads /media/usb/
mv /home/xbian/incomplete /media/usb/
mv /home/xbian/torrents /media/usb/
ln -s /media/usb/downloads /home/xbian/downloads
ln -s /media/usb/incomplete /home/xbian/incomplete
ln -s /media/usb/torrents /home/xbian/torrents

Enable/disable packages
You can easily disable and enable a package (it will not be removed but won’t start anymore, so except disk space it won’t use any resources). By default all packages are enabled.
To disable a package open the file /etc/default/’packagename’ with your favorite text editor, for instance nano:

Code:

sudo nano /etc/default/’packagename’

Replace ‘packagename’ by the one of the package names below:

Quote: transmission
nzbget
sickbeard
couchpotato
headphones

Change the value of ENABLED to 0 to disable a package, change it back to 1 if you want to enable it again. Change everything to your wants and then reboot.

Changing process priorities
You can change the process priorities per package, change the parameter NICE in the /etc/default/’packagename’ file. How to edit this file see the previous section on how to enable and disable packages.
You can use values from -20 to 19. The lower the value, the higher the priority.

Default priorities:

Code:

Transmission: 9
NZBGet: 9
Headphones: 4
Sick Beard: 4
CouchPotato: 4

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The previous download packages were set up by CurlyMo, and a lot of this new package is thanks to his hard work. I also got a lot of help from mk01 on setting up and modifying these packages.

If you have any questions you can’t find the answer to on this forum then ask it here after reading this: http://forum.xbian.org/announcement-8.html and this: http://forum.xbian.org/announcement-1.html

We hope you enjoy it. If you do, leave a message and spread the word. If you don’t, tell us what you think could be better.