Firefly Media Server – Redux 1.1.3/4

I wrote about the Firefly Media Server when we all had firmware 1.1.2. I love the server. In fact, I feel Apple should include such as server by default in every iPod touch!

Unfortunately Firefly (version svn1586-r1) cannot be installed via the Installer successfully as it hasn’t been updated to work in firmware 1.1.3/4. I missed it so much! Fortunately I figured out how to get it installed, and it’s pretty simple.

Requirements:

• iTunes with the SHARING option enabled.
• Ulctl by Erica Sudan (it’s in the Installer, under the “Utilities” category)
• BSD Subsysten (It’s in the Installer, under the “System” category)

 

PART A: INSTALLATION

1. Launch Installer and go to the “Multimedia” category. You should find the “FireflyMediaServer” package in it. If you can’t find it, then go to the “Sources” category and install the “Community Sources” package first, and try again.
2. Tap on the “Install” button to start installation of the server — Do *NOT* add it to the queue.
3. Installation should proceed normally, until this pop-up message appear on the screen. At this point, installation of the server is actually complete. Hit OK to acknowledge the message, and it will start indexing your music… but bang, the Installer returns the “Main script execution failed” error message!

   What’s going on? Well, the Installer went looking for your media files in the var/root/Media folder, but in firmware 1.1.3/4 it’s moved to the var/mobile/Media/ folder! The Installer isn’t expecting the change and halted the entire process!

PART B: RESUMING AND COMPLETIING INSTALLATION

I mentioned the server was actually installed. It’s only the second half of the installation process, indexing your media, that broke and prevented the full completion. So let’s resume it.

1. Tap “OK” to dismiss the error message.
2. Exit the Installer and return to the Springboard.
3. Go to Settings -> General and set “Auto-Lock” to “Never”.
4. Tap on “Ulctl” to launch it. A blank white screen will show up. Patiently wait for about 5 to 8 seconds and you’ll see a lists of (command-line) apps. Scroll down, look for, and tap on  org.fireflymediaserver.mt-daapd  After that, a slide-up window with 4 options appear; tap on “load -w” and then just “Do it”.
5. Launch your browser (Firefox, Safari, Internet Exploder) and surf to http://192.168.123.88:3689/ (you must replace “192.168.123.88” with your own iPod touch IP address and append “:3689/” after it.)
6. Momentarily your browser will ask you for a user name and password. They are “root” and “dottie” respectively.
7. You are now at the Media Server status screen. Click on the “Configuration” link on the left sidebar.
8. At the said configuration screen, look for
   /var/root/Media/iTunes_Control/Music
   and change it to:
   /var/mobile/Media/iTunes_Control/Music
   Click the “Save” button to save the new configuration. (Ignore the “Error: 500general:mp3_dir” message)
9. At this point, you may change both Admin & Music’s Passwords too if you want to but please leave everything else as is.
10. Alright, we are ready to index your media! Woohoo! Go back to status screen and click on the “Start Full Scan” button.
11. Notice the “File Scanner” is running after you click the button. Once it returns to “Idling”, indexing of your meda is complete!
12. Your iPod touch should show up under the SHARED category in your iTunes. Click on it and enter the Password (default is “dottie” unless you changed it.)
13. It’s Hammer Time!

 

Checklist:

You can’t uninstall the server via the Installer because as far as the Installer is concerned, it was never (completely) installed! 😛

* For those who might wonder, the word “redux” does not mean what it would appear to. It is a Latin word that means “brought back”, “revisited”.