Todd Miller

Hey just curious, and all joking aside, but how are you choosing the apps you curate? I'm not saying I am unhappy with any of the apps you have chosen or feel you have missed anything that would really bring the server up to world class. After the Plex/Immich initial options the ARR stack jobs make logical sense. Jellyfin fits and the bittorrent stuff was inevitable. But some of this stuff isn't quite as clear. Yeah, the same can be said about what's in the TrueNAS catalog but then, I don't have a clue how they decide on the apps they add. If this is your version of classic Coke or the eleven herbs and spices of KFC then I guess we'll just keep guessing.

I think you are doing what everyone else has done but you, like everyone else, has to be realistic. HexOS has it's small system requirement as both its biggest plus and minus. Yup, there is equipment that just doesn't work and equipment that works but not at peak performance. We all want the best performance to cost ratio but I'm not sure HexOS fits that mold. Storage then memory seem to be the keys to a good experience. Yeah newer motherboards and newer generation CPU's can give you an extra kick but that's not really the point. I've looked at the promotional materials for HexOS and decided to prove for myself if a Pentium chip was good enough. It was though I fried my almost 20 year old motherboard in the process. I can't be angry or surprised because HexOS did exactly what they said it would. Now for a dose of realism. I bought two licenses so I can buddy backup with myself. I probably make it sound weirder than it is but it should work for me. If that original PC hadn't gone up in smoke I would have replaced it anyway with newer equipment because in the back of my mind I would have always wondered if 32GB versus 16GB would have made the difference o did I really need a 14th gen CPU or di I really need to load the full 30ish TB media mess I have. Turns out the correct answer has been yes but am I missing the point. With such a low level of entry to run HexOS, I wonder if the new refrigerators I saw last month can run it. But I think it was Microsoft that taught us good enough is never really good enough. So, buy responsibly and within your means. It's not a competition because some young person with no responsibilities or older person with more money that brains will outpace you. And HexOS runs fine at the top and bottom. I believe the known stuff you really need to avoid has been called out so if you don't get bad news you should be good enough. Or as 'good enough' as any computer nut ever is. Just enjoy the ride.

Maybe, maybe not. You thought is additional work for the dev team. So if they are already in the code making automation changes, what else can they do that seems straightforward and improves quality of life for HexOS. My thought is a very small improvement but I have noticed that is the app is stopped and I try to do an update, it seems the update process hangs. In my head like your snapshotting potential improvement request to "simply" tell the process to 1) check if an app is running, 2) stop it if it is, 3) do snapshot, 4) do update, 5) restart app. For mine it's similar as it's when the update button is clicked 1) check to see if the app is running and start it if it isn't, 2) do snapshot, 3) do update and 4) return the app to original state. Both would take work to do but could make things simpler. I know we are making some assumptions that HexOS knows the state of the app but since is displays that info it seems that is available. The problem is similar with both our thoughts in that the update process needs to know what to do if the app won't stop or restart as needed. Seems like nothing is really ever simple and it's tough to know how much is to much.

I wonder if that can lead to the reverse as well where you can click to upgrade upgrade and an app that is stopped can snapshopt, start, update and perhaps stop again. Are there to many options to hit all possibilities. And if you start down the rabbit hole, where do you stop? Actually I am being serious. I have several apps that are stopped and within a week every one has an update message.

Perhaps that's true but it does not change potential involvement. If anything, an attempt to hide the activity is even more suspicious if anyone is watching and actually cares.

Hmm. I ask this obviously not knowing what all these 'arr stack' jobs really do but if Eshtek get involved in making a torrent process bigger and better, do they take on some potential responsibility how this is used?

Well, I don't recommend either one I tried but they were a fun distraction for a day. It also shows the overall ability of HexOS/TrueNAS that, in my case, it ran on a PI 5, loaded PLEX and played a video off an external HHD Not well mind you but it worked. And please don't tell the admins I said that because I will just have to deny it. I have my reputation to consider. 😉

Geez. I thought I was cutting edge with a GMKtek mini PC and a Rasberry Pie 5 as my non standard desktop PC entries.

Hmm. I believe the simple answer is yes. Now let's dig deeper. The ninth gen chip, GPU and memory amount are will within specs. I hesitate to get into your storage with so many drives and sizes. Are you intending to create multiple pools to allow the single large drives to run at full capacity? You may have some additional planning to do there as it looks like @mill3000has already given you a starting point to work from. As far as "more or less recreate my environment" there doesn't look like there are any major hurdles beyond the VM and as you see, that is in the works. Now for the question I am morally obligated to ask. why HexOS? Or more specifically, what do you looking for from HexoS and beyond the marketing materials, what do you know about HexOS? For me, I have a production Unraid setup on equipment a generation newer. It performs exactly as I need but I don't touch it. If it breaks I phone a friend. Offering beer and pizza get me nearly 24/7 support from the person who set it all up and does yearly upgrades or from their equally network smart spouse. Really, I don't touch it. I don't like this situation but as I watched them set it up I knew it was out of my league. When I want to add media or docs I have a landing directory mapped to windows and I run specific BAT jobs to handle all the processing. So it all works. I just don't know how. That is why I got HexOS. I got way newer hardware thinking if something fails I want it to be something I did. I picked Unraid over TrueNAS and Docker or (I think) Portainer under Linux and wasn't really interested in learning and of that. HexOS sounded simple to run and it has been simple for me to run and manage. I personally don't care about VM's today but that is an example of the handful of things you need to understand about HexOS. As of today and in my opinion, it has a simple and straightforward setup. That setup makes some assumptions that make sense if you want to install some of their 23 "curated" apps. I had trouble with the first apps I installed 15 months ago but with a little research and talking to a few others in the same boat it was easy to work around. With the exception of the last batch of apps added to the curated list I have installed them all to see if I would find any issues. I have also added about 5 apps not curated following guides on youtube. The only real downside to me of HexOS is it's dependent on TrueNAS. I saw this up front when I purchased the app so I went in eyes wide open considering the fact that I really didn't want to learn TrueNAS. To be specific, I underestimated how much time I would need to spend in TrueNAS verses HexOS. I welcome rebuttal to my next statement but in my case I believe it to be true. If I stand by my original reasoning for buying HexOS, then I expect to be almost completely satisfied. And where I might not be, it's not HexOS that caused the issue. I can't believe Realtek and TrueNAS haven't found a solution to my transfer speed being reduced by 90% on a straight copy. I expect I will install Jellyfin, Immich and Tailscale but even in those cases, this issues I have had are in the hands of Jellyfin and Immich. It sounds like you are looking for a little more that the core HexOS application so your mileage may vary. And when you are told what is being worked on for the future (and that does not happen nearly often enough), it's a pretty aggressive list of potential life improvements. On a side note, I have no idea what the "ARR stack" is or does but it was requested and seems to make folks happier? Don't buy anything until you are ready but I don't regret my purchase.

Yeah, things are pretty low key about doing anything before you are ready. It is a good idea to have your hardware ichoices settled. If you list your system thoughts you can get some tips also. A lot of folks bought in a special announcement and couldn't install for a couple months. No need to rush.

Is this documented anywhere with pictures? I wonder if this may help solve my issue. Or at least prevent me from having other issues because I have two ethernet ports.

I am using a card very close to that one to try to solve the 100 GB/s transfer limit issue and while it works as a card it does not fix the issue. Now, I didn't do any of the stuff listed here so you may have better luck.. I believe my card has the same chip.

Your not the first to ask and this post is not the first to bring it up. So far there has been no response.

When I had local UI installed I had to log in just like the very first time I setup HexOS. It took a little while. Just long enough to make me think I was doing something wrong but the dashboard came up When I logged in I saw picture. I clicked on the word local and saw this. I am guessing it's not exactly the word that is the trigger. That just happens to be where the mouse pointer was when I clicked. I clicked on Switch to Hosted and went to the online dashboard so I started on local. Now to switch back I click the Return to Local button on the top banner. If you don't start that way I am guessing the down arrow next to your server name will allow you to go back and forth.

Hey, you can't leave a cliffhanger like! Don't friends normally share bigger impacts with one another? 😁

I believe there was a long discussion in a few posts but it came down to two licenses, two accounts. If I am wrong someone will surely correct me. Hold on, I take that back because that way you could sell the second license and defeat the pricing overall.

Hey, I have a couple questions. After watching the latest LTT video about needing a NAS, did you ask for a little publicity now that you are in the 1.0 neighborhood? I have NO problem if you did but i'm not sure they really did the product a favor. Yes the setup overall show the simplicity but the SMB issue is pretty common and pretty troubling. Plouffe did say it was a Microsoft issue but most people don't have many people willing to bail you out. And Microsoft security setting are not something you screw with if you don't have real experience. You probably could have done without that "I get the key. So I didn't pay for it.' comment as well. Oh well, any publicity is good publicity right? The video was a little weird to watch sine it must have been filmed a few months ago. So now that you have reached this point is the price going up? That would put you right up there with the lifetime Unraid price. You have been warning folks all along it would happen so we can't ack surprised.

Hmm. Try to take this in the nature I mean it but HAVE YOU READ THESE FORUMS? I bet you can't find five other people calling for cloud storage access. I'm not saying they don't want it, just they are the silent folks. The squeaky wheel has hammered the team for local UI, not web access, and buddy backup. We are going to give Jonp a nervous breakdown if we keep trying to prioritize the next important thing before we even let them finish the core. I think your question is valid and your overall safety and security is solid but if they did things in the order you wanted there should not have been any work done on applications until the 1.0 NAS was build. I have agreed with most of the questioning of how thing were done up to now. And I agree security and backups are critical to the point that needs to be shored up next. I'm one of the loudest critics this project has but I think it's time to step back, take a breath, let the dust settle and maybe celebrate a little. There is a forum topic for what apps should be looked at next. If you have a favorite put it in there. I might not ever use it but I am not arrogant enough t think my NAS/2 Local/2 Remote backup setup can't be improved or made simpler I'm going to personally step back and say congratulations team. I'm not in the first group so I haven't seen the 1.0 version but I know it was a lot of work. Reading through the forums overall, including posts like this, I can see there is still lots of work to do. And @jonpI am looking forward to shaking my head and second guessing every post like you are going out of your way to make my life more difficult, just like I have for the last year+. But for now, my hat if off to you. 😌

I Linus was telling the truth Local UI was part of the original plan to him. I don't think he would have investor a quarter of a million dollars without it. He has listed to many examples of companies going under and the content he purchased goes away for lack of the "local" option.. I have said this so many times I am even getting tired of hearing it but... I have a professionally managed Unraid NAS at a cost but it is worth it to me. I thought this project would be my chance to take back control but I underestimated what that would take. So I now have a $99 NAS that my wife and I can load up and a $99 sandbox to use to look at Jellyfin, Plex, Immich and other apps in TrueNAS. I don't think I will ever use any long term within TrueNAS but I have a pair of long term Linux servers that could do the job. The first video Linus did where he and Jake marveled at how HexOS make the setup of the storage pools and security very easy got my attention. I can do that and set up accounts for myself and my wife that allow us access as needed without risking making unnecessary or possibly hazardous admin level changes. I've done that in Windows and HexOS in my testing and had to do full delete/reloads because of it. I already have everything I need and am fine with the cost. I don't know if I gain anything with the local UI so to me any other time taken is an unnecessary delay. For me (and yes I understand it is probably just me) release 1.0 should have been the core NAS itself. Then build off that for release 2.0 and beyond for all the apps and VM parts. I think the project could be run better from the customer standpoint but if @jonp DM'ed me and questioned why I fuss so much if I don't really care. It's a valid point but this is a slice of the market that needs to be filled and whoever fills it needs to understand this product in not for network/NAS folks who recognize progress. It's for folks who probably couldn't build a NAS themselves. Of for folks who have no interest in learning TrueNAS or they would just use that. Those types of people aren't going to sit quietly and wait for quarterly information dumps because that data means very little. Did Eshtek intend that to be their target audience? Probably not but they should actually be excited that group seems interested. That's group will be the most loyal if you treat them right and are the best beta testers because you can't predict the messes they can get into. I think we need to understand this experience is going to be the norm for HexOS. As I said above, if you want something from HexOS then say it. And since money will always be the main driver, if Eshtek can monetize it they may look at it for the future. However if you think this level of communication is not enough, you saw that from the beginning. The team didn't go radio silent in the last few months. This has been the norm. If your issue is now that they can't estimate a project like this one well ok. They may even agree but before you do that you should find another project with this kind of hype because of an outside force. What kind of attention you think we deserve for $99 might be an interesting discussion. If there is a mathematical formula I have probably used my time up a few times over. I'm pulling back from HexOS and the forums but if you want to continue pointing out the shortcomings like missed deadlines and lack of meaningful communication, be my guest. Just show a little respect and don't act like its something new. Everyone who reads the forums already knows and it must not matter to most folks. And thinking you can guilt the team into more meaningful communication or more timely updates you are just being silly. If you care about HexOS then join the test groups when they have them and try different things that may not be what you will use it for. If you no longer really care then step back and let others play. Don't completely disconnect though because if you miss updates you may be screwed and have to start over. Linus or Jake, if you are in these forums and are reading along, please keep your mouth shut and let HexOS stand on its own two feet!

Well @vogam7did you get what you wanted? If you have read these forums there are more than enough accusations of terrible or completely lacking communication. I have been jousting with this windmill since shortly after the initial deployment. I've even talked about to many methods of communication that left each incomplete. I got a similar response it would be looked into. and I can say this was the only answer you could have expected. They are probably still a small team primarily of coders. There had been talk months ago of no marketing team, no support team, and only initial talks of ongoing funding. If we are thinking this communication level is the biggest issue we are going to face before this project stabilizes, we are seriously kidding ourselves. That LTT video is more of a curse than blessing because this project isn't ready for that kind of attention. This team isn't going to acknowledge they are having trouble. They just won't say anything, again. And there is nothing any of the paying beta customers can do about it. Watch and wait or don't watch, what's the difference now. It's to late to change the approach the team took, even if they have found that. And there is now reason to assume that's true. Did they take the right path to this development? Did they build the right team with the right leadership? Well, if you have a better plan then share it. If you don't like this approach how would you fix it? Communication alone means very little. Missing deadlines is a much bigger deal that not mentioning there are problems. And honestly, do you think this would be simple and smooth? Yeah right.

@G-M0N3Y-2503I think we are going to have to agree to disagree, not for any points either of us brought up. But rather because nothing said here is going to make any difference. I guess we will have to wait and see what long term effect very little communication has, if any.

Wow, Communication is a headache? That's a laugh. Well it looks like you have come to the right place. You only get very filtered communication when things are going really good here. And for anyone who actually was a developer you already know communication is critical. A lack of communication leaves you with a forum like this. Dozens of questions that get ignored. When did communication and coding become mutually exclusive? Right now the only people talking positive about HexOS are a few folks that depend on this product for their livelihood. Fortunately most people seem to not care or never took anything said up to this that serious. And looking at how many issues there still are unanswered in the forums and the length some of those have been around. Some issues have been able to celebrate birthdays. And if you want something to think about, riddle me this. If communication is like this now when we are in "BETA" and there is still goodwill stemming all the way back to the LTT video, What will it be like when we have HexOS 1.* and the product is release to production. Do you think the communication will get better then? The entire team has made it easy to get down on this product/project but if your going to be honest with yourself you still see the possibilities that attracted you in the first place. If you love the product and you are honest with yourself you see the cracks and holes that give you an uneasy feeling. Everyone in the middle is pretty meh in that it will do what they need but maybe not what they want. And just off on the horizon is the real issue we have been dancing around. A perfect HexOS is still just a skin wrapped around parts of TrueNAS. It will never be more than that and no matter how hard you look you were never promised more than that. If you don't want to learn TrueNAS then welcome to a sturdy and easy to setup network attached storage appliance. As Immich has shown us multiple times, the application curation process was just to make the initial install easier and more standardized. It is not to make Immich work or eliminate code product issues and design changes. What kind of communication do you expect when a new release of an app or perhaps TrueNAS itself wants to change something fundamental like their storage or security models. And from who? It's probably time we stop worrying about when production version 1.0 is coming and start trying to figure out what we are willing to do to make it work. Learn TrueNAS? Buy new hardware? Buy consulting services? Cut your losses and find something else? Regardless of all the rest , it seems you can't count on communication or timelines here. If you can't live with that no matter what you thought in your mind this journey would be, well sorry because this is just the start.

BACKUP YOUR DATA!

There is no point going into this beyond pointing out the facts as you have. There are other posts basically saying the same thing and it seems people are either hold their breath hoping something is coming soon and the folks who think Eshtek bit off more than they could chew. There is no way for us to know what is going on but there are some pretty specific things the app needs to be considered production. Being a friend and having Linus as an angel investor may be as much trouble for the team as it was good. Linus has advertised in a fow youtube posts what the app needs in his opinion and anything short of that is a failure. Well not a failure but not worth his sizeable investment. Tough spot to be in.

I can't say it's best but the reason Tailscale seems to get injected into almost every conversation is cost or the lack there of. I bet there are lots of ways to slice this pizza but there seems to be only one that can be setup for free. I hope that changes because variety is the spice of life, But with the current limited choices in the curation pool, beginners don't seem to want to try new things. And the folks that know how to use other tools have what they need and no reason to bring it up.