Category Archives: Uncategorized

Python Script to Scan for Low-Bitrate MP3 Files

This Python script recursively scans a specified directory for MP3 files with a bitrate less than 320 kbps, lists the containing folders, and uses multiprocessing for speed and a progress bar for user feedback.
Below is a step-by-step breakdown of how the script works, suitable for users with basic Python knowledge.
Script Summary
  • Purpose: Identify folders containing MP3 files with bitrates below 320 kbps.
  • Features: Multiprocessing for faster scanning, progress bar for real-time feedback, initial file counting for accurate progress tracking.
  • Requirements: Python 3.x, mutagen (pip install mutagen), tqdm (pip install tqdm).
Usage Instructions
Install Dependencies
In a virtual environment:
source myenv/bin/activate
pip install mutagen tqdm
Or for user-level installation, use:
pip install --user mutagen tqdm
Or via system package manager (Ubuntu/Debian):
sudo apt install python3-mutagen python3-tqdm
Save and Run the Script:
  • Save the script as scan_mp3.py.

Script:

import os
from mutagen.mp3 import MP3
from pathlib import Path
from tqdm import tqdm
import multiprocessing
from concurrent.futures import ProcessPoolExecutor, as_completed

def process_mp3_file(file_path):
    """
    Process a single MP3 file and return its parent folder if bitrate < 320 kbps.
    """
    try:
        audio = MP3(file_path)
        if audio.info.bitrate < 320000:  # Bitrate in bits/sec
            return str(file_path.parent)
        return None
    except Exception:
        return None

def scan_mp3_bitrate(directory, output_file):
    """
    Recursively scan a directory for MP3 files with bitrate < 320 kbps using multiprocessing,
    with initial file counting for accurate progress bar, and save results to a file.
    """
    low_bitrate_folders = set()
    
    # Count MP3 files for progress bar
    mp3_files = []
    print("Counting MP3 files for progress tracking...")
    for root, _, files in os.walk(directory):
        for file in files:
            if file.lower().endswith('.mp3'):
                mp3_files.append(Path(root) / file)
    
    total_files = len(mp3_files)
    if total_files == 0:
        print("\nNo MP3 files found in the directory.")
        with open(output_file, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
            f.write("No MP3 files found in the directory.\n")
        return
    
    # Scan MP3 files with multiprocessing and progress bar
    print(f"\nScanning {total_files} MP3 files using {multiprocessing.cpu_count()} CPU cores...")
    with ProcessPoolExecutor() as executor:
        futures = [executor.submit(process_mp3_file, file_path) for file_path in mp3_files]
        
        # Process results with progress bar
        for future in tqdm(as_completed(futures), total=total_files, desc="Progress", unit="file"):
            result = future.result()
            if result:
                low_bitrate_folders.add(result)
    
    # Print and save results
    if low_bitrate_folders:
        print("\nFolders containing MP3 files with bitrate < 320 kbps:")
        with open(output_file, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
            f.write("Folders containing MP3 files with bitrate < 320 kbps:\n")
            for folder in sorted(low_bitrate_folders):
                print(f"- {folder}")
                f.write(f"- {folder}\n")
        print(f"\nResults saved to: {output_file}")
    else:
        print("\nNo folders found with MP3 files under 320 kbps.")
        with open(output_file, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
            f.write("No folders found with MP3 files under 320 kbps.\n")
        print(f"\nResults saved to: {output_file}")

def main():
    # Get directory from user
    directory = input("Enter the directory to scan (or press Enter for current directory): ").strip()
    if not directory:
        directory = os.getcwd()
    
    # Verify directory exists
    if not os.path.isdir(directory):
        print(f"Error: '{directory}' is not a valid directory.")
        return
    
    # Get output file path from user
    output_file = input("Enter the output file path (or press Enter for 'low_bitrate_folders.txt'): ").strip()
    if not output_file:
        output_file = 'low_bitrate_folders.txt'
    
    # Ensure output file has a .txt extension
    if not output_file.lower().endswith('.txt'):
        output_file += '.txt'
    
    print(f"\nScanning directory: {directory}")
    scan_mp3_bitrate(directory, output_file)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    try:
        main()
    except KeyboardInterrupt:
        print("\nScript terminated by user.")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"An unexpected error occurred: {e}")
Run the script:
python scan_mp3.py
Enter a directory path or press Enter for the current directory
Example Output
Enter the directory to scan (or press Enter for current directory): /music

Scanning directory: /music
Counting MP3 files for progress tracking...

Scanning 15000 MP3 files using 8 CPU cores...
Progress: 100%|██████████████████████████| 15000/15000 [00:50<00:00, 300.00file/s]

Folders containing MP3 files with bitrate < 320 kbps:
- /music/Album1
- /music/Album2/Tracks
Performance Notes
  • Speed: Optimized for large datasets (e.g., 15,000 MP3 files) using multiprocessing, typically completing in 30–60 seconds on a 4–8 core CPU.
  • Initial Counting: Adds a few seconds to count files for an accurate progress bar.
  • Scalability: Handles large directories efficiently but may require tuning (e.g., limiting CPU cores) for low-memory systems or slow disks.
Troubleshooting
  • Slow Performance: If the initial counting or scanning is slow, check disk speed (HDD vs. SSD) or reduce CPU cores:
with ProcessPoolExecutor(max_workers=4) as executor:
  • Memory Issues: Reduce max_workers if memory usage is high.
  • Errors: Check for corrupted MP3 files or permission issues. Share error messages for support.
  • Dependencies: Ensure mutagen and tqdm are installed in the correct environment.
Customization Options
  • Add filters to skip specific folders (e.g., .git).
  • Log bitrates of low-bitrate files.
  • Switch to threading for I/O-bound tasks (e.g., slow external drives).

Step-by-Step Breakdown

Import Required Libraries:
    • os: Provides directory traversal functionality using os.walk() to recursively scan folders.
    • mutagen.mp3.MP3: Reads MP3 file metadata, specifically bitrate.
    • pathlib.Path: Handles file paths in a cross-platform way.
    • tqdm: Displays a progress bar for user feedback during file scanning.
    • multiprocessing and concurrent.futures.ProcessPoolExecutor: Enable parallel processing of MP3 files across CPU cores.
    • as_completed: Processes results as they complete for real-time progress updates.
Define process_mp3_file Function:
  • Purpose: Processes a single MP3 file to check its bitrate.
  • Input: A file path (as a Path object).
  • Process:
    • Loads the MP3 file using MP3(file_path) to access metadata.
    • Checks if the bitrate is less than 320,000 bits/sec (320 kbps).
    • Returns the parent folder path (as a string) if the bitrate is low, or None otherwise.
  • Error Handling: Catches exceptions (e.g., corrupted files) and returns None to avoid interrupting the scan.
Define scan_mp3_bitrate Function:
  • Purpose: Scans the directory for MP3 files and identifies folders with low-bitrate files.
  • Steps:
    • Initial File Counting:
      • Uses os.walk(directory) to recursively traverse the directory.
      • Collects paths of all files with .mp3 extension (case-insensitive) into a list.
      • Prints “Counting MP3 files for progress tracking…” to inform the user.
      • Stores the total count for the progress bar.
    • Check for Empty Directory:
      • If no MP3 files are found, prints “No MP3 files found in the directory.” and exits.
    • Multiprocessing Scan:
      • Initializes a ProcessPoolExecutor to use all available CPU cores.
      • Submits each MP3 file for processing using process_mp3_file.
      • Uses tqdm to display a progress bar, updating as files are processed.
      • Collects parent folder paths for low-bitrate files into a set to avoid duplicates.
    • Output Results:
      • If low-bitrate folders are found, prints them in sorted order.
      • If none are found, prints “No folders found with MP3 files under 320 kbps.”
Define main Function:
    • Purpose: Handles user input and script execution.
    • Steps:
      • Prompts the user to enter a directory path or press Enter to use the current directory (os.getcwd()).
      • Verifies the directory exists using os.path.isdir().
      • If invalid, prints an error and exits.
      • Calls scan_mp3_bitrate(directory) to start the scan.
      • Prints the directory being scanned for clarity.
Main Execution Block:
    • Purpose: Runs the script safely with error handling.
    • Process:
      • Wraps main() in a try-except block.
      • Catches KeyboardInterrupt (Ctrl+C) and prints “Script terminated by user.”
      • Catches unexpected errors and prints them for debugging.

Dig Quick Reference Manual

DIG


NAME

dig – DNS lookup utility

SYNOPSIS

dig [ @server ] [ -b address ] [ -c class ] [ -f filename ] [ -k filename ] [ -p port# ] [ -t type ] [ -x addr ] [ -y name:key ] [ name ] [ type ] [ class ] [ queryopt ]

dig [ -h ]

dig [ global-queryopt ] [ query ] 

DESCRIPTION

dig (domain information groper) is a flexible tool for interrogating DNS name servers. It performs DNS lookups and displays the answers that are returned from the name server(s) that were queried. Most DNS administrators use dig to troubleshoot DNS problems because of its flexibility, ease of use and clarity of output. Other lookup tools tend to have less functionality than dig.

Although dig is normally used with command-line arguments, it also has a batch mode of operation for reading lookup requests from a file. A brief summary of its command-line arguments and options is printed when the -h option is given. Unlike earlier versions, the BIND9 implementation of dig allows multiple lookups to be issued from the command line.

Unless it is told to query a specific name server, dig will try each of the servers listed in /etc/resolv.conf.

When no command line arguments or options are given, will perform an NS query for “.” (the root).

SIMPLE USAGE

A typical invocation of dig looks like:

 

 dig @server name type

where:

server
is the name or IP address of the name server to query. This can be an IPv4 address in dotted-decimal notation or an IPv6 address in colon-delimited notation. When the supplied server argument is a hostname, dig resolves that name before querying that name server. If no server argument is provided, digconsults /etc/resolv.conf and queries the name servers listed there. The reply from the name server that responds is displayed.
name
is the name of the resource record that is to be looked up.
type
indicates what type of query is required — ANY, A, MX, SIG, etc. type can be any valid query type. If no type argument is supplied, dig will perform a lookup for an A record.

OPTIONS

The -b option sets the source IP address of the query to address. This must be a valid address on one of the host’s network interfaces.

The default query class (IN for internet) is overridden by the -c option. class is any valid class, such as HS for Hesiod records or CH for CHAOSNET records.

The -f option makes dig operate in batch mode by reading a list of lookup requests to process from the file filename. The file contains a number of queries, one per line. Each entry in the file should be organised in the same way they would be presented as queries to dig using the command-line interface.

If a non-standard port number is to be queried, the -p option is used. port# is the port number that dig will send its queries instead of the standard DNS port number 53. This option would be used to test a name server that has been configured to listen for queries on a non-standard port number.

The -t option sets the query type to type. It can be any valid query type which is supported in BIND9. The default query type “A”, unless the -x option is supplied to indicate a reverse lookup. A zone transfer can be requested by specifying a type of AXFR. When an incremental zone transfer (IXFR) is required,type is set to ixfr=N. The incremental zone transfer will contain the changes made to the zone since the serial number in the zone’s SOA record was N.

Reverse lookups – mapping addresses to names – are simplified by the -x option. addr is an IPv4 address in dotted-decimal notation, or a colon-delimited IPv6 address. When this option is used, there is no need to provide the nameclass and type arguments. dig automatically performs a lookup for a name like 11.12.13.10.in-addr.arpa and sets the query type and class to PTR and IN respectively. By default, IPv6 addresses are looked up using the IP6.ARPA domain and binary labels as defined in RFC2874. To use the older RFC1886 method using the IP6.INT domain and “nibble” labels, specify the -n (nibble) option.

To sign the DNS queries sent by dig and their responses using transaction signatures (TSIG), specify a TSIG key file using the -k option. You can also specify the TSIG key itself on the command line using the -y option; name is the name of the TSIG key and key is the actual key. The key is a base-64 encoded string, typically generated by dnssec-keygen(8). Caution should be taken when using the -y option on multi-user systems as the key can be visible in the output from ps(1) or in the shell’s history file. When using TSIG authentication with dig, the name server that is queried needs to know the key and algorithm that is being used. In BIND, this is done by providing appropriate key and server statements in named.conf.

QUERY OPTIONS

dig provides a number of query options which affect the way in which lookups are made and the results displayed. Some of these set or reset flag bits in the query header, some determine which sections of the answer get printed, and others determine the timeout and retry strategies.

Each query option is identified by a keyword preceded by a plus sign (+). Some keywords set or reset an option. These may be preceded by the string no to negate the meaning of that keyword. Other keywords assign values to options like the timeout interval. They have the form +keyword=value. The query options are:

+[no]tcp
Use [do not use] TCP when querying name servers. The default behaviour is to use UDP unless an AXFR or IXFR query is requested, in which case a TCP connection is used.
+[no]vc
Use [do not use] TCP when querying name servers. This alternate syntax to +[no]tcp is provided for backwards compatibility. The “vc” stands for “virtual circuit”.
+[no]ignore
Ignore truncation in UDP responses instead of retrying with TCP. By default, TCP retries are performed.
+domain=somename
Set the search list to contain the single domain somename, as if specified in a domain directive in /etc/resolv.conf, and enable search list processing as if the +search option were given.
+[no]search
Use [do not use] the search list defined by the searchlist or domain directive in resolv.conf (if any). The search list is not used by default.
+[no]defname
Deprecated, treated as a synonym for +[no]search
+[no]aaonly
This option does nothing. It is provided for compatibilty with old versions of dig where it set an unimplemented resolver flag.
+[no]adflag
Set [do not set] the AD (authentic data) bit in the query. The AD bit currently has a standard meaning only in responses, not in queries, but the ability to set the bit in the query is provided for completeness.
+[no]cdflag
Set [do not set] the CD (checking disabled) bit in the query. This requests the server to not perform DNSSEC validation of responses.
+[no]recursive
Toggle the setting of the RD (recursion desired) bit in the query. This bit is set by default, which means dig normally sends recursive queries. Recursion is automatically disabled when the +nssearch or +trace query options are used.
+[no]nssearch
When this option is set, dig attempts to find the authoritative name servers for the zone containing the name being looked up and display the SOA record that each name server has for the zone.
+[no]trace
Toggle tracing of the delegation path from the root name servers for the name being looked up. Tracing is disabled by default. When tracing is enabled, dig makes iterative queries to resolve the name being looked up. It will follow referrals from the root servers, showing the answer from each server that was used to resolve the lookup.
+[no]cmd
toggles the printing of the initial comment in the output identifying the version of dig and the query options that have been applied. This comment is printed by default.
+[no]short
Provide a terse answer. The default is to print the answer in a verbose form.
+[no]identify
Show [or do not show] the IP address and port number that supplied the answer when the +short option is enabled. If short form answers are requested, the default is not to show the source address and port number of the server that provided the answer.
+[no]comments
Toggle the display of comment lines in the output. The default is to print comments.
+[no]stats
This query option toggles the printing of statistics: when the query was made, the size of the reply and so on. The default behaviour is to print the query statistics.
+[no]qr
Print [do not print] the query as it is sent. By default, the query is not printed.
+[no]question
Print [do not print] the question section of a query when an answer is returned. The default is to print the question section as a comment.
+[no]answer
Display [do not display] the answer section of a reply. The default is to display it.
+[no]authority
Display [do not display] the authority section of a reply. The default is to display it.
+[no]additional
Display [do not display] the additional section of a reply. The default is to display it.
+[no]all
Set or clear all display flags.
+time=T
Sets the timeout for a query to T seconds. The default time out is 5 seconds. An attempt to set T to less than 1 will result in a query timeout of 1 second being applied.
+tries=T
Sets the number of times to retry UDP queries to server to T instead of the default, 3. If T is less than or equal to zero, the number of retries is silently rounded up to 1.
+ndots=D
Set the number of dots that have to appear in name to D for it to be considered absolute. The default value is that defined using the ndots statement in /etc/resolv.conf, or 1 if no ndots statement is present. Names with fewer dots are interpreted as relative names and will be searched for in the domains listed in the search or domain directive in /etc/resolv.conf.
+bufsize=B
Set the UDP message buffer size advertised using EDNS0 to B bytes. The maximum and minimum sizes of this buffer are 65535 and 0 respectively. Values outside this range are rounded up or down appropriately.
+[no]multiline
Print records like the SOA records in a verbose multi-line format with human-readable comments. The default is to print each record on a single line, to facilitate machine parsing of the dig output.
+[no]fail
Do not try the next server if you receive a SERVFAIL. The default is to not try the next server which is the reverse of normal stub resolver behaviour.
+[no]besteffort
Attempt to display the contents of messages which are malformed. The default is to not display malformed answers.
+[no]dnssec
Requests DNSSEC records be sent by setting the DNSSEC OK bit (DO) in the the OPT record in the additional section of the query.

MULTIPLE QUERIES

The BIND 9 implementation of dig supports specifying multiple queries on the command line (in addition to supporting the -f batch file option). Each of those queries can be supplied with its own set of flags, options and query options.

In this case, each query argument represent an individual query in the command-line syntax described above. Each consists of any of the standard options and flags, the name to be looked up, an optional query type and class and any query options that should be applied to that query.

A global set of query options, which should be applied to all queries, can also be supplied. These global query options must precede the first tuple of name, class, type, options, flags, and query options supplied on the command line. Any global query options (except the +[no]cmd option) can be overridden by a query-specific set of query options. For example:

 

dig +qr www.isc.org any -x 127.0.0.1 isc.org ns +noqr

shows how dig could be used from the command line to make three lookups: an ANY query for www.isc.org, a reverse lookup of 127.0.0.1 and a query for the NS records of isc.org. A global query option of +qr is applied, so that dig shows the initial query it made for each lookup. The final query has a local query option of +noqr which means that dig will not print the initial query when it looks up the NS records for isc.org.

FILES

/etc/resolv.conf

SEE ALSO

host(1), named(8), dnssec-keygen(8), RFC1035.

BUGS

There are probably too many query options.

Change media location in Plex Database

It seems that Plex gives us no real option to mass change a root directory for indexed media without re scanning the entire media directory.

By using SQLite browser from SQLite Browser we can make the necessary changes .

An example is to have media location changed from /mnt/SMB to /mnt/media. Using SQLite browser we can open the Plex database and run the following SQL statement:

UPDATE media_parts SET file = replace(file, '/mnt/SMB', '/mnt/media') where file like '%/mnt/SMB%'

The above command will change the locations in the Plex database from /mnt/SMB to /mnt/media without the need to reindex your whole Plex library.

I hope this helps someone.

Enable Photo Viewer on Windows Server 2016, 2019 or 2022

How to Enable Photo Viewer in Windows Server 2016+

By default, Photo Viewer isn’t installed or active. The first thing we need to do is check whether or not the DLL’s exist on the server.


Step 1: Check if Photo Viewer DLL’s Exist

Browse to C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Photo Viewer on the server. If you see .dll files there, that means the files exist but aren’t registered. It should look like this:

If you don’t see those files, simply browse to the path above from a Windows 10 PC & copy the folder contents to the same path on your server.


Step 2: Register the DLL’s

Now that we know the necessary files are present, we need to register them.

Open Command Prompt (type CMD into Start) and right-click to Run as Administrator. Then copy and paste the following code:

regsvr32 “C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Photo Viewer\PhotoViewer.dll”

Step 3: Download PhotoViewer Registry Keys

Now that the .dll’s are registered, we need to import the registry keys. This allows us to “Open With…” from File Explorer and choose Windows Photo Viewer, as well as set default file associations for various file types, such as .jpg, .jpe, or .jpeg.

Download registry files from here: MS Photoviewer Registry Files.zip

Once downloaded, right-click the .zip file and extract it to a temporary location.


Step 4: Import Registry Keys

From Start, open Regedit.

File > Import > browse to the location you extracted the 4 registry files. You will need to import all 4 of them.

You should now be able to right-click an image file and Open With Windows Photo Viewer!


Step 5: Set Photo Viewer as Default App

If you’d like to make Photo Viewer your default photo viewing application, search Windows for “Default Apps” and then change Photos to Windows Photo Viewer.


Step 6: Allow Images in Thumbnails

This step is optional, but if you’d like to see a preview of the images from File Explorer (instead of just icons), you can do that by changing the File Explorer options.

Search Windows for Folder Options. Change to the View tab and uncheck “Always show icons, never thumbnails”.

That will change it from looking like this:

to looking like this:

That’s all there is to it! Hopefully this guide helped you out.

How to fix a WordPress HTTPS redirect loop with an NGINX reverse proxy

If your WordPress site is set up to use HTTPS and a reverse proxy, such as an NGINX reverse proxy, is put in front of it you may wind up with an infinite redirect loop.

Following the redirect in dev tools, it looks like this is happening:
https://example.com -> https://example.com

A head scratcher for sure, but understanding what is going on behind the scenes reveals the issue and the solution together.

Here is what is actually happening:

  • Request is made to https://example.com
  • The reverse proxy catches the request and makes it’s own request to http://example.com. Take special note that the schema changed to http.
  • The WordPress site sees a request for http://example.com and says, “Hey, that’s not right, I am at https://example.com” and tells the browser to go there
  • Repeat indefinitely

You could change the site to support http to the exclusion of https, however that is hacky and anything wanting https will still work itself into an infinite redirect.

An easier solution is to trick WordPress into thinking the request is https enabled.

WordPress looks at a server variable when determining the status of https. Open your wp-config.php file and add the following just after the <?php tag:

if ( $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO'] == 'https' ) {
    $_SERVER['HTTPS'] = 'on';
    $_SERVER['SERVER_PORT'] = 443;
}

And now your site will work as originally anticipated.

Dastardly isn’t it 😉

IDRAC6 – Console Connection Failed

One of the most annoying things with IDRAC6 is the Java requirement for running a remote console.  with later update versions of Java 8 you may experience a problem where during the connection setup the connection fails with a message:

connecting to virtual console server.. connection failed

It appears that this inability to connect via Java console is rooted in SSLv3 as its disabled by Java.  The fix is

Go to Java installation folder.
Open {JRE_HOME}libsecurityjava.security -file in text editor.
Delete or comment out the following line “jdk.tls.disabledAlgorithms=SSLv3”.