Need help compiling Automatic for Duo

You have some tendency to hit any bug on your way, do you ;) For checking whether the service is running, do

ps ax | grep automatic

This should list all the running automatic tasks. Meanwhile I go and check why the green button is not working.

-Stefan

Ok, I just checked and it's working as expected for me.
The major reason why it may not work for you is a faulty /etc/automatic.conf. If automatic detects an error there, it will abort right after being started. Now there's another thing with the tick-box and the green button. It goes like this:

The tick box initially states whether the add-on is active or not. By default, every newly installed add-on is active. Obviously, since there hasn't been any configuration yet, the service will try to start, and fail. Thus there's no green button. But there's still the mark on the checkbox since the add-on itself is in state "active". Now if you uncheck the add-on and click on "Save", FrontView will not only disable the add-on (e.g. put in state "inactive") but also try to shut down any running tasks. Since there aren't any (because of the error with either no config available or error in config) it will report that it couldn't shut down the service because it wasn't running in the first place.

So in essence what you're seeing is the normal behavior, although I agree that this may be a bit confusing ;)

-Stefan

Forgot to mention in my last post: For a quick check you can use the "automatic -f -v 3" command mentioned earlier. This will tell you what automatic thinks may be wrong with your config. Once that's sorted out, the checkbox and the green light should start to work as one would expect.

-Stefan

Thanks for explaining the behaviors the logic of it all makes a lot more sense now.

Latest Output I'm seeing running those two commands.

nas:~# ps ax | grep automatic
 6917 pts/0    R+     0:00 grep automatic
nas:~# automatic -f -v 3
automatic: /usr/lib/libcurl.so.3: no version information available (required by automatic)
../src/config_parser.c, 429: Configuration file size: 4111
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 0)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 1)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 2)
../src/config_parser.c, 463: skipping newline (line 3)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 4)
../src/config_parser.c, 599: [parse_config_file] option: transmission-version
../src/config_parser.c, 600: [parse_config_file] param: 1.3 (3 byte)
../src/config_parser.c, 601: [parse_config_file] -----------------
../src/config_parser.c, 318: transmission-version=1.3 (type: 0)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 7)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 8)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 9)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 10)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 11)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 12)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 13)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 14)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 15)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 16)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 17)
../src/config_parser.c, 463: skipping newline (line 18)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 19)
../src/config_parser.c, 599: [parse_config_file] option: rpc-host
../src/config_parser.c, 600: [parse_config_file] param: localhost (9 byte)
../src/config_parser.c, 601: [parse_config_file] -----------------
../src/config_parser.c, 318: rpc-host=localhost (type: 0)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 22)
../src/config_parser.c, 599: [parse_config_file] option: rpc-port
../src/config_parser.c, 600: [parse_config_file] param: 8181 (4 byte)
../src/config_parser.c, 601: [parse_config_file] -----------------
../src/config_parser.c, 318: rpc-port=8181 (type: 1)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 25)
../src/config_parser.c, 599: [parse_config_file] option: rpc-auth
../src/config_parser.c, 600: [parse_config_file] param: admin:mypassword (12 byte)
../src/config_parser.c, 601: [parse_config_file] -----------------
../src/config_parser.c, 318: rpc-auth=admin:astina (type: 0)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 28)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 29)
../src/config_parser.c, 463: skipping newline (line 30)
../src/config_parser.c, 463: skipping newline (line 31)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 32)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 33)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 34)
../src/config_parser.c, 463: skipping newline (line 35)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 36)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 37)
../src/config_parser.c, 463: skipping newline (line 38)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 39)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 40)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 41)
../src/config_parser.c, 463: skipping newline (line 42)
../src/config_parser.c, 463: skipping newline (line 43)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 44)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 45)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 46)
../src/config_parser.c, 463: skipping newline (line 47)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 48)
../src/config_parser.c, 599: [parse_config_file] option: interval
../src/config_parser.c, 600: [parse_config_file] param: 30 (2 byte)
../src/config_parser.c, 601: [parse_config_file] -----------------
../src/config_parser.c, 318: interval=30 (type: 1)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 51)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 52)
../src/config_parser.c, 463: skipping newline (line 53)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 54)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 55)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 56)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 57)
../src/config_parser.c, 599: [parse_config_file] option: use-transmission
../src/config_parser.c, 600: [parse_config_file] param: yes (3 byte)
../src/config_parser.c, 601: [parse_config_file] -----------------
../src/config_parser.c, 318: use-transmission=yes (type: 1)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 60)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 61)
../src/config_parser.c, 599: [parse_config_file] option: start-torrents
../src/config_parser.c, 600: [parse_config_file] param: yes (3 byte)
../src/config_parser.c, 601: [parse_config_file] -----------------
../src/config_parser.c, 318: start-torrents=yes (type: 1)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 64)
../src/config_parser.c, 599: [parse_config_file] option: torrent-folder
../src/config_parser.c, 600: [parse_config_file] param: /tmp (4 byte)
../src/config_parser.c, 601: [parse_config_file] -----------------
../src/config_parser.c, 318: torrent-folder=/tmp (type: 0)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 67)
../src/config_parser.c, 599: [parse_config_file] option: statefile
../src/config_parser.c, 600: [parse_config_file] param: ~/.config/automatic.state (25 byte)
../src/config_parser.c, 601: [parse_config_file] -----------------
../src/config_parser.c, 318: statefile=~/.config/automatic.state (type: 0)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 70)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 71)
../src/config_parser.c, 463: skipping newline (line 72)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 73)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 74)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 75)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 76)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 77)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 78)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 79)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 80)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 81)
../src/config_parser.c, 463: skipping newline (line 82)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 83)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 84)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 85)
../src/config_parser.c, 463: skipping newline (line 86)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 87)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 88)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 89)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 90)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 91)
../src/config_parser.c, 463: skipping newline (line 92)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 93)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 94)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 95)
../src/config_parser.c, 475: skipping comment (line 96)
../src/automatic.c, 514: verbose level: 3
../src/automatic.c, 515: Transmission version: 1.3
../src/automatic.c, 516: RPC host: localhost
../src/automatic.c, 517: RPC port: 8181
../src/automatic.c, 518: RPC auth: admin:mypassword
../src/automatic.c, 519: foreground mode: yes
../src/automatic.c, 520: config file: /etc/automatic.conf
../src/automatic.c, 521: Transmission home: /root/.config/transmission
../src/automatic.c, 522: check interval: 30 min
../src/automatic.c, 523: Upload limit: -1 KB/s
../src/automatic.c, 524: torrent folder: /tmp
../src/automatic.c, 525: start torrents: yes
../src/automatic.c, 526: state file: /root/.config/automatic.state
../src/automatic.c, 530: 0 feed URLs
../src/automatic.c, 531: Read 0 filters from config file
../src/automatic.c, 535: No feed URL specified in automatic.conf!

[10/05/21 21:32:34] ../src/automatic.c, 128: Shutting down daemon
../src/list.c, 228: [cleanupList] size before: 0
../src/list.c, 239: [cleanupList] size after: 0
../src/list.c, 228: [cleanupList] size before: 0
../src/list.c, 239: [cleanupList] size after: 0
../src/list.c, 228: [cleanupList] size before: 0
../src/list.c, 239: [cleanupList] size after: 0
nas:~#

So there's the problem:

No feed URL specified in automatic.conf!

Just open /etc/automatic.conf and look for this code:

#feed = { url => ""
#         cookies => ""
#       }

Change (for testing purposes) to:

feed = { url => "http://whocares.de/feed"
         cookies => ""
       }

(don't forget to remove the hash marks like I did ;))
Also at the very end of the file there's a set of commented patterns:

#patterns =  { "Name.of.Something.I.Want.to.Download.Automatically.*HDTV"
#              "Something.else.to.download.*720p"                                                                                                     
#              "(?!.*720p)Some.Video.But.Not.The.HD.Version"
#            }

Just remove the hash marks there for a quick test. After saving this modified automatic.conf it should start without any further complaining. How to set up automatic to use real feeds with real torrents is up to you since I don't use any torrent stuff here.

-Stefan

Oh okay sorry I hadn't set those values yet as I was still trying to get past the initial error of service not starting. I'll try updating that value now. I just made a 10 euro donation for all your troubles I really appreciate the time you've offered me getting this going.

Looks like I have a tick and green dot now. Just need to find a site on RSS patterns and I think I'm set. Thanks again for all your help.

Trial_Master wrote:
Oh okay sorry I hadn't set those values yet as I was still trying to get past the initial error of service not starting.

A real "shoot yourself in the foot" scenario there ;) I just checked whether I can add some basic test to solve that or at least issue a warning but that would require such an amount of work that I for now consider it not an option.

Trial_Master wrote:
I just made a 10 euro donation for all your troubles I really appreciate the time you've offered me getting this going.

Much appreciated, that also puts you in the "Top 3 Donators" list.

Trial_Master wrote:
Looks like I have a tick and green dot now.

I guess somewhen I'll have to write a FAQ entry about how that stuff really works (as opposed to "How the user thinks it would work"). Basically it's a finite state machine with two locks that would need three locks instead. Or as my professor used to say: it's "ideal scenario logics applied to a weird world" ;)

-Stefan

Hi Stefan
I am having little success in finding any patterns so I can use Automatic. I mostly download 720p when available and Divx when there is no HD option. Would you happen to know where I could find a good comprehensive list of examples or a program that can generate them?
Also does Automatic allow me to start a series at a particular episode number so I don’t end up with files I’ve already watched?

You could try this: regular expression generator. Needs some time of getting used to though.
As for the episode numbers: You should be able to do this with regular expressions as well, however, I don't know how good automatic's parser really is.

-Stefan