Image browser for Linux that works with NAS

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1

I’ve recently moved all my photos and other media to a NAS, accessed from my various computers via the wireless network. I have a Linux box (Linux Mint) and am having problems browsing the images. So far my best solution is Blender’s file browser!

Mirage will only let me open one directory at a time. I have to open them with the file browser first (which only shows icons, not thumbnails), that places a shortcut on the desktop, and then Mirage can see the folders when I go to open a folder with it. Nomacs can’t even see the shared directories on the NAS.

Cany anyone recommend an image browser that works in this situation and doesn’t require me to be a Linux sysadmin to get it working. I’m pretty sure my next desktop computer will be a Windows system. I already have a couple of Windows laptops and don’t have any issues browsing image files with those.

2

Digikam is the solution for my photos collections since 5 year now.

https://www.digikam.org/
I have 280000 photos live on line, from 16MP to 46MP, videos and graphics like story boards
All formats are accessible and the it reads NAS Western Digital and others…

3

How is the NAS setup? How does it share the folders?
Btw. whitout beeing the admin of the system you won’t do anything about it.

4

Thanks for that suggestion, I tried DigiKam but no luck unfortunately. On install it asked for an initial folder, with a promise to add others later through the Settings menu, but the settings menu doesn’t do anything (nor do any other menus) and I can’t find any way to access the shared folders on the NAS. When I installed it through the Linux Mint Software Manager I noticed that it said it was an image organizer for KDE and I’m using Cinnamon. I do have Darktable installed to use with GIMP (most of my photos are DNG format) but it also only allows opening one folder at a time, not browsing the whole directory structure.

5

Of course I am the admin of my NAS ( a QNap TS431P), but I’m not a knowledgeable, competent and experienced Linux sysadmin. I installed it through a web interface (Qfinder Pro) on my windows laptop, which required an admin password of course, and then set up shared folders through said web interface. No particular expertise required for that. After that I can access it through the file browser (both Windows and Linux) under Network, log in and Bob’s your uncle. However on Windows all my apps can access the shared folders (including ACDSee) but on Linux I’m having problems, especially with the image browsing apps that I’d like to use to actually see what photos (and other media) I have where. Blender and Gimp work fine, but Nomacs and DigiKam not at all, and Mirage and Darktable only allow me to open one folder at a time.

6

what linux kernel is installed on your machine?

Once Digikam is running you can define where the folders are located, local, network or remote (meaning across web) Wide Area Network.

What version do you have?

If you haven’t downloaded the latest one then try it as it may have evolved from what you have

7

I downloaded the latest AppImage (much later version than the one available through the Linux Mint Software Manager) and the menus worked. However selecting Add Collection from network share under Configure Digikam didn’t show me the actual network share to add. It appears in the file browser, which has put a shortcut to the photos share folder on the desktop, but not in Digikam, so no further advanced unfortunately.

8

I installed DigiKam on my Windows laptop and it can’t see the network shares there either, so it’s clearly a problem with Digikam and not with Linux. The Windows file explorer and ACDSee, which is what I use for DAM on Windows, have no trouble finding the network and the NAS. Also on Linux various apps eg Blender can find files there.

9

Why are you not simply mounting the NAS to your filesystem?
The model supports NFS so it should be trivial.

10

Does that require a physical connection?

11

Put simply, mounting is having any storage device be functionally the same as your internal hard drives. When you plug in a USB drive it gets mounted for you. Mounting with NFS (Network File System) would allow you to treat your NAS like a removable USB drive, or just another internal HDD depending on how it’s setup.
NFS is incredibly common. Your NAS manufacturer should have some documentation on it. Linux Mint probably has some GUI tools that will let avoid the terminal as well.

12

can you provide a snapshot from your digikam menus and one from file browser, which has put a shortcut to the photos share folder?

You may have a right management issue

13

I don’t want to have to run my Linux PC in order to access the NAS from my Windows laptop. At the moment the NAS is connected to my modem, and I can access it wirelessly from any other computer in the house. DigiKam is the only app (on Windows and Linux) that cannot detect the network shares. And on Windows I use ACDSee to manage my image collection anyway. I just can’t find a reasonable working equivalent for Linux.

Part of the problem is that if I browse the images in GIMP it only shows icons, and doesn’t show a preview unless I click on the Show preview icon, for each image individually. If I’m browsing for a specific photo out of thousands this is not a very effective way to work, hence my desire for a proper image browser. The Linux file browser also only shows icons, not thumbnails. The Blender file browser does show thumbnails however, so at the moment that’s the best solution - browse in Blender then open in GIMP (or in Blender but the image editing tools are not as good yet)

14

That’s not what I’m suggesting. You’d be connecting to the device using a different method of communication that would result in the NAS looking and acting like it’s just another hard drive on your linux machine. This wouldn’t change anything about how other devices interact with the NAS.

15

Thanks for the advice guys, but I’ve solved my problem another way. This all came about because I recently purchased a Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 and decided to run it off my Linux box because I already have a 27inch monitor running off my laptop and there wasn’t room for both on the table. However if I run the Cintiq off the laptop (which can browse image files) and the big monitor off the Linux box that I use primarily for Blender (the only app that can currently browse files with thumbnails on Linux) then all should be good. I don’t like using a pen for modelling or a mouse for painting.