TRUENAS SCALE 24.10+ / COMMUNITY EDITION · NFS OR SMB · ABOUT 5 MINUTES

How to show photos from TrueNAS on your Android TV screensaver

Point Dreamr at a dataset over NFSv4. You don't need an app, a container or a media server on the NAS.

THE SHORT ANSWER

Create a read-only NFS share for your photos dataset with NFSv4 enabled, then in Dreamr on the TV choose NFS and enter the TrueNAS IP, port 2049 and the path, e.g. /mnt/tank/photos. Set Dreamr as the screensaver and it streams straight from the pool.

1. Share the dataset over NFS

  1. Shares › Unix (NFS) Shares › Add. Path: your photos dataset, e.g. /mnt/tank/photos. Share a dataset, not the pool root.
  2. Next to Networks, click Add and enter your LAN, e.g. 192.168.1.0 / 24.
  3. Advanced Options: tick Read-Only and set Mapall User to a user that can read the dataset. Save.
  4. Accept the Enable Service prompt. Then in System › Services › NFS, turn on Start Automatically and check that NFSv4 is in Enabled Protocols.

2. Enter it in Dreamr

Dreamr field NFS (recommended) SMB
Server 192.168.1.20 192.168.1.20
Port 2049 Not needed
Path / Share /mnt/tank/photos photos
Login None. Access is by network rule. A local user with read access

Press Test NFS Connection. It reports how many photos it found in that folder.

3. Set it as the screensaver

Android TV (Nvidia Shield and TVs with the classic Android TV home screen): Settings › Device Preferences › Screen saver › Screen saver › Dreamr.

Android TV Screen saver settings with Dreamr selected as the screen saver
Android TV: Device Preferences › Screen saver, with Dreamr selected.

Google TV (Chromecast with Google TV, Google TV Streamer and Google TV televisions): Google removed third-party screensavers from the Settings menu. Set Dreamr once from a computer with adb:

adb shell settings put secure screensaver_components uk.co.shogunsoftware.dreamr/.PhotoDreamService

TrueNAS-specific gotchas

Permission denied for path
Usually an ACL problem: the Mapall user can't read the dataset. Check Datasets › photos › Permissions, or the TV's IP is outside the Networks list.
Connection refused
The NFS service is stopped or only NFSv3 is enabled. Dreamr needs NFSv4.
Connected, but no photos found
Dreamr looks up to two sub-folders below the path. If your photos are nested deeper, point the path closer to them, e.g. /mnt/tank/photos/2024. NFS treats each dataset as its own file system, so a child dataset needs its own share.