[Mark the Auditor]

I’m in the process of organizing my media onto my 1TB USB drive to use with my 3B+.  As far as setting up the libraries within Plex itself, should I just connect the Pi [via HDMI] to my TV and set it up on the Pi itself?

Also, my 1TB USB drive is currently formatted as an NTFS drive; does it need to be reformatted into a different file system?  I think I remember seeing that Linux-based systems use the ext4 file system.

I plan on setting up Samba so I can access and load files onto the 1 TB USB drive from my Windows laptop/tablet hybrid.

Finally, I’m a “GUI Guy”; how can I SSH into the Pi and have the GUI available to me in addition to the Terminal?

Thanks.  I’m getting there... slow and steady and trying to “stay the course”!

[thunder2k]

I’m in the process of organizing my media onto my 1TB USB drive to use with my 3B+.  As far as setting up the libraries within Plex itself, should I just connect the Pi [via HDMI] to my TV and set it up on the Pi itself?

You don't need to connect it to the TV, you can reach the Plex Media Server through the browser and set the libraries up.

Also, my 1TB USB drive is currently formatted as an NTFS drive; does it need to be reformatted into a different file system?  I think I remember seeing that Linux-based systems use the ext4 file system.

NTFS is fine

Finally, I’m a “GUI Guy”; how can I SSH into the Pi and have the GUI available to me in addition to the Terminal?

You can ssh, run

Code:

sudo raspi-config

and enable the VNC server. After that, you can use a VNC client from your pc/tablet and connect to the GUI

[Mark the Auditor]

thunder2k,

I appreciate greatly your quick response to my inquiries.

So, from what you said, NTFS is fine to use; right now, however, that drive is set up in 3 partitions, all of which are in NTFS format (the other 2 partitions, which are empty, were for backup storage and Time Machine Backup files from a 2007 MacBook Pro whose logic board died earlier this year; after I retrieved the files I needed from those partitions, I reformatted them into NTFS format). Now, is there a way that I can combine the other 2 partitions into the existing 1 without having to offload my files to a cloud storage account (temporarily), format it as a 1TB NTFS drive, and then download the files from the cloud storage? Additionally, if the drive is to remain in an NTFS format, do I need to set up Samba to share files between my Windows 10 tablet/laptop hybrid and the Pi? I thought Samba allowed Windows 10 to read non-NTFS files within the Windows Explorer. It seems to me that I wouldn't need Samba if the drive connected to the Pi is in NTFS format, since that's Windows-compatible.

Also, I was advised to not use RealVNC; I do plan on using Putty. Will I need to set anything up within Putty to access both the GUI and the Terminal from both within and outside of my home network, in addition to typing the sudo command you referenced in your reply? I'd read something about "x11 forwarding" somewhere.

I'm sorry if I seem annoying in any way; I'm completely new to the Pi/SSH/remote access/etc.; I'm rather scared of messing things up, so I'm trying to be cautious and lay out a step-by-step "roadmap" that will hopefully help me get to where I want to be.

[Although this reply is addressed to thunder2k, I'd appreciate anyone's and everyone's answers. I'll eventually learn everything regarding all this, but I'm a financial auditor, not a computer programmer (a "D" in Fortran derailed my plan to be a computer science minor; I remained with and graduated with an accounting major).

Thank you to all!

[thunder2k]

Now, is there a way that I can combine the other 2 partitions into the existing 1 without having to offload my files to a cloud storage account (temporarily), format it as a 1TB NTFS drive, and then download the files from the cloud storage?

I'm not an expert about that, but I remember on windows I used a software called Partition Magic that was really intuitive. I think the other 2 partitions must be empty before you can expand the first one to use the whole HD. But again, I'm not an expert so maybe wait for someone with more expertise to reply, I'm sure there's a Linux way to do it.

Additionally, if the drive is to remain in an NTFS format, do I need to set up Samba to share files between my Windows 10 tablet/laptop hybrid and the Pi?  I thought Samba allowed Windows 10 to read non-NTFS files within the Windows Explorer.  It seems to me that I wouldn't need Samba if the drive connected to the Pi is in NTFS format, since that's Windows-compatible.

I can't answer this as I have my NTFS drives attached to the router and mounted on the PI as network drives through CIFS (it seems to be a more advanced alternative to SAMBA).

Also, I was advised to not use RealVNC; I do plan on using Putty.  Will I need to set anything up within Putty to access both the GUI and the Terminal from both within and outside of my home network, in addition to typing the sudo command you referenced in your reply?  I'd read something about "x11 forwarding" somewhere.

I heard it as well, and also with the VNC server enabled I had a lot of attempts to hack in, so I ended up disabling it and only enable it when I need it for short sessions. I need the VNC as I usually connect via mobile.

I'm sorry if I seem annoying in any way; I'm completely new to the Pi/SSH/remote access/etc.; I'm rather scared of messing things up, so I'm trying to be cautious and lay out a step-by-step "roadmap" that will hopefully help me get to where I want to be.

I'm a newbie as well, but I'm learning a lot with experience. My advice is to do a backup of your SD card (creating a ready-to-flash img) before attempting "risky" things, so you can easily revert them if things go south.