Getting started
What Basalt is, how its two apps fit together, and setting it up from start to finish.
Basalt turns one computer into a private drive for your whole household. Every phone, tablet and computer in the house can browse its files, watch its films and see its photos, and each one picks up where the last one left off. Nothing goes through the cloud and nobody needs an account.
How it works
Basalt is two apps that work together.
| App | Where it goes | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Basalt Host | The computer with the drive | Shares one drive or folder with your devices, decides who can join, and keeps the library |
| Basalt | Every other phone, tablet and computer | Opens that drive: files, films, series, photos, music and videos |
Your devices find the host on your home network by themselves. You never type an address, and they keep finding it when the router gives it a new one. Files travel straight from the host to your devices, encrypted, and nowhere else.
You can install Basalt on the host computer too, to use the drive there like on any other device.
Choose where the host runs
Basalt Host goes on the computer the drive is in or plugged into. Pick the guide that fits that computer:
| The computer with your files | Guide |
|---|---|
| A Windows computer | Basalt Host on Windows |
| A Linux computer you sit at | Basalt Host on a Linux desktop |
| A home server, a Raspberry Pi, or any Linux computer with no screen | Basalt Host with no screen |
| A NAS or a server that runs Docker | Basalt Host in Docker |
Not sure? If you will use the computer itself with a mouse and screen, choose Windows or the Linux desktop. If it sits in a cupboard and you never look at it, choose the version with no screen, or Docker on a NAS.
Set it up
-
Install Basalt Host on the computer with the drive, from the download page.
On Windows or a Linux desktop, open it and choose the drive or folder to share. A host with no screen shows a setup code instead, and you choose what it shares from your phone in a moment.
-
Install Basalt on a phone, tablet or computer, on the same network: on Windows or on Android.
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Choose the host. Open Basalt. It lists the hosts it finds on your network. Choose yours.
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Type the PIN. Basalt Host shows six digits. Type them on the device, and it is paired for good.
For a host with no screen, the host is marked new in the list, and you type its setup code instead. That device then manages the host.
Repeat steps 2 to 4 for each device. After that, each one simply connects whenever it opens.
Films and series filed for you. Basalt shows every file from the start. To get the Movies and TV Series library with posters, turn on Recognise films and series in the host’s settings. See Films and series.
What to read next
- Pairing a device, for when a device does not find the host, or to pair by address
- Profiles, so everyone in the house keeps their own history
- Manage host, to run the host from your phone
- Troubleshooting, if something does not work as described
Something unclear, or not covered here? Ask in Help and setup, where the community and Refora Technologies answer, or write to us, and we will improve this page.