Using Recorded TV From a Network Share in WMC
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mpatnode.
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July 8, 2011 at 2:11 pm #26133
I recently upgraded my Media Center PC and moved the contents of the old Recorded TV folder to a network share. When I set up the new PC, I added the share to the Recorded TV library (via the Media Center interface). This seemed to work pretty well for a while, other than the time it takes for Media Center to update the recorded tv show list.
Now I’m having issues with Media Center not displaying the shows from the share. Last night I saw that the older shows were missing, so I removed and re-added the share to the library and they showed up again. I watched a show and when I was finished and went back to the Recorded TV list, I watched as all of the shows from the network share disappeared again.
Anyone have any tips on how to handle recorded TV over the network more reliably?
July 11, 2011 at 3:35 pm #30592jrandeck
OK, maybe I have a screwball setup.
Does anyone else put recorded TV on a network share and access it from within Media Center? What kinds of issues have you run into?
July 11, 2011 at 3:47 pm #30593I have had some recorded TV temporarily (usually during HTPC upgrade process) stored on my WHS (both v1 and 2011) and didn’t run into any issues.
What kind of machine (OS etc) is serving your network share?
July 11, 2011 at 3:55 pm #30594If you’ve changed your Recorded TV location, make sure it is indexed by Windows Search and that the index is up-to-date.
July 11, 2011 at 4:09 pm #30595That’s why I asked where the files where hosted. If hosted on a non-Windows NAS, then it is likely you’re dealing with a Samba implementation of SMB where your mileage definitely varies. It seems that when dealing with Windows-based shares, the library mechanism relies on the server to do the indexing of the share for Windows Search (supported by Windows Search 4.0), and it also seems that certain (maybe all) NAS servers fail to implement this indexing.
July 11, 2011 at 4:37 pm #30596[quote=RehabMan]
That’s why I asked where the files where hosted. If hosted on a non-Windows NAS, then it is likely you’re dealing with a Samba implementation of SMB where your mileage definitely varies. It seems that when dealing with Windows-based shares, the library mechanism relies on the server to do the indexing of the share for Windows Search (supported by Windows Search 4.0), and it also seems that certain (maybe all) NAS servers fail to implement this indexing.
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I’ve had the same problem also. It can also be the traffic performance. I currently have a ReadyNAS Pro Business and works fine.
July 11, 2011 at 5:38 pm #30598The share is being hosted by WHS 2011, so there shouldn’t be any Samba issues. The server is running (no sleep mode) and there’s not much other network traffic going on.
Both the Media Center PC and the WHS are connected to the same 24 port D-Link switch at 1Gbps.
July 11, 2011 at 5:43 pm #30599The local Recorded TV folder works fine. The share is set up as an additional folder, and that’s the one that keeps disappearing.
July 11, 2011 at 5:44 pm #30600Sounds like an indexing issue then. If you open Windows Explorer and go to the Recorded TV library (under Favorits) does it show up-to-date there?
July 11, 2011 at 5:56 pm #30601Is it a problem if the Recorded TV library doesn’t show up under Favorites? (Though right now Media Center is finding the shows on the share just fine, it’s an intermittent problem.)
July 11, 2011 at 6:08 pm #30602[quote=jrandeck]
The share is being hosted by WHS 2011, so there shouldn’t be any Samba issues. The server is running (no sleep mode) and there’s not much other network traffic going on.
Both the Media Center PC and the WHS are connected to the same 24 port D-Link switch at 1Gbps.
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Is the share the standard “Recorded TV” share provided by default in WHS 2011, or is it an additional share?
If additional share, are you sure it is being indexed? You will need to RDP into the server and look at control panel Indexing Options.
Also, if you view the Recorded TV library properties from the HTPC client, does it show as indexed? I forget what will show there, but if it is not indexing it will show something like “unresponsive” or something like that.
July 11, 2011 at 9:42 pm #30611On my son’s PC, I have the Recorded TV set to my HTPC’s Recorded TV folder. It works fine. His doesn’t have a tuner in it, so it doesn’t have any recordings of its own. But it shows the recordings I have made on my HTPC, and they play back OK.
July 15, 2011 at 1:15 am #30651[quote=RehabMan]
Is the share the standard “Recorded TV” share provided by default in WHS 2011, or is it an additional share?
If additional share, are you sure it is being indexed? You will need to RDP into the server and look at control panel Indexing Options.
Also, if you view the Recorded TV library properties from the HTPC client, does it show as indexed? I forget what will show there, but if it is not indexing it will show something like “unresponsive” or something like that.
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I just noticed that Media Center wasn’t showing the shared files again (it was previously) so I went and checked things out again.
The Recorded TV library looks fine and up-to-date from Windows explorer, all of the files show up in the directories where they should be. They just don’t show up in the recorded TV list in Media Center.
The shares are additional shares, not Recorded TV from within WHS. I checked them on the server and they are set up to be indexed (and appear to be fine when viewed from Windows Explorer on the client).
They show up consistently in the TV Library plugin, so I guess I’ll just tell everyone to go there to watch them 🙂 The UI is nicer there anyway.
July 15, 2011 at 5:27 am #30664From what I’ve been reading, it sounds like the client HTPC looses connection the WHS if you aren’t watching anything or accessing anything from the WHS. In a home network environment, this type of situation happens on a regular basis.
July 15, 2011 at 4:55 pm #30669[quote=santanan]
From what I’ve been reading, it sounds like the client HTPC looses connection the WHS if you aren’t watching anything or accessing anything from the WHS. In a home network environment, this type of situation happens on a regular basis.
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That might be the case, though I don’t know why it would be happening, I’m not using sleep mode on either the HTPC or the Home Server, and there’s just the one switch between them.
The other thing I’m seeing occasionally is that even when the shows show up in the Recorded TV list, I get the “cannot find file” error when I go to play them.
I guess I’ll just chalk it up to Media Center’s Recorded TV library not liking network shares and use the TV Library plugin or the Videos library instead.
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