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[kritike24]

so on mc server i have the drives mapped \\ip\parent folder A: for example then in mc server i goto browse this computer and pick the drives.

i have both mc server and client as dont convert. i had set that so it plays the file as is without transcoding, which i am assuming is the correct way to setup.

[TheShoe]

so on mc server i have the drives mapped \\ip\parent folder A: for example then in mc server i goto browse this computer and pick the drives.

i have both mc server and client as dont convert. i had set that so it plays the file as is without transcoding, which i am assuming is the correct way to setup.

just to be clear, you are not mapping to a drive letter then?  e.g. there is an "E:\...." or "F:\...." mapped to your SMB shares?  (where "E" and "F" are just examples.  doesn't matter the actual letter)

[kritike24]

when you map a network drive you have pick a letter, so yes the network drives are mapped to a letter. sorry for the confusion, i mapped my 3 shares on windows and then on mc server picked from the drive and then the folder that houses the media.

[kritike24]

okay so i mapped the network drive the same way it is on the server on the client machien and now it plays atmos files no problem, i guess bc i have it checked off to play file locally if mapped. can this be sent in to be fixed in next update, can anyone else try and re-create this issue? have atmos m4a files on server and then try to play those files from the client without mapping the drive? see what happens

[TheShoe]

okay so i mapped the network drive the same way it is on the server on the client machien and now it plays atmos files no problem, i guess bc i have it checked off to play file locally if mapped. can this be sent in to be fixed in next update, can anyone else try and re-create this issue? have atmos m4a files on server and then try to play those files from the client without mapping the drive? see what happens

will leave that question to JRiver.

As for me, I don't map to drive letters on the server.  I just use network UNC paths, which simply points to the shared network location where the file (resource) resides.  When I add file(s) to Media Center on import, MC uses this path in the library.  When the client, which uses the same library that is shared by the server, plays the requested file it also uses the same UNC path.  No need to map anything on server or client to a local drive letter, and the client will play it locally if it can find it.  In this case, MC Server is just a library server and is not actually serving/streaming the file itself.

Try it and see if it meets your needs.

[kritike24]

Ahhh i get what you mean now from earlier. What is the preferred way? Is it either or, wouldn't there be issues say with accounts and permissions that way? do you have it as a nfs share? i share these folders via smb.

[TheShoe]

Mine are all SMB 3 shares.  My storage is an Ubuntu 18.04 server that does not much more than simply share various drives over SMB, and also runs my backup software (SnapRAID).

When it comes to credentials, if your SMB shares are not allowing GUEST connections for Read/Write, then you would need to use the "net use" Windows command, where if I recall, you can pass in a username and password (or leave PWD blank and it'll prompt).  Windows should cache this so that other programs can use it would re-authentication.  I think you can also make it permanent/persistent between reboots of the operating system.

I use GUEST, but I also have a lot of security around my network including specific restrictions on which clients can connect and from which network, so I don't use credentials for this set of SMB shares.

The basic command is - assuming your usename is "test" and the password is "testpassword":

net use \\server\share /user:test testpassword

--

This is an old post but should give you some interesting ideas/options:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40009297/net-use-in-powershell-without-specifying-drive

[kritike24]

ahhhhh i seee now, got it. so you map the share to no drive pretty much

[kritike24]

so besides the atmos issue i am having, what is the pros and cons of using unc vs mapped drive, on server and across jriver clients?

[TheShoe]

The drive letter is a client-specific mapping; so if it ever varies between clients, or you have a non-windows client, it won't work when attempting to locate the file.

UNC is basically just server name/share name which is highly unlikely to ever change in your network unless you re-name, and is portable from Linux to Windows to MacOS. 

[kritike24]

got it, but besides that everything else is the same correct?

with my issue, i had to map the drive that house the folder with atmos files and make the drive mapping on the client the same letter as server. so on server its b drive, client also had to be b drive.

[kritike24]

also, i have setup in my auto config to watch all the drives and then each has its own set of commands to follow....

if i were to do the unc mapping and replace and then disconnect the mapped network drives am i going to run into issues? like locating, database etc.


just confirm that this is the proper method.

add all paths via unc
open my auto config and edit each path and replace a:/music to \\ip\share\music
apply
disconnect mapped drive


how do i make it so that when i reboot the mappings are always connected, persistent?

[TheShoe]

Typically the first time you access a network shared drive using a UNC path or just browsing the "Network" in windows, if needed you are prompted for credentials.  They are cached such that subsequent access should not prompt you - which I think survives reboot for your user account.  I've not tested that since my SMB shares for media content are open to GUEST.

All drive letters do is give me a short-cut really, and as a long-time Linux user, there is no such concept. (not directly anyway, you could mimic using e.g. Symlinks). 

When I moved to UNC paths, I used Media Center's "Find/Replace" feature to replace all instances of e.g. "X:\" with "\\server-name\share-name\", and it was fine.

I'd suggest you test with one share first - add the files to JRiver via the UNC path and not the drive letter.  See how it works on playback from the client and from the server.

[kritike24]

good point because jriver all the files are drive letter than path.....can i just remove the folders, then re-add them and do an import?? if i remove watched folders are the content in those fodlers should go away from my library then when i re-add the folders it should add with tthe following unc path?

[kritike24]

dumb question.....being that everything works as is... with my drives mapped now, the dolby atmos issue i had i fixed by mapping just that folder on the client, should i bother in doing this. it's going to take a while to get everything all situated. if ever in the future i have to start from scratch different story... but to do this to fix an issue that i fixed by just mapping one drive, doesn't make sense unless there is a huge night and day difference. thoughts??

[TheShoe]

If it were me, I'm nit-picky about these things and have multiple clients - some MacOS, one Linux (for messing around with) and two Windows 10/11 respectively.

Changing it to UNC paths is just library updates using find/replace, but I suspect you'll run into some glitches - often happens and you just deal with them as you come across them...

However - in general, it's probably not worth it if you are all windows clients, and you ensure you map the same shares on each client to the same windows drive letter, matching what the server maps to.  Or put another way, "X:\" is the same SMB share everywhere you've mapped it!

[kritike24]

so i run jriver as the server on w10, use a w10 nuc as a client that plays all my music incl dolby atmos music. only drive mapped on the nuc is the folder housing dolby atmos music as the rest of my library plays fine without mapping those drives. the last device i use is my phone as a client. so in reality, all i had to do extra bc of the mappings is just map dolby atmos music folder on my nuc, everything else is solid. that's why if i do the unc now and update it will take forever and if i run into problems, better off just doing the whole thing over.

[kritike24]

Hi,

So i went ahead and made a new vm separate from my current and installed jriver ran it as a server and only added the dolby atmos music to the library....before adding i used the unc path via net use command. so it pulls from \\server\share

i then went on the nuc client and connected to the library and guess waht same issue...so for my original problem with dolby atmos has nothing to do with the driver being mapped to a letter vs unc. just figured id post to let you know.

[kritike24]

saying that, had it worked i was just going to make the new vm my new server and use all unc.

[TheShoe]

saying that, had it worked i was just going to make the new vm my new server and use all unc.

not quite sure how to guide you here; it works fine for me.

Check on your new server under "Tools->Options->Media Network", click on "Audio Conversion" and select "Don't Convert Audio", or at least verify that is how it is set.  Restart the MC server just to be sure.  then try again from the NUC client.

[kritike24]

i did not do that, but right after i mapped the drive via a letter the files started playing.... i disconnected the letter drive mapped via unc started playing.... unfortunately lol i just deleted the vm, i just saw your reply but being it worked right after mapping drive and unc i feel like it would not have mattered...

[TheShoe]

odd.  well, i am not sure.

maybe someone else can weigh in...

-

On a related note - atmos audio playback is awesome, but does not support gapless, which for me, affects maybe 40% of my recently purchased Atmos audio... 

[kritike24]

believe it or not, i just created a new vm going to re-do everything from scratch and use the unc for everything call it a day. lol where do you purchase your atmos music from??

[kritike24]

when i first started with jriver i was strictly keeping for audio only, but i run jellyfn for my own videos and photos...i figured jriver maybe the better option and to replace jelly fin. other hting to is i have all my movies, not that i am going to use jriver to play them but if i need to see all of them real quick....rather than figuring out a list from mysql server.. if that makes sense. the other thing is i deleted a bunch of preset playlists that jriver comes with etc. so start fresh get everything the way i want and thats it

[BryanC]

Also keep in mind that in the future that you can use the RM&C tool in "Update Database" mode to convert from mapped to UNC paths (Find & Replace is usually the best option here). It's flexible enough that you should never need to reimport files.

[kritike24]

of course lol.....unc paths are not staying after a restart..... i tried net use /persistent:yes


even the whole command with /persistent:yes nada.....

[kritike24]

i made a .bat and put in startup all good

[TheShoe]

believe it or not, i just created a new vm going to re-do everything from scratch and use the unc for everything call it a day. lol where do you purchase your atmos music from??

Not as downloads (although there are likely sources for that now), but many of my recent physical media music purchases come with an Atmos mix. 

[kritike24]

ah got ya