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[gakaudio]

Hello all,

I just fired up my new audio PC that only has an internal 128 GB SSD that stores windows 7 and JRiver MC 17. All of my audio files are on a separate Laptop and backed up on an external 1 TB SeaGate HDD. I connected the external HDD via the USB 3.0 to the new audio PC and attempted to play some music off of it. However, I could not. In MC17 I tried to load a library via File/Library/Import and Browse to my external HDD but the folder that holds the music was not visible. I'm wondering if I am missing something obvious or is there something that is preventing me from playing music off of the Seagate HDD. Playing from the external HDD is only a stopgap solution as I eventually want to play off of a Network Attached Storage (NAS) that I plan to attach to my wireless router via an ethernet cable. The router is attached to the Audio PC also via ethernet cable. I plan to eventually store all of my music on the NAS and have it serve the music files to the audio PC.

I'd really appreciate some help. As you may have guessed I am new to computer audio so please make sure your advice is not too tech gargin heavy as I may not get it. Thanks, Garth

[frani]

Hello Garth,

is the folder of your external Harddisc visible in Windows Explorer?
What happens if you try to play just on file via menu - open mediafiles. Does JRiver "see" the folder then?

[eddyshere]

Your solution (htpc-laptop-extusb3drive) could work but is not the best setup.The problem lies with your laptop as your usb drive is handled like a removable disk. You could make it work by sharing the folder holding your music files on the external disc (so your new audio pc could connect to it) but as soon as you remove the drive, or shut down the laptop you will have problems.
The NAS and your description on how you plan it going forward is the perfect way to go.
Actually In pc audio/network I would make the following evolution scenarios :

first step : one PC + MC + files stored on the same PC
second level : one PC + MC + files stored on a removable drive connected to the PC
third level : one PC + MC + files stored on a NAS connected through LAN/WLAN
fourth level : one server(PC) +MC + files stored on the server/or on an additionnal NAS + several PC's (HTPC) with MC connecting to the MC main library on the server.  

[gakaudio]

...is the folder of your external Harddisc visible in Windows Explorer?
What happens if you try to play just on file via menu - open mediafiles. Does JRiver "see" the folder then?

Hi frani, My external harddrive was originally purchased to back up my laptop. So it has software on it designed to restore the data if the laptop crashes and so forth. So my music files are in an odd folder called My Replica. It is like a separate drive but it does not have a letter associated with it. It is referred to as a system folder. I don't know if that makes any difference from a computing stand point. I can "see" and navigate to the My Replica drive that has the music using windows explorer. When trying to load a library with media center 17 i can see aspects of my seagate drive but not the My Replica drive (or folder). However, using your suggestion, when I go to File/Open Media File and navigate to My Replica, I can then see my music files but nothing happens when I double click on them. Of course if I do the same action but navigate to the music files on my laptop and double click on them, I then get music.

This might just be an idiosyncrasy of my backup HDD and is ultimately not a deal breaker because I want to play files off of a NAS device anyway. I am just concerned that I might run into the same problem with the NAS that I am having now with the SeaGate HDD.