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[badger]

I'm running MC on my htpc (library server is running).  I have a client pc running MC (with the htpc MC library loaded).  MC on the client doesn't appear to be able to "find" the DVD rips.  The error tells me to make sure the path in media library points to the right location.  If I look at the library server log on the server, there is an entry that says "Error sharing file, it is not part of the library".  The client PC does play the .mpgs from the server library (and also all the audio and images).  Please advise re: dvd playback if you can.  My dvds are stored as \Name\video_ts\files.

Thanks

[badger]

Thought I'd bump this up.  Is anyone else having success playing DVDs on a client PC?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Yaobing]

Ripped DVDs in VIDEO_TS folders can not be played from Library Server unless you enable "Play local file if one that matches Library Server file is found" AND you have the local file (or share the file and map the share on client using identical drive letter).  Library Server can not serve files that are not in the library.  DVDs involve a lot of files in the VIDEO_TS folders that are not in the library.

[badger]

Thank you.  works like a charm!

[HTPC4ME]

for us ignorant users where is this setting please? 

"Play local file if one that matches Library Server file is found"


also i dont understand what this means? AND you have the local file (or share the file and map the share on client using identical drive letter).

is sharing the drives not enough to make the files play?

TY

[JimH]

for us ignorant users where is this setting please? 

"Play local file if one that matches Library Server file is found"

There is a search window at the top of the options page.

[Yaobing]

is sharing the drives not enough to make the files play?

That was what was said in the part of my sentence in parenthesis.

If your DVDs were in M:\Video\DVD\Whatever Movie title\VIDEO_TS\ folder on the server, you would share the entire M:\ drive, and on the client map that share to M:\ drive.

[Alex B]

If your DVDs were in M:\Video\DVD\Whatever Movie title\VIDEO_TS\ folder on the server, you would share the entire M:\ drive, and on the client map that share to M:\ drive.

Instead of sharing the complete drive it is better to share the root folder (like M:\Video\), map the share as a new drive letter on the server and on the client (for instance V:), and import the DVDs from this location to the server library (Yaobing's example path would show up as V:\DVD\... when the mapped drive is browsed). After that the DVDs from M:\... can be removed from the library.

If the tags are stored in sidecar files they should be preserved.

[Yaobing]

Alex is right, as usual.

This is especially important if your media files are on C:\ drive, in which case my idea would be unworkable. 

I was just trying to emphasize that the path used in MC on server should be the same as the path appearing on the client.  MC will not search all over your client computer for a copy of the DVD you try to play, but will instead just try to load the files with the given path.

[HTPC4ME]

so all movie drives, i should put all the files in a folder called video? instead of having them all individually accessible when you open the drive? is that correct?


im sorry.. how is this done? 

and on the client map that share to M:\ drive.

TY

[Yaobing]

so all movie drives, i should put all the files in a folder called video? instead of having them all individually accessible when you open the drive? is that correct?

No, "Video" is just an example.  You can put your video files in any folder.  If you take a look at the path that I used in my post as an example, the DVD is in a sub-folder VIDEO_TS of the sub-folder "Whatever movie title" of the sub-folder "DVD" of folder "Video".  

It is a good idea to put all your videos under one root folder (but create as many sub-folders as you like), for organization reasons.  In my prevous example, this root folder is "Video" (again, you can name it whatever way you like, "Movies" is another good choice).  This way you can share that folder and map the folder (which we called "Video" in our examples) to a drive letter.

To share a folder, in Windows Explorer right-click the folder and choose "Share...".

To map a folder, in Windows Explorer, go to "My Network Places" (or simply "Network" on Vista or higher OS), find the shared folder.  Right-click, and choose "Map Network Drive...".

[HTPC4ME]

thanks for the detailed info.. well i mapped them then opened jriver searched for library servers went to zone one, chose to play dvd and same error pops up about path? and none of them will play

[Yaobing]

thanks for the detailed info.. well i mapped them then opened jriver searched for library servers went to zone one, chose to play dvd and same error pops up about path? and none of them will play

Did you map the same shared folder on the server to the same drive letter?   And import your DVDs from the mapped drive, instead of the original drive?  You should be able to use "Rename, Move, and Copy files..." tool to change your existing media entries to the new drive.

For example, suppose you have a DVD in C:\Video\DVD\a DVD Title\VIDEO_TS\ folder and have already imported it into MC, and you share the "Video" folder, and map it to V:\ drive, then on V:\ drive, you will have the DVD in V:\DVD\a DVD Title\VIDEO_TS\ folder.  Basically the there are two paths that can be used to reference the DVD - "C:\Video\DVD\a DVD Title\VIDEO_TS\ " and "V:\DVD\a DVD Title\VIDEO_TS\".  On the client only the second path would be valid.  So you need your database entry to use the second path.

[HTPC4ME]

i FINALLY GOT IT... when i had rebooted the client couldnt connect to the drives because remmeber your credentials wasnt checked for network files. i'll have to figure out why thats not staying checked. but once i put user name in and password. and then tested jriver it worked

and of course it cant be that easy... i got a popup in jriver stating.....

you have selected microsoft dtv-dvd audio decoder as your audio decoder and for audio rendering connection type. because microsoft dtvdvd decoder does not decode ac3 audio inside media center your selected combination maybe problematic.

if your audio renderer is connected to a surround sound reciever supporting ac3 and dts please select digital connection to a surround sound reciever thats supports ac3 dts. otherwise select a diffrent audio decoder.

HUH??

umm ok i went to file,tools , optons file types and selected all the audio files and changed them from automtic to jriver directshow filters. tried to play movie same audio errors pops up... then i rebooted machine and retried. nope same error
where do i change this error they say i have? and im on  laptop so im trying to play audio out of speakers on laptop not reciever.

i REALLY hope these boys make a way to backup ALL\Views\Theaterview settings cutomized root items etc... in jriver. the time ive spent the last few years researching tweaking things trying to make things work, when ive had plenty of other stuff on my plate to worry about... i cant imagine what im gonna do when i actually buy my htpc and have to reprogram tweak all this stuff again. I'm not looking forward to it to say the least.

[Alex B]

i FINALLY GOT IT... when i had rebooted the client couldnt connect to the drives because remmeber your credentials wasnt checked for network files. i'll have to figure out why thats not staying checked. but once i put user name in and password. and then tested jriver it worked

and of course it cant be that easy... i got a popup in jriver stating.....

I assume you have the file path issue now resolved. For example, if the path is  X:\Shared DVDs\A nice Movie\VIDEO_TS on the "server" PC you  can play the same "DVD" from exactly the same path directly on the laptop even without using MC's Library Server connection. I.e. the X:\Shared DVDs\A nice Movie\VIDEO_TS path is valid also on the laptop when the files are browsed with Windows Explorer.

- and that you also have the "Play local file if one that matches Library Server file is found" setting enabled.

The above is needed for accessing the folder where the needed files are located. For actually playing the DVD you must have the client MC configured so that it can play DVDs from folders correctly also without any server connection.

...you have selected microsoft dtv-dvd audio decoder as your audio decoder and for audio rendering connection type. because microsoft dtvdvd decoder does not decode ac3 audio inside media center your selected combination maybe problematic.

if your audio renderer is connected to a surround sound reciever supporting ac3 and dts please select digital connection to a surround sound reciever thats supports ac3 dts. otherwise select a diffrent audio decoder.

umm ok i went to file,tools , optons file types and selected all the audio files and changed them from automtic to jriver directshow filters. tried to play movie same audio errors pops up... then i rebooted machine and retried. nope same error
where do i change this error they say i have? and im on  laptop so im trying to play audio out of speakers on laptop not reciever.

Go back to Options > File Types and set the Audio file types back to Automatic (except m4a if you want to play aac or alac m4a files through DirectShow decoding). The settings under Audio are strictly for audio-only files and you shouldn't change them if audio files (standard music tracks, etc)  play correctly.

The options for DVD playback are in  Options > Playback > Video > DVD Playback Settings.
There you can configure the used audio decoder. For instance, if you have installed CCCP on your laptop you should be able to use the "FFDShow Audio Decoder" setting.

i REALLY hope these boys make a way to backup ALL\Views\Theaterview settings cutomized root items etc... in jriver. the time ive spent the last few years researching tweaking things trying to make things work, when ive had plenty of other stuff on my plate to worry about... i cant imagine what im gonna do when i actually buy my htpc and have to reprogram tweak all this stuff again. I'm not looking forward to it to say the least.

Copying the playback settings for video and DVD file types is complicated because on a different PC you may have a different OS, different installed DirectShow filters, a different audio device, a different graphics adapter and you may have (or want to use) different output connectors. Probably the same settings would not work correctly on a different PC (unless the PCs are very similar to each other).

The view settings and many of the other options are internal to MC and copying them should be technically possible. Perhaps MC will provide an option to do that easily in the future. (Currently most of the customization can be copied by restoring the library and copying the MC related "user settings" from Windows Registry by hand.)