(ERROR -2): Files selected for playback are no longer on the disk

[MCE-Refugee]

I'm having a problem with my HD200. When I'm in standalone mode I can play any videos that are on my Windows Home Server system (which has Guest user with no password set up to access all files). I have upgraded to the latest beta firmware.

However when using the HD200 as an extender with SageTV (which is the way I want to use it) I get the following error

(ERROR -2): Files selected for playback are no longer on the disk

The files show up in when browsing the directory. But when I select them and hit play I get the above error.

The files play fine when accessed through SageTV on the server or Sage Client or Placeholder on other systems on our local network.

This problem appears the opposite of what others have reported with problems playing videos in standalone mode. I have no problem with standalone mode. It is extender mode that is the problem but only with the HD200.

Any suggestions on what could be the problem or what further data I can collect to help run down the problem & fix it?

[gplasky]

Are you using UNC for the path or a mapped drive? You'll need to use UNC.

Gerry

[MCE-Refugee]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Are you using UNC for the path or a mapped drive? You'll need to use UNC.

Gerry

I am accessing the file using 'Browse Media Files'->'Browse the SageTV server's Network'. I can find my the workgroup that contains my WHS system on the network, then the WHS system & then various shares (Videos, Photos, Music etc). I can then drill down through various levels of directory & find the particular video file that I want to play. It's just when I try to actually play the file that I get the error.

Another odd thing that I just discovered is that I can view Photos on the WHS system with no problems but trying to play any audio files I get the same error as with video files.

Note the WHS system is a separate machine to the SageTV server.

[MCE-Refugee]

All systems (SageTV server, WHS, Mac clients) are in the same Windows domain. Unless this is actually a bug with the HD200 code I assume that this is some obscure problem with Windows opaque & over complicated permissions setup.

[MCE-Refugee]

OK, I enabled debug logging & this appears to be the relevant part of the logfile:-

Wed 2/17 19:19:46.272 [AsyncWatch@17e5307] RequestLocalSMBAccess called smbPath=smb://THEBARKIVE/Videos/Archie.MPG
Wed 2/17 19:19:46.303 [AsyncWatch@17e5307] VideoFrame.watch(A[464402,464380,"Archie",0@0217.19:19,0])
Wed 2/17 19:19:46.305 [AsyncWatch@17e5307] watchThisFile=MediaFile[id=0 A[464402,464380,"Archie",0@0217.19:19,0] host=smb://THEBARKIVE/Videos/Archie.MPG encodedBy= format=null \\THEBARKIVE\Videos\Archie.MPG, Seg0[Wed 2/17 19:19:46.286-Wed 2/17 19:19:46.287]]
Wed 2/17 19:19:46.312 [AsyncWatch@17e5307] MediaFile failing verify testFile=\\THEBARKIVE\Videos\Archie.MPG isFile=false len=0 isTV=false isRecording=false
Wed 2/17 19:19:46.314 [AsyncWatch@17e5307] BAD WATCH Selected watch failed file verification.
Wed 2/17 19:19:46.316 [AsyncWatch@17e5307] cleanupLocalFile called for MediaFile[id=0 A[464402,464380,"Archie",0@0217.19:19,0] host=smb://THEBARKIVE/Videos/Archie.MPG encodedBy= format=null \\THEBARKIVE\Videos\Archie.MPG, Seg0[Wed 2/17 19:19:46.286-Wed 2/17 19:19:46.287]]
Wed 2/17 19:19:46.318 [AsyncWatch@17e5307] ReleaseLocalSMBAccess called smbPath=smb://THEBARKIVE/Videos/Archie.MPG

[MCE-Refugee]

I fixed this with the blunderbuss approach of changing the SageTV service from using the Local System account to log on as a particular user (same username & password that I use on the other systems (server, Client & Placeshifter) where playing videos works OK.

It would have been nice to understand what the problem actually was so I would still be grateful for any observations from anyone as to what the root cause is.

[Fuzzy]

LocalSystem is limited in what it can access. Files on a remote computer are one of those limitations. If you want to access network resources, you HAVE to use an actual user that has access to those resources.

[MCE-Refugee]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

LocalSystem is limited in what it can access. Files on a remote computer are one of those limitations. If you want to access network resources, you HAVE to use an actual user that has access to those resources.

Actually you could grant Local System the right to access whatever resources are needed but TBH life is too short to figure out exactly what needs fixing & it's just easier to enable the SageTV to run as a real user. The only Windows machines in the house are the SageTV server (which does noting except act as a SageTV server) & the Windows Home Server which I am looking forward to replacing with a Drobo Pro or some other nice NAS solution so that I don't have to worry about Windows system management.