sage 4.9.1 bug or just weird windows networking?

[tbonessc]

Hi,
I noticed what I think is a bug in Sage, but I wouldn't be too suprised if it is just a weird Windows networking issue.

I am running Sage as a Service on a dedicated pc, and have the recording directory set to a UNC path on the same machine.
My recordings path is \\HTPC\Recordings
That is a network share to a drive local to the PC.

The strange thing is if that I unplug the network cable Sage has errors and cannot record or access any of the previously recorded data.
If I minimize sage I can still browse to the drive via D:\recordings or the UNC path in explorer.

I don't understand why Sage would care if the network connection is down if the unc path eventually resolved to a local drive.
This really shouldn't be an issue as I don't plan on unplugging the network connection but if the switch dies it would end up taking Sage out with it.

So I guess my questions is, is this expected behaviour or a bug?
-Tim

Sage 4.1.9 on WinXP

[mightyt]

Awesome ... I guess Sage 4.9.1 is out !!!

When is v.5 being released??

j/k ... I couldn't resist ... T.

[rickgillyon]

Unplug your network cable and try to access the network drive in Windows, e.g. Start->Run, \\HTPC\Recordings, OK

It won't work, it's unrelated to Sage. You're telling Windows to access that share over the network so that's exactly what Windows will do, and if it can't access the network, it will report an error.

Why would you access a local drive as a network share?

[dvd_maniac]

Why would you access a local drive as a network share?

His reason for bringing this up is legit. I do not think he brought it up to resolve a bug that is self induced. He's wondering what would happen if the hub, router or switch went down?

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by dvd_maniac

His reason for bringing this up is legit.

I don't understand your point. If you try to access a network resource without a network you will get an error. It's how Windows networking functions. If you want your local drive to work when you have no network, access it via its local drive letter.

[dvd_maniac]

I don't understand your point

My point is that he brought up a good point. I haven't been following the UNC path issue for a while but I remember reading that it is better to use them then local paths. Is this changed? If not and it is still recommended to use UNC (Especailly for Client enviroment) then could it be programmed into the core to use a local path if UNC path not found? I do not care about accessing existing recordings but more so when a new recording starts?
I am wondering if this could be the problem I occasionally run into when a favorite does not record as I sometimes lose connectivity to my router?

This really shouldn't be an issue as I don't plan on unplugging the network connection but if the switch dies it would end up taking Sage out with it.

So I guess my questions is, is this expected behaviour or a bug?

Obviously it is a Windows networking behavior issue, but maybe Sage can create a workaround just for recording purposes?

[rickgillyon]

I'm not debating the quality of the question!
Just trying to give an answer.

I suspect the only reason he can access the share at all when the network is down is because it is named the same as the folder. If not, how would Sage resolve the target without a network?

I can't see any reason why UNC names would be preferable for local drives, you are adding a network overhead. Any idea why this would be? I understand that UNC paths are often better than *mapped* network drives, but local ones?

[tbonessc]

Thanks for the replies.
Correct, I can't access \\HTPC\Recordings with the cable unplugged.
I originally was accessing it via My Network Places with the cable unplugged. If I held my mouse over the folder it said it was located at "\\HTPC\Recordings" but when I actually accessed it, it was D:\Recordings.

When I was initially setting this up, I remembered reading that the UNC paths were preferred. Maybe I misunderstood the point of using UNC paths. I was planning on adding a client later on so that's why I did it.

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by tbonessc

When I was initially setting this up, I remembered reading that the UNC paths were preferred.

To what, though? Mapped network drives or local drives?

Originally Posted by tbonessc

Maybe I misunderstood the point of using UNC paths. I was planning on adding a client later on so that's why I did it.

Client doesn't make any difference when you're talking about recordings, it takes all details from the server, serves up the files. You don't have to tell the client where to look.

[tbonessc]

To either local or mapped network drives. I thought the server only gave the cleint the path to the recording not actually provided the file.

What about the ShowAnalyser txt file? Will the server provide that to the cleint as well?

I just popped the recordings dir back to the local path. I guess I was making this harder than I needed to

[Opus4]

UNC paths are not needed unless you wish to use some customizations that look for sidekick files for the recordings (ComSkip, for example). If the client has direct acces to a recording, it will play it directly, otherwise it simply streams it via the server, so letting the server use local paths for local recording paths is fine for non-customized client use.

- Andy

[rickgillyon]

Don't know how the innards work, but I have mine declared as a local drive and my client works well. Afraid I don't use ad detection, so no idea how well this works with clients...

[nielm]

Opus4: IIRC Clients also need direct access to the filesystem for playing ripped DVDs (and possibly WMA/WMV), so in a client env, its better to use UNC paths for import DIRs, or to map the server drive on the client with the same drive/path.

I always thought that Windows knows that if a local disk is accessed via UNC path, it reads it directly...

Note that if using the service, and using LocalSystem user, the service does not have network access, but UNC paths work fine. Also both with and without service mode, recording/playback do not incur any network overhead (task mangler reports 0 net utilisation when recording/playing back on the server)...

However, both recording and playback fail when the network adapters disabled... Maybe they are needed for name resolution only?

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by nielm

Opus4: IIRC Clients also need direct access to the filesystem for playing ripped DVDs (and possibly WMA/WMV), so in a client env, its better to use UNC paths for import DIRs, or to map the server drive on the client with the same drive/path.

Yeah, my post was incomplete in that I only referred to recording directories. Thanks for filling in the info for imports.

- Andy

[Bohica]

I use both the imports and recordings directories on the server via local drives.... but I changed the drive letters of my drives to high letters so I could map shares to those same letters on my clients. This way the server can use them fine if the network is down, my clients use them fine for VOB playback, etc. Sort of a cross I guess -- but works perfectly for me...