Desperate, please help - cannot see the Media Server Folder on TV!

[Deepak Agarwal]

Hi 9C1 Newbee

Thanks for your response!

So when you say you can stream with the WD box, you are absolutely sure it is not via CIFS or NFS?

Now that is something that never came to my mind. The WD, at this stage, is not connected to any external HDD and it doesn't have an internal HDD of it own. It is only connected to this old PC that is serving as the FreeNAS server - this PC has the FreeNAS running off an USB drive and has an internal HDD which contains my media files. Both the WD and this PC are connected to my home network through the same switch (although I do have a few other switches as well).

Given that the WD can see the FreeNAS drive - I mean the MediaServer/the source Media Directory that was specified with the given 'Friendly Name' of "DLNAMedia" and all three folders inside of this folder called 'Photos', 'Movies' and 'Music' that contain my media files, I am assuming here that if must be via CIFS, wouldn't it?

Further,

I can tell you are getting pissed and discouraged. LOL Take a breath. FreeNAS is something you will have to research to use. If you like to tinker, FreeNAS is for you. If you just prefer to just simply buy a solution there are some good options out there. Even my WDTV Live Hub can stream DLNA content. Plug in an external hard drive and BAM, done! My router can stream DLNA content as well. But I want MOAR. I also like to tinker with stuff. Pro's and con's to each. Only you know what is right for you.

And look, I genuinely want to build a solution rather than just buy a ready made solution - that is why I am going through this learning - and its painful. I have no issues spending as much time as is necessary because I want to do things on my own rather just buy solutions for anything and everything. I am just not able to put a finger on what is causing this issue - I can only fix the issue if I know what the issue is, isn't it?

The unusual thing is that my Panasonic TV's (TH-P50VT20A - supposed to DLNA certified) whilst its able to see the volume - the MediaServer (the source Media Directory that was specified on FreeNAS with the given 'Friendly Name' of "DLNAMedia" - it doesn't show any folders inside this directory - there are three folders inside of this folder called 'Photos', 'Movies' and 'Music'! What I mean is - when I select the "AV" as the source on my TV and choose "Media Server", it does see "DLNAMedia" but nothing when I browse this "DLNAMedia" source.

Moreover, if I were to delete this volume, the share and the MiniDLNA plugin and redo the whole thing, I am sure my TV will see this drive again - as it did the first time around. But when I updated this drive/folder, it just became invisible to it.

Sorry about this post being so long but I thought I need to give you as much information as possible. Not sure if this gives you any more clues but this is where it is at! Looking forward to hearing from you again!



Deepak

 

[pirateghost]

I think the issue is that you don't truly understand the terminology or how your system is configured. This is what concerns me more than anything because it looks like you are just randomly trying things and not really understanding it. It is crucial to understand all of this before you lose your data. Please take it easy and familiarize yourself with the terminology and the system before going any further.

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

[Deepak Agarwal]

That may well be it, however, if everyone knew all that there was to know on any subject matter, there would never be a need for anyone to ever to ask a question to anyone else - all these forums and support groups would be irrelevant!!!!!!!!!!

Why would there be a need or a desire for anyone to seek assistance????????????????

Mate, you only ask a question if you do not know what you need to know! Maybe you are a geek in this area but you are not doing any favours to anyone by not providing any answers/pointers. If you cannot be a part of the solution, its sometimes better to say nothing at all!


Deepak

 

[pirateghost]

That may well be it, however, if everyone knew all that there was to know on any subject matter, there would never be a need for anyone to ever to ask a question to anyone else - all these forums and support groups would be irrelevant!!!!!!!!!!

Why would there be a need or a desire for anyone to seek assistance????????????????

Mate, you only ask a question if you do not know what you need to know! Maybe you are a geek in this area but you are not doing any favours to anyone by not providing any answers/pointers. If you cannot be a part of the solution, its sometimes better to say nothing at all!


Deepak

Read the documentation and understand it. You seem to be pushing buttons hoping something will work and you will wind up losing your data. This has nothing to do with being a geek in this field but rather comprehending what you are reading. You keep using terms that don't mean what you think they mean.

If you think I am not being helpful by trying to enforce you to learn the system then you are seriously in trouble already.

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

[pirateghost]

Also stop with the yelling. It is incredibly rude.

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

[cyberjock]

If you think I am not being helpful by trying to enforce you to learn the system then you are seriously in trouble already.

DING DING DING!

You need to learn this or be ready to pay someone to do it. FreeNAS is incredibly complex and there's a whole laundry list of things I will NEVER respond to as a forum thread. Permissions complaints, plugin complaints, and complaints about your hardware build not being compatible I just ignore. As soon as I see a thread go in those directions I just stop answering. I've literally spent 3+ solid days on skype trying to help a single person with stuff like that. Us more experienced forum users run away when we see some of them because we've provided as much info as we can provide. Google provides even more. Even if I were paid for my time we'd need about 100 moderators to keep up with the forums.

There are some things that are too complex to troubleshoot and fix in a forum setting without considerable time spent on it. Since we are ALL volunteers we prioritize based on what we can do in reasonable time.

I'm a very fast(and thorough) learner. I was operating a nuclear reactor at the age of 19. I still took a solid month of 8-12 hour days, 7 days a week, to feel comfortable with the OS. I wasn't about to rely on a forum to help me if things went bad. If they don't/can't/won't help you don't want to be sitting there with your data unavailable and not be able to solve problems on your own.

We get lots of people just like pirateghost said above. If you are expecting answers to be handed to you without learning the OS, you should probably use your native OS. You will be forced to learn things or you will be forced to pay someone to apply the knowledge to make things work.

If you have a particular error, you might be able to be pointed in a given direction. In your case(as I said earlier in the thread) there's no solid answer on what to do. You're going to have to experiment and figure out what is wrong and logically troubleshoot it. Not everyone is fit to use FreeNAS. Plenty of people plow through it, then lose their data because they plowed through it instead of leaning it. I don't lose sleep when people lose their libraries anymore. There's too many dumb people that don't want to learn and just want the answer.

That being said, I'm not sure what group you fall into. But you should figure out what group you fall into and figure out what OS you are ready to either learn, pay someone to setup and manage, or use your native choice.

Good luck!

 

[Deepak Agarwal]

Cyberjock/Pirateghost

I don't understand where all this is stemming from but maybe you all form a part of the Einstein family - not many on this plant have lineage of the likes of you all! I certainly do not belong to that elite group.

Learning any OS, it may be reasonably presumed, is something that cannot be realized overnight. I am not so sure what your presumptions are but I am not here to debate/question them and it appears that there isn't a lot that you all may be able to provide any further pointers to the issue that I am having. And that is perfectly acceptable!

I do thank this forum for all the information that I have been able to gather from some of those who have participated in this thread. Thanks again and sorry for the where and how it has ended up!


Best regards


Deepak

 

[pirateghost]

Cyberjock/Pirateghost

I don't understand where all this is stemming from but maybe you all form a part of the Einstein family - not many on this plant have lineage of the likes of you all! I certainly do not belong to that elite group.

Learning any OS, it may be reasonably presumed, is something that cannot be realized overnight. I am not so sure what your presumptions are but I am not here to debate/question them and it appears that there isn't a lot that you all may be able to provide any further pointers to the issue that I am having. And that is perfectly acceptable!

I do thank this forum for all the information that I have been able to gather from some of those who have participated in this thread. Thanks again and sorry for the where and how it has ended up!


Best regards


Deepak

We certainly don't expect you to learn it overnight, but when you are asking questions it would be proper etiquette to appear to have made an attempt to search and provide a level of competency that relates to the task at hand.

It looks to some of us that you are simply asking for us to troubleshoot a problem when you can't even provide proper information or go through the troubleshooting steps already asked of you. You don't even know how your WD live is accessing the server, how can we base any assumptions to assist if you don't even understand your setup and configuration? How can anyone help if even you don't know your hardware and network?

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

[cyberjock]

It looks to some of us that you are simply asking for us to troubleshoot a problem when you can't even provide proper information or go through the troubleshooting steps already asked of you. You don't even know how your WD live is accessing the server, how can we base any assumptions to assist if you don't even understand your setup and configuration? How can anyone help if even you don't know your hardware and network?

QFT!

 

[Deepak Agarwal]

Hi Guys


Don't know what this QFT refers to! Whatever you are trying to say obviously its not getting through but nevertheless. I suggest we should just cool it, guys! Let this thread be deemed to be closed. I would suggest you might as well get the moderator to delete this thread - it serves no purpose to no one!


Deepak

 

[pirateghost]

Hi Guys


Don't know what this QFT refers to! Whatever you are trying to say obviously its not getting through but nevertheless. I suggest we should just cool it, guys! Let this thread be deemed to be closed. I would suggest you might as well get the moderator to delete this thread - it serves no purpose to no one!


Deepak

You're talking to a couple of moderators.

Why are you not understanding that we can help you if you provide the right information and know your configuration?

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

[9C1 Newbee]

Deepak, these guys have a point. You are gonna have to read up. Read up on your TV's. Read up on the WD box. Read anything and everything you can get your hands on about MiniDLNA.

 

[cyberjock]

QFT = quoted for truth

Both pirateghost and myself are mods.

 

[9C1 Newbee]

QFT = quoted for truth

Google was my friend.

 

[Deepak Agarwal]

Hi 9C1 Newbee


Just to keep you posted - mate, don't worry about nothing! I am not questioning noone about nothing! Its all good. I will try and figure it out myself if I can - just might take me a trifle longer but that is perfectly fine by me! And if I can't, then there is nothing to loose anyway!

I just don't know what further information I need to provide and obviously more that what has been provided is required to go any further! So, its kind of catch 22 situation!

I understand! Personally, thank you!


Deepak