DLNA media server / SMB Share

[Zacharybinx34]

First off. Merlin. Thanks! I appreciate your work.

Here's what I'm trying to do. I have an external USB 1TB Hard Drive formatted to EXFat connected to my router via USB. I have home ripped movies/music/pictures/files, etc. on there.

I am trying to
a. Share the video/music as a DLNA server to KODI on another machine.
b. On a windows 10 machine map the external drive (or even just see it in network places and access drag/drop there) so I can have one drive sync to the drive. (mostly for pictures which are shared to the KODI device to be used as screensaver images.

On my first try I had the device connected, I could see it in Network places, and access the files, but (obviously) could not write to the root directory and only to the files that added when I connected the drive directly to my windows machine. I even added the directory to Kodi and could access my movies there.

But then I got greedy. I wanted to not only be able to access the files, but add more files/folders, so I decided to move all the files into one new folder so I could make changes from there if and when needed. I also decided I wanted the device to work as a DLNA meda server.

Originally the drive was NTFS, but then I went and changed it to EXFat as I read that it had much better performance when connected to the router.

The settings I have enabled are:
- I enabled Media Server with media server path set to "all Disks Shared" - Media Server Status is "idle"
- Network Palce (Samba) Share /Cloud Disk- Endable Share ON - Simpler Share Naming - Yes NTFS Sparse Files Support - Enable - allow guest log in - off
- NFS Exports - OFF
- FTP Share - On - Enable WAN access - OFF - Allow Anonymous Login - off
- Cloud Disk - Smart Access both on
- Smart Sync - OFF
- AIcloud - on with password protected feature on.


However, a new issue has come up now after I removed all the files, formatted to EXFAT and re-added them, and then re-plugged the drive into the router and then restarted the router. The drive shows as unmounted - but connected.

The drive has it's own ac power supply and is a USB 3.0 supported drive (not that that matters since we only have 2.0 on the router).

 

[Zacharybinx34]

It's not letting me edit my post. Weird. Tried to add this:

So 3 questions.
1. How do I fix my drive so it's mounted.
2. How do I get DLNA to work properly.
3. How do I make so I can drag and drop files/folders from my desktop onto the external drive when its connected to the router?

Thanks!

Log attached

EDIT:
Discovered elsewhere that Asus doesn't support EXFAT. Weird...

So for what I want to do should I be using NTFS? or can I use a better format and still be able to all 3 things above?

Starting to think I should maybe just plug the device into my NVida Shield TV and call it a day.

Opinions? Advice?

 

[CTXSi]

I've always used EXT3 (one of the Linux file formats) for drives attached to my router and haven't had a problem.

The one problem I've seen is with DLNA, but I think that has more to do with the Asus DLNA implementation than with EXT3 (see: http://www.snbforums.com/threads/dlna-folder-selection.29496/). My implementation worked fine when I was running TomatoUSB.

 

[Zacharybinx34]

I've always used EXT3 (one of the Linux file formats) for drives attached to my router and haven't had a problem.

The one problem I've seen is with DLNA, but I think that has more to do with the Asus DLNA implementation than with EXT3 (see: http://www.snbforums.com/threads/dlna-folder-selection.29496/). My implementation worked fine when I was running TomatoUSB.

I can live without the DLNA, but what about being able to drag and drop from windows to the drive?

 

[CTXSi]

I can live without the DLNA, but what about being able to drag and drop from windows to the drive?

If the drive is always attached to the router then you'll be fine with EXT3. Where it might get tricky is if you disconnect an EXT3 drive from the router and then connect it to Windows. Windows does not have native support for EXT3. There are drivers you can get but I have never personally tried them.

 

[Zacharybinx34]

If the drive is always attached to the router then you'll be fine with EXT3. Where it might get tricky is if you disconnect an EXT3 drive from the router and then connect it to Windows. Windows does not have native support for EXT3. There are drivers you can get but I have never personally tried them.

KK. Any advice on what settings I need to for drag/drop over network?

 

[Zacharybinx34]

KK. Any advice on what settings I need to for drag/drop over network?

NM, I got the drag and drop working again. DLNA is still a no go, but not a huge deal since I can just add them via the Shield running Kodi and then DLNA share from there.

 

[elorimer]

I go back and forth, but I think I prefer the DLNA from Kodi better than the DLNA from the router, because my RPi has more processing power and less load. Where I am unclear is the path the a video travels that way. If it goes from the disk attached to the router, to my RPi, then back to the router and then on to the TV, that seems not so good. If Kodi arranges it to go from the router to the TV directly, then nifty.

 

[Zacharybinx34]

So I set it as EXT3, put my files on, got it connected, it's mounted right, I can see the main folder that I created on the drive through the router page under the Network Place (Samba) Share but I can't access or see any of the files I added from drag and dropping to the disk.

Any ideas?

 

[Zacharybinx34]

Log attached. Looks like I'm getting a USB /dev/sda1(ntfs) failed to mount at the first try error. Keeps happening.

 

[john9527]

Make sure that 'Reduce USB3 interference' is set to Disabled on the 2.4GHz Wireless > Professional page. Having this enabled can cause the mnt point to change during boot.

 

[Zacharybinx34]

Make sure that 'Reduce USB3 interference' is set to Disabled on the 2.4GHz Wireless > Professional page. Having this enabled can cause the mnt point to change during boot.

That option isn't there for me.

It seems like any files that I move there when it's connected to Windows mess things up.

Just re-formatted, and I'm going to try added files only through drag and drop through the network when the drive is connected to the router. I'll report back.

 

[john9527]

That option isn't there for me.

It seems like any files that I move there when it's connected to Windows mess things up.

Just re-formatted, and I'm going to try added files only through drag and drop through the network when the drive is connected to the router. I'll report back.

My fault...sorry, I saw it was a USB3 drive and didn't read about only USB2 ports being available.

 

[Zacharybinx34]

I'm not sure why it fails to mount? Should I just go back to NTFS?

 

[CTXSi]

I'm not sure why it fails to mount? Should I just go back to NTFS?

The lines below suggest that it is mounting...

Jan 7 21:25:49 kernel: EXT3-fs: mounted filesystem with ordered data mode.
Jan 7 21:25:49 hotplug[837]: USB ext3 fs at /dev/sda5 mounted on /tmp/mnt/Portasaurus
Jan 7 21:25:49 usb: USB ext3 fs at /dev/sda5 mounted on /tmp/mnt/Portasaurus.

 

[Zacharybinx34]

Only way I got it to work to format then connect it to the router with nothing on it, and then drag and drop network transfer my files.

Strange, but it works now.