Windows HDD mounted as folder

1st Official Post

    Hi,

    I am returning from RPi4 back to RPi3 for 3D-MVC reason...RIP Ri4 😥

    The way i mounted my HDD in my Windows pc is I put everything under a SSD called Movie and I have 1 HDD for every year ex: 1 10TB drive for 2019 movies, 1 10TB drive for 2018 etc... All drives doesnt need a letter in Windows and to access them i go from my ssd (not the one i install Windows 10 to boot.)

    My new problem is that libreelec can access the ssd with smb://username:password/SERVER/Movie but can not access sub-folders inside so all my HDD's are missing. To bypass this i need to share the drives one by one directly in Windows ....a lot of trooble when you have 30 drives...

    Any tricks or workaround for samba to rescognise all my mounted drives ?

    • Official Post
    Quote from slappy

    The way i mounted my HDD in my Windows pc is I put everything under a SSD called Movie

    That does not compute in my brain nearing the end of the year... Or maybe I have been without Windows for too long.

    30 HDD drives of 10 TB each..? You must have a lot of spare time to watch your collection. :o)

    Are those HDDs installed & connected in one or more PCs? How are you juggling those drives?

    Thanks Guys for your help i appreciate. :)

    Right access was given to everyones in windows 10. I also add a type of user "authenticated users" and given the access... before i post at first. Sharing is working on all drives and subfolders mounted normally in windows. I am aware that SMB have dropped the ability to browse and i entered all my locations manually and it works well for everything else.

    My drives are mounted under folders in a ssd drives (they are not mounted with a letter d:, e: etc under windows (assign letter method also work but have quantity limitation if you have blu-ray burner and a lot of HDD's. (to answer previous questions i have a supermicro server rack.)

    I think i found the problem... but not the solution.
    Because the way they are mounted in windows they appear as a shortcut (not as a folder) in the following way:

    Samsung/Film/2019

    Samsung/Film/2018

    Samsung/Film/2017 etc....up to the black and white movies years....LOL

    Samsung/TV/TV1

    Samsung/TV/TV2....etc...

    Samsung/Music...etc

    I created a folder to see if there is chance that libreelec can see it and bingo ! when i browse to Film and only see New folder.

    Libreelec can see Files and Folders but not my Drives shortcuts.



    I don't know anything about your supermicro server rack, but is there any reason why you cannot add the network shares directly from Kodi as individual sources?

    You would have to set the content on a lot of folders this way, but it's more straight forward and would go directly to the server.

    Unless your server has some way to consolidate all the shares under one share, you would have to add the shares individually.

    Knowing more about your server rack would help. Adding links to your Win10 computer under one folder is NOT the way to do it.

    This way i only have to share 1 folder (Film) and 1 folder (TV). The share is working well on all my other windows PC's or laptops in the house.

    Yes i can add the 30 HDD's one by one from libreelec and set the content to all one by one but this post is to avoid all this.

    The help request is very vague on details.

    Linux and Windows are two different operating systems.

    Linux is a multiuser, multitask operating system.

    Windows is a single user, multitask operating system.

    The timing signals are more critical under Linux than Windows.

    What works on Linux does not work on Windows and vice versa.

    Linux Samba and Windows SMB is how the operating systems communicate.

    As per the above Windows guides, all drives require individual network setup.

    Can you post the model number of the supermicro server rack and a link to the equipment?

    How does the supermicro server rack interface to the computer motherboard and Windows 10?

    How do the 30 HDD map to one SSD?

    Are you using commercial software or self developed?

    Long term, your best approach is a dedicated server and remote administration.

    Edited 3 times, last by JonasStax (January 1, 2021 at 8:42 PM).

    Quote from slappy

    This way i only have to share 1 folder (Film) and 1 folder (TV). The share is working well on all my other windows PC's or laptops in the house.

    Yes i can add the 30 HDD's one by one from libreelec and set the content to all one by one but this post is to avoid all this.

    You are not going to be able to use Windows Shortcuts like that to get samba (i.e. Kodi/Libreelec if you prefer) to include those paths in that one folder you are sharing. Those .lnk files (the shortcuts you made) are Windows Explorer extensions, not file system extensions. Samba doesn't interpret them, as you have proven.

    It is possible to create symbolic links in Windows, but that has its own problems and issues. Especially if you haven't used them before. I don't know if using them that way will work as a redirector to your supermicro share. Even if it did, you would still need appropriate permissions setup on the supermicro shared folder/drive, not just the link in the folder you created.

    There are ways to combine multiple hard drives into a single volume in Windows, which you can Google. Unix/Linux can do this with mounting the devices to the path you want. Neither of those are really topics for these forums, in my opinion.

    I'm not trying to be rude, but your options as I understand things:

    1. add the shares individually to Kodi as sources
    2. see what options there are available to consolidate the hard drives under a single volume or mount point on the OS of your supermicro rack

    That's why I asked more info about your supermicro server rack and how it is setup. But even that is arguably beyond scope of these forums -- I'll defer to a moderator here if I'm wrong.

    Based on the supplied description.

    Supermicro SuperRack

    SC946LE1C-R1K66JBOD | 4U | Chassis | Products | Super Micro Computer, Inc.

    SC946L_JBOD.pdf

    Qualified SAS HBA / controller:

    AOC-SAS3-9300-8E - 12Gb/s 2-external ports SAS3 HBA

    AOC-SAS3-9380-8E - 12Gb/s 2-external ports SAS3 RAID Controller

    SAS 9300-8e Host Bus Adapter

    According to the Broadcom datasheets, application notes and Windows 10 driver, the Windows 10 hard drive networking setup are per Microsoft's guides. Asking for support outside the Microsoft's guides requires the services of a certified networking professional.

    If this can help....

    Supermicro 846E26-R1200B case/backplane.

    Supermicro X11SPH-NCTF Motherboard attached to the backplane.

    There is also a couples of HDD's directly attached to the mobo and a M.2 SSD for windows but same result with the sharing method.


    I don't think it is related to the server itself. The same situation happen to another Asus PC by mounting the hard drive under a folder. Libreelec don't see it. It is not supported by Samba.

    I have no other choices I will add them one by one and make a backup in case of an sd card failure.


    Thanks for your help and happy new years :)

    Seems that you have the money to mount a pc with a nice linux distro for all the shares.

    The actual structure is no a good way to do shares.

    I mount 3 of WD red of 10TB in a arch base server that im running for two years now and is amazing.

    The specifications I posted are an expansion for an existing system.

    I looked at the server range. I did not consider anyone installing Windows 10 on server grade components.

    Supermicro 846E26-R1200B case/backplane.

    Supermicro X11SPH-NCTF Motherboard attached to the backplane.

    The components are certified server grade components.

    The server running Windows 10, is running at maximum of 50% potential, probably more like 20% potential.

    Factor in Dual LAN with 10GBase-T with Intel® X722 + X557

    Intel® Ethernet Connection X557-AT2 Product Specifications

    Windows 10 is a desktop operating system. Windows networking is designed for one user, not multiusers.

    I am surprised Windows 10 has not Blue Screened.

    As others have pointed out, the method described for hard drive sharing is wrong.

    I am a hardware person. I deal with manufacturer's datasheets and application notes.

    Software I just install, follow the application notes.

    If I was in your position, I would install Centos server and reformat the hard drives for maximum efficiency.

    It requires removing all the hard drives, transferring the data from a Windows computer to the server.

    There is work involved. Long term you will have an ultra stable server designed for continuous 24/7/365 operation.

    Centos server is RedHat server without the commercial software and support.

    Centos Forum: CentOS - Index page

    Why Centos? RedHat is a billion dollar corporation with many high profile manufacturer's using the software. You could use others. In a server situation, I would use the most stable, reliable, best supported not the latest release.

    • Official Post

    Each time I see people building servers and NAS and wading into lots of complexity I am reminded that I too used to do that, and then eventually I ran short of time in life and bought a Synology box. I have since forgotten a vast amount of trivia about running a NAS, because I no longer have any need know NAS trivia. It runs itself without any involvement from me beyond sanctioning the occasional update and I appreciate the value in someone else spending their day-job on fixing functional and security bugs and providing a simple-enough GUI on it all.

    Anyway.. it sounds like you need a NAS, so think about getting one instead of frankensteining Windows with awkward share arrangements.

    The reason I changed from a NAS to a Windows machine is that since i have my server running all the time i can run Plex server from it with a dedicated RTX VGA to convert videos on the fly if needed ex: (4k content requested by a ipad), then jriver server mode for my audio, Mysql server for Kodi library sharing etc... many softwares are available in windows. They run all the time and are waiting for a signal to wake up the applicable drive... yes my drives are sleeping all the time and are waked up once a week or once a month to watch a video. I know many people doesn't recommend the drives to sleep but i save a lot of power and my drives are still alive after 10 years for some of them...so it is not bad at all. I modified the LSI drivers a bit and now they sleep like baby's :)

    I don't want to run two machines all the time (Linux server + Windows PC Plex Server + jriver + mysql) I really don't see the advantage going to Linux and maybe i can install all those softwares directly on Linux but base on my personal attempt from the pass Linux is limited with the software availability for my usage and knowledge.

    I forgot to mention that i also use the power of my xeon (remotely connected with windows remote) to do some task with Photoshop and other softwares when my desktop pc is also overloaded and the cpu is at 100%...

    I really like my setup.

    I am not complaining about my server. It is about Librelec (Samba) not able to see the drives the same way that windows do.

    I fixed it by adding the drives one by one from my raspberry libreelec but it's not practice.

    Thanks Guys for your comments.