Posts by symean

I think I'll go for ExFAT for my parents, they don't get new files often so direct connecting it once every few months is not a big deal.

For me, I'm convinced I need to move to a NAS, and the Synology ones have always looked pretty good. That will have to be stage 2 though, I'll have to think about drive brand/capacity, raid type, learning Synology's OS...don't want to pile all that onto what's going on!

I never had a copy of the media because it took up so much space, but I found a drive from a server I'm going to use to copy it all. Then I'll just get the existing NTFS drives stable on the new media player, and then I can relax and start looking into the NAS.

Thanks for the advice, really appreciate it

It's Mac compatibility I was considering. I prefer to use my network to transfer files as I do it sometimes several times a week and I don't want to plug/unplug the USB that often, however I'm setting up one for my parents who will direct connect it to their Mac every other month.

You can add full EXT4 support to MacOS with third party software, I may test that today.

After a lot of Googling I am reading about issues with SMB on the latest MacOS Ventura. No one has quite nailed it down to a specific cause, though much of the talk seems to indicate SMB3 is not rock solid. Some people have had luck forcing SMB2-only mode as a workaround. But then I've had no issues connecting over SMB to the NTFS formatted drive via a RPi3 for years...

I know I'm jumping several major versions in LE and moving to a RPi4, so it's not easy to nail down the culprit. There might not even be an issue to worry about, perhaps it was a one-off.

I am going to do some write/read/move/delete tests on a portable drive today over SMB connected to both the RPi3 and RPi4 in both ExFAT and NTFS, and perhaps EXT4. Might even force SMB2 on the Pi if I can reproduce the problem...

Thanks for the help

Quote from chewitt

...the simple fact of NTFS + removable media =

Thanks, Would ExFAT be a smarter file system choice then? While we’re at it, for network file management is there a smarter choice than SMB?

NTFS/SMB was working fine, but obviously something ‘new’ has upset the delicate balance whatever is the most reliable/least prone to errors...

Ok so after my anxiety attack I ram chkdsk on a Windows laptop that revealed ~800 files ‘orphaned’, and it managed to repair it somehow within a couple minutes. Now shows correctly in the file manager in Kodi and movies play again.

Still though, I am worried this seems very coincidental that it happened on a new Pi and new version of LE and Kodi…really keen to hear if anyone else has experienced this.

Cheers

Hoping someone can help here...

I have been setting up a new RPi 4 and latest LE. Coming from an older RPi 3 running a version of LE several major revisions old (like 8 or 9 or something). I migrated my library, set up sources, connected my USB drives to the new Pi...all seemed fine.

I connected to one of the attached NTFS formatted hard drives over SMB from my Mac (as I have done hundreds of times with my RPi 3) to move a few movie files. After the move (to a master 'Movies' folder) I viewed that folder and noticed it was showing only about 80 files...there should be like 600+!

Then I went to the TV and tried to play some movies...and they all say the source cannot be found. Looking in File Manager, it showed the folder was empty.

I safely removed the drive in Kodi, connected it to my Mac, and that folder shows empty on my Mac too. Not a single file shows. All other folders still have their contents, but not that one.

Get Info on the folder says it's zero k, should be over 2.5TB. That space has not been freed up on the drive though, Info on that says only a few hundred GB free.

It seems like something happened when I connected over SMB and it's nuked my movie collection! I never unplug the drives without using 'remove safely' or shutting down from Kodi first.

Are there any known issues that might have caused this? Really freaking out, hoping someone can help

Cheers

Nice thanks

Great!

For that to work properly do I need to whitelist the modes the tv supports?

I know Kodi doesn’t support tone mapping yet, so will definitely not give him any HDR10 videos until he upgrades his tv. Might run them through a Handbrake color filter if I need to.

My dad currently has a 1080p TV and a Raspberry Pi 2 running LE 9-10 (ish) but that has died, so it's time for a replacement.

I want to set up a Raspberry Pi 4 for him, so he can use it now and also take advantage of 4K output when he upgrades his TV to 4K for Xmas.

If I set up a RPi4 and latest LE/Kodi with Settings > System > Display : Resolution set to 1080p, what will happen when he plays a 4K video file? If I whitelist modes up to 1080p only, will it downscale 4k content?

I suppose I could try this on my TV, but it is 4K and I don't know how to confirm it's actually outputting 1080p while playing...

Cheers

Quote from Da Flex

I see. If I remember right, a fan needs 3 pins for variable fan speed, and 2 pins for single fan speed (on /off). So the theory is that the pin for speed control doesn't work. Consider to replace the fan.

That's what I was wondering too, but even the newer Argon One V.2 case comes with a two wire fan.

The case has a 2-pin connector for the fan and routes all GPIO for external access, so I can't easily use a 3-wire fan unless it's plugged in to the external GPIO pins and the wires are routed back inside somehow.

Too much hassle for me! Sounds like the fool-proof generic solution is to find an LE add-on that controls any fan connected to certain GPIO pins, and then find a case that supports a fan and leaves the GPIO accessible.

Quote from Da Flex

Check the GPIO pins.

The fan is connected to a two pin connector on the Argon case's board which in turn connects to the GPIO pins (all of them, as the GPIO is also routed to the top of the case for access), so I can't tell which pins on the Pi it's physically connected to...

Quote from chewitt

I've been ripping CDs, SACDs and audio DVDs for ~20 years and have accumulated a size of collection that means a) backups are impractical so I need to consider redundancy instead, and b) the "cost" in time/effort to re-rip everything in the event of a disaster would be greater than the extra $$ for the (currently, 6x 8TB) box. Different people assign different values to their personal time and their collections.

Understood and agreed

Quote from chewitt

Get a Synology 4-bay NAS with the largest drives that you can afford in SHR so you have more capacity and proper one-disk redundancy. The budget Syno models with GB Ethernet are fast enough for SMB access (no need for USB, although it can be done) to any Pi/LE device and can host an SQL DB. The plus models are faster and support Docker and such better, which often comes in useful.

Synology do seem to have a good reputation. I ran the numbers...

4-bay models seem to start around AUD 400 (J), 550 (Value) and 700 (Plus) before adding any drives. Looking at around AUD 500 for 4x4TB drives, which if I understand SHR properly would give me 12TB usable (3x4TB, with one 4TB drive for redundancy).

Two 6TB USB drives for the same usable space would set me back about AUD 400 total.

So that's AUD 500 – 800 extra for redundancy and faster network access. I get the benefits, but geez that's a hard pill to swallow!

After upgrading the USB hard drives that I have had connected to my Raspberry Pi a few times over the years, I'm wondering if it's time to switch to a NAS solution. Currently have 2x3TB, with TV shows/series on one and Movies/docos on the other. Not redundant by any means but at least if one fails I don't lose everything. They are Western Digital Studio drives (with the aluminium casing) that stand vertically, so they look quite neat sitting next to the TV.

The question is, now both are at > 95% capacity, do I upgrade again to 2 x 6TB or higher, or go NAS?

Questions:

- Recommendations for a NAS device?

- Gigabit ethernet fast enough for 4K HDR movies (say 15GB for a 90 minute movie) or should I look at 10 gigabit for that?

- I'm guessing as Long as the Pi can see the volume on the network over SMB, it will work?

- Possible to access NAS through router/switch using gigbit ethernet from computer, and USB to Pi at same time?

Eager to hear from others who have been down this path before.

Cheers

Quote from madalone

yeah, when i tested i set 10% at 20C and i heard it low-key spin.

Hmm don't know what I'm doing wrong then...install add-on from zip, change settings, restart...just get on or off, no variation in fan speed.

Quote from madalone

used this zip to get the fan control working

Did you get it working with lower fan speeds at lower temps though? I just tried it again, and the temperature threshold works, but the fan is either on or off...setting it to 10% or 100% it spins the same...

Quote from Da Flex

Read your thread. It has many new answers: Argon One Fan Control

I read through that yesterday evening and spent another hour trying to get it working properly, no luck. I did have it working at one stage ages ago and then a minor LE update broke it...that's too fragile for my liking.

Thanks to all those trying to solve the problem, it just seems like available solutions are still complicated ones.

Not LE's fault of course - a media player is just not something I want to spend time on like this any more. If it doesn't have a GUI or is as simple as installing and restarting, it ain't for me.

I'll donate to anyone skilled enough to write a Kodi add-on that controls any fan based on RPi temps as long as it's connected to certain GPIO pins

Cheers

Quote from chewitt

RPi4 is the least drama device I own - I think minor changes to your setup solve most of the issues.

That's good to hear, if you think an RPi4 is as hassle-free as it gets, I'm happy to persist with it.

I have an Argon One case which has a useless fan, I've given up on controlling it's speed based on temps. I started a thread here but it got way too complicated for me. It feels hot on the top but perhaps I'm worrying about nothing, apparently it's still one of the better cases for cooling even with the fan off.

Also did not realise 10.0.2 was out, excited to try that on a fresh install and see how it goes

Back in about 2008 I had a lot of spare time to get into flashing custom firmware onto Western Digital media players, and figuring out how to use a third party tool to scrape movie info and store it locally. This was witchcraft to my family at the time, having a library of movies and tv shows they could browse through and start playing in seconds. I was proud of it, but after a year or so I came to hate the back-end work required to scrape info, resize images, and manage the file system.

Then came my first Raspberry Pi Model B+ and OpenElec. After much more learning I got an effective replacement for my WD player working really well, and minus 90% of the back-end work! Over the years I gradually migrated through Pi models, and from OpenElec to LibreElec. Everything in 1080p I threw at it was perfect, it worked with my AV receiver and with my TV's remote. I found a better skin (Amber) and perfected my filesystem and on-screen setup.

While things like AppleTV, smart TVs and streaming services have stormed the market (and I use them all to some degree), having close to a thousand movies and a hundred TV shows on tap even if the internet is slow or out (and all in one place, not distributed across multiple streaming services) is still our go-to method of media consumption.

I want to keep this experience, but trying to enter the world of 4K and HDR with a Pi has been disappointing. I am basically hoping for the smooth-as-butter experience I currently have with 1080p to just be extended to cover 4K as well, but it feels like I'm back in 2008, tweaking and scripting and hacking to try and make things work well. Between the Pi 4 overheating, fan control and 4K playback issues, I'm kinda over it.

It seems like Allwinner and Rockchip SOCs have matured and have decent community support, so I'm wondering if I jump ship now... I am OK with putting a board into a case, installing LE, configuring network/skin/sources/add-ons, etc; but beyond that I just want to connect my USB drives, have it work with my Sony TV's remote, and throw H.265/HEVC files at it and have them play smoothly. Most demanding 4K file will probably be 60p HDR, 20GB in size (for a 90 min movie).

Looking forward to hearing your experiences and recommendations for boards or devices. Cheers