[network-shares-automount] package released

[Black Hole]

Isn't it the case that the [ModSettings] folder is there so that the whole operation can be controlled from the SUI? There is the whole mod directory it could be otherwise.

 

[af123]

I wonder if we could reach a happy compromise where it could be configured using the remote but you could also choose to configure it through the web interface and remove the ModSettings folder?

 

[Seabee]

Just as a recap from all the post and any suggestions that other users have stated ...

Please feel free to agree/disagree on any of my points above or even suggest other points that could be added

I agree with most of this.

Having shares in the main "My Videos" directory does compromise background processes.

I don't like the concept of "special directories" in the "user space". If it can't be done through Webif would it be possible to have a simple template script for the parameters and the instructions on how to load it with Telnet and/or FTP?

I was using two shares:
(a) Read only to the full NAS catalogue
(b) Read/Write to a NAS folder for additions

I carry out the librarian task from a PC with Read/Write access to everything and as it is only a moving or deletion task it is no great burden.

I too appreciate all the work that has been done to make the Hummy so much more than it was.

 

[ntm1275]

I wonder if we could reach a happy compromise where it could be configured using the remote but you could also choose to configure it through the web interface and remove the ModSettings folder?

If this is possible, I would total agree that this would be a good compromise for both sets of camps

 

[ntm1275]

Isn't it the case that the [ModSettings] folder is there so that the whole operation can be controlled from the SUI? There is the whole mod directory it could be otherwise.

I can totally see your point, but as Seabee mentions (I don't like the concept of "special directories" in the "user space"), if a user has gone down the route of installing the Custom Firmware, they would know that they are gaining access to the not standard sections of the Hummy, and having the option of placing the [ModSettings] folder somewhere else would be an advantage
I would assume that once the mount settings have been entered, you wouldn't have any need to access them again, unless you wanted to modify the settings or add another mount
I would only need to set them once, and then the [ModSettings] folder would become an annoyance in the My Video folder

This is just my personal preference, and I can see your point that some users may want it to be accessible from the remote - af123's suggestion of a compromise that would suit both camps may be the way to go here

EDIT or could there be two versions of the package?
'network-shares-automount-standard' - accessible and configured entirely through the remote only
'network-shares-automount-advanced' - accessible and configured through Webif only

Just a thought

 

[Black Hole]

FYI - there are several "special directories in the user space" to make things handy when you're sitting in front of the TV without a notebook on your lap. Eg the nicesplice magic folder - drop in a bookmarked recording and get an edited file.

 

[xyz321]

6. From my previous trials and tribulations, I found that it is possible to delete your files from the mounted share if it has read/write access, so is it possible to do the following
a) Have the option of creating a mounted share with Read Only access within 'media' - this is available now - the read only access would be determined by the user privileges for the username on the NAS

If you make the share read-only then it will not remember the play position or any added bookmarks etc.

 

[ntm1275]

If you make the share read-only then it will not remember the play position or any added bookmarks etc.

I hadn't realised that - I now have to ponder if it is possible to create a Read/Write mount somewhere hidden, but have a Read Only shortcut to it in 'media'

But as usual, my brain thinks of things I can't implement

Think that is one for the experts to answer

 

[xyz321]

Can you get the NAS to make a backup or make some hard links somewhere?

 

[ntm1275]

Can you get the NAS to make a backup or make some hard links somewhere?

I already have a second NAS which backups all the files on my main NAS, so if anything did happen, I can restore the files

I do have a third older single bay NAS, which I could use as Read only for the video folder

Mmm, got me thinking now

 

[woodbar]

I've done some more testing having removed the first section of the script as suggested to get the shares back in "media" and it is working fine.

One thing I did not realise is that if you don't have an active USB device plugged into the HDR you can still see the share in "media" from Webif - it's just on the HDR itself you can't get to it until the USB is active?

Strangely enough the scanmount log is now showing an error and saying the device is not mounted - even though it is - I double checked my edit of the script and that is correct so something strange is going on here?

>>> Contents of /var/log/scanmounts.log 279.00 bytes
192.168.1.xx is on-line - attempting to mount
mount -t cifs //192.168.1.xx/video /media/NSA310 -o user=xxxxxx,password=xxxxxxxxx,domain=xxxxxxx
mkdir: cannot create directory '/NSA310': Read-only file system
mount: mounting /media/NSA310 on /NSA310 failed: No such file or directory

..but it works fine!

 

[Black Hole]

One thing I did not realise is that if you don't have an active USB device plugged into the HDR you can still see the share in "media" from Webif - it's just on the HDR itself you can't get to it until the USB is active?

That's interesting, but it stands to reason the share would be accessible in the OS - the Humax application software doesn't expect to see virtual drives and network shares, so happens not to look unless an active USB connection has been flagged up by the USB driver. It is then fortunate for us that the Humax app can't tell the difference between a USB drive, a virtual drive, and a network share - otherwise they would not have worked.
It goes to show how much the custom software relies on sloppy programming by Humax.

A share mounted in My Video will be found because the app can't tell it's not a folder within My Video (thanks to the OS), it doesn't need to look for new drives in that case. As such it would be better to mount the shares that way to be always accessible regardless of devices in a USB socket (although it's no real trouble to put a cheap USB stick in the hole permanently). The problem is to stop the network being scanned by the background processes.

How about this BYTs? Set up a special folder [KEEP OUT] (not necessarily called that) which is specifically immune from all scanning processes, in which network shares could be mounted (and anything else you want to keep away from being scanned). How about starting with a new special character, all folders starting with that character being forbidden from scanning?

While I'm thinking about it, we have had hints that people without active internet connections so that the "phone home" activities in the custom software suffer loads of process errors and processor load, thus upsetting the normal operation of the box. There really ought to be something that could detect the internet was not active and shut down the activity (just ping it now and again without causing a significant load). What about the auto-mount process? Is that going to slug the system if it has to keep searching for remote drives?

 

[woodbar]

Yes it seems reasonable when you think about it and, as I had not thought about it, I was surprised to see it there!

That was just an observation - the thing that is niggling me is the error that says it has failed to mount - when it has?

EDIT: I replied while you were editing your reply!

 

[Black Hole]

I don't have the knowledge to explain that. By the way, I have significantly updated the post above.

 

[af123]

There really ought to be something that could detect the internet was not active and shut down the activity

The latest rs package effectively does this so shouldn't create the slew of hung processes over time in the absence of the Internet.

 

[woodbar]

Yes, so I noticed as you can see from my edit!

I think you have some good ideas there - I like the thought of a suitable "special character" flag that denotes "leave me alone" etc.

I notice the scanmounts log getting very large when there is an active USB device but the NAS is off

I have also temporarily removed the RS package as I had a suspicion it was causing other problems and the log got very full of:

Processing command ' '
!Unknown command ' '

...which I don't understand - although, again, it was working fine!

I also noticed tonight, when watching BBC1 HD via the HDR I was getting regular severe pixelation/break up of the picture at regular intervals - when I switched to the same channel on the TV it ceased - no more problems. Whether there was a problem with Mendip, which happened to cease roughly the same time I changed source....?

Perhaps we are reaching the limit of (or exceeding) the processing capabilities of the HDR so it has to briefly stop doing something (which it was designed to do) to service another demand?

I wonder if it would be possible to include more service/package settings/toggles in the Webif "service management" section to allow the easy selection of the various items you need at that particular time?

 

[Seabee]

My HDR has randomly started rebooting itself and very occasionally locks up but it started after I installed the 1.17 firmware but before installing Automount. There appears to be no particular pattern at the moment and it may just be that the hardware is on its way out.

My rebooting problem appears to have gone: I installed Firmware 1.17 and attempted to install the Automount package 1.1 but couldn't get it to work so set up a simple share using Telnet. One instance of rebooting some 6 hours later occurred. I removed my share and installed Automount 1.2 and all appeared fine for a few hours then the rebooting and lock-ups became more frequent, about every 90 minutes as best as I can judge.

I then removed 1.7 and for the last 36 hours nothing peculiar has happened in spite of recording and viewing use.

I suspect that a non-local "virtual USB" device may be tripping up something fundamental - Is that possible?

 

[Black Hole]

I suspect that a non-local "virtual USB" device may be tripping up something fundamental - Is that possible?

That's the sort of thing I'm worried about.

 

[Drutt]

Put up version 1.3 late last night - made unmounting of dropped hosts more robust (hopefully fixes problems with prolonged unresponsiveness after host goes offline).
Made mounting of share in "My Videos" optional for each mount (defaults to off), and added 1st pass support for wake up-on-lan.

The new folder options are:

shareFolder=[on|off]
mac=[mac address of network card for wake up on lan (12 digit hex, no seporators eg 002608eda43b)]
wakeUp=[on|off]

These will be automatically created if you make a new share folder, but will have to be manually made / copied over for existing shares.

To use WOL on an enabled card, you need to provide it's mac address. Then when you set wakeUp=on, a wakeup packet will be sent to it. The flag will then reset back to wakeUp=off. With hindsight I'll probably change this slightly nextrelease to just copying a "wake" flag to the folder as renaming with the remote is a bit fiddly for for a potentially frequent operation.

Steve

 

[Drutt]

I suspect that a non-local "virtual USB" device may be tripping up something fundamental - Is that possible?

It can certainly make it hang for long periods if the device goes offline when its mounted. The new version should be better and quicker at detecting this and unmounting the share.

I've personally not seen any random reboots, and I've been using this script (though not the most recent flavours) for several months now - I am on a HD not an HDR though, and I'm not running with a mount in the videos folder that other processes might be traversing. I suspect this could be the problem - I think avoiding that is worth doing for now (At least you have plenty of usb ports on the HDR to just stick a cheap memory stick into ) . If people still want this, I think we'll have to get the other packages updated to ingore folders starting with "[".