New Dune HD Max and HD Smart anticipation thread Q3 2010 - Page 312

You don't need to install an internal hard drive for your jukebox. You can have the index created by the jukebox in your NAS and have all the Dune media players access it from there. This will make it easy to update.

Thanks so much. I thought I had read that the jukebox programs ran much faster if they were installed on an SDS Card directly installed on the Dune - correct? Or, is that what you are referring to -- that it would be "stored" on the NAS, and then it can be pushed out to the SDS cards via NFS or SMB? (Excuse my ignorance - as I said, I am still very much a newbie in this area).

- B

Okay, I think I am following. It sounds as if both you and NJT5282 are trying to tell me the same thing. I can store the jukebox info on the NAS, so it is a single file / database. Then, I can "push" to all SDS cards on the Dunes (or "pull" it from all SDS cards on the Dunes - grin) - am I correct?

You could do that, but really, you should store your jukebox on the NAS and have the Dune pull from there. Is it slower? In theory yes, but I cannot tell the difference between having the jukebox on the Dune locally or accessing it across my network.

Hi ... I have 2 diskless Dune's that have USB flash drives in the back, I think they are used for extra "swap" space and I suspect they are required for running semi-complex apps like Zappiti.

The zappiti files I believe are HTML indexes / JPG cover art that Zapp can traverse like a Folder file system. They are best stored on the NAS and accessed via SMB/NFS.

I believe the hardest thing you will have to deal with is sadly Zappiti and importing / ripping your DVD's and Blu Ray discs if that is not done yet. Zappiti is written in France and has a ever-evolving licensing scheme.The plus side for me is that I have already ripped and imported most of my important TV shows and films so that work is done. There is a iPad plugin that works pretty good with my iPad and the normal Dune version works too. 10Muse sells a similar app that requires dropbox account and uses that storage for your movie/TV database.

the jukeboxes can be accessed directly from a NAS with any of your dunes (just have to create a shortcut to the index). But you need to know 2 things :
1. when using more than one dune you shouldn't use any internal drive containing movie file, this will complicate a lot the scrapping and path management by the jukebox. So the rule is : many dunes = no internal drive = everything on the NAS (jukebox index and movie files).
2. when you store both the index and files on the NAS, there's high chance that you will have to face the dune's double SMB access bug. to avoid it just use NFS to access the jukebox index (you can set this when you will create the shortcut on your dune UI), and SMB path for the files (in the jukebox path configuration). Or the other way round, or everything in NFS, but try to avoid both in SMB.

re. the browsing speed, it all depends on your network. If it's 1Gbs and with a good NAS, the difference is visually small but still noticeable vs local index storage. Check Scottj wiki for details about browsing speed in every possible way (network/local HDD/Local USB thumb/local SSD). The trick is that the jukeboxes uses intensively dune_folder.txt system, and those are very small files but with a lot to be accessed (10/20K files or more, depending on the number or movies/tv Shows you have). So it's not really a problem of bandwidth, but a problem of speed to access files. And local memory will always be faster to access than any network files (but as I said a good network and NAS will make it almost invisible to see).

For the jukeboxe to use, just try them all : best way to sort it is to know if you want an iOS/Android App, if yes try zappiti, 10Muse, Mymovies (this one doesn't do TV show management on their app, but the app is really well done for movies only), if no you can add yadis, DFI or even DuneX if you have a Mac.

Just to clarify, it appears the issue is because I was using an AF 3TB USB Drive. I switched to a 2TB USB drive and the problem went away

What is AF ?

Advanced Format drives

I give up on Yadis on my Dune and am trying to get zapitti to work. I installed it, scraped everything and trying to export to the dune's internal hard drive. That makes two zapitti folders under a Zapitti folder I made on the Dune, _Zapitti and Zapitti_Resources. How do I get zapitti to startup from the dune?

I forget which folder, but click on each one to see which launches Zappiti (I think it is _Zappiti). Once you find the correct folder just click t he popup button and add to favorites

The folders are there, but when I click either one it goes to a TV Shows artwork. Do I have to wait for HDLand to approve my invoice before full exporting works?

I thought you were supposed to get a few days to use before you needed the license, but it could have changed.

Not sure what I did, but this time exporting is actually putting more information onto the drive. Such as the dunefolder file. It appears to be working as I export all over again.

Looks like a good setup to me as well. I have multiple Dune players networked that point back to a Synology box and use My Movies as the organizational tool. It has been a great setup for me running without issues for close to 3 years now. I store all movies in ISO format, so the only upgrades I have had to do is to the Synology to add more bays/disks as I ran out of space. Love the Dune as it is a rock solid player, although without much frills. Does the job of playing movies perfectly though. Wife and kids can use it as well with My Movies program.

I have about 10gigs of DVD and BD iso's (a mix of full and movie only) locally attached in a dumb enclosure.

I want to move the drives to a synology nas and distribute through the house.

I have never created a backup solution for the movies. what do you do? any recommendations?

I use a QNAP Device, but I think the Synology device is probably very similar. It will have it's own operating system that you log into, you will create some shares (most likely these are already created), you place your movies/media into those shares. Then you can give permission as to who can see those shares. You're streaming devices, computers, etc will then log into the NAS and you can stream them from there.

Do you have network cable run to all of the places that you want to distribute to?

Question, want to rip my Game of Thrones Season 1 Blu-Ray, however, most of the episodes have forced subs. Would ripping each episode to a M2TS stream be a good solution? If not, what is recommended for TV series with forced subs?

i'm planning on running cat6 to all my viewing areas.

You crazy nurse

Right now I have a mix of cat5e and cat6 throughout my house

Me too! Cat6 to every room upstairs and downstairs. EVERY room including the kitchen, dining, living, etc. So far no issues streaming blu-ray over the network to the Dune.

I did set up my Dune B1 last night, took about 5 minutes and working as expected

All:

This question is not 100% Dune-specific, but it is certainly related, and hopefully is not off-topic…

I am about to purchase the NAS and four hard drives to use with several Dune Smart units.

I have selected the Synology DS1812+ D

I have read a lot about which hard drives would be the best for these, and I see some conflicting information.

The one I WAS looking at was the:
- Western Digital WD Green WD30EZRX 3TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

If I have read this thread correctly, it is perfectly okay to stuff this NAS with 3 TB drives, right? It appears as if the issues and bugs with "greater than 2 TB drives" only appear when using the Dunes with a USB connection. Do I have that correct?


However, I am now reading information which seems to recommend the “red” drives over the green. Then, I see some posts which suggest other drives instead… Is this due to the heat issues? The speed of the drives?

If you were purchasing multiple drives for a Synology NAS hooked up to multiple Dunes, for distribution of movies, which hard drives would you purchase, right now?

Thanks in advance.

I use green drives in my server.

I used 4 greens in my NAS and have swapped out two for reds. I'll be swapping the other two greens soon. I suggest getting the reds, they're made specifically for NAS environments.

Red or Greens are fine. I have 18 Greens and 1 Red in my server. Stick with either and you will be ok

+1
All 8 of my 3tb hard drive are WD green in my 1812.

the problem with using EZRX's with NAS is that the load cycles will go through the roof ... you need to apply a DOS patch to the drive to avoid this problem. The WD Red drives are properly configured to run 24/7 in a NAS and don't have this problem. I'd strongly recommend Red if you are starting new with a NAS.

Can that patch be done after the hd drive is installed? I just replaced a green WD hd that was less than two years old with a red and the temperature difference is significant. 5-8 degrees less on the red drive. I was surprised by that.

The green drives are what you would use inside the dune. Specifically for heat issues! Now the synology has built in fans. I think I'm going to try and pick up a 1812 or 1512 at CES this year, I already have green drives, but if I were to buy more I would go with the red drives possibly 4tb