linked files better support network drives

[williedigital]

Not sure if this fits better under support or feature request...

I've got all my linked files on networked windows box. When you create links, DVDpedia is very "specific" about the path that it sets the file to. On different machines, if you use a different means of mounting a network volume (through a shortcut, or automatically mounting the volume at startup) then you originally did when originally linking the file, often dvdpedia will not "see" the link because of slight variations in how osx describes the path. I know that's not totally clear, but when working with network volumes I'm sure you've encountered similar issues. I'd love for the linking feature to "just work" regardless of how one mounts the volumes, rather than being tied to a very specific path.

Barring that, I'd love to see an itunes-like ability to share libraries through bonjour, so that others can browse and play linked files from, if not make changes to, the library. Hell, I'd pay for an upgrade with that functionality.

[Conor]

Not sure if this fits better under support or feature request...

I think it's a bit of both.

If you cold send me the path that DVDpedia expects and what the system sometimes mounts your drive as? That way I can narrow the problem, the more information the easier it is. I only had it happen to me once that the computer mounted my drive as "Drive-2" as it seemed to not have properly ejected "Drive" when it had previously been mounted.

[williedigital]

sorry I keep forgetting to get back to you with this. i can never remember when I'm at home. The -1 problem is one that I've had, but there are others as well.

[williedigital]

so I have my files on a windows box on my network. The drive they are on is shared as spanned (x). When I browse for the drive through finder and mount the volume it's path is listed as cifs://MSHOME;WILLIAMMCDONALD@WILLSERVER/SPANNED%20(X)

Sometimes though, it mounts as cifs://MSHOME;WILLSERVER/SPANNED%20(X)

and sometimes, it mounts with the -1 at the end as you pointed out earlier.

Just so you can see what difference it makes with linked files, the first path mounting gives you:
file:///Volumes/SPANNED (X)/archive/movies/8 mile.mp4

and the second gives
file:///Volumes/MSHOME;WILLSERVER/archive/movies/8 mile.mp4

Any way to either get dvdpedia to be "smart" about looking for paths or how to mount the volume consistently? (preferably the second way, since that's how all my links are)

[Conor]

Maybe it has to do on how the server is mounted? Try automating the mounting process by dragging the server to your dock or an Automator action. It might always mount consistently then. Also [rul=http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php? ... 6234611279]some tips[/url] I found that might provide a clue.

[williedigital]

i've looked into this some more. The problem occurs if two machines on the same network have the same volume mounted and the linked file is on this volume. It's pretty frustrating. Both machines are mounting the volume via the same applecript app and other programs (itunes) don't seem to have any issue with simultaneously accessing the volume. For example, both machines may have itunes running and playing files off the volume simultaneously. With dvdpedia, the linked files on the first machine mounted play perfectly, the files on the second machine mounted do not. When you re-link the file on the second machine it lists a -1 on the end. It's pretty frustrating because we can't really selectively mount the volume when we want to since lots of our other documents (itunes music, iphoto photos, etc) are contained on it. We usually just keep it mounted 24/7.

Itunes and every other mac app seems to be able to recognize that -1 shouldn't affect the links.

the original link is:
file:///Volumes/SPANNED (X)/archive/movies/love and anarchy.mp4

when you link a file on the second-mounted machine you get

file:///Volumes/spanned (x)-1/archive/movies/movies/love and anarchy.mp4

[Conor]

Thank you for the detailed information. I have no idea why Mac OS X would choose to mount the volume on a second computer unrelated to the first with a -1 appended to the volume name. It is normal that if two volumes are mounted with the same name on the same computer then a -1 will be appended in order to distinguish them. I will also file the bug with Apple depending on what information I can uncover.

[williedigital]

if there is any way i can help with testing a solution or anything let me know.