Trying MP2 again after 5 years (1 Viewer)

Terra

Portal Pro
August 25, 2009
230
57
Home Country
Austria Austria
Hi there,

I had some free time at hand and I wanted to give MP2 another chance after about 5 years. In the past I tried out the betas of MP2, reported bugs but had to give it a pass because of time constraints. So far I use MP1 since it was not even version 1.0 and I am quite happy.

Unfortunately after quite some high expectations from MP2 I could not even add a media source in MP2 2.1.2 and had to kill it 2 times with task manager because it got unresponsive during the media add process.
I wanted to compare it to the installation and setup of Kodi therefore I wrote down all steps which were required to set both up. I don't think my scenario to add a SMB network drive is something special, but it seems to be impossible on my side in MP2.

After 5 years I now think I still need to wait until MP2 can be used in a productive environment in my livingroom unfortunately... :/
I have added the logs below.

Test Scenario:
Install the HT-Software on my Windows 7 Virtual Machine, add one SMB network share with movies and browse through the movies with proper coverart and information

KODI Test
(Complete in 15min)
Code:
Download Kodi Krypton -> 78MB

Start Setup:
-> NEXT
-> I AGREE
-> Drop Down FULL -> NEXT
Installpath -> NEXT
Startmenu Folder -> INSTALL
Select "Run Kodi" checkbox -> FINISH


First Run:
Startscreen has the MOVIE section selected, shows: Your media library is empty, go into the FILES menu and add media. After it is being indexed you will see the media here.
Click the Link to enter the FILES section below the information
Select FILES
Select ADD VIDEOS
Click BROWSE
Select ADD NETWORK LOCATION
SMB is preselected
Enter SERVERNAME "mediaserver"
Enter Shared Foldername "movies$"
Enter User
Enter Password
-> OK
Jumped back to previous screen, see the new location on top and select it
Enter name of location "M"
-> OK
This Directory Contains -> Movies
Check -> Each Folder contains a Movie
-> OK
Refresh Library? -> OK
I see an icon on the top right corner indicating that the library scan is in progress
After 2minutes I see the first movies showing up in the MOVIE section of KODI


MP2 Test
(Gave up after 1h)
Code:
Download MP2 2.1.2 -> 98MB

Start Setup:
-> INSTALL
-> NEXT
Accept Licence Checkbox -> NEXT
Client Only
-> INSTALL
-> FINISH
-> CLOSE


First Run:
Startscreen shows the SETTINGS tab
I assume I must enter my mediafolder in the settingstab
I select the SETTINGS tile
Select "Media Sources"
select "Media Sources Configuration"
Note "The Home Server is currently not connected" -> Add Media Source
Select "Network Neighborhood" -> Continue
Nothing happens, press the up arrow button the keyboard -> Waiting Animation shows
The small dots in the waiting animation seem to be not distributed properly in the animation, some dots are overlapping and there are gaps between the dots, strange
Waiting animation shows for 10 minutes and disappears, GUI is not responding anymore
Kill MP2-Client.exe in the task manager

Start MP2 again
I select the SETTINGS tile
Select "Media Sources"
select "Media Sources Configuration"
-> Add Media Source
Select "Network Neighborhood" -> Continue
Nothing happens, press the up arrow button the keyboard -> Waiting Animation shows
Waiting animation shows for 5 minutes, I kill MP2-Client.exe in the task manager

Start MP2 again
Select the SETTINGS tile -> Maybe I just add my Home Server
Select "General"
Select "Connectivity"
Select "Home Server"
Find Homeserver -> Attach "'MediaPortal 2 Server' at host ''" very strange name -> added
ESC -> ESC -> ESC
Select "Media Sources"
Select "Media Sources Configuration"
Try to set Network Credentials but I cannot select the menu point, the menu looks the same as the others but apparently is not selectable
-> "Add Media Sources"
The menu point "Network Neighborhood" disappeared
Select "Local Filesystem", the only option available -> Continue
Select "Manual Input" -> I can enter a path manually, yes!!
The description about the Syntax is quite confusing, not sure what the ressource provider id is, the WIKI is skipping exactly this section:
https://www.team-mediaportal.com/wiki/display/MediaPortal2/Media+sources
Trying "\\mediaserver\movies$" -> Continue, seems to work
Media Source Display Name -> M
Share Watcher -> yes -> Continue
Choose the Category -> Movie -> Finish

Press the HOME icon on top, nothing is shown
Press the MOVIES icon on top, only shows "Online Videos" and "Local Media" tile
No information is displayed if something gets imported right now or not, better check the import settings if I may need to start the import manually
Press the SETTINGS icon on top
Media Library -> Movie Import Settings
5 menu points appear, I cannot select any of them, settings main navigation on the left has disappeared -> ESC

Press the MOVIES icon on top
Select "Local Media" -> Waiting Animation shows
Waiting for 2 Minutes
A menupoint with the Media Source "M" shows, select "M"
Waiting animation shows for 10 minutes and disappears, GUI is not responding anymore
Kill MP2-Client in the taskmanager

Give Up after more than 1h trying to import a movie folder :(
 

BlueMax1916

Super User
  • Team MediaPortal
  • Super User
  • January 29, 2007
    704
    125
    Home Country
    Germany Germany
    Hi,

    depending on the amount of your media MP2 has to import into its database and depending on the online sources to collect images and information from and their response time you have to wait a substantial time for the database to be populated. That may take several hours to one day for the initial run. During that time the server is loaded with work and may not respond well to user interactions. Just let it work over night.

    If you have prepared your media (movies, TV series) well with local .nfo files and posters, fanart etc. (MKV-Buddy for the win) and choose strictly offline scanning it will be faster but take still some hours.

    MP2 is a very different product from MP1 but with version 2.1.2 very mature now.


    Cheers

    Blue Max
     

    Brownard

    Development Group
  • Team MediaPortal
  • March 21, 2007
    2,290
    1,872
    Home Country
    United Kingdom United Kingdom
    Install the HT-Software on my Windows 7 Virtual Machine, add one SMB network share with movies and browse through the movies with proper coverart and information
    Thanks for giving it a try, it seems that most of the issues you experienced stemmed from network related issues, which I imagine were caused by the fact you were running from a virtual machine. I accept though that MP2 could/should handle these errors much more gracefully.
    I can't see anywhere in the logs where the client connected to the server, did you have the server also running in the virtual machine? Usually when you do a clean 'single seat' install (i.e. client and server on the same machine) you shouldn't need to manually attach to the server, the fact that this didn't work for you points to some other issue. Adding media sources requires that the server is connected which is why you experienced issues with that. I see from your own log that you did at least try and connect to it at some point, though there is not indication of this in the logs, the logs from the server would be useful to see if there's anything of interest with respect to that. There are also other entries in the logs related to DNS name resolution which is why I expect there was some conflict with the virtual machine's network configuration and MP2.
     

    Terra

    Portal Pro
    August 25, 2009
    230
    57
    Home Country
    Austria Austria
    ..., it seems that most of the issues you experienced stemmed from network related issues, which I imagine were caused by the fact you were running from a virtual machine. I accept though that MP2 could/should handle these errors much more gracefully.
    I thought that at some point, however I never had any issues with the network of the VM, I can access the shares in Windows Explorer with no issues and also KODI had no problems finding the share and files instantly.
    I do not have any physical test system ready right now and can only test in the VM, but I also do that for MP1.

    Nobody should think this is some sort of rant, I just wanted to share how my end user experience looked like when I tried out MP2 against KODI. If I had more time now I would try to tinker around and research logs and the forums to find solutions, but I do not have it right now, nor should it be required imho for such a simple scenario as adding a share and browse through the videos.
     

    HTPCSourcer

    Retired Team Member
  • Premium Supporter
  • May 16, 2008
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    I can access the shares in Windows Explorer with no issues
    That doesn't mean that MP2 can access the same shares. Please note that MP2 is running under a different user context and requires explicit credentials that you can define in the settings.

    If I had more time now I would try to tinker around and research logs and the forums to find solutions
    You don't have to. It is sufficient to either read the Wiki or simply ask a question to receive an adequate answer.
     

    Terra

    Portal Pro
    August 25, 2009
    230
    57
    Home Country
    Austria Austria
    That doesn't mean that MP2 can access the same shares. Please note that MP2 is running under a different user context and requires explicit credentials that you can define in the settings.
    What do you exactly mean with "different user context"? If MP2 would have problems with any credentials shouldn't it just tell me that after a few tries to access the share instead of crashing? ;)
    Next to KODI I also successfully tried it with MP1, PLEX Server, Windows Explorer, VLC, MPC and other tools on this virtual machine.


    You don't have to. It is sufficient to either read the Wiki or simply ask a question to receive an adequate answer.
    As mentioned in my log in the first post, the WIKI does not mention how to add media to MP2, and I do not have the answers to enhance the WIKI entry.
    Media sources
    Bildschirmfoto 2017-12-16 um 10.45.20.png
     

    HTPCSourcer

    Retired Team Member
  • Premium Supporter
  • May 16, 2008
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    Did not know where you have find this
    In the configuration setting that describes the menu entries. "Add media source" is supposed to describe the menu entry and I haven't found the time to come up with something adequate yet - which is just a euphemism for "I forgot about it"...

    Anyway, I think that adding a share is sufficently well described elsewhere for the time being.

    What do you exactly mean with "different user context"?
    The WIki explains it. A few lines under the missing text that you complain about:

    Credentials.JPG
     
    Last edited:

    Terra

    Portal Pro
    August 25, 2009
    230
    57
    Home Country
    Austria Austria
    @Lehmden
    Thank you for the link. I have removed the text "*** Text to be added ***" on the page mentioned with a link to the other page in the Wiki which describes it in every detail.
    The page with the missing information is the first hit in Google and the Wiki when searching for "mediaportal add media sources", this should help others with the same problem.

    Regarding the credentials, according to my log in the first page the Network Credentials option was not available in my test, I will try it again when I am back home.
     

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