Kroozbox - PVD to media theatre solution

[Nono]

Latest version 1.8 of Kroozbox:
http://www.omertron.com/pch/node/77

For PVD users, versoin 1.8  now have a playlist for movie and series with multiple files (click once to play all).

Enjoy,
Nono

[cwdean]

Forgive me if I'm a little off topic.  I'm very new to PCH, Kroozbox and PVD...but I'm absolutely loving what you can do with these utilities.  Great work by all. 

Anyway, I have PVD set up and about 50 movies in the database.  I've configured Kroozbox and everything seems to be working correctly via HTTP.  The problem I'm experiencing is that I don't see Kroozbox available from the PCH menu.  The documentation states that Kroozbox should appear as an option automatically in the menu since it supports UPnP.  Unfortunately, I'm not seeing it.

Any suggestions on what I should look for to fix this?  I appreciate any assistance you can offer.  And again, sorry if this isn't the appropritate forum for this question.

Thanks in advance!
CD

[Nono]

Hello,

Hmmm... never saw this problem. Maybe a firewall issue on the server running Kroozbox? Network connectivity of the NMT box!? Router?

Sorry cannot be more help. Of course, you could also set the "ssdpDebug = true" in the ./config/SSDP.properties file, restart kroozbox with startme.bat and see what you get in the screen output (wait at least 20 seconds for the NMT to send its request). If nothing get listed it would clearly be the NMT SSDP dispatch not geting to Kroozbox.
Does MyHome works properly from the same server running Kroozbox? if yes, I am out of ideas...

Let me know.

[cwdean]

Hello,

Hmmm... never saw this problem. Maybe a firewall issue on the server running Kroozbox? Network connectivity of the NMT box!? Router?

Sorry cannot be more help. Of course, you could also set the "ssdpDebug = true" in the ./config/SSDP.properties file, restart kroozbox with startme.bat and see what you get in the screen output (wait at least 20 seconds for the NMT to send its request). If nothing get listed it would clearly be the NMT SSDP dispatch not geting to Kroozbox.
Does MyHome works properly from the same server running Kroozbox? if yes, I am out of ideas...

Let me know.

Thanks for the help, Nono.  Much appreciated!

I did as you requested.  I set "ssdpDebug = true" and this is the error message that gets posted to the screen output:

 [upnpDevice]  ***ERROR Cannot start UPNP listener. No HTTP server to publish (see properties files)

I'm not sure what is meant by no HTTP server to publish...as I can browse my movie collection in IE just fine.  Anything specific that I should be looking for here?

Thanks again,
CD

[Nono]

Well, make sure that the "ssdpOn" property is set to "true" (ssdpOn = true) in the corresponding template kroozbox.properties file. Else then that.... next time send me the complete screen output when you start Kroozbox. By theway.. using version 1.8.. yes!?

You could always add your service manually in the "./config/extraSSDP.properties". Something like:

Code: [Select]

My PVD Movie = 192.168.1.200:9008  (put your own IP and port)
but it shoudn't be necessary.


N

[cwdean]

Well, make sure that the "ssdpOn" property is set to "true" (ssdpOn = true) in the corresponding template kroozbox.properties file. Else then that.... next time send me the complete screen output when you start Kroozbox. By theway.. using version 1.8.. yes!?

You could always add your service manually in the "./config/extraSSDP.properties". Something like:

Code: [Select]

My PVD Movie = 192.168.1.200:9008  (put your own IP and port)
but it shoudn't be necessary.


N

Thanks for the prompt reply, Nono.  I checked as you recommended and ssdpOn is already set to True.  I did add the service manually, just in case.  Then restarted the service and re-ran the startme.bat file.  By the way, if Kroozbox is running as a service do I still need to run startme.bat?

This time there was a bunch of UPnP activity in the command window.  I checked PCH and there are three UPnP entries on the menu for Kroozbox...one for HD, one for SD and one for notices.  Unfortunately, when I selected the SD entry the activity monitor kept spinning for about two minutes and then PCH indicated that the request could not be processed (some kind of timeout, I'm assuming).

Getting much closer.  Any suggestion what to look for next?

Thanks again!
CD

[Nono]

You cannot run Kroozbox as a Windows service and with Starme.bat. Its like runnning teh same application twice, each asking for the same resource (server port, database access, etc). This will result in unpredictable behavior - maybe... oh... like you have seen.
Stop the service, uninstall it to be sure (REMOVESERVICE.bat). And run startme. You may have to hard boot your PCH as well after that (to be sure).

Install Kroozbox Windows service when all is nice.

[cwdean]

You cannot run Kroozbox as a Windows service and with Starme.bat. Its like runnning teh same application twice, each asking for the same resource (server port, database access, etc). This will result in unpredictable behavior - maybe... oh... like you have seen.
Stop the service, uninstall it to be sure (REMOVESERVICE.bat). And run startme. You may have to hard boot your PCH as well after that (to be sure).

Install Kroozbox Windows service when all is nice.

You're awesome.  That was the problem.  I'll re-install the service once everything is working perfectly.

I can now browse my databse via PCH.  I have a quick question for you.  But first, background.  I have a Thermaltake USB Hard Drive docking station that I use with PCH.  This way I can have many movies on multiple hard drives and just plug in the one with the movie that I want to watch.  With this said, I can now browse the Kroozbox server and once I find hte movie I want to watch...plus that hard drive into the docking station and away I go.

The question I have, how do I configure Kroozbox to support this configuration?  On the Kroozbox server, the movie library drive is plugged in to the server as drive G (G:/).  On the PCH, it will always be referenced as USB_DRIVE_A-1.  So how should this be referenced in the Kroozbox config files?

Once I have this last detail figured out I should be all set (other than a template change to display the movie Location on the screen -- so I know which hard drive to grab).

Thanks!
CD

[Nono]

Hmmm... I think you are missing the most important point of Kroozbox. (maybe you should read the manual  )

If I understand you, you first enter the movies in PVD and then move your hard disk to your PCH.... ouch - not good - it defeats the purpose.

Kroozbox is build to deliver the movie to the PCH through the network. Do NOT unplug your hard disk from your computer where Kroozbox is running, just leave it there. Selecting the movie from kroozbox will deliver it to the PCH.

Now, there are situations where the movie you enter in PVD might not be find at the same drive/location by Kroozbox. For instance, on my system I use PVD on my personal computer that sees the movies on drive "m:". The database is physicaly located on a hard disk on my home server that is using "e:" as drive letter (where the movies are). Kroozbox is also running on this home server. In essence, the PVD database have the movies entered on drive "m:" but Kroozbox must get them on drive "e:".

There are multiple ways to adjust this. The simplest way is to adjust the value of "dbaseMediaRoot" and "localMediaRoot" in the corresponding kroozbox.properties. In my example, I would set "dbaseMediaRoot = m:/" and "localMediaRoot = e:/". You could adjust that and have "localMediaRoot = USB_DRIVE_A-1:/" or something like that. But you would miss some of the important feature of Kroozbox (delivering to multiple medias, etc) and you would have to alwyas move your hard disk (yurk).
You could also use the "mediaLinkPathTable" and/or the "mediaPathTable" correspondance tables, but these should be use for more complex re-mapping where you have multiple hard disks on different drive assignments or exotic network.

But I think that in your case, you just have to plug and play.... isn't it working properly when you start the movie ? (from browser or PCH).

[cwdean]

Thanks for the reply, Nono.  You're correct, I need to read the manual...but you know how us IT types can be    I will do so tonight.

I am able to get my movies to stream locally (from the server).  To be honest, I haven't tried this from the PCH.  My preference was to do it as I described earlier, thinking that streaming locally via PCH-attached USB would be much faster (and therefore better performance) than streaming via my network.  I don't have the most efficient network configuration.  But it may be fine...I'll try this evening.

I did try the config change ("localMediaRoot = USB_DRIVE_A-1:/") as you suggested but it didn't work.  I may be wrong (and probably am) but I don't think that Kroozbox understands the local mapping from PCH since the request is made from the server.

But I can live with this.  If it streams fine via my network then I can use my docking station on the server.  And if my network performance isn't good enough, I can still use Kroozbox/PVD to manage my movie collection and use the Location field to determine which drive to put in the USB docking station (attached to the PCH).

Keep up the great work 

Thanks,
CD

[cwdean]

Hmmm... I think you are missing the most important point of Kroozbox. (maybe you should read the manual  )

If I understand you, you first enter the movies in PVD and then move your hard disk to your PCH.... ouch - not good - it defeats the purpose.

Kroozbox is build to deliver the movie to the PCH through the network. Do NOT unplug your hard disk from your computer where Kroozbox is running, just leave it there. Selecting the movie from kroozbox will deliver it to the PCH.

Now, there are situations where the movie you enter in PVD might not be find at the same drive/location by Kroozbox. For instance, on my system I use PVD on my personal computer that sees the movies on drive "m:". The database is physicaly located on a hard disk on my home server that is using "e:" as drive letter (where the movies are). Kroozbox is also running on this home server. In essence, the PVD database have the movies entered on drive "m:" but Kroozbox must get them on drive "e:".

There are multiple ways to adjust this. The simplest way is to adjust the value of "dbaseMediaRoot" and "localMediaRoot" in the corresponding kroozbox.properties. In my example, I would set "dbaseMediaRoot = m:/" and "localMediaRoot = e:/". You could adjust that and have "localMediaRoot = USB_DRIVE_A-1:/" or something like that. But you would miss some of the important feature of Kroozbox (delivering to multiple medias, etc) and you would have to alwyas move your hard disk (yurk).
You could also use the "mediaLinkPathTable" and/or the "mediaPathTable" correspondance tables, but these should be use for more complex re-mapping where you have multiple hard disks on different drive assignments or exotic network.

But I think that in your case, you just have to plug and play.... isn't it working properly when you start the movie ? (from browser or PCH).

Nono,

I can't seem to get Kroozbox to stream my movies.  I'm certain it's something that I have misconfigured.  I have PVD and Kroozbox both running on the same server.  The media files are located on drive G: ... so both the database and Kroozbox would find the media on drive G.  Thus I have "dbaseMediaRoot = G:/" and "localMediaRoot = G:/".  I can successfully watch movies locally from the server using my browser, but if I try to stream a movie from PCH the television (browser) just flickers and nothing happens.

Any suggestions on what I should change?

Thanks!
CD

[Nono]

Few points:

* Run Kroozbox using the startme.bat - Not as a service. Service may not have access to G:. Is G: a local drive or a network mapped drive? (i'm guessing a USB external drive - but still try with startme instead - you'll have the screen output). Be sure NOT to have multiple Kroozbox running at the same time on the same machine (one as a service and one with startme for instance) - that would break communication.

* Since Kroozbox is running on same machine as PVD you don't need to setup the localMediaRoot and the dbaseMediaRoot properties. Just comment them out (with # in front). Mind you, it should not hurt.

* Are your movies ISO files or VIDEO_TS? what are the extensions (.AVI, .MKV)? Are you able to watch those movies on the PCH through other means (share or..) ? (just checking here if the format is proper for the PCH and if the PCH is properly working with those).

* You may have change something else.... what about re-installing completely and just change the "dbName" value (to point to database) in .\templates\PVDTemplate-HD\Kroozbox.properties file!? That's really the only change you should need to do.

* You could always set "debug = true" in .\templates\PVDTemplate-HD\Kroozbox.properties file, restart Kroozbox and look at the Kroozbox screen output when you click on the link of the movie to play. Post it here.

* Is your PCH firmware up to date? It shoudl work with older firmware but I have no way to test.

[cwdean]

Few points:

* Run Kroozbox using the startme.bat - Not as a service. Service may not have access to G:. Is G: a local drive or a network mapped drive? (i'm guessing a USB external drive - but still try with startme instead - you'll have the screen output). Be sure NOT to have multiple Kroozbox running at the same time on the same machine (one as a service and one with startme for instance) - that would break communication.

* Since Kroozbox is running on same machine as PVD you don't need to setup the localMediaRoot and the dbaseMediaRoot properties. Just comment them out (with # in front). Mind you, it should not hurt.

* Are your movies ISO files or VIDEO_TS? what are the extensions (.AVI, .MKV)? Are you able to watch those movies on the PCH through other means (share or..) ? (just checking here if the format is proper for the PCH and if the PCH is properly working with those).

* You may have change something else.... what about re-installing completely and just change the "dbName" value (to point to database) in .\templates\PVDTemplate-HD\Kroozbox.properties file!? That's really the only change you should need to do.

* You could always set "debug = true" in .\templates\PVDTemplate-HD\Kroozbox.properties file, restart Kroozbox and look at the Kroozbox screen output when you click on the link of the movie to play. Post it here.

* Is your PCH firmware up to date? It shoudl work with older firmware but I have no way to test.

Hi Nono,

I'm at work right now so I can't try your suggestions, but I will do so as soon as I get home this evening.  In the meantime, to answer a few of your questions:

* Right now I am only using startme.bat (I've uninstalled the service as you recommended in a prior post  )
* I didn't think I needed to set the localMediaRoot and the dbaseMediaRoot properties based on my configuration, but didn't think it would hurt anything either.  I do have some ISO files so tried to base the Kroozbox configuration to support ISOs.
* My movies are primarily WMV files, with some ISO and several .TS thrown in for good measure.  They all work perfectly fine from the USB-attached drive on the PCH.
* It won't hurt me to try re-installing from scratch.  It should only take a few minutes to reconfigure.
* I have the PCH A-110 with the latest firmware (this is confirmed as I'm anxiously awaiting some of the new enhancements with the latest firmware that is imminent).

Another quick question that you may be able to help me with:  I am attempting to modify the MoviesDetails-8 template file to include the Media Label field.  Unfortunately, I cannot seem to get the Firebird ODBC driver to successfully complete a test connection.  I've also installed several Firebird clients but they give me an error message similar to "unsupported on-disk structure".  Can you recommend a good Firebird client and ODBC driver?  Also, would you happen to know the field attribute name for the media label field?

Thanks again for all your help.  I'll let you know how things go this evening.

Regards,
CD

[Nono]

Since the PCH cannot display ISO file through HTTP, Kroozbox cannot deliver the stream. So, for ISO file you will have to also modify the globalParam.properties file to put the name of your PCH share as argument for "MyShare" parameter. Create the share on the PCH, mount your share first on the PCH (by just selecting it from top menu) and then use Kroozbox interface. TS folder that's another story...
First test with your WMV files.

Kroozbox is NOT using ODBC. I think you mean for testing your SQL statement before putting it in Kroozbox?
I suggest not to use ODBC bridge if you can. Just install Firebird 2.1 and use something like JDBStudio to connect (free). In JDBStudion the "DB Path" would be the location of your PVD file, user: SYSDBA, password: masterkey.

To get the "Media label" field (is that the one you want) in Kroozbox interface!?
I looked at the database - this value is in the "LABELS" table (mine is always "Multimedia" in PVD frontend). And I cannot see any "relation" to the "MOVIES" table (maybe the "type" column but mine is always empty). Anyway, if the value you want is not in the MOVIES table you will have to create another HTML file after MoviesDetails-8.html (named MoviesDetails-9.html and pushing down all the rest). This file would have the SQL request with the relation with table TYPE. If the value is in MOVIES table then it is just a matter of adding the field in the DBINFO header and putting the reference in the content.

[cwdean]

Since the PCH cannot display ISO file through HTTP, Kroozbox cannot deliver the stream. So, for ISO file you will have to also modify the globalParam.properties file to put the name of your PCH share as argument for "MyShare" parameter. Create the share on the PCH, mount your share first on the PCH (by just selecting it from top menu) and then use Kroozbox interface. TS folder that's another story...
First test with your WMV files.

Kroozbox is NOT using ODBC. I think you mean for testing your SQL statement before putting it in Kroozbox?
I suggest not to use ODBC bridge if you can. Just install Firebird 2.1 and use something like JDBStudio to connect (free). In JDBStudion the "DB Path" would be the location of your PVD file, user: SYSDBA, password: masterkey.

To get the "Media label" field (is that the one you want) in Kroozbox interface!?
I looked at the database - this value is in the "LABELS" table (mine is always "Multimedia" in PVD frontend). And I cannot see any "relation" to the "MOVIES" table (maybe the "type" column but mine is always empty). Anyway, if the value you want is not in the MOVIES table you will have to create another HTML file after MoviesDetails-8.html (named MoviesDetails-9.html and pushing down all the rest). This file would have the SQL request with the relation with table TYPE. If the value is in MOVIES table then it is just a matter of adding the field in the DBINFO header and putting the reference in the content.

I have Firebird 2.1 installed.  I downloaded JDBStudio based on your recommendation and installed both it and JRE 6.  I'm doing my testing in a Virtual Machine with Windows 2000.  When attempting to connect to my PVD database file using JDBStudio, I get the following error message:

6. 28-01-2009 9:28:55  [USRERROR]  Database connection failed: GDS Exception. 335544379. unsupported on-disk structure for file C:\Documents and Settings\cwdean\My Documents\Personal Video Database\MOVIES.PVD; found 32779.10, support .
Reason: unsupported on-disk structure for file C:\Documents and Settings\cwdean\My Documents\Personal Video Database\MOVIES.PVD; found 32779.10, support .

Any ideas what might be causing this?  Seems like this process should be pretty simple and straight-forward, but for some reason is turning into a bigger challenge than I would have expected.

BTW, when you associate a media file with the PVD record, the Media Label field gets auto-populated with the media disk label (I'm assuming if this is a removable media, which I'm using).  By displaying this on the Kroozbox page I will know which removable media disk the associated movie file is on.

Thanks,
CD

[cwdean]

Since the PCH cannot display ISO file through HTTP, Kroozbox cannot deliver the stream. So, for ISO file you will have to also modify the globalParam.properties file to put the name of your PCH share as argument for "MyShare" parameter. Create the share on the PCH, mount your share first on the PCH (by just selecting it from top menu) and then use Kroozbox interface. TS folder that's another story...
First test with your WMV files.

Kroozbox is NOT using ODBC. I think you mean for testing your SQL statement before putting it in Kroozbox?
I suggest not to use ODBC bridge if you can. Just install Firebird 2.1 and use something like JDBStudio to connect (free). In JDBStudion the "DB Path" would be the location of your PVD file, user: SYSDBA, password: masterkey.

To get the "Media label" field (is that the one you want) in Kroozbox interface!?
I looked at the database - this value is in the "LABELS" table (mine is always "Multimedia" in PVD frontend). And I cannot see any "relation" to the "MOVIES" table (maybe the "type" column but mine is always empty). Anyway, if the value you want is not in the MOVIES table you will have to create another HTML file after MoviesDetails-8.html (named MoviesDetails-9.html and pushing down all the rest). This file would have the SQL request with the relation with table TYPE. If the value is in MOVIES table then it is just a matter of adding the field in the DBINFO header and putting the reference in the content.

I reinstalled Kroozbox and made the required changes...it looks like it's working quite nicely.  I am able to stream both my WMV and TS files via HTTP.  I am, however, having difficulties with ISO files.  I'm not very familiar with creating shares on the PCH.  I created a share on my server where the media files are located (and called it PCHMEDIA).  Then on the PCH I created a Network Share called PCHMEDIA mapped to "smb://192.168.0.163/pchmedia".  But when I try to browse the PCHMEDIA share on the PCH I get an invalid username and/or password error.  The strange thing is that the share is not password protected.  Just for grins I supplied my administrator account and password but I still get the same error message.  Not sure what I'm doing wrong or what to look for.

MyShare in Kroozbox is set to PCHMEDIA.  Any ideas?

Also, I figured out how to browse the database.  My problem was that I didn't specify embedded database in the client application.  So my next task will be to modify the MoviesDetails-8 to include the Media Label field.

Look forward to your reply.

Thanks,
CD

[Nono]

The share is by default password protected.. Add the "guest" account (maybe "everyone" as well - for testing) in your permission of your share in Windows (XP?,Vista?, Server?)..
Don't forget to choose the share from the PCH top menu (in effect: mounting the share) before going in Kroozbox otherwise when selecting the movie nothing will happen. Automount feature is something that was asked many times as a firmware update feature... hope it comes.

[cwdean]

The share is by default password protected.. Add the "guest" account (maybe "everyone" as well - for testing) in your permission of your share in Windows (XP?,Vista?, Server?)..
Don't forget to choose the share from the PCH top menu (in effect: mounting the share) before going in Kroozbox otherwise when selecting the movie nothing will happen. Automount feature is something that was asked many times as a firmware update feature... hope it comes.

When I created the share under Windows XP it is automatically assigned to "everyone" with Read only access -- i.e. no password.  I did change permissions to Write and Execute as well, just to see if it made a difference, and it didn't.  I have no idea why it thinks the share is password protected.  I will go ahead and associate the share with the Guest account as well, just to see if that makes a difference.

To test, I am trying to mount the share from the PCH top menu, that is where I'm seeing the permissions error message.  I do appreciate you clarifying that this is required before selecting a movie in Kroozbox.

Thanks!  I'll let you know how it goes tonight.

[Chelli]

After trying to figure out how to get this up and displaying correctly and getting my own PVD database to be displated  the information comes up fine but still unable to play the media files at all just shows a blank webpage and no media player associated with it
 So how am I suposed to play the files haven't even tried music or other files as yet
even when the files are all displayed under the All selection They don't show up under the Alphabetical lists Airspeed shows up under view ALL but not when A is selected and so forth less than half show up under the letter listing

[Chelli]

 be beter if you have all your settings siting in one place top or beneath and your comments above or below them
krozebox propertied should be more like this sothe cmd your talking about would be easier to see and grasp
 rather than hiding them in the midedle of your comments and make things less confusing

samp;le idea

 StartService = true
httpPort = 9007
ssdpOn = true
httpOn = true
debug = false
ServiceClass = org.gdgsystems.kroozbox.kroozboxservice.SQLService
dbName = C:/Documents and Settings/HP_Administrator/My Documents/Personal Video

Database/CHELLIS MOVIES02.PVD
dbaseMediaRoot = c:/
HTMLRoot = PVDTemplate-HD/htm
DefaultCategory = NewestList
UUEncodeMediaLink = false
jdbcDriver = org.firebirdsql.jdbc.FBDriver
dbURL = jdbc:firebirdsql:embedded
dbAccount = sysdba
dbPassword = masterkey
copyLocal = true will save the co
mediaPathTable = PVDMediaLocation.properties
mediaLinkPathTable = PVDLinkRelocation.properties

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 explanations and comments here would be easier to find and understand then


 Took me hours to find where to change the sample database with my own
 not certain I found them all but when I am will change it from a txt.ext to the unknown app you already set it as


that pllus when I try to play a file nothing happens other than a blank page appearing
 how do I resolve that
 and how is  media tank differ from an XBOX or a Dlink Media Server as I don't own aMedia tank but do own a D-Linkk DSM 520 Media Center that transfers from the Hard drive to the TV set
 with more media centers out there iwhqat makes Media Tank any different than any other