Media Center Input Network Directory empty

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by johnwmreed

On each computer I have just one user to log on with:
John Reed
Computer Administrator
Password Protected.

I don't see how to make this user (on each computer) any more of an administrator?

If your ID is an Administrator on Vista and you right-click on Computer and choose Manage you should see this:



If you are on WHS it would look like this:


Gerry

[johnwmreed]

It is like I my operating systems are from a different planet!

My "Computer Management" box doesn't have "Local Users and Groups." The subdirectories for "System Tools" goes from "Shared Folders" to "Performance Logs and Alert." There is no "Local Users and Groups" in between.

I am not sure where to go from here?

[gplasky]

I'm not sure either other than a complete reload of the OS. Something is obviously wrong because yours should look like the above. XP would look similar to the WHS Management console. You are going to the Windows menu and right-clicking on the Computer icon and choosing Manage, correct?

[johnwmreed]

Correct.

It is interesting that both my Vista and XP machines have the same problem.

More interesting is I found a link on the internet that said: "Unfortunately, XP Home doesn't offer the Local Users and Groups option in Computer Management, although the other functions are there."

http://www.terryscomputertips.com/co...and-groups.php

And another link for Vista that says: "This computer is running Windows Vista™ Home Premium. This snapin may not be used with this version of Windows. To manage user accounts for this computer, use the User Accounts tool in the Control Panel."

http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/...5195&SiteID=17

So now I am really confused.

[gplasky]

And that may be the limitation of the Home series of XP and Vista. I have XP Pro and Vista Business.

Make sure in Vista the network is set to Private. Also follow thru this tutorial:

Link to article: Vista Home Networking Article

Gerry

[johnwmreed]

I went through the Vista tutorial article and found that I have already done all they suggest.

I have an interesting finding:

When I set up an import directory via Sage "Media Center Import Directory"
and go to Media Center -> Photos. The message is "No photos were found for any of the Media Center import Directories for Pictures."

BUT, if I now go to "Browse Media Files" -> "Browse the Local Network" I can drill down to the same import directory (which is colored yellow - meaning it is an import directory) and view in SageTV all the photos in that directory,

This says to me that my network connections are working fine. Somthing else is wrong???

[gplasky]

And you verified that you set your network as a private network in Vista?

Instead of drilling down to the Import directory choose the "Specify" button. Now type \\Office-Dell\My Documents\My Pictures\CanonS400 Photos. Click "OK" and then choose the current button to use that directory. Now go see if it works.

Gerry

[johnwmreed]

My network is a private network in Vista.

When I use "specify", no matter what I try, I get the message: "The directory INSERT does not exist. Would you like to create it?"

Where I have tried INSERT =

\\Office-Dell...
//Office-Dell...
smb://Office-Dell...
smb:////Office-Dell...

Nothing works. Am I doing something wrong?

[gplasky]

Office-Dell is your computer name. Make sure you have shared the directroy you want (not the drive) and specify it as \\Computer Name\Share Name\Directory. (No slash after the directory) You can see the share name by going into Network in Vista and getting the properties.

Gerry

[johnwmreed]

Here is a screen shot of my Network directories (from the HOUSE-HP computer) and properties for the 2003_11_15 subdirectory. HOUSE-HP, MYBOOKWORLD AND OFFICE-DELL are all in the workgroup named WORKGROUP.

What should the "specify..." be to point the "Media Center Import" to the photo files in this directory?

The files are on OFFICE-DELL and the SageTV program is on HOUSE-HP.

[gplasky]

That's easy. It's actually spelled out in the Properties for you under "Location:"
\\OFFICE-DELL\Canon S400 Photos

If you set that as an Import directory then you'll see all the folders in there such as 2003_11_15, 2003_11_24, etc.

Gerry

[johnwmreed]

It doesn't work?

See screen shot below showing typed path followed by shot after I pressed OK.

[gplasky]

I'm baffled.

So you have Sage running as a service on the HOUSE-HP computer. That computer is running Vista, correct? The Sage service is running under the John Reed ID which is in the Administrator group and has a password, correct? And the exact same ID and same password is also on the OFFICE-DELL computer, correct? When you installed SageTV on the Vista machine were you logged in as Administrator? If you were logged in as John Reed did you right-click the setup file for SageTV and choose "Run as administrator"?

I can't think of any other reason why it isn't working for you.

Gerry

[johnwmreed]

yes to all your questions

[bcjenkins]

Have you tried this without the spaces in the share name?

B

[johnwmreed]

\\OFFICE-DELL\CanonS400Photos

does not work either. Same result

[ghostlobster]

Man, the Vista --> XP networking is an absolute nightmare. I ran into all kinds of issues when trying to share a directory under Vista's My Documents folder, as well as the Public folder with an XP machine. Here's what I ended up doing to get around these types of things:
1 - Create an administrator user account on all of my computers called "common" and have the same password across the board for all the common users.
2 - Any services that require access to data on other machines, I run them as the local 'common' user.
3 - Disable Simple file sharing. In XP Pro, it's under Control Panel --> View --> then scroll down to the bottom and deselect Use simple File Sharing. In Vista it's in the same place, but called Use Sharing Wizard. In XP Home, you're SOL.
4 - On my Vista Boxes, I disabled Password Protected Sharing.
5 - Move your shares out from under the Documents and Settings folder structure on your Vista rig. Again, I have no idea what was up with that, but as soon as I created a directory structure outside of that and shared it accordingly, it worked.
6 - Ensure that the local 'common' user has read/write permissions on the security and sharing tabs for each of the shares.

That's what worked for me.

[johnwmreed]

I think I know what the problem is.

On both of my computers I have a program installed and running called Network Magic by Pure Networks: http://www.networkmagic.com/

It generally has been a great program. It takes care of all the problems of sharing and access to files on the computers on my network - nice graphical interface.

I have now uninstalled it on both computers. It changed all my network settings. I can't see the other computer in Windows Explorer, but they are there. Sage successfully stores to a Network device and my backup program Retrospect sees the other computer to store backup files. At this time I can not share files even though I have set them to be shared.

I am in a quandary, if I use Network Magic I can do everything I want to except access files from SageTV on the XP computer - my original problem.

With Network Magic uninstalled my network is a mess. So I will fool around for a few days trying to make my network work - as Ghostlobster says: "it is an absolute nightmare." If this doesn't work I will reinstall Network Magic and just live with my SageTV problem - and ride off quietly into the sunset.

[johnwmreed]

I checked with the Network magic support people, and they assured me that SageTV should be able to import directories into the Media Center that are on a network computer.

So, I am back where I started.

I will now stop pursuing this thread.

I wish (if I can have a wish list) that the SageTV technical people in charge of importing directories into the Media Center would look at this issue and see if there some fix that could be made in a future version of SageTV.

Thanks to all the people who tried to help me, especially Big Gerr!

as I ride off into the sunset...

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by johnwmreed

I wish (if I can have a wish list) that the SageTV technical people in charge of importing directories into the Media Center would look at this issue and see if there some fix that could be made in a future version of SageTV.

If you are looking for info from SageTV tech support, then you should submit a support request. Tech support doesn't monitor this forum.

- Andy