Getting "Invalid Directory" when trying to browse the network. - FIXED

[jra]

I just set up my Sage HD Theater, installed the Beta firmware, and I'm now trying to set up import folders.

Going to the "Folders" icon, then clicking on "Browse Local Network" gets me nothing except an error message saying "Invalid Directory". I can't get to any servers at all on my network.

I'm watching what comes out of the Sage box with wireshark, and I see it do a broadcast query for the <01><02>__MSBROWSE__<02><01> name, which my Samba master browser correctly replies to. Then it does another broadcast for my the local master browser name of my workgroup, MSHOME<1d> which my local master browser correctly answers, returning it's own IP address, then *NOTHING* more coming out of the Sage box.

What is the problem here ? I'm getting quite cross, as this seems to be a widely reported bug (which is why I downloaded the Beta firmware) and yet no analysis of what is going on yet. I can certainly track this down and fix it if someone can give me more idea of what is going on at this point (from a Windows networking point of view) on the Sage box.

Jeremy Allison.

[jra]

Just to follow up, what should be happening at this point is the Sage box should be contacting the Local master browser it just found on the IPC$ share to get a list of servers in the workgroup. It's not doing that. Why ? This looks like a nasty bug to me. The box is a paperweight until it can browse the local network.

Jeremy Allison.

[jra]

Another follow up :-). Depending on Windows "Network Neighborhood" browsing being set up correctly in the Windows 2000 age is insane. The UI on this box needs to enable UNC share access, to allow users to custom enter \\IPaddr\share instead of depending on the box correctly finding a local master browser.

I was hoping to buy 3 more of these things but this choice really is causing me to rethink my plans on this. No other CIFS enabled device depends on "Network Neighborhood" browing working as the sole discovery mechanism these days. It's 1980's tech, not 2000's :-).

Jeremy Allison.

[TwistedMelon]

This (Stand-alone mode) bug has been around for pretty much every version of 6.5.x in some way or another.

The Sage guys have fixed at least one instance that was cropping up for me, but since updating to subsequent betas, it's now back.

When using the box in Extender mode, I don't even get an option to browse the network. That is, some 9 out of 10 times it doesn't show up. Once in a while it does appear - no rhyme nor reason that I've found (ie. not tied to a server restart and no settings have been changed)

File a bug report and provide your contact details for support. This forum isn't the place to file bugs nor discuss issues with Sage. It's simply a user-to-user forum. Sage have generally been very good about working with individual reporters to track down issues.

[MrD]

I think this is related to the really OLD version 1.1.6 of JCIFS http://jcifs.samba.org/ that is being used. Of course updating the jar does not work as either the API changed or Frey tweaked their version.

I' m towards tweaked, because I tried using 1.1.11 (i.e. a bug fix version) and it would not work.

[jra]

I've tracked down the "Invalid Directory" error and am raising it with Sage Support.

A little background. To get a list of servers in a "network neighborhood" Windows network a client has to contact what is called the "local master browser". It does this by doing a broadcast request on udp port 137 for the name WORKGROUP<1d> (this is a NetBIOS name of "WORKGROUP" with the name type of 0x1d, meaning "local master browser").

The local master browser responds with a point to point UDP reply to the requesting client returning its IP address as the "owner" of the WORKGROUP<1d> name (replace the string "WORKGROUP" with whatever your local workgroup is called). If I use wireshark to scan my local network I can see this happening.

The HD200 should then contact the local master browser over TCP 445 or 139 (CIFS/SMB) and request a connection to the IPC$ share and then make a SMB trans "RAP" call NetServerEnum to get the list of known servers in this workgroup.

The HD200 box is failing to take that next step. I don't yet know why. Wireshark simply shows nothing further coming out of the HD200. The code on the box is using jCIFS, and I too see the error in the log:

EXCEPTION in getValueAsObject:sage.a.e: Error in method reflection of jcifs_smb_SmbFile_listFiles of java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException for:jcifs_smb_SmbFile_listFiles(BrowserCurFilePath)

This is definitely the code that should be making the NetServerEnum RAP call.

This is still an outstanding bug with the very latest firmware (the 20090528 beta build) and I'm awaiting a reply from Sage support (who I must say have been very responsive with every reproducible bug so far).

Jeremy.

* merged *

[jra]

I spoke too soon :-). There is more coming out of the HD200 box after the initial request for the master browser, it just isn't enough to get the server/share lists.

After getting the local master browser I find it *is* doing a NetServerEnum call to get the list of "workgroups". The server is correctly returning the "WORKGROUP" workgroup to the HD200 box but then the HD200 just disconnects the session with a TDisconnect call. It does the NetServerEnum call with a request type of 0x80000000 (SV_TYPE_DOMAIN_ENUM) four times - but with no follow up to request the SV_TYPE_ALL (0xFFFFFFFF), which would then get the server list for that workgroup, and then finally allow the HD200 to do a NetShareEnum to get a list of shares to access.

This is very frustrating. I bought 3 more HD200's last week after finally getting my first box set up with the beta software to a reasonable level of satisfaction, and I've spent over 5 hours debugging this problem on the second box setup.

I can't afford to take 5+ hours getting an import list of media for every box I buy ! This is beyond a joke, and I still don't have a working second box, let alone starting on setup on the other two. I'm now terrified of losing the
import media list on my one working box as I don't know what caused it to work on that original unit and can't guarantee that I could get it up and working again if it had a problem.

I *strongly* suggest that Sage move away from the "network neighborhood" method of finding import media for future releases and add a method of inputting direct IP addresses of servers the HD200 should contact for import shares.

I'm really disappointed with the quality of setup in standalone mode. This is not a commercial quality product at the moment I'm afraid. Most people would have given up and returned all units by now. I hate broken code, so I'm going to persevere for now, as if the HD200 only did what it promises to do on the box it would be the perfect media player for my needs.

Jeremy.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by jra

I spoke too soon :-). There is more coming out of the HD200 box after the initial request for the master browser, it just isn't enough to get the server/share lists.

After getting the local master browser I find it *is* doing a NetServerEnum call to get the list of "workgroups". The server is correctly returning the "WORKGROUP" workgroup to the HD200 box but then the HD200 just disconnects the session with a TDisconnect call. It does the NetServerEnum call with a request type of 0x80000000 (SV_TYPE_DOMAIN_ENUM) four times - but with no follow up to request the SV_TYPE_ALL (0xFFFFFFFF), which would then get the server list for that workgroup, and then finally allow the HD200 to do a NetShareEnum to get a list of shares to access.

This is very frustrating. I bought 3 more HD200's last week after finally getting my first box set up with the beta software to a reasonable level of satisfaction, and I've spent over 5 hours debugging this problem on the second box setup.

I can't afford to take 5+ hours getting an import list of media for every box I buy ! This is beyond a joke, and I still don't have a working second box, let alone starting on setup on the other two. I'm now terrified of losing the
import media list on my one working box as I don't know what caused it to work on that original unit and can't guarantee that I could get it up and working again if it had a problem.

I *strongly* suggest that Sage move away from the "network neighborhood" method of finding import media for future releases and add a method of inputting direct IP addresses of servers the HD200 should contact for import shares.

I'm really disappointed with the quality of setup in standalone mode. This is not a commercial quality product at the moment I'm afraid. Most people would have given up and returned all units by now. I hate broken code, so I'm going to persevere for now, as if the HD200 only did what it promises to do on the box it would be the perfect media player for my needs.

Jeremy.

For the time being instead of browsing just specify the path in the form of \\machinename\share\directory and you're done. When specifying you can use either machine name or IP address of the machine with the share.

Gerry

[jra]

That would be perfect - but where in the HD200 UI can I specify the UNC (\\server\share\directory) pathname ? I don't see a place in the 0528 build to do this ?

Jeremy.

[Narflex]

jra,

Please submit a bug report on this at http://sagetv.com/bugs.html

We were just working on this code more recently but don't have anymore failure cases in house anymore that we can reproduce (we'd fixed them). And you definitely sound like you can give us the information we need to fix the case that you have.

We also are going to add an explicity Server\Share entry option as well soon.

I'd also be curious to know if using the release firmware allows you to browse the network.

[jra]

Thanks a lot for that request. I already have the outstanding bug report from when I was setting up my first HD200 box. I've followed up and sent in my wireshark trace of the failure case and will work with support to try and find the root cause of the issue with you.

However, since then I've done more experiments (I'm an engineer, what can you do :-). What I've discovered is if I use the latest officially released firmware, *not* the 0528 beta, and if I reconfigure my server to use security=share, not the default of security=user (this should make *no* difference of course, but it does seem to..), then after about 5 minutes or so the server list under the WORKGROUP screen does get populated. I have another wireshark trace of this success, which I will forward in to the bug report (I'll have to cut it down to the relevent packets first as I'd left a wireshark trace running overnight to try and see if leaving the 0528 build up and running for a long time would fix the issue).

Once I've got my media import list, I can then upgrade to the 0528 build to fix the other issues I'd reported and the list then stays current.

This method of fixing the issue seems to be completely repeatable, so I'm currently using it to set up my 3 extra HD200 boxes.

I apologize for the rather angry tone of the post last night (Saturday). I only get large chunks of time to work on this over the weekend, and of course that's when the SageTV support folks are also enjoying their hobbies over the weekend, so there's no chance of an immediate fix :-).

I do think your support staff are extremely friendly and responsive, and I do intend to keep working to fix all issues I can find, as I'm a real fan of the HD200 product. It's an amazingly great deal with an unbeatable feature set. Thanks for creating it and for responding directly in these forums, it is much appreciated.

Jeremy.

[cat6man]

Originally Posted by jra

However, since then I've done more experiments (I'm an engineer, what can you do :-). What I've discovered is if I use the latest officially released firmware, *not* the 0528 beta, and if I reconfigure my server to use security=share, not the default of security=user (this should make *no* difference of course, but it does seem to..), then after about 5 minutes or so the server list under the WORKGROUP screen does get populated. .

interesting.............i reported the same network browse bug in another thread

jra--are you saying that if you go to network browse and wait about 5 minutes before drilling down through workgroup, the servers eventually show up?

sage--would you like another wireshark file? (i've only sent you sagelog.txt so far)

[Narflex]

I got lucky and was able to reproduce this one on my network at home last night. That made it quite easy to fix and we'll have a new beta firmware out later today that resolves it.

It had to do with DNS vs. broadcast resolution which is why someone's comment about it working when they pulled their internet connection actually made sense. (not sure if that was in this thread)

[cat6man]

confirmed with latest beta:

1. file browser now working
2. earlier bug fix for buffalo tech NAS also now working

nice job sage!

[cat6man]

Originally Posted by Narflex

I got lucky and was able to reproduce this one on my network at home last night. That made it quite easy to fix and we'll have a new beta firmware out later today that resolves it.

It had to do with DNS vs. broadcast resolution which is why someone's comment about it working when they pulled their internet connection actually made sense. (not sure if that was in this thread)

if it works with the internet connection pulled, does that mean the hd200 now supports wireless streaming?

[cat6man]

hey, while we're on the topic of file browsing, what's with the white-on-white icons?

a little color on net/lib/upnp would make those icons legible

cheers

[Swagger200]

For anyone out there with HD200's and trouble browsing Windows network shares - I was having the same issues. I took the advice of one of these threads and downloaded the latest HD200 firmware.

After installing, you now get the option to manually enter a UNC path - like \\MyPC\Movies. This is a breakthrough because in the older firmware you only got an Invalid Directory message and no way to resolve it.

After I manually entered a couple of paths - lo and behold - suddenly I was able to browse my whole network again.