Is support for Blu-ray disc playback anywhere on the list?

[Deacon Crusher]

I'd just like to add some thoughts to this conversation.

I've been running the BD playback with extenders since the second it was available and it has come so far in 2 years it's amazing. At this point BD playback through Sage on an Extender is a fantastic experience that for me, works flawlessly. Haven't tested subtitles much yet, but have tested switching between playback lists and audio choices and it works and works great. You do need to have a dts capable decoding device for blu-rays that only have dts sound tracks (if you don't want to rip and convert) but between stereos and sound bars I'm now set at all locations. I just throw a blu-ray in my server and I can immediately watch it at any of the 4 locations where I have an extender. Don't use Server or sage clients for playback, which is what much of the noise here is about. So, I'd say Sage is doing a great job and largely delivering on their promises (and beyond.)

[Striker:WG]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Specify the UNC path. Don't browse. Type in \\Server\SharedDVDdrive or whatever you shared the drive as.

Gerry

I tried that. Sage just says that the location doesn't exist and it wants to try and create it.

I'll try again with a simplier share name (right now it is Blu Ray Drive, I'll switch it to something like BRD).

-Striker-

[Striker:WG]

Originally Posted by babgvant

Have you tried putting them in a sub-folder (e.g. BDISO) and adding that?

I have not tried that, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to try.

Thanks for the suggestion!

-Striker-

[Striker:WG]

Originally Posted by Deacon Crusher

I'd just like to add some thoughts to this conversation.

I've been running the BD playback with extenders since the second it was available and it has come so far in 2 years it's amazing. At this point BD playback through Sage on an Extender is a fantastic experience that for me, works flawlessly. Haven't tested subtitles much yet, but have tested switching between playback lists and audio choices and it works and works great. You do need to have a dts capable decoding device for blu-rays that only have dts sound tracks (if you don't want to rip and convert) but between stereos and sound bars I'm now set at all locations. I just throw a blu-ray in my server and I can immediately watch it at any of the 4 locations where I have an extender. Don't use Server or sage clients for playback, which is what much of the noise here is about. So, I'd say Sage is doing a great job and largely delivering on their promises (and beyond.)

Can you explain EXACTLY how you have your setup configured for BD playback support?

The issues i'm experiencing are the same on both my SageTV machine and on my extender so i'm sure whatever i'm doing wrong is related to the setup, not the playback medium.

-Striker-

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by Striker:WG

I tried that. Sage just says that the location doesn't exist and it wants to try and create it.

I'll try again with a simplier share name (right now it is Blu Ray Drive, I'll switch it to something like BRD).

-Striker-

That sounds like a permissions issue. If you are sure you're typing the UNC path correctly, and sage is compaining that it isn't there, then it is likely the user that the sagetv service is logging in as isn't getting permission to the network share. If you are using the default login (LocalSystem), it will not work. You have to have the sagetvservice log in as an authenticated user for network share access.

[Striker:WG]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

That sounds like a permissions issue. If you are sure you're typing the UNC path correctly, and sage is compaining that it isn't there, then it is likely the user that the sagetv service is logging in as isn't getting permission to the network share. If you are using the default login (LocalSystem), it will not work. You have to have the sagetvservice log in as an authenticated user for network share access.

I'm not running as a service though. I'm running it under the current login as it was previously suggested in another thread that service mode was the cause of the BD ISO support issues.

I'm running under the local login which is a full administrator account on the machine.

-Striker-

[Fuzzy]

Have you tried typing in the exact same UNC path from that login? (Start-> Run)

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by Striker:WG

I'm not running as a service though. I'm running it under the current login as it was previously suggested in another thread that service mode was the cause of the BD ISO support issues.

I run in service mode, and mounting works fine.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by Striker:WG

I tried that. Sage just says that the location doesn't exist and it wants to try and create it.

I'll try again with a simplier share name (right now it is Blu Ray Drive, I'll switch it to something like BRD).

-Striker-

Share the drive out. Go to another PC and go into Network Places. (Or Network Neighborhood) You should see your machine and be able to drill down to the drive. (Put a disc in it.) Once there look in the address bar of Network Places and that should be your exact UNC path you need to use. Use Advanced sharing and make sure to give all permissions to the Everyone group.

Gerry

[Striker:WG]

Originally Posted by babgvant

I run in service mode, and mounting works fine.

I thought it was an odd reason too, because the DVD ISO mounting worked in Service mode, but I went with it to see if it would work and just haven't bothered to switch back.

-Striker-

[Striker:WG]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Have you tried typing in the exact same UNC path from that login? (Start-> Run)

Yes, that works for the BD ISO folder, not for the disc drive. For whatever reason that PC will not let me see the file system on the blue ray discs, yet it will play them without issue. I assume its some form of BD security to try and prevent people from copying the files.

-Striker-

[Striker:WG]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Share the drive out. Go to another PC and go into Network Places. (Or Network Neighborhood) You should see your machine and be able to drill down to the drive. (Put a disc in it.) Once there look in the address bar of Network Places and that should be your exact UNC path you need to use. Use Advanced sharing and make sure to give all permissions to the Everyone group.

Gerry

I can drill down to the machine via UNC path's without issue from another PC on my network.

I have the same user accounts setup on both machines so I can navigate to \\mediacenter\C$\ and modify whatever I need to.

If I go to \\mediacenter\BDR I get an error because it can't read the file system on the disc (as posted in my previous reply I think this is a BD security feature? Correct me if i'm wrong on that).

If I go to \\mediacenter\BDISO I can navigate through the BD ISO files I have sitting there with full read/write permissions to that folder.

-Striker-

[gplasky]

As long as you have a disc in the correct drive that you shared out it should read it at a minimum. Put a DVD in the drive instead of a BR and you should be able to drill down to the .vob files. If not, what is your OS and if it is 7 do you have it set for a private network? You may need AnyDVD HD running before you can browse the BR-not sure. I'm not doing BR yet.

Gerry

[Deacon Crusher]

Okay Striker, here you go.

Because I only use Extenders my blu-ray drive isn't shared and doesn't need to be and therefor permissions are a none issue. I have a blu-ray drive in my sage server. It's the F drive.

Inside media import directories I have f:\ setup as a video import directory.

Somehow, I forget how, it's named 1 Blu Ray Disc when browsing my videos.

On my sage server I also am running anydvd.

For playback I put a disc in the drive.

Go to an extender and go to the videos area.

Choose the 1 Blu Ray Disc option and it starts right up, playing the largest playlist on the disc.

I can then go into the options menu and switch to any other playlist and switch between audio tracks within a playlist.

For me, over the last couple of years, the problems I was having were about throughput. Basic functionality, see the disc and play it (again, when using extenders) was always there. The throughput issues manifested as choppy playback or macro blocking (especially with early vc1 disks like Cloverfield.) I think I've decided for sure that the extender nic can be a little finicky when doing auto sensing of speed and duplex (especially duplex, which I've run into over the years at work as well) with some switches. So, I've got a good gig switch at the center of my network and at each TV I have a small gig palm switch that syncs well with the center switch at gig full duplex and that syncs well with extenders at 100 full duplex. Since I implemented that setup I've been pretty much golden. Did, have to add receivers or sound bars to each extender as I said to deal with DTS, but was worth it, both for functionality and for better sound quality.

And since they released Sage 7 I'm seriously happy with blu-ray playback through Sage. I have no actual blu-ray players and I own 50+ blu-rays and rent them from stores and just watch them through Sage at 4 different locations one is even at the end of a wireless bridge in a detached in-law unit.

So, if you have an extender I'd simplify setup down to something like this and see if you can get that working, then once you've seen nirvana you can again try and deal with the codecs and shared paths necessary to play on the sage server or on a sage client or just move to extenders, though that's hard now that they are all sold out.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by Striker:WG

Can you explain EXACTLY how you have your setup configured for BD playback support?

The issues i'm experiencing are the same on both my SageTV machine and on my extender so i'm sure whatever i'm doing wrong is related to the setup, not the playback medium.

-Striker-

[Deacon Crusher]

To see the file system of a BD under XP you have to add the Toshiba UDFS (spelling?) file system driver that's floating around the net.

I do have that installed on server, but don't think it's necessary.

Originally Posted by Striker:WG

Yes, that works for the BD ISO folder, not for the disc drive. For whatever reason that PC will not let me see the file system on the blue ray discs, yet it will play them without issue. I assume its some form of BD security to try and prevent people from copying the files.

-Striker-

[Striker:WG]

Originally Posted by Deacon Crusher

To see the file system of a BD under XP you have to add the Toshiba UDFS (spelling?) file system driver that's floating around the net.

I do have that installed on server, but don't think it's necessary.

This was the piece of the puzzle I was missing!

I tracked down the UDF 2.5 drivers, installed, rebooted, and now I can access my BDMV direct from the disc in my Blu Ray drive!

The BD ISO files still do not appear in the Videos list, so that is still a mystery and the audio skips horribly when I play back the BDMV through Sage, but this is major progress! I'm assuming I'll have to mess around with some codecs to get the playback in Sage to be the way I want it.

Now, to solve why the BD ISO's won't show themselves...

-Striker-

[stanger89]

Make sure ISO is in the list of video import extensions. Or just don't waste your time with ISOs in the first place.

[Striker:WG]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Make sure ISO is in the list of video import extensions. Or just don't waste your time with ISOs in the first place.

yes, ISO is in the list of extensions to look for. I also know Sage is capable of listing ISO's because my regular DVD ISO's load without issue, its just the BR ISO's that don't work.

-Striker-

[Striker:WG]

Originally Posted by Striker:WG

This was the piece of the puzzle I was missing!

I tracked down the UDF 2.5 drivers, installed, rebooted, and now I can access my BDMV direct from the disc in my Blu Ray drive!

The BD ISO files still do not appear in the Videos list, so that is still a mystery and the audio skips horribly when I play back the BDMV through Sage, but this is major progress! I'm assuming I'll have to mess around with some codecs to get the playback in Sage to be the way I want it.

Now, to solve why the BD ISO's won't show themselves...

-Striker-

As a follow up on this, I tried playing back 3 different BR discs and none of them worked properly. I then tried on my extender and had the same issues. So I don't think its codec related.

Anyone know of any settings in AnyDVD or Windows itself that may affect BDMV playback in Sage from a shared disc drive? The discs playback fine directly under PowerDVD on the same system.

-Striker-

[Deacon Crusher]

For extender tests did you try switching to a local drive letter instead of a UNC path?

Also, you do have anydvdhd correct?

Originally Posted by Striker:WG

As a follow up on this, I tried playing back 3 different BR discs and none of them worked properly. I then tried on my extender and had the same issues. So I don't think its codec related.

Anyone know of any settings in AnyDVD or Windows itself that may affect BDMV playback in Sage from a shared disc drive? The discs playback fine directly under PowerDVD on the same system.

-Striker-