xtrend network

This not my work but big thanks to Maxwell4321 on WOS

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Recently there have been more and more posts asking how to get the VU to see a Windows network share, the majority of these posts give the impression that there is something wrong with the Mount management within the image due to being able to connect to previously setup shares with other PC's and other devices.

This is not the case and the blame can be squarely laid with Windows itself.

First of all lets get a couple of things out of the way.

Windows in its quest for world domination is designed primarily to connect to Windows using homegroups/workgroups, other commercially available devices such as mobile phones etc generally have their OS tweaked to accomodate this.

Microsoft have incorporated SMB into the Windows OS for the rest of us but its not the best implementation.

Windows also has one of the most convoluted security and sharing systems known to man. This leads to Joe public pulling out their remaining hair when trying to setup non windows shares.

So what does this all mean to us.
Well it means that we have to do a bit of work to get things right.

For the purposes of this tutorial I am not going to go into all the Windows options and ways to set up Windows shares either existing or new as there are plenty of guides out there already.

CIFS or NFS

CIFS, its is not the fastest way to share but it does have one big advantage over NFS and its this:
All versions of Windows will work with CIFS as SMB is installed as standard with all Windows systems.
NFS is faster but is only available with Windows 7 Ultimate,Professional and versions of Windows Server (Home/2008 R2) so unless you have one of these as your OS you are screwed for NFS, even though NFS is supplied with these versions it is not installed and you have to do it manually.
There are some third party NFS programs you can install but they usually cost money.

Lets get started.

You have some shares setup already on your PC but you cannot see them on the VU.

First we need to determine where the error is, by this I mean is it an error with your VU settings, windows, firewall/Antivirus or network itself.

Make sure you can see the VU on your network, type the IP address of your receiver into the address bar of your browser and see if you get access or use windows network explorer to see it. If you cant access it this could be caused by your Firewall/Antivirus and you may have to set exceptions in there (dont forget your router if it has a firewall/AV built in.

Assuming you can see your VU on the network ignore the shares you already have on your windows system and do this.

1. create a new folder on PC - call it 'vu'
2. create administrative user on PC - to keep things simple call the user 'vu' and the password 'vu'
3. share the folder : properties --> sharing --> advanced sharing --> make sure 'share this folder' is checked and click permissions --> make sure everybody has full control

Then on your Vu+ box

1. menu > setup > system > Network > Mount Manager
2. Add a new network mount point
3. Active - yes
local share name - nas (you can call it anything you like)
mount type - CIFS share
server IP - (enter PC IP here)
server share - /vu (make sure you include the /)
username - vu
password - vu
4.Press OK

If you can then mount the share on the VU this test shows that you have incorrect settings on your Windows machine for the other shares you tried to set up.

That worked and I changed the Server Share to another folder that has my Movies in it but the VU cant see it.

Make sure you add user vu to the permissions for the folder and try again.

I still cant see my folders.

Despite having correct permissions the problem could be in the windows registry so what can you do about it.

Well you can do this as a workaround.

Rename the original folder you wanted to share to something else e.g. Movies2
Copy the entire contents of "Movies2" into the "vu" folder (as we already know that the VU+ can see this as a share)
Make sure the VU+ can see all the files in the "vu" folder, if not right click it and go through the "share with" procedure again as although the folder is shared it maybe that the contents are not after the copy procedure.
Once the VU+ can see all the files rename the "vu" folder to the original folder name e.g. Movies.
Reboot the PC

On the VU+ either change the "server share" to /Movies or setup a new share as per the original test procedure with /Movies instead of /vu

You should now have access to all the original files in what the PC percieves as the original location, if the original location was shared with other devices you will have to add them using permissions on the new "Movies" folder. (if not add them using the share with procedure).

Once the VU+ and any other required users can access all the files you can delete the "Movies2" folder.

NOTE: The mounting of a Network Mount on the VU can take some time depending on the contents and size of the folder you are mounting so be patient.

NOTE2: The files you share will show up in the MediaPlayer locations and not necessarily in the network browser so look to the mediaplayer first.

Here is a little program that can check and possibly repair you folder permission including a registry fixer.
I take no credit for this and all credit goes to the original author who wrote this to fix shares problems with Xtreamer mediaplayers.

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Not sure you have bricked it, there is always a reflash - When I used to mess with things more, it is something I got used to doing. When you are editing stuff there is always the possibility that things will go wrong so it is important that you back things up if you don't want to start from scratch. It isn't that bad starting from scratch and once you get used to it it begins to take minutes rather than hours!

If you have changed something, you need to know what you have changed to put it right - if you are on a boot loop you still might be able to FTP into your receiver to undo anything you have done. Also 'cause you were messing with networks and drives, try to reboot without any drives, devices or networks attached.

But if all else fails, then it might be best and quicker to start from the beginning!