Serviio

So on main page of http://www.serviio.org/features:
By file extension, serviio supports following video formats

Up to you to follow serviio specification if you want.
Thanks

PS: I will probably point to your tool when guys need help & supports and need to provide ffmpeg -i informations on windows system. Many thanks.

Version 1.0.6 Beta released.

I have initially released this as a beta trial first as I would appreciate assistance to test the Active Library Monitoring feature included in this release. If you can assist with testing (particularly with libraries stored on network drives and/or non NTFS drives) please read the attached Word document - pages 2 onward, and the notes to beta testers on page 3 in particular. I will keep version 1.0.5 in the OP for now, until this version gets the nod - that way anyone not wanting to participate in testing can still use the old version (or alternatively, use this version but just leave library monitoring turned off).

This release includes :

• Added support for active monitoring of Serviio Shared Folders – see attached Word document.
• Added setting to store ffmpeg.exe file location (allowing other builds of ffmpeg to be used on the Remux tab).
• Removed the use of DOS based NetStat command in favour of equivalent Win API in order to overcome issues with localisation.
• Added support for additional media file types with ffmpeg –i command on Remux tab. Supported file types: avi, divx, dvx, mp4, m4v, mkv, 3gp, mov, mpg, mpeg, vob, mod, ts, m2ts, wmv, asf, flv, f4v, dvr, dvr-ms, wtv, ogg, ogv, ogm, rm, rmvb, srt, sub, ssa
• Fixed bug related to NotePad location
• Fixed bug related to empty list (no supported media files) on Remux tab
• Fixed bug related to upper case file extensions on Remux tab

@Xmantium, sfj13, hans, Illico - appreciate if you could confirm that the changes also fix the issues you have raised.

<Edit - files removed - Version 1.0.6 now included in OP>

Minor update to the beta above - Hidden files and folders will not trigger a library refresh (irrespective of the setting in Serviio console).
This is to overcome an issue where simply accessing an image folder may incorrectly trigger an library refresh. This was occurring because the thumbnail cache (a hidden file) was being updated on access to the folder.

The helper does not seems to recognize streaming state to the serviigo since...(my win7 pc goes to sleep at the sleep set time (10 minutes) even when the status check interval is set to 3 minutes...in fact performing the scanning while streaming to the serviigo does not result in discovering streaming state)...
Any idea?

I have a router and using DMZ setting to the above PC in the house and port forwarded to the same pc for both ports (just in case)...

Yes - see page 2 of this topic: viewtopic.php?f=17&t=12136&start=20#p78827 and viewtopic.php?f=17&t=12136&start=20#p78880

Essentially ServiiGo (and Mediabrowser) cache a lot of requests, and video is transmitted in chunks. This means that when WinHelper polls to see if the stream is active, it may miss it as the TCP connection is held up only for a very short duration. Wasn't seen as a deal breaker as anyone wanting remote access to the Serviio server wouldn't normally allow their PC to sleep...??? You could see if decreasing the polling time helps (ie. poll more often - this would increase the chance of detecting the connection).

Version 1.0.6 released - added to OP.

In addition to the changes included in 1.0.6 Beta (see viewtopic.php?f=17&t=12136&p=82912#p82912), changes to this version include:

• Improvement: Ignore Windows Media Player devices when scanning for active connections;
• Fixed bug when matching IP addresses

I might try this.

I still can't believe that there is not an option built into Serviio to prevent Windows sleeping while streaming.

DenyAll,
thanks for creating this nice utility program. As you have mentioned about false positive, I have ran into the situation where even after turning of my blu-ray player, it still finds an active tcp session.

I have looked into this situation and found a possible solution to detect it correctly.

When you find a active tcp session, also verify that it is active by calling the rest end point:

http://localhost:23423/rest/status

What I have noticed, it was not active on the above url. Hopefully, this is eliminate the false positive situation.

Thanks shyem. I assume you mean to look at the renderer status and test whether Serviio has it listed as "Active". Its a good thought, however unfortunately, I don't think Serviio's report on the renderers status is reliable for all devices.

For me, my devices are never listed as "Active", but always as "Unknown". I'm not sure why that is the case but it has never bothered me so I haven't looked deeper into it (I have a Panasonic TV, a PS3, and various iPads - they all show as "Unknown" even when streaming or turned off). I do see from the number of people that post to the forum that their device is not getting a green "Active" status report even when connected, that it is quite a common issue.

Perhaps I can test for "Inactive" as a definite "yes, I'm disconnected" but it would hard for me to troubleshoot (given I don't get the Inactive status). It would also be subject to timing - how quickly does your device show as Inactive after turning it off (does it take a while for Serviio to detect it)?

wrt your device - does this always happen or is it adhoc?

I have started having a problem with Serviio WinHelper.

It is stuck on:
Serviio sleep mode enabled.
A TCP session between Serviio and a renderer has been detected.
Your server will not go into full sleep/hibernation while in this mode.

I have tried pressing the "Scan Now" button, but with the same result.

I don't have any sessions with a renderer or even have a renderer turned on.

@Dypsis. If it has been working for you and this has occurred all of a sudden, then I suspect that the IP address of one of your renderers has been assigned by your router to another device. To check:

• In WinHelper take note of the IP address that the session is active against
• Either in your router (if you know how), or using the ping command (from your command prompt, type ping -a ip_address), discover what device is on that IP and if it is awake.

If the device reported by the router or by the ping command is not what WinHelper thinks it is, then you will need to refresh your renderer list in Serviio. To do this, in Serviio Console, Status tab remove the offending renderer, press Save and then press Refresh. In Winhelper, press Scan Now to update its list of renderers (which it gets from Serviio).

To avoid this problem, you may want to consider assigning fixed IP addresses for your renderers (reserved addresses from your router is generally easiest), and disable non-renderer IP addresses in Serviio Console (as well as unticking "Enable access to new devices"). This is always a good idea anyway I believe - the only downside is if you add a new renderer you need to manually allow it access.

Hi DenyAll.

How do I know which session is still active in WinHelper? They are all red. Not green.

That's interesting.

I have just added another folder to the Serviio Library, and now Serviio WinHelper has gone into sleep mode.

thanks Dypsis.
All I can suggest is to monitor it and see if it happens again - if it does try and ascertain whether your IP addresses have changed (as per my post above). I can't see how adding a folder would have effected it, but stranger things happen....

Thanks DenyAll.

I just noticed that shyem (posted above) has a similar problem.
It is happening again today, so I will have to look into it.

Thanks Dypsis - any info you can give would be appreciated. I didn't get these false positives very often in my testing and haven't had one since 1.0.6 release in December in which I fixed an issue with IP address matching, but as I noted in the opening post it likely depends on your renderer.

Some things that may help out if you can answer:

• Did you disable all non-renderers devices in Serviio Console (as explained in the OP, it helps to reduce the number of false positives - just enable devices that you actually stream to);
• Does the device show as Active, Inactive or Unknown on the Status tab in Serviio Console? I am looking into shyem's suggestion to use the status as a test for false positives but as I stated in my reply, difficult for me to code, test and troubleshoot my set up. I am concerned that the status of renderers wouldn't update fast enough to be useful;
• Does the dos command "Netstat -a -n" show an established connection on the IP address that is showing in Winhelper as active?
• What device is being reported as active (when its not) by WinHelper?

Hi all - Version 1.0.7 released and added to the OP.

This release includes :

• I have change the interface:
  
  • Status tab relabelled as Sleep tab.
  • Check active connections timer moved to Sleep tab.
  • Information bar added to bottom of the window showing the current sleep mode, and library refresh status (as refreshed by WinHelper) and WinHelper version details..
• Have added a checkbox to the Sleep tab to enable/disable sleep management. If you don't want to use the Sleep Management component of Winhelper you can disable this feature on the Sleep tab. Active TCP Connections between Serviio and your renderers will still be monitored - they will not however affect your PC's sleep mode.
• You can now exclude particular devices from participating in Sleep Management. Double click on a device to include/exclude it. Active Serviio TCP connections will still show for excluded devices, however they will not affect the PC’s sleep mode.
• Added info to show last file change detection or library update when actively monitoring shared folders (on Tools tab).

My one thousandth post!!

Love the tool, but I can't get it to reliably start with Serviio. I.e., after the initial install of Serviio, WinHelper does start up and is visible in my tray.
But when I restart my computer, Serviio starts, but WinHelper does not. (Yes, the "start on serviio logon" box in WinHelper Settings is checked.)
This is obviously not a critical problem, just mildly irritating; do you have a fix or ideas?

Hi costero

I'm not sure. I've only had one other report of this nature - from user satman777 - whose issue with the auto-start resulted from an problem with file location permissions - see viewtopic.php?f=17&t=12136#p78317. Also see my response as that will give you (if nothing else works) a way to create your own start-up shortcut.

satman777's response wasn't detailed and I didn't follow up as it was a "one of" at that stage, but if it is permissions related then copying the program to another folder - eg. your Documents folder - may fix it. Run Winhelper from their and cycle the "Start on login" setting so that the new location is stored. If it does turn out to be a permissions issue (suspect it will be) then can you please provide details on the solution (what folders were used before and after any changes, their permissions if you know how, and what version of Windows you are on). I will then be able to explore further.

OK, location appears to have been the problem.

I had WinHelper in my Serviio folder (C:\Program Files\Serviio), checked the registry, and the key was not there.

I moved WinHelper to my docs folder (C:\Users\Hadley\My Documents), ran it, checked the registry, and the key *is* there. I restarted my PC, and all works as it should (i.e., both Serviio and WinHelper start up and show in my taskbar.)

Now, because I'm fussy: I edited the registry value to show that WinHelper is in C:\Program Files\Serviio, then moved WinHelper back to that location. Restarted, and it still works.

Thanks very much for your help.

PS: I'm running Win 7 x64, as the Administrator. Don't know about specific permissions on folders...