How to play a full (removable USB) disk with Samsung F-Type

[pefri]

In accordance with Murphys Law "Nothing is as easy as it looks", my Samsung F-Type SmartTV's Media Player only smartly finds and plays media files in the root folder of a removable USB disk "K:\", though the USB disk is filled with many media files in its (sub)folders tree structure. It does not find and play any further media files within folders and subfolders!
Though, Seviio console 1.3.1 'Library' has the root folder of the removable USB disk "K:\" defined as Shared folder "K:\" and had found several hundred media files.

Samsung F-Type SmartTV's Media Player presents the 1st-level subfolders of Shared folder "K:\" ready for selection by the user. But, when one of the presented subfolders, e.g. "Show1" in "K:\" (Windows: "K:\Show1\") gets selected, then Samsung F-Type SmartTV's Media Player comes up with an error message, which translates to something like "Request failed. MEDIA PLAY return to Main Window".
If I put all content into a single subfolder so that "K:\" only contains subfolder "K:\All\" and I select "All" in "K:\" then I get a Samsung Error message which translates to "No media files found". In sum, only media files directly withinthe root folder "K:\", e.g. K:\bear.mov, are found and played by Samsung F-Type SmartTV's Media Player!

Neither 'Force Refresh' of Seviio console 1.3.1 'Library', nor, in Windows, Stop/Restart Serviio server, nor even Stop/Restart of Serviio service makes a difference!
BTW, I have the MAIN folders (Audio, Image, Video) set in Seviio console 1.3.1 'Library' to display ("Display category") in the presentation menu as described by DNLA master Cerberus in "folder browsing" in viewtopic.php?p=12004#p12004

Note:
This problem only exists in Samsung F-Type SmartTV's Media Player!
The fine Serviio related players ServiiGo (on phone and tablet) and Serviio's Mediabrowser (even in the SmartTV's Internet Browser) play well all media contents of "K:\" (and all its subfolders) using "Folder" view.

Any ideas?

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Edit: I found a very interesting suggestion in viewtopic.php?p=72625#p72625

i have F-series TV, and i can see the folders only, but can't see (browse) any content of that folders. for example my another TV is E-series TV, and there is no problems at all.
...Hope you can (and wish) fix it.

Hi there. I have F-series, and serviio working just fine with serviio for windows and serviio on NAS (WD Live). I had this exact problem also when I setup both on windows and NAS. Actually you can view the files/videos if you browse "All Content" category (or other category I think), but doesnt show up when you browse Folder category.
-- For Windows --
The problem occurs for me because I share network folders with mapped drive (i.e. Z:/ for //hostname/Public). So, for the TV to be able to see files on folder view, you should choose "add path" in library, not "add local". use "//hostname/folder" path. This solution works for me for Serviio for Windows. ...

Browse "All Content" category alone does not work for me.
I would like to try "add path" but do not know how to translate my "add local" notation to "add path" notation.
Please, could somebody tell me how my USB disk root folder "K:\" should be translated from "add local" notation to "add path" notation. Please, same for path to subfolder "K:\All\" .
Why does this make a difference in SmartTV? Does Serviio create and send to SmartTV different library lists depending on "add local" or "add path"?

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No answers?
So I will continue my research for a solution:
I established a simple test environment: a 32GB USB stick with a 1st level folder that contains 3 2nd-level subdolders
and media files populating each folder including disk root folder:
M:\
... M:\_All\
... ... M:\_All\PubAud\
... ... M:\_All\PubPic\
... ... M:\_All\PubPic\

Then I tested F-Type SmartTV performance in mode >All content >Video >Folder >folder "_All"
-> Result: SmartTV error message "Request failed. MEDIA PLAY returns to Main Window"
-->Remark: SmartTV cannot handle the 'folder' links from Serviio?

Then I tested F-Type SmartTV performance in mode >All content >Video >Last Added
-> Result: Is working! SmartTV presents all videos for selection and plays the selected video.
--> Serviio does send valid media file links to SmartTV
---> SmartTV can handle presented media files
----> SmartTV cannot handle the folder links from Serviio!

Note: I am talking about removable USB disks!
I did not notice any problem with folder navigation on internal disks!
But, I also did not try a full share of an internal disk "C:\" either. Does this work?

Folder views are very important. Folder structure is carefully and deliberately planned and maintained on large disks to quickly find the desired media file within its context. A flattening of the folder structure disables using Serviio and/or the SmartTV for real life usage. Samsung hardware is great, but its software renders it obsolete!
Much cheaper alternatives, much cheaper than SmartTVs, like Popcorn Hour C-200, offer far better performance and make it much easier for the user to browse through folders with many media file entries: e.g. instead of space consuming icons with mostly irrelevant optical content, C-200 offers directory listings with up to 15 entries per screen, each with full filenames, including file-type extension and filesize! No crippled filenames, crippled to some few characters filenames as in the glitter and gay grid views! This revives the morbid charm of names with up to 7 characters from the 1960s!
A good media catalog needs a list view like in Windows Explorer list mode, where the user will get all important file information at one glance!
Furthermore, the C-200 player has many flexible scrolling and jumping on the timeline options (the number keys of the remote control perform direct jumps to 10%, 20% ... 90% positions on the timeline by simply pressing a single digit! There is a simple input option to select any Jump to time in the timeline, playing in slow and fast motion, forwar and reverse, single frame etc.
In the current state SmartTV als Media Player is a step back into the stone age of media playing!

I will do away with the SmartTV and concentrate on ServiiGo for the tab and phone!
Though, a ServiiGo app variant for SmartTV, like there is a Plex app for SmartTV, might redeem us from all current SmartTV Media Player problems!

Regards

[zip]

could you set all the categories in Presentation to Display Category, then add your files again?

The enable detailed log and reproduce the error, then post the log.

It'd be ideal if you can reproduce the error with a very limited number of files / folders, so that I can then test it here.

[pefri]

Thanks for your answer!
Did as you said: reduced the number of files/folders and prepared an USB stick "TestUSBstick_small.zip" (13,3 MB ~ 13.969.525 Bytes) of my new, small USB disk "M:\".
I uploaded it into a folder of my Google Drive. Can PM you the link if you like. There you will also find all DEBUG logs and a detailed step-by-step description of my test with some resulting questions.
Plse find final DEBUG log of the test attached.

Summary of the reslts:
Same as in my last posting. Only video in the root of the USB disk can be played. First level folder is shown to be selected. If selected then error.
Though all videos are in the pot and can be played from categories Actors, Directors, Genres, Producers but NOT from category Folders! The pot contains all videos as a flattened hotchpotch, all folder tree structure lost!
But it proves that the Serviio server can serve these videos to the SmartTV, but NOT from category Folders!
Thus, only Folders category service is broken on the SmartTV.
Hope you can fix this!

Please, also have a look at the complementary problem between Serviio server and popcorn C200 here:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1557&p=82175#p82175
Folder navigation is ok, but media files are not sent to get played!

[pefri]

Somes tests and some conversations with Zip later, I would like to sum up the progress and let the problem rest for the time being.

All I want is to find a way to browse the disks of my windows computer in windows explorer style, step by step, down the folder tree to the media file. I do not really need or want a media library with categories Video, Audio, etc, nor glamorous meta data. In fact I like that I can completely switch off meta data in serviio! I accept serviio's library with meta data switched off as lesser evil. But I need a functioning disk root share. This is not possible in the moment.

The results of my tests teach me that SmartTV F-type is to blame for it.
How smart is SmartTV? What is the reason for this problem? Does SmartTV F-Type explicitly not want to support a disk root share! Or is it not smart enough?

Is it another of the many idiosyncrasies of the SmartTV F-type user interface software?
SmartTV F-type in other DLNA modes does not support timeline search for some file types unless you _rename_ the file type to another extension! Without any change in the mediafile apart from giving the media file another file type extension instead of its real extension, it suddenly enables timeline search! A real easter egg! SumSum humor? Another idiosyncrasy is how the set of files or folders are presented on the screen. Real smart user interfaces give a choice between icon views and various list views, SmartTV is not that smart! In TV-mode, if you want to change from Sat TV DVB-S to terrestrial TV DVB-T or DVB-C you need to enter at least 9 clicks on the remote control instead of 1-click on older TVs to switch from one input source antenna cable to the other. Smart isn't it?

There is easy but for the user unpleasant workaround for the disk root share issue:
The user only needs to put all content of the disk root folder, which is the whole content of the disk, into an otherwise unnecessary 'smart' folder.
This folder is then the single element in the root of the disk:
old: "Disk:\" + all files and folders of the root folder
new: "Disk:\smartDisk" + nothing else!

In the serviio Library > Shared folders list:
old: K:\ <--- not supported by F-type, generates error message "Request failed..."
new: K:\smartK <--- ok (user workaround move all root folder content into a smart folder)
Important:
It is important to remove the old root folder entry "K:\" !!!
Else "K:\smartK" as entry after "K:\" will get a "no media files found" error message in F-type SmartTV!

I sincerely hope that Zip will find a way to overcome this deficiency of F-type SmartTV in one of the next serviio versions and I am looking forward to seeing the miracle happen early next year 2014.

I thank Zip for his great work!