[SOLVED] asterisk (star) appears in front of some file names

Hello and thank you for a brilliant program.
i have a sony media player and have just set up serviio to supply my media files from my pc downstairs to the player upstairs.


initially, had a few issues with the library - stalling on some files [when deleted the library completed] dont know what the issues were.

also, some folders displayed as a file with a single asterisk before the file name [when trying to play them, was told file was corrupt] to alleviate this, rtenamed files within the folder to something very simple - such as a1 and b2 etc, refreshed the library and all was ok.

There are also a few files with the single asterisk in front of the filename as viewed on the media player but i can see nothing wrong with the filename and the file plays perfectly. Could you please explain what the asterisk means?

Thanks once again
Dave

[zip]

Asterisk in the Series menus means what is the last season/episode you watched. I thing Sony also adds asterisk themselves, but I have no idea what that represents.

thanks for that - i doubt its a series thing, to speed up library loading, i have metadata turned off and the asterisk appears in the video library folders menu.
ive also just come across another strange scenario - may need to post elswhere. one of my files plays back with a totally unrelated audio track [via serviio and the sony] if i play the same file back across the network to a laptop it plays the correct audio???

ive looked at the file with gspot and there is only 1 audio track encoded

ive tried to access the serviio library from the laptop - to be told that there are no files in the library - this is clearly not the case as i can see and play them on the sony

what the heck am i doing wrong? cheers in advance
Dave

AS AN EDIT............. THE AUDIO IS NOT UNRELATED, ITS ABOUT 20 MINUTES IN FRONT OF THE PICTURE WITH THE FIRST 20 MINS MISSING????

[Illico]

... I thing Sony also adds asterisk themselves (in front of the filename), but I have no idea what that represents.

No idea what that represents too. We can see it with MP3 files, DIVx files etc...

AS AN EDIT............. THE AUDIO IS NOT UNRELATED, ITS ABOUT 20 MINUTES IN FRONT OF THE PICTURE WITH THE FIRST 20 MINS MISSING????

Could you provide some information about this media file ? (see signature links...ffmpeg -i result and MediaInfo result)

I CAN TRY LOL [though i have no idea how to get info from the sources you mentioned]
i use a program called gspot that identifies which codecs were used in the file and checks if my system has the correct ones installed.

File Length Correct
OpenDML (AVI v2.0)
Interleave: 29 vid frames (968 ms)
Audio frames: Split across interleaves
Video: 593 MB (71.44%)
Audio: 231 MB (27.86%)
AVI Overhead: 5.83 MB (0.70%)

ZJMedia MPEG Encoder

Audio codec 0x2000 [Dolby Ac3} 48KhZ 320KB/S

VIDEO codec XVID ISO MPEG-4

if this is not the correct info , let me know how to find the info you need and i will sort it
thanks once again for your time and efforts.
Dave

[Illico]

http://wiki.serviio.org/doku.php?id=file_np

OK THANKS FOR THAT - TO KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE HAVE POSTED 2 FILES IM STRUGGLIN WITH - THE FIRST IS THE ONE POSRED ABOVE -THE SECOND HAS THE WRONG SOUNDTRACK SET [IT HAS TWO ONE IN FRENCH ONE IN ENGLISH- SODS LAW SAYS IT CHOSE THE FRENCH ONE AND I DONT KNOW HOW TO CHANGE IT

oops capslock sorry i dont touch type well lol



C:\Program Files\Serviio\lib>ffmpeg.exe -i "G:\ROMANCE\Firelight.avi"
ffmpeg version 1.1.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2013 the FFmpeg developers
built on Feb 5 2013 21:59:54 with gcc 4.7.2 (GCC)
configuration: --enable-static --disable-shared --disable-ffplay --disable-ffs
erver --enable-memalign-hack --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libass --enable-librtm
p --enable-fontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-zlib --extra-libs='-lrtmp -l
polarssl -lws2_32 -lwinmm -lexpat -lfreetype -lfribidi -lz' --arch=x86 --enable-
runtime-cpudetect --enable-pthreads --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-w64-
mingw32- --pkg-config=pkg-config
libavutil 52. 13.100 / 52. 13.100
libavcodec 54. 86.100 / 54. 86.100
libavformat 54. 59.106 / 54. 59.106
libavdevice 54. 3.102 / 54. 3.102
libavfilter 3. 32.100 / 3. 32.100
libswscale 2. 1.103 / 2. 1.103
libswresample 0. 17.102 / 0. 17.102
Input #0, avi, from 'G:\ROMANCE\Firelight.avi':
Duration: 01:41:05.46, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1148 kb/s
Stream #0:0: Video: mpeg4 (Simple Profile) (XVID / 0x44495658), yuv420p, 640
x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3], 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 29.97 tbn, 29.97 tbc
Stream #0:1: Audio: ac3 ([0] [0][0] / 0x2000), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 320 k
b/s
At least one output file must be specified

C:\Program Files\Serviio\lib>ffmpeg.exe -i "G:\ROMANCE\Firelight.avi"




the second file :-


C:\Program Files\Serviio\lib>ffmpeg.exe -i "G:\SPECIAL INTEREST\nine.half.WEEKS.
mkv"
ffmpeg version 1.1.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2013 the FFmpeg developers
built on Feb 5 2013 21:59:54 with gcc 4.7.2 (GCC)
configuration: --enable-static --disable-shared --disable-ffplay --disable-ffs
erver --enable-memalign-hack --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libass --enable-librtm
p --enable-fontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-zlib --extra-libs='-lrtmp -l
polarssl -lws2_32 -lwinmm -lexpat -lfreetype -lfribidi -lz' --arch=x86 --enable-
runtime-cpudetect --enable-pthreads --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-w64-
mingw32- --pkg-config=pkg-config
libavutil 52. 13.100 / 52. 13.100
libavcodec 54. 86.100 / 54. 86.100
libavformat 54. 59.106 / 54. 59.106
libavdevice 54. 3.102 / 54. 3.102
libavfilter 3. 32.100 / 3. 32.100
libswscale 2. 1.103 / 2. 1.103
libswresample 0. 17.102 / 0. 17.102
Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'G:\SPECIAL INTEREST\nine.half.WEEKS.mkv':
Metadata:
creation_time : 2013-04-30 06:53:30
Duration: 01:56:49.05, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 10716 kb/s
Chapter #0.0: start 0.000000, end 298.215000
Metadata:
title : 00:00:00.000
Chapter #0.1: start 298.215000, end 926.467000
Metadata:
title : 00:04:58.215
Chapter #0.2: start 926.467000, end 1159.617000
Metadata:
title : 00:15:26.467
Chapter #0.3: start 1159.617000, end 1763.470000
Metadata:
title : 00:19:19.617
Chapter #0.4: start 1763.470000, end 2198.071000
Metadata:
title : 00:29:23.470
Chapter #0.5: start 2198.071000, end 2693.816000
Metadata:
title : 00:36:38.071
Chapter #0.6: start 2693.816000, end 3280.819000
Metadata:
title : 00:44:53.816
Chapter #0.7: start 3280.819000, end 3669.749000
Metadata:
title : 00:54:40.819
Chapter #0.8: start 3669.749000, end 4416.287000
Metadata:
title : 01:01:09.749
Chapter #0.9: start 4416.287000, end 4760.506000
Metadata:
title : 01:13:36.287
Chapter #0.10: start 4760.506000, end 5021.683000
Metadata:
title : 01:19:20.506
Chapter #0.11: start 5021.683000, end 5512.257000
Metadata:
title : 01:23:41.683
Chapter #0.12: start 5512.257000, end 6099.510000
Metadata:
title : 01:31:52.257
Chapter #0.13: start 6099.510000, end 6795.414000
Metadata:
title : 01:41:39.510
Chapter #0.14: start 6795.414000, end 7009.046000
Metadata:
title : 01:53:15.414
Stream #0:0(fre): Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 1920x1040, SAR 1:1 DAR 24:13,
23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn, 47.95 tbc (default)
Stream #0:1(fre): Audio: dts (DTS), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 768 kb/s (defaul
t)
Metadata:
title : DTS 2.0
Stream #0:2(eng): Audio: dts (DTS), 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), fltp, 1536 kb/s
Metadata:
title : DTS 2.0
Stream #0:3(fre): Subtitle: subrip (default)
Metadata:
title : Forced
Stream #0:4(fre): Subtitle: subrip
At least one output file must be specified

C:\Program Files\Serviio\lib>

once again thanks for your time and patience
i could do with a manual for this i think, is there one available?

[DenyAll]

Going back to the OP - if I can quickly chip in with my two cents worth:

Asterisks: If you see two asterisks in the Series menu, this is from Serviio to signify that this is what you last watched. A handy mechanism to let you remember where you are up to.

If you see a single asterisk, it is being added by the Sony. I get this on my PS3, and I imagine its the same with your Sony device. According to Sony for the PS3:

File names for data that is stored on servers that are not compliant with DLNA may have an asterisk appended to the file name. In some cases, these files cannot be played on the PS3™ system. Also, even if the files can be played on the PS3™ system, it might not be possible to play the files on other devices.

Unfortunately this knowledge doesn't really help - I get an asterisk for all files, whether they are natively supported by the PS3 or are transcoded. I'm not sure whether Sony are referring to the file name being non-compliant (whatever that means) or the data is non-compliant (in which case I wouldn't expect to see it for my .mp4's which are supported natively). In either case, you can ignore it - the main thing is whether the file plays or not.

Mismatched Audio: strange and I have no idea, I can't see anything from the details provided, but I'll leave that to wiser heads (Illico and zip).

Access the serviio library from the laptop: What program are you using? You cannot use Windows Media Player as that is not a DLNA client. You will need to get a video player that supports DLNA - eg. VLC or XMBC. Search the forum.

Selecting French soundtrack rather than English: See this post: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8481&p=68095&hilit=change+audio+stream%5C#p68095

ok thanks for that - in order.......
asterisks - its a single asterisk not in a series - i guess im just gonna have to live with not knowing
mismatched audio - will wait for further responses - may need to post elswhere?
access from laptop - yup i was using media player - cant seem to find library function in vlc either - but i'll live with it
french soundtrack - not only did it not work, it also broke the video decoding too - on a lot of files that i knew worked now give me the corrupt or unsupported message??? [def an issue with the mod as all works again when original exe restored.

[DenyAll]

mismatched audio - a thought: try ffmpeg.exe -i "G:\ROMANCE\Firelight.avi" -vcodec copy -acodec copy "G:\ROMANCE\Test.avi", noting any errors or warnings during the copy process. See if the test file plays and has the same problem?

access from laptop - in VLC, View Playlist, Select Local Network, Universal Plug'n'Play and you should see Serviio. Double click on it and wait - for some reason it can take some time for the menu's to come up and at times seems hit and miss.

french soundtrack - thanks. I never had cause to try the mod, but I note that someone else couldn't get it to work either. If you can't wait for the Serviio fix then you'll need to use an external tool to change the order of the audio streams.

Thanks once again
the command line copy "test.avi.........." copied and plays without error and the audio is now realigned
many thanks for that [one day you must explain what i just did lol] there was significant text info written during the copy process but none of it was an error [ive saved it should it prove useful to anyone] - i dont really understand it.
C:\Program Files\Serviio\lib>ffmpeg.exe -i "g:\ROMANCE\Firelight.avi" -vcodec co
py -acodec copy "g:\Romance\test.avi"
ffmpeg version 1.1.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2013 the FFmpeg developers
built on Feb 5 2013 21:59:54 with gcc 4.7.2 (GCC)
configuration: --enable-static --disable-shared --disable-ffplay --disable-ffs
erver --enable-memalign-hack --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libass --enable-librtm
p --enable-fontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-zlib --extra-libs='-lrtmp -l
polarssl -lws2_32 -lwinmm -lexpat -lfreetype -lfribidi -lz' --arch=x86 --enable-
runtime-cpudetect --enable-pthreads --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-w64-
mingw32- --pkg-config=pkg-config
libavutil 52. 13.100 / 52. 13.100
libavcodec 54. 86.100 / 54. 86.100
libavformat 54. 59.106 / 54. 59.106
libavdevice 54. 3.102 / 54. 3.102
libavfilter 3. 32.100 / 3. 32.100
libswscale 2. 1.103 / 2. 1.103
libswresample 0. 17.102 / 0. 17.102
Input #0, avi, from 'g:\ROMANCE\Firelight.avi':
Duration: 01:41:05.46, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1148 kb/s
Stream #0:0: Video: mpeg4 (Simple Profile) (XVID / 0x44495658), yuv420p, 640
x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3], 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 29.97 tbn, 29.97 tbc
Stream #0:1: Audio: ac3 ([0] [0][0] / 0x2000), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 320 k
b/s
Output #0, avi, to 'g:\Romance\test.avi':
Metadata:
ISFT : Lavf54.59.106
Stream #0:0: Video: mpeg4 (XVID / 0x44495658), yuv420p, 640x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR
4:3], q=2-31, 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbn, 29.97 tbc
Stream #0:1: Audio: ac3 ([0] [0][0] / 0x2000), 48000 Hz, stereo, 320 kb/s
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (copy)
Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (copy)
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
frame= 6367 fps=0.0 q=-1.0 size= 27055kB time=00:03:32.44 bitrate=1043.3kbits/
frame= 9567 fps=0.0 q=-1.0 size= 45138kB time=00:05:19.21 bitrate=1158.4kbits/
frame=12905 fps=8515 q=-1.0 size= 54833kB time=00:07:10.59 bitrate=1043.2kbits
frame=18093 fps=8907 q=-1.0 size= 74357kB time=00:10:03.70 bitrate=1009.0kbits
frame=23368 fps=9119 q=-1.0 size= 93294kB time=00:12:59.71 bitrate= 980.2kbits
frame=27666 fps=9034 q=-1.0 size= 113875kB time=00:15:23.12 bitrate=1010.6kbits
frame=30595 fps=8588 q=-1.0 size= 128700kB time=00:17:00.85 bitrate=1032.8kbits
frame=33476 fps=8115 q=-1.0 size= 145056kB time=00:18:36.98 bitrate=1063.9kbits
frame=35902 fps=7763 q=-1.0 size= 165718kB time=00:19:57.93 bitrate=1133.3kbits
frame=38469 fps=7483 q=-1.0 size= 179847kB time=00:21:23.58 bitrate=1147.8kbits
frame=39991 fps=7090 q=-1.0 size= 191916kB time=00:22:14.36 bitrate=1178.2kbits
frame=43342 fps=7023 q=-1.0 size= 207717kB time=00:24:06.17 bitrate=1176.6kbits
frame=46835 fps=7003 q=-1.0 size= 227729kB time=00:26:02.72 bitrate=1193.8kbits
frame=52258 fps=7271 q=-1.0 size= 245410kB time=00:29:03.67 bitrate=1153.0kbits
frame=55578 fps=7230 q=-1.0 size= 264475kB time=00:30:54.45 bitrate=1168.3kbits
frame=57167 fps=6982 q=-1.0 size= 275466kB time=00:31:47.47 bitrate=1183.0kbits
frame=60883 fps=7008 q=-1.0 size= 293275kB time=00:33:51.46 bitrate=1182.7kbits
frame=64119 fps=6979 q=-1.0 size= 310782kB time=00:35:39.43 bitrate=1190.0kbits
frame=69038 fps=7127 q=-1.0 size= 329316kB time=00:38:23.56 bitrate=1171.1kbits
frame=70677 fps=6927 q=-1.0 size= 339704kB time=00:39:18.25 bitrate=1180.0kbits
frame=73001 fps=6811 q=-1.0 size= 351452kB time=00:40:35.80 bitrate=1182.0kbits
frame=74675 fps=6656 q=-1.0 size= 361221kB time=00:41:31.65 bitrate=1187.6kbits
frame=77832 fps=6642 q=-1.0 size= 375306kB time=00:43:16.99 bitrate=1183.9kbits
frame=79488 fps=6505 q=-1.0 size= 383728kB time=00:44:12.24 bitrate=1185.2kbits
frame=83797 fps=6572 q=-1.0 size= 402367kB time=00:46:36.02 bitrate=1178.9kbits
frame=87852 fps=6630 q=-1.0 size= 420745kB time=00:48:51.32 bitrate=1175.8kbits
frame=93293 fps=6762 q=-1.0 size= 439917kB time=00:51:52.87 bitrate=1157.7kbits
frame=97692 fps=6826 q=-1.0 size= 460298kB time=00:54:19.65 bitrate=1156.8kbits
frame=100351 fps=6775 q=-1.0 size= 473508kB time=00:55:48.37 bitrate=1158.5kbit
frame=103778 fps=6770 q=-1.0 size= 490224kB time=00:57:42.72 bitrate=1159.8kbit
frame=108576 fps=6860 q=-1.0 size= 506697kB time=01:00:22.81 bitrate=1145.8kbit
frame=111900 fps=6853 q=-1.0 size= 519760kB time=01:02:13.73 bitrate=1140.4kbit
frame=116594 fps=6929 q=-1.0 size= 534949kB time=01:04:50.35 bitrate=1126.5kbit
frame=120284 fps=6942 q=-1.0 size= 556430kB time=01:06:53.47 bitrate=1135.7kbit
frame=123051 fps=6884 q=-1.0 size= 576442kB time=01:08:25.80 bitrate=1150.1kbit
frame=125496 fps=6830 q=-1.0 size= 594682kB time=01:09:47.38 bitrate=1163.4kbit
frame=128986 fps=6834 q=-1.0 size= 612468kB time=01:11:43.83 bitrate=1165.8kbit
frame=134067 fps=6914 q=-1.0 size= 632723kB time=01:14:33.36 bitrate=1158.7kbit
frame=138446 fps=6960 q=-1.0 size= 650140kB time=01:16:59.48 bitrate=1152.9kbit
frame=140217 fps=6877 q=-1.0 size= 661397kB time=01:17:58.57 bitrate=1158.1kbit
frame=143028 fps=6841 q=-1.0 size= 678731kB time=01:19:32.36 bitrate=1165.1kbit
frame=146363 fps=6837 q=-1.0 size= 695529kB time=01:21:23.64 bitrate=1166.7kbit
frame=148779 fps=6787 q=-1.0 size= 705258kB time=01:22:44.25 bitrate=1163.8kbit
frame=150510 fps=6713 q=-1.0 size= 713268kB time=01:23:42.01 bitrate=1163.5kbit
frame=153671 fps=6695 q=-1.0 size= 723662kB time=01:25:27.48 bitrate=1156.2kbit
frame=159009 fps=6766 q=-1.0 size= 744007kB time=01:28:25.60 bitrate=1148.8kbit
frame=164285 fps=6845 q=-1.0 size= 762892kB time=01:31:21.64 bitrate=1140.1kbit
frame=168422 fps=6874 q=-1.0 size= 780473kB time=01:33:39.68 bitrate=1137.7kbit
frame=171767 fps=6871 q=-1.0 size= 794124kB time=01:35:31.29 bitrate=1135.1kbit
frame=175392 fps=6874 q=-1.0 size= 810977kB time=01:37:32.24 bitrate=1135.2kbit
frame=179747 fps=6889 q=-1.0 size= 831606kB time=01:39:57.55 bitrate=1135.9kbit
frame=181782 fps=6836 q=-1.0 Lsize= 853326kB time=01:41:05.45 bitrate=1152.5kbi
ts/s
video:607596kB audio:236929kB subtitle:0 global headers:0kB muxing overhead 1.04
2173%

C:\Program Files\Serviio\lib>



the vlc thing is something i had never done before - you live and learn lol once again many thanks for the lesson
if the file is played across the network via vlc and file explorer, then the file plays correctly with no issues.
On the other hand, if you open the file from the serviio library, not only does the sound start out of sync, the video starts 10 mins into the movie plays for a few seconds then moves on to the next file in the library. so it is something that serviio is either doing to or dislikes about the file.

French soundtrack - yes i used freemake video converter to remove the french track
this file too now works perfectly

Im really enjoying getting to grips with this clever little proggie - just wish i understod the command line stuff
Havingthe experts at hand with patience for us noobies makes all the difference,
Once again many thanks for your time and efforts

[DenyAll]

No drama, happy to help.

To close the loop: what the ffmpeg.exe -i "srcfile.avi" -vcodec copy -acodec copy "destfile.avi" does is to copy the video and audio streams from the original AVI container to a new AVI container, without loss of quality. I use this approach when I suspect the original AVI container (think of it as an envelope, which contains both audio and video data and all the info on how this data interacts - eg. in this case how it is sync'd) is malformed in some way. This approach constructs a new container, getting rid of (hopefully) the glitch in the old one.

Software players are quite good at accommodating glitches/errors/new features in the container. Further, as new errors/features are discovered the software player is easily updated to incorporate. Hardware players on the other hand tend to be very strict with what they want to see and how they want to see it, and are rarely if ever updated.... hence why the file played fine in VLC etc but not on your device.

I am also learning as I go, and am enjoying the journey. Cheers.