Updating with Mac and external drive

I have a Mac, with an external hard drive where all my photos and videos are stored. The problem is that Serviio never adds all the folders and files to its library. If I do a forced refresh on the console, the Serviio log shows, for example, the following but never gets beyond this:

2011-05-17 12:44:20,549 INFO [LibraryAdditionsCheckerThread] Started looking for newly added files
2011-05-17 12:44:20,549 INFO [LibraryUpdatesCheckerThread] Started looking for updates to currently shared files

Serviio can add all the folders and files if I select only a few at a time, so there's nothing wrong with them. I suspect that the problem is because the external hard drive has a built-in power management function that powers down the drive if it is not used for 15 minutes or so. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any way of preventing this (the relevant power management tool works only with Windows). If this is indeed the cause of the library additions being stalled, is there any way to re-start the process without losing any files that have already been added?

[Illico]

For external hard drive:
Make sure the user that runs Serviio server/service has got access to the shared folders.
http://www.serviio.org/component/content/article/21#q5

[moltra]

IIf this is indeed the cause of the library additions being stalled, is there any way to re-start the process without losing any files that have already been added?

Yes in the Serviio console you can force a library update. It is on the library tab at the bottom. If you look at this thread there is a screenshot on the button. The button is in the green box.

http://forum.serviio.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1626&p=8441&hilit=library#p8441

In response to the previous replies to my post:

1. If I install Serviio and select, for example, just one of the folders in the external drive, then Serviio will add all the files to the library. The same thing happens with all the other folders and files as long as they are selected in very small batches. Thus, I cannot see that there is anything wrong with access controls, file sharing and so on. The problem, I suspect, is caused by the external drive powering down before before Serviio completes its search for new or updated files. It seems that, once the drive is powered up again, the search is never renewed.

2. I have tried selecting the "Force Refresh" option in the Serviio console; then the Serviio log shows that a search for new and updated files is being started but even after a couple of days or more, it never gets beyond this and no more files are added. I can select the "Force Refresh" option as much as I like but nothing is actually added or, as far as a I can see, even searched.

[moltra]

I am not a MAC user, but I think the drives should spin up when they get an access request, like a normal internal drive would.

Can you rename the existing serviio.log file in the log directory and follow the instructions in my signature to enable detailed logging and then start serviio wait a little bit and then post that log here, You might have to zip the log up before you can post it.

Also please give the paths for the folders on the shared drives. ie "c:\shares\videos"

I used the full log option as you suggested and I could see from this that the update process was running when I forced a refresh. After some experimentation, I think that the problem was that, when I forced a refresh, a search for new and updated files was initiated but this never completed before the external drive powered down in its power saving mode. When I started using the computer again and forced another refresh, the same thing started all over again. I think that I have resolved the issue by unchecking the update options when selecting a folder and not forcing a refresh. This means (I think) that only new files are added to the library and that no search for updated files is started. Certainly, this has resulted for the first time in all my files being added to the library. If I add any new files, then I can simply check the update box for the relevant folder and let the refresh process start on its own. Thank you for your help - if I find that things are not quite as well as they seem to be, I will send you the log file(s) and details of the folder paths as you requested.

[moltra]

Glad you got it working, can you post the information about the external drive. ie. make, model and firmware revision. That way we will know what to do if someone else has the same drive.

[Illico]

- Unchecking the update options when selecting a folder and not forcing a refresh.
- If I add any new files, then I can simply check the update box for the relevant folder and let the refresh process start on its own.

+ 1
This is the process I used for my external drive Buffalo HD-CE1.5TLU2

It is a 1Tb Seagate External Drive with, I think, a model number of ST310005EXD101-RK. The box says that the system requirements are for Windows and makes no mention of OSX, but I reformatted it to MAC OSX Extended and it works just fine except that there seems to be no way of modifying the built-in power management. This doesn't seem to have any undue effect on Time Machine, though.