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View Full Version : Do Junction Points still work in Mezzmo?



Gus
05-19-2012, 05:28 AM
I read on the forums that Mezzmo supports junction points, however i've tried to use them and they seem to be ignored/invisible.

Currently i have a d:\VIDEOS folder in a local disk, and this is in Mezzmo root using the Add Folder method.
In the Videos folder, i also have a TV folder.

Now that my local disk is full, i thought it best to move TV to a new local disk E:. However i still want Mezzmo to present: root:\Videos\TV

so i have created a junction point called d:\videos\tv and pointed to e:\tv

Explorer etc all see the structure and can use it no problem. Mezzmo doesn't see any folders in Videos.

I have used both junction.exe and mklink.exe and i'm running Win Srv 2008 R2

Any ideas?

cheers

Gus

Paul
05-21-2012, 10:07 AM
We have not changed folder traversal in Mezzmo for some time. We have had reports from a few advanced users that tell us that Mezzmo does not support junction points. We have added junction points to our development list to get them working as we know that some users do use them to organize their media collection across their various drives.

Aaron407
05-21-2012, 12:06 PM
This sounds like something I may be needing to use fairly soon. Paul, any idea of a ballpark timeline for when this might make it into a release?

Paul
05-21-2012, 12:16 PM
This sounds like something I may be needing to use fairly soon. Paul, any idea of a ballpark timeline for when this might make it into a release?

Not sure- we'll need to investigate it first. I fully understand why Mezzmo users want it/need it, so we'll give it some importance.

Paul
06-08-2012, 04:57 PM
Just an update - Mezzmo v2.6.3 has been released and this version now supports Windows junctions and symlinks. Let us know if you have any problems.

Gus
06-08-2012, 05:28 PM
Just tried it, works perfect.

Thanks Paul. Very much appreciated.

-Gus

Paul
06-08-2012, 05:35 PM
Great to hear, Gus. Hope it helps you stream your collection of media files in an organized manner.

Yury
11-18-2013, 07:06 AM
I use a folder structure similar to that described in the first message of this topic, and I found that Mezzmo is not correct works with junctions.
Mezzmo resolves the junction link, and stores in its database absolute paths to files, that can be seen in the properties of the file in Mezzmo. It is wrong, because it binds the files to their current location and makes impossible free movement of the folder to which the junction link is pointing, i.e. we are losing the main functionality of junction!
In database should be stored original path through junction link, then all will be fine!

PS: Sorry if not very clearly written, I use online translator :)

Paul
11-18-2013, 11:07 AM
Hi Yury,

Fully understand your comment. We do store the absolute path for files. The reason for this is that Mezzmo server runs as a Windows service and (by default) runs under Local System account and not your Windows user account. Thus, a user's junction points, drive mappings, etc. are not accessible to the Local System account. Using absolute paths ensures the Mezzmo server can access your files.

If you do move your files from time-to-time, you can update your Mezzmo library accordingly - see this FAQ: http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread.php/6219-Tutorial-How-to-update-your-Mezzmo-library-when-you-move-your-media-files

Yury
11-18-2013, 06:58 PM
But if you add a folder with path through junction (ie this folder is not junction itself, and does not contains junction), Mezzmo does not resolve junction, and stores in database original path to the files. In this case all works fine, the server has access to the files, I just tested it.

Example:
"d:\videos\tv" - junction, that points to folder "e:\tv".
Folder "e:\tv" contains subfolder "MyRecords" with file "movie1.mp4".
When I add the folder "d:\videos\tv\MyRecords" (not "d:\videos" and not "d:\videos\tv" !) in Mezzmo library, Mezzmo stores in your database the original path to file: "d:\videos\tv\MyRecords\movie1.mp4", and all works fine!

How can it work, if user junctions are not accessible from the Local System account ?

Paul
11-18-2013, 08:21 PM
Hi Yury,

You can change your Mezzmo server from operating in the Local System account to your Windows user account. This will enable it to understand your user-defined mappings, etc. See this FAQ - http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread.php/4597-FAQ-Accessing-files-from-external-computers-and-NAS-drives-on-your-home-network

Yury
11-20-2013, 06:51 AM
Hi Paul.

No need to change the service account, it will not help, because I do not use any user-dependent mappings.
I am only talking about "NTFS junction points" (next I will call it simply "Junction"), which are created by the LINKD utility in Win2003/XP. It is not user-dependent links!

Local System account perfectly sees and understands user-created Junctions, that was what I was trying to show you in my example, but you did not understand me. Maybe here is guilty of my bad English and very very bad online translators :)
I'll try again.

We have following folder structure:
"d:\videos\tv" - Junction, that points to folder "e:\tv".
Folder "e:\tv" contains the subfolder "MyRecords" which contains the file "movie1.mp4".

(1) Execute the command "Add Folder", as a target specify "d:\videos\tv\MyRecords".
Result: Mezzmo stores in database the original path "d:\videos\tv\MyRecords\movie1.mp4". Service, which running under Local System account, perfectly works with this file (I checked this), despite the fact that this path contains Junction.
It can not be otherwise, since a Junctions are not bound to any user.

(2) Command "Add file" with target "d:\videos\tv\MyRecords\movie1.mp4".
Result: all exactly the same as (1): the same original path recorded in database, service also works perfectly with this file.

(3) Again "Add folder", but with different target: "d:\videos\tv".
Result: Mezzmo resolves the Junction, and now stores absolute path in database: "e:\tv\MyRecords\movie1.mp4" :(
The same will happen if as a target specify "d:\videos", or "d:", i.e. any folder located above Junction in folder tree.

So what prevents you to store original path in the database in the last case ? In my opinion nothing!

The current implementation more similar to programmers bug: they parse path down through the folder tree, but forgot to do it in upward direction.
I suggest to forget about it for downward direction too :), i.e. always store original path in the database. This will kept full functionality of the Junctions, as well as other similar links. The problem of using any user-dependent mappings in this case may be easily solved by running service under user account.

Paul
11-20-2013, 08:17 AM
Understand now, Yury. Thanks for the excellent explanation. We'll look into this problem & fix it for a future release.

JMC
03-12-2014, 10:52 PM
Any news on this? Noticed today after moving a LOT of files around and creating junctions points that mezzmo spent hours recreating all metadata :/

Paul
03-13-2014, 09:23 AM
We'll re-test this for the upcoming Mezzmo v4.0 and make sure it's working.

JMC
03-13-2014, 04:02 PM
Fun fact: For some Files it is working, for others not. Inside the same Folder! I have a Folder Documentary and inside files other subfolders. The files in the root use the junction-path, all files inside subfolder 1 use the junction path, all files inside subfolder 2 get re-indexed and got duplicated entrys in the .db (took a look with a sqlite browser)... For a second Top-Folder no files at all use the junction path. So no straight behaivor at all.

Is there any ETA for 4.0?

Paul
03-13-2014, 04:40 PM
Thanks for the further information. We'll try to make some time this week to check it out. Mezzmo v4.0 is finished - we are just doing final testing and bug fixing over the next few days. Then Beta testers will get their hands on it and have a chance to see how it performs with their files and devices.

JMC
03-13-2014, 05:06 PM
Ok, so I assume it's a closed Beta. Hope to get my Hands on the new version soon since I'm having some troubles with the current version (Encoding Performance for Panasonic Viera, Database Maintenance doesn't cleanup all not-found-anymore-files in the DB, junction points, messed up thumbnails for Folders if the first file won't get online metadata showing the file-still even if metadata is collected afterwards [I mailed about this with you in December where you stated "The next major version will allow you to edit sub-folder/sub-playlist artwork and we'll also give you more control over how they are set - since that's what users are requesting."] and some little nasty bugs). Or is there a way to slide into that beta testing? ;)

Paul
03-13-2014, 07:28 PM
It's not closed Beta :). It is limited though so we can manage it. We may be able to squeeze you in if you can provide feedback during your testing. See http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread.php/6844-Mezzmo-v4-0-Invitation-for-Beta-testers to request a Beta invite.