Strange Problem After Mezzmo System Rebuild

**ftanner** · 09-05-2020, 05:12 PM

So... The PC I have been running Mezzmo on for the last five years up and gave up the ghost.

I bought the parts and built a new system, and restored Mezzmo from the latest backup that I had, but it had to do a little maintenance to catch up.

Here's the issue....

Within the Mezzmo interface on the PC itself, I can see all of the files in the appropriate playlists just fine. However, from any device on the network, including using the web front-end for Mezzmo (both on the local machine that Mezzmo is installed on and from another machine on the network) all of my playlists say zero items.

I am doing maintenance on one of the playlists to see if that does anything, but it's going to take a while.

Any ideas at all?

Thank you.

**ftanner** · 09-06-2020, 01:59 AM

I tried the following to see if it would help. Neither item helped.

* I reset the database and re-restored the backup. Still says zero items in them.
* I created a new folder under Video that was the same as one of the other folder's paths to see what would happen. It gathered all of the appropriate artwork and subtitles, all of which were skipped because they were already in the database. Zero items again. However in the Mezzmo interface, it shows all of the files that I expected to see.

**ftanner** · 09-06-2020, 02:58 AM

So I have the built-in playlists hidden, but kept. I un-hid one for testing purposes. The list of movies shows up in it using the web interface. However, when I try to play any movie in there, it says "File not Found". I followed the path listed for the file in the Mezzmo app, and the file is at the exact path that is listed.

**jbinkley60** · 09-06-2020, 03:24 AM

How did you restore your video files or were they in tact on a separate drive (internal or external ? If they were existing then you might be dealing with a Windows 10 UAC permissions issue. I'd try creating a new folder on your hard dive on your Mezzmo PC. Drop a couple of video files into is and then add the folder to Mezzmo and see if your web interface and clients can see the new folder and play the videos. The other question is did your drive lettering change where your video files are stored ?

**ftanner** · 09-06-2020, 03:48 AM

Originally Posted by jbinkley60

How did you restore your video files or were they in tact on a separate drive (internal or external ? If they were existing then you might be dealing with a Windows 10 UAC permissions issue. I'd try creating a new folder on your hard dive on your Mezzmo PC. Drop a couple of video files into is and then add the folder to Mezzmo and see if your web interface and clients can see the new folder and play the videos. The other question is did your drive lettering change where your video files are stored ?

They were intact because they were stored on a separate NAS and are using the same paths on the new system. I am using the exact same service account that I was using on the previous system, in fact, I also use the service account to log into the box and can access the files just fine from the mapped drives.

**ftanner** · 09-06-2020, 04:10 AM

To be honest, I'm wondering if it might be more expedient to just nuke the whole database and start over from scratch, including with new folders and playlists. And... If that's the case, what's the purpose of backups...

**jbinkley60** · 09-06-2020, 06:49 AM

Even though you kept the account name and PC name the same it is a new build and I believe Windows 10 UAC will still see it as a different user with different permissions. Here's a link for enabling / disabling Windows 10 UAC. I'd try my suggestion first about building a new folder on your new PC and drag a few videos into it. if that works I'd try disabling UAC. This isn't likely a database issue if you are seeing them in the GUI in a folder view (not a playlist view). This sounds more like a permissions issue with the Mezzmo service being able to access the files on the NAS for playback.

**ftanner** · 09-06-2020, 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by jbinkley60

Even though you kept the account name and PC name the same it is a new build and I believe Windows 10 UAC will still see it as a different user with different permissions. Here's a link for enabling / disabling Windows 10 UAC. I'd try my suggestion first about building a new folder on your new PC and drag a few videos into it. if that works I'd try disabling UAC. This isn't likely a database issue if you are seeing them in the GUI in a folder view (not a playlist view). This sounds more like a permissions issue with the Mezzmo service being able to access the files on the NAS for playback.

I know how to enable/disable UAC. I can play those same files, in the same path, outside of Mezzmo using VLC using the service account that Mezzmo is using.

**ftanner** · 09-06-2020, 10:17 AM

Also, as another piece of information, Windows Firewall is disabled on this box.

**jbinkley60** · 09-06-2020, 09:42 PM

I am pretty sure that the Mezzmo GUI runs under your login account whereas the Mezzmo server, if running as a service, runs as a service/system account, which may have different permissions with regards to accessing the files. I know you said VLC is using the service account but you might still try changing the Mezzmo server from running as a service to running as a console app and see if that resolves the issue. I haven't run VLC that way previously and have always used it with my login account but it's been awhile since I've used it much. Peter will likely respond later today with more ideas.