[SOLVED] New Folder does not show in DLNA ?

[SaintQuivox]

I'm new here, so I'm hoping this question hasn't been asked before.
I have 2 NAS drives, a Lacie Cloudbox and a WD My Cloud. I use these 2 drives to watch content on either of my smart Televisions. I have a Panasonic Viera in my living room and a LG in my bedroom. I've had no trouble for years watching movies or videos on either of these tv's, but very recently I've run into a problem. When I create a new folder on either of the NAS drives, it doesn't show up on either of my smart televisions. The fact that newly created folders are not showing up on either of my smart tv's seems to me it must be a streaming setting or maybe a router problem? I've followed advice on various sites to :

1- refresh tv by unplugging and leaving unplugged for 5 minutes to refresh directory (didn't work)
2- unplug (power off drive and power up) didn't work
3- unplug router and re-power . didn't work.

The other odd thing, is when I access the NAS drive with my laptop, I can see the new folders and contents with no problems.
I've kind of run out of ideas and haven't found a solution anywhere. if anyone could help it would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Ralston18]

When the smart TVs attempt to access the new folders what error messages or pop-up windows (if any) appear?

In the past did you have to grant folder access rights to the TV's?

Compare the access rights of folders that the TV's can access to the access rights of the new folders.

Hopefully just some oversight with respect to configuration/access rights regarding the new folders.

 

[SaintQuivox]

Thanks so much for the reply. To answer the first question, the new folder that I've created just doesn't appear in the list of folders . I can see the new folder on my desktop or laptop when I access either NAS drive, but the folder is missing on both smart tv's. It just isn't there.

To your second question, I did not have to grant folder access rights to the TV's. Is there a way to do this on the TV, or just on my computer?
I checked the access rights on older folders vs the newly created folder and they appear to be the same. Frustrating. And I don't believe I've made any changes that would have caused this issue.

 

[Ralston18]

Is the following link/process familiar to you?

https://eng-ca.faq.panasonic.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/53943

And the breakdown is that the new NAS folders simply do not appear for selection - correct?

Has any content been placed in the new folders?

 

[SaintQuivox]

Is the following link/process familiar to you?

https://eng-ca.faq.panasonic.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/53943

And the breakdown is that the new NAS folders simply do not appear for selection - correct?

Has any content been placed in the new folders?

Unfortunately, the television I have had a different menu .
An interesting thing I just discovered, I can re- name an existing folder to a name I prefer, and add content to it, but it's like the television is not allowing any new folders. Is it possible there is a limit on how many folders are allowed?

 

[SaintQuivox]

Unfortunately, the television I have had a different menu .
An interesting thing I just discovered, I can re- name an existing folder to a name I prefer, and add content to it, but it's like the television is not allowing any new folders. Is it possible there is a limit on how many folders are allowed?

Correct, newly created folders do not appear on either of my smart tv's.

 

[Ralston18]

I would not expect a limit on the accessible number of folders allowed to the TV's. Even if so, the limit should be documented (but I would not bet on that) plus unlikely to be the same for both TVs.

With the laptop being able to see the new folders and successfully access the content therein then my thought is that the problem is indeed permissions/access rights related.

Use the laptop (because the laptop does have access to the new folders) to open new folder permissions, etc. to "Everyone".

Immediate objective being to open the new folders for TV access. Then, if and as necessary, reconfigure the access rights later on.

Is there anything different about the content being placed into the new folders versus the content in existing/viewable folders?

If that content is placed in an existing NAS folder(s) does that folder and content remain visible via the TVs?

Overall, I still suspect that the problem is a configuration issue with respect to the newly created folders.

May require a deeper delve into the ACL (Access Control List) both system and network.

 

[gggplaya]

The TV's are likely using DLNA to view files. It requires server software on your NAS, that organizes and creates a database of files on your NAS. Then it serves it up over your network which your tv can pick up. The list of files and folders the TV sees is dependent on the DLNA server software on your NAS and what's it's cataloged as available files and entered them into it's database. Some clients are limited by how many folders they can view, like 200 on some clients.

On your laptop, you're browsing via SMB protocol, so it'll show everything on your NAS. It's not dependent on DLNA cataloging files.

DLNA is terrible, I would upgrade to a better client solution that can view and catalog the files themselves over SMB or FTP protocols.

1. Budget solution is to use a raspberry pi or android box that can run the KODI program. I don't like the UI of Kodi, but it's a good solution that works very well to play anything.

2. APPLE TV 4 or newer(must have app store) and the INFUSE APP(https://firecore.com/). This is my favorite solution, though pricey, you can buy apple tv4 and 4k units used for around $100. Infuse has the best user interface IMO and plays everything I throw at it.

3. Nvidia Shield TV(must be larger box version, not the stick version) with PLEX APP, can be purchased used. What's great about this, is that it can also be used as a plex server with free hardware transcoding(no need for plex pass). You can attach this to one tv, and use the plex app on another tv. Plex will transcode whenever it needs to. Most TV app stores have PLEX. The only problem I've found with this is when you have a power outage. The NAS boots up way slower than a shield tv. So when the shield tv boots up and doesn't see the NAS folders. Nothing works until you reboot the shield TV. For a plex sever, the shield tv is one of the most electric efficient options, just 3watts at idle.

 

[SaintQuivox]

The TV's are likely using DLNA to view files. It requires server software on your NAS, that organizes and creates a database of files on your NAS. Then it serves it up over your network which your tv can pick up. The list of files and folders the TV sees is dependent on the DLNA server software on your NAS and what's it's cataloged as available files and entered them into it's database. Some clients are limited by how many folders they can view, like 200 on some clients.

On your laptop, you're browsing via SMB protocol, so it'll show everything on your NAS. It's not dependent on DLNA cataloging files.

DLNA is terrible, I would upgrade to a better client solution that can view and catalog the files themselves over SMB or FTP protocols.

1. Budget solution is to use a raspberry pi or android box that can run the KODI program. I don't like the UI of Kodi, but it's a good solution that works very well to play anything.

2. APPLE TV 4 or newer(must have app store) and the INFUSE APP(https://firecore.com/). This is my favorite solution, though pricey, you can buy apple tv4 and 4k units used for around $100. Infuse has the best user interface IMO and plays everything I throw at it.

3. Nvidia Shield TV(must be larger box version, not the stick version) with PLEX APP, can be purchased used. What's great about this, is that it can also be used as a plex server with free hardware transcoding(no need for plex pass). You can attach this to one tv, and use the plex app on another tv. Plex will transcode whenever it needs to. Most TV app stores have PLEX. The only problem I've found with this is when you have a power outage. The NAS boots up way slower than a shield tv. So when the shield tv boots up and doesn't see the NAS folders. Nothing works until you reboot the shield TV. For a plex sever, the shield tv is one of the most electric efficient options, just 3watts at idle.

Thanks so much for your help. On your advice, I checked the folder permissions and they are all accessible to “ everyone “, which is what all of the other folder permissions are set to. Frustrating.
I did a factory reset on the LaCie NAS, but it didn’t change the issues I’m having. I may have to take your advice and get one of the devices you suggested.

 

[kanewolf]

Thanks so much for your help. On your advice, I checked the folder permissions and they are all accessible to “ everyone “, which is what all of the other folder permissions are set to. Frustrating.
I did a factory reset on the LaCie NAS, but it didn’t change the issues I’m having. I may have to take your advice and get one of the devices you suggested.

On my Synology NAS, if you create a new folder or add files that you want available to the DLNA server you have to initiate a "re-index". That updates the metadata database the DLNA server uses to present data to clients. You might check the DLNA server on the NAS to see if there is an equivalent option.

 

[SaintQuivox]

On my Synology NAS, if you create a new folder or add files that you want available to the DLNA server you have to initiate a "re-index". That updates the metadata database the DLNA server uses to present data to clients. You might check the DLNA server on the NAS to see if there is an equivalent option.

I didn’t see that option on the Cloudbox dashboard, but I’ll look again. I tried refreshing the list of folders, but I’m not sure if that’s the same as re-indexing them. Thanks for the suggestion, I’m out of town right now, but when I get back Thursday I’ll look for the re-index option.

 

[SaintQuivox]

Thank for the suggestion.I found the option to re-index, didn't work. At this point I think I've tried everything , and cannot figure this out. I've :
1- checked folder access. All the same
2-re-booted router and modem. Nothing
3-re-inexed files. doesn't work
4-tried creating a new directory on drives. Doesn't show up

my instinct tells me its a setting on the desktop physically connected to the drives, or its the router.
The fact that I have 2 different NAS drives (Lacie and WD) and i can't see newly created folders on either of them on 2 different televisions (Panasonic and LG tells me it's not the drives, folder access, or indexing. And, that the problem showed up at the same time on all 4 devices.
I may as suggested have try another server. Thanks for all of the replies.

 

[kanewolf]

Thank for the suggestion.I found the option to re-index, didn't work. At this point I think I've tried everything , and cannot figure this out. I've :
1- checked folder access. All the same
2-re-booted router and modem. Nothing
3-re-inexed files. doesn't work
4-tried creating a new directory on drives. Doesn't show up

my instinct tells me its a setting on the desktop physically connected to the drives, or its the router.
The fact that I have 2 different NAS drives (Lacie and WD) and i can't see newly created folders on either of them on 2 different televisions (Panasonic and LG tells me it's not the drives, folder access, or indexing. And, that the problem showed up at the same time on all 4 devices.
I may as suggested have try another server. Thanks for all of the replies.

Is this new folder a subfoler of the existing DLNA managed folders? There are usually very specific locations that the DLNA server will manage.

 

[SaintQuivox]

Is this new folder a subfoler of the existing DLNA managed folders? There are usually very specific locations that the DLNA server will manage.

Not sure if its a subfolder.
This is how I access DLNA on my tv:
1- click Viera Tools on my remote (panasonic)
2-this brings up a banner of options, one of which is dlna
3-click DLNA, which brings up the list of my NAS drives (Lacie Cloubox and WD Mycloud
4- I'll use MyCloud in this example- clicking my cloud brings up a list of 3 folders: Music, Photos, and Videos'
5- I Click Videos, which brings up another list of folders: Album, All Videos, By Date, By Folder, Playlists, Title
6-I choose " By Folder" , which brings up a list of 2 folders:" Public" and one with "my name".
7-I choose " public" , which then brings up a list of all of the folders I've created over the last 10 years (313 of them)
All of these folders I've created the exact same way over the years by accessing the NAS drive using either my laptop, or my desktop. I go tothe "Public" folder, click "New folder", rename it, and shortly thereafter it shows up on my television in dlna. I've created new folders the same way for years on both my Lacie NAS, and my WD Nas. However, in the last couple of weeks something has changed. when i create a new folder the exact same way ive done it for years, on either my lacie, or WD NAS drives, the new folder does not show up on EITHER of my TV's , but they do show up on my laptop and desktop. SOMETHING has changed, but not the way I'm creating new folders. That's what is confusing . I'm creating folders the same way I've always done, but now all of a sudden, i'm not seeing them on DLNA. I keep the NAS drives in a spare bedroom where they are connected to a router. Also connected to the router is my modem, my desktop, my honeywell modem, and my 2 televisions. (i've run cable directly to both televisions). All of the devices connected to the router have been connected for years. Nothing has changed , which makes this problem confounding. Why if nothing has changed in the configurations, or in how I create folders, would I now be having this problem? I don't know if I need new NAS drives, a new laptop and desktop, or new tv's ?
Sorry for the rambling, just getting frustrated with my inability to fix this.