Content path error

[Fisherman456 1]

Hi, I just updated my Shield to version 7.2.2 and with that it updated Kodi to v18 Leia. At one point I had to reinstall Leia because of weird display zoom issues and after I re-installed Cinemavision, I could no longer set the content path to the same folder on my NAS without getting the error 'Make sure the drive is writable and the folder is valid'. I double checked that the user that I login with to the NAS from my Shield has both read and write privs to the folder.

I've tried it also with a beta version of Cinemavision (v1.1.1a8), but I got the same error.

[Mungo 0]

I didn't upgrade like you @Fisherman456 but I've been trying to get CinemaVision working on my Shields for the last week without any success. Shields are on the same Android version yours is, and also on the same version of Kodi and running the same version of CinemaVision.

Your error I've received, and managed to skirt around by just making a new parent folder and pointing CinemaVision to that. It will then generate all the subfolders fresh which seems to clear up any permission errors received. Then just copy your actual files from your previous CinemaVision folder into the fresh structure. No idea why that works - I'm assuming it's some weird ownership/permission miss-match going on even if all looks well.

In having said that - as mentioned, still 0 luck getting anything working out of CinemaVision on the Shields. Windows install works 100% - Android version of Kodi, none. Can't even get it to play the default sequence that has the files stored locally, so the whole permissions thing is definitely not the underlying issue. Considering it works on Windows, and not on Android using the same permissions with the current builds of CinemaVision/Kodi/Android - leads me to believe it's an issue with the CinemaVision add-on and the android version of Kodi.

Cheers,

Mungo

[Fisherman456 1]

Hey Mungo,

I managed to get around the issue by clicking on NFS first and then select the folder manually on my NAS, but then i got into other issues with the current CinemaVision version. I then tried v1.1.1a8 again but for some weird reason wasn't able to run any of my commercials or other video content or sequences like you. This evening I decided to uninstall Kodi Leia and install v17.6 instead with the current version of CinemaVision.

That at least ran everything like before the update again. I just have some worries about any new versions of Kodi going forward as further development/updates of Cinemavision seems to have come to a complete stop.

 

[Mungo 0]

7 hours ago, Fisherman456 said:

This evening I decided to uninstall Kodi Leia and install v17.6 instead with the current version of CinemaVision.

I was one of the many that awoke one day to find their Shield auto-updated Kodi to v18 without so much as a "do ya mind?" which subsequently had issues with my SQL back-end and performance. Those issues are now resolved, but I had to fix-forward with those as a quick google around found MANY in the same boat as me, and from what I gathered - the Google playstore will get its way in keeping things updated. It was then, that I realised I'd have to make something work with Leia.

As mentioned - unfortunately in this specific config - 0 functionality with CinemaVision on Android Kodi 18. I use to run this functionality back in the day on the old CinemaExperience and now that I've got my Media Room complete, wanted to go back and add it in again. Found that CE had gone the way of the dinosaurs, but thankfully found CV had picked up the slack....unfortunately CV now seems to have suffered the same fate. It's a shame really - when it comes to a full cinema experience, this really is the icing on the cake.

I'm stubborn though, so I'll probably keep tinkering, so if I manage to wrangle some sort of fix or workaround, I'll be sure to post.

Update: Just checked Ragnarok's profile on the Kodi forums, and he was last online on the 10th of Feb this year, so the man's alive. Hopefully life is treating him well and we'll see him back in action sooner rather than later.

Edited February 22, 2019 by Mungo

[Fisherman456 1]

It's good to know that Ragnarok is still alive. Hopefully he'll be able to pick up this work again as it's currently the only option among all the players like Plex, Emby that seems to only work with Kodi.

By the way, the new parent folder that you created in order to make things work again in v18 Leia, was that also on the NAS or do I have to create that one now on the Shield itself? I prefer to do the NAS as I sometimes also use other media players like the Vero 4K+ and that way I have a central place for all these Cinemavision sequences.

[Mungo 0]

7 hours ago, Fisherman456 said:

By the way, the new parent folder that you created in order to make things work again in v18 Leia, was that also on the NAS or do I have to create that one now on the Shield itself? I prefer to do the NAS as I sometimes also use other media players like the Vero 4K+ and that way I have a central place for all these Cinemavision sequences.

Yeah, all my media is centralised to a few NAS's, however throughout troubleshooting this, I've tried having the CinemaVision folder/library both locally on the Shield itself, as well as on one of my media NAS's and neither has worked. Now with v18.1 of Kodi coming out - it's killed what remaining functionality CinemaVision had on my Windows platform as well unfortunately.

Running a CV test across any sequence, will only ever play the placeholder for the feature video. I've even replaced this video with one of my intro videos and it WILL play. I thought perhaps if the media was as close to this location as possible it would be happier, but putting the CinemaVision folder/library in this exact same location, the media will still not play.

This lead me to check within the debug log, what's getting passed and the only difference I can see in regard to the media that DOES play (the built in feature stubs) and what DOESN'T play is - everything else appears to be including the Python unicode parameter "u'" appended to the path being sent to Kodi, or at least it's displayed in the path in the debug log. That lead me down the rabbit hole, to which I came back empty handed lol.

Considering CV appears to be dead in the water as of v18.1 - I'm not wasting any more time trying to troubleshoot or randomly change code in hopes it starts working. It looks like we're all going to just have to be patient and wait for Ragnarok to grace us with his presence and retake the reigns.

[Fisherman456 1]

13 hours ago, Mungo said:

Running a CV test across any sequence, will only ever play the placeholder for the feature video. I've even replaced this video with one of my intro videos and it WILL play. I thought perhaps if the media was as close to this location as possible it would be happier, but putting the CinemaVision folder/library in this exact same location, the media will still not play.

I had the same problem with my v18 where it only played the placeholder of the feature and strangely enough one theater intro. Luckily for me I can disable automatic updates in my Google play store on Android and so I reinstalled v17.6 again. But I too hope that Ragnarok will come back soon as this is not going to be a sustainable situation.

 

14 hours ago, Mungo said:

Running a CV test across any sequence, will only ever play the placeholder for the feature video. I've even replaced this video with one of my intro videos and it WILL play. I thought perhaps if the media was as close to this location as possible it would be happier, but putting the CinemaVision folder/library in this exact same location, the media will still not play.

I had the same problem with my v18 where it only played the placeholder of the feature and strangely enough one theater intro. Luckily for me I can disable automatic updates in my Google play store on Android and so I reinstalled v17.6 again. But I too hope that Ragnarok will come back soon as this is not going to be a sustainable situation.

[Mungo 0]

6 hours ago, Fisherman456 said:

Luckily for me I can disable automatic updates in my Google play store on Android and so I reinstalled v17.6 again.

Yeah, I considered it lol. if I didn't have a few shields, and a SQL back-end that updates database versions etc. I'd do the same thing. Trying to stay strong on staying on the latest version and fix-forward....

..........

 

[Fisherman456 1]

5 hours ago, Mungo said:

Yeah, I considered it lol. if I didn't have a few shields, and a SQL back-end that updates database versions etc. I'd do the same thing. Trying to stay strong on staying on the latest version and fix-forward....

..........

 

Lol. Would have been nice if Plex or Emby had similar functionality like Cinemavision...

[Mungo 0]

4 hours ago, Fisherman456 said:

Lol. Would have been nice if Plex or Emby had similar functionality like Cinemavision...

Yeah, I'm surprised this type of functionality isn't more widely available or integrated considering how big the whole Home Theatre genre has gotten. I bought a lifetime plex pass when it was on sale not long ago but don't actively use it at the moment. I know it has a pre-roll option in the server settings, but it seems to only be intended for a single static video. It's something they could, and should build on really.

I remember way back when I first started down the whole media centre road - back on Windows Media Centre, using Media Browser before they evolved into emby, I definitely had something setup. No no idea what it was now though....may have even been after I moved onto xmbc, and found Cinema Experience. Rarely used on the average movie night, but it did have that wow factor whenever we had company over. Now that I've got an actual dedicated cinema room - the want for this type of wow factor has found its way back.