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dkplayaclub · 2016-01-26, 19:37

I set up path substitution on my Ouya to put the Thumbnails on a USB thumb drive plugged into the Ouya's USB to prevent the Ouya from filling up and getting bogged down. I was able to get it working, or so I thought once I was able to see art again and the Thumbnails folder on the USB drive was filling up. I noticed though that the thumbnails are being cached to both the normal location AND the thumb drive.
Running Jarvis RC-1 on my Ouya with Cyanogenmod 11 installed.

The contents of my advancedsettings.xml are exactly :

Code:
<advancedsettings>

    <pathsubstitution>

        <substitute>

            <from>special://profile/Thumbnails/</from>

            <to>usbdisk/Thumbnails/</to>

        </substitute>

    </pathsubstitution>

    <fanartres>720</fanartres>

    <imageres>480</imageres>

</advancedsettings>

If you need any more info, please let me know.

~~Ned Scott~~ · 2016-01-27, 18:53

How many images are in the internal/original location? It's possible that a few images got cached from before the advancedsettings.xml file was in place, or there was a fluke and it started up once without being able to access the other path or something. I think the folder itself will always exist, even if you delete it, as Kodi simply checks for certain folders and files when it first starts up.

Although the path sub feature should work, you can also move the entire userdata folder using this guide: HOW-TO:Change data location for Android (wiki)

dkplayaclub · 2016-01-28, 06:41

I have checked many times and the files are most definitely being written twice. It's so odd, because it doesn't even seem like it should be possible.
I have been very busy, but I would like to get some more insight on this. What exactly should I be trying to capture if I want to get a log that would be helpful? Should I enable debug logging?

Someone told me to use a non-direct path to my USB drive, but I don't even know what that means,

dkplayaclub · 2016-01-28, 18:22

This is making me crazy. I tried several paths and got the same result each time.
I finally decided to just try relocating the entire folder like you suggested. It seemed to work, initially, but now I am having issues with that as well. The profile folder was recreated in it's original position, and is recreated there if I delete it. When I launch Kodi, it doesn't seem to know which profile folder to look at. Half the time it launches properly, but half the time it loads a completely unconfigured Kodi.
Should the profile folder be recreated in it's original position, or is that no supposed to happen? If it is supposed to happen, how can I force Kodi to look at the proper folder?

~~Ned Scott~~ · 2016-01-28, 18:28

Weird. This is probably above my head, but try to get a debug log (wiki) with debugging enabled and we can see if that gets us any clues.

trogggy · 2016-01-28, 18:34

You could always try foldermount or link2sd - link the kodi folder on your internal storage to your sd card in one of those apps and as far as kodi's concerned it's just using internal memory.
Both have worked reliably for me.

I'm assuming you're rooted, given the CM11 - you possibly need root for those apps, can't remember.

dkplayaclub · 2016-01-28, 20:51

Moving the entire folder caused problems, including slowing Kodi down in a huge way and didn't really solve my problem, so I decided to go back to just moving the thumbs.

Foldermount seems to be working, but I am still getting copies (I think).

I am starting to think the problem is something entirely different. Using File Manager in Kodi, I am seeing both the original and the sub folder with identical contents, as I was when using path substitution. When I close Kodi and then open es File Explorer, the files only appear in one place (the place I want them). So the question I have now is "which program is telling me the truth?".
Don't want to just assume it's an issue with Kodi.

trogggy · 2016-01-28, 21:11

(2016-01-28, 20:51)dkplayaclub Wrote: Foldermount seems to be working, but I am still getting copies (I think).

If you use foldermount then the thumbnails appear to be in both places but you're actually looking at a shortcut when you look in the original location. You can check this - open foldermount, turn off the link you made for kodi thumbnails (when kodi is stopped!), then browse to the kodi folder in your file manager. Thumbnails aren't really there. Hopefully. Wink

trogggy · 2016-01-28, 21:14

(2016-01-28, 20:51)dkplayaclub Wrote: I am starting to think the problem is something entirely different. Using File Manager in Kodi, I am seeing both the original and the sub folder with identical contents, as I was when using path substitution. When I close Kodi and then open es File Explorer, the files only appear in one place (the place I want them). So the question I have now is "which program is telling me the truth?".
Don't want to just assume it's an issue with Kodi.

Hang on - that sounds correct!
Kodi sees them on the external sd card because they're really there.
Kodi also sees them in internal storage because the path substitution is saying 'Don't look there, look on the external sd.'

It sounds like it's working perfectly.

dkplayaclub · 2016-01-28, 21:32

I want to make sure though, since I will be handing the Ouya over to my parents once it's all set up. Don't want the internal storage filling up on them, as it causes the device to slow to the point that Kodi is almost unusable. In fact, besides updating them to a newer build, this is the exact reason I am "fixing" it for them.

The way you describe it sounds about right, but is there a way to be positive? If not, I am just going to browse around until the thumbnail folder gets really big and then connect the Ouya to my PC to see if the file sizes are right, I think that will work.

trogggy · (This post was last modified: 2016-01-28, 22:16 by trogggy.)

Yes, you can check using your normal android file manager.
Ignore what kodi's telling you - whatever method you use will fool kodi's file manager.
If you're using path subs or the xbmc_env.properties trick just check the kodi folder on internal storage - the thumbnails folder should be empty. Use something like es file explorer (whatever you normally use in CM11).
If you're using foldermount you have to turn off the link in the foldermount app first, then check the same folder (something like android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/files/.kodi/userdata/Thumbnails on internal storage). Again there should be nothing in it (not sure if it's even there in this case).
If you really want to be sure (and you're using foldermount or the like) paste a test file into the root of the internal Thumbnails folder (eg Test.txt), turn off the link in foldermount and try to find it.

dkplayaclub · 2016-01-28, 22:58

Thanks for all your help. I am pretty sure it's all working now. I would say this is a bug that might be brought to the Kodi devs, but it seems like something that would only affect advanced users so I can see how it wouldn't really be a priority (if it's a bug at all).
I chose to go with foldermount option rather than using advancedsetting.xml to accomplish the substitution, since it's also much more accessible to the less tech savvy. Plus, it has the added benefit of being able to link folders for some addons that only allow local storage (for whatever odd reason I have never figured out).