[nmw01223]

I have a Ubuntu 14.04 m/c acting as a PVR server and general media source. It has Kodi running on it, and a DVD ROM that is shared using SMB (//PVR-1/DVD). The DVD is set to auto-mount in fstab.

Various other machines - Windows, Ubuntu 14.04, Android - also run Kodi, mainly V17.3.

On the PVR-1 server, the DVD plays normally - the 'Play disc' menu turns up etc.

However, when I try to run it on a remote Kodi, having set up a video source by browsing to the DVD share, get the context menu and click 'Play', it doesn't. Usually it does nothing, although in the case of an Android one, sometimes Kodi crashes.

But here's the thing: If I load a DVD, and start playing it - just for a second or two - on the local Kodi. Then when I go to a remote Kodi, it will play fine. However once the DVD is ejected and reloaded, same happens again (until a short local play).

I have tried explicitly mounting it, but Ubuntu merely says it is mounted already.

Here's a Kodi log section:

Code:

08:15:43.659 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: VideoPlayer: Opening: smb://PVR-1/DVD/VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO
08:15:43.659 T:140281863481344 WARNING: CDVDMessageQueue(player)::Put MSGQ_NOT_INITIALIZED
08:15:43.659 T:140279956870912  NOTICE: Creating InputStream
08:15:43.668 T:140279956870912  NOTICE: SMBFile->Open: Bad URL : 'smb://PVR-1/DVD'
08:15:43.668 T:140279956870912   ERROR: Error on dvdnav_open
08:15:43.668 T:140279956870912   ERROR: CVideoPlayer::OpenInputStream - error opening [smb://PVR-1/DVD/VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO]
08:15:43.668 T:140279956870912  NOTICE: CVideoPlayer::OnExit()
08:15:43.668 T:140281863481344   ERROR: Playlist Player: skipping unplayable item: 0, path [smb://PVR-1/DVD/VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO]
08:15:43.674 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: CVideoPlayer::CloseFile()
08:15:43.674 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: VideoPlayer: waiting for threads to exit
08:15:43.674 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: VideoPlayer: finished waiting
08:15:43.680 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: CVideoPlayer::CloseFile()
08:15:43.681 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: VideoPlayer: waiting for threads to exit
08:15:43.681 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: VideoPlayer: finished waiting
08:15:55.648 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: Storing total System Uptime
08:15:55.648 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: Saving settings
08:15:55.652 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: Saving skin settings
08:15:55.653 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: stop all
08:15:55.654 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: stop player
08:15:55.654 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: ES: Stopping event server
08:15:55.654 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: stopping upnp
08:15:55.662 T:140280124659456  NOTICE: ES: UDP Event server stopped
08:15:55.805 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: stopping zeroconf publishing
08:15:55.807 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: stop dvd detect media
08:15:56.341 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: clean cached files!
08:15:56.560 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: closing down remote control service
08:15:56.561 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: stopped
08:15:56.761 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: destroy
08:15:56.761 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: unload skin
08:15:56.774 T:140281863481344 WARNING: Cleanup: Having to cleanup texture button-focus.png
08:15:56.774 T:140281863481344 WARNING: Cleanup: Having to cleanup texture button-nofocus.png
08:15:56.798 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: unload sections
08:15:56.806 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: special://profile/ is mapped to: special://masterprofile/
08:15:56.807 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: PVRManager - stopping
08:15:57.469 T:140281863481344  NOTICE: application stopped...

Can anyone suggest what I need to do?

[PatK]

Sounds like a networking issue with smb or a shared permissions issue with the o/s; I would think it might be possible some sort of drm might be at play here, otherwise, content control might be suspect. Try some alternate networking system for a round about, to eliminate it from the list of suspects.

[nmw01223]

Thanks for your reply. I did wonder about DRM but I don't think it is that because I get exactly the same result with a commercial DVD (copy protected, region 2) and ones I have created myself using DVD authoring tools (not copy protected, region coded or anything else).

What I do notice is that the .VOB files (or some of them) do play. For instance a DVD with the main program in VTS_01_1.VOB to VTS_01_5.VOB will play if I click on any of them (it will only play one at a time). It will not play if a .IFO is selected, and nor will VTS_01_0.VOB, which I think is a menu. The ones it will play come up with an SD icon next to them, so I guess it has successfully probed what they are.

It also depends what Kodi is running on, but not apparently the version (I have 15.2, 16.1 and 17.3). The point about it playing a DVD properly once it has been played on the server machine appears not quite true:
- That only applies to Android devices running Kodi, not Windows PCs or Linux. They will play the .VOBs but nothing else.
- Starting to play a .VOB on an Android device appears to be sufficient: stop the play again, then it will play from the .IFO or selecting play on the share itself.

The DVDs are PAL, not NTSC.

The share definition in smb.conf on the server is

Code:

DVD (in square brackets)
comment = DVD
path = /media/cdrom0
public = yes
writable = no
create mask = 0660
directory mask = 0770
force user = mythtv
force group = mythtv

I've tried NFS and it is no different on a Windows PC, and doesn't appear to work at all on Android.

[fede01_8]

It's been broken for years