Network setup - accessing shared drives

[absunshine99]

I just bought Patriot Box Office and tried using it to access my network of XP computers. I am using wired network connection via a router and set up network manually which seems to be OK - I can ping PBO from the network and I get an ON indication by the IP address on the interface. I set it up with a unique address in same subnet, and same subnet mask, default gateway and DNS Server as on my desktop. By the way, if I try the automatic DHCP setup instead, it doesn't work.

When I try to access a shared drive which I setup on one of the computers, it can take minutes to go through each step as it shows the rotating loading icon. First to connect to network, then to recognise a system, then to look for shared folders, then to prompt for username/password and if I get lucky it finally lists a folder within the shared area but that's as far as I got. When I tried to access the folder, the media box rebooted. This is obviously not normal performance - I understand that the loading prompt can be expected to flash momentarily, not stay on for minutes at a time.

The pdf user manual is not much use and I can't even tell where I am supposed to see what firmware version I have through the user interface in case it needs updating.
Can anyone advise?

[aasoror]

The pdf user manual is not much use and I can't even tell where I am supposed to see what firmware version I have through the user interface in case it needs updating.
Can anyone advise?

Press Stop then Pause @ the home screen and see which version of firmware you have as well as which bootcode is loaded on your machine.

Latest firmware P61 hasn't even shipped yet (AFAIK) so its doubtful that you have that on your box.

Once you upgrade the firmware (the instructions as well as the required files are in the official firmware sticky in the root of this forum) to P61, please retry and post again if your problem persist.

[absunshine99]

OK, I updated the firmware to P61 - no problem there. Still have same issues with delays accessing shared drives. Session goes like this:
Sees computer on network after only a few seconds.
Select computer then wait about five minutes or so while 'loading'.
Logon successful message and shared folder visible.
Select folder and accesses sub-folder fairly quickly.
Select sub folder - nothing happens for a minute or two then loading icon shows for another couple of minutes. Then folder shows correct location but no files listed - they are MP3 in source folder so should be readable.
If I come up tree, navigates quite quickly but just as slow coming down tree again. In fact on second attempt, prompts for Net User ID/Password and I gave up waiting after 'loading' message on screen for another few minutes.
I had used Transcode Server Net Share Dialog on source PC to delete shared drives then add just the one for testing. It appears to be setup correctly for share.

[sam]

PBO plays almost everything. You shouldn't need any Transcode Server software. You just need a shared folder with your multimedia files on the XP workstation. Not using a Transcode Server will speed up things a bit.

I am sure the workstation you're using has at 128MB RAM. Something else that slows browsing on a workstation is how deep your shared folders are buried on the hard drive. Try placing a couple of folders in the Public share Folders and browse them their see what happens.

Sam

[absunshine99]

I have 2GB memory on my XP PC so that should not be a problem. Shared folder is not deeply nested - only one level down. I setup the network afresh with a new workgroup and all PCs see shared folders fine with minimal delay but the Media Box still acts like a slug that badly needs its morning coffee. Does it matter what the workgroup name is? I have named mine WORKGROUP.

I used the Transcode Server software only to simplify and confirm setting up of shared folder. I don't think it makes much difference one way or another.

[wigout]

Well, I'm not sure I'd assume that running and accessing through a upnp/transcoding server wouldn't be part of a bottleneck. Of course a bottleneck should let files show up, even if only after a great while. You are seeing folders, but not files....

Are you browsing to your share over the "Network" heading, Neighbors or UPNP?

Just as a test of your other network functionality, can you browse/download/view any of the ims services, like a podcast from cnn or whatever? If you can, then that just shows that you have a workable network access speed. If you can't, that doesn't necessarily tell us a lot (could be the service is down or something else misconfigured).

Can you try taking your router out of the picture by wiring your pbo directly to the xp machine? That way we can rule out router issues....

just thinking out loud here,

wigout