Can't play DVD rip from Storage Space share, MKV ok?

[cncb]

I have a PC running the Windows 8 release preview. I am attempting to play back a ripped DVD (VIDEO_TS folder from DVDFab) via Windows Media Player on a networked Windows 7 PC and am getting some strange behavior:

1) I ripped the DVD to a share in a "Storage Space" (3-drive with parity) and when I try to play it back on the Win 7 PC I just get a blank screen.

2) I copied the same rip from the Storage Space to a share on the Windows 8 boot drive and it plays back fine on the Win 7 PC.

3) I converted the same rip to MKV and placed it on the same Storage Space share and it plays back fine as well.

Anyone have any idea why I am having trouble playing the rip from the Storage Space share? It doesn't seem corrupted and the share seems to be set up properly. Thanks for any help.

[jbrooks792]

Same issue here with RTM. I haven't tried any other file types from my 3 drive parity Storage Space. Sometimes I can get a movie to start but then it freezes and wmc stops responding. Move the same ripped directory over to a none Storage Space drive and it works without issue. Since it is the RTM I have been unable to load media center on the 8 machine itself to see if it behaves the same accessing the Storage Space on the local machine versus across the network.

[cncb]

Thanks for confirming that you see this behavior too although it is very disappointing to hear that it exists in the RTM version as well. I have confirmed that I get the same behavior when trying to play the rip locally so unfortunately it seems like some kind of weird bug in Storage Spaces that they apparently did not address in the RTM. I guess I will have to reconsider my upgrades to Win 8...

[JazJon]

You're better off using StableBit DrivePool over Drive Spaces once the Windows 8 version of Drive Pool comes out. If you want something today, DriveBender confirmed their product works in Windows 8 just fine. (but I prefer Drive Pool based on my WHS experience with it)

[cncb]

Well, I want to use some kind of parity solution instead of duplication for more space so I might have to go with FlexRaid or something else.

Does anyone know how to report this to Microsoft? It seems like it might be a pretty critical flaw in Storage Spaces.

[JazJon]

Well, I want to use some kind of parity solution instead of duplication for more space so I might have to go with FlexRaid or something else.

Does anyone know how to report this to Microsoft? It seems like it might be a pretty critical flaw in Storage Spaces.

Yeah FlexRaid should work if you don't want duplication. (not sure it's windows 8 ready yet though)

I didn't like the strange FlexRaid pooling setup, and how you are forced to use their GUI to setup folder "shares" on the network. (can't use windows sharing, the shares vanish after reboot!) It's a bit confusing in other areas as well.

Maybe you could buy the FlexRaid SnapShot Raid only version (less money) and pair it with DriveBender (with duplication shut OFF) That way you get the easy setup of DriveBender (and normal "sharing" setup) & more space using RAID parity (1 disk only) DrivePool for Windows 8 beta is a few weeks away though. I'd pick StableBit drivepool over DriveBender for even more stability and ease of setup/use/recovery.

What ever you & I pick, it definitely shouldn't be Drive Spaces. I don't trust the recovery of data should something bad go wrong.
I love knowing I can read ANY and all drives via 3rd party solutions.

[gcoupe]

Does anyone know how to report this to Microsoft? It seems like it might be a pretty critical flaw in Storage Spaces.

This forum might be a good place to try: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/For ... al/threads

[cncb]

This forum might be a good place to try: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/For ... al/threads

Thanks. Here it is if anyone wants to add any comments: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/For ... 937a06a32b

[FrankAZ]

I have added my experiences to the technet thread too.

In short, I am seeing exactly the same symptoms and have narrowed it down to only occurring when trying to play a DVD VIDEO_TS folder which is hosted by a storage space. Host it on another folder on the simple system drive, or play an MPG or MOV file in the storage space and everything is fine. See my Technet post for the dirty details.

I am reassured that it is not only me that is seeing this behavior.

Frank.

[jbrooks792]

Same post from the other thread.

Not sure if this is a solution for anyone but I was finally able to get this to work. When I built the array under windows server 2012 versus the client I had no issues with streaming my ripped dvd content.

If you have access to TechNet or I think there is a server trial available from Microsoft here is what I did. Since I didn't have a spare machine at the time and didn't want to wipe my existing one I used hyper-v to install 2012 then I made three of my initial 2tb drives on the host available to the vm and created the parity storage space and created the volume and formatted it. I close that down and then made those three disks available to the host again and showed up as an existing storage space volume. Its nice that you can transport disks natively between systems. I then added my additional 6 2tb drives to that storage space and copied over all of my content. I tested this a couple of times and the dvd folder structure streamed without issue every time as long as I setup the initial set under server.

There are not any limitations to make changes to the storage space after having built it under a different system. The only thing I can warn some people that aren't familiar is that you need to plan out your expansion prospects for your array before you dump your data to it. When you initially create it you will be locked into the number of drives needed to expand it. Since I wanted to expand slowly while copying my data from the old array I had to set my to 3 a three disk column otherwise I would be forced to upgrade 4, 5, or 6 disks at a time. I could be recalling incorrectly but I think you can go up to 8 columns. Based on my array size and choice of 3 column setup I certainly am seeing a performance impact but with main purpose of the array being mass archival it is only a minor inconvenience when ripping multiple disks at a time.

Not motivated enough to post and research to figure out what this bug is or whether it will be fixed but there is a workaround.

[cncb]

There seems to be no news about this but I wonder if a fix will be in the "8.1" release coming out soon?

[freddyfinn]

The only workaround I have found is to convert the DVD folder into an .ISO image and use something like Slysoft Virtual Clone Drive with MediaBrowser. My DVD Folders would playback occasionally unless they had menus and then it was hit and miss. The DVDs that would play wouldn't skip or fast forward properly. Once converted to .ISO and mounted The DVD played normally with all functions working.

[EBH]

I have the same problem. But I am using a storage pool on Windows Server 2012 Essentials as the server and Windows 7 media center as the HTPC.

If I store my ripped DVD VIDEO_TS folders in a storage pool, either mirrored or simple, then they won't play on my 7MC. If I move the files either to the HTPC or to a share on the server that is NOT in a storage pool then the ripped DVDs play.

Does none know if this bug has been reported to microsoft? For me it is a real bummer after migrating all my data from WHS v1 which has been flawless for years.

Ben

[pdean]

I discovered this problem long ago also. Since then I have been running Win 8 as my server with all data except ripped DVDs in a storage pool and DVDs on a separate drive. I don't access my server OS often and the other day was confused why I had it this way. Is there another form of disk pooling software that works with DVDs. I don't watch DVDs very often but mainly use the menu when I do regarding chapters. Is there a way to rip them, have the chapters and be in a pool or better take what I have already ripped and convert them to a format that can be in a pool.