Unable to write to remote drive

[RonM]

I have had this problem before, periodically. I am having it again. It has become extremely frustrating.

I am set up to rip to three locations at once, through multi-encoder. The first is flac to a remote drive on my network (drive "d" on my music server). The second is flac to my master archive on a secondary drive on my local computer. The third is lossy (mp3) to a folder on my c: drive. All of this normally works like a charm.

Since I configured a new computer as the music archive I have had sporadic write problems during ripping. The error message, when it occurs, suggests that dBp can't write to the remote folder. At times this has seemed to be an issue of the remote computer not being fully "awake" when the write process is invoked, but at other times it just seems to not work for unknown reasons.

Note:

dBp will write to the other locations if I remove the "write to d" from multi-encoder -- so it's not a read problem.

I can write to the remote drive "d" using any other application. The drive appears to be FULLY accessible.

I can rip to the remote drive "d" using other applications like Winamp.

Therefore, the problem appears to be specific to dBp.


A sample of the error log:

Error ripping to [Multi Encoder], 'Track 1' to 'C:\Users\Admin\Music\Neil Young\Storytone, Disc 1\01 Neil Young - Plastic Flowers.IGNORE'
FLAC: Error unable to open File '\\Fitpc3\d\Music\Neil Young\Storytone, Disc 1\01 - Plastic Flowers.flac' for writing. [clEncoder::BeginConversion]

Error ripping to [Multi Encoder], 'Track 3' to 'C:\Users\Admin\Music\Neil Young\Storytone, Disc 1\03 Neil Young - I Want to Drive My Car.IGNORE'
FLAC: Error unable to open File '\\Fitpc3\d\Music\Neil Young\Storytone, Disc 1\03 - I Want to Drive My Car.flac' for writing. [clEncoder::BeginConversion]


I would appreciate some help with this. I didn't get much useful help last time I reported.

R.

[Spoon]

Re: Unable to write to remote drive

There is nothing you can do in dBpoweramp, either the drive can be written to, or it cannot and an error is generated.

[RonM]

Re: Unable to write to remote drive

There is nothing you can do in dBpoweramp, either the drive can be written to, or it cannot and an error is generated.

The question is why dBp can't write to the drive when EVERY OTHER application, including ripping apps, can do so. Hard to believe that there is no way to understand this peculiar behavior.

[Spoon]

Re: Unable to write to remote drive

Perhaps you have some security software which blocks dBpoweramp, or by browsing the share with Windows File Explorer renews the access.

[RonM]

Re: Unable to write to remote drive

Perhaps you have some security software which blocks dBpoweramp, or by browsing the share with Windows File Explorer renews the access.

No security software other than Norton. I used to think that renewing the access was the solution but not the case. One recent sequence:

I try with dBp; no luck.

I access the remote drive with Windows Explorer; no problem.

I try with dBp; no luck.

I rip using another ripping app (e.g. Winamp); no problem at all

I try ripping using dBp; same result, no luck.

Very odd indeed. It's like dBp is using a different mechanism to access the remote hard drive than Windows Explorer, and it's not working.

R.

[Spoon]

Re: Unable to write to remote drive

Norton is 100% suspect:

http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?35037-Security-Software-Misshaps&goto=newpost

[RonM]

Re: Unable to write to remote drive

Norton is 100% suspect:

http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthre...s&goto=newpost

This seems unlikely. dBp works perfectly well writing to locations on my primary computer, where Norton lives. The problems outlined on this linked thread refer to issues of apparently older versions of Norton blocking dBp, which is not the case in my instance. dBp writes ripped files completely successfully to local folders, but won't to the remote folder. I should note that there is no Norton installed on the remote file server.

[Spoon]

Re: Unable to write to remote drive

From an applications point of view, it makes no difference if the location is local or a network share, it is the same simple call:

CreateFile(

It either opens or it does not, if it does not there is nothing the calling application can do.

[schmidj]

Re: Unable to write to remote drive

At one point a few weeks ago I got random similar messages. Rerips came up with the same message for different tracks.

Rebooted computer, NAS (QNAP) and the Ethernet switch which they were connected to. Problem disappeared. Something had become sluggish. Also don't forget that your NAS may well have its own antivirus, mine does, and that may cause issues.

Finally don't forget that if your NAS isn't running Windows, Windows does not index it, and doesn't always maintain the connection by default. When you call Windows Explorer, you initiate an attempt at the connection and indexing, even if the drive isn't connected. If the drive isn't connected, DBPA and other programs can't see it. When you "look at it" with windows explorer, that will connect it. I've seen this repeatedly with my laptop, which connects to my network with Wifi.

Just a thought.

[RonM]

Re: Unable to write to remote drive

I think it's just something I'll have to live with. It's an issue only with dBp (Winamp and WMP have no difficulty ripping to the remote drive). In fact, dBp used to work just fine in this context, but something changed and I don't know what.

Just for reference, the remote drive is attached to a small computer running full Win7, but no anti-virus software on it. This small computer (a FitPC3) functions as my music server, and the only application running on it is Logitech Media Server. I access it across the network. Rebooting changes nothing.

[Dat Ei]

Re: Unable to write to remote drive

Hey RonM,

This small computer (a FitPC3) functions as my music server, and the only application running on it is Logitech Media Server.

can you stop Logitech Media Server? What happens if you stop Logitech Media Server while ripping? Has the Logitech Media Server process only access to certain directories or to the entire harddisc? What happens if you rip to a directory that is not under control of the Logitech Media Server process?


Dat Ei

[RonM]

Re: Unable to write to remote drive

Hey RonM,



can you stop Logitech Media Server? What happens if you stop Logitech Media Server while ripping? Has the Logitech Media Server process only access to certain directories or to the entire harddisc? What happens if you rip to a directory that is not under control of the Logitech Media Server process?


Dat Ei

I'll try that sometime, but it's really not convenient. I rip a lot of CDs, and to have to log out of LMS every time I do so is a non-starter, especially having to do it remotely. I'll be better off just ripping to my master archive, and then copying across the network to the remote drive. Which works fine.

Not to mention that LMS being active does not prevent Winamp or WMP from ripping to that drive, so hard to believe that it would be a problem for dBp.

[Dat Ei]

Re: Unable to write to remote drive

Hey RonM,

I'll try that sometime, but it's really not convenient.

this is just for finding the root of your problems. There can be different reasons:

- missing access to the drive
- missing priviliges
- problem with security software (on the local as on the remote computer)
- locking


Dat Ei

[mdalton_5117]

Re: Unable to write to remote drive

I know that this is a really old thread. I found it because of the exact problem described. I tried re-booting, uninstalling db and reinstalling. nothing worked. But I found that if I opened Windows Explorer, and navigated to the remote drive where I wanted to save, it apparently woke up the connection so that db could write to it.

[mville]

Re: Unable to write to remote drive

I know that this is a really old thread. I found it because of the exact problem described. I tried re-booting, uninstalling db and reinstalling. nothing worked. But I found that if I opened Windows Explorer, and navigated to the remote drive where I wanted to save, it apparently woke up the connection so that db could write to it.

If a network drive is not available to windows, then no software will be able to access it. If you resolve the issue with the network drive disappearing in windows, then dBpoweramp will be able to access it ok.