[mythtv-users] Settings for videos.

[Stephen Worthington]

On Wed, 21 Nov 2018 19:37:04 -0600, you wrote:

>So a long, long time ago, I decided to add another place for my videos. 
>In addition to /var/lib/mythtv/videos, I also added /var/lib/mythtv/iso 
>(I think this was in the frontend setup). All worked pretty well.
>
>I've been through a few upgrades since then and during one of them, the 
>configuration seemed to change. However, everything still worked fine so 
>I just left it.
>
>Now I want to add some more directories but when I went to look at the 
>configuration, I see some weirdness that appears to have been the result 
>of the above configuration change and I'd like some help reconciling the 
>issue if possible.
>
>So, what it is is that in the storage groups, there is a "Videos" 
>storage group which is set to the aforementioned /var/lib/mythtv/videos 
>and in the settings, there is a "VideoStartupDir", set to be 
>/var/lib/mythtv/iso. I'm wondering what the "correct" way to proceed is 
>and how the directories behave differently (if at all). As I say, they 
>both show up in the videos section in the UI.
>
>My assumption is that the storage group can only be one directory where 
>the settings is a colon (:) delimited list so I should add my new 
>directories there. Presumably I should not also add 
>/var/lib/mythtv/videos (or should I?). Does that sound right?

The old system for videos was the VideoStartupDir setting.  You are
right about that - it is a colon separated list of directories.  The
new Videos storage group is set up the same way as other storage
groups, from mythtv-setup.  You can use both systems at once.  I am
still using the old system, as I believe that if you use the Videos
storage group, then the Alternate Video Player option will not work,
and I need that to work as I have some video files (usually *.wmv)
that will not play in mythfrontend but will with mplayer.  Scanning is
done from in Videos, using M (menu) > Scan For Changes.  It can also
be done from the command line using:

mythtutil --scanvideos

With the storage groups, in order to see any new files, you have to
scan the storage groups.  If you use VideoStartupDir, each time you
enter Watch Videos, all the listed directories will be looked at and
all the files will be displayed.  There is one exception to that - if
you exit and immediately re-enter Watch Videos, it will normally
remember the previous directory scan.  So if I have added new files, I
find that if I was already in Watch Videos, I need to go into
Recordings and out again then back into Videos to make sure it will
see the new video files.  This is actually a good thing - I can
accidentally leave Videos by hitting the left arrow too many times, so
not having to wait a long time for another scan when I re-enter is
very useful.  If you want the metadata lookup, you will need to do a
scan, even using VideoStartupDir.  I do not use the metadata (I have
it disabled), so I can not tell you much more about that.

Note that when using mythtv-setup to change the Videos storage groups,
you do not need to shut down mythbackend first.  Changes to the Videos
storage groups will be seen by mythfrontend on entry to Watch Videos.
All storage groups (not just the Videos ones) have to be accessible
from the mythbackend box.  There is one Videos storage groups list
which is used by all mythfrontend boxes and access to the files is via
mythbackend.

Changes to VideoStartupDir are done in mythfrontend > Setup > Media
Settings > Videos Settings > General Settings > "Directories that hold
videos".  It is a per host setting, so each different mythfrontend box
can have a different set of directories, and those directories need to
be able to be seen from the mythfrontend box.  Access to the files is
directly from mythfrontend.