Setting up a network source (SMB Shared Folder)

[alexc]

It took me a few tries to figure out how to set up my Shared Folders as a media source in Neutron, so I describe the process here in the hopes that (a) it will help others in the same situation, and (b) it will help the developers to improve the application.

(This is on a Samsung Galaxy Tab. I don't know how different the process will be on other platforms.)

From a fresh install:

INTERFACE LANGUAGE
English (o)
Russian

- left red light lit next to English and pressed 'tick'


MUSIC SOURCE
The music source is required...

- pressed Manual


SOURCE SELECTION
File System
Network

- pressed Network

NETWORK SELECTION
Network View

- pressed Network View

NETWORK SELECTION
192.168.0.204 [wlan0]
(255.255.255.0)

- pressed 192.168.0.204 [wlan0]
CAUTION: Had to wait a long time with no indication that anything was happening. Tempted to give up, believing the operation to have failed.
Sometimes not all of the servers appear in the list, so have to repeat this step.


NETWORK SELECTION
192.168.0.3
MYDOMAIN\PC1

192.168.0.2 [pc2 server (Samba, Ubuntu)]
MYDOMAIN\PC2

192.168.0.5 [Samba Server Version 3.6.9
MYDOMAIN\SERVER1

- pressed and held 192.168.0.5 [Samba Server Version 3.6.9
CAUTION: pressing but not holding here bypasses the samba pasword setup and you will not be able to browse any folders. (No message given but folders are inaccessible)

On the next screen, press username and enter the username; then do the same for the password. Then press tick to go back, and short-press the server to select it.

DIRECTORY SELECTION
... ( )
media ( )
... ( )

- pressed media

... ( )
mp3 ( )
.. ( )

- pressed red light next to mp3
- pressed tick

CAUTION: Sometimes it goes to the main playback screen and it looks like nothing is happening, even though it is scanning. If you wait for ages, the SCAN PROGRESS screen will eventually appear. Other times it goes immediately to the SCAN PROGRESS screen.
If you ever return to this screen, your previous folder selections will not show (the red lights are off). However, the same folders will be scanned again nevertheless.

SCAN PROGRESS

Processed
746
Scanning
smb://192.168.0.5\media/mp3/B

This screen only updates after each folder is processed, so if you have a lot of files in each folder it may look like nothing is happening.
If the scan aborts with no error message, and/or the app crashes, and/or the total number of files is exactly divisible by 1000, then Neutron has hit a dodgy file and exploded. You will need to use the Folders menu item, and a divide-and-conquer strategy, to discover which file it is and remove it.

If all the above works then you can now listen to all the music stored on your shared folders

Alex

[dmitrykos]

Let's check after 1.76 is released. It has bug-fix for the directory enumerating packet. Most probably it is the main cause.

[millenium_neil82]

Hi, I'm having the exactly the same problem with setting up a Samba network source on iPad. Even after I enter the login details, I get the "No Directories Inside " message. Neutron is the only app that cannot access the SMB shared folder. Can anyone please help?

[dmitrykos]

Some SMB/CIFS servers are using extended security authentication protocol. Known devices are all family of Apple devices capable of SMB/CIFS file sharing. But it could be enabled in some distributions of Linux as well. There were changes made to SMB/CIFS implementation as well.

> millenium_neil82

Do you still experience the problem on latest update?

[Birosso]

Download CIFS manager from the play store, add your network location, and let the program mount it in an mnt folder with default settings. Finally, navigate to the directory through Neutron's UI in sources-->Add.

[millenium_neil82]

It was working. But Neutron all of a sudden started to hang, and could not get past the initial loading screen (then abruptly quits). So I uninstalled the app, and reinstalled it. It is now not working. I get "No directories inside" message after I set up the SMB source. I lost the play lists and all. Really frustrating. I can't seem to get this app to run consistently or reliably - on neither iPad or Galaxy S1. What an utterly disappointing piece of app.

Edit: Ok, it's now working, so I take back my comment above. I'm still disappointed that the app suddenly hanging, which lead to my uninstalling the app and losing the playlists...

[millenium_neil82]

It's still scanning, and it's counting up to 80,000 - but I only have 20,000 songs. It seems that it is stuck in a loop - it just keeps scanning even after it scanned the whole songs.

[dmitrykos]

Most probably this is due to a crash bug in SMB/CIFS directory listing code in the current version. It is fixed and let's see if all music files are scanned after next update.