General/Other Does anyone know if there is there a way to disable the auto update check on startup?

[Havie88]

I was wondering if there was a way to disable to update check on the system startup since it doesn't appear there will be anything in the future? I'm running an older firmware as the "newer" ones don't meet my needs. My concern is if someone besides myself starts the unit, they may not know to hit cancel on that screen or sometimes my Harmony remote doesn't always shut things down properly. I've looked through the system menus on the unit and the forum but wasn't able to see anything I thought was related.

Thanks,
Tim

[jimczyz]

I wish there was, it is irritating.

[Havie88]

Meant to update this sooner, I did end up entering a ticket and they confirmed what I think everyone suspected in that there isn't a way to disable.

[SaturnV]

Yes there is a way (sort of) to prevent auto-update. Simply copy any file called ".nomedia" into any directory/folder you don't want updated. This will prevent update of all files and folders in, or beneath the directory containing the .nomedia file.

One way to create an empty (ie zero size) .nomedia file is to launch Windows Notepad then save it as .nomedia which Notepad will save as .nomedia.txt You can easily rename this in Windows Explorer as .nomedia (without the .txt suffix)

.nomedia is a special Android filename

I normally put a .nomedia file in the DVDFab directory of every drive connected to the DMS. This will prevent auto-update of everything in, or below that directory.

When you want to update the DMS library, simply delete the .nomedia file then either reboot the DMS (to do an auto-update), or my preference is to trigger a manual update from your TV by going into Movies or TV Shows (it doesn't matter which) from the DMS home screen. Scroll down until you find a folder icon with a cog in it called "Manage Library". Click on that then select "Update Library".

When the update is complete, simply copy the .nomedia file back into the DVDFab directory (or whatever folder you are protecting) before you shutdown the DMS. You can have as many of these .nomedia files in any folder you want - and it will always prevent update to every file and folder below it. That way you can protect certain branches you don't need to update. It's also useful when you have media that can't be correctly found by the DMS. For example, I have many TV programmes each in their own folder. Once I know the DMS can't identify the correct TV show or movie, I put a .nomedia file in that directory. This avoids DMS mismatches, or having hundreds of 'not found' programmes or movies in your DMS "Videos" category. These unidentified files can still be run as required from the DMS "Videos" section from the DMS homescreen.

I find it handy to save a backup copy of the .nomedia file in an otherwise empty sub-directory (eg below DVDFab) which I choose to also call .nomedia - just to make it easy to find, but to my knowledge there is no significance to the name of this directory. This is handy to copy back into the DVDFab directory when you want it protected again.

For example:

DVDFab\.nomedia\.nomedia (a backup of the .nomedia file in a folder I also call .nomedia - just to make it easy to find)
DVDFab\.nomedia (the .nomedia file prevents auto-update to all files and folders underneath DVDFab - or whatever folder branch you want to protect


This way, I avoid ALL auto-updates and will only trigger manual updates when I know the DMS has correctly identified all USB drives. This avoids all the pain of having rubbish auto-added to your library database when a USB drive is mis-identified.

Another tip is to create a file or folder in the DVDFab directory with the same name as each of your USB drives (eg "usbA2" or "usbB1") just to make it quick and easy to check if each USB drive has been correctly identified after booting the DMS. With all your media protected from auto-update with .nomedia files, you can shut down the DMS, wait a minute, then reboot and re-check if all drives are correctly identified. Once they are, you know your library will work correctly and if you choose, you can trigger a manual update (after deleting the required .nomedia file(s), safe in the knowledge your disks are correctly identified.

I hope this helps.

[SaturnV]

Update - I keep a backup copy of a .nomedia file in a folder called "nomedia" (or any other name you like) not .nomedia as I said above. I actually have no idea if Android treats a folder called .nomedia in any special way.

However, I do know a file called .nomedia prevents the DMS auto-updating any media in that folder or any sub-folders below it.

[tbrown25]

Tried this on my NAS. Didn't work.

[SaturnV]

That's a shame. I can only assume the .nomedia file on your NAS is being hidden from the DMS? Perhaps it's related to the filesystem used on your NAS? All my disks are Windows-formatted NTFS, but all are either directly-connected USB drives or the internal SATA.

Quote from a Google on "Android .nomedia" :

"A with the .NOMEDIA is an Android No Media file. They’re only seen on Android phones and tablets, or on devices that are connected to an Android device.

These special files never have a file name (i.e., they’re always seen as .nomedia) and are used to tell other apps to avoid scanning for media files in the same folder where the NOMEDIA file exists."

I presume you can see the .nomedia files on your NAS from Windows and the file is, for example in the DVDFab folder? Just in case I misled you when I spoke about keeping a backup .nomedia file in a folder called "nomedia". That's just for convenience and will have zero effect. The .nomedia has to be directly in the top folder of a branch you want to prevent auto-updating eg in the DVDFab folder.

Curiously, and possibly related to this, you never see .nomedia files in the DMS VIDEOS browser from a TV, although they definitely have the desired effect for my directly-connected drives (presumably because the DMS hides system files?) - although there is of course a difference between hiding files from the user and hiding them from Android..

Using this method I never allow auto-updates - I've had too many cases where the DMS misidentifies USB drives then auto-update and duplicates all the media into the library, making a total mess... I protect my media and always double-check all drives have been correctly identified by the DMS before deleting this file (using a share on my Windows PC) then triggering a manual Library Update. When finished I copy my backup of the .nomedia file back into the DVDFab folder. I've been doing this successfully for a long time now. I can't imagine driving the DMS without being able to do this.

Question - what NAS are you using? Some Forum posts indicate problems connecting to certain makes of NAS. I'm thinking of getting one myself but don't want to spend a lot of money, only to find the DMS can't see it! Does the DMS ever misidentify NAS drives like it does for me with USB drives? If it doesn't misidentify drives, then presumably not being able to prevent auto-updates is just a nuisance rather than it screwing up the DMS library?

[tbrown25]

Saturn V
It was my mistake. I failed to remove the ".txt" extension on the .nomedia file. Once I did this, it worked fine.

Thanks for the input. This trick saves me a ;lot of heartburn! My problem was not identify drives correctly, but more the time involved when booting up the DMS and scanning the NAS.

I am using Terramaster F4-210 NAS. (Yes, I know lots of folks don't like them.They are a bit on the slow side but, when I bought it, it was quite inexpensive. Not so much anymore) I have two them, one is connected to the DMS and feeds the poster library. The other is strictly backups of discs (iso format) and is connected to the DMS as a network drive but not added to the library. So far I have had no problems with this setup. The DMS accesses both of them without issues and can playback both DVD and Blu-ray backups. The shares on the NAS added to the library do not get duplicated like USB drives sometimes do.

Note that I have heard that the DMS cannot playback UHD files through a NASA. I have not tried this myself as I don't currently have any UHD media.

[Havie88]

I Just had a chance to give this a try but not sure if I did it right or not. Basically put the .nomedia file on the internal hard drive and USB drive under the DVDFAB directory. When I restarted, I got the message that I was short on movies but I also got the prompt to update to the latest version from SDK 1.0.1.0. I could see all the files were still there by browsing. Removed the .nomedia file and everything came back.

Wondering based on your description if this is to prevent the unit from trying to auto-update the software or the update scan of the media.

Thanks,

[SaturnV]

tbrown25 Glad to be able to help. The .nomedia file is a really useful trick - even if only to speed boot time and save disk wear! Also thanks for the NAS info.



Havie88 I'm no Android or DMS expert, but I don't think the "short on movies" or "update to the latest version from SDK 1.0.1.0." will be anything to do with simply adding a .nomedia file. I'm wondered what version of DMS software you're using if it thinks 1.01.0 is an update! I'm running 2.0.2.1 reasonably happily.

My guess is these prompts were an unfortunate coincidence. All a .nomedia file does is (as my earlier Google reference says) "tell other apps to avoid scanning for media files in the same folder (or below) where the .nomedia file exists". In my quite extensive experience of using these files on my DMS, this doesn't affect any media previously found by the DMS and referenced in its library.

In summary, get your DMS library how you want it, then add .nomedia files to the root of any folder branches you don't want searched (either automatically or a manually). The DMS won't search the folder containing a .nomedia file, or anything below it, but the DMS library is unaffected and still references previously found media.

After you've added more media and want to update the DMS library:

- Simply delete the .nomedia file(s) in the same folder or anywhere above it in the folder hierarchy
- Then trigger a manual "Update Library" (as described above)
- Wait until the update has found your new media
- Copy back the .nomedia file.



For the avoidance of confusion, for example, say you have two main folder branches:

\DVDFab\Movies
\DVDFab\TV Shows

If you copied a .nomedia file into the "\DVDFab\Movies" folder, the next time you trigger a library update, only "\DVDFab\TV Shows" will be searched for new media. However, although \DVDFab\Movies won't be searched, anything previously found by the DMS (before you added the .nomedia file) will still be in the DMS Library and still playable from the Movies poster wall.

On the other hand, if you have a .nomedia file in the "\DVDFab" folder, neither "\DVDFab\Movies" nor "\DVDFab\TV Shows" will be searched on that disk.

[Havie88]

SaturnV, Thank you for the reply. I think we're talking about 2 different types of updates. I was looking to stop the system from trying to update the SDK every time I turn it on. There are some bugs that I've continued to hit with the newer SDKs, most important (for me) is the 3D playback. I think the issue with the "short on movies" may be due to the older version with the internal hard drive. I played around with it some more and it doesn't seem to have a problem on the USB drive.

I appreciate the tip though an will probably put it back on the USB drive to save wear and tear + needing to go back and correct items after the library updates.

Thanks again,

[SaturnV]

Havie88 Sorry about that, I had a different interpretation of your original post, but with hindsight it makes perfect sense! I'm one of the first to be irritated by responders that don't read the original post!

Sadly I have no idea how to stop the software update check (other than update to the current version of course). I had the same reservations about software updates, but on balance, for me the latest version works reasonably well and has a few new features I find useful (especially the ability to delete library entries from the web tool). If you have to stay on an older version, I guess you're stuck with the update notifications..