Newbie Q - the best setup: DVD collection & ext HDD

[DerJapaner]

Sorry for asking stupid questions - I have just bought my ATV and love it I am regular reader of this forum, but even though I was trying several ways, I could not find the answer to some basic questions:

i) HOME LIBRARY SETUP: I have started to rip my DVDs through HB and plan to buy an Iomega 1 TB to store the full collection of mine. What is the best way to connect this library (the 1TB drive) to the ATV? ... 160GB are unfortunately not really enough for all. I do have a time capsule and an Imac all connected wirelessly.

ii) SYNC OR STREAM: I am currently still syncing the content to the ATV (Music/Pictures/Movies), should I (do I have to) change this to streaming once I set up the 1TB Iomega drive? Would it be wise to move all Itunes content to the 1 TB drive as Music and Photos are relatively minor in size?

Lastly a flaw I have noticed:
iii) YOUTUBE ISSUE: Most youtube movies do stop pretty much in the middle of the movie. I do have VDSL, so I am pretty sure that it is not a bandwith/connectivity issue. I have read in other forums that this is not a new issue, any solutions?

Thanks in advance & thanks for amazing teamwork in the forums here - always a great place to learn for me!!!

DJ

 

[126351]

It's a good question.

I have considered using Time Capsule and my old G4 Mini but the issues I have is that the external drive never seems to be continuously mounted.

For example, on my first attempt at creating a media server, I had all my iTunes music on the Mini and referenced the paths on my MacBook and iMac to create a library using the music stored on the Mini.

Unfortunately, each time I started up either the MacBook or the iMac, I'd have to manually re-mount the Mini before I could play music.

I gave up because it was a pain in the bum.

 

[pedz]

Can't tell from your post if you are pc or mac.

I am on Vista. I have a 2 terabyte buffalo terastation connect directly to my network via ethernet. I map it to a drive on my computer (G and use that as the path for my iTunes library content and it works perfectly. When I need to reboot the computer it recreates the map on startup so there is never an issue. It should also work equally as well if you connect the external drive directly to your computer. Mounting drives on a pc is pretty stable. I don't have a mac so cannot speak for it on that platform.

I stream all my content and it works very well, no problems. The only thing I sync is photos because you have to sync them to get the nice screen saver with your own photos.

peter

 

[Jeff Hall]

My setup:

• 1TB RAID1 OWC Guardian Maximus
• Connection is via FW400 to my MacBook Pro
• I only sync movies if I plan to watch them with friends (to make sure there is never a stall during playback)
• All CD music has been ripped in Apple Lossless format (9000+ songs!)
• All DVDs are ripped with Mac The Ripper (VIDEO_TS folders are stored on the 1TB drive for safe keeping)
• All movies are encoded with Apple TV preset via Handbrake (animation is de-interlaced in "slower" mode)

I highly recommend you use a RAID1 or RAID5 external drive and a firewire connection.

 

[MikieMikie]

i) HOME LIBRARY SETUP: I have started to rip my DVDs through HB and plan to buy an Iomega 1 TB to store the full collection of mine. What is the best way to connect this library (the 1TB drive) to the ATV? ... 160GB are unfortunately not really enough for all. I do have a time capsule and an Imac all connected wirelessly.

You can use the 1TB drive as an external HDD hooked up to your computer. You can then tell iTunes to not import movies into your local library -- either option->drag onto the library, or set the preference in iTunes.

You cannot hook up an external drive directly to the Apple TV unless you hack it.

If you have an Airport Extreme Base Station, you could hook the 1TB drive to it, but I do not recommend this as throughput drops significantly since the media has to travel back and forth multiple times wirelessly.

ii) SYNC OR STREAM: I am currently still syncing the content to the ATV (Music/Pictures/Movies), should I (do I have to) change this to streaming once I set up the 1TB Iomega drive? Would it be wise to move all Itunes content to the 1 TB drive as Music and Photos are relatively minor in size?

I sync my music and photos. I stream everything else. I bought the 160 GB model to allow for music and photo library growth. You could manage your libraries and move them all to the 1 TB drive, but it isn't a great idea to have all of your media living on one drive unless you back it up regularly.

Enjoy!

 

[DerJapaner]

All,

thanks - net, I should be fine with connecting an external HDD for the movies to the Imac and add files with the option key pressed when adding to Itunes.

MikieMikie - based on your message I assume the ATV is automatically streaming what it has not synced? I noticed that the section of MY MOVIE is appearing now that I sync. Before I had a section of SHARED MOVIE or similar, which is gone now. Any idea why?

Jeff Hall - any benefit of having a RAID HDD, assuming I just want to have one HDD (1TB Iomega) for all my movie content? I thought RAID is mostly for running >1 HDD.

@all - I think I noticed in the beginning the same issue that Banjhiyi had, at least I had to "wake my Imac up", otherwise it would not stream. Any solution to this?

 

[northy124]

To Keep You iMac From Sleeping Go To System Prefs, Energy Saver, Settings For XXX Then Move The Little Arrow Things To Never.

 

[MikieMikie]

All,
MikieMikie - based on your message I assume the ATV is automatically streaming what it has not synced? I noticed that the section of MY MOVIE is appearing now that I sync. Before I had a section of SHARED MOVIE or similar, which is gone now. Any idea why?

You're correct. Any movie that is in your iTunes Library that is not synced will be automagically streamed.

In order for the My Movie section to appear, you must sync something, whether a single tune or all your photos or a single TV show -- something must be synced. This establishes a "home library" that your Apple TV references back on your computer.

Until you establish a syncing computer, accessing streamed content is displayed differently.

As far as your computer going to sleep, I find it easier to have the computer set up to turn off the screen and hard drives when inactive longer than (your preference here). Then, before I head off to slumberland, I just sleep the computer manually. (I have my power button set to put the iMac to sleep). We both enjoy a peaceful night.