Viewing recordings from a USB hdd. (T4)

[Star6key]

When watching recorded files, I use 'time skipping' a lot. This by itself is not a problem, but when I am also hdmi recording, the time skipping will occasionally cause 'tearing' (which lasts a few seconds) in the recording (this doesn't happen when recording FTA). I have come to 'accept' this.

What I am thinking of doing is adding a portable usb hdd, moving the recorded files to this (probably running a script to do this each night), and watching from there.
Are there any issues in regards to response time when time skipping (or any thing else) from a usb drive?

edited for quasi-correctness.

[MrQuade]

When watching recorded files, I use 'time shifting' a lot.

Just to get the terminology correct here. Do you mean "trickplaying" rather than "timeshifting"? ie. You start playback of a recording and skip around a lot? Or are you specifically talking about playing back a recording in progress and then skipping about?

When you get tearing in the HDMI recording, are you talking about watching the recording while it is still in progress, and glitches happen when you trickplay, or do you get random glitches just by playing the recording while in progress?

[Star6key]

When watching recorded files, I use 'time shifting' a lot.

Just to get the terminology correct here. Do you mean "trickplaying" rather than "timeshifting"? ie. You start playback of a recording and skip around a lot? Or are you specifically talking about playing back a recording in progress and then skipping about?

When you get tearing in the HDMI recording, are you talking about watching the recording while it is still in progress, and glitches happen when you trickplay, or do you get random glitches just by playing the recording while in progress?

'Trick Play' is a ridiculous term and is meaningless in my world.
I should have said time skip (but in context, I did say 'When watching recorded files, I use 'time shifting' a lot.')
Anyways...
The tearing occurs on the hdmi file 'being recorded'. I assume it is the time skipping, as really not much else makes sense, and it doesn't occur often. I've noticed it more in the last few days as I have been recording Netflix pretty much non stop in that time, and have also been watching some of those recordings.

Personally, I think it is an issue with the hdd not being able to keep up with the hdmi recording and my constant time 'skipping'. It's something that has been happening from the beginning (3 years), but it's not a big deal.

Soooo... any feedback on my original question?

[MrQuade]

'Trick Play' is a ridiculous term and is meaningless in my world.

But a recognised term nonetheless.

I should have said time skip (but in context, I did say 'When watching recorded files, I use 'time shifting' a lot.')

Yes, I did guess from the context, but the term "time shifting" does have a specific meaning when it comes to a PVR, which is different to what you meant.
Perhaps the most accurate would be "executing trickplay actions while chaseplaying a recording".
Apologies, I'm not trying to be annoying, but it really is *so* important to be precise when describing problems so that the issues can hopefully be reproduced and investigated by others.

The tearing occurs on the hdmi file 'being recorded'. I assume it is the time skipping, as really not much else makes sense, and it doesn't occur often. I've noticed it more in the last few days as I have been recording Netflix pretty much non stop in that time, and have also been watching some of those recordings.

It would be good to see if you could narrow down what sort of actions cause the problem with some specific experimentation.

Personally, I think it is an issue with the hdd not being able to keep up with the hdmi recording and my constant time 'skipping'. It's something that has been happening from the beginning (3 years), but it's not a big deal.

Soooo... any feedback on my original question?

Possible, or it is some sort of bus contention between the transcoding hardware and the SATA controller.
Someone like PeterU would know far more than I could speculate on.

[Star6key]

...
Possible, or it is some sort of bus contention between the transcoding hardware and the SATA controller.
Someone like PeterU would know far more than I could speculate on.

I'm going to stop you there. I really have no interest in trying to fix the issue, because it will take 'a lot' of experimentation to narrow down, and frankly it is not worth the effort. I do though, appreciate you trying to help in that aspect.

I am only interested in knowing if there are any issues with using a usb hdd in the following setup -

FTA recorded to usb drive
hdmi recorded to internal drive, which would then be moved to usb drive
All recordings viewed on usb drive.

I value my hdmi recordings much more than the fta crap.

[peteru]

Lack of correct terminology makes it difficult to comprehend the problem.

Trick play actually means viewing content at any speed other than normal playback speed. This includes pausing the stream, playing in slow motion, fast forward or reverse.

Just skipping from one place to another is actually seeking.

So, getting back to the problem, I don't think that HDMI recording dropouts would be related to the HDD, unless the HDD is malfunctioning quite badly. However, if it did malfunction that badly, you would see the same issues when recording free to air TV. It may help to perform some controlled tests to see if HDMI recording drop outs are caused by seeking, trick play, autoresolution changes, switching channels, starting/stopping file playback, etc.

I think that there has always been a bug that if you are recording HDMI input and switch viewing between HDMI input and other sources, you get a brief dropout in the recording. I think this is inevitable, because the HDMI input has to be stopped in order to connect both the (recording) transcoder and video output when trying to view HDMI input. When you switch away, the HDMI input has to be stopped, disconnected from the video output and then restarted with just the transcoder connected. To prevent this, one would have to disallow viewing HDMI input while it is being recorded, such that the path between HDMI input and the transcoder never needs to be interrupted. Both alternatives suck, just in a different way.

[Star6key]

Just skipping from one place to another is actually seeking.

This is what I do (don't use fwd/rew). Soooooo... 'Seeking' it is!

...
I think that there has always been a bug that if you are recording HDMI input and switch viewing between HDMI input and other sources, you get a brief dropout in the recording. I think this is inevitable, because the HDMI input has to be stopped in order to connect both the (recording) transcoder and video output when trying to view HDMI input. When you switch away, the HDMI input has to be stopped, disconnected from the video output and then restarted with just the transcoder connected.

I believe this would explain what happens, perfectly, as I tend to also jump from one TV hdmi input to another as well (I can't seem to stay in one place at all... ). As I've said before, I've learnt to live with it. Having said that, my plans for an additional hdd would be come pointless, as that would not prevent the 'tearing'. Oh well, I'm finding that a 2TB drive doesn't seem to be enough anymore.
Now, if I could just work out how to format the usb drive on the T4...

[prl]

...
Now, if I could just work out how to format the usb drive on the T4...

Sneakily hidden away in MENU>Setup>Storage>Format HDD, though on my test U4, the list of devices there doesn't seem to generate any sort of user-friendly name for my USB thumb drive (even though it has a volume label). It just shows the capacity in GB in its entry.

Using the UI, you can only format drives on the T/U series to Linux ext4 format. Is that what you want?

It's possible to format drives as ext2, ext3, ext4, and FAT32 using the commandline interface, but if ext4 isn't what you want, they don't have much to recommend them, either.

[Star6key]

...
Now, if I could just work out how to format the usb drive on the T4...

Sneakily hidden away in MENU>Setup>Storage>Format HDD, though on my test U4, the list of devices there doesn't seem to generate any sort of user-friendly name for my USB thumb drive (even though it has a volume label). It just shows the capacity in GB in its entry.

Using the UI, you can only format drives on the T/U series to Linux ext4 format. Is that what you want?

It's possible to format drives as ext2, ext3, ext4, and FAT32 using the commandline interface, but if ext4 isn't what you want, they don't have much to recommend them, either.

I will grant that you do have your funny moments Prl.

Yes, I did check there, but there is no usb drive only the internal.

It was originally formatted using ntfs, but I think I screwed up the file system at some point. Windows explorer can't see it (but device manager knows there is a scsi device connected, so I would assume it is functional).

How can I get the T4 to format the drive? Will I have to remove the internal drive and put this one in it's place? (assuming the usb drive is fine)

edit - For now, I will be using the drive just for the T4, so ext4 is fine.

[MrQuade]

You may need to re-partition the drive so that you can then format the new partition with either Windows or the T4.

On an unrelated note, and this is only unsolicited advice, so feel free to ignore it, but I had thought that you were mostly recording live events off pay-TV. It seems like a waste of your time to be recording material from Netflix when you can simply line up some torrents rather than babysitting a network stream.

[Star6key]

You may need to re-partition the drive so that you can then format the new partition with either Windows or the T4.
...

Fair enough.

...
On an unrelated note, and this is only unsolicited advice, so feel free to ignore it, but I had thought that you were mostly recording live events off pay-TV. It seems like a waste of your time to be recording material from Netflix when you can simply line up some torrents rather than babysitting a network stream.

I record a little from column a, and a little from column b.
I do use channel BT, but only for things we don't have access to.
As for time, that, I have plenty of.

[Star6key]

So I've formatted the drive, and it's ready to go.
Created a bookmark for a 'movies' folder at media/usb/usb movies.
Changed the default timer recording location to the above bookmark, and kept the instant recording location as media/hdd/movie.
Setup a timer and also did an instant recording, and they went to their respective locations. So far so good.

Now, is it possible to display a bookmark link in a Media list? e.g.

..
Folder1
Folder2
Bookmark1 (which would be media/usb/usb movies)
Recording1
Recording2
Recording3
etc.

I use OverlayHD and can't see anyway of doing this.
The best that I can come up with is setting a colour button to 'Location', and then choosing the bookmark link from the list that comes up. This is a little clunky, but I guess it serves its purpose.

Another question or 3. Having set the default timer recording location to the usb drive, what happens if the drive is offline for some reason? Do you just lose the timer recordings (ie they don't fire)? Is it possible to have them record to the internal drive if the usb drive is not detected?

[prl]

...
Now, is it possible to display a bookmark link in a Media list? e.g.
...
I use OverlayHD and can't see anyway of doing this.

No, and it's not something under the control of the skin. Though it seems an interesting idea to think about doing.

The most popular workaround is to use symbolic links, but doing that has an unfortunate side-effect on moving things to trash. The trash system thinks that the files are actually on the internal HDD, and will copy/delete them to the HDD trash when you do a "Move to trash", instead of the much faster operation of moving them to the trash on the device where they are.

Another question or 3. Having set the default timer recording location to the usb drive, what happens if the drive is offline for some reason? Do you just lose the timer recordings (ie they don't fire)? Is it possible to have them record to the internal drive if the usb drive is not detected?

IIRC there is fallback code that does something sensible, but I can't remember exactly what it does.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

...Now, is it possible to display a bookmark link in a Media list? e.g.

..
Folder1
Folder2
Bookmark1 (which would be media/usb/usb movies)
Recording1
Recording2
Recording3
etc.

I use OverlayHD and can't see anyway of doing this.
The best that I can come up with is setting a colour button to 'Location', and then choosing the bookmark link from the list that comes up. This is a little clunky, but I guess it serves its purpose.

Using File Commander, you can create a symbolic link to that directory (/media/usb/usb movies) on the USB drive (but note the trash issue prl points out).
Press NEXT to swap panes to the right.
Open /media/hdd/movie directory
Press PREV to swap panes to the left
Open /media/usb/usb movies
Press "3" to create a link to "usb movies" in the directory in the right-hand pane

Pressing MENU whilst in File Commander gives you a list of commands/actions.

If you create the link in the wrong location, you can move it, You can also rename it via the media player.

Another option is to assign the target USB directory as a 'Goto' button in media player (i.e. a single-button press to directly open the directory). I think it first needs to be bookmarked (which you've done). MEDIA>>MENU>>Settings, page down (CH-) to a button you want to assign the Goto, keep scrolling until "Goto: /media/usb/usb movies" appears. GREEN/OK. Bob's your uncle.

Another question or 3. Having set the default timer recording location to the usb drive, what happens if the drive is offline for some reason? Do you just lose the timer recordings (ie they don't fire)? Is it possible to have them record to the internal drive if the usb drive is not detected?

The last time something like this happened to me, my T2 'lost' its internal HDD and instead recorded all timers onto my T4's /media/hdd/movie since it was shared.

[Star6key]

...Now, is it possible to display a bookmark link in a Media list? e.g.

..
Folder1
Folder2
Bookmark1 (which would be media/usb/usb movies)
Recording1
Recording2
Recording3
etc.

I use OverlayHD and can't see anyway of doing this.
The best that I can come up with is setting a colour button to 'Location', and then choosing the bookmark link from the list that comes up. This is a little clunky, but I guess it serves its purpose.

Using File Commander, you can create a symbolic link to that directory (/media/usb/usb movies) on the USB drive (but note the trash issue prl points out).
Press NEXT to swap panes to the right.
Open /media/hdd/movie directory
Press PREV to swap panes to the left
Open /media/usb/usb movies
Press "3" to create a link to "usb movies" in the directory in the right-hand pane

Pressing MENU whilst in File Commander gives you a list of commands/actions.

If you create the link in the wrong location, you can move it, You can also rename it via the media player.

Another option is to assign the target USB directory as a 'Goto' button in media player (i.e. a single-button press to directly open the directory). I think it first needs to be bookmarked (which you've done). MEDIA>>MENU>>Settings, page down (CH-) to a button you want to assign the Goto, keep scrolling until "Goto: /media/usb/usb movies" appears. GREEN/OK. Bob's your uncle.
...

I've been banging my head on the desk for 30 minutes wondering why I can't get this to work. It's only after going into the file commander menu and actually reading what the options do, that I worked it out.

"Open /media/usb/usb movies"
should actually have read "Open /media/usb, and highlight 'usb movies".

What was happening was that I was going into the 'usb movies' directory, and the <Parent Directory> was highlighted.
When I pressed 3 then Yes, the link wasn't created, but there was no error message (maybe there should be one).

Anyways, it's all good now. Thanks GG.

edit - I did think about using the goto shortcuts, but then I would have had to use 2 colour buttons, one for each drive. That's why I thought the Locations shortcut was good (but the links are even better ).

As for the 'Trash' issue... I am
I had a test recording of 415mb. When I deleted it, it went into a Trash folder on the USB drive.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

I've been banging my head on the desk for 30 minutes wondering why I can't get this to work. It's only after going into the file commander menu and actually reading what the options do, that I worked it out.

"Open /media/usb/usb movies"
should actually have read "Open /media/usb, and highlight 'usb movies".

Sorry, I was working off memory

As for the 'Trash' issue... I am
I had a test recording of 415mb. When I deleted it, it went into a Trash folder on the USB drive.
8192_0_1_0_0_0_0_0_0_0.jpg

Okay, perhaps the trash issue is only with shares, perhaps even only with FSTAB shares

[Star6key]

Sorry, I was working off memory
...

Ahhhh, don't worry about GG. It's all good.

...
Okay, perhaps the trash issue is only with shares, perhaps even only with FSTAB shares

No idea. Maybe Prl can shed some light.

[Star6key]

Not sure if this is an issue with Overlayhd, or the enigma2 code.
I have created symbolic links to the movie files on both the internal and usb drives. I flip-flop between the 2 and the location that shows in the top right keeps increasing -

Exiting the media screen doesn't clear it.
Running version 1.64

[MrQuade]

Not sure if this is an issue with Overlayhd, or the enigma2 code.
I have created symbolic links to the movie files on both the internal and usb drives. I flip-flop between the 2 and the location that shows in the top right keeps increasing -

That's not a bug, it shows that way because you actually are going deeper and deeper into the filesystem. If you create symbolic links to make it look like two directories are sub-directories of eachother, then you will create an infinite "hole" like this. The symlinks aren't just bookmarks, they are treated kind-of as if they are proper subdirectories by the filesystem.

I'd recommend you create the links in your movie root location only and map a colour key to as a shortcut to return home when you need to, or navigate back using the .. directory.

[IanSav]

Hi Star6key,

As MrQuade explained, this is not an issue with OverlayHD. It isn't actually an issue at all but a reaction to the way your file system is organised.

Regards,
Ian.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

...edit - I did think about using the goto shortcuts, but then I would have had to use 2 colour buttons, one for each drive. That's why I thought the Locations shortcut was good (but the links are even better ).

I didn't realise that your reference to mapping two buttons & drives was actually referring to the USB drive and the internal drive, given what you've posted in the OverlayHD topic. You may already have Home mapped to a button, as by default the Home location is mapped to the TV button (bottom of T2/3/4 remotes), and TV/Radio button for a U4. So that's a quick one-button return to /media/hdd/movies.

Given the above, you could still map, say, RED as Goto: USBmovies and long-RED as Location and do away with the symbolic link.

[prl]

...
I'd recommend you create the links in your movie root location only and map a colour key to as a shortcut to return home when you need to, or navigate back using the .. directory.

There's a button mapped to that in the media selection list already: TV -> Home.

[Star6key]

Not sure if this is an issue with Overlayhd, or the enigma2 code.
I have created symbolic links to the movie files on both the internal and usb drives. I flip-flop between the 2 and the location that shows in the top right keeps increasing -

That's not a bug, it shows that way because you actually are going deeper and deeper into the filesystem. If you create symbolic links to make it look like two directories are sub-directories of eachother, then you will create an infinite "hole" like this. The symlinks aren't just bookmarks, they are treated kind-of as if they are proper subdirectories by the filesystem.
...

Begrudgingly, I accept your explanation.

...
I'd recommend you create the links in your movie root location only and map a colour key to as a shortcut to return home when you need to,
...

This doesn't work (possible bug?).
'Home' is set to media/hdd/movie (using the TV button). If you are already 'home' and press it again, it brings up the Select Location' screen as normal. However, if I am currently in the usb media screen (media/usb/usbmovies) and press the 'home' (TV) button, it still brings up the select location screen. I would have expected it to go to media/hdd/movie.

...
or navigate back using the .. directory.

This is a feasible solution, but instead I created a 'goto' shortcut back to 'home' (media/hdd/movie) and assigned it to a colour button. However, this brings up another problem, which I will mention in the OverlayHD thread (nothing's ever easy ).

edit - so apparently, I have my threads mixed up.

[Star6key]

...
I'd recommend you create the links in your movie root location only and map a colour key to as a shortcut to return home when you need to, or navigate back using the .. directory.

There's a button mapped to that in the media selection list already: TV -> Home.

See my previous post about an issue with this.

[prl]

...

...
Okay, perhaps the trash issue is only with shares, perhaps even only with FSTAB shares

No idea. Maybe Prl can shed some light.

I was going off memory, too, and I should have mentioned that.

My memory of the problem was that it was with moving items on network shares to trash, but I don't think it should matter whether it's on USB or on a network share.

The code that finds the appropriate trash directory looks like it does exactly the right thing, and has done for a very long time (from before the T series existed).

I'm not sure any more about exactly what the original problem was.

[prl]

...
This doesn't work (possible bug?).
'Home' is set to media/hdd/movie (using the TV button). If you are already 'home' and press it again, it brings up the Select Location' screen as normal. However, if I am currently in the usb media screen (media/usb/usbmovies) and press the 'home' (TV) button, it still brings up the select location screen. I would have expected it to go to media/hdd/movie.

It works just fine for me. If I navigate to /media/usb/movie via a symbolic link (or by using Location), and then press TV (Home), I get sent straight back to /media/hdd/movie.

But what do you have your default recording directory set to? Mine is /media/hdd/movie.

By the way, "/media/usb/movie" and "media/usb/movie" mean quite different things in the Unix filesystem (just as "\media\usb\movie" and "media\usb\movie" mean different things in DOS/Windows, though the differences in meaning aren't the same on the two systems).

"/media/usb/movie" and "media/usb/movie" only refer to the same place if your current directory is the root directory ("/").

[Star6key]

I am afraid my issue with flip-flopping from HDD to USB drives has burrowed it's way into this thread. Sorry Ian.
However, I do have a problem with assigning a 'goto' link to a visible colour button, in that the text of the link (Goto: /media/hdd/movie) wraps to the next line (and outside of the button area), making it almost unreadable. I know there's probably not much you can do, but I was thinking that if the text on the first line could start a little higher, then both lines would be easier to read. Obviously if there's more than 2 lines, then it's probably a lost cause.

[prl]

...
However, I do have a problem with assigning a 'goto' link to a visible colour button, in that the text of the link (Goto: /media/hdd/movie) wraps to the next line (and outside of the button area), making it almost unreadable. I know there's probably not much you can do, but I was thinking that if the text on the first line could start a little higher, then both lines would be easier to read. Obviously if there's more than 2 lines, then it's probably a lost cause.

There's even less room for text in the Full-Metal-Wizard button hints (because of their curved ends).

[Star6key]

...
This doesn't work (possible bug?).
'Home' is set to media/hdd/movie (using the TV button). If you are already 'home' and press it again, it brings up the Select Location' screen as normal. However, if I am currently in the usb media screen (media/usb/usbmovies) and press the 'home' (TV) button, it still brings up the select location screen. I would have expected it to go to media/hdd/movie.

...
But what do you have your default recording directory set to? Mine is /media/hdd/movie.
...

Dammit... that's the problem.

Default movie location - /media/hdd/movie/
Timer recording location - /media/usb/usbmovies/
Instant recording location - /media/hdd/movie/

So it would seem to be working as normal, just not the way I want it to.
No problem. I'll stick with the goto link assigned to a colour button.

[prl]

...
This doesn't work (possible bug?).
'Home' is set to media/hdd/movie (using the TV button). If you are already 'home' and press it again, it brings up the Select Location' screen as normal. However, if I am currently in the usb media screen (media/usb/usbmovies) and press the 'home' (TV) button, it still brings up the select location screen. I would have expected it to go to media/hdd/movie.

...
But what do you have your default recording directory set to? Mine is /media/hdd/movie.
...

Dammit... that's the problem.

Default movie location - /media/hdd/movie/
Timer recording location - /media/usb/usbmovies/
Instant recording location - /media/hdd/movie/

So it would seem to be working as normal, just not the way I want it to.
No problem. I'll stick with the goto link assigned to a colour button.

If I change those to be the same on my test U4, TV (Home action) still takes me straight back to /media/hdd/movie from /media/usb/movie, whether I get to /media/usb/movie via a symbolic link or not. The Home action will go to Default movie location if it exists, and the fallback recording directory if it doesn't.

Also, pressing TV (Home action) while I'm in Default movie location (/media/hdd/movie) doesn't bring up the Select Location screen.

I don't know why I'm seeing different behaviour from what you are.

[Star6key]

Dammit... that's the problem.

Default movie location - /media/hdd/movie/
Timer recording location - /media/usb/usbmovies/
Instant recording location - /media/hdd/movie/

So it would seem to be working as normal, just not the way I want it to.
No problem. I'll stick with the goto link assigned to a colour button.

If I change those to be the same on my test U4, TV (Home action) still takes me straight back to /media/hdd/movie from /media/usb/movie, whether I get to /media/usb/movie via a symbolic link or not. The Home action will go to Default movie location if it exists, and the fallback recording directory if it doesn't.

Also, pressing TV (Home action) while I'm in Default movie location (/media/hdd/movie) doesn't bring up the Select Location screen.

I don't know why I'm seeing different behaviour from what you are.

Just to avoid mass confusion, I've dusted off the cobwebs on the T4 remote (always use the harmony 650) and have started from scratch.

Pressing the 'media' button from live tv takes me to /media/hdd/movie/
Press media again and it shows the Select Location screen
Press exit, back to /media/hdd/movie/
Select the usbmovies symbolic link and it takes me to /media/hdd/movie/usbmovies (which is the usb drive media screen)
Press the 'media' button and it shows the Select Location screen.
If I press Exit twice, I go back to live tv.
Pressing the 'media' button takes me to /media/hdd/movie/usbmovies (which is the usb drive media screen)

Wait... you have a U4 and I have a T4. Maybe some fundamental differences in remote button behaviour?

edit - Prl, can we maybe take these posts out of here as they are not OverlayHD related, and put them into my thread -viewtopic.php?f=53&t=12500

[prl]

...
Just to avoid mass confusion, I've dusted off the cobwebs on the T4 remote (always use the harmony 650) and have started from scratch.

Pressing the 'media' button from live tv takes me to /media/hdd/movie/
Press media again and it shows the Select Location screen
Press exit, back to /media/hdd/movie/
Select the usbmovies symbolic link and it takes me to /media/hdd/movie/usbmovies (which is the usb drive media screen)
Press the 'media' button and it shows the Select Location screen.
If I press Exit twice, I go back to live tv.
Pressing the 'media' button takes me to /media/hdd/movie/usbmovies (which is the usb drive media screen)

Just to clarify, haven't suggested in anywhere in this discussion using MEDIA to return to the Default movie location. I've only suggested using the Home assignable function in the media selection screen, which is by default assigned to the TV key. The MEDIA button is not assignable in that way.

Wait... you have a U4 and I have a T4. Maybe some fundamental differences in remote button behaviour?

Already thought of that. I've already the debug logs to ensure that the RADIO/TV button on the U4 remote sends the KEY_TV code, and it does. But the problem seems to be that you're pressing a different button entirely.

edit - Prl, can we maybe take these posts out of here as they are not OverlayHD related, and put them into my thread -viewtopic.php?f=53&t=12500

Done, as you can see.

[Star6key]

...
Just to clarify, haven't suggested in anywhere in this discussion using MEDIA to return to the Default movie location. I've only suggested using the Home assignable function in the media selection screen, which is by default assigned to the TV key. The MEDIA button is not assignable in that way.
...

I'm getting a headache.

Ok, so I've assigned the TV button to goto /media/usb/usbmovies, and I have a colour button to get back. So effectively, I no longer need the symbolic link in the /media/hdd/movie/ directory which saves me a line of 'screen real estate'.

I think I'm well and truly done (as I'm sure you are too ).
Thanks for all your help Prl.