ok, so i tried a couple of experiments tonight...
fist i tried i set the watch directory to the main tv pool, and mcebuddy hung with "service unavailable"... i checked the log and i saw that there was an error... it looks like between all the nested folder names and the filenames, some files had more then 256 characters (or whatever the max is) in the name...
i then went down a level in the folder tree and mcebuddy hung with service unavailable again... i got the log and actually started typing here, and was about good five to six paragraphs deep when my htpc screen flickered and suddenly mcebuddy came back to life and started to display the list of queued files... it hasn't started the conversions yet, but at least it's finding the files... then it hung again...
i rechecked the log right now and i do see that it's being populated, so something is happening and it looks like despite the "service unavailable" mce buddy is working.... it may be struggling a bit, but it's working :)
i'll let it run a little longer and see what happens...
as far as mp4's...
i agree with you that mkv is a more modern, and probably a better container, but i still prefer mp4 for a variety of reasons.... there are some minor reasons, like the fact that mp4's tend to stream much better, especially to extenders or using the Plex/Roku combo, but the biggest reason i use mp4's is because they are completely headache free when it comes to compatibility....
mp4's just work, and they work on anything and everything without the need to install any apps or codecs/plugins etc... you want to stick a thumb drive in your tiv - it works.... you want to play them on a dvd player made when hammer pants were the all the rage - it works... there pretty much isn't a device out there that doesn't play this format natively.... i have two small kids that travel between grandparents a lot, so having things that "just work" is a big deal for me... saves me lots of headaches :)
i find handbrake's appletv2 preset to be ideal for me, even though i don't have or even ever seen an appletv... the preset automatically limits the max resolution to 720p, which is where i want to be for backups, and it creates dual audio tracks - AAC and AC3 and does it well even if the source has DTS... having dual audio tracks does bump the file size a bit, but it also ensures that older devices will play the file just fine (using the aac track) and devices that support AC3 will play that track... i am yet to run into a device that couldn't play the mp4's i converted using this preset, so i'm trying to keep as much of my library in that format as possible...
i'll take your advice and start looking through sample profiles to see if i can figure out a way to frankenstein one of my own... let's see what happens :)
thank you very much for your help so far, rboy... i'll post with some updates soon...
fist i tried i set the watch directory to the main tv pool, and mcebuddy hung with "service unavailable"... i checked the log and i saw that there was an error... it looks like between all the nested folder names and the filenames, some files had more then 256 characters (or whatever the max is) in the name...
i then went down a level in the folder tree and mcebuddy hung with service unavailable again... i got the log and actually started typing here, and was about good five to six paragraphs deep when my htpc screen flickered and suddenly mcebuddy came back to life and started to display the list of queued files... it hasn't started the conversions yet, but at least it's finding the files... then it hung again...
i rechecked the log right now and i do see that it's being populated, so something is happening and it looks like despite the "service unavailable" mce buddy is working.... it may be struggling a bit, but it's working :)
i'll let it run a little longer and see what happens...
as far as mp4's...
i agree with you that mkv is a more modern, and probably a better container, but i still prefer mp4 for a variety of reasons.... there are some minor reasons, like the fact that mp4's tend to stream much better, especially to extenders or using the Plex/Roku combo, but the biggest reason i use mp4's is because they are completely headache free when it comes to compatibility....
mp4's just work, and they work on anything and everything without the need to install any apps or codecs/plugins etc... you want to stick a thumb drive in your tiv - it works.... you want to play them on a dvd player made when hammer pants were the all the rage - it works... there pretty much isn't a device out there that doesn't play this format natively.... i have two small kids that travel between grandparents a lot, so having things that "just work" is a big deal for me... saves me lots of headaches :)
i find handbrake's appletv2 preset to be ideal for me, even though i don't have or even ever seen an appletv... the preset automatically limits the max resolution to 720p, which is where i want to be for backups, and it creates dual audio tracks - AAC and AC3 and does it well even if the source has DTS... having dual audio tracks does bump the file size a bit, but it also ensures that older devices will play the file just fine (using the aac track) and devices that support AC3 will play that track... i am yet to run into a device that couldn't play the mp4's i converted using this preset, so i'm trying to keep as much of my library in that format as possible...
i'll take your advice and start looking through sample profiles to see if i can figure out a way to frankenstein one of my own... let's see what happens :)
thank you very much for your help so far, rboy... i'll post with some updates soon...