Struggling with File Management on External Drive

[unityco]

Hi there,

I just purchased a Shield TV and I’m pulling out my hair struggling with it!

Long backstory… skip ahead to next paragraph for the short(er)!
I bought it to act as a Plex server when we travel (visiting my parents now.) I set it up fine out-of-the-box, plugging my my existing WD Passport drive directly in. Then I realized I couldn’t download new content directly to the drive so I plugged the drive directly into my parents’ PC and set it up as a network source (with much difficulty due to lacking permissions.) That worked fine, but I realized that’s not the ideal setup for a system that’s supposed to be portable (i.e., my parents’ home isn’t the only place we visit,) so then I realized I COULD download new content to the external drive while plugged into the Shield TV and this is where I sit now.

I have discovered the only folder with full read-write permissions is the NVIDIA_SHIELD folder. Before initializing my Plex server, I moved all my content into that folder. When I did that on a PC, Plex could not find ANY content in those folders. I tried using an Android file manager to move the files using the Shield OS, several file managers did nothing. I’ve since copied the content to my parents’ computer, and I can move the content from there to the SHIELD folder and Plex can read it, but now I’ve got the problem that I’ve maxed out the space on my external drive because there are two copies of my content. I’m reluctant to unplug the drive and do the maintenance on a computer because that seemed to break Plex last time (my Plex DB is stored on the external drive.) The most recent file manager I tried is Solid Explorer, and it keeps telling me, when I try to delete the extra copies, that I need to “grant SD card access… in order to complete this operation” with instructions that make no sense (refers to buttons/commands that are not available.) I’m SO frustrated at this point! Does anyone have any tips to get me up and running and/or advice for the most efficient set-up?

Thanks!

[unityco]

So I did the painful thing, powered down the STV, unplugged the external drive, did the file management on my PC, then plugged it back into the STV and power it back up. My Plex server settings did not persist and I had to set up my library again (about the 12th time so far!) I copied the last files from my parents’ PC to the external drive over the network and things seemed okay, until tonight when I tried to add some new content and somehow ALL my pre-existing content was wiped and all I was left with was the new downloads! Thank goodness I had copied it all to my parents’ computer! Is file management on this thing really that precarious? 'Cause I’m pretty close to returning it at this point. >.<

[Godberd]

I have a similar setup with a WD ‘My Passport’ 3TB drive plugged into the Shield and find it works quite well. You’re right that having most files in the ‘NVIDIA SHIELD’ folder is the right way to go. The file manager I use is X-Plore and that works well once you get used to it. You can even copy files from your PC as X-Plore has a wifi sharing option. Before the last update it would also work over LAN but now seems to insist on Wifi, but still works ok. Another option is to plug a USB drive into your router and access that from the PC and from the Shield. You should persevere though. It’s a learning curve but once sorted out it seems a very good media solution.

I’ve set up RSS feeds for most material, and that comes in via Podcast Addict automatically, so it’s a low maintenance setup - in theory.

[unityco]

…so it’s a low maintenance setup - in theory.

Lol. I love theory. I wish I understood what happened last night when my pre-existing content got wiped. It’s possible it’s not even the STV, but even a drive issue, but man, was it irritating! I’ll try X-Plore for the file management, thanks!