How Do You Get the Apple TV App to Refresh?

[NateRichardson]

I have my movie library on a separate SSD drive attached to my Mac Mini via thunderbolt. I share my library by turning Media Sharing on the Mac Mini.

I also have a MBP, and when I tape a movie on my TiVo, I pull it from TiVo onto my MBP and convert it to .MP4 format, and then add it to my movie collection. On my MBP I open the Apple TV app, look at Library > Movies, and there my new movie is, right at the top of the list when sorted chronologically.

On both the MBP and the Mac Mini, I set my TV app to use the movie library that sits on the connected SSD drive. Both computers point to the identical folder on the identical drive. I have no other location where I keep my movies.

But while I see my new movie on the TV app on my MBP, if I go to the TV app on my Mac MinI, I do not see the new movie in the list. I can manually File | Import that movie, and then it shows. But really it should already be there since it’s pointing to the same location as my MBP. I can close the TV app on my Mac Mini, then reopen, but nothing changes. I have to manually import it.

So why doesn’t my TV app refresh on my Mac Mini? Why must I import on both machines when it’s just the one library?

Latest software on both machines.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

My interpretation of your post first implies that you are storing these movies you are making in 2 places even though you think you are storing them in one. "pull from Tivo, convert to .mp4, add to movie collection" What movie collection? That reads like you are opening the AppleTV app on the MBpro and dropping it in there. If so, it is not a copy stored on the Mac Mini's SSD but a second (original) copy stored on the MBpro.

If you want to test this guess, right click on the a few of the same movies available on both Mini and Pro, "Get Info", "File" tab and compare where the movie is stored in "location." I suspect you are going to discover that at least some of your movies are stored in 2 places (as 2 copies): Mac mini on the attached SSD, MBpro somewhere on the MBpro internal storage. This is an easy thing to do when using 2 Macs to make/manage media.

If you want to quickly FIND the dual copy files, take the MBpro outside the reach of your home network and then see which of these video files will play in the AppleTV app. All that play are NOT coming from your Mac Mini SSD if you are no longer connected to your home network. Instead, they are copies stored on the MBpro.

If you want to make it work as described, think of all media storage as needing to be in one place: that SSD attached to your Mac Mini. If so, getting all files there needs to be in the chain of you what you are doing:

• Pull from Tivo,
• convert to .mp4,
• transfer to Mac mini,
• store on SSD (attached to Mac Mini),
• drop into Mac Mini AppleTV app (on Mac Mini)

That should make it immediately visible to the Mac Mini AppleTV app and any AppleTV box (or iDevice) that shares that same library via home sharing.

Your MBpro would then have access to that new file by also leaning on the home sharing library too- just like AppleTV- instead of doing what I think you are doing which is actually having a second (original) copy on the MBpro because you may be thinking that simply dropping the converted file into the MBpro version of the AppleTV app somehow reverse shares it to Mac Mini, perhaps somehow putting it on the SSD attached of Mac Mini too.

A simpler version of this thinking is to imagine NO MBpro at all. Now all gets done with Mac Mini and you only import videos into Mac Mini AppleTV app. With it as home share hub, AppleTV, iPhone or iPads on home sharing would also have access to that library. Now, say, later you buy MBpro and link it to the library, it too will have access to all of the files via home sharing.

As is though, you seem to possibly think that dropping files in either MBpro or Mac Mini AppleTV app should add it to home sharing for the other devices. The better approach is to make the fixed device- the Mini- the media "master librarian" (keeper of the home sharing media) at your home and make the other (mobile) devices including MBpro access the media you manage on that Mini.

Even if my guess is wrong, IF the Mac Mini is acting as your central media hub (which appears to be what you want), you should be importing all movies into the AppleTV app on Mac Mini, not MBpro. MBpro then leans on home sharing to access the files in the central hub. I perceive you are doing both some of the time and it's not appearing on the Mac mini when you've only added it to the MBpro version of that app.

 

[NateRichardson]

Thanks, I guess I didn’t explain it well. I only have one movie library — on the external SSD. Movies are not anywhere else in either machine.

The cTiVo app that converts the movie looks to the SSD as the library to add.

Both machines look to the SSD as the library to read.

One gets updated immediatey.

The other does not.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

OK, the key to home sharing in your case is add the movie to the Mac mini version of AppleTV app, NOT the MBpro version. You seem to be sometimes adding to the MBpro version and expecting it to be visible on Mac mini version.

If you add it to the version of the AppleTV app that is core to your home sharing (the Mac mini version), it should then immediately be available to all devices that lean on that home share library. However, adding to the MBpro version of AppleTV only makes the file available on MBpro.

Think of this like having a video file from work. It can exist on your MBpro SEPARATE from your home share files at home. Or think of this like ripped CDs in a family. Your musical taste may differ from a kids taste. So they may have some music they've ripped on their own Mac and you on your yours with both their Mac and your Mac also drawing upon "common ground" music in the home share library.

 

[NateRichardson]

I get what you are saying, but I’d rather not do the work on the Mini. I treat it as a headless server, nothing more. So while I could do it there, it’s not my ideal.

But even here, how does your work video example apply? I only have one folder that holds my movies, and everything points to it.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Nothing wrong with where you make the videos. Keep doing that on your MBpro. It's the part about when you add it to the AppleTV app that counts. That should happen on the Mini if it is your media hub.

It doesn't matter if everything is stored in the same folder (on the SSD). What matters for home sharing is adding files to the version of AppleTV (app) that manages the home shared media. Apparently, that is the Mac Mini version so you need to add files to Mac Mini's AppleTV app if you want them available to all devices on your network.

It doesn't work to add some files to MBpro AppleTV app (even if they are also stored on the same SSD). That's a SEPARATE player here... like storing ripped music on your MB and Junior storing ripped music on their Mac. Junior won't have access to your ripped music and you won't have access to Juniors UNLESS some of that ripped music is moved into the home sharing storage and added to the home sharing computer (Mini in your case).

The work file example could illustrate this. You can add 100 videos to your MBpro while away from your home. Any devices back at home won't be able to see those files in home share. For you, they will be accessible in the AppleTV app on your MBpro and play as you expect... but there is no connection to the home sharing back at home because Mini- not MBpro- is your home sharing Mac "source."

So you get home and "dump" those video files onto the SSD attached to the Mini. They still won't be available for home sharing to other devices like Mini and AppleTV. Why? Because home sharing is not about just having files in the same folder or on the same drive.

When you add them to Mini's version of AppleTV app, that's the key step to make them available to everything that uses home sharing.

 

[NateRichardson]

Ah, that makes sense, thank you.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

While we're at it, you are well set up to build a substantial video library. However, the SSD will limit storage potential. So know 3 things:

1. You can have MANY drives attached full of video. Again, it's about dragging & dropping them into the Mac Mini's version of AppleTV to make all of the videos available on home share. It doesn't matter so much where they are stored of it they are all in one folder/drive or many.
2. HDDs are just as good for media storage as read speed requirements is low for video streams. HDDs being much cheaper than SSDs make them a good choice for this purpose: much more storage for the same or less money.
3. Optionally, you can only drop in a pointer to the file to save space on the Mini's internal drive. I presume you already know this. But if not, in AppleTV (app), "Preferences", "Files" tab, one can uncheck "Copy files to Media folder when adding to library" to basically leave the video file where it is but still add it to the app's library (and home sharing). If that is checked, a copy of the file on the SSD is being copied into the Media folder on the Mac mini when videos are added to the app. Videos can fill up an internal drive quickly. But that unchecked means one could add many TBs of video files without adding any "fill" on the internal drive.

If your Mac Mini has that option checked, you can go in and delete all those videos copied into the Media folder on the Mini to free up all that space, delete the videos from AppleTV app, uncheck that box, then drop all of the videos into AppleTV app again from the SSD (to basically put them back). Instead of copying those files into the Mini, this will only copy a pointer to the files on the external SSD, which will take up nearly NO space at all.

Most people don't know this and "Copy files" is checked by default.

The "catch" in this approach is that there is a HARD dependency on keeping that SSD attached to that Mini. When you sever the connection, the pointers have no files available at which to point. They will still show in the list but will be "File not found" when you try to play them.

 

[NateRichardson]

Thank you, I appreciate that, but I do know about know having Copy Files checked. I also do not say to keep media files organized. Basically I tell it to leave it alone!