I have reinstalled b3 (DVD AMD64) 6 times now, for various issues. Notwithstanding those, one of the more enduring ones is network share based media - it has been exactly the same on every install so far.
As soon as the core comes up after install/setup (dual NIC as designed) it immediately detects my Windows PC on the Internal network via the DHCP plugin, identifies it as a File Server and offers up all my shares. I choose the correct one (it is an anonymous access share, no permissions), tell it it can use it automatically and with the LMCE structure. That file structure is already in that share with all my media on it.
I can see updatemedia running, and if I leave it long enough my media starts appearing, or I can force it using the resync option. Either way, I get my media browsable in the media browser, as you would expect, and can play it without any difficulty. But at some point very shortly after this it all disappears! When I try to do a sync again, I can see in the output window that the reason for this is the core thinks the share is offline (says "Device is offline, skipping this file").
However, it definitely isn't offline - not only can I browse the media on the share and play it within the KDE desktop, but if I use the Search function in LMCE's media browser screen, I can find it all and play it there, within LMCE!
I have noticed in various places (logs) and on the console sometimes, errors about CIFS VFS, with return codes like -13, -111, etc. So I think something is going on with the CIFS connection that causes updatemedia and the media browser to think the share is offline and thus not present it, even though it clearly is online.
Have tried rebooting both machines many times, and swapping the NICs (they are completely different NICs, one a PCI the other onboard) both the cables and the swap interfaces option in the admin console. I get the network back, can still browse and play, and ping, but LMCE still thinks it is offline. BTW, one of the many rebuilds was with the CD version and the result was exactly the same - at first it can see the media, displays and plays it, but then it goes off line and never comes back.
I have tried forcibly removing the devices that represent the server and the share, flushing the DHCP lease, then readding the Windows PC to the network and letting the same LMCE installation rediscover and add it (on a new IP address), again it finds and adds the media initially, but then a short time later, declares it offline.
I have logged a Mantis on this, but it doesn't seem to be progressing - at least it has been declared a duplicate of another issue that was purely about mounting internal drives, ie. no CIFS involved.
Has anybody seen this before? Any suggestions on what might be causing it?