Amahi Forums

Hi,

Every time I just open an image on my HDA from my Win 7 64 bit computer through Windows Explorer, Greyhole considers the file changed and starts moving one copy of the file to trash, saving and copying etc.

Is this normal behavior? I don't like if Greyhole is doing a lot of unnecessary things every time I access a file. Using resources like disk access and cpu in vain (as it seems) and filling the trash.

The behavior can be seen in the following Greyhole log on Amahi Ubuntu. Note that I just open the image 20120915_143027.jpg to view the image in Windows Photo Viewer. I don't change the file. Not deliberately at least, maybe Windows Photo Viewer is changing some metadata like "last accessed" or something?:

Nov 22 16:16:05 7 sleep: Nothing to do... Sleeping.
Nov 22 16:16:15 7 read_smb_spool: Processing Samba spool...
Nov 22 16:16:15 7 read_smb_spool: Found 3 new tasks in spool.
Nov 22 16:16:15 7 simplify_tasks: Simplifying pending tasks.
Nov 22 16:16:16 7 sleep: Nothing to do... Sleeping.
Nov 22 16:16:26 7 sleep: Nothing to do... Sleeping.
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 read_smb_spool: Processing Samba spool...
Nov 22 16:16:36 6 write: Now working on task ID 302434: write Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:36 6 write: File changed: Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg - 4.31MB
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Will use source file: /var/hda/drives/drive2/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Loading metafiles for Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg ...
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Got 2 metadata files: array ( '/var/hda/drives/drive2/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg' => array ( 'path' => '/var/hda/drives/drive2/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg', 'is_linked' => true, 'state' => 'OK', ), '/var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg' => array ( 'path' => '/var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg', 'is_linked' => false, 'state' => 'OK', ), )
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Will remove copy at /var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Moved copy from /var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg to trash: /var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/.gh_trash/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Drives with available space: /var/hda/drives/drive2/gh (1.00TB avail) - /var/hda/drives/drive1/gh (1,021GB avail)
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Saving 2 metadata files for Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Saving metadata in /var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/.gh_metastore/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Saving metadata in /var/hda/drives/drive2/gh/.gh_metastore/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Copying 4.31MB file to /var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Saving 2 metadata files for Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Saving metadata in /var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/.gh_metastore/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Saving metadata in /var/hda/drives/drive2/gh/.gh_metastore/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: File copy at /var/hda/drives/drive2/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143027.jpg is already up to date.
Nov 22 16:16:36 6 write: Now working on task ID 302435: write Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:36 6 write: File changed: Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg - 4.31MB
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Will use source file: /var/hda/drives/drive2/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Loading metafiles for Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg ...
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Got 2 metadata files: array ( '/var/hda/drives/drive2/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg' => array ( 'path' => '/var/hda/drives/drive2/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg', 'is_linked' => true, 'state' => 'OK', ), '/var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg' => array ( 'path' => '/var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg', 'is_linked' => false, 'state' => 'OK', ), )
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Will remove copy at /var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:36 7 write: Moved copy from /var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg to trash: /var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/.gh_trash/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:37 7 write: Drives with available space: /var/hda/drives/drive2/gh (1.00TB avail) - /var/hda/drives/drive1/gh (1,021GB avail)
Nov 22 16:16:37 7 write: Saving 2 metadata files for Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:37 7 write: Saving metadata in /var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/.gh_metastore/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:37 7 write: Saving metadata in /var/hda/drives/drive2/gh/.gh_metastore/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:37 7 write: Copying 4.31MB file to /var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:37 7 write: Saving 2 metadata files for Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:37 7 write: Saving metadata in /var/hda/drives/drive1/gh/.gh_metastore/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:37 7 write: Saving metadata in /var/hda/drives/drive2/gh/.gh_metastore/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg
Nov 22 16:16:37 7 write: File copy at /var/hda/drives/drive2/gh/Foton/New2012/Mobilfoton/20120915_143028.jpg is already up to date.
Nov 22 16:16:37 7 sleep: Nothing to do... Sleeping.

This happens even if I have mount options defaults,noatime,nofail for the Landing Zone and my two disks in the storage pool.

Happens with other image viewer also and when opening Word files for instance so not just when using Windows Photo Viewer.

Not for sure, but it is possible this would be normal behavior. Is it possible a temp file is being created on the HDA and that is causing this? Can't say I have ever paid attention myself.

Might be something work posting in the Greyhole topic area. The author of Greyhole monitors that area and can further clarify.

Thanks. But I guess this is the Greyhole area of the forum or what do you mean?

Sorry, you are correct. I wasn't paying close attention.

I have also noticed this exact behavior. was there any resolution? I have compared the new image files to the old ones and they seem completely identical. byte size, dates, etc. all the same.

My wild guess is it has something to do with generating the thumbnails.

edit: i even did a md5 comparison and they are exactly the same, so file is not being changed. windows must be doing something though, greyhole is getting triggered for SOME reason.

Also noticed this happens to Thumbs.db every single time you just open the folder in explorer.

Also noticed this happens even if you just SELECT the photo in explorer, you don't even have to open it.

Solution found!

Ok turning off the Details pane in explorer stops it from happening to the image files, however it still does it to the Thumbs.db.

turn off details pane by going to Organize -> layout -> details pane\

Kind of annoying, as it is a nice feature to have.

I suspect this would prevent the problem for word files as well.


You can PROBABLY prevent it doing it to Thumbs.db by turning off thumbnail generation (folder options-> always show icons, never thumbnails) but I like having thumbnails so I'm not doing that.

This would be something good to add to the wiki. Would you be willing to do so? We would greatly appreciate it.

Yes I could do that.

I also confirmed you can stop constant updates to Thumbs.db by turning off thumbnail generation (folder options-> always show icons, never thumbnails) but obviously not having thumbnails is not an option for most people.

I may look further into why explorer causes this, maybe there is a better solution.