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MediaPortal Install Guide - Page 2

post #31 of 1429
12/5/08 at 2:00pm
Thread Starter 
I just updated the guide to include instructions on configuring MPC Video Decoder for hardware acceleration (DXVA) using RadLight Filter Manager.
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post #32 of 1429
12/5/08 at 4:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by daMaster View Post

MediaPortal Install Guide
[*]Extras:
  • If you care for subtitles, you may want to install VsFilter (current version is 2.37) and set Haali Media Splitter to "Autoload VSFilter" but be warned that this breaks hardware acceleration (DXVA) of H.264/AVC/VC-1 video.
  • CoreAVC, Cyberlink PowerDVD 7/8 are alternative H.264/AVC/VC-1 codecs worth installing and testing, but neither are free and CoreAVC does not support hardware acceleration (purely a software decoder, good for less powerful CPUs and those with no GPU hardware acceleration capabilities).

Don't you mean? good for more powerful CPUs

Software decoders aren't much good with less powerful CPUs.
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post #33 of 1429
12/5/08 at 6:10pm
Excellent guide.

Just one question.

I have some HD ripped material and some ripped to non HD. Some of which are the same file (for portable media players).

Using the Moving pictures configuration is there a way to get it to tell you which are HD quality and which are not?
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post #34 of 1429
12/5/08 at 7:49pm
Thanks for the guide!
I have a couple questions...
1. How can I get a Blu-Ray disc to play automatically while in mediaportal. I've tried different setups, but mediaportal keeps trying to open the BR discs as photo discs while my Windows Vista default player (HP DVD Play) tries to launch in the background.
2. How can I streamline my music? Mediaportal essentially lists all folders and subfolders within the source folder instead of just automatically pulling out and listing audio files (ala iTunes).

Thanks again!
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post #35 of 1429
12/5/08 at 10:41pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Flowerday View Post

Don't you mean? good for more powerful CPUs

Software decoders aren't much good with less powerful CPUs.

Nope, I meant what I said and I said what I meant. CoreAVC is the most efficient H.264/VC-1 software decoder and is thus well suited for systems with weaker CPUs and with no DXVA-capable GPU. I just did a fresh, clean Vista SP1 + MediaPortal set-up on a Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop with a measly 1.6 GHz Core Duo CPU. It's able to play 1080p H.264 with CoreAVC and the CPU doesn't go higher than 90% peak. Any other decoder just doesn't cut it (MPC, Cyberlink, ffdshow).
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post #36 of 1429
12/6/08 at 6:54am
I am going to give this a shot. I tried MediaPortal a few weeks ago and just got simply frustrated with the complexity. There wasnt any guide like you have written here, so wtf - i have a couple of hours. XBMC is so simple, but with the Mplayer issues and flaky launchplayer addin - not support by the devs - i will give this another go.

thanks for taking the time and the media portal folks need to take the time to create a user friendly how to for their product.

sometimes i think those who have used it for a long long time just assume everyone else should be able to make it work flawlessly without any real instructions as to how all the peices work together....
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post #37 of 1429
12/6/08 at 7:39am
How can I do the following in the TVSeries plugin

1. Force it to show the episode description all the time. I see a message that it is hidden to prevent spoilers. Only after i watch it does it display.

2. The pictures for some of the shows are not available, e.g. Friday Night Lights. Are these really not available?

Also for the MovingPictures plugin will it automatically update with new movies on my server?

BTW, I still have the issue with a line of pixels showing up on opposite sides mentioned in my earlier post. Therefore, I am using MPC-HC as my external player.
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post #38 of 1429
12/6/08 at 7:59am
daMaster:

Thanks for doing this. I have mediaportal up and running in under an hour with over 600 movies imported.

Couple of questions:
1: TV Series - I can't get mine to look like yours with the film strip view. Do I just need to press the info button like in moving pictures and change the default layout? (not at my HTPC right now so I can't try this)

2: Blu-ray - How did you add the BluRay main menu item? How do you even play bluray from disc, iso, or folder structure format? I tried importing them by moving pictures just ignored it.

3: Can you add info how to remove things from the main menu

Also, you may want to add the disclaimer that the regsvr32 command to alter registry needs to happen as a user with admin access. If you don't open the command window in admin mode, you can a weird error when register the codec.
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post #39 of 1429
12/6/08 at 8:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlienAgenda View Post

I am going to give this a shot. I tried MediaPortal a few weeks ago and just got simply frustrated with the complexity. There wasnt any guide like you have written here, so wtf - i have a couple of hours. XBMC is so simple, but with the Mplayer issues and flaky launchplayer addin - not support by the devs - i will give this another go.

The problem with XBMC is they want it to work on every OS so they don't use directshow and any optimized/specialized routines specific to an OS. I gave it a wirl and it was only good for SD, where media portal rules at all.
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post #40 of 1429
12/6/08 at 8:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by daMaster View Post

Nope, I meant what I said and I said what I meant. CoreAVC is the most efficient H.264/VC-1 software decoder and is thus well suited for systems with weaker CPUs and with no DXVA-capable GPU. I just did a fresh, clean Vista SP1 + MediaPortal set-up on a Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop with a measly 1.6 GHz Core Duo CPU. It's able to play 1080p H.264 with CoreAVC and the CPU doesn't go higher than 90% peak. Any other decoder just doesn't cut it (MPC, Cyberlink, ffdshow).

Sorry, I guess I was reading into it in comparison to a hardware acceleration capable decoder. My bad!
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post #41 of 1429
12/6/08 at 8:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Flowerday View Post

The problem with XBMC is they want it to work on every OS so they don't use directshow and any optimized/specialized routines specific to an OS. I gave it a wirl and it was only good for SD, where media portal rules at all.

I didnt have too much issue with 720p material. 1080 is not so good. I truely hope my media portal experience is better this go around. the potential is great, the confusion was the deal killer. but i will try again. i am nothing if not a glutton for punishment.
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post #42 of 1429
12/6/08 at 9:18am
Does MP use the Microsoft Remote? My wife loves the MS remote, so I would need to use it for everything, just like I would use it in VMC.

Also, I hear people saying that playing and recording TV is problematic in MP. Is this true?

In VMC, it simply works...all the time, every time.

I purchased a new hard drive so I can install MP and play with it...have not gotten it yet though. That way, I can play and if the wife is unhappy, I can easily go back to VMC.

Here's to hoping she likes it...
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post #43 of 1429
12/6/08 at 9:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gshipley View Post

daMaster:

Thanks for doing this. I have mediaportal up and running in under an hour with over 600 movies imported.

Couple of questions:
1: TV Series - I can't get mine to look like yours with the film strip view. Do I just need to press the info button like in moving pictures and change the default layout? (not at my HTPC right now so I can't try this)

2: Blu-ray - How did you add the BluRay main menu item? How do you even play bluray from disc, iso, or folder structure format? I tried importing them by moving pictures just ignored it.

3: Can you add info how to remove things from the main menu

Also, you may want to add the disclaimer that the regsvr32 command to alter registry needs to happen as a user with admin access. If you don't open the command window in admin mode, you can a weird error when register the codec.

I've been wondering about #2 as well. From what I've read, you need a plug-in and a third party (not free) software player for integrated Blu-Ray disc playback:
http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/pl...-player-49357/

To mount .iso disc images, I think you need to install Daemon Tools and point MediaPortal to the appropriate folder under "General" configuration. I'm not sure if Daemon Tools supports Blu-Ray iso though.

I'm also curious as to how everyone organizes their music folder structure to avoid the mess of endless sub-folders. Is there a way to have MediaPortal display just the audio files like iTunes?
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post #44 of 1429
12/6/08 at 9:40am
Pretty good guide so far.

daMaster (or somebody else) would you be willing to create a guide for TV tuner/guide setup as well? That's the part which normally just works in VMC (in most cases, unless you have specific requirements like e.g. multiple guides). How does this work in MediaPortal, is it pretty straight forward as well, or does it require a lot of fine tuning?
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post #45 of 1429
12/6/08 at 10:09am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by sswats View Post

Excellent guide.

Just one question.

I have some HD ripped material and some ripped to non HD. Some of which are the same file (for portable media players).

Using the Moving pictures configuration is there a way to get it to tell you which are HD quality and which are not?

Not yet, but it's already on the list as an enhancement for MovingPictures. See here: MovingPictures issue #17

Quote:
Originally Posted by jagz View Post

Thanks for the guide!
I have a couple questions...
1. How can I get a Blu-Ray disc to play automatically while in mediaportal. I've tried different setups, but mediaportal keeps trying to open the BR discs as photo discs while my Windows Vista default player (HP DVD Play) tries to launch in the background.
2. How can I streamline my music? Mediaportal essentially lists all folders and subfolders within the source folder instead of just automatically pulling out and listing audio files (ala iTunes).

Thanks again!

Not quite automatically, but there is a plugin called HD-starter that allows you to launch PowerDVD from within MediaPortal (I'll add those instructions to the guide). It isn't perfectly seamless but it does the job. As for your music question, I don't use MP much for music...

Quote:
Originally Posted by sdheda View Post

How can I do the following in the TVSeries plugin

1. Force it to show the episode description all the time. I see a message that it is hidden to prevent spoilers. Only after i watch it does it display.

2. The pictures for some of the shows are not available, e.g. Friday Night Lights. Are these really not available?

Also for the MovingPictures plugin will it automatically update with new movies on my server?

BTW, I still have the issue with a line of pixels showing up on opposite sides mentioned in my earlier post. Therefore, I am using MPC-HC as my external player.

1. If you press Info on the MCE remote or right-click it'll bring up a menu while you're in TV-Series. From there go to the options and you'll find an option to "Show/hide spoilers".
2. Sometimes TVSeries doesn't always get pics for every show, and sometimes it does. Check thetvdb.com to see if those shows actually have images online.

As for the "line of pixels" issue, I have no idea what you're talking about and I've never seen that on any of the MediaPortal set-ups I've done. Are you using Vista or XP? EVR or VMR? Clean install?

Quote:
Originally Posted by gshipley View Post

daMaster:

Thanks for doing this. I have mediaportal up and running in under an hour with over 600 movies imported.

Couple of questions:
1: TV Series - I can't get mine to look like yours with the film strip view. Do I just need to press the info button like in moving pictures and change the default layout? (not at my HTPC right now so I can't try this)

2: Blu-ray - How did you add the BluRay main menu item? How do you even play bluray from disc, iso, or folder structure format? I tried importing them by moving pictures just ignored it.

3: Can you add info how to remove things from the main menu

Also, you may want to add the disclaimer that the regsvr32 command to alter registry needs to happen as a user with admin access. If you don't open the command window in admin mode, you can a weird error when register the codec.

1. Do you mean you don't have the fan art in the background? That's because you have to tell Tv-Series to download and use the fan art. To do that, right-click or press Info while viewing a particular series, e.g. Heroes. Then select fan art and you'll be shown a bunch of fan art to choose from.
2. I'll add instructions on the PowerDVD shortcut.
3. I'll add instructions on adding/removing items from the main menu.

Thanks for the tip on regsvr32, will add that as well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by cybrsage View Post

Does MP use the Microsoft Remote? My wife loves the MS remote, so I would need to use it for everything, just like I would use it in VMC.

I guess you missed that in the guide at the very top. It works perfectly with the MCE remote.
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post #46 of 1429
12/6/08 at 1:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by daMaster View Post

I guess you missed that in the guide at the very top. It works perfectly with the MCE remote.

Yep, I did. A lot to read through.

What about the recording and playing of TV, though? Is that a problem? That is what I use my HTPC for, most of the time.

Do I need additional downloads and such to timeslip live TV and to record live TV?

Not to be pendantic, but this stuff just works out of the box with VMC. I am looking at MP because of its ability to do much more than VMC can do...but I also need it to do what VMC does as well.
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post #47 of 1429
12/6/08 at 3:30pm
Hey guys:

Spent all day getting MediaPortal and moving pictures working with about 600 movies in the collection. I have noticed some random crashes when trying to play movies and was wondering if others have seen. Everything works for a while and then all of the sudden if I click on Play, it just hangs. You can still here the sounds if you press back on the remote but it is dead. You can't even kill it via task manager. You have to reboot.... ugh.

Are others seeing this problem?

Running RC4 and .6.1 on Vista 32bit.
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post #48 of 1429
12/6/08 at 3:42pm
gshipley: I noticed this a couple times last night too, but it happened in the midst of my messing with the configuration settings. It may be a dealbreaker if it continues to do it once I get everything set up the way I want it. I may do a clean install once I find my configuration sweet spot as I've read in the MediaPortal forums that this often helps stability issues.

daMaster: Do you know if there's any way to customize the menu selection labels?
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post #49 of 1429
12/6/08 at 3:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jagz View Post

gshipley: I noticed this a couple times last night too, but it happened in the midst of my messing with the configuration settings. It may be a dealbreaker if it continues to do it once I get everything set up the way I want it. I may do a clean install once I find my configuration sweet spot as I've read in the MediaPortal forums that this often helps stability issues.

daMaster: Do you know if there's any way to customize the menu selection labels?

Jagz:

would you mind sending me a PM if you do a reinstall and let me know if it helps the crashing....
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post #50 of 1429
12/6/08 at 3:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GooberedUp View Post

I agre. My HTPC is used for movies and music--no TV. For that reason, VMC is nice. Nothing fancy, just a pleasant simple interface.

Doesn't Vista break something regarding audio playback, as opposed to XP which doesn't?

I playback FLAC for lossless playback using Winamp in XP. I was told that if I went to Vista for my HTPC that there was something up with Vista breaking something in the audio being lossless or something.

Anyone want to clarify?
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post #51 of 1429
12/6/08 at 5:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jagz View Post

To mount .iso disc images, I think you need to install Daemon Tools and point MediaPortal to the appropriate folder under "General" configuration. I'm not sure if Daemon Tools supports Blu-Ray iso though.


i use anyDVD-HD to mounting blueray HD iso's with Daemon tools and its pretty seamless.
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post #52 of 1429
12/6/08 at 10:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeFigueiredo View Post

Doesn't Vista break something regarding audio playback, as opposed to XP which doesn't?

I playback FLAC for lossless playback using Winamp in XP. I was told that if I went to Vista for my HTPC that there was something up with Vista breaking something in the audio being lossless or something.

Anyone want to clarify?

Nothing of which I'm aware. But, there may be something with some configuration that I haven't experienced. Both of my (identical) systems work fine with no audio issues. It's a 780G system, so audio is somewhat limited anyway.
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post #53 of 1429
12/6/08 at 10:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cybrsage View Post

What about the recording and playing of TV, though? Is that a problem? That is what I use my HTPC for, most of the time.

OTA TV? It does support it, but I believe support is a bit spotty as the majority of MP developers are european and ATSC OTA tuners aren't common there. It has good support for DVB cards, however there are no North American sat providers that allow CAM's to be used outside of their own equipment whereas in Europe several providers do.

PS. I've seen ppl using it with HDHomeRun and stuff, don't know how well it works.
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post #54 of 1429
12/7/08 at 5:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlienAgenda View Post

I am going to give this a shot. I tried MediaPortal a few weeks ago and just got simply frustrated with the complexity.

i am an idiot. i tried meediOS a few weeks ago and it was too complicated.
sorry about that. been playing with MyMovies, VMC, MCE 2005, MeediOS, XBMC for the last month trying to find a solution and am obviously getting them confused now....

just started the install of MediaPortal......
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post #55 of 1429
12/7/08 at 7:29am
Did anyone ever find a way to synch subtitles on the fly without resorting to a different player that allows this (Zoom, KMP, etc.)?
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post #56 of 1429
12/7/08 at 7:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stoked View Post

OTA TV? It does support it, but I believe support is a bit spotty as the majority of MP developers are european and ATSC OTA tuners aren't common there. It has good support for DVB cards, however there are no North American sat providers that allow CAM's to be used outside of their own equipment whereas in Europe several providers do.

PS. I've seen ppl using it with HDHomeRun and stuff, don't know how well it works.

This could be a dealbreaker then. I use my HTPC mainly as a PVR, secondly as a movie jukebox, thirdly as a BR and HD-DVD player, and lastly as a music jukebox. Basically, I use it for every possible thing I can think of using a HTPC for (I even surf the web with it on occasion, but not much). No gaming on it...that is what a dedicated (read that as loud and hot) gaming rig is for.

I will still try it out...maybe I will get lucky and find a good replacement for VMC.
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post #57 of 1429
12/7/08 at 10:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cybrsage View Post

This could be a dealbreaker then. I use my HTPC mainly as a PVR, secondly as a movie jukebox, thirdly as a BR and HD-DVD player, and lastly as a music jukebox. Basically, I use it for every possible thing I can think of using a HTPC for (I even surf the web with it on occasion, but not much). No gaming on it...that is what a dedicated (read that as loud and hot) gaming rig is for.

I will still try it out...maybe I will get lucky and find a good replacement for VMC.

I'd still try it out. The nice thing about the way MP does TV is client/server model. You can dump a few cards into a server and stream all your TV over the network to Mediaportal clients. I just don't have experience with OTA since we get only 3 channels here in Canada which doesn't make it worth while to bother.

Oh, another great addon is BigKev's WebInterface for MP. He's added streaming via VLC, remote control, so you don't have to turn on your TV to play your music, etc. and best of all regular expression search recording.
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post #58 of 1429
12/7/08 at 12:06pm
well all the configuration was successful but whenever i attempt to config. moving pictures plugin i get the "mediaportal configuration as encountered a problem...." it trys to run and scan a few more movies but eventually stops responding unit i hit ok on the error popup. then it shuts it all down.
i can configure any other plugin i like without error. tv shows work perfectly.

any ideas or should i post at mediaportal forums?
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post #59 of 1429
12/7/08 at 2:59pm
MediaPortal looks good but what about support for Virtual CloneDrive... Dameon tools sucks.. VCD is a much better program. VCD does have a command line program BUT it seems to not be supported..

Any ideas on how to get this thing to mount an ISO with VCD?
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post #60 of 1429
12/7/08 at 3:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stanglx View Post

MediaPortal looks good but what about support for Virtual CloneDrive... Dameon tools sucks.. VCD is a much better program. VCD does have a command line program BUT it seems to not be supported..

Any ideas on how to get this thing to mount an ISO with VCD?

Search the MP forums. I recall someone hacked in VCD support himself, but you'd probably have to request the changed files for RC4.
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