VGP-XL1B Support for Windows XP Applications - Page 4

No need to show the old (ugh!), right? And I assume you will replace the cutoff version with one that shows how it really looks now? Thanks!!!!

No need to repost. Just edit the old post when you get some spare time ...

It looks like this is heavily based on the MediaChanger command line program that I wrote to control the Sony changer. I can't get the downloads in this thread to work. Are they hosted anywhere besides mediadogg.files-upload.com?

I don't own one of these changers anymore (I sold it after the massive rip), but I'm curious to see what others are doing with the code. It would be nice to get a little acknowledgement too.

alex

I'm not a frequent poster, but I do use an obvious screenname

I'm glad that others found the code useful. I'm curious to see if anyone else is doing EAC integration or if you are using other CD ripping software.


On both of my machines (one running XP SP2, one running Vista Ultimate) it tells me to wait for a counter to go to 0 before the download begins. There is no counter.

alex

There is no counter and I've waited over 5 minutes. It takes you to this page:
http://mediadogg.files-upload.com/fi...2/GUI-051x.zip

I really dislike these ad-based file download services. It doesn't look like this zip is large or being widely downloaded, it might make more sense for mediadogg to just distribute it via his server.

I'll PM you, thanks.

alex

I was able to find it on mediadogg.com without all of the advertising getting in the way.

Glad to see that you guys found the code useful and have been able to extend it to meet your needs. I was a little surprised that something like this didn't already exist before I bought the changer and was happy to find the original blog entry which told me the ioctl's necessary to control the device. It was pretty easy to build the command line tool from there.

If anyone builds further CD ripping capabilities that save bit-perfect FLAC images please let me know and I'll update my blog. I have a number of people visiting the two entries on how I ripped my music using this changer.

alex

Alex, I missed these recent posts. You might have forgotten that I emailed you very early on - before I made any changes, to get permission. The fact that it was your source and where to get it was well documented in the thread that spawned this one, but perhaps we were remiss in not adding it to the header for this thread. Anyway, thanks again, for giving that original permission. I've had a blast making changes - basically to add multiple changers, and "load / unload" from IEport. As you know, the code was aleady latent - I just exposed it at the command level.

Back then, you offered to look at my changes and give some advice - still would appreciate a PM if have suggestions. One thing we wanted to do and haven't figured out, is how to automatically associate a drive letter with the changer. Any thoughts?

Edit: By the way, I will also update my web site to explicity acknowledge where I got the orginal mediachanger.exe. And I found my original email, and your reply:


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm glad that you found it helpful and were able to expand on the code.
I'll take a look at your changes soon (although I no longer own the
changer, after ripping all of my CDs I sold it to a friend).

alex

On Sun, 18 Mar 2007, Jimrich wrote:

> Alex, I found out about your mediachanger.exe through AVS Forum. I downloaded it and found it to be very useful, not only for its functionality, but for the excellent tutorial "by example" that it gave me. So I have learned a smattering of stuff about the changer and added some knowledge to my base of almost zero about how to use C++. I stumbled for hours making some simple changes that I'm sure you could have done in minutes - but what the heck, it was fun and I learned a lot!
>
> Now I have a verion of your code that supports multiple changers and compiles without warnings under the latest MS Visual Studio and Visual C++.
>
> Thanks again for your open source. I've attached the code - mostly out of respect. I know you don't really need ME to do any coding for you! (Please don't laugh at my code!)
>

Sorry, I wasn't trying to say that you didn't have permission to make changes. I released the code out there for anyone. I was mostly curious to see what was being done with it and didn't know that there was an active thread on it over here.

I'm glad that it is being extended and used.

I don't know how to associate the changer with a drive letter.

alex

I finally got a version of filters implemented. With this version, GUI-053x, I will take a break and work on some other projects for awhile. If anybody is actually using this code, and finds serious bugs, I will be responsive. Otherwise, I will continue to primarily make changes that I need for myself, and offer them to the forum. I intend to enhance filters, fix the Fullslots / Allslots menu bug (I found it - just not fixed yet), and add client / server (control changers across a LAN). I could also add View Log, Configuration Options, Help and a User Guide, but the low utilization up to this point does not warrant the effort.

The attached file has GUI-053x.exe and GuiFilters.doc, a preliminary user guide for the use of filters.

Filters:

The concept of filters is that they are a set of conditions under which the records in the Directory Scan window are selected or eliminated for display. Each record of the directory listing is passed through this filter. You can define as many filters as you want. Each filter has a name. furthermore, sets of filters are saved in a file. You can create as many filter sets as you like. Each filter set has a default filter, that you identify. When a filter set is loaded, and you click View Filtered, the default filter is used. You can change the default filter at any time.

Some miscellaneous things:

- you can move the columns around, or even hide them, in the directory listing
- the GUI attempts to autoscale with screen resolution and dpi settings. It is far from perfect. If you wind up with an unreadable setup, please open a trouble ticket indicating your screen settings.
- if you attempt to "open/play" a file, and it doesn't work, you may be able to fix it by adjusting your file associations. I have one problem on Vista that I can't figure out - .avi files won't play, even though the association is set, and the same file will play from the same disc from Explorer - just not from the GUI. I have no trouble with other files - (video, audio and text).

 

GUIFilters.doc 41k . file

 

GUI-053x.zip 312.65234375k . file

You are truly fun to work with! Makes me feel needed. Anyway, calm down, I'm not going anywhere. I've just got some other things to do. What better time than when my "customer base" (you) is also busy with other things?

Regarding the drive letter thing, you answered too quickly. I asked the question of Alex (who knows C++ better than I), and I obviously know about the Green Logo. But I (and others) are looking for an automatic way of doing it - so we don't have to trouble the user to click on the logo.

(Please do not quote this post - It will be subject to frequent editing)

This plugin allows (V0.1 Beta): - see updates for 0.2 Beta below

(1) Load (and play if Windows Autoplay is turned on) of a DVD disc from a SONY VAIO VGPXLIB1/2/3 200-disc changer

(2) "Open" of a file located anywhere in the network environment. This is like "double click" on a file under Windows Explorer. Pretty much the same thing will happen under LoadDVD as if the file were double-clicked. The operation depends on the nature of the file and the type of file association that has been set up by you, windows or other applications.

This plugin makes use of the "location" and "slot" and "notes" fields of the Personal Information section of the DVD Profile. My apologies if this usage conflicts with other needs. Please let me know. The first beta release(s) of this plugin should be considered prototypes for an improved version, some time in the future. I will try to adapt to user needs and issues. Be aware that the use of the "notes" field is non-exclusive. You may still use the notes field just as before. LoadDVD will look for additional information you have stored there, in some cases.

The plugin is available: here

Usage examples of LoadDVD:

(1) Load (and / or play) a DVD from a SONY VGPXLIBx changer:

Location: changer0 - for the first changer in the series. Use changer1 through changer4, for up to 5 daisy-chained changers hanging off a single firewire port. (Not tested: changers on multiple ports).

Slot: slot# - an integer from 0 - 199 representing the slot location of the disc in the 200 disc changer

Notes: (not used)

(2) Open a file stored on a data disc (CD or DVD) from a SONY VGPXLIBx changer:

Location: changer0 file (or changer1 - changer4)

Slot: Slot# - from 0 - 199

Notes: [filepath]path to file that is to be opened[/filepath] - this sequence will be searched for and parsed anywhere in the notes field; beginning, middle or end.

Valid file paths are typical windows filepaths (without the quotes) such as: "f:\\2007OscarTrailers\\LastKing.mpg" or "d:\\MovieScores\\KingKongTheme.mp3". Note that in this case, playing from a data disc, the drive letter must correspond to the correct changer (changer0 - changer4).

(3) Open a file from anywhere in the network environment:

Location: file

Slot: (not used)

Notes: [filepath]path to file that is to be opened[/filepath] - this sequence will be searched for and parsed anywhere in the notes field; beginning, middle or end.

Valid file paths are typical windows filepaths (without the quotes) such as: "f:\\2007OscarTrailers\\LastKing.avi", "\\\\ISOARCHIVE\\Action\\MissionImpossible3.ISO".

Operations available (Added - version 0.2 Beta):

(1) Support for multiple discs (SideA only) within a DVD Profile

All of the v0.1 commands still work, but have been extended. The old commands default to disc 1of the profile, hence nothing changes for profiles with only one disc. However, when more than one disc is present, the LoadDVD menu item presents a submenu - disc1 through disc n, where n is the number of discs.

The filepath specification changes as follows (n = disc number):

[filepath disc=n]c:\\mypath\\myfile[/filepath]

Will be scanned for in the Notes field of the Personal Information section of the profile. If disc=1, then the version 0.1 style of filepath continues to be supported. (Note: there are no spaces in the disc=n, and only once space between filepath and disc - the format has to be exact.)

(2) Support for RS232 and USB-IRT type changers (preliminary)

There is no native support built-in. However, you may specify RS232 or USBIRT (without quotes) in the Location field of the Personal Information section of the DVD Profile. When the LoadDVD menu is pressed (followd by discn if more than 1 disc), if either RS232 or USBIRT has been coded, then the corresponding RS232.BAT or USBIRT.BAT file will be called from the {DVDPro}\\Plugins\\LoadDVD subdirectory. A sample file has been provided during installation.

The RS232.BAT or USBIRT.BAT will be called with the following parameters:

{DiscLabelA-DescriptionA} profileid disc# slot# . remainder, if any, of the location field

So, you can call whatever program you want, and use those parameters. You have control over the slot#, DescriptionA, and the remaining contents of the Location field to pass your own information to the .BAT file.

Normally, the execution of the .BAT file will be hidden, but for test purposes, you may code RS232/s or USBIRT/s , and LoadDVD will call the .BAT files in a window so that you can see the parameters that are being passed. By using a pause command in the .BAT file, you will have time to examine things for debugging purposes.

Advanced Usage:

Perhaps you have already figured out by now that you could add as many discs as you want to a DVD profile to take advantage of LoadDVD. Here is a hypothetical, rather extreme, example (remember, you don't actually code the quotes):

Disc1: Slot=slot# , Location=changer1 plays the Main Feature from a Sony VAIO Changer 1
Disc2: Slot=slot# , Location=changer0 plays the Bonus Materials from a Sony VAIO Changer 0
Disc3: Slot=slot# , Location=changer2 file , Embedded in Notes: [filepath disc=3]p:\\mytrailers\ railer.avi[/filepath] plays an video movie trailer from a data disk in changer2 (mounted by windows as drive p:\\).
Disc4: Slot=slot# , Location=RS232 to send IR signals to play the CD sound track
Disc5: Slot=slot# , Location=USBIRT to send IR signals to play the Blu-Ray DVD
Disc6: Slot= (not used) ,Location=file , Embedded in Notes: [filepath disc=6]g:\\mythemes\ hemesong.mp3[/filepath] plays an mp3 audio movie theme song from the g:\\ drive.

Both of the filepath specifications (for discs 3 and 6) must appear somewhere in the Notes field - not necessisarily contiguously nor in disc order. But, if you choose to line them up in order at the end, that works just as well.

At this point, all IR coding must be done by you. This is just a way to integrate the calling process.


Usage Considerations:

(1) This plugin interacts heavily with the Autoplay features of MS Windows. For best operation, you generally want to have AutoPlay ON for DVDs / CDs / Video CDs (LoadDVD doesn't know or care what kind of disc is being loaded), and AutoPlay OFF for mixed media, video and audio (eg. mp3) data discs.

(2) This plugin presently uses the program mediachanger.exe, written by Alex Wetmore, and modified by me. The program is automatically installed in the {DVDPro}\\plugins\\LoadDVD folder, and is deleted upon an uninstall. Tampering with or moving this program may lead to unpredicatable results.

(3) This plugin is installed in the {DVDPro}\\plugins\\LoadDVD subdirectory. You will find unins000.bat there, which when executed, should remove all traces of the plugin from your system, including registry entries. If this file or the accompanying file unins000.dat get lost or corrupted, you may regenerate them by re-installing the plugin. At that point, you may execute unins000.bat for a clean uninstall.

Caution: As this plugin could possibly be used to "open" any file, including an executable file, you should not accept profiles or database backups from unknown sources. Be sure to know what is in the "Notes" field of any DVD profile that you use LoadDVD with. This exposure has been reduced by disallowing executable extensions in the filepath, such as .exe, .bat, .com, etc. The full list can be discussed in the support forum.

Future plans:

(1) Remove dependency on mediachanger.exe
(2) Add support for automatic population of DVD Profiler with the contents of changer(s)
(3) Changer control functions

Support:

I will monitor and respond to issues in this thread as well as the plugins forum at Invelos DVD Profiler. If the situation warrants, I have the ability to set up a "Trouble Tickets" process on my own site.

Thanlks for your attention. I hope this project provides some value to you.

Jim Richards

Ok, just for the record, I am posting my "final" set of public changes to the Wetmore/AutoRip mediachanger/GUI app. Only thing that has changed is the GUI side, so just unzip this file into whatever directory you have the GUI installed.

GUI-054x:

- Miscellaneous improvements to Directory Listing slider and refresh
- Fixed (fingers crossed) Fullslots / Allslots "loss of focus" bug
- Added "Check Filtered" to the File menu
- Improved Filters - fixed a couple of bugs
- Improved auto-scaling for large dpi settings

So if you are using the changers (as I do) as a massive data archive in lieu of mirrored hard drives, then the Directory Listing is for you. It will handle thousands of data records, allowing search / sort / filter. You can load / save what amonts to playlist-like subsets of your media for review, watching and listening. (These operations are a bit slow the way that I've implemented them - but what's a couple extra seconds, when afterwards you have to wait for the changer to spin for a nearly a minute before playing the file!)

As I continue to burn archive discs, I am freeing up hard drives to use only for favorites and files needing fastest access. And with GUI-054x, I can get to any of the other files within a couple of changer spins, and right click "Play".

I know there is very little usage of this tool, but I did my best, following the orginal authors, in the hopes that somebody else will get some value. Filters are very powerful, but I have not written a lot of documentation, since there's nobody using it so far. I will respond in the future if anybody needs help, or fixes.

 

GUI-054x.zip 296.1015625k . file

So no rs232 support is forthcoming? If not, thanks for the effort anyway.

Take care.

I don't get it. After responding to multiple posts from you, here and at DVDProfiler forum (in the RS232 thread), and after coding for days and shipping RS232 support in my DVDProfiler Plugin, and with a request for help to test it, with absolutely NO repsonse or comment from you - then this? What makes you think anyone would ever want to attend to your requirements in the future? Edit: and what hit me harder was the fact that I am winding down on this project in order to pick up steam on the DVDProfiler side. Seems like I made the wrong decision.

ummm.. okay.. I have other "things" going on have not been following this THAT closely to know your every move. Plus the DVDP forums do not email forum updates and I am not there very often.

Sorry to have ruffled your feathers.

Take care.

EDIT... ps... I haven't tested because the need I had was different as I was looking for an inventory feature not a play feature as I already have a couple of options for playing the media once the contents of each dvd (777) is known.

Didn't need you to follow my every move ... just be aware of my activities in support of YOU. And if your attitude is that you don't have time or interest in helping me - just because it doesn't help you right now, well then ...

I've mentioned before, I don't own one of those changers. If nobody helps me with testing, I cannot ever do the functions that you are talking about. Someone else will undoubtedly come along, but if you want to accept my help, then I need yours in order to get there. I have spent a few hours scouing the internet. The information to do what you want is closely guarded by people who are charging big bucks for their AVS applications (except maybe XLobby). I can figure it out, but not without a changer, or the help of somebody who has one.

Fair enough... where should we continue this discussion? Here at AVS or at Invelos?

Let's move it to Invelos. Either LoadDVD thread or RS232 thread, doesn't matter. Looking forward to it!

I am thus far really digging Freechng, and it seems to be working OK, despite iTunes being a pain in the butt every time a new CD is mounted.

One question - is there a specific command line that starts Windows Media Player and gets to the rip screen automatically when Scan & Cmd is selected? That would be my preferred way of ripping all of these CDs to our Media Controller.

Apologies if this question has already been addressed. Thanks.

Jon

Mediadogg or Galileo

Do either of you know if the XL1B can be seen by a modded XBOX running XBMC? I'd love to add the sony changer as I'm running out of hard drive space (1TB Raid 5). I've got a 360 running My Movies in one room but I like the interface and picture quality of XBMC better. Any thoughts on whether this would work?

JB

XMBC - didn't even know about it! I have an XBOX 360, and all I've done so far is see the changer as a shared drive. In that mode, you can access anything on that drive just as any other shared drive, subject to XBO360 limitations (such as no playback of avi or ISO, etc.). Lingering in the back of my mind was a question about controlling the VGPXL1Bx from an XBOX 360. I even looked into whether USB<->Firewire was possible. Didn't get very far on that - too hard! Any ideas, PM me, and I will do some more research.

jbinatl - love your signature! (edit sorry I got the posts mixed up)

@thejumbo -WTF is "Freechng" - Google doesn't know it.

@galileo2000 - thanks for the kind words ... and by the way, "right-click / Play" will play anything, including .ISOs. In my case vlc player is the associated app for the windows "OPEN", so when I click "Play", the changer spins to the disc, and the file is passed to vlc player. Snap!

[quote=MediaDogg]XMBC - didn't even know about it! I have an XBOX 360, and all I've done so far is see the changer as a shared drive. In that mode, you can access anything on that drive just as any other shared drive, subject to XBO360 limitations (such as no playback of avi or ISO, etc.). Lingering in the back of my mind was a question about controlling the VGPXL1Bx from an XBOX 360. I even looked into whether USB<->Firewire was possible. Didn't get very far on that - too hard! Any ideas, PM me, and I will do some more research.


You've got a PM

thejumbo --
This is probably in an earlier post somehwere, but according to what I found on MSDN you can get WMP to come up and rip by sending it these parameters on the command line. (I have not tried this because I use Freechng with CDEX)

/Task CDAudio

NOTE: it will use the settings you have made in its options boxes, so make sure you pick your codec/format/bitrate before doing this.


MediaDogg --
Freechng is the Delphi app that does similar things to your gui.
(That is the executable file name and the actual program title )