Migrating from Meedio.

[paddinho]

After the recent demise of Meedio & the lack of interest in (or availability outside US of) Yahoo TV I'm looking for a replacement HTPC app; I've started here.

I first looked at MediaPortal shortly after it started two years ago & walked away unimpressed; I must confess my expectations this time round weren't that high but I couldn't be more wrong or impressed - MP is beautiful. I just have a couple of things that I'd like to change before I can consider myself truly content with my HTPC setup (I've tried looking through the forums & wiki to no avail).

These are:
i) MP seems slow (after Meedio anyhow). My setup surpasses the minimum requirements (except one): I've got Athlon XP 2400+, 2GB RAM, ATI 9600SE, Neb Digitv, loads of disc space & Windows 2003 std SP1 (the exception). I'm quite prepared to believe that my video card a bit too weak for MP, or that my CPU needs more oomph. Any advice on this is welcome.

ii) I want to change the menu structure to recreate my Meedio setup; instructions on how to do this are scarce (I couldn't find them). I know I go through the plugins interface, etc. but once I'm there I'm lost as to what to do; the changes I make don't end up looking like what I want (or expect)..

iii) I find the music interface a bit clumsy. I'd like to be able to browse my music collection like this:
artist index (A, B, ..., Z)-->Artist-->Album-->Tracks ...
album index (A, B, ..., Z)-->Album-->Tracks ...
by genre(rock, rap, ...)-->Artist-->etc.
by style(embedded in the 'Encoded by' tag) -->Album-->etc.
All the views that I use are posted on the Meedio forums should anyone be that interested, if required I could make some screen grabs of what I mean.

These three things are the only issues standing between me & a perfect HTCP setup (even my DigiTV card works, something that I never managed with Meedio). Any help an any of these would be gratefully received.

Cheers.

P

[Paranoid Delusion]

paddinho

The North is that near the Arctic, only joking :wink:

XP plus SP2 essential, if you do not have these then we cannot help as it is the core of MediaPortal.
Plus any weakness in the graphics, ie non DX8\9 Compatibility will totally screw your MP experience.

8)

[NLS]

Indeed why on earth use Win 2003Srv on HTPC?

Since I moved from Meedio too, I can tell you that you can EASILY reach 95% of the functionality you had in Meedio AND add some 10% of functionality you didn't have in Meedio (yes I mean you can have a better HTPC in the end).

[Khris]

People use Server 2003 so that they can RD into the machine more then once.

There is a patch for XP Pro machines to enable this functionality however so unless you truly need your HTPC to perform server duties as well, Server 2003 is unnecessary.

[Bram]

Where can I find the patch?

[bradsjm]

You might consider a google search for TerminalserverNoRestrPatch or termsrv.dll and see what you find.

[paddinho]

I use Windows 2003 because:
- I have a licence for it (I don't have any unused XP licences).
- I use terminal services from XP laptops & a Viewsonic V110.
- It's a fileserver.
- I intend for it to be a media server for IPTV & media content.
All good reasons me thinks.

I'll have a go with MP on an XP PC later to see if the performance is better.

@Bram: Google for 'Sala XP Patch' - your limited to 2 sessions I think.

[infinityloop]

i have heard that some users were able to run MediaPortal on WindowsServer2003. others had serious issues.

officially WindowsServer2003 its not supported

[paddinho]

I have no issues with running MediaPortal on 2003 per se (I even have live TV after making the required changes for Windows 2000/2003); really I was asking:
i) Does an AthlonXP 2400+ & ATI9600SE carry enough oomph for MediaPortal in other users' experience ??
ii) How do I change the menu structure ?? The docs, help & wiki are all very weak on this feature (which I'm not really convinced works 100%).
iii) How do I change the music views ?? Again the docs, etc. are weak here. I'd be quite happy to get down & dirty in the code if someone could point me at the files.

Cheers.

P

[NLS]

1) yes (depending on what you really want of course)

2) if you go to plugins in the list, you will find that many of them have a configuration (right click on their icons) - one of them "Home" holds the menu stucture... experiment

3) you can add and delete views from the configuration list... there is a dedicated "branch" for that - have you looked really?