[Need feedback] Installation/Setup experience of MP

[frodo]

I've read a lot of comments in the forums about installing and configuring MP
Most people agree MP is great but that the process of installation & configuration
is difficult.

So my questions are:


1. What did you have to do before you got MP up & running ?
2. What could be improved to make install & configuration easier ?



Frodo

[fake9]

Hi Frodo,

First of all, people who have never installed a program before, will not be capable installing MP but a minimum of knowledge is a requirement to even touch a pc. So leaving those people aside, basic configuration is simple.

1. What did you have to do before you got MP up & running ?
- First of all, a fresh reinstall is considerded the best option.
- Most of the installation was straith forward. But digging in the "setup MP" is still neccessary (and a good option for experienced users).
- TVguide. Not easy to configur a guide for Belgium (maybe easy for other countries?). Searching different options and finally using XMLTV which needs a user interface because to hard 4 newbies.


2. What could be improved to make install & configuration easier ?
I would consider a step by step (like the TV configuration) for all different media, like Music Wizard; Movie Wizard; Photo Wizard; ....
And of course the TV guide, but thats difficult because there is no universal (read worldwide) tvguide available. Each country has something different. Maybe a solution in XMLTV instead of the grabbers?

Eager to know what other users have to say!
Keep up the good work.
Tv

[CHli]

About EPG :

IMHO WebEPG is easier than XMLTV but it could be even easier if I could get a working configuration from another user... (Same Region / Language)

If I upload my TV Channels for my Region / Cable Operator I should be able to submit the associated WebEpg configuration. But WebEPG configuration is more "volatile" I mean : change more frequently, so this should be user submitable with just a bit of moderation (perhaps just a star rating for each submitted configuration)

[EMKO]

2. What could be improved to make install & configuration easier ?

one thing that would make MP really easy to install would be the ability to change your settings within MP like XBMC because someone people don't know what something does you can test it with out having to restart MP all the time and also if you have a htpc you don't want to hook up a mouse and keyboard every time to want to change something.

[zag2me]

I think a Tag for working skins and plugins should be implemented showing what version of media portal they are designed for, and warning the user if its not designed for example the latest SVN.

[CHli]

Originally Posted by zag2me

I think a Tag for working skins and plugins should be implemented showing what version of media portal they are designed for, and warning the user if its not designed for example the latest SVN.

I think it's already in but not often used :-P

[Henry Mac]

Well:
1. What did you have to do before you got MP up & running ?
- I had to add my providers digital tv channels to dvbc files. Which were actually quite difficult to find.
- Change the app.cfg file for remote running on Irtrans
- Install AC3 for s/pdif out
- Region free fix

2. What could be improved to make install & configuration easier ?
Well, I think the wizard stuff per section would at least be a step forward for newbies.

Also my biggest problem was finding the right hardware and settings. Eventhough it is all here to find on the site it takes a lot of searching. I guess a bit more eleborate wiki would be nice. Though I can understand it would take a lot of maintenance to maintain. Maybe a searchable knowledgebase? Or a simple list of MP supported hardware incl main & soundboards etc.

Problems with MP itself were related to bugs which are being solved per svn

All in all not to much so I guess you all are on the right track.
Cheers!

[Olodin]

Originally Posted by frodo

1. What did you have to do before you got MP up & running?

Biggest problem always was to find stable hardware with good drivers and then to setup windows appropriately. I think this is the hardest part for a lot of users.

System stability is a key to MediaPortal stability and most problems I had were because of drivers, codec problems or instable software.
Some problems also were because of bugs in MediaPortal but this is the only thing you and the other developers have control of.

Maybe someone has a link to a good system/stability analyzer software or benchmarking tool that could indicate if a system is ready to run MediaPortal?
I sometimes used http://www.memtest86.com/ on various systems to exclude memory problems.

Originally Posted by frodo

2. What could be improved to make install & configuration easier?

Including mpeg codecs into MediaPortal was a very good descision to make live easier and speed up installation/configuration. Why not add more codecs?

[zag2me]

Yes a list of recomended hardware would be cool such as

- Best TV card
- MCE remote
- Nvidia/ATI recomended minimum card and drivers

[cdouglas]

1. What did you have to do before you got MP up & running ?

Getting the base system working wasn't that difficult, even the first time except for the EPG. Its all the extra stuff to get it the way you want it to work with your hardware is what is time consuming and I am not sure any of that can be helped.

Example of extra stuff: Getting MOV files to work (not MP fault), figuring out the My Programs plugin for use with MAME (not hard after I found the wiki page) , getting my Firefly RF remote to work.


Now that I have installed it for several friends as well, I am doing complete installs/configs in less than 30 mins.

2. What could be improved to make install & configuration easier ?

I agree that a wizard might help newbies some to go through each media type.
The EPG setup was very difficult. Since I opted to use BTV over My TV after trying it, I can't even say how to improve the EPG setup now, but something needs to be done. With BTV, there is no setup beyond entering your area code and selecting your provider. I did get it to work with the zap2it plugin, but the guide still wasnt as good as btv.