is it time to kiss mediaportal good bye

[Paranoid Delusion]

Plug and Play it ain't.

But with a little time and effort, it does so much, and besides that why most of us are here to help the people who may not be as computer literate to install and use.
But all these things take time and effort and the huge leaps that MP has made in the past 12 months is great to see.

[Commodore 64]

Originally Posted by knutinh

I also think that more could be improved for newbies- I have spent considerable time searching these forums, the (thin) documentation etc.

Agreed. We all need to step up and and help out with the wiki. I'm going add some ATSC info soon to help people get up and runnig.

Originally Posted by knutinh

Also, tuning of video and radio channels should die =) I mean, I have to tune these things every time I re-install MP because the regional selections are wrong, and the data is stored in binary files instead of user-friendly xml.

You do know that you can backup your tuning data. The only time I ever autotune is when I am testing something for a dev. Other than that I jsut import my Channels fromt he xml file that MP makes when you choose to back up your channels. Look in configuration.exe in the TV Channels Tab for backup.

Originally Posted by knutinh

I am hoping for some kind of "super-package" where I have to specify language ... My tv/EPG/channel logos will automagically line up with "best guesses" so that I dont have to input the same data many times.

This is currently being worked on for US lineups. I was testing the plugin last night with bradsjm.


In short, I think MP is converging on your expectations. The dev team is working hard and it needs this kind of constructive feedback. I know it can be frustrating, but from my experience as a tester, these devs work on MP for the fun of it. They do it for us. There is no alterior motive of profit or future selling of the product.

So be patient, and help out as much as you can. This means:

1. Help out and post logs when you encounter errors. These forums are busy. We try to keep up here as well as we can. If you want your bug addressed you really should post at the testteam forum: http://www.testteam-mediaportal.com/...splay.php?f=43

2. Don't get all whiny and pissy. The MP team isn't trying to sell you anything. They are trying to GIVE you something. And many of them have families, careers, and lot's of other things competing with their time.

3. I know that many of you have feature requests etc. The dev team is a lot smaller than you think. From one side of your mouths you are saying "I want this. I want that. I want this, Change that!"...yet on the other side of your mouth you have the temerity to complain about MP being a resource hog, MP being unoptimized, MP being hard to set-up. Think about it...You can't have both at this stage of development.

4. Realize this: The dev team is focusing on major bugs. Once they are quashed, 0.2 will be released. AFTER 0.2 release the focus will shift to cleaning up the code and making things smoother and faster. Again, the dev team is much smaller than you think, and contrary to popular belief, the MP project is not their livelihood.

5. Feedback is good. But don't just sit there at your computer and complain. Get on IRC chat, help test a few bugs...help people configure their MP...give guidance to Portal Virgins. DO your part!

6. I can't stress this enough Chat with us live! See the link on every page (upper left). Click it, Use it. At least 50% of perceived MP bugs are PEBCAK* related. If you get on IRC and catch some of us there (again be patient), a lot of times we can troubleshoot with you and get to the bottom of your problems. At the very least, we get more info about real bugs.

*PEBCAK = Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard

[Marcusb]

I dont get the original post. If the unspecified earlier version was everything you wanted, then just stay with it. There are people out there who are still on .1.3 for some reason or another and I'm sure others are on earlier versions.

MP is difficult to set up, but as has been said, you should try Myth and see the difference. Or you could try MCE and see how much easier it is, but you will need compatible hardware and you will lose a LOT of the configurability that MP has.

A lot has been done to make the set up easier. There never used to be wizards, for example. As for MP growing too much, you can disable most plugins if you don't need them. Sure, the integrated ones cannot be removed, but disabled is the same thing, really.

You're welcome to try alternatives, but if you come here and say you are leaving then you need to be more specific about what you didn't like. Even giving us the pros and cons of versions you liked/disliked is more helpful.

[Bram]

I will help creating a better wiki with pleasure.

It helped me a lot, for example, when csberto explaned me how to obtain a working EPG. I couldn't find a clear answer anywhere and spend hours trying to get a good working version, without succes, untill someone explaned it to me. Now it's quite simple. A good wiki would help new people a lot.

[gxtracker]

I wouldn't be so quick to judge this post as negative, as upspace's comments were fairly constructive, and displayed what he liked about MP as well as what he didn't like.

We can't expect every user who doesnt like a feature or aspect of MP to give us a detailed report of what it is they dont like - that just isnt feasable at all. Even though MP is still in alpha stages, the user shouldn't be treated as a bug tester or developer. Those that think that way have not delt with "users" on a large scale before.

I personally agree with some of upspace's points:

1) The setup is way too complicated for the average user - even with the wizards.
2) Too many "fancy" features are added that really are only utilized by a few people - most likely at their request is my guess.
3) The core engine needs a bit of an overhaul. If the developers say everything should be modularized, then do so: right now some plugins like videos and TV are so integrated into MP they might as well be developed into the core engine.

Even the current implimentation for plugins is more convoluted then it needs to be: Plugins should exist under a "plugins" folder in the MP root, and should have their own directory for each plugin - mytv, myvideo, mymusic, etc.. All self contained, all seperate from one another.

I didn't join the community to put users or developers down, but on the same train of thought, I didn't join up as a yes-man. MP will be great, but we all have our work cut out for ourselves and believe it or not, posts like this give you more information then one would at first think.

[knutinh]

Originally Posted by Bram

I will help creating a better wiki with pleasure.

It helped me a lot, for example, when csberto explaned me how to obtain a working EPG. I couldn't find a clear answer anywhere and spend hours trying to get a good working version, without succes, untill someone explaned it to me. Now it's quite simple. A good wiki would help new people a lot.

The wiki seems very promising, as every thing I wanted has a topic, however, those topics are usually empty =) Even more frustrating than no topic at all.

I probably should contribute to the wiki, a first step would be "condensing" all or most of the info found in this forum. It can be a great resource, but when some threads are 40 pages long the search function doesnt find the right page...

-k

[shred444]

Originally Posted by gxtracker

1) The setup is way too complicated for the average user - even with the wizards.
2) Too many "fancy" features are added that really are only utilized by a few people - most likely at their request is my guess.
3) The core engine needs a bit of an overhaul. If the developers say everything should be modularized, then do so: right now some plugins like videos and TV are so integrated into MP they might as well be developed into the core engine.

Even the current implimentation for plugins is more convoluted then it needs to be: Plugins should exist under a "plugins" folder in the MP root, and should have their own directory for each plugin - mytv, myvideo, mymusic, etc.. All self contained, all seperate from one another.

i completely agree with gxtracker. Not so much about the setup as i do with the "fancy" features. Instead of features like tetris, more emphasis should be placed on the myTV and myVideos section, recording, compression, and processing time. If you're playing tetris on your mediaportal, you need to go outside and kick a soccer ball.

btw, im not bashing the guy who made the tetris plugin.

my two cents

[aasmund Nordal]

Mediaportal is pherhaps not the most userfriendly, but I don't care.

For me it's important to be able to custumize as much as posible, and have a bunch of features.

Why is it so important to make it user friendly?
How can mediaportal gain on a buch of beginers using their program?

[Bram]

Originally Posted by knutinh

The wiki seems very promising, as every thing I wanted has a topic, however, those topics are usually empty =) Even more frustrating than no topic at all.

I probably should contribute to the wiki, a first step would be "condensing" all or most of the info found in this forum. It can be a great resource, but when some threads are 40 pages long the search function doesnt find the right page...

-k

That's because the search function in phpBB is terrible. I haven't yet found a good mod to make it better for my own forums.

[Smirnuff]

That plugin has not been touched for more than ONE YEAR...

Hehe thats damn true .

The plugin was never a team task, in fact it was written long before I joined the development team. I wrote the plugin because my g/f wanted to be able to play Tetris thru the TV but without the hassle of switching on an XBOX etc. The premise of doing X, Y and Z from the same interface, channel and remote is what appeals to me about HTPCs.

I appreciate that you are not bashing the plugin... just a bit of MP history.