5 years of Mediaportal Bugs, now moved to windows media centre (1 Viewer)

[HappyTalk]

This forum is called "Other HTPC applications" hence this thread in here. It's obviously difficult to heap praise on an alternative HTPC app without therefore appearing to denegrate MP, However all I can say is I used XBMC then MythTV, then Mediaportal over a 7 year period and was never happy and despite spending hours,days,weeks,years could never achieve the realiabity I craved. I tried MCE on XP in 2005 and chose MP as at that time MCE sucked, however 6 years on MCE has evolved into a masterpiece of both useability and realiability. It does everything I did or tried to do on MP but everything JUST works!


•not good filtering, scraping, or database...
Media Browser is far better than anything on MP all movie + tv info auto-grabbed =, just check the name if not found on TMDb — The open movie database or for TV Online TV Database - An open directory of television shows for HTPC software

•it is not open source... cant skin it, cant make it better or anything
You can skin it using Media Center studio I use 'streaming light'

•try getting Comskip working in WMC! no luck
I got it working in MP and it was rubbish

•M$ has too much control over what you can/can't do
That's a good thing, anything you need to change you can.

•Menu options suck
No menu is far better than MP

•User Interface is not that intuitive as MP
Again the UI is far far better than MP, really modern and slick

I tried an iplayer plugin on mp it was rubbish. TunerFreeMCE on MCE works great for BBC, it also supports ITV, CH4,5 catchup though they're not so good.

I tried an iphone controller plug on MP it sucked. NControl on MCE can control server and all clients and though not perfect is very useable.

MCE has revolutionised my HTPC experience. My machine is up for months on end, never crashes, never needs a reboot. No jumping throgh hoops to get satellite EPG working. On EPG press record button once to record show, again for series link, once more to cancel, so quick and intuitive, no endless menus to record a prog just 1 button press. Great screensaver shows random photos. Music/Movie setup/filtering needs no config it just works. Everything is just so slick and pro looking.

As MCE is already installed on any non-basic W7 machine anyone can just run it up, go through the config and see for themselves, Install Media Browser media browser + TunerFreeMCE Admittedly I did spend probably about 20 hours total googling & fiddling to get skin, audio filters, obscure video formats working, sorting channels, fiddling, but that's a fraction of the time spent on MP.

Sorry but I am a convert to the church of m$oft on this one, I absolutely love MCE it just works and looks fabulous. I can finally forget my HTPC is a computer, it integrates into the home environment like any other piece of hardware, you forget it's there. I can use my iphone/ipad to control it if I wish, XBox's (£60 s/h) just work with zero config as extenders. I could go on and on but I suggest you try it and see, it's the only commercial grade HTPC out there and is probably already installed on your W7 machine.

 

[captainjack]

I will throw in my 2 cents even though I have never used MCE.

I have been using MP now for about 3 years and I can honestly say at first it was a bit of a pain in the a$$.
But what I have learned over the years is that you have to keep it simple.

I have just upgraded to 1.2 and was at 1.1.2 forever. All I can say is that it went very well.
I run a client server setup and my server does alot of other work.
Server is 2008 R2. MP with 2 Nova-S cards, SQL 2008 as well as Hyperv with 3 other virtual servers running. (Lots of RAM in server)

My main client is running with an old AMD 4850e 45w cpu, ATI 6450 DDR5, 2GB ram and an 80Gb hard drive. (Server has the storage)
I did not upgrade the client but did a full re-install of Win 7 as I had been abusing this machine for years and I thought it was time. Installed the OS, ATI 11.4 drivers, drivers for my D-Vine MCE303 then MP. Spent 5 minutes to config the client, 5 minutes to test my remote (saved my mapping file for my Harmony) and then started watching TV.
Using only the MS codec. Nothing else installed.

Then I installed Moving Pictures and TV series plugins and let them to their thing. (2 tb's of movies and 10 series)
Now all done. 1080p uses about 9% cpu. No stutter from that or TV. Goes to sleep and wakes up when I ask.

I am in NA so I have no trouble with my EPG. Full 9 days from stream with no issues.

Then upgraded my $500 laptop and all is well on that too. ATI 4200 plays 1080p at about 30% with MS codec. No stutter.

All I can say is that I am very happy with MP ad so is the wife. For what ever reason I don't seem to have (or not noticed) any bugs. (Knock on wood)

Maybe I got lucky with the hardware combo's I use but like I say...I love MP and for me it just works.

 

[revs]

Hi,

You dont need to justify your use of MCE, its a personal preference, and different systems work well for different people.

But please don't spread FUD about MediaPortal (same goes for those doing it for MCE).

MediaBrowser looks identical to MovingPictures and TVSeries - both of which are completely automated and auto-grab without any user intervention. And use the same thetvdb.com database that you mention.

Comskip - this is hit and miss depending on channel, and its not related to MCE or MediaPortal, they just read what Comskip outputs.

Menu options, open source, UI simplicity etc and all that are all just personal, non quantifiable issues. Depends on who set up the system, which remote you have and so on

iPhone controller - iPiMP seems pretty perfect, havent seen the MCE ones, and there is CouchPotato, again, looks great. I know iPiMP can controll all clients, and assume CP can too. So another draw here, and again, another thing that is personal preference.

As for crashing machines etc - again this is goign to be down to the HTPC hardware and whether you are unlucky My MP machine is on 24/7 (sleeps when not in use), and I never exit to windows, its always in the MP interface. It's never crashed on me, or screwed up in any way.

So my point is - nearly all of this is completely about personal preference, both systems have Pros and Cons, For some one may be lacking a must-have feature the other has.
Just please, lets not spread bad information about either system when its a personal thing and not fact - e.g. "jumping through hoops for EPG" - in MP you just tick the box for the channel you want, but again, this was my personal experience, for you the setup may have been different and it may not have worked - maybe for me MCE wouldnt have had good EPG!

And with both systems, theres always something to tweak and spend hours on - in its simplest form, MP on Win 7 with MS codecs plays just about everything - same as MCE. But those wanting to tweak can spend hours and hours faffing with codecs.

 

[HappyTalk]

OK Well I've used XBMC, MythTV, Mediaportal and MCE all in great depth for long periods of time and this is my conclusion based in first hand experience of ALL systems. I tried both Moving Pictures and iPimp on MP. IPimp was hopeless, I removed it, Moving Pictures was coaxed into life after a lot of faffing but didn't handle TV series as effortlessly as Media Browser which required near zero setup! The bbc iplayer equivalent on MP again unistalled as didn't really work properly, TunerFreeMCE on MCE used all the time.

I've programmed solidly since '84 so it's not like I didn't try my damndest to make my MP stable, possibly my definition of stable and other's differs. To be honest I mainly started the thread for others who were at the end of their tether with the endless cycle of new MP versions which fix some old bugs while adding other new ones I endured for 5 years to inform that there was an alternative. I was very sceptical when I tried MCE, but the sheer frustration and realisation that after 5 years MP was never going to quite get there left me no choice. Last year the double recordings, recordings not ending, system slowing, needing rebooting, reconfiging every update (to be sure). All I can say is I was shocked at just how perfect MCE was.

It's annoying cos I feel the need to post to justify the false criticisms of my OP from people who haven't used MCE but know that this kind of post will only antagonise the MP devs which I don't want to do but realise is probably inevitable. XBMC had reached its limitations (or so Froddo thought at the time) So MP was born. Had the focus been on stability and simplicity of the core TV/video/music modules then 3 years ago MP would have been finished. But too much time has passed drifting without it ever reaching commercial grade stability and unfortunately the other players have now caught up and overtaken. M$oft can pay $$$ to pro dev teams,pm's,artists, no way MP can compete. So as XBMC rolled over to make way for MP so...

:sorry:

 

[JackTramiel]

AW: 5 years of Mediaportal Bugs, now moved to windows media centre

I totally agree that without really testing the different solutions you cant compare them.

MCE has a lot of nice plugins, too. Not only MediaBrower. Specially WuselEPG is impressive. MediaControl (ffdshow).
For example the PowerDVD integration for BR playback. The TV part runs very good. Fast channel switching.
Then there are some "skinning" options for sure.

But you will find a lot of people having massive problems with MCE, too.

I have read a lot of discussions where people compare e.g. MePo and MCE and just dont know about features and plugins
on both sides.

Started with xbmp, changed to xbmc (xbox) , changed to mce (xp), changed to MePo, changed to mce (vista), changed to mce(7), changed to MePo and stopped changing.

For me the tv server solution if the main reason for doing so. Stablilty isnt to discuss. Unstable = unusuable. My opinion.
Dont care that much about eye candies.

The the best solution is out there. You just have to choose your own.

 

[DJBlu]

OK Well I've used XBMC, MythTV, Mediaportal and MCE all in great depth for long periods of time and this is my conclusion based in first hand experience of ALL systems. I tried both Moving Pictures and iPimp on MP. IPimp was hopeless, I removed it, Moving Pictures was coaxed into life after a lot of faffing but didn't handle TV series as effortlessly as Media Browser which required near zero setup! The bbc iplayer equivalent on MP again unistalled as didn't really work properly, TunerFreeMCE on MCE used all the time.

I've programmed solidly since '84 so it's not like I didn't try my damndest to make my MP stable, possibly my definition of stable and other's differs. To be honest I mainly started the thread for others who were at the end of their tether with the endless cycle of new MP versions which fix some old bugs while adding other new ones I endured for 5 years to inform that there was an alternative. I was very sceptical when I tried MCE, but the sheer frustration and realisation that after 5 years MP was never going to quite get there left me no choice. Last year the double recordings, recordings not ending, system slowing, needing rebooting, reconfiging every update (to be sure). All I can say is I was shocked at just how perfect MCE was.

It's annoying cos I feel the need to post to justify the false criticisms of my OP from people who haven't used MCE but know that this kind of post will only antagonise the MP devs which I don't want to do but realise is probably inevitable. XBMC had reached its limitations (or so Froddo thought at the time) So MP was born. Had the focus been on stability and simplicity of the core TV/video/music modules then 3 years ago MP would have been finished. But too much time has passed drifting without it ever reaching commercial grade stability and unfortunately the other players have now caught up and overtaken. M$oft can pay $$$ to pro dev teams,pm's,artists, no way MP can compete. So as XBMC rolled over to make way for MP so...

:sorry:

People reporting stability isn't critisism of MCE it is mearly an argued response to your critisism of MP.

You've moved on, good for you.

We look forward to when you hop back for that "I wonder" stage.

Good luck.

 

[druid9]

Moving Pictures was coaxed into life after a lot of faffing but didn't handle TV series as effortlessly as Media Browser which required near zero setup!

Not sure why you would even try to use Moving Pictures for TV Series, when MP TV Series is purpose built for the job.

Its like using the music section for Music Videos, it will work, but there is a better alternative.

For me MP is now 100% stable, I'm a little sad I have nothing left to faff over. My family accuse me of breaking things just so I can fix them.

This is on about as mixed a system as you can get, Server on Vista (yuk) Main client on Vista (yuk), second client on w7, laptop on XP. Server is on 24/7, clients sleep and wake. Upwards of 400 movies, 1200 episodes, 8000 music tracks. Movies can be .avi, .divx, .mkv, .mp4, same for series. Music tracks could be .mp3, .flac, .m4a. All plays seamlessly (i.e. I don't have to intervene to tell MP what the file is, it just plays it), artwork downloaded, artist information downloaded, move details downloaded, tv series information downloaded and files organised.

Not sure what else I would want, but I'm sure someone will think of something.

My key I think is that I don't try to MAKE MP do things, I just LET it do things. Have never interfered with code, have only ever used tried and true skins, and I guess really only use the core features. TV, Music, Movies, Series, but what else is there?

Guess I have been lucky also

 

[wietze]

I think that when you stop using MP at this moment and switch too MCE, it's not the best time to do that. Normaly someone first try's the upcoming version (come's out in days) in order to give it al last shot. If you are honnest than you can admit MP improved a lot in the past time. It could go faster if someone like you with programming skills helped the team. I think that Microsoft MCE is no competition for MP. Ok MCE was more stable at the begining, but MP is now at more or less the same level and offers more nice features. Microsoft products has also stabilitie problems look at vista. I dont like that people complain about MP and declare MCE to be something that it really isnt. Software is another word for bugs and problems.

i know MP still has minor problems but when i have mce users at my home to look at what MP can do
they all look like this

If someone rather use simple software that isnt capable to do advanced tasks, please feel free to switch, but really you gonne miss al the fun from MP.

And as a last comment the devs do a hell of a job that they make in their free time better software than the well payed devs of the mce team.


Wietze

 

[bhengeveld]

hehe, funny: I'm actually pleased to see the MP WAF factor has gone up quite a bit since the latest few versions, mainly because of greatly improved stability. But, yes: the last few years I've seen my fair share of reboots and curses.

 

[CHBMB]

When I first dipped into HTPC use it was with an Acer Revo, used MCE with Mediabrowser and it was just too sluggish for me. Had played with MediaPortal but became overwhelmed by all the options etc and abandoned it, tried to get MythTV and XBMC working but no luck there, so persisted with MCE. Then there was an update which basically undid all my customisations and that for me was the final straw. Sat down and spent a fair few hours getting MediaPortal right. I now use FTR for my TV needs and MediaPortal for everything else. IPlayer I use NeverMissTV which I have integrating seamlessly with MediaPortal using the MultiShortcut plugin and a custom button on my Harmony to exit and go back to MediaPortal. My technologically challenged GF has no problems using it and despite a lot of moaning when I was ironing out glitches now begrudgingly admits that it is truly amazing. Would I go back to MCE? No, I would consider using XBMC with a PVR option if I could do away with Windows but that is a long way away and I would still expect to lose Iplayer functionality, so I would have to think long and hard about that.

I think the problem is MediaPortal does require effort and work to get it stable but then you reap the rewards. MCE is very much plug and play to an extent. But I know what i prefer.