A few newbe questions... (1 Viewer)

[iyuvalk]

Hi,

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for the time and energy you all spend in making Media Portal such a great HTPC. I've recomended the use of it to almost everybody I know and I also tried once to help you with the development of the bi-directional GUI but that was long long time ago...

Anyway, I recently purchased a new PC for my MP (Intel i7, 4GB RAM, 2TB HD, Nvidia video card with HDMI support, Haupauge PVR 150 TV capture card) and now I have a few issues that I couldn't find any solution for yet and some other issues that I think that I found a solution for but I'm not sure if it's the optimal one or not. Well, here they are:
1. I cannot get weather information. When I click "Weather" in the home screen I get a message about an invalid license key. I searched the forum and found others complaining about the same issue and saying that you're working on it right now and I should just be patient. Is that so?

2. I cannot play BDMV files (ripped from Blue-Ray DVDs). I also searched the forums and found others having the same issue. From what I could understand I sould use a different player but I couldn't understand how it will impact the ability to play other films nor how should I do that.

3. I cannot use "Online Videos" to play content from YouTube (or any other site for that matter). I get a list of all the videos, when I click any of them I get a message asking me to choose the desired resolution (it doesn't matter which one I choose), but when I choose one of them I get a message saying that it can't play the selected video at the given URL (the URL appears in the message). Couldn't find anything really relevant in the forums.

4. I would like to use Skype from within Media Portal to place and answer Skype phone calls and Skype video calls. Is it possible? If so, what do I have to do in order to make it happen?

5. I would like to be able to browse the internet from within Media Portal. Is that possible? Does it support Flash and Silverlight?


T.I.A
Yuval Khalifa.

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Hi iyuvalk

1. the inbuilt weather is broken, suggest using the Worldweather plugin, latest found here https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/...mediaportal-v1-2-0-higher-102775/index31.html. this currently needs to be installed manually as work in progress, but for normal use is fully functional and comparable to the old broken one, but will have more advanced features eventually.

Regarding playing online and other content, you will need the relevant filters\codecs installed, recommend the LAV filters which can be installed using the MP extensions installer on your desktop to do this, use the update first and then chose the lav package install.

I'll let someone else answer other questions.

Regards

 

[robbo100]

1. I cannot get weather information. When I click "Weather" in the home screen I get a message about an invalid license key. I searched the forum and found others complaining about the same issue and saying that you're working on it right now and I should just be patient. Is that so?

The provider of the weather service recently changed their terms and conditions and no longer provide a free service. There are a number of new weather plugins which are working well such as WorldWeather. The replacement plugin you choose should be based upon the skin that you are using. For example, StreamedMP has been modified to support WorldWeather, but some other skin writers have opted to support different weather plugins.

2. I cannot play BDMV files (ripped from Blue-Ray DVDs). I also searched the forums and found others having the same issue. From what I could understand I sould use a different player but I couldn't understand how it will impact the ability to play other films nor how should I do that.

In the short term you need to use the BluerayHandler plugin to play blueray content, but in a few weeks (not sure of the exact timescales) the next version of MediaPortal will support blueray playing natively so this plugin will no longer be required (note: you will still need an on-the-fly decryptor like AnyDVD-HD to decrypt and watch shop bought bluerays).

3. I cannot use "Online Videos" to play content from YouTube (or any other site for that matter). I get a list of all the videos, when I click any of them I get a message asking me to choose the desired resolution (it doesn't matter which one I choose), but when I choose one of them I get a message saying that it can't play the selected video at the given URL (the URL appears in the message). Couldn't find anything really relevant in the forums.

It sounds like you may not have the appropriate codecs installed on your system to allow playback of some online video content (If some sites play and others don't then this is almost certainly the case). In the Online Videos plugin configuration (under the MediaPortal Settings GUI) there is a tab where you can check that your codecs are configured correctly. If you don't know much about codecs then you can try installing SAF which automatically configures all the codecs for you. Or try posting on the Online Videos thread for help (you will need to post your log files to help them understand what is wrong.

4. I would like to use Skype from within Media Portal to place and answer Skype phone calls and Skype video calls. Is it possible? If so, what do I have to do in order to make it happen?

Unfortunately this is not yet possible. There have been various attempts over the years, but Skype are reluctant to release an API that will allow the video to be streamed into MP. There is an active thread open so you can monitor progress yourself.

5. I would like to be able to browse the internet from within Media Portal. Is that possible? Does it support Flash and Silverlight?

There are a number of plugins to do this. I personally use BrowseTheWeb, which will allow you to select hyperlinks using the numbers on your remote (it really works well). You can also configure the infoservice plugin to automatically run this plugin when you select any RSS or newsfeed link to take you to the main page. This plugin does support flash (I think you have to install the firefox flash plugin on your PC if my memory serves). The only restriction is with sites like BBC News, where they don't automatically play the flash video on the webpage. You have to get a mouse to click on the play button (since it isn't shown as a hyperlink in it's own right), however this is a limitation of all of the web browsers from what I can tell.

The links that I have provided are to the discussion threads for each plugin, but if you want to download the plugins, it is worth checking for the latest version using the MediaPortal Extension Installer. That way, you will definitely get the most stable and compatible version.

I hope this helps.

Robbo100

Sorry Ray, I was busy typing at the same time (I think we have given similar answers though)

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Not a problem, nice for anyone to answer questions asked, and always appreciated by both Team and users

No such thing as stepping on toes here lol.

 

[iyuvalk]

Hi,

Thanks a lot for the quick response (I think it's should be listed in the Guinness World Records book...). I'll give it a try soon and let you know how it went.
In the meantime, I remembered another three issues...:
6. Is it possible to see the TV guide (in Israel), by using MP? If so, how?

7. I recently connected my MP machine to the new Yamaha HTR-3063 reciever by using an HDMI cable and from the reciever to the TV by using another HDMI cable. Now, when I turn off the reciever and turn it back on, the MP GUI looks very weird, like it was extremely enlarged, when I turn off the MP and turn it back on everything returns to normal. I'll try to post some photos of this situation tomorrow or tonight. Have you seen anything like it before?

Thanks a lot,
Yuval.

Hi,

Another question: in the OnlineVideos configuration dialog - how should I use the codecs tab? specifically, what should I enter in the "Source" textbox? I understand it's a URL but I don't know which one...

As for my question above (no.5), about the ability to use Skype from within MP - Is there any other VOIP/Chat application (such as MS Live Messagenger for instance) that can be operated from within MP?

T.I.A
Yuval.

 

[robbo100]

6. Is it possible to see the TV guide (in Israel), by using MP? If so, how?

If you use the search function on the forum, you can find a number of methods. This is a link to one of them: https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/xmltv-137/epg-setup-guide-megaepg-57370/

7. I recently connected my MP machine to the new Yamaha HTR-3063 reciever by using an HDMI cable and from the reciever to the TV by using another HDMI cable. Now, when I turn off the reciever and turn it back on, the MP GUI looks very weird, like it was extremely enlarged, when I turn off the MP and turn it back on everything returns to normal. I'll try to post some photos of this situation tomorrow or tonight. Have you seen anything like it before?

This problem is a little more complicated and is actually a problem with Windows rather than with MediaPortal. The problem is that when your PC is on and you turn your Yamaha receiver on/off there is a transient period where the HDMI cable reports that there is no video device connected to your graphics card (when the relay's are clicking inside the receiver). When this happens, your graphics adaptor defaults back to 800x600. This is a problem with Windows 7 and only affects people who connect their systems to an AV receiver, so I presume that is the operating system you have installed on your PC? The way to fix this problem is essentially to use a Remote Desktop programme (to control your PC from another computer on your network) to configure the MediaPortal PC display resolutions settings to the same settings as you use when you are connected to your TV (so that you don't get the change in resolution). This issue is discussed in a great deal of detail in this (very long) thread: https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/operating-system-330/windows-7-half-fullscreen-71785/index37.html but basically you need to do the following to fix it (although it doesn't always work).

1. Install RealVNC or TightVNC (install the server side bit of the software on the MediaPortal PC and the client side software on any other PC) and establish a remote connection to your HTPC (i.e. you are controlling the screen of your MediaPortal PC using another PC).
2. Remove your HDMI cable from your display.
3. Your resolution should now change to 800x600 (you might drop VNC connection, but if you do then it should re-connect).
4. Using VNC, right click on the desktop and select the Screen Resolution option (not in CCC), then configure the screen to the maximum available (1600x...).
5. Click on "Advanced Settings".
6. Go to the "Monitor" tab in the resulting dialog box.
7. Remove the checkmark from "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display" and click "Apply".
8. Go back to the "Adapter" tab and click "List all modes".
9. Select the desired mode and click OK to close the modes list.
10. Click "OK" to close the "Advanced Settings" dialogue
11. Reinsert the HDMI cable and test the system.

 

[robbo100]

iyuvalk

Have you been successful with any of the fixes? Let us know if you need more help.

Robbo100

 

[ssenyer]

Hi,


6. Is it possible to see the TV guide (in Israel), by using MP? If so, how?

You can check this topic for xmltv support for Israel.

 

[iyuvalk]

Hi,

Thanks for all the help so far, I haven't yet solved all the issues I had mentioned earlier, not because the tips you gave me weren't accurate or anything - It's just that I was too busy at work to read them

Anyway, the things that I have resolved with your incredible help and support are working just fine.


I'll let you know when I've completed fixing all the rest,
Happy holidays,

Yuval.