Advice Required: Building a new Freeview PC-PVR (2 Viewers)

[joecrow]

Method 1 – User Accounts:
I've followed those instructions, but when I open the User-Accounts window,
its tick-box (Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer) is not shown!

Ah, sorry then you need to take a look at the info in this link which explains why you are not seeing that check box and with a further link, how to fix it.

 

[groovybaby]

Many Thanks @CyberSimian & @joecrow
Hope everyone's well.

Ah, sorry then you need to take a look at the info in this link which explains why you are not seeing that check box and with a further link, how to fix it.

@joecrow Thanks for your links, but none of those worked for me:
But this did: Solution 2, here:

@CyberSimian
The only reason that I need to connect my HTPC to the web is for Windows Updates, Avast Updates, and to occasionally download and/or play/stream TV programs that I missed.

So from MP2:
Q1: Is it possible to display the BBC IPlayer Website and store & play programs from their app?
Q2: Ditto the other TV Channels

Also:
Q3: During my setup of MP2, I've selected the radio stations, but how do I list & play them?
Q4: I have other video's on my HTPC, so how do I list, select & play them?

Many Thanks

 

[CyberSimian]

You will need an MP2 expert to answer these questions!
@morpheus_xx @ge2301 can you help?

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[joecrow]

o from MP2:
Q1: Is it possible to display the BBC IPlayer Website and store & play programs from their app?
Q2: Ditto the other TV Channels

MP2 has a plugin called Online Videos for streaming online content, it is included in the MP2 install and should show up in the Home screen, with it you can view live and catchup content as well as download and retain programs (downloads are not possible with 64bit MP2). For the BBC everything currently seems to be working except Live BBC2 which failed recently and is not yet fixed. Unfortunately not much else is working, Live ITV has not worked for some time although most catchup is still OK and Channel 4 has been down for years and I don't think Channel 5 is even listed!

So having said that as an alternative you could use the Launcher plugin, also included in the install of recent versions of MP2, to provide a way to open the Iplayer app. (assuming it is installed on the same PC) you just need to go to settings/plugins/launcher/add app and specify the path to the application. Please note that apps opened with Launcher may not respond to the your remote in the same way as MP2. It is possible to setup multiple apps using the Launcher plugin, so you could also use it to start up your browser with arguments for various websites, e.g. www.itv.com/hub/itv3 which would play Live ITV3. Whilst viewing streamed content via a browser may not be so Remote friendly you can use features such as "Restart the Program" which are not available in Online Videos.

Q3: During my setup of MP2, I've selected the radio stations, but how do I list & play them?

Sorry but I have no idea, we do not have radio on DVBT here in Germany so I have never been able to try it. I use the Webradio plugin for Internet radio on MP2. Someone else will need to help you on that one.

Q4: I have other video's on my HTPC, so how do I list, select & play them?

You need to go to Settings/Media Sources where you can add the various media types and the paths to where they are either stored locally or on your network, once added you should be able to select and play them from the Home screen tiles Audio, Movies, Series and Videos.

 

[CyberSimian]

During my setup of MP2, I've selected the radio stations, but how do I list & play them?

I record on average about one radio programme each day from DVB-T/T2 . This is for timeshifting purposes -- I rarely keep any radio recordings long term. But sadly, recording or listening to radio from DVB-T/T2 is a minority pastime.

As you have noticed, "TV Server" supports radio channels, but that does not mean that MP2 provides support for radio channels to the MP2 skin. And even if MP2 does provide this support, the skin author may have decided not to allow access to DVB-T/T2 radio, because it has so few users . Or, the skin author may have provided support, but hidden it away on some subsidiary panel so that it does not occupy space on any of the main panels.

The screen shots below show the "DefaultWideHD" skin that is part of MP1:

• Screen shot 1 shows the "Home" panel. Notice that "Radio" appears nowhere. However, radio is supported, but you access it by selecting the "Root Menu" choice.
• Selecting "Radio" on screen shot 2 gives (on my setup) a list of radio-channel groups (screen shot 3).
• Selecting a radio group then shows a list of radio channels, and selecting one of those will start that channel playing (screen shot 4).
• To access radio recordings, you use the left side menu (screen shot 5), and select "Recordings". You then see screen shot 6. (Note: I have edited my string-constants file, and "Recordings" appears as "Title" in the screen shot.)

What you should do is rummage around in the MP2 panels to see if there is radio support that can be accessed from somewhere. If your current skin has no radio support, try the other skins, as one of those may support radio.

If MP2 simply does not support radio, you will need to decide how important radio support is compared to the other things that MP2 provides. If radio support is really important, then moving to MP1 might be the solution.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[groovybaby]

OK: @CyberSimian & @joecrow
I've tried out some of your suggestions

BTW: How do I:
a: find out the name of my current skin?
b: find other skins to try?
c: find out what each skin is supposed to do, without having to install it?
and...
d: Where are you getting the skin screen images from, that you supplied in your last post?

My Videos:
When I select the icon: Video's
I've managed (somehow) to get the videos that I currently have in a folder on my desktop to appear.
And Play them OK

BBC iPlayer:
When I select the icon: Online Videos
I've managed (somehow) to get the iPlayer icon + others, eg Youtube etc to appear.
If I click on the iPlayer icon, then I get a list of categories, eg: Arts, Entertainment, Drama, etc.
selecting anyone of these gives me this error popup:
'Dynamic categories Object reference not set to an instance of an object'
I get the same error popup for others, eg Youtube etc.

Connecting to the internet solves that problem (on iPlayer) as I then get a list of topics that I can select from, and if there are programs available I can then play them.

Previously:
I had downloaded & saved 2 programs to the iPlayer app by going to their website.
But I cant see those 2 programs (via MP) although I did briefly see 2 small SS of them listed to the left of the list, but cant see them now.
Also I cant see anyway to download more programs to the iPlayer app.

Radio:
I cant find anyway to access the radio channels via MP2/32bit that are listed in the server under: Radio Channels.

Many Thanks

 

[joecrow]

BTW: How do I:
a: find out the name of my current skin?
b: find other skins to try?
c: find out what each skin is supposed to do, without having to install it?
and...
d: Where are you getting the skin screen images from, that you supplied in your last post?

Ans,a,b,c There are 4 skins available in MP2 all are already installed you just need to go to settings/appearance/skin/change skin, see screenshot below, you should be able to identify the one you are using from the thumbnail to try a different skin just select it there, it changes instantly no install necessary.

Ans, d Those are screenshots from MP1 that skin is not available in MP2.

I had downloaded & saved 2 programs to the iPlayer app by going to their website.
But I cant see those 2 programs (via MP) although I did briefly see 2 small SS of them listed to the left of the list, but cant see them now.
Also I cant see anyway to download more programs to the iPlayer app.

If you used the free Iplayer app. from the BBC website I do not believe those downloads can be played outside of that specific app. not 100% sure I will check that out later but from memory they come with DRM protection which will also means they will expire after a period of time.
Sounds like you have had some success with the Online Videos plugin, keep playing with it. If you find a program you can play select it but don't play it and try pressing the "info" button on your remote or right click with the mouse which should bring up a download menu. NB First you will need to specify a folder for Online Video downloads in settings/plugins/online videos/download folder. As mentioned previously downloading via Online Videos does not work on the x64 bit version of MP2 but can work on the 32 bit version, not sure if it is yet with the latest release but if not it can be fixed, let me know.

Radio:
I cant find anyway to access the radio channels via MP2/32bit that are listed in the server under: Radio Channels.

I can't either, you might want to raise this particular question in the MP forum, maybe someone knows but I think you will have to use the Web Radio plugin and get it over the internet.

 

[joecrow]

If you used the free Iplayer app. from the BBC website I do not believe those downloads can be played outside of that specific app. not 100% sure I will check that out later but from memory they come with DRM protection which will also means they will expire after a period of time.

Yes as suspected it is only possible to play content downloaded via the Iplayer app from within the app. I have confirmed though that you can use the Launcher plugin to open the Iplayer app. from within MP2 and it works well, see attached screenshots. Go to settings/plugins/launcher/add app and use the "Select" button to set the path to the .exe default is as per the first screenshot then click the "Add Application" button (bottom right.

 

[groovybaby]

OK Thanks @CyberSimian & @joecrow
I've tried out some of your suggestions

Radio:
It seems that all of my (4) MP2 skins will/should display & play radio programs, but they seem very unreliable & unpredictable.

I tried this skin: WMC
This displays the radio channels & programs, in the same screen as the TV channels,
but you have to toggle between the TV & radio listings, by clicking on < or > near the [All Channels] / [Teresteral] barr.
I checked the other skins and it seemed that they were the same, but all were very unreliable & unpredictable.

The skin my MP2 originally installed on was: Nereus
This seems to be the clearest/simplest skin to use, but I've only managed to get this to list the radio listings a couple of times...

In this skin, I select the TV-icon:
from the several vertical icons that are on the EXTREEM left of the main screen.
Then to the right of those icons, are more vertical icons with different options, eg: [Recordings] [TV Listing] etc.

To the right of those it displays a few boxes for each of the current programs, and on its far left, a list of the first 5 or 6 programs that you have set to record.

Below these, there some info in small print, says that you can select either a TV or Radio program.
But it doesn't tell you how !

So selecting [TV Listing] displays the TV channels & programs.
So to switch to Radio Listing: Clicking on its < or > near the [All Channels] / [Teresteral] barr, doesn't work in this skin, like it did in the others.

I did manage to get it to display the Radio-Listing once or twice, but I cant remember how, except I think I clicked on the remotes Info-key, which displayed a drop-down-popup that then allowed me to select [Radio Listings]
But I cant remember what I had selected before that, that then enabled the drop-down-popup to appear.

MP2 has a plugin called Online Videos for streaming online content, it is included in the MP2 install and should show up in the Home screen, with it you can view live and catchup content as well as download and retain programs (downloads are not possible with 64bit MP2). For the BBC everything currently seems to be working except Live BBC2 which failed recently and is not yet fixed. Unfortunately not much else is working, Live ITV has not worked for some time although most catchup is still OK and Channel 4 has been down for years and I don't think Channel 5 is even listed!...

When I select: Online Videos
It currently displays various icons including:
a: BBC iPlayer: Which I can access and play programs, Ive not tried to download any yet.
b: Youtube: Which I can access and play videos.
Although I don't see how anyone would have the patients to use it, as it seems to be just a jumble of titles that mean very little to me!
c: Nasa:
d: ITV iPlayer

So the last 2:
If I select a program to play, I get the error popup: Unable to play video, No URL

I have looked around all of the obvious settings, but it's not clear where & how I can provide the URL for these sites? Any ideas

NB: The BBC iPlayer seemed to setup automatically, as I haven't entered any path for that.

Many thanks.

 

[CyberSimian]

WMC skin ... displays the radio channels & programs, in the same screen as the TV channels, but you have to toggle between the TV & radio listings, by clicking on < or > near the [All Channels] / [Teresteral] bar.

There are two conventions for displaying the TV and radio EPGs:

• Append the radio channels at the end of the TV channels, so that it is logically one list, and you can scroll from TV to radio without a break. My Sony TV is like this, and if I remember correctly, WMC is like this too.
• Display separate screens, one for the TV EPG and a separate one for the radio EPG. My Humax DVR is like this, and the Humax remote control has a dedicated button to switch between TV and radio.

MP1 implements the latter, and from your description I think that MP2 does too. There isn't a right design here -- both styles have their adherents.

As I have never used MP2, I cannot explain how to use the clickable icons to access the radio EPG, and as @joecrow does not have any DVB-T/T2 radio channels in his setup, I don't think that he will be able to help either. But the person who should be able to help is the MP2 skin designer and implementer, namely @ge2301 .

Hopefully, @ge2301 will be able to explain how to navigate the panels in order to access the radio EPG, the radio recordings, and the radio live channels.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK