Goodbye MediaPortal (2 Viewers)

[JDWestoby]

Yeah, I left MediaPortal too...

About two/three years ago I found MediaPortal and tried it.

Hard to understand, couldn't even work out the options or what I needed and the installation was horrible - I left it.

Last year I was looking for a replacement for a much loved and very usable TiVo (they're not in the UK anymore). Really wanted HD too and HDMI would be nice.

Remembered MediaPortal, looked at Sage, Myth etc. - what the heck, let's try MP again.

Well, it wasn't perfect but a lot better (and has got better since).

have I spent too much time and money - yup, absolutely, but there really is nothing that touches this for a single solution. MS's MCE (bought a copy - nayone want it?) doesn't play nice with Sky.

Do I still get stuck - yup, 100%

Current problem is my HDMI connected audio not listening to the (MCE) remote then exit and back in and it comes back to life - go figure.

Will it get fixed, I hope so, can I do it? Not a chance.

But I have done some things for others.

So is MP going? No, when it works it is fine and so many people have contributed to making it better. For the Record (haven't got around to installing it yet since my reinstall...!) gives it TiVo-like capabilities too.

Frankly I am stunned that it is such a GOOD piece of software.

 

[Jari74]

I lost major basic functionalityes when I upgrade my MP from 1.0.0 to newer level. On 1.0.1 I lost DVB EPG and now on 1.0.2 I lost channels switching:

https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/...art-timeshifting-timed-out-waiting-pmt-59000/

https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/...no-dvb-epg-after-upgrade-1-0-1-1-0-2-a-60771/

No I using 1.0.1 because there is some improvments what I like if I compared it to 1.0.0. only problem is that I can't see any EPG information.

Both of these problems what I have (and many others) are related to basic channel tuning/scanning parameters. The problem is that I am not coder (just solution architecht =)

Before I started to use MP I used DVBViewer...un-fortunately I have started to use that one again to watch TV etc. Anyway I have to say that when these basic functionalityes are fixed etc. I will definetly use MP...it's amazig peace of SW...it's just not ready yet...

 

[Peter2]

I jumped on the MP wagon almost 3 years ago and sometimes it has been a little frustrating when things didn't work the way I expected but getting it to work made me forget those issues instantly.

You could compare MP with Windows in some ways: it has a lot of possibilities, there is a BIG variety on hardware you can use it with (and the issues that can come with it), you can tweak quite a lot and adding something can break things.
If you're not into these kind of things: buy a Mac which mostly works out of the box but then you can only use what comes with it.

And then again: I have seen more problems with Macs then I ever had with Windows...

 

[Jari74]

Yes, anyway I have to say that MP is still best "all in one" SW what I have found. I just learned here that I need 2 HTPC =) One for testing (new releases, codecs testing etc) and one which is actually used as a HTPC. I just ordered this second HTPC (100% same configuration what I have now).

Now I can test everything before I start to screwing up my living room HTPC. So in future I can peacefully wait fixes etc. and still use "stable" earlier versions of SW. Also I can keep my family more happy (they complains quite often that they like to watch TV also =)

 

[SpudR]

Dual boot the PC with XP and XP on both - apply patches to a 'testing' build - use the other for a stable build

 

[ale79]

Hi all, this is my first post.
Well, i installed from scratch 3 times mp and 2 tv clients, and i really love the work what every one is doing.
In the real life nothing is easy, in the binary world too... BSOD, kernel Panic, Bugs, Drivers...
So i dont understand why the people make a post like this...
I think this is abaut self satisfaction "I did it, i have MP working" with o without Help.
So... Guys keep making the way...
Btw: I made my own car, now i can drive at 110mph by the highway and its true obviously with some help

See you

 

[CrashUK]

setuping up takes to long.. setting the order of 300 channels takes time.. rescaning adds ramdom channels in your program list. also setting up xml for tv data takes a long time too.. 99% of people get the same channels so mediaportal should know what order they in. Plugins are they only easy things to set up.

 

[moab]

setuping up takes to long.. setting the order of 300 channels takes time.. rescaning adds ramdom channels in your program list. also setting up xml for tv data takes a long time too.. 99% of people get the same channels so mediaportal should know what order they in. Plugins are they only easy things to set up.

You have a point about the channel scan. My TV has a built in tuner that scans all analogue and digital channels in a couple of minutes. Mediaportal takes 10 times longer. [if i have time I will get the exact metrics].
Is MP scan doing repeat scans on each individual channel. If yes then how can we change the number of retries, if at all?

To put it simply can we speed up channel scanning?

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Geez slow channel scanning LOL, under 2 minutes for 80 channels, against Vista\Win7 MCE taking 15+ minutes for the same channels

 

[CrashUK]

For me the most important part of any HTPC is watching television and as stated this was a breeze in MC. Unfortunately this process is far too complicated and filled with potential errors and complications in MediaPortal. If later build are to be improved there should be an automated TV setup where it would ask simple questions such as location, tv provider etc.

Thats all about money. MS has huge amounts of money that they can spend on updating the database to reflect the real world situation.

Puting the channels in the right order could me made easy. users could upload they channel order once setup. saving others the time. For me it takes very long time as I got Freeview/Virgin Cable.. so get 2 BBCONE and 2 SKY 3 and soon.