Is Mediaportal dying out? (3 Viewers)

[RicoHTPC]

It's "finally" there since nearly two years now.

It is there but - agree. But not as a final version.
I have been watching the mp2 threads since the beginning and it is not a final version.
I know that the mp2 team is avoiding to call it even a beta version because it is more stable than a usual beta.
And I know that you are using mp2 productively and you may be happy with the current status - I totally believe you.
However not calling it even beta and testing for ages with import of databases and so on, does not give the
confidence to the standard mp-user to seamlessly change from mp1 to mp2 and to have a system as stable as mp1 with all the known functions.

 

[sdf]

Oh boy, this is sooooo wrong... A solution without centralized media server is completely outdated this days...
You even don't have series, weather or fanart support out of the box. And for this you have completely different settings for every "plugin" that is confusing nearly every average user, not to talk about newbies. This is what you call a step forward???? If there weren't MP2 I would have leave the MP community a long time ago.

Sorry, Probably i was trying to concentrate my thoughts in a few lines and was not clear.
I' m using MP especially for live tv: so, the most important part (for me) is TvServer and livetv. It's more than 20(twenty) years that I'm testing and using every software that makes use of tv cards and usb sticks, both on windows and linux. So, it's clear that for me a "centralized media server" with "series, weather or fanart" has a minor importance than the tvserver/live tv part. But I'm sure that everyone here has his preferences for a particular aspect of MP. I don't care too much the fronted part, but is my specific need. Someone may have (and has for sure) different needs. Anyway, i've tested all the releases of MP2, and IMHO livetv part (frontend, because related to backend we're all waiting for TVE 3.5) is surely a step back. Anyway, everyone has his opinion: my critics were only to improve.
Bye,
sdf

 

[Lehmden]

seamlessly change from mp1 to mp2

This never will and never can happen. MP1 and MP2 are way to different. It is and always will be a hard cut. Only way can be to write this MP2 Plugin for MP1 as I suggested earlier. As long as you have to change over from MP1 to MP2 it always will be a complete new system that has nothing in common with MP1 excerpt for the not very user friendly TV configuration.

o have a system as stable as mp1

I'm really happy I don't have a system that "stable" as MP1 was the days I have used it... Those endless issues with the TV Server database, the corrupted TVSeries and MovingPictures databases, the painful import into TVSeries due to not supporting anything else than online data from TVDB (imagine a system without permanent Internet) From the very first beginning MP2 was much more stable than MP1

testing for ages

I'm a tester, for this I have to test for "ages". But I don't need to test anything for using MP2 normally at all.
.

with all the known functions.

This also never will and never can happen. Some "functions" of MP1 are completely obsolete with MP2, lots of functions that MP2 has are not even possible in MP1 and so on...

E.G. this weired thing with the two "Home Screens" in MP1. Normally you don't need a home screen at all in MP2, but a skinner can create one if he wants. This is in no way hardcoded like the basic and classic home in MP1. At the very first beginning I have to look how to navigate, but if you get used to it a little bit it is very painful if you need to go back to the "classic" navigation MP1 (or Kodi or WMC) is offering. Due to my testing I recently had this experience as for the internal test version of V2.1 there only is the WMC skin fully working. And as it is a (very nice) clone of the WMC GUI it has "classic" navigation with a home screen.. Oh boy, how complicated and long lasting the navigation is the "classic" way if you ever have seen a navigation with direct access to all and everything you need (like possible in BlueVision skin as example)

So you will have a complete new set of features and in no way a clone of MP1. And we never wanted MP2 to be a MP1 clone.

 

[sdf]

Calling a not finalized product a step back is not right. I agree that MP1 is more mature in some points and you can feel it. But the base concept of MP2 is better, just we would need concentrated development resources for this product to achieve the target faster.

Sorry, but from an end user perspective (and IMHO) the project is not a great step forward, specially related to live tv. Maybe I don't know the skills behind the project, maybe it depends on the fact that is not mature (but the project seems quite old now), but I think so. For me a great step forward is TVE 3.5, but, I repeat, this my opinion (I'm a user, not a programmer). I don't want to blame all the programmers who put great efforts in MP2, don't get me wrong. I'm only telling you that I've installed many times MP2 (I've followed all the development and the releases from the beginning), and ended always up to uninstall it and install MP1. I repeat, all this from an (end) user perspective.
Bye,
sdf

 

[RicoHTPC]

@Lehmden See, I don't doubt a single word of you. I know these arguments because I read the mp2 threads as I said. Most of the user-uncertainty concerning mp2 is because of communication and perception.
As a regular user I read (or better perceive) that
-devs avoid calling mp2 even beta
-there are endless threads for db import and mia rework
-tv part has its problems and is though behind mp1
-many devs hesitate to join mp2 and in contrast
-keep developing mp1

So the perception is that mp2 is a piece of software with great potential
but still in a development status.
And as long as mp1 is beeing kept up to date alongside mp2, people will never really accept mp2 - may it be as good as it is...

 

[Lehmden]

Hi.

IMHO livetv part (frontend, because related to backend we're all waiting for TVE 3.5) is surely a step back.

This I also see different. Even the frontend is better as the ugly written MP1 TV client plugin. And the backend is way more stable when running inside MP2 server also the TV engine is the same... This mainly is due to issue with the huuuuge SQL server needed for a tiny little database... The biggest step forward and the main reason why I've trashed MP1 that fast those days I switched over from MP1 to MP2 was the much better reliability of TV. So even if you want to use Kodi, I would prefer MP2 as TV backend. The PVR addon and the TVServerKodi plugin are working with MP2 as perfect as TV in Kodi can be.
And by the way, you can use TVE3.5 only with MP2 at the moment. For MP1 there are lots of adjustments to the core program and the TV Client plugin necessary and nobody knows if and when this is done.

but from an end user perspective (and IMHO) the project is not a great step forward

Again you are speaking for yourself as if everyone has the same opinion. This simply is not true. There is not "the" end user. More and more people are looking for a centralized media solution especially as Live TV gets less important for a constantly growing number of people. My nephew as example even hasn't connected his TV to an antenna. He only is watching Online sources like Netflix, Amazon Prime,... and locally stored media. This is what people are looking for, not the old fashioned linear TV where someone else is telling you what you have to watch and when you have to...

 

[sdf]

Works perfect here without any of those "vehicles". And with aMPdroid you have full access via your smartphone/tablet to tv, series, videos, music etc. Seems to be true - but isn´t Devs have just solved the problems with playing DVB-T2 HD (Germany) with HEVC/H.265 support giving you full HD via DVB-T2 HD. Also there will be madVR support in the next pre-release - so still great things are happening

Hi catavolt, it's many years I use your skin. Very good. I'm using MP from the beginning, and certainly know ampdroid (and mptvscheduler). IMHO there's nothing better than Kodi on Android, but this is IMHO. I was referring especially to smart tv interface (like lg webos, samsung, etc.). In all the smart tvs there's upnp/dlna renderer, but Mp lacks an UPNP server (I know that is in the works ...). Also without UPnp/Dlna, it's simply a matter to expose a playlist containing all the channels. All the other software has done it, but Mp hasn't, that's why I was defining Mp "static". I'm following the development of MP, and I know that "great things are happening": I want MP to be (if possible) even better!
Bye,
sdf
--- Post updated ---

Try MPTvScheduler Android live TV client.

Thank you, I know it. I was talking about smart tvs
Bye,
sdf

 

[spachti]

Again you are speaking for yourself as if everyone has the same opinion

What else should he do? He is stating HIS opinion as much as you do yours.
Btw, I can see his point. If you hear, FOR YEARS, that's not finished, this isn't working right now, but it will work shortly?
What are we supposed to believe?

 

[Lehmden]

-devs avoid calling mp2 even beta

Yes because it isn't beta, MP2.0 is stable.

-there are endless threads for db import and mia rework

Two completely different things. The DB import is working close to perfect in the recent stable versions. You would not find any solution that is working better, not MP1, not Kodi, not Plex, not Emby, not... I always have 100% perfect match, for every import and every type of media I'm using.
The MIA rework is the main new stuff for V2.1. And as this is a (the!) major rework it needs lots of testing and development for sure. So lots of threads are very common...

-tv part has its problems and is though behind mp1

This is not true. TV in MP2 is much more reliable and even more comfortable as in MP1. An example. If the user wants all recordings can be sorted in Series or Movies automatically without any user action. And if the user don't want this all stays as normal. This is a feature that isn't even possible in MP1 as MP1 did not have in-build support for Series. So this had to rely on 3rd party plugins that can not be guaranteed to be installed at all. Not a good thing to do.
Aside this I haven't missed a single scheduled recording in two years now where I've missed some every month when I was using MP1 for TV. Mainly because of a not quick enough starting (My)SQL server but there are other issues too... Especially the TV part is the part of MP2 I'm missing the fewest things...

-many devs hesitate to join mp2 and in contrast
-keep developing mp1

I don't know if I would call them "many" but there are some for sure. Without them MP1 had died already. Do you really want this? For me it is like riding a dead horse, because for me MP1 is dead since years. But others will see this completely different, and that's absolutely fine.

What else should he do?

He could write that is his opinion, not that is is the absolute truth as he did twice now.

 

[spachti]

I will not re-ignite the war between the "oldies" and the progressives.
What somehow rubs me the wrong way is this:

At the moment we are working heavy on V2.1. We are in a good hope we can release V2.1 (name is not completely clear today) at the end of this year (but no promises made)...

Will it still be called MediaPortal?