MediaPortal Install Guide (1 Viewer)

[bblake12]

Install Problems

First off, great guide. The setup was very good and everything is working well. I have two issus that I am looking for help on.
I am not using a remote at this point. I am using a wireless media keybard and bluetooth mouse. So after the installation and configuration I started MP and moved the mouse over one of th commands. To my surprise the commands dissappeared (this photo is mouseover.png). If I move the mouse up to the top lefthand corner the menus reappear and work normally.

Secondly, in the submenus moives, tv etc... as soon as they load the top menu disappears and the playboack controls appear. they will not move so that I cannot scroll through the pages of movies for example. This image is mouseover2.png.

Any help with this would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Bryan

 

[damaster]

First off, great guide. The setup was very good and everything is working well. I have two issus that I am looking for help on.
I am not using a remote at this point. I am using a wireless media keybard and bluetooth mouse. So after the installation and configuration I started MP and moved the mouse over one of th commands. To my surprise the commands dissappeared (this photo is mouseover.png). If I move the mouse up to the top lefthand corner the menus reappear and work normally.

Secondly, in the submenus moives, tv etc... as soon as they load the top menu disappears and the playboack controls appear. they will not move so that I cannot scroll through the pages of movies for example. This image is mouseover2.png.

Any help with this would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Bryan

Hi Bryan,

Unfortunately StreamedMP and similar skins (Aeon, Aeon Wide) weren't intended to be used with a mouse. As a result when you move the mouse in the basic home menu you get the result in your first image. This has been discussed various times on the forum and there is no fix at the moment (as far as I know). You can instead use the arrow keys to navigate up and down since you don't use a remote.

I haven't encountered your second issue, but I suspect it's related to using a mouse. You may want to try asking on the StreamedMP sub-forum here: StreamedMP - MediaPortal Forum

Wow. Okay sorry tourettes, please don't take this the wrong way because I respect your opinion and your contributions to Media Portal but I could not disagree with you more. Most or all HTPC apps are complicated and a total pain in the ass to setup, this is true. But that doesn't mean it has to be that way! Have a little vision! In my opinion ANYONE should be able to install Media Portal, knowing virtually nothing about codecs or HTPC apps or any of that. Out of the box they should be getting the kind of experience that seasoned user's rave about though.

I am not saying sacrifice functionality, but usability could definitely be improved, and I think we could get MediaPortal to the point where the common person can use it. To suggest otherwise I think is a bit close minded maybe? I don't know. I think this is the biggest area where MediaPortal could improve though.

I couldn't have said it better! It is thanks to the easy-to-use and streamlined StreamedMP skin installer that allowed me to put together this guide and introduce more people to MP. It also allowed me to install it for several friends and family on their PCs and laptops. And because it is such a great skin, in conjuction with MovingPictures, TvSeries, and RSS-Ticker, noobs enjoy using MediaPortal despite it's bugs and hiccups.

 

[bblake12]

Damaster, Thanks for your reply. What remote do people prefer ? I am researching adding a remote but there seems to be a lot of choices.

Thanks,

Bryan

 

[damaster]

Damaster, Thanks for your reply. What remote do people prefer ? I am researching adding a remote but there seems to be a lot of choices.

Thanks,

Bryan

The best remote is the Microsoft MCE remote and receiver. It comes in various flavors, such as one that was shipped with Dell systems but without the Dell logo on it. It is all Philips hardware, and registers in the Windows Device Manager as eHome Infrared Receiver. It works out-of-the-box with MP without requiring any key mapping or additional work.

I'm working on a group buy over at the AVS forums for the Microsoft IR receiver. Have a look: Group buy: anyone interested in the Microsoft USB IR receiver? - AVS Forum

 

[misterbbq]

is there a way to tell what function in media portal is using what codec?

i know there are settings....but i'm not convinced that they are using the codecs i set. particularly when i attempt to watch an mkv file. i'm getting only dolby pro logic though it's set to use ac3. i know ac3 is set correctly because tv shows are working in dolby digital as set using ac3.

when i tell ffshow to use spdif i do then get dolby digital. leading me to believe something is amiss between the mpc decoder and the matroska splitter i installed. or am i way off base here?

thanks for the great tutorial!!

 

[damaster]

is there a way to tell what function in media portal is using what codec?

i know there are settings....but i'm not convinced that they are using the codecs i set. particularly when i attempt to watch an mkv file. i'm getting only dolby pro logic though it's set to use ac3. i know ac3 is set correctly because tv shows are working in dolby digital as set using ac3.

when i tell ffshow to use spdif i do then get dolby digital. leading me to believe something is amiss between the mpc decoder and the matroska splitter i installed. or am i way off base here?

thanks for the great tutorial!!

Use GraphEdit and its "Connect to remote graph" feature. It will show you exactly which codecs MediaPortal is using.

 

[misterbbq]

thank you for that. i'm trying it now.

i guess next dumb question, if media portal is set to use ac3 and it's not....what do i do?

ok, seems that even with the haali splitter installed, ffdshow is playing the mkv files. this doesn't seem right.....?

 

[vermin]

Salutations from a MP newcomer,

Damaster you've my most sincere gratitudes for making this guide. Spectacularly detailed and consistently information all through and without kidding I believe the guide should be putted on the front page. Thanks again man.

~vermin~

 

[damaster]

thank you for that. i'm trying it now.

i guess next dumb question, if media portal is set to use ac3 and it's not....what do i do?

ok, seems that even with the haali splitter installed, ffdshow is playing the mkv files. this doesn't seem right.....?

The Haali Media Splitter has nothing to do with it, it's just a video file parser. The actual audio decoder is the issue. You have it set to AC3Filter in MediaPortal Configuration? Make sure you haven't selected the "Automatic decoder settings" option in MediaPortal Configuration.

Salutations from a MP newcomer,

Damaster you've my most sincere gratitudes for making this guide. Spectacularly detailed and consistently information all through and without kidding I believe the guide should be putted on the front page. Thanks again man.

~vermin~

Thanks!

 

[Grahamgo]

Question. The guide recommends XP SP3, but the MP Confiuration-Hauppauge remote screen says XP SP2. Which is best?