MP2 update questions (1 Viewer)

SwissBuster

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I've decided to move up from MP1 to MP2 after 1 decade on MP1. the Media PC been used a lot less recently as we got internet TV, but MP1 is stable and bug-free. Single seat setup, nothing fancy.

I notice a few things off the bat with this upgrade to MP2:
  1. MP2 is pretty! I'm still looking for a skin option to rival some of the MP1 skins, though.
  2. It seems that MP1 crashes on loading now so I assume with MP2 installed, MP1 no longer works?
  3. TV setup is the same config program as MP1, and MP2 seems to import many (all?) settings for TV config to MP2. Correct?
  4. Config is otherwise done within the UI of MP2; more user friendly but less flexible.
My big issue after the upgrade is that the 'watched' info on movies and TV series is not imported into MP2 from the MP1 database. Is there a way to get this data? I don't want to have to click through each TV series and movie...

Overall, I don't see a huge difference between 1.15 and 2.1.13. Visually nicer, for sure, but is that it? Am I missing something?
 

ge2301

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    MP2 is pretty! I'm still looking for a skin option to rival some of the MP1 skins, though.
    Yes, change the theme in BlueVision Skin to TitaniumExtended and you'll be at least partly feel more as in Titan Skin for MP1. Additionally there is a WMC skin in case you used WMC before and felt comfortable.

    It seems that MP1 crashes on loading now so I assume with MP2 installed, MP1 no longer works?
    They work together, but you need to disable the MP1 service, if you use MP2 and vice versa disable the MP2 service, if you want to use MP1. I recommend to use the search function and you'll find a lot of threads for this topics

    TV setup is the same config program as MP1, and MP2 seems to import many (all?) settings for TV config to MP2. Correct?
    Both use the same TV Server, so configuration is basically the same.

    My big issue after the upgrade is that the 'watched' info on movies and TV series is not imported into MP2 from the MP1 database. Is there a way to get this data? I don't want to have to click through each TV series and movie...
    As far as I know it's not possible at the moment, because the DB is different besides TV.
    Overall, I don't see a huge difference between 1.15 and 2.1.13. Visually nicer, for sure, but is that it? Am I missing something?
    MP2 is completely rewritten in new code, so MP1 and MP2 have not much common besides the name. I think you'll realize it, when you use it a bit more.
    On the other hand MP2 is still in development, so some features will still follow (in case you miss something).
     
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    Lehmden

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    Hi.
    Is there a way to get this data?
    Yes it is possible but you need an external tool:
    MP 2.1 Backup & Restore

    Another way is to synchronize your collection with Trakt. Afaik the watched flags are imported into MP2 in meantime. I don't use Trakt, so I'm not very familiar with this plugin...

    I assume with MP2 installed, MP1 no longer works?
    You can use MP1 and MP2 on the same PC as long as you only run one TV Server at a time. Before you can install MP2 you need to stop the MP1 TV Server as installation will fail, if the MP1 Tv server is running. You need to keep TV server to be stopped as long as you want to use MP2. When you want to switch back to MP1 you need to stop the MP2 Server and restart TV Server...

    MP2 seems to import many (all?) settings for TV config to MP2
    You can transfer nearly everything with the build- in export/import feature of the TV config tool. But I would recommend to do at least a fresh channel scan before importing all the other stuff.

    Am I missing something?
    Maybe... MP2 is much faster than MP1. MP2 has a centralized database. MP2 has much more features build- in. MP2 don't need a full SQL server to run TV
     

    SwissBuster

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    Hi.
    Maybe... MP2 is much faster than MP1. MP2 has a centralized database. MP2 has much more features build- in. MP2 don't need a full SQL server to run TV

    Thanks. I’ll give the backup program a look.

    My installation of MP2 seems to be slower, if anything. There seems to be a lag between selecting any option and it’s execution. Could this be as it is running setup or installation tasks in the backgroun, e.g. caching fanart, etc? It’s a 10 year old PC with Win 10, although running MP1 fine. I’m not using TV so if the speed advantage is for TV, I won’t see it.
     

    ge2301

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    Thanks. I’ll give the backup program a look.

    My installation of MP2 seems to be slower, if anything. There seems to be a lag between selecting any option and it’s execution. Could this be as it is running setup or installation tasks in the backgroun, e.g. caching fanart, etc? It’s a 10 year old PC with Win 10, although running MP1 fine. I’m not using TV so if the speed advantage is for TV, I won’t see it.
    the Gui is slow as long an import is running. You should let the importer finish first. There is an importer indicator rotating, so you can see the status.
     

    Lehmden

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    Hi.
    Could this be as it is running setup or installation tasks in the backgroun, e.g. caching fanart, etc?
    Yes, exactly. As long as an import is running the server is very busy. So if your PC is not the fastest it can show those lags. The most challenging thing is the second import run on a (any) media source. MP2's importer is working in two (or three, if you like) steps (runs). On first run only necessary things are loaded so the user has access to his media asap. In second run there all those nice to have things will be loaded/created like thumbnails, extra metadata (actors,...) and extra fanart (like logos,...) In general the second run takes longer a lot (up to 3 or 4 times as long) compared to the first run. The third and all following runs are even faster a lot than the first run because only changes has to be worked on...
    I have about 40.000 series episodes and 2.000 movies and I need a whole day to do the second importer run. The first run takes about 4 or 5 hours. All following importer runs only takes some minutes up to half an hour depending on hwo much new media I've added since the last run...

    The speed improvement best is to see on client startup. MP2 client only takes one or maximum two seconds to start where I had times around 40 seconds for the client to start in my (some years ago) MP1 area...
    Aside this I had a CPU load of about 50% (Haswell Core i5, not too slow CPU even nowadays) if the MP1 client was idle. The MP2 client uses less than 10% if idle...

    And of course if you add a second (third,...) client to your system you will notice an enormous amount of saved time. The second and all following clients don't need any media (and TV) configuration at all, because of the centralized database. You can set up a second, third,... client in less than 2 minutes each where in MP1 you need to do all the media configuration for every client over and over again.
     

    Alberto83

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    Lehmden
    Thank you for explaining the import process. I hope it's ok if I ask this here, resuming the thread instead of opening a second thread.
    Is it normal that this happens also for further import processes? I always need to import the library twice to get thumbnails, when i add a new episode to my library.
     

    Lehmden

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    Hi.
    Is it normal that this happens also for further import processes?
    Yes, it's normal, at least for 2.1.x versions... When you do a new run it will import all completely new media like it would be done in the first run. At the same time it will import all extra stuff for media that was newly imported in the second last run. Everything that is imported and complete will be ignored...

    So all completely new media will be processed like it is done in the first run and all "not completely new but still incomplete" media is processed as in the second run at once while already completed media is ignored to speed things up...

    We're working on the importer to avoid those two step runs in 2.2 but right now it is not fast enough to be usable...
     

    Alberto83

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    Ok. To be clear, i'm ok with a two step run. What is not clear (and i mean, not clear on the wiki), is why the second step doesn't trigger immediately after the first one and has to be launched manually. The main problem i think, is that when you add a new episode, and leave the importer do its things without forcing it, with the first import it seems like the episodes weren't recognized correctly, and many times i was like "darn, i must have broke something on settings or the episodes are named incorrectly".
    I just think this behavior should be documented and stressed, to avoid headaches.. :p

    Just to wonder. On 2.2 is not fast enough to be usable because it takes too much time or because it hangs? Even for few episodes?
     

    Lehmden

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    Hi.
    The main problem i think, is that when you add a new episode, and leave the importer do its things without forcing it, with the first import it seems like the episodes weren't recognized correctly
    If the episode is not identified correctly on first run it would not be identified correctly with the second run as well... Excerpt for the long lasting thumbnail creation everything that is important is done with the first run. Only actors, writers and so on are imported at the second pass. Nothing that prevents you from using your media...

    That's also one reason why the second pass is not running automatically. If you have activated the nightly refresh the "second" run is done then nevertheless. Aside this you can activate the share watcher so if you add new episodes the import is triggered within 5 minutes as long as Windows gets aware of the changes in file system. Sadly this windows function is not as reliable as it should be.

    But the most important reason why the second run is not done instantly is performance. Many users have more than one or two shares to import. If one import is running all other things are slowing down. If you add more than one new share at a time this will make MP2 nearly unusable for the time those concurrent imports are running...

    because it takes too much time or because it hangs?
    Both.
    Even for few episodes?
    Not for a few episodes, but the bigger the database gets the slower and more unstable everything is... Import of 300 movies take 7 minutes with an empty database (2.1.3 needs 5 minutes for the first pass but then needs the second pass) and the same 300 movies needs one hour to import with a db size of 3 GByte (where 2.1.3 only slows down from 5 to 6 minutes with an empty db vs a 3 GByte db what is pretty normal)... Those times I have measured a week ago. This weekend I will try another round as there are some fixes available in meantime. Let's see how much better it goes now...

    MP 2.2 is under heavy development right now so such things are to be expected. Nothing to worry about...
     

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