New MP2 user issues: software encoders for analog & plug-in/extension installation (1 Viewer)

redbinary

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October 28, 2018
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I just installed MP2 yesterday. Getting the digital tuner going went pretty straight forward. Right now I mainly have 2 issues as described in the thread subject. I have filled in my system information in my profile so hopefully that shows up with this post. I did further confuse myself trying to find a specific version/revision number. The only place I see one is in the "MediaPortal TV Server Configuration" application - which shows version 1.18.0.0. Now I'm not sure which pieces of software are shared between MP1 and MP2 and how to know which is applicable to what. During reading documentation and Team MediaPortal member posts in the forums the point is repeated that they are "independent developments". I used the 2.2 installer.

Software Encoders for Analog Tuner
As outlined by the online wiki documentation for MP1 (because the MP2 counterpart says "Please refer to the MP1 manual, which is currently also valid for MP2. The TV-Plugin (TVE3) is same between both products.") I understand that "TV-Server does not officially support analog tuners that do not have hardware encoders due to the problems with driver setup, acquiring encoders, encoder compatibility etc. Your tuner might work, but there is no guarantee. It is recommended that you attempt to receive digital broadcasts if they are available, or use an analog TV card with hardware encoding." - My only goal for doing so is access to FM radio. Not a deal breaker, but a big part of the incentive for re-installing this old card.

After spending a number of hours attempting to get install I'm not sure if I'm not fundamentally misunderstanding the underlying structures of MediaPortal. Immediately prior to installing MP2 I had installed, configured, played around with, and then uninstalled NextPVR. During that process I downloaded and installed the LAV filters. These appear to be functioning. They are displayed and are selected in the TV client settings for all of the video and audio codecs. All digital tuner channels are functioning properly and as expected.
In the Media Portal TV Server Configuration application, In the General section, under the Software Encoders tab I see 11 video and 12 audio encoders listed. All indicate they are not installed. None are LAV so I am speculating that they are not applicable to this context. I only mention this for clarity and so I can be corrected if need be. It appears that I am likely a fringe case and further likely that this is increasingly so as time goes by. Still, this may be something worth addressing in the documentation.
Also on the "Software Encoding Card Setup" page there are several links to install supported encoders. The AVIVO link points to a page that installs some Radeon software called "Adrenalin" that did not add or enable any encoders in the MP Software Encoders list but did change my display adapter driver. Likewise following the Cyberlink link installed the Cyberlink trial but did not change the Software Encoders listing.
Moving my attention to a plug-in ... which became my next issue.

Plug-In/Extension Compatibility & Installation
Having scoured the TV Server Config and doing a lot of forum searching I've come to believe that the interchangeable usage of "extension" (I realize used to also include "skin") and "plug-in" and the 2 separate MediaPortal applications using the same wiki and forums are severely working against me. After a long while I noticed I could identify whether search results were in the MP1 or MP2 wiki by hovering over them, but still the MP2 wiki often points back to the MP1 wiki or just doesn't have any information.
Looking through the MP2 Plug-Ins section I see to the right "Manage Extensions: Use the Extensions plugin to install, update, uninstall and sometimes even configure extensions within MediaPortal." which I downloaded. However I am unable to do anything with the MPE1 file. After another amount of looking it seems that this is probably not compatible with MP2. The Media Portal 2 > Extensions page only makes the cryptic statement "To install extensions please follow the installation instructions until a full extension manager is in progress." Linked to in that page is MediaPortal 2 > Configuration > Plug-Ins which only contains the phrase "This section is for plugins, that are included in the installer of MP2, so there is no need to install them seperately."
Looking through other MP2 plug-ins it appears that there could very well be no compatibility between versions of MediaPortal, though I think I had seen information that makes me question that.

Regardless, I appreciate that Team MP has put in the work to make this available. For me at this point there are just these few things that I could use some clarification on and help with.
 

Ournev

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June 30, 2012
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I'm a returnee to MP after several years and want to use my CEC remote box. I have the mpe1 files but have no idea where to copy them to. Can anyone point me in the right direction as my memory of the config is hazy and probably out of date anyway.
 

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